Author: Thomas Henry Newell

“Who?” They wondered. “Bring him?! Bring who?” Adam was the first to voice the thought. The others looked at him.

The glowing orb continued to shine in throbs.

“No no no,” said Jayce. “Breed him – that’s what it’s saying.”

“It’s an invasion,” said Nige. Everyone always listened to Nige.

“What? Like – it’s gonna make us sex slaves? Breed us like cattle?!” Edward was nervous.

“It’s obviously a portal. There’ll be an army on the other side of that thing,” Nige declared.

The orb continued to glow. They had seen it and thought someone was lost in the woods. The group of them had gone over there, leaving their tents behind. If it was another camper, they’d have wanted to make sure that no one was in trouble. They were a supportive community, like that.

But when the glowing and the thrumming grew, they knew they were looking at something else. Extra terrestrial.

“We have to stop it, then” said “Adam”.

The group members looked at each other nervously. Some looked at the ground. Others started to poke around, picking things up. Hard things.

“I don’t think it said “Breed’” Jayce chimed in. “I think it was “Bring”.

“It doesn’t matter – it’s an invasion” commanded Nige.

The group knew what to do. Mick had a stick. Jeff threw the first stone.

The orb jostled when the rock hit. It made that noise again, and the broadcast went out. “Brrriii…Hhhmmm” Much more distorted now.

Mick went at it, wielding the stick like a Templar launching with righteous rage. He made a dent, and the orb went from being a mini moon to a sad crescent. But it was enough. It burped out a “Bu huh!” and dropped to the ground.

Its light faded. The group watched it, some anxious, Nige smiling, job well done. All that was left of it was a rock in the earth.

Unreleased documents later reported on a strange rock at a coastal campsite. There was a message decoded in a strange crevice, made of engineered crystal. “Bring you home” is what it was later decoded as – and unbeknownst to the researchers, the very same message faded as it went through the galaxy to the homeworlds.

The three hundred civilizations of the great silver way never invited earth again.