Chapter 5: Doomsday
Dr. Ahuja is seriously discussing the situation with other scientists.
“The collision has brought some drastic changes in the behaviour of Sun. It is attracting planets towards itself. This phenomenon can be described as reunion of solar system.”
“You mean to become a star as it was before the Big Bang happened billions of years ago, that the Sun will eat up all the planets?” says one of the scientists
“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean. However, this will be a temporary condition. After some time, it will burst into planets again and become a stable, bright star.” Dr. Ahuja grinned.
Soon, these new developments are confirmed by other research centers too. A high profile confidential meeting is arranged by the ICSU (International Council Of Scientific Unions).
Dr. Ahuja is an eminent personality and is respected by many in his field. After a lot of discussion, it has been decided not to declare the current situation to the media as it may cause widespread dread. Scientists are trying to think about every possible solution to save the planet. Unfortunately, even after trying so hard to keep the matter discrete, the news is leaked out to public.
Temperature is rising day by day. There are rumours that the planet Mercury has been eaten up by the sun. The schools have declared indefinite vacation and on the other side, economists all over the world are concerned due to the abating economic condition of the world. Divya observes the changes in the space through her telescope. However, she no longer needs the telescope to watch the arrow mark, as it has become clear up in the Northern sky. With each passing day, the temperatures keep soaring!
Today, it’s terribly hot. Sun seems to be coming closer and closer. The news of the planet Mercury being gobbled up by Sun is officially announced on T.V by the research centers. At this rate, the earth is expected to survive for only one month, giving life on Earth just one week to survive before succumbing to the unendurable heat.
So, is this really the end of the world?
It is hard to believe but sadly it is the fact and is happening. With every passing moment, fear keeps mounting. Scientists are providing every minute report to the public and keep assuring that they are trying their best to save the planet as we know it.
Divya’s father rarely gets any time to see his family; he is busy all the time. Special satellites with magnetic resonant devices attached, are being sent into the space to move the earth far away from sun. Scientists are very positive that they can save the earth by doing so. But the tricky part here is to get it fixed in an orbit where it won’t collide with other planets.
Sitting in her room, Divya remembers all that was written in the ancient book. She is now sure that whatever Bhimsen had foretold was no fiction but very accurate. She decides to read it further for any possible solution to this, but to her dismay the further pages have been eaten by bugs!
Today is the fifth day since the death of the planet Mercury. Divya comes out of the house. There is not a soul out on the road. The trees are dry and roads are dusty. Lost in her thoughts, Divya walks towards the sea-shore. She sits there on a large stone facing the sea. The small marshy area suddenly begins to shake. It erupts like a miniature volcano. A huge egg is thrown out. Scared like hell, Divya runs away hides behind a big rock to witness the unusual happening. The egg slowly cracks and out comes a strange creature, a very weird creature that has no resemblance to any known species.
It is pale yellow, stands straight and has strong arms and legs like humans. But no hair on the body except for two-three strands on the head. Its green eyes meet Divya’s black scared eyes.
What is it? He surely looks like an Alien.
She is soon hypnotized and keeps looking into its eyes as it slowly approaches her. All this while, it keeps staring into her beautiful eyes. Suddenly, it stumbles over a stone and falls on its face, Divya regains consciousness and realizes that she was hypnotised.
“Oh! My god, it is an alien!” she screams and begins to run.
“Wait a moment friend!” she hears him saying
She is petrified. She turns back and sees the alien smiling.
“Yes, I can speak your language. Don’t be scared of me.”
Divya finds it really hard to believe anything. However, she gathers some strength and speaks to the alien.
“Who are you?”
“I have come from a far away star. An alien, as you may call me. But don’t worry. I’m your friend. I won’t harm you.”
“Unbelievable! Then how do you know our language?” asks Divya
The Alien smiles and comes closer to her and speaks “Let me explain everything in detail. Come let us sit over there,” he says.
Divya hesitatingly sits with him on a nearby rock.
“I belong to the star Astroda, many light years away from your planet. We live in very hot temperatures, but can adapt quickly to lower temperatures too. We attain many powers by birth, which you may call as supernatural power though they are natural for us. We have highly developed brain as compared to humans. Our brain begins functioning right from the start, inside the egg. That is the reason; I know all about how I was brought here, thousands of years ago.”
Divya now looks at him with a friendly smile. “Is this all true? I think I’m day dreaming!”
He smiles and continues “I, along with other eggs was in the hatching chamber that is a satellite specially made for hatching eggs and is stationed very near to a hot star. But a shooting star once came ripping through our satellite and we were flown away with it. As destiny wished, we were dropped down on earth along with the meteor. I landed in these mangroves. Since, the temperatures were not favourable, I could not get hatched out and had to wait for thousands of years. We have witnessed the entire human civilization through our antennae. The rise and fall of great dynasties world over, the battles and the world wars, we know it all. And today when the temperature has increased to the hatching point, I could blow up the egg shell and come out. I was so glad to see you. You people are very simple as compared to our complex form; I can read your mind with my eyes. That is how I hypnotized you to learn your language.”
Divya looked at him said “Now I know what Bhimsen was talking about when he wrote that solution to future disaster has already been brought down. What about other eggs? Won’t they too be hatched by now?”
“No, unfortunately, none of them is alive.” The alien replies with a sad face.
“How can you be so sure?” asks Divya. The alien points towards the long green hair strands that lay on the ground.
“These are our antennae. We keep in touch with each other through this. We were scattered all over the earth. Most of us crashed against the ground and were killed instantly. Those who landed over the snow were chilled to death as we in egg state cannot survive freezing cold. Those who fell in the sea were also perished. Only very few of us were lucky to fall in the marshy mangroves. We waited there for temperatures to rise year after year. In the meantime, man progressed and destroyed mangroves for his needs. One by one their signals began to die as they were being killed one after another. I too was expecting the same fate but luckily today here I am hatched out and alive in front of you.”
“Yes, that’s destiny and a purpose.” Divya smiles while consoling the alien.
“What purpose are you talking about?”
“Our planet is in a grave danger. The Sun is getting hotter and hotter. Mercury has already dead and all this was foreseen by an astrologer, thousands of years before, when you were brought down on earth. He had hinted that the saviour will be brought down in the meteor rain.” He pauses. “Hmm… I see. It is possible, if more of us were alive. We all could have easily absorbed the rising heat into our body. But I alone cannot do anything.”
“How sad, we ourselves have destroyed our saviours by destroying our mangroves.” “Will you return back to your star?” says Divya
“As I said, I’m several light years away from my
star; I’m unable to trace the route. I keep sending signals randomly in space and hope that someday it will reach my people.”
“So until then you can stay in my house. However, the curiosity of others can be very annoying and even dangerous for you.” says Divya
“What if I change into human form?”
“Is it possible?” Divya is amused
He takes her hand into his and within few seconds he transforms himself into a boy. Divya is totally taken aback.
“How did you do this? Is this magic?” She asks
“No, it’s logic. It’s very simple. What you see is actually a shell of human form, which I copied from your cell structure.”
“Now you look friendlier. Maybe we were destined to be friends. Hey! We did not introduce each other. I’m Divya. What’s your name?”
“As you can see that I’m freshly hatched out. Why don’t you give me a nice name?” Divya thought for a while and replied “fine. I’ll name you Ami, meaning friend.” They then head straight towards home.
Her mom is sitting near the T.V. The news flashes that earth is successfully being moved away from its orbit. It will be placed just behind Pluto so that the unstable sun cannot cause any harm. There was a sigh of relief. But suddenly something goes terribly wrong and the Satellite Control Base on earth loses control of the satellites. Earth begins to move frenziedly. One can actually feel the earth moving. Ami and Divya lie down on the ground.
“Hey, what’s happening?”
Ami closes his eyes and checks through his antennae.
“Your planet is running randomly in the space.”
“W…H…A…T…!” She looks up. The sky is changing colours rapidly and it is appearing so scary! No words can describe this sight.
Now even the scientists give up the hope and it is left to the almighty. The atmospheric conditions begin to change rapidly. The speed of earth keeps accelerating. Suddenly, it becomes dark. It is like an endless scary night which is dark with no moon or stars.
It is sure that there is no danger from the Sun but, WHERE ARE WE GOING?