The Future of Mankind

by Elliot Richard Dorfman

Looking at least forty years old but handsome and distinguished, Mr. Bart Randolph had just moved with his trusted brown mastiff dog Gladiator to a small cottage located in a solitary area of upstate New York. He didn’t go into the nearby town much and only had a few social contacts. People who did get the chance to meet him felt there was an air of mystery about him.

It was a clear September night when he took Gladiator out for a late walk. There was a full moon and the stars shone brightly in the night sky. The leaves were just about to turn color, and there was a hint of fall in the air. From afar, a lonely bird gave out a haunting cry. There was a rustling of the bushes directly in front of him. His mastiff barked a few times. A tall figure appeared, but remained in the shadows of the moonlit trees.

“Hello, Randolph.” The stranger spoke in a low tone.

“Do I know you?”

“Not yet, but you will.”

“Stop playing games and come out from the shadows, I can’t see you clearly.”

The figure slowly stepped out. His face was hairless and he had a milky-white complexion. It stared intently at Bart with flashing, lizard-looking eyes.

His strange appearance didn’t deter Randolph. “You’re trespassing, mister.”

Gladiator growled, sensing his master’s anger.

“Calm down, Bart,” the figure commanded. “I was coming to see you with an important proposition.”

Bart shrugged. “You should have said so right away and stopped playing games.”

“You might find this hard to believe, but I’ve traveled from a planet that is in another solar system within the Milky Way. My species developed a few centuries before yours. Recently, we began observing Earth. We’ve noticed that as you humans are becoming advanced, you’re taking a dangerous path that is already leading to destruction and devastation on your planet.

“Now that you are beginning to explore outer space, my people feel that other living things in this galaxy and beyond may be disturbed or even endangered by your curiosity. We have decided that it would be beneficial if your species was eradicated from the Earth.”

Bart was puzzled. “You certainly look strange enough to be an alien, so maybe it’s true, but why you are telling me this?”

The alien shrugged. “Ah, because you are special. I’ve been monitoring you for a while and know that you are an introvert and stay away from most people. If you are willing to help me achieve my mission, I will let you be the only human being to live and will even bring you back to my planet.”

Bart shook his head. “And then what: be exhibited in a cage like an animal in the zoo? I don’t think I’d like that. Besides, with all of your scientific knowledge, you shouldn’t need my help at all.”

The alien sighed. “Unfortunately I’ve encountered a problem. In order for me to have full dexterity on your planet, I can’t wear my space suit. I didn’t realize it would be so cumbersome. Therefore, I must inject myself with a serum that helps my lungs filter your planet’s air so I can tolerate it. As luck would have it, I didn’t bring enough serum to sustain me on this mission. Therefore, I can’t stay away from my spaceship much longer. I will not be able to complete my mission, which is to place on each of earth’s continents a device that will painlessly wipe out your species in seconds.”

“So you want me to do your dirty work? No thanks.”

The alien was becoming annoyed. “Oh, stop acting like a childish brat.”

He moved close to Bart and stared directly into his eyes. “There are ways that I can make you help me.”

For a moment Bart felt himself becoming mesmerized by the powerful stare, but he forced himself to clear his mind and regain his own thoughts.

The alien was surprised. “You have a strong will!”

“I am much stronger than you think,” Bart replied. “Actually I suggest you leave while you still have a chance.”

The alien laughed. “That’s funny, a lowly human who has the guts to threaten me.”

But suddenly, the alien began to pant and stagger, falling to the ground. “The serum is losing its potency,” he weakly managed to say. “I must get back to my craft. It’s in a clearing in back of the grove of trees. Please, help me.”

“And you call yourself advanced? It seems to me that your whole task has been a miserable failure. You are the one to be laughed at.” He lifted up the helpless alien. “Yes, I’ll help you. I’m not as heartless as you. I have a conscience, unlike your race, which has lost it due to an arrogance stemming from an inflated ego.”

Bart seemed to have unusual strength and carried the alien as if he were a feather, Gladiator dutifully following along beside them. Within a few minutes they reached an oval metallic space object.

The alien turned when he was aboard and stood at the entrance to his ship. “I must leave, but I’ll be back shortly to complete my mission. In the meantime, if you wish, I am still willing to take you back with me as a reward for saving my life.”

Bart had a smirk on his face. “No, I don’t want to return with you, nor will you ever come back to this planet to complete your mission.”

Bart’s appearance altered. He grew four times his size, and a golden aura emanated from his body.

“What’s going on?” the amazed alien muttered.

“I am not originally from Earth,” Bart replied. “You may be surprised, but you are not as advanced as you may think. I come from a race of people that evolved many millions of years ago. We traveled across the universe and found this perfect planet to help perpetuate my kind by evolving what is now the human race.

“I and many others like me have stayed on to protect the future of mankind if things get out of hand. After all, homo sapiens has been around for only two hundred thousand years. We do not want any help and will not allow any other foreign entity, such as you, to interfere. If you try to cross us, there will be consequences to pay.”

The alien was enraged. Going into his craft, he returned and aimed some kind of a triangular-shaped object at Bart.

Bart simply waved his hands at the alien, and the alien and his space ship vanished into nothingness.

“Oh well, you can’t convince them all. I guess it’s good riddance to bad rubbish,” Bart said to himself, as his appearance returned back to its former state. He calmly finished walking Gladiator and then returned back home.

to Challenge 331...