The Nature of Predators

Memory transcription subject: UN Secretary-General Elias Meier

Date [standardized human time]: July 13, 2136

The 2136 climate change summit was the latest in an ongoing saga, complete with the usual finger pointing and empty promises. The United Nations had taken on a role as a central world government following the Satellite Wars of the late 21st century; Russia, China, and the United States were still rebuilding their crippled power grids in its aftermath. After realizing the extent of our dependence on technology, the world’s countries signed the Treaty of Shanghai to govern cyberwarfare. As part of the accord, the UN was given greater authority to mediate disputes, in the hopes of preventing escalation in the future.

Following several natural disasters this year, the general assembly convened to discuss solutions. Investment in fusion energy was the main item on the docket, though I doubted any parties would commit beyond fancy words.

Despite my jaded view, as UN Secretary-General, my presence was mandatory at all of these events. I was zoned out while the Canadian ambassador spoke, nodding and smiling every now and then to keep up appearances. An aide tapped me on the shoulder, startling me out of my trance.

“Sir,” she whispered. “I need you to come with me.”

What was so important that it couldn’t wait an hour? My staff were instructed to only approach in an emergency. There was the brief moment of worry, as I wondered whether there was a credible threat to my life. My security detail seemed relaxed though, so that likely was not the case.

I followed her into a briefing room, where several serious-looking individuals were waiting. The amount of military personnel present made me think that some conflict had erupted. The strange thing was that representatives of various space agencies were present, including ESA, NASA, and CNSA. The gears started to turn in my head. The first extrasolar mission had departed a few weeks ago, but they weren’t supposed to return for months. Something must have gone wrong.

I settled down at the head of the mahogany table. “Quite the crowd we’ve got here. Could someone please fill me in?”

“The Odyssey crew made contact with extraterrestrials.” A short-haired woman in a leather jacket passed me a folder. Her nametag read Dr. Kuemper, SETI. “They call themselves the Venlil. According to our new friends, there are hundreds of other intelligent species out there. We’re not alone, Mr. Secretary. This is the biggest news of all time.”

I leafed through the dossier, taking a moment to process the news. The first page was a grainy image of the astronauts, standing with a group of Venlil. The aliens were bipedal, like us, but that was where the similarities ended. They had woolly gray fur, side-facing eyes, and spindly legs that bent inward. I wasn’t even sure if they had noses.

Any information released to the public needed to be handled with the utmost care. Science fiction had gotten people used to the idea of aliens, but the revelation of hundreds of species at once? That would shatter any notion of humanity being special. Some people would be frightened, and we needed to make sure they looked to us for the answers. The last thing we needed was for conspiracy theorists and UFO-hunters to take control of the discussion. The situation could devolve into a panic fast.

Not to mention how delicate communication with the aliens would be. Their culture was entirely new; we could offend them without even realizing. It was no small task ahead of us: learning their language, establishing diplomatic relations, and monitoring potential threats. It would be the work of an entire generation.

“I count at least forty generals in this room, which seems unnecessary,” I said at last. “Are the aliens friendly?”

Dr. Kuemper frowned. “It’s not so simple, I’m afraid.”

“What do you mean? That shouldn’t be a hard question.” I had been expecting a ‘yes’, not a noncommittal reply. My heart sank as her implication hit me. “Either they’re friendly or they’re hostile.”

“The aliens are friendly, except for one species. That species is at war with the rest of the galaxy, and they’re quite the formidable foe. They wiped out 62 worlds, and fighting them has cost billions of lives.”

“They destroyed 62 planets…by themselves?! Jesus Christ. Please, tell me you’re kidding.”

“I wish, sir. There’s a full brief on the page labeled ‘Arxur’ in your file. There’s also footage of them committing every war crime in the book. I mean, they literally eat children.”

“Shit. Let’s face it: we’re barely spacefaring. We need to hammer out alliances with the other aliens, pronto. I want every diplomat relegated to this project.”

“Well, that’s the thing.” Dr. Kuemper gave me an apologetic smile, as though she was about to give more bad news. How could this get any worse? “The Federation is afraid of us. The Venlil governor thinks they wouldn’t want our friendship, even with her blessing. In fact, she says they might attack us on sight.”

“Why exactly?” I asked.

“Humans are predators, and the only other intelligent predator…”

“Let me guess. The Arxur,” I sighed.

The SETI researcher nodded. With a heavy heart, I leaned back in my chair. Humans could be petty and violent, but even on our worst days, we didn’t eat children. You could at least give us that.

A bitter smirk played at my lips. “So I’m hearing not to invite the Venlil to the family barbecue. Yes, Doctor?”

Dr. Kuemper stifled a laugh. “And not to make that comment to them either, sir. I doubt they’d be amused. The poor furballs thought we were there to kill them.”

“But we won them over, didn’t we? Are you certain we can’t bring the Federation around too? I don’t like the odds, us taking on a technologically superior species alone.”

“I’m positive. Tarva was quite emphatic. Our astronauts say her primary concern was for the safety of Earth, as a whole. She believes there could be some…drastic overreactions. After what they’ve been through, I can’t say I blame them.”

In that case, humanity shouldn’t expect a welcome party from our neighbors. It was a shame our evolutionary link with the Arxur precluded that possibility, or even the prospect of civil relations. The fact that first contact hadn’t ended in violence was miraculous, by the sound of it. Things could have fallen apart without the astronauts ever realizing why. We’d know only that the aliens attacked a research vessel without cause; this would be a very different briefing.

I made a mental note to give Governor Tarva a proper thanks, for staying her hand and filling us in. While I didn’t want to rule out swaying the aliens, gambling with Earth’s security was out of the question. Mankind were on our own against a genocidal scourge.

“Well then. This is the rare occasion I’m open to suggestion from the peanut gallery.” My eyes locked with the American and Chinese generals, who appeared to be discussing something. “Do you have a proposal?”

General Zhao cleared his throat. “It’s not all bad news. From what we’ve seen, the Federation’s tactics and weaponry are subpar. We should spend a few months building a proper fleet and running joint exercises. I think if we catch the Arxur by surprise, we might stand a chance.”

“I agree.” General Jones offered a supportive nod, and I raised an eyebrow at her. This might be the first time I’d seen the US and China work together since the war. “Once we’re ready, UN forces can coordinate an offensive. We’ve found several potential targets, including planets where sentients are bred as food.”

“A ground assault is the perfect way to test our forces, without showing our hand. We don’t want to overcommit,” General Zhao added. “If we can liberate some Federation citizens and bring them home, it might buy us some good will.”

“We all agree that these Arxur are a menace, but I must ask. Should we really get involved at all?” I paused, choosing my next words carefully. “So far, they’ve left us alone. By launching an attack, we’ll be announcing our presence to those monsters. We drag Earth into a galactic war and risk untold human lives. Do we chance becoming dead world #63 for a bunch of aliens who hate us?”

“In my opinion, they’ll come for us eventually. We either fight them now or we fight them later,” General Jones replied. “The difference is, if we choose later, we won’t have anyone to stand with us. The Federation is not faring well.”

I grimaced. The Arxur’s sadism was bound to awaken unsavory sentiments, when it was plastered across the airwaves. How were we going to prevent widespread hysteria? My original plan was to break this discovery to the masses gradually, but with such a serious crisis, people deserved fair warning. After all, humanity’s existence hinged on the decisions that were made today. I hoped the public could handle the truth.

“If we’re going to do this, we need unity at home. People need to know what they’re signing up for.” I pressed a hand to my temple, trying to suppress a growing headache. “Release everything to the public, and let them make the decision. If there’s broad support for a war, then we’ll fight the bastards.”

Perhaps the revelation of aliens would make us set aside our differences, and face this threat as a united species. As far as I knew, Earth only had one chance to get this right.