AmEarth

Pat Jackson sat in his Christchurch apartment’s small bedroom office. He used an old oak armchair with four wheels and was surrounded by walls layered with newspaper clippings concerning AmEarth. On his TV, the image of Peter delivering the last message of the AmEarth government was being broadcast—the same image and words that were being shared all around the globe. He knew that this was the moment. He prepared a backpack with camping equipment and tools, as well as his laptop computer. His office was disheveled and grungy, and even his telephones looked like they were from another era. All of his furniture was coated with a thick layer of dust and grime, as though they belonged in an antique store or at a garage sale. Pat got up, ready to leave, when the phone rang.

“Pat? It’s me, Ted,” Mr. Landon said.

“Ted, I can’t talk right now. What is it?” Pat replied shortly, clearly irritated.

“Did you hear the news?”

“Of course we heard. It’s a blatant use of misinformation! You know what this means, right?”

“I think so.”

“Well, then let me go about my day. Every man, woman, and child will need instructions in the days to come, so I need to go. Good-bye Ted.”

Pat hung up before Ted could say good-bye. He left his apartment and got in his old Range Rover. His mission took him out to Mount John and the University observatory, about three hours away from Christchurch. He needed to meet with Professor Oliver Cook as soon as possible. The only way out of this predicament would be to mount the offensive communications attack they had planned to deliver to the world. He regretted for the thousandth time that the New Zealand Parliament had rejected the project in the past by citing the possibility of an invasion. Now, New Zealand would probably be invaded anyway and the information campaign had never been launched. Who knew how close AmEarth was to invading?

On the way to the observatory, Pat noticed that many people were standing on the side of the road, looking up in a bewildered daze. It was working even here! Alien fear was gripping the country, which would make the takeover all the easier for AmEarth. He drove as fast as he could, speeding down Tekapo-Twizel Road and then onto Godley Peaks Road before finally arriving at the deserted mountaintop where the observatory building sat. It was a hangar-like steel structure with a multimillion-dollar observatory attached to it. It was almost comical to contrast the two buildings that composed the complex. Pat parked, entered the huge metal doors of the building and made his way toward the part of the building that connected with the round wall of the observatory. Inside the observatory there was another entry door and a staircase going up and around and into the main observation room.

“The end of the world,” Pat said with what little breath was left in him.

“Literally or figuratively?” Professor Oliver Cook’s voice emanated from behind the huge telescope, seemingly unconcerned.

“Both! You should have seen what I saw,” Pat said.

“What?”

“People on the streets looking up at the skies, worried about nothing but the infinite threat of a hundred billion galaxies. I’m afraid that it might be too late for our campaign now.”

“It’s not in our hands any longer.”

“Have you heard from the government?”

“Not yet, but I expect the worst.”

Pat did not realize that the knowledge Oliver had on Kepler 3763 was as impossible to grasp as the story being told by AmEarth. The truth was that Oliver held differing views on many issues that were rapidly becoming religion throughout the world. They sat there waiting and silently pondering their individual helplessness. Then the phone rang.

“Mr. Prime Minister?” Oliver said.

He motioned for Pat to keep quiet and his face became stone cold serious.

“Oliver, I can’t…No, I won’t enact your mandate,” declared Robert Smith, PM of New Zealand.

“But sir, the truth is not what we’re being told. I have proof,” Oliver argued.

“At this point, the people of New Zealand would suffer the wrath of a world in mass psychosis, and then we would be blamed for all their ills. How can I force our men to fight against the world? It’s mass suicide. I can’t do it! I trust your knowledge, but I regret that I can only use it now—when it’s too late.

“Where are they?”

“They have taken the port of Christchurch.”

“Damn!”

“I have arranged an online meeting with President Chen; I wanted to give you warning to lock up the information that you have on Kepler 3763. They must not get their hands on this information. It might be useful as leverage in the future, understood? It might be our only leverage with AmEarth in the future. Secure it as soon as possible.”

“Yes sir. Of course. Yes.”

Oliver hung up the phone and looked directly into Pat’s eyes.

“New Zealand will be joining AmEarth,” he stated in a complete monotone, shocked himself.

“Holy mackerel!” Pat uttered, as he could think of nothing else.

“Another bloodless coup by AmEarth.”

Pat fell into his chair, sickened by the feeling of defeat.

“What now?” he asked.

“We need to keep all of the information on Kepler 3763 as secret as possible!” Oliver replied.

Pat agreed and began moving data from the main drives of the Mount John Observatory to Pat’s laptop and other small computer drives.

“Whatever you do, do not tell me where you hide your laptop. I won’t tell a soul where I hide these,” Oliver stated as he gestured at the USB drives.

“Okay.”

“Now go. I’ll leave here after you call me from your apartment. That way, the copies will be safe in two locations.”

With that, Oliver hit the delete button and the hard drive of the observatory computer began to erase the contents of all information regarding Kepler 3763. Pat and Oliver parted ways. New Zealand’s PM was signing the online treaty around the same moment, and AmEarth’s invasion of New Zealand resulted in a pen-led coup that lasted less than two minutes.

The prime minister of New Zealand was offered a new position as the minister of Parks and Wildlife, with its headquarters in New York and staff in every continent on the planet. He was entrusted with the welfare of millions of acres of open land. He did not seem to realize what a powerful job this was, as AmEarth managed all of the world’s wildlife and its habitat. Despite that fact, the entire proceeding was no great consolation to a truly independent man with firsthand knowledge that any “New World” government was based on a hoax.