the new sun
still crisp and bright
warms me as I journey
it paints the strange landscape
in a vivid foreign luminescence
since the Brin arrived
placed their electro-sun in orbit
and terraformed earth
this has become a startling alien world
the Brin are a beautiful species
but ruthlessly predatory
most of humanity
has been captured or killed
I am a surviving fugitive
hiding in an ancient fallout shelter
I embarked at midday
senses alive and alert
hoping I would make contact
with other fugitive humans
survivors of the invasion
they exist
I’ve observed evidence
but it is day’s end
the Brin sun is slowly setting
moonlight will soon bathe
this exotic terrain
our moon still orbits
compatible with their terraforming
early shadows fall across my face
a foreboding settles upon me
there are many shadows now
odd shadows
disturbing specters
that disrupt my nights
disquiet my soul
steal my peace
they come unannounced
almost imperceptible
but no time for worry
there is still far to go
yet here I still stand
captivated
by the haunting
yet terrifying beauty
that is our altered planet
I shudder and sober
turn into the evening breeze
and venture onward
immersed in the eerie blue glow
of the now dimming Brin sun
I am eager to move
drawn by the need to reach my shelter
to reach safety
there are other shelters
so I continue my search
for others still alive
as is now my daily routine
which includes hunting for fuel
used to heat and cook
I burn a pulpy Brin plant
which they call Griscalka
now plentiful on earth
I hunt the Masocca
a Brin wild animal
which I discovered is edible
I scrounge for water
unfortunately not plentiful
but it is part of the Brin ecosystem
in this moment
exhausted
feelings of loss sweep over me
clouding briefly my focus
then they waft
I see across the darkening valley
my shelter
my safety
I’m caught
by a thought
our ancient ancestors
built these fallout shelters
to protect human life
but they never imagined
it would be the remaining few
of all humanity
they’d protect
from predatory extraterrestrials
TO POSSIBLY BE CONTINUED…
This poem was my way of allowing earth, with outside help from the Brin, to strike back and wake we humans up to how we have mistreated our mother Gia. I took my vision of this piece much further in my mind. In the scenario I had imagined, this was several hundred years in the future and there had been a second phase of higher tech shelters built and concealed worldwide, around the year 2100, in response to another wave of significant global conflict, among the people of earth — long before there was even any awareness of the Brin, or that any other extraterrestrials existed. So if the few survivors of the Brin invasion made it to the shelters around the globe — then it would depend on how well the world fared against the Brin. I haven’t yet thought what the number of human survivors might be though. Remember, a number of survivors have been captured and enslaved by the Brin, so there is a potential of more humans escaping into the landscape as well. I would say a total of 20-25% of the world population survived the initial Brin onslaught. Some now imprisoned, some now on the run as fugitives around the globe — not sure right now how those two groups would break down in number. Also, here is a critical point impacting the taking of this story forward. The human communication grid on the earth’s surface is destroyed. However, there is still one communication satellite remaining in orbit, there’s just no way to link to it. Or, might that be painstakingly possible, with major effort by the right faction of fugitives (maybe even some Brin sympathizers)? Hmmmm… One final fact perhaps to consider — the Brin may have enemies out in the universe, capable of space travel. — — Anyway… That is the likely overall situation in which this story could continue?
