The Vican Chronicles Ch. 01

I still remember the day they arrived. It was a lovely spring morning. My mom had just made me my favorite breakfast- bacon and eggs sandwich. I had just sat down to eat with my dad who was watching the news. As normal a day as any. Suddenly the channel interrupted its regular programming for a special announcement by the President. Excitedly we all listened in rapt attention as he made the historical briefing. Apparently we were not as alone in the universe as previously thought. Apparently the aliens, or as he referred to them, extraterrestrials, had hopped on a spaceship and landed somewhere in rural Maryland. Apparently we puny humans had so far been unable to make contact with them, though, in his own words, "all reason indicate that the visitors come in peace (sic) ". The so called leader of the free and not so free world now stood before a stunned and scared world as he explained to them that there was absolutely no reason to worry, that we should go forth on our daily routines as though nothing happened, and to leave such mundane everyday extraterrestrial affairs to the experts.

As we kids piled on to our school bus, I recognised the same look of fear and excitement in each of our eyes. For the rest of the day, all we could discuss was aliens. Would they be green? Would they be good? Would they have tentacles? Would they eat us all? The games during lunch hour all involved spaceship dog fights.

For some reason the teachers all seemed to ignore the great excitement throughout the day. It wasn't until our science period that our teacher, Miss Banks addressed the elephant in the room.

"We are lucky to be alive in such a momentous time in history," she said in that sweet voice of hers. "Soon we will have the chance to coexist and flourish in harmony with a civilisation much unlike any we have seen in history"

I raised my hand to ask the question that had troubled me since morning. "Miss Banks, how do we know that they want to coexist in peace with us? What if all they want is war?"

"Nonsense William," she said in a derisive tone. "Any civilization advanced enough to develop interstellar travel would never seek war. I'm sure they are as curious about us as we are about them. And I'm sure we can teach one another many things."

That day at dinner time I noticed that my dad wasn't home yet. He worked in the Air Force as an engineer and routinely worked late, though today I felt something was different. As me and my mom ate dinner in silence, my mind was filled with questions. For some reason the government had stopped giving out any information regarding the situation. The news Channels were playing the President's speech in loop, dissecting and over analyzing every tic and turn, mainly because they too was frustrated about lack of any new information. The place where the ship landed was cordoned off and the people in nearby towns were evacuated. So much for visits of peace.

That night, in spite of all the questions in my head, I slept fitfully and well. Which was good.

Because the next day the world as we knew it was going to end.

*******

"So. What do you think William? Can it be rigged?" asked Jim in a hopeful tone.

"Not quite sure," I said. To be honest the machine looked just fine. It was seemingly cutting edge technology from the pre-invasion times. Sadly we couldn't use it for the task at hand.

"Come on man. If you can't do it nobody can," he said thumping my back. "Besides, just think how happy Torban is gonna be if you do it."

I opened the underside and examined the motors of the junk. Looked great. That meant there was just one thing I needed.

"I'll need to replace the blades. Do you think Torban will set us up with any Myrian steel?"

"Yeah I'll talk to him man. Although I think he will want to stand in when you're fixing it."

"Of course," I said. Myrian steel was forbidden for us humans to use or wield.

"What is going on here?" came Torban's angry baritone. Speak of the devil. "Jim, Why is the chief gardener not present when the gardening activities begin?" Turning to me he added, "And you, handyman. Did I not tell you to fix the leaky faucet in the staff kitchen?"

"I fixed it yesterday, My Lord," I said averting his eyes. It was forbidden for a human to look a Vican directly in the eyes, or to show any signs of disrespect whatsoever. It didn't matter whether it was a low life peon like Torban or the great emperor himself. Humans were beneath Vicans and that was that.

"I was showing William the old lawnmower to see if he could rig it up for use in our lawns, My lord," Jim added

"And what do you think boy? Can it be?" He asked turning to me.

"I'll need some Myrian steel to replace the blades, My lord," I said. "The current blades won't cut through Myriagonian grass. Or any Myriagonian flora for that sake."

"Hmm. I guess that can be managed. Though I will have to be present when you fix it. Can't trust a human with steel. Tell me what and how much you need. I'll send for it."

"By all means my lord." I didn't look forward to working with Torban breathing down my neck, but fixing the mower would be great fun and a break from routine. Honestly, I was bored of fixing light bulbs and broken faucets. This was not why I studied engineering. Of course they weren't permitted to teach us Vican technology in college so most of what I learned was useless, obsolete junk.

"I will get these by tomorrow," he said once I listed down the items I needed. "Meanwhile, I need you to do a job upstairs."

"Upstairs?" I asked, stunned. Normally we were prohibited from entering the upper levels of the house except under special circumstances. Of course how could the Vicans trust us humans to enter their living quarters when just 20 years had passed since the invasion and just 12 since the last rebellion.

"Yes some of the electrical sections of the ladies quarters are acting rather erratically. S'magan can't seem to figure it out. It's pre-Bramification era wiring," he said peering closely at me. "You studied human technology in college right? I think you will be fine for the job."

"If you say so my lord. I'll do what I can," I said. Wow, today was turning out to be my lucky day. I had always fantasised about a trip upstairs. If I was lucky maybe I could finally meet the family I was supposed to be serving.

Seeing the hints of a suppressed smirk forming on my face, Torban added, "Don't get any ideas boy. You will be with me all the time you are upstairs."

"No problem my lord," I said

"Good. Come with me then," he said turning around.

*******

The first sign that everything was not normal came when we woke up to no power and cell phone reception. The old timey telephone in our home was dead too. Alarmed my mom checked with the neighbors who confirmed that they too didn't have either.

Fortunately the gas was still on, so my mom made breakfast while I got ready for school. Sitting down to eat, I could make out the worry lines on her brow. I was worried too, mainly about dad. He hadn't come home last night.

"I'll drop you off at school today," she announced. "And later I'll go have a chat with your dad".

"Why didn't he come home last night?" I asked.

"He didn't call me Will. Maybe he's busy. And now that the phones aren't working of course he has no means of calling us"

"Is it because of the aliens mom?" I asked

"Oh I'm sure it's nothing sweetie. Maybe the government is doing all this as a precaution. I'm sure your dad will be home soon."

Driving to the school we found that the roads were more deserted than usual. Soon enough, when we reached the school, we found it locked with a "CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE" sign on its front gate.

Turning the car around, she made our way west, towards the air force base my dad worked in. As we passed through the streets, we could see a number of people driving pickups filled with belongings making their way towards the town exits. I could sense the perspiration on my mother's brow seeing these scenes. And I could feel my own heart racing.

We found the same situation as my school at the airbase. We were met there by a gruff soldier wielding a weapon who outright refused to let us in or even call my dad out. Apparently the base was in high alert lock down mode. Anyway, intra-base phone link was down too, so there was no way he could send for my dad.

"Don't worry miss," he said in a reassuring tone. "The government's just paranoid with the aliens and all. Your husband and everyone inside is fine. They'll get in touch as soon as everything comes back to normal."

As we made our way back home, mom checked out all the department stores in our way. As expected they were closed. "Well I just went grocery shopping yesterday. At least we won't starve," she said.

The blackout lasted far longer than anyone expected. For 10 long days, we were cut off from the rest of humanity, without either power or anything. For 10 long days we were pushed back to the stone ages. Boredom became our worst enemy. Somehow people refused to leave their houses these 10 days, unless they ran out of food or medicines.

On the 5th day, we ran out of food. My mother piled me into the car and we solemnly made our way to the nearest department store. I expected it to be closed. However when we reached there the store was all trashed up. Someone had broken the glass windows out front and helped themselves to everything inside. Wordlessly my mom made her way outside and beckoned me to follow. We made our way inside through the broken glass window.

My mom quickly took ahold of a trolley and piled out whatever was left onto it. She took some 20 boxes of cereal and instant noodles. On the back shelf I found some 10 boxes of cookies and some candy, which I added to the pile. The store reeked of rotten vegetables, meat and dairy. I later realised that this was how the end of human civilization smelled like.

Peeking into the guns section, I saw that the shelves had been wiped clean. Nothing better than a doomsday to invoke the gun nut dormant in everyone. I just hoped that when the aliens came, those people would come forward to defend their constitution and its precious amendments.

As we made our way back home, my mom announced that we could no longer use the car except for emergencies. The gas tank was half full, though it couldn't be said when gas stations would open. I nodded solemnly. Why would I need to go out after all. We had food, though none of them appetising. We could survive.

The next 4 days passed by uneventfully. On the 10th night, we were woken up by loud noises. Stepping outside, we could see the sky lit up in the west, in the same direction the airbase was. Turning to look at my mom, I found her trying to hold back tears with great difficulty. She quickly composed herself and me and said, "Don't worry baby, tomorrow morning we'll go up to the base and find your dad."

The next morning when we woke up, to our great surprise, the power was back on. The cell phone and internet was still down though, still it for a second it made me very happy. Excitedly I switched on the TV.

The channels were all out, except for Fox News, which had the message, "Special announcement coming up soon." After some half hour or so the screen came back to life and we were shown an empty auditorium stage.

Then the camera panned to show a group of people walking towards the stage. From the back view they looked humanlike. Yet there was something off with their postures. For starters they looked taller and more slender than usual. All of them were wearing differently embroidered cloaks. The group consisted of 3 main people, flanked by some 6 on either side, wielding rifles.

As they climbed on the stage and turned around, their faces came into view. I remember gasping the first time I saw their faces.

They were definitely not the faces of the bloodthirsty little green men we were expecting. And they were definitely not monsters. They looked just like us, yet quite unlike us. For starters, most of them, including the guards had long, silver hair. Their skin had an almost reddish tint. Their movements were lithe and all of them had perfect posture. The first thing that popped into my mind upon seeing them was Tolkien and his elves.

The guards stopped and formed a semicircle around the three main beings. It became evident that these three were the ones in charge. The middle one climbed into the podium and took the mic. And thus began the speech that marked the end of our era and the beginning of theirs.

"Greetings Earthlings," he began in an ethereal voice. The voice was distinctly non-human like, and yet sounded pleasant.

"I know that all of you are perturbed at the events of the past ten days. First and foremost I want to assure you that as long as the discourse remain civil, no harm will come to any human.

"Let me tell you our story which also happens to be your story. We are the Vicans, the original sentient life forms of the universe. We have a recorded history of 7 billion earth years. In this long span we have moved 12 planets. 3.5 billion earth years ago our ancestors identified your planet as a future home for us and sowed the seeds of life here. Yes earthlings, your earth was a great experiment of ours. Your religions have taught you that God made you humans in his form- in a sense that is true. We are the gods that your prophets spoke about. We have been guiding and directing evolution on this as well as many other candidate worlds since a long time. You are our darling children earthlings.

"Our last planet, Myriagon, gave us 900 million earth years of peaceful existence. But alas, the planet will no longer be fit for habitation in a few years. And thus we have come to make this planet our new home. Earth will be our 13th home, once the process that we call Bramification is complete. And for the next 600 million years at the very least, Earth shall be our only home.

"Now let me be clear to you earthlings, Bramification does not mean conquest. It does not mean war, nor does it mean subjugation. Bramification is our process wherein a superior species, like ours, take an inferior species like yours under our wing and introduce you to our technology and culture. Bramification means coexistence. When the earth inevitably becomes uninhabitable in a few hundred million years and our descendents are forced to move again, they will not be alone. You and your descendants will receive technology and comfort beyond your wildest dreams. All the so called problems that your species face today, all of these were faced by our ancestors long ago. Together we will herald an unparalleled era of prosperity and development.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Prince Yadistra of House Prava, third in line to the Imperial throne. I was personally dispatched by my father, our great emperor, who is also your emperor now to oversee the Bramification program. Here to my right is General Driestad of the 5th Sennea, who led this noble mission with minimal losses on both sides.

"Now finally let me clarify the events that transpired in the past 10 days. The so called governments that falsely represented you tried to greet us with war. To them the idea of coexistence was too much to fathom. In one clear voice, they shouted at us- Refugees are not welcome. Refugees, they called us, us whose ancestors created them. So we had no choice but to wipe out those corrupt and ineffective governments.

"However we know that the people of earth aren't as stupid as their leaders. Thus you have nothing to fear from us, as long as you accept us as your masters and follow our rules. As of today, earth is under the control of the Vican Empire and you earthlings are its citizens. Your past national, religious, ethnic or social affiliations are as of today frivolous. To us, you are all our children, and to you, we are all your elders.

"Within 6 months, our colonisation ships will begin arriving on earth. Within 3 years, every Vican on Myriagon will be relocated to Earth. Before that we have a lot of work to do. So as subjects of the great empire, it's all of your duty to get to work with this process of Bramification."

"After all," he added with an unmistakable chuckle, "Your gods are coming home finally. So do your best to welcome them to your home"

*******

As expected, Torban took me into the home through the back entrance. The house was a modest Victorian style mansion built in the late 70s by some then Wall Street honcho who wanted to live in a Victorian English setting. Rumors were he even hired a stiff upper lipped butler to finish the ensemble. A financial crash had led to his fortunes crumbling and this mansion getting possessed by some bank, after which it lay empty for a long while, until the invasion. Once the Vicans arrived, it was evident that this was a perfect residence for the governor of the region.

About the governor himself, I knew little much. I knew his name- Lord Viraeta Matseya. I knew he belonged to lesser Nobility among Vicans, yet had made his name during the invasion, due to which he was granted command of the region, which contained much of the New England region of former USA. The mansion was some ten miles outside what was once Boston and faced the sea on one side. All in all he had done quite well for himself. However the real credit was not all his.

His pre war exploits and talents had given him another perk, a wife from a family far above his social standing. Lady Danya Matseya originally hailed from an old Vican noble house, with ties to the Royal Family itself. Her family had been one of the most powerful houses in Myriagon, and even now, her brother was the governor of the region that encompassed former Western Europe. Everybody knew that the Lord had struck a goldmine with his wife, however the fact remained that the Lady being the 6th child out of 9, really had no great prospects. And so about 10 years before the invasion she had married a virtual nobody, overnight turning him into a person to look out for.

After the invasion, the Vicans had allowed cross breeding between humans and vicans, once they determined that it was possible. It was a great miracle that it was possible, since apart from seeding the earth, the Vicans made no move to control Earth's evolution, as I was told later. And yet evolution had taken humans the same way that it took them. The primary hypothesis as to why this happened was that the conditions on earth and the Vicans' original planet was exactly alike. However the 2 species weren't exactly compatible. Pregnancy was 10 times as likely between couples of same species as compared to interbreeding. Still it was possible, due to which it was tightly regulated.

According to the new laws, sex between a Vican female and human male was prohibited. The reason given was the incompatibility of genitals, however everybody knew that this was just a facade. Jim had once shown me a highly illegal porno where a well hung, black dude had screwed the brains out of a Vican chick. Of course we had to delete it after watching. But it proved for us once and for all that the interbreeding laws were bullshit. Especially given the fact that interbreeding between a Vican male and a human female was very much legal and even encouraged.

Accordingly, all the major Vican noblemen were allowed to keep human concubines who were termed as Radas. While they could have just one Vican wife, Radas could be any number.