Welcome to Anson Martin's writing portfolio!
Another of my earlier ideas, this excerpt also takes its name from a scientific hypothesis.
The Dark Forest Hypothesis was named after Liu Cixin's novel, "The Dark Forest."
The hypothesis dictates that any space-faring civilization would view any other intelligent life as an inevitable threat.
This excerpt is short but details the reception of a message in English from an alien species seemingly as a doomsday button to a council of scientists.
--Excerpt Begins--
The room was more full of life than it had been in decades. Everyone, from the most detached soldier watching with relative disinterest, to the most engaged physicist of all, stood in front of the screens depicting the crashed object, watching as the team sent there retrieved what looked like a computer from inside. Dr. Werner pushed his spectacles up his nose slightly, as he scribbled notes on the shape of the alien craft.
Thoughts crossed his mind, ranging from shipbuilding materials to projecting the societies they might have inhabited. But unfortunately, he was brought back from his reverie by the host’s newfound clamor.
Dr. Favondola had stumbled in with her cell phone in hand. She was screaming at the top of her lungs, “QUIET!” Though it took multiple repetitions, the crowd eventually did.
Some audio came through her phone, gripped in her white-knuckled hand. It appeared to be from one of the individuals on-site, who had apparently caught the end of a transmission held inside the alien computer. What was most ironic, considering Werner’s position, was the fact that the message was in English, though it sounded like it came from a mouth not designed to speak it.
“You are loud, humans. The ears from the void can hear you, like they heard us. We are detonating warheads across our planet to attempt to slow them down, but we cannot defeat them. It would be in your best interest to be silent now, for the next…”
A loud BOOM and static overcame it. Then came the horrible silence of the room.