{"id":4874,"date":"2024-12-01T18:12:51","date_gmt":"2024-12-01T22:12:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/welter\/?page_id=4874"},"modified":"2024-12-01T18:12:52","modified_gmt":"2024-12-01T22:12:52","slug":"2024-terraforming-an-unearthly-earth","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/welter\/fiction-archive\/2024-terraforming-an-unearthly-earth\/","title":{"rendered":"2024 TERRAFORMING: AN UNEARTHLY EARTH"},"content":{"rendered":"
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IMG_7485, Sarah Burrier<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

TERRAFORMING: AN UNEARTHLY EARTH<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By Alicia Hilton<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

When a beam of light brighter than any light you\u2019ve ever seen vaporizes that building, do not scream. Shut your eyes, close your mouth, hold very still. Do not panic. I know that\u2019s asking an awful lot when you\u2019re terrified that you\u2019re about to be fried like a donut, but you\u2019ll have to trust us.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Which building? The blight that\u2019s blocking the sun, that steel and glass monstrosity. That\u2019s the first building of millions the beam will obliterate.<\/span><\/p>\n

Listen, dear. There\u2019s no time for questions. Do not open your eyes. Do not move until we tell you it is safe. We apologize for the dust you\u2019ll inhale. We apologize for the hair loss and the blisters that will blossom all over your skin. The air is going to get very hot.<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no need to become hysterical. Hair grows back. The hair on your head and the cilia in your lungs will regenerate. And you\u2019ll grow a new skin that\u2019s more durable, impervious to heat damage. How is that possible? Our scientific advances make anything possible.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

No, I\u2019m not a parrot or a winged cat. Earth\u2019s birds share the same speaking genes as the avian beings from my galaxy, but I don\u2019t believe any of your parrots or cats are capable of terraforming.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I apologize for laughing. You look like you\u2019re about to faint. Do you need to sit down?<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, terraforming is absolutely necessary. Earth\u2019s atmosphere, the surface topography, even the planet\u2019s core, are too ladened with toxins for my species to thrive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How do I know that the beam won\u2019t kill you? Practice. Of course, we\u2019ve done this before. Thousands of times.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trust me. Our terraforming technology is carefully calibrated. You\u2019ll survive\u2014if you obey. Shut your eyes, close your mouth, hold very still.<\/span><\/p>\n

Think of yourself as a phoenix who has the chance to rise from the flames.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

A yellow elastic band. The truce trussing two twin sisters\u2019 legs who haven\u2019t spoken since they survived the terraforming.<\/span><\/p>\n

Flying saucers. The younger twin wishes her sister never became an astronaut,<\/span><\/p>\n

never led the aliens to Earth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Intergalactic Day starting gun. Human contestants surge across Central Park,<\/span><\/p>\n

hobble, sprint, pummel opponents, scream, racing for extra food rations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Squid. The younger twin crashes into her fate. She sees her ex-wife sitting in the bleachers with her male alien spouse and their tentacled toddler.<\/span><\/p>\n

Blue bottle flies. Alien Insectomorphs buzz beside the finish line, munching on fried cinnamon churros with chocolate dipping sauce. Gossip about subjugated Earthlings tastes sweet.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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Alicia Hilton is an author, editor, attorney, professor, actor, and former FBI Special Agent. Her work has appeared in Breakwater Review, Daily Science Fiction, Eastern Iowa Review, Gamut, Litro, Mslexia, Stoneboat Literary Journal, Strange Horizons, The Quarter(ly), Vastarien, Year\u2019s Best Hardcore Horror Volumes 4, 5 & 6<\/em>, and elsewhere. She is a member of the Horror Writers Association, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association, and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association. Her website is https:\/\/aliciahilton.com<\/a>. Follow her on Twitter @aliciahilton01 and Bluesky @aliciahilton.bsky.social<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sarah Burrier is a student Illustrator and artist residing in Frederick County, Maryland, studying Illustration at Towson University. She specializes in Pen & Ink illustration while being well-versed in other mediums (with a healthy dose of Surrealist humor thrown in). The genres of Science Fiction and Fantasy are a huge inspiration for Sarah\u2019s work and encompass a great amount of her life. When she\u2019s not drawing her own worlds, she\u2019s usually immersed in other Creative\u2019s worlds through reading. More of her work can be found at arahburrier.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TERRAFORMING: AN UNEARTHLY EARTH By Alicia Hilton When a beam of light brighter than any light you\u2019ve ever seen vaporizes that building, do not scream. Shut your eyes, close your Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":590,"featured_media":0,"parent":1301,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/welter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4874"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/welter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/welter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/welter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/590"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/welter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4874"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/welter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4874\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5242,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/welter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4874\/revisions\/5242"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/welter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/welter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}