Member-only story
An Alien Language
Nobody knew what the aliens wanted
The rain had just stopped in New York City when the colossal spaceship arrived, blotting out the sun and sending hundreds of thousands of cell phone camera-wielding looky-loos into the streets.
A bright red energy beam from the ship instantly incinerated them.
The same horrific scene repeated over London, Tokyo, Moscow, Delhi, Rio, and other cities.
The fiery beams vaporized women, men, children, police officers, taxi drivers, lawyers, messengers, tourists, dog walkers, postal workers, nannies, and food vendors, who had been doing nothing more than taking photos with their phones.
For six hours after what CNN called the First Planetary Annihilation (nobody knew if there would be a second slaughter, but leaders and civilians alike thought that another wave was likely), the ships remained silent and stationary. Early on, a few brave television camera crews pointed their equipment at the ships and shared their sights with the rest of the world. Within a second, the spaceships vaporized them, too. Word spread quickly among journalists: Do not report the biggest news story of all time, at least not first hand.
Where it was day, the crafts cast city-sized shadows; where it was night, the ships blotted out the stars.
