"The aliens' device orbits our stars."
"Purpose?"
"Increases the rate our white star absorbs our red giant. Vastly."
"Result?"
"White star will explode."
"When?"
"One-hundred years."
"Why?"
"It's complicated – hydrogen, mostly. Fear."
"'Fear?'"
"The aliens dread our ancient ways. Rightly. We were many cannibals in Mother Shark's wombs then."
"Plan?"
"Our Thinkers unraveled the device's quantum tongue and learned much. Quickly."
"Yes?"
"Terror unites us. Wrath."
"Plan!?!"
"We know the enemy. They call their cradle world 'Earth' though it is mostly water. Our colonization fleets sail toward their system.
"Good."
"There is one Earth, and it will be ours."
"Soon!"
***
I originally wrote this drabble for the November 2019 One Earth prompt sponsored by ScienceFiction. A "drabble" is short fiction that is exactly one-hundred words in length.
R Aquarii is a binary star about 650 to 710 light-years from Earth, depending on who you ask. It is located in the constellation Aquarius.
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Survive to Swim
Science FictionA new but growing collection of scifi micro-fiction and poetry. Remember, Water is Hope!
