2084-G

Michael Smith sat in the office of the private psychiatrist his friend had recommended him.
"Can you bring people off the police tranquillisers? I came out of prison years ago. I finished my sentence years ago. But I'm still on these things. My doctor has to give me the injections once a month or I just become extremely depressed - angry, crying, almost suicidal."
"Yes," said the psychiatrist. "You would fall to pieces. I can bring you off. You are on 5 anti-depressants. Each of those anti-depressants will be prescribed to you as 3 tablets a day. You will be taking 15 tablets a day. Try taking 14 tablets on a Sunday. Then, when you get used to that, try taking 14 tablets on a Thursday as well."
"So I just keeping reducing my dose by 1 tablet every week and at the end of a year or 2 I can come off. "
"No, I wouldn't try to do it that quickly. Think in terms of reducing your dose by 1 tablet a week but staying on that dose for a month. When you've been on that dose for a whole month, you can reduce it again."
"That would take a very long time."
"Approximately 9 years, yes. It's up to you whether you want me to do this."
"I do want you to do it. I want my mind back. I want my personality back. I know the aliens have achieved a very low rate of crime but at what cost? People are not themselves anymore. I'm not Michael Smith. It's as if my original personality, my original beliefs, my original religion is all against the law and I have been given something to make me conform. When children get into trouble at school, they're sent to the school psychiatrist and given a prescription. When our children are naughty, we give them a soluble pregabalin. Everyone is drugged up to the eyeballs and that's why they're being good. But they're not being good, they're being controlled. I'm glad that somebody like you is taking a stand against this. How much does the treatment cost?"
"Not very much. The prescriptions can all be paid for with an NHS Season Ticket. I advise that we have another appointment in 6 months. I know that most of my customers are on benefits. It's not much more than a private dentist."

Pope Peter II had gathered the leaders of the world to watch him baptise the six alien delegates to the United Nations in the sea. There was a restaurant on a pier that stuck out a quarter of a mile into the water. The leaders of the G7 nations stood outside the restaurant watching the Pope and his alien converts. The 35 members of the European Union stood around the bar having drinks, watching the ceremony on the big screen. The purple octopus spoke into the microphone.
"It is not the normal custom of the Roman Catholic church to baptise adults by total immersion but I requested this ceremony because, for many of us, water is our natural habitat." The purple octopus climbed into a fishing net which some men lowered into the sea. The pope pronounced the blessing.
"I baptise you into the Holy Roman Catholic church in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and in the name of the blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady, Queen of Heaven." The men lifted the net out of the sea. At that moment a yellow disc appeared in the sky. It looked like the sun but it wasn't the sun. It was a very cool light and you could look at the bright yellow disc without hurting your eyes. It also seemed to be spinning around and showed bands of beautiful colours. It descended from the sky and went below the water. The purple octopus got out of the fishing net and the grey alien with silver skin and big almond eyes got into it. They all took their turn to be baptised.

Chris Jones was sitting in the driving seat of his van watching UK News on the tiny little television that was built into the dashboard. Vivian Balding was presenting the programme. Vivian Balding was the non-binary news reader. In their skilfully created unisex outfit, you really couldn't tell if they were a man or a woman.
"What are we going to do about the growing number of dangerous cults?" Vivian asked. The scene changed to a preacher in a church. Chris recognised the preacher. It was Michael Smith.
"If you become a Christian you will go to a place called Heaven. If you don't become a Christian, you will go to a place called Hell." The scene returned to Vivian in the studio.
"Gary Speaks is our religious correspondent. What do you say to that?"
"They are like Isis. I am shocked and appalled by preachers who believe that there is only one way to God. The ten commandments are in all the world's religions. Prayer and meditation are in all the world's religions."
"Would you say it's a growing problem?"
"Yes Vivian, I think it is. The Church of England and the Methodists used to be quite open and quite liberal on these matters but now they're becoming very extreme. They say the Bible is uniquely the Word of God and that people need to be born again or they will not see the Kingdom of God."
"What should be done?"
"Strengthen the anti-hatred laws. This is not good for harmony. We are all the brotherhood of man. We are all humankind."

Michael Smith sat in a room with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Home Secretary. Why had an ordinary, unsalaried lay preacher been invited to a meeting with two such important people?
"Mr. Smith," said the Home Secretary. "We will make you a bishop of a major city. All you have to do is stop teaching that Jesus is the only way to God."
"Name your salary," said the archbishop. The thought of a high salary was tempting. Michael lived in a tiny rented caravan. The rooflight leaked. His main meal of the day consisted of tinned hot dogs with rice and any vegetables he could find for less than £2. Still, he said,
"Jesus said I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man comes to the father but by me."
"I'm sure he didn't mean that in the way it has been traditionally understood," said the archbishop. "We are all evolving into Christ, we will all develop the same supernatural qualities. We will all become one with the cosmos and then we will find the way to the father. The ten commandments are in all the world's religions, Mr. Smith. God just wants us to be good."
"The Bible says that no one is good, no not one. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
"All right, we get it wrong from time to time. But then the ascended masters come down and tell us how to live."
"If the world could be put right by great moral teachers telling us how to live then Christ died for nothing."
"Indeed it will take more than good moral teaching to set the world to rights. We are all evolving. We human beings will become telepaths and miracle workers. God himself is evolving. Stop quoting the Bible, Mr. Smith, God is not the God of the Bible anymore. The godhead is a new emerging deity. A totally different kind of God. The universe is evolving. It will become a living organism. Then we will all be one with the cosmic Christ, in Christ consciousness. That is what Jesus meant when he said he was the only way to the father." Michael Smith leapt off his chair.
"I will not fasten the noose you have created to go around humanity's neck!" He ran from the room.
"Should I have him arrested?" the archbishop asked the Home Secretary.
"No. Watch him. Watch him very carefully."

In 2112 Ramadan and Lent occurred at more or less the same time. The large square in front of the Vatican was full of Muslims and Christians fasting and praying. They all prostrated themselves on prayer mats, the Muslims kneeling towards Mecca, the Christians copying the Muslims and simply kneeling in the same direction. The Pope appeared at a window in the Vatican and addressed the crowd through a microphone.
"Ladies and Gentlemen and anyone else who may be among us, we are fasting and praying for a very important and specific event. The opening of a doorway into another dimension. Aliens do not need spaceships to bring them here from Mars. There are millions of aliens on Earth already. They are all around us all the time. They are hidden from view. They are in another dimension. As the universe evolves we will see the barriers between the dimensions break down. It will become easier to cross from one parallel universe into another. Millions of aliens will come into our dimension." Chris was watching the tiny television on the dashboard of his van. He was trying to find Michael Smith. What would he have to say about this? He found Michael Smith sitting on a deckchair outside his caravan on a warm summers day. This was Michael Smith's own personal channel.
"The Earth is about to be subject to a huge alien invasion but not as it might be imagined in old films. In a few weeks time we will see a very considerable number of alien encounters of the same kind that we have seen before. This time it will be on a much larger scale. We will all see flying saucers, we will all encounter aliens. If you are asked to go on an alien spaceship do not enter it. These beings are evil. They are not from other planets. They are from a supernatural dimension. It will be as it was in the days of Noah. The sons of God will breed with the daughters of men. Why this obsession with the female reproductive system? One family had lots of troubling abduction experiences but learned to stay close to God. Do not neglect daily prayer and Bible study. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. If you see an alien you should begin to pray in other tongues, pray in the tongues of men and angels, or recite a Bible verse or sing a hymn. Draw closer to God. He will protect you. Have no illusions about going for a pleasure flight in a flying saucer. These beings are evil. Repeat, they are not really from other planets. They are Satan masquerading as an angel of light."

On Bank Holiday Monday there was another strange story on the news. Vivian Balding sat in the news room as Chris watched television with Maria and Darrell in Maria's caravan. Vivian had their long brown hair in a pony tail and was old enough to have a hairline at the front that was slightly receding. Somehow Vivian's hairdresser had produced a mane of brown hair at the front that seemed to be receding slightly on both sides, a sign that Vivian Balding was middle aged and, well, balding. Their bright purple Angela Ripon suit jacket belonged to another century.
"Dad, are they a man or a woman?"
"I don't know. You're not supposed to be able to tell. They dress like that so no one can tell."
"Well, someone ought to ask Vivian Balding, are you a man or a woman?"
"Darrell, promise me that you will absolutely never ask such a thing," said Maria. "It's a very rude question to ask. If someone's transgender, it's polite not to notice."
"Millions of holiday makers are stranded overseas," said Vivian Balding. "Airlines have grounded their planes as a result of a huge explosion in UFO related activity." The scene changed to an airport. Several strange craft were hovering in the sky at a distance of what seemed to be a few miles from the runway.
"We've all had some close encounters with aliens today," said a man with a blue hat and a blue suit. "There are all those things up in the sky. The control tower can see them on the radar too. We don't know anything about them. We don't know what they are." A Chinese couple were lying in sleeping bags in the airport lounge.
"We're terrified," said the woman. "We'll be stuck here for days. And there's all these strange looking creatures walking around the airport. We don't know what they are, they might be dangerous " A being with a green head and huge bulbous eyes walked up to the camera.
"Well, excuse me, it's not very nice being public enemy number one. What have we done to deserve this?"
"You appeared in large numbers and grounded all the aircraft," said the Chinese man in the other sleeping bag.
"Well, it's not as if we're going to eat you. Scaredy snake, you are. I've had breakfast here this morning. Actually, wasn't too bad. A pity about all the people who ran away screaming from the restaurant. And primitive technology. I had to put my pin number into the till before it would let me buy anything with my watch."
"Don't worry," said the news reporter. "They'll probably get used to you, the way they got used to the immigrants in the 21st century."
"I hope they don't get used to us the way they got used to the immigrants in the 21st century. I don't want my hotel set on fire. You know the most dangerous species in the universe? Homo sapien sapien."
"We're not all far right," said the Chinese woman. A blue creature with a dolphin face came up to the news reporter.
"I am the pilot of an alien vessel."
"Is there any danger to the aircraft from UFOs?" asked the reporter. "What would you do if a Boeing 660 was hurtling straight towards you?"
"A Boeing 660 is travelling at 660 miles an hour. 11 miles a minute. Nearly 6 seconds to do 1 mile. Incredibly slow. Plenty of time to get out of the way."
"And if a rocket plane was hurtling towards you at 4,000 miles an hour?"
"That's only one mile a second. Plenty of time to get out of the way."
"You'd have to be quick."
"We are quick. I can do a 90 degree turn at 60 miles a second. And your aircraft travel in straight lines. You think we wouldn't see it coming?"

The scene changed to Vivian Balding back in the studio.
"An emergency debate was held in the Houses of Parliament," they said. The purple octopus was sitting on a green cushioned pew surrounded by middle aged men and women in suits.
"I assure, you there is no danger to any civilian aircraft. Your aircraft fly very slowly and they tend to follow a predictable path. They are easy to avoid."
"Why don't you give us your alien technology?" came a shout from the distance. The purple octopus ignored the question.
"Would you advise an airline pilot never to outmanouvre a UFO?" The purple octopus laughed.
"If the pilot of a Boeing 660 tried to outmanouvre me, I'd outmanouvre him. And if the pilot of a Tesla 4,000 tried to outmanouvre me, I doubt I would actually notice. A Tesla 4,000 is even less manouverable than a jet airliner. It can safely outmanouvre a weather balloon or a telecommunications drone satellite but anything else is too fast. It is a hypersonic rocket plane. It flies a minimum distance of 2,000 miles and isn't really designed to manouvre. I would advise a human pilot to never attempt to outmanouvre a flying saucer as they are likely to do something stupid in the attempt and may cause an accident."

A few weeks later a huge demonstration was held in London. Millions of people lined the orbital roads around the city holding banners that said, 'Aliens Welcome' or 'Welcome to Our World.' They cheered as flying saucers hovered overhead, coming in close so that the aliens could be seen through the windows.

Chris Jones found the church where Michael Smith was a lay preacher on the church's website. He was still addicted to the drugs he had received when he was in prison and received a monthly injection from his doctor. The drugs should have made him compliant but you could not suppress human emotions completely. Chris had a growing feeling that something terrible was going to happen. That these aliens would not be friends for very long. They would quickly begin to harm people or to control and domineer them in some way. He must speak to the only person who would understand his concerns. Chris parked the van in the car park that was next to the church. Michael Smith was carrying chairs up the stairs into the building.
"Hello Michael. It's Chris, we were in prison together."
"Yes, Hello Chris. So many years ago."
"It's happened now. The aliens are among us. But I'm worried about them. What do you think they'll do?"
"Read any flying saucer book, Chris, aliens torment people. They are demonic manifestations. Once they get into people's lives they won't ever go away. Are you having any problems with the aliens?" Michael went to the cupboard inside the church hall and lifted a small table out of the cupboard, put it sideways on the floor and pressed a switch on the side so that its legs electrically kicked out.
"No. I'm not having any problems. There's just no one else I can talk to. I just have this feeling that something horrible is going to happen."
"Chris, it already has. We've got people coming to this church who are so troubled by their close encounters of the third kind that their lives have been ruined. It used to be just a few people, now it's millions of people, and that's just in the north of England."