“It’s an invasion,” said Baalis, the Minister for Defence. “We must take up arms.”

 

King Ozias IV sighed. Everything was an invasion to Baalis. When it rained, Baalis wanted him to declare war on the sky.

 

But war had almost destroyed the planet and driven them back to the Stone Age. Only in the last century had they clawed their way back to a new age of enlightenment. Ozias would do anything to avoid the mistakes of his ancestors.

 

He stood up from his golden throne. Baalis stepped aside, revealing the hover-platform bearing the capsule that had recently entered the solar system.

 

The white pod was not much bigger than a coffin. Black symbols, strange and unreadable, covered its surface. He moved closer. Through the small window, he glimpsed the hideous head of the alien.

 

Ozias tapped the glass. “Weapons?”

 

Standing behind the artefact, Atarah, the Minister of Science, bowed. “None, sire.”

 

“Chemical threats? Bacterial?”

 

“None, sire.”

 

“Sensors? Communication modules?”

 

“None, sire.”

 

Ozias turned to Baalis. “It doesn’t feel like an invasion, does it?”

 

“Sire,” said the Minister of Defence, “its point of origin was the closest star system. If this reconnaissance vehicle isn’t a prelude to invasion, what else could it be?”

 

Ozias stroked his beard. He could go down in history. King Ozias — the monarch who discovered alien life.

 

Unless Baalis was right. In which case, he’d be known as the idiot who ignored an alien invasion. He waved at the Minister of Science.

 

“Tell me again about the contents.”

 

“The capsule bears the remains of a dead life-form,” said Atarah. “Analysis shows it is based on carbon with crude genetic coding that parallels our DNA. Like us, it has four limbs. The brain, however, is tiny. Curiously, the entity was already dead when placed in the pod.”

 

“I see. The operative word here is, of course, ‘dead’. An invasion of the dead is not likely to succeed.”

 

Baalis shivered. “Zombies, sire?”

 

Ozias considered firing his Minister of Defence on the spot.

 

Fortunately, the Minister of Science put Baalis in his place. “The pod and its passenger have been meticulously analysed,” she said. “The alien life form is dead. Not undead. Not yearning for the cosmic rifts. Dead.”

 

Ozias returned to his throne. “How long did the capsule take to get here?”

 

“Given the incoming velocity,” said Atarah, “roughly 70,000 years.”

 

“70,000 years? We were living in caves when this traveller departed its homeworld. What kind of invasion takes place on such a timescale?”

 

Baalis’s arm twitched nervously. “An uncannily patient one, sire.”

 

“No. The more I think about this, the less I see a threat. I shall announce the discovery to my subjects.”

 

“No physical threat, sire,” said Baalis. “But perhaps the threat is existential.”

 

“What?”

 

“Our people are god-fearing and loyal. Our sacred texts affirm we were the only creatures blessed with sentience. If the masses found out this wasn’t true, that aliens not only exist but are capable of sending things across the stars, they would go mad. There’d be riots in the streets. Sire, there may even be revolution.”

 

“Come now,” said Ozias. “You think my subjects are so simple-minded?”

 

“Many believe the world is flat, sire.”

 

“True. Still, it would be an insane gamble to try to destabilise a civilisation you’ve never met by such a method.”

 

The Minister of Science edged forward. “May I make an observation, sire? The aliens could have sent this corpse with the hope that we can resurrect it.”

 

“What?” said Ozias. “I mean, what?”

 

“They didn’t have the technology to keep this astronaut alive for so long a journey, sire, but wagered we would be advanced enough to resuscitate it.”

 

“Are we?”

 

“No, sire.”

 

“Good thing too. I mean, what would be the point?”

 

“Well, sire,” said Atarah, taking a moment to think. “We could learn about their culture.”

 

“I think I know enough about their culture already. They want us to provide free medical services to unknown immigrants. I’ve never heard anything so repulsive. No. That’s it. I’ve made my decision.”

 

“Shall I prepare the warships, sire?” said Baalis. “Take the offensive to the aliens?”

 

“Of course not,” said Ozias. “We can’t travel there any quicker than this capsule travelled here.”

 

“Perhaps a bomb? Just a little atomic one?”

 

“No, Baalis. We are sending this box back where it came from. Let the natives deal with it.”

 

Atarah said, “Sire, might I make another observation?”

 

“Must you?”

 

“This capsule took 70,000 years to arrive. During that time the alien civilisation should have progressed in space propulsion to the extent that they could build ships to easily overtake this primitive pod.”

 

“What?” said Ozias. “I mean, what?”

 

“Sire, the fact that our galactic neighbours haven’t arrived in those advanced craft leads me to a depressing conclusion.”

 

“Really? Everything so far has been so cheerful. Go on.”

 

“They were exterminated.”

 

“All of them? How?”

 

“War, perhaps,” said Atarah. “Or mismanagement of their environment. Or just sheer bad luck and a big rock from space. In any case, the beings who sent this traveller no longer exist. Returning the capsule would be pointless.”

 

“Well, we can’t keep it here. Baalis is right. It’ll get my subjects riled up. What do you suggest?”

 

Atarah pointed at the ceiling. “Why not send it on, sire?”

 

“On?”

 

“To the next star system. And if there are intelligent life-forms there, perhaps they’ll do the same. This voyager could end up circumnavigating the galaxy.”

 

“The next star system, eh? Good idea. Let it be someone else’s problem.”

 

Baalis pouted. “No warships, sire? No bombs?”

 

“Not today.”

 

And with that, King Ozias ordered them away. Soon, the capsule was launched into space and quietly forgotten about. By everyone except Atarah, that is, who, weeks later, managed to decode its strange, black symbols:-

 

‘Here lies former President of United Earth, Stella Li. Born in Nairobi, Kenya, her lifelong dream was to travel the stars. Soon Humanity will join her in exploring the universe.’