The saurian preference to be close to water was noticeable in all of their buildings; Primo explained they had created many large inland lakes in areas distant from the sea. At first I was puzzled as I couldn’t recall any hopping animals on my Earth which were comfortable in water – until I remembered frogs.
Overall, the most obvious difference in the saurian world was the lack of crowding, pollution and squalor, and the care with which buildings and other developments were blended into the landscape. It looked like an earthly paradise.
‘Despite these superficial differences,’ Primo continued, ‘the most significant factor has been our deliberate development of mental abilities; what you would call extra-sensory perception and telepathy. This is more than just convenient; it has had immense consequences for our society. For thousands of years, every member of our species has been able to understand everyone else without difficulty. And I do not just mean comprehend their meaning, but fully appreciate their point of view and understand precisely how they feel. We have found that this has made serious conflict effectively impossible. We still hold different viewpoints and debate issues, of course; we remain distinct individuals with our own attitudes and priorities. But collective decision-making, when many of us gather together to share thoughts and feelings, results in conclusions which we all accept and adhere to. You will not be surprised to hear that crime virtually disappeared, because deceit is also impossible. We have found ways of transmitting our feelings electronically, so our television relays our emotions as well as sights and sounds. Not even our politicians can deceive us,’ he added, as straight-faced as ever, and I relayed to him the flicker of amusement around the audience – as well as some sparks of concern, presumably from the politicians present. He paused before continuing, his expression more serious.
‘We developed space travel thousands of years ago but have never been able to find a way to travel faster than light so, except for robotic probes, we are effectively limited to our own solar system despite our long lives. Our probes have revealed, as you are presently discovering, that most stars have planetary systems. I can also tell you that on most planets where water-based life is possible, it has developed. In many cases, large plants and animals have evolved. But on no other world, so far, have we discovered the type of intelligence likely to develop a technological civilisation. Of course, we have only been able to examine a very small fraction of this segment of our Galaxy over what is, by astronomical standards, a very brief period of time. It is statistically probable that civilisations have developed elsewhere, but perhaps they are too far away, or we are too early to find them – or too late.’
The audience’s attentive silenced deepened; they sensed that he was coming to the critical part.
‘So our exploratory urges have become focused on our discovery of the parallel worlds. We located the group of human worlds only with difficulty, and what we discovered caused us great concern. As you have heard, all of our saurian worlds only differ in detail; but that is not the case with the human worlds. Although we have only been aware of your particular world from the date when you first invented radio about a century ago, you were not the first human world to achieve this step.’
I gained the distinct impression that the audience was beginning to suffer from shock fatigue, but Primo did not spare them.
‘We became aware of the first human world several centuries ago. Shortly afterwards, we suddenly lost contact; without continuous radio or television broadcasts, we cannot tune in our viewers, so we are not sure what happened. However, from what we learned beforehand we believe that their civilisation was wiped out in a global nuclear war. We have similarly lost contact with many other human worlds we discovered.’ He looked grimly out at the Assembly. ‘Others, more advanced than yourselves, we have maintained a link with, but their civilisations have declined from their peak.’ The screen showed a desolate Manhattan, half-sunken ships by the decaying dockside, buildings dirty and forlorn, many windowless.
‘The reasons for this are varied, but contain a similar mix of elements: exhaustion of an increasing range of fuels and other mineral reserves; overuse of agricultural land, reducing its fertility; escalating pollution of the environment; climate change triggered by gaseous emissions from industry and the destruction of forests, which has turned formerly productive areas into deserts; a rise in seal level due to ice melt, drowning many cities and fertile coastal areas and precipitating a breakdown of the world economic system; a world-wide shortage of fresh water, and, underlying all of these, a world population of humans far too great to be sustainable. The end result of all of this has been economic collapse and mass starvation.’ The screen showed a series of appalling scenes, each focusing on the Manhattan area. In one, a rather different version of the Statue of Liberty was in water up to her knees. Primo paused before continuing with slow and deliberate emphasis; ‘this has happened to every human civilisation more advanced than your own!’
I scanned the Assembly intently; all sat stunned, several of them showing signs of deep shock. Primo continued gravely. ‘We have at last succeeded in developing a method of communicating with a parallel world, just in time to stop your world from suffering a similar fate. But time is short and you will need determination to succeed in avoiding this.’ Behind him, packs of feral, starving children battled across a recognisable Times Square. ‘This was the last image we received from one human world, just before we lost contact.’ He paused for a few moments. ‘You will need time to absorb this, I appreciate. I will leave you now and return in a few days, when we can discuss how we can help you.’ The screen faded to dark.
I expected pandemonium to break out, but instead the representatives looked around them in silence. Reading their mood, I realised that they were mainly in shock, but also unwilling to show any reaction in case it should prove to be inappropriate. I relayed this to Primo, a little uncertain as to what to do. I soon concluded that they were in no state to listen to anything else I might say, so I slipped out and met a white-faced Freya outside.
‘Is it true?’ She whispered.
‘Every word,’ I said flatly. Linked to Primo as I had been, I shared his anguish and horror, the overpowering sense of desperate urgency. ‘Now let’s get out of here.’
The return to our Long Island base passed almost in silence. As we travelled up the East River, I asked the skipper, who had introduced himself as Matt, the name of the railway bridge we were passing under.
‘Hell Gate,’ he replied.
7
The news that evening was full of Primo’s speech, interspersed with reactions from politicians, other notables, and commentators. Some reactions were predictable; the environmental movement was at full throttle, endlessly repeating variations on “we told you so!” The nuclear disarmament lobby also popped its head up briefly, before becoming snarled up in arguments over the pollution-free benefits of nuclear power. Many other reactions were cautious and confused, particularly from politicians and religious leaders. They seemed to be biding their time. On a more trivial level, several popular newspapers promptly dubbed the saurians “kangasaurs” – a name which was to stick.
Late the next day the first counter-reactions began. Some programmes featured experts from the computer graphics industry who pointed out that they could have created Primo – and his entire presentation – in their workshops, given a little time. Leaders of major industrial and petro-chemical companies also delivered cautionary speeches about the impact of curtailing their activities on their national economies in general, and employment in particular. Some of the more off-centre political leaders of developing countries directly accused me of master-minding a faked-up plot to try to deny their people the wealth enjoyed by richer nations.