{"id":17447,"date":"2025-03-07T13:41:04","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T13:41:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/?p=17447"},"modified":"2025-03-07T13:41:04","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T13:41:04","slug":"dog-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/2025\/03\/07\/dog-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Dog Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Then the Lord said, \u201cBecause the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.\u201d – Genesis 18:20-21<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

They were an ancient and patient race. Sympathetic. Considered. Sarcastic.<\/p>\n

The first they knew of us were radio waves which pierced their silence like dilating klaxons. At first, they couldn\u2019t fathom the meaning of those faded, tinny excretions. Their initial thought: a cosmic butt-dial of some distant world\u2019s collective mental breakdown. After prolonged examination, the significance of the messages became clear and, even clearer, what they needed to do about them.<\/p>\n

It took time to get psychologically and technologically prepared. There were details to be drawn out. Matters to be pondered.<\/p>\n

Through a freak of physics I cannot explain, they reached Earth long before the messages which dispatched them to us. They were a little disappointed when they learned they would have to wait a while for Eurovision and the last season of Succession<\/em> and for Dr. Pimple Popper <\/em>but, as mentioned, they were a patient race and took some comfort in having arrived just in time to witness firsthand the legendary fall of Troy.<\/p>\n

It was to be their first encounter with humanity\u2019s propensity for exaggeration.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis shithole?\u201d one of them exclaimed on first sighting the mythical city of horses and discovering it to be a place of meagre towers and ramshackle fortifications, behind whose crumbling walls lay a sprawl of hovels.<\/p>\n

\u201cNeither epic nor poetic,\u201d someone remarked.<\/p>\n

\u201cA packed lunch might be in order,\u201d another cautioned, indicating the worrying proximity of food preparation to sanitation.<\/p>\n

They thought it best not to bust right in. They didn\u2019t quite have the saying \u201cFirst impressions\u2026\u201d but it was close enough. They brainstormed the best approach and decided to remain in stationary orbit over a different country for fifty years each, and to quietly observe (occasionally shop). They took our word that countries or political states were the best way to chunk the task up. Boy, did they come to regret that.<\/p>\n

They held position above us and watched carefully over years which became centuries and centuries which became millennia, waiting for the right moment.<\/p>\n

They picked up and discarded accents, nurtured short-lived loyalties in the manner of ardent telenovela devotees (which they would also eventually become) and squandered hope on numerous lost causes (including, eventually, many of the aforementioned telenovelas).<\/p>\n

Again and again, they were bemused by our ability to disremember, or to downright forget. They saw whole civilisations lost to memory: Atlantis, Arcadia, dusty old Troy. Again and again, they witnessed reality turned inside-out and history stitched from the torn lining.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo these people write anything down?\u201d they frequently wondered.<\/p>\n

They never failed to be impressed by our ability to bend the truth, to sweep inconvenience beneath the most conveniently located carpet and to normalise the most extraordinary fuck ups.<\/p>\n

Many of our greatest achievements, they viewed with distrust or scorn. Despite having had a ringside seat for the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Great Wall of China and the Taj Mahal, they could only view these projects the way we might a child\u2019s meandering sandcastles: estates driven by ego rather than necessity.<\/p>\n

\u201cHanging, my arse,\u201d one concluded acidly.<\/p>\n

\u201cOooh,\u201d another cooed, \u201cyou can see it from all the way up here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot at all a massive waste of bricks,\u201d someone deadpanned.<\/p>\n

They were stationed over Britain during the industrial revolution and watched with contained alarm as six million tonnes of coal was ripped from the ground each day to feed mankind\u2019s growing appetite for boiling water.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can see why they might think this is a good idea,\u201d one noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat could go wrong?\u201d another sighed.<\/p>\n

They saw Hitler coming from miles away. Literally.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe facial hair doesn\u2019t exactly scream stability,\u201d one observed.<\/p>\n

They were not overly fond of wars or revolutions. Not that they were squeamish; it just meant a lot of re-work. All that coming apart, then coming back together, resulted in devilish admin. Political pacts and alliances meant more red tape. The Foedus Cassianum<\/em>, Treaty of Versailles, the EU; each gave them pause but, in the end, they stuck to their guns and to fifty years per country.<\/p>\n

In this way, they\u2019d covered sixty-four countries and had been over the sixty-fifth, Ireland, for about forty-five years when word came through.<\/p>\n

It was time.<\/p>\n

Mary and Dessie were given the assignment and they took a small craft down to the surface, coming in low over the Irish capital.<\/p>\n

\u201cShould I engage the cloaking device?\u201d Dessie asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cHave you seen their air force?\u201d Mary said.<\/p>\n

They landed on the grounds of the official residence of the President of Ireland but not before they\u2019d made a spectacular pass over North Dublin. \u00a0A group of young men in loose-fitting leisurewear (embellished with the branding of a mid-table American basketball team none of them had ever seen play) briefly suspended their assault on two German tourists to allow their jaws tip wordlessly open as the silver craft banked overhead with a loud, satisfying whine.<\/p>\n

By the time they disembarked, a hurried cordon had been thrown around the craft, which Dessie had parked somewhat inelegantly between a waterless fountain and a stone bench on the large front lawn of the estate. A steady stream of curious citizens trespassed onto the parklands along the northern boundary, edging closer with each minute, as news of the visitors spread.<\/p>\n

A local news crew had been diverted from interviewing dog walkers about the amount of dog shit on surrounding pavements in the nearby Phoenix Park and now perched at the opening of the cordon, hand-combing windblown hair and assembling game-faces while allowing themselves full-contact daydreams about Sky News discovering them and the opportunity this might afford to invite Mister Feeney, their dictatorial news director, to stick his maggoty job sideways up his hole.<\/p>\n

The president, a short, ancient, scholarly man with a friendly face but accusatory eyes which lurked beneath scurrying eyebrows, tarried on the edge of the lawn, torn between a sudden clench of self-preservation (spawned by vivid recollections of sensationalist Cold War films in which proxy commies in rubber alien outfits rampaged through cities with ray guns) and a bone-deep drive to fulfill his solemn duty as welcomer-in-chief. With a stoicism born of a hundred rugby international red-carpet greetings he came down on the side of duty.<\/p>\n

The president was flanked by his wife, the first lady, and his aide-de-camp, a military woman with a serious, square face, thick angry eyebrows and a ceremonial sword which she stroked mercilessly.<\/p>\n

The president\u2019s wife, a sturdy, astute Cork woman, piloted her husband with the merest contact to his elbow, weaving a delicate path through growing numbers of police, soldiers and officials as a long liquidy gangplank telescoped out from the silver craft and the two occupants made their way slowly and carefully down the ramp towards them.<\/p>\n

The visitors appeared to be a regular man and a woman in their late twenties, dressed in what the president would have called \u201ccasual attire\u201d if he hadn\u2019t thought it might earn a tired eye-roll from his wife. The president\u2019s wife recognized the female visitor\u2019s blouse as one she\u2019d considered for her own daughter\u2019s birthday during a shopping trip on Grafton Street a few weeks earlier.<\/p>\n

\u201cC\u00e9ad m\u00edle f\u00e1ilte<\/em>,\u201d the president said, bowing somewhat pompously as the two lithe, youthful-looking figures reached them.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo raibh m\u00edle maith agat<\/em>,\u201d Mary answered in stumbling Leaving Cert Irish.<\/p>\n

Dessie smiled and whispered something to Mary but she cut him off with a silent elbow to the ribs.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou speak our native language?\u201d the president asked, somewhat confused but permitting his face to emit only professional delight.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust at an Irish level,\u201d Mary answered with an impertinent wink.<\/p>\n

\u201cExcuse me?\u201d the president said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a joke,\u201d Mary said. \u201cI meant badly. Like everyone else here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAh, right,\u201d the president said with a nervous laugh. He was a proud Gaeilgeoir<\/em> but wasn\u2019t sure his beloved cultural heritage warranted a full-blown inter-galactic diplomatic incident so he pumped a curious, jolly smile into his face and said, \u201cVery good. I\u2019m glad to see you share our\u2026\u201d he hesitated, \u201cEarthling sense of humour.\u201d<\/p>\n

The visitors exchanged a brief smirk and the president\u2019s wife observed a florid diffusion in her husband\u2019s cheeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell,\u201d Mary said, \u201cYou might say we are distant kin of yours.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMight you,\u201d the aide-de-camp said, directing an incredulous look towards the president who was too busy casting his hands in small, delighted circles to notice. His wife tightened her smile patiently. She loved her husband but this was his second seven-year term and sometimes she wondered if she hadn\u2019t married into an intricately stitched straight jacket.<\/p>\n

Timid introductions were made. The president\u2019s wife noted the visitors\u2019 accents: the female\u2019s an inner-city crumble, less frequently heard in recent years; the male\u2019s a ringing specimen of the west Dublin twang; machiney and discordant.<\/p>\n

\u201cI must say,\u201d the president remarked excitedly, \u201cI was expecting you to have more\u2026exotic names.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThose names are very exotic where we come from,\u201d Mary said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAh, of course,\u201d the president said, trying to recall some alien names from what little science fiction he\u2019d seen or read but only coming up with \u201cR2-D2\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe like to adapt ourselves to local customs wherever we go,\u201d Dessie explained. \u201cWe\u2019re very\u2026\u201d he cast about for the right word, \u201cadaptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mary rolled her eyes and shrugged apologetically.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose names were all the rage when we came to Ireland first, in the early 80s,\u201d she said. \u201cThese days,\u201d she offered a small shrug, \u201cnot so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 1980s?\u201d the president\u2019s wife exclaimed. \u201cYou\u2019ve been observing humankind since then?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSince long before then,\u201d Mary said. \u201cThat was only when we came to this<\/em> country to observe your<\/em> people more closely.\u201d<\/p>\n

The aide-de-camp fixed Mary with a baleful look.<\/p>\n

\u201cI suppose,\u201d she grumbled, \u201cyou\u2019re the ones going around the place abducting innocent folks and subjecting the poor craters to cavity searches and mind probes and who-knows-what indignities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI can assure you,\u201d Mary said, \u201cwe\u2019ve no interest in abducting you and even less interest in your cavities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMust be someone else,\u201d Dessie assured them.<\/p>\n

The first lady wafted the aide-de-camp\u2019s remarks away with the back of a hand and gave Mary \u2014 what she hoped might be \u2014 a reassuring pat on the shoulder.<\/p>\n

\u201cJ\u2019know, I can\u2019t believe you\u2019ve been here since the 80s,\u201d she said. \u201cSure, you don\u2019t look a day over twenty-five, dear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mary\u2019s lips lingered in a smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, you should see the daily beauty regimen I have to go through to look like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the introductions had been completed and small-talk indulged, the president suppressed thoughts of ray gun-toting aliens blowing his beautiful furniture to smithereens and gestured towards the Greek-style portico, saying, \u201cWon\u2019t you come inside?\u201d<\/p>\n

The small group made their way past official seals, lithographs and stately pictures, acquiring more unsmiling security and glum secretarial staff as they moved further into the building. The aide-de-camp stroked the brass hilt of her sword urgently now as she entertained visions of alien necks careering against its blade and springing into the air like popped champagne corks. She tipped the silver scabbard forward and back in time to her metronomic step, like the implacable arm of a grandfather clock.<\/p>\n

When they were seated around the large conference table, food and drink was offered but Mary waved it away.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you for your hospitality,\u201d she said, \u201cbut we have something very important to speak to you about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all ears, as the Americans say\u201d the president said with a modest guffaw, his palms upturned inoffensively.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo doubt, the Americans will be along very soon,\u201d Mary said with a bitter smile. \u201cAs will others. This matter affects everyone.\u201d She unclasped her hands and spread them on the table and looked around the room. \u201cVery well. To get right to the point, we are here to let you know that your time is come.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was a collective gasp among the presidential party, security staff, dignitaries, secretaries and service staff.<\/p>\n

An unpretentious tea lady from the Northside of Dublin was in the process of filling the president\u2019s cup. She looked up suddenly and said, \u201cYa bleedin\u2019 wha\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n

The misdirected teapot scalded the president\u2019s hand and he released a shrill yelp.<\/p>\n

\u201cWatch what you\u2019re doing, Molly,\u201d the president\u2019s wife scolded as the president hurried the meat of his hand into his gob and the maid withdrew the pot, staring fixedly at Mary with her mouth tipped open.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you mean, our time is come?\u201d the aide-de-camp prodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry for putting it so crudely,\u201d Mary said with a shrug. \u201cOur leaders felt, given your history, the message might carry more weight if we used stark, biblical language. What I mean is: the human race is to be destroyed. In precisely seven days.\u201d<\/p>\n

A new collective gasp surpassed the first in volume and participation.<\/p>\n

\u201cDestroyed?\u201d the president said removing his burnt hand and emitting a nervous purl of laughter. \u201cThis must be an elaborate joke. Why would you want to destroy the human race?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo prevent a fate worse than death,\u201d Mary said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat fate could be worse than the death of billions of humans?\u201d the president asked prodding his burnt hand delicately.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fate which will happen if humans remain on their current path,\u201d Mary said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd what fate is that?\u201d the president\u2019s wife asked, wetting a napkin in a glass of water and dabbing blindly at the burn on her husband\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntold suffering for humans and the total destruction of all life on this planet,\u201d Mary said as Dessie provided an accompaniment of tight-lipped nodding.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a bit vague,\u201d the aide-de-camp said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI doubt you\u2019d enjoy us being more specific,\u201d Dessie said with a wink.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can you be so certain that this is our fate?\u201d the president\u2019s wife asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause,\u201d Mary said, \u201cwhere we come from, this has already happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHappened?\u201d the president said, almost in a daze. \u201cTo whom has this happened?\u201d<\/p>\n

Mary pointed at him and then allowed her finger to roam about the room,<\/p>\n

\u201cTo everyone here. To all of you. It was\u2014will be \u2014a global event.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that can\u2019t be.\u201d the president spluttered. \u201cThat\u2019s simply incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

The aide-de-camp\u2019s eyes narrowed suspiciously.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do we know you\u2019re telling the truth?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t,\u201d Mary answered, \u201cbut whether you believe it or not will have little impact on whether it happens. What we are proposing is the only humane option available. Your destruction is happening one-way-or-another. I think you know this.\u201d She looked around the table. \u201cDeep down, you all know we speak the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

A few people among the wider staff allowed their faces to sink into devastation. Some stood rigid with anger. Most slumped in naked awe, unable to process what they had just heard.<\/p>\n

\u201cWait,\u201d the president\u2019s wife said. \u201cDoes that mean you\u2019ve travelled back in time? Doesn\u2019t that also mean you can go back in time again and change the course of history to avoid this disaster?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m afraid it doesn\u2019t work like that,\u201d Mary said.<\/p>\n

Dessie nodded glumly.<\/p>\n

\u201cTime is a tricky one,\u201d he said, \u201cand time travel a very tricky one. It\u2019s not like your movies. Unpredictable as hell. For example, we\u2019ve been here much longer than we\u2019d intended to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow long, exactly?\u201d the aide-de-camp asked.<\/p>\n

Mary and Dessie exchanged a look and Mary nodded her consent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThirteen or fourteen thousand years,\u201d Dessie said. \u201cGive or take a few hundred years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFourteen thousand years!\u201d the aide-de-camp gasped. \u201cFor fuck\u2019s sake. Why haven\u2019t you warned us about this before now?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have tried in many ways,\u201d Mary said, \u201cbut you appear to need to be on the brink of destruction before you pay a blind bit of attention to the reality sitting right under your noses.\u201d<\/p>\n

A burst of static came from a red-faced man with a blonde crew cut and a white earpiece and he leaned into the president and whispered something which lifted him out of his seat.<\/p>\n

\u201cPOTUS?\u201d the president said breathlessly and the red-faced man turned a shade redder as he nodded carefully.<\/p>\n

The president sped excitedly to the windows, as though the leader of the free world might suddenly spring from behind the emerald green curtains. He performed a rushed, unpersuasive chortle and pointed out the lights of various news helicopters as they dipped and clattered over the nearby parkland.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve certainly got our attention now,\u201d he said, turning to them, his face a mask of grim determination. \u201cThe world will listen. Humankind will change. I\u2019m absolutely certain of it, given this second chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m afraid not,\u201d Mary said with a curt shake of her head. \u201cYour destruction is inevitable. This is just us giving you a chance to make peace with your end.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group stared back at her in silence and disbelief and with the helpless anger of those who feel certain they have been cheated by fate.<\/p>\n

Mary looked at Dessie and they exchanged a silent nod.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur leaders thought you might struggle to accept our message,\u201d Mary said. \u201cThey felt a parable from your bible might be apt and may help to explain the severity of the situation you face: the story of Sodom and Gomorrah; two ancient cities which brought destruction upon themselves through their own actions and inactions. I believe most of you will be familiar with that story?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course,\u201d the president said, \u201cthe Cities of the Plain in which God\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, shut up Maurice,\u201d his wife scolded, \u201cand let them speak.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks,\u201d Mary said, \u201cbut, to be honest, I didn\u2019t have much to add. We just wanted to establish the reference in your minds. We\u2019re not big on unnecessary elaboration.\u201d<\/p>\n

The president fidgeted nervously with his good hand. Like most Irish people of his generation, he was more than a little familiar with those passages of the bible. It was a tale which had scalded many a young mind, including his own.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that story talked about terrible evil,\u201d he said in an imploring tone. \u201cIrredeemable evil. Surely that doesn\u2019t apply in our case. Humanity has made some mistakes, I\u2019ll grant you, but we have so much potential for good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately,\u201d Mary said firmly, \u201cit is your potential for destruction which you seem to have fulfilled.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s rather harsh,\u201d the president said belligerently. \u201cHumans have done incredible things. Music. Poetry. Literature\u2014”<\/p>\n

Mary cut him off with a raised hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, yes, incredible things, but that doesn\u2019t change the fact that you\u2019re\u2026\u201d she hesitated, searching for the right words.<\/p>\n

Dessie nipped in.<\/p>\n

\u201cA bag of fucking spanners.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was going to say terrifying procrastinators,\u201d Mary said, \u201cbut that works too.\u201d She turned to the president. \u201cI\u2019m afraid we are not philosophers or debaters. Our people are relatively plain-spoken and among them we are considered direct. We were chosen because it was felt we understood your culture best and might have a better chance of being listened to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat will happen in seven days?\u201d the president\u2019s wife asked, the simplicity of her question and the terror in her voice provoking a sudden silence in the room.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t worry,\u201d Mary said, \u201cit\u2019ll be very peaceful. You\u2019ll barely know it\u2019s happening. It will be as though you\u2019re being swept away in a storm of sweet ecstasy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJesus but don\u2019t you make global euthanasia sound fierce comforting altogether?\u201d the aide-de-camp muttered bitterly.<\/p>\n

The president\u2019s wife had been raised on the same terrifying Old Testament stories as her husband and struggled to contain images of fire and sulphur raining down on them but, in that moment, the biblical reference suddenly offered a chink of light. She held a single index finger aloft to register her thought.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the case of Sodom and Gomorrah,\u201d she said with something approaching a litigious tone, \u201cdidn\u2019t God give the citizens a chance of redemption if his angels could find just fifty good people?\u201d<\/p>\n

Dessie nudged Mary but she shook her head as she swished an outstretched index finger decisively before the first lady\u2019s nose.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh no, no,\u201d she admonished, \u201cyou\u2019re not pulling that \u2018fifty good men\u2019 shite.\u201d<\/p>\n

She indicated Dessie with a flick of her forehead, \u201cSure, this eejit would spare the lot of ye just to save Lionel Bloody Messi. No, no, no. We\u2019re not going down that road.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dessie shared a sympathetic frown.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not like we\u2019re happy about the situation,\u201d he explained with a shrug. \u201cWe\u2019ve become very attached to you and your ways. I mean, I\u2019m only three seasons into Breaking Bad<\/em> and my team just got a new manager. We might finally get somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Christ\u2019s sake,\u201d the aide-de-camp muttered bitterly, \u201cmankind\u2019s fate is in the hands of fucking Man U fans and we all know they\u2019d rather the world end than see them relegated.\u201d She glared at Dessie, \u201cWhich they <\/em>fucking will<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCaroline!\u201d the president scolded his aide-de-camp. \u201cThese people are still our guests.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry, sir,\u201d the aide-de-camp said as she comforted herself with the molded end of her sword.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s okay,\u201d Dessie said with a shrug. \u201cShe\u2019s probably right about United facing the drop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mary waved her hands for calm.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am sorry,\u201d she said, \u201cbut this is the only way to avoid the terrible conditions which will occur if we don\u2019t intervene. You have seven days. I\u2019m afraid there isn\u2019t much more to say. Of course, we\u2019re happy to reiterate the same message to your television cameras.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you think you could hold on a few hours?\u201d the president said, looking nervously at his watch. \u201cThe American president is on his way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m afraid not,\u201d Mary said.<\/p>\n

The president\u2019s wife looked around the room at the growing despair and confusion.<\/p>\n

She rose and held her hands out for silence, then faced Mary.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe you,\u201d she said, with tears rolling down her cheeks. \u201cI believe every word you\u2019ve said. You\u2019re right about us. We can\u2019t seem to stop ourselves acting stupidly. To anyone sane, we must seem hell-bent on our own destruction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mary nodded quietly to Dessie who nodded back as the president\u2019s wife continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we deserve more than seven days to make peace with our end. If you are as straightforward and honest as you say, you\u2019ll have to admit that\u2019s fair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mary seemed to consider for a moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow long do you suggest we give you to make a good end?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

Without hesitation, the president\u2019s wife said, \u201cA year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rest of the group exchanged questioning looks and the president\u2019s wife cast an interrogating look back but no one seemed able or willing to provide a correction to her timeline.<\/p>\n

\u201cA year?\u201d Mary repeated and she looked at Dessie who bobbed his head in consideration.<\/p>\n

The president\u2019s wife completed her scan of the room and nodded somberly but certainly.<\/p>\n

\u201cGive us a year to make a good end,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Mary rose.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not negotiators, nor are we empowered to make this decision, but I will take your request to those who are and we will provide an answer within twenty-four hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow will we know if you\u2019ve agreed?\u201d the president\u2019s wife asked.<\/p>\n

Mary gave an ironic smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will give you a sign,\u201d she said with a light chuckle. \u201cIf we agree to your proposal then you will see a red sky at sunset tomorrow evening.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA red sky at night is a common occurrence this time of year,\u201d the president said. \u201cHow could we be sure it was your <\/em>signal?\u201d<\/p>\n

Mary smiled again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI doubt you will have seen a red sky like this one,\u201d she said, \u201cand I doubt a red sky everywhere is a common occurrence. There shouldn\u2019t be any doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n

They held their press conference. By this time, reporters from television stations across the world had gathered and the words of the visitors went out live around the globe.<\/p>\n

The American ambassador was keen to revisit the timelines. His team suggested detaining the visitors \u2014 by force, if necessary \u2014 until the matter could be thoroughly unpicked but this was politely rebuked by the Irish presidential staff and, with the cameras of the world\u2019s press filming them, the small group made their way back through the crowd towards the visitors\u2019 craft. As if by magic, the silver ramp extended from the ship and touched the grass in front of the party.<\/p>\n

The president\u2019s wife hugged the visitors. Tears jeweled her eyes but she retained a determined look. She pressed Mary\u2019s hands lightly in her own.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we can change in this year, can disaster still be averted?\u201d<\/p>\n

Mary looked at her with pity.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have the means,\u201d she said, \u201cbut it is unlikely that you will change. It\u2019s better you make your peace with it. Whatever happens, you will not see us again so I\u2019ll say goodbye now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the best,\u201d Dessie said and he pumped the president\u2019s limp arm.<\/p>\n

The visitors waved once and walked up the gangplank through a salvo of camera flashes as the beams from overhead helicopters sliced the thickening gloom as though portioning the very air above them.<\/p>\n

The silver ramp disappeared into the craft and a low drone built as the ship slowly rose into the air above them and spun in a light smooth manner that could not be confused with any human vehicle. The disk bobbled in the air with a fluttering ethereality before surging suddenly into the sky and vanishing in the dark thunderheads which had formed above.<\/p>\n

Every word that had been spoken was reported and analysed in minute detail in the hours and days that followed.<\/p>\n

The American president, along with other world leaders, arrived in Ireland soon afterwards and an emergency summit of countries was hastily convened. The general consensus was that the Irish officials had handled the situation terribly. The Americans, in particular, castigated their hosts for the meek surrender of a one-year extension.<\/p>\n

\u201cFucking amateurs!\u201d their officials lamented. \u201cThe opening pitch should have been ten years minimum. And how the hell did nobody mention money?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t that type of discussion,\u201d one Irish official protested.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always that type of discussion,\u201d her American counterpart replied.<\/p>\n

But, for all the debate and self-important statements, all watched nervously as the sun set the following evening and crimson streaks filled the sky across the world, as though the sun were a gigantic blob of paint wiped across the firmament by a huge inestimable hand.<\/p>\n

Theologians and scholars scrutinised the visitors\u2019 reference to Sodom and Gomorrah. Much focus was given to the use of that story rather than \u2014 what many felt would have been \u2014 the more fitting tale of the great flood and Noah\u2019s Ark. It was cogently argued by some parties that the visitors had chosen very carefully in order to send a clear message for humanity to get away as fast as possible. Noah, they argued, had taken his time, constructing a vessel enormous enough to contain samples of every animal as well as humanity so that the world could be rebuilt. In the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, only Lott and his immediate family were evacuated and this was done with great haste and at the last possible second.<\/p>\n

Despite this, several Ark-like projects were initiated by tech billionaires with the goal of saving mankind, or more specifically, themselves, along with those tiny portions of mankind which might prove useful to a tech billionaire fleeing a doomed planet. Each contemplated the long hibernation necessary to reach distant, uninhabitable rocks with minimal potential for life and all considered the security of their person and their holdings during such a hibernation. Very little consideration was given to more practical concerns or to the fate of those who had no recourse to a tech billionaire. Nor did any of them attempt to save any other species. The visitors had been ambiguous about the prospects for other creatures and this had established a moral vacuum on the matter into which mankind poured their apathy.<\/p>\n

The concept of dog years took hold with many people. This was the idea that one could minimize sleep and use each second of each day more productively to eke out more value from the limited time we had. As with all human undertakings, it was carried out obsessively and profitably. Dog years became a huge industry with plans, training courses, gurus, TV shows and all manner of proselytising. To all intents and purposes, it became a new religion.<\/p>\n

Religions themselves \u2014 that is, the more established ones \u2014 felt strongly vindicated by these events. Priests and proponents relished the opportunity to say \u201cI told you so\u201d on a global scale but it was something of a pyrrhic victory. Imminent apocalypse had always been more useful when it was less imminent.<\/p>\n

Some efforts were made to change mankind\u2019s path but these remained fragmented and unpopular. Again, the visitors were blamed for being too vague about what needed to change and many governments argued that the lack of specificity was proof that climate change, rampant consumerism or other obvious ills had never been the issue. More coordinated effort was put into the construction of sophisticated weaponry to enable humans to turn the tables on the visitors when they \u2014 so to speak \u2014 attempted to call time on us. Air forces and militaries spent huge quantities of time, money and effort scanning the skies above and launching physical and electronic attacks at sections of the atmosphere suspected of harboring enemy spacecraft. They were supported in this by a small residue of tech billionaires; those not busy planning their escape from the planet or who hadn\u2019t already decamped to New Zealand in the misbegotten notion that changing their zip code and getting a new passport might spare them. These various maneuvers must have recalled for the visitors that legendary event \u2014 which they had witnessed first-hand \u2014 of Emperor Caligula\u2019s troops futilely beating back the waves of the English Channel with their swords.<\/p>\n

Governments sent communications heavenward demanding more time or threatening legal action or sharing fudged statistics demonstrating mankind\u2019s steady progress towards net zero, reforestation, world peace or any other targets they felt might sway the visitors. No reply was forthcoming and, as the year progressed, these upward communications became more desperate and self-aggrandising.<\/p>\n

For the majority of people in the world, however, surprisingly little changed. A year was an impossible horizon for those who did not know where their next sip of water would come from or when they might have their next mouthful of food. Also, for those who wondered when they might feel the next sudden kick through a thin, wet sleeping bag, the next rape, the next beating, the next honour killing. For these people, life continued as it was before. For these people, the end of the world was just another unaffordable luxury.<\/p>\n

Of course, the president\u2019s wife was widely vilified for her role in events. Numerous conspiracy theories circulated online and in the pages of sensational publications, accusing her of having been in league with the visitors from the beginning. She was globally decried as a double-agent who had sold out humanity to save herself and her family.<\/p>\n

The president\u2019s wife cared little for these lies. With her husband, she retired from public life. Their daughter made the bold decision to have a baby with her partner and it was as if the daughter\u2019s body understood the great need for haste, because she became pregnant at the first attempt and, although her son was born two weeks premature, he was pink and healthy and went home the very next day.<\/p>\n

They named the baby Cervantes after the author of his mother\u2019s favourite book, and the president\u2019s wife, along with her husband, moved in with her daughter.<\/p>\n

Apart from his initial punctuality, baby Cervantes did not conform to the script demanded by the limited timescales. By day he was sweet and cherubic but, as the sunlight waned, he transformed into a despot and a sadist. All household members were called into action to walk, rock and coo the tiny screaming dictator into an unattainable sleep. They no longer spoke of dates or calendars anymore and, in their own exhausted way, found the dog years others craved.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, when the president\u2019s wife saw her daughter with Cervantes, she wondered if they would all have been better off if she\u2019d not asked for the extension, if it might have been easier to accept a single week to make their peace with everything, but she quickly dismissed these thoughts and joined her daughter and together they smiled and cooed at the child and spoke of a future that would never be. As all people must.<\/p>\n

Feature Image: Mark Bryan, Prime Directives.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Then the Lord said, \u201cBecause the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.\u201d – Genesis 18:20-21 They were an ancient and patient race. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17448,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[1371,1385,2149,2151,2152,2154,2533,2534,3262,10250],"class_list":["post-17447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fiction","tag-cassandra-voices-damien-mckiver","tag-cassandra-voices-fiction","tag-damien-mckiver","tag-damien-mckiver-dog-years","tag-damien-mckiver-fiction","tag-damien-mckiver-science-fiction","tag-dog","tag-dog-years-fiction","tag-fiction","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17447\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}