MMXXVI

FIRST PRIZE

MMXXVI by Liz Firth

Dr McArthur had felt quite relieved when she’d finally been allowed to pass through the big glass doors. The W.S.P. handbook really hadn’t done its security obsession justice. There’d been four armed soldiers at the gate, one on the shuttle bus and at least another ten patrolling the compound.

She’d had a retina and fingerprint scan at the main entrance, and her living accommodation could only be accessed by a voice recognition test and punching in a key code. Now sitting in Professor Kowalski’s office, Ava really did feel that she was at the heart of something momentous. It wasn’t just the doors of the office that were glass, all four walls were transparent from floor to ceiling.

Anyone inside the office could watch scores of staff – academic, administrative, military – busy at their work in the research centre. Anyone outside could observe the American’s every movement and the effect his impressive aura had on those he invited to join him.

The professor had just risen from his desk and was standing with his feet planted firmly apart, sipping from a bottle of sparkling water. As the smiling public face of the World Space Programme, he had been a regular on news bulletins and documentaries broadcast across the globe for the last ten years. Since the arrival of “the visitor”, this authoritative, avuncular man had kept the planet informed and reassured. With the looks of an ageing film star, he’d been the perfect antidote to mass hysteria.

“Ava, let me introduce you to your lab partner. This is Dr Vasili Alexeev, top Russian government scientist. Vasili, this is Dr Ava McArthur.”

Ava turned to see a tall man in a very expensive grey suit extending his hand to hers. “I am very much looking forward to working with you, Dr McArthur.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Ava smiled, as her hand was vigorously shaken. “I enjoyed your recent paper on fireflies.”

“Thank you. It was fascinating field work. Have you done much research in bioluminescence?”

“No.  I am here to learn from you,” Vasili said with a bow of the head.

“OK folks,” the professor cut in warmly. “Are you ready to see the alien?”