Earlier and Sideways

     (Earth. Twenty years from now.)
     The alien burped. Or at least seemed to burp.
     General Neal eyed it suspiciously. (‘It’, so the aliens had infromed him, was a male of the species.) This burp-like tic of theirs had always unnerved him. In fact, just the look of these aliens unnerved him. To be truthful, their sheer existence unnerved him.
     Admittedly, the aliens had never given him a single reason to distrust them. In fact, the day that brought them here turned out to be a blessing for humanity. Mankind now stood on the brink of paradise. These aliens, these Blorg, offered to share information: philosophies, science, and advanced technologies previously undreamt of. Mankind accepted it. At first grudgingly and suspiciously. But eventually, the aliens’ tenaciousness overcame mankind’s resistance and brought us up to their level. They did to us what they promised. Now both sides were prosperous and advanced. Poverty, hunger, and sickness all belonged to the past. New, revolutionary technologies were everywhere.
     But, the thought, taking a deep breath, a general is always a general. No one will be able to take his suspicious side from him. Still, this is peacetime. He had to put his feelings aside and play his role. He had to make sure the Blorg sign the peace treaty with the humans, and that is exactly what he will do.

     (Earth. Ten years earlier.)
     For the first twenty minutes after it had landed, the alien spaceship just stood there.
     General Kelly breathed slowly, bracing himself. The impressive landing was just the beginning. There is much more ahead. The transmissions that began a year ago had been properly deciphered, and it was now clear that this was no hoax. The spaceship had not been built on Earth. It had been built with technologies that are clearly strange to us.
     First encounter with an alien species. The General regretted he did not believe in any gods.
     A door opened, and a ramp descended from the ship.
     A strange being, three-legged, green, with a reptile-like head emerged and walked down the ramp. It stood on the ground, seemed to burp, then said—

     It has long been theorized by scientists that parallel universes exist. These theories say that out of every instant in time an infinite number of parallel universes diverge. These universes contain all the possibilities that could emerge from this single instant. Each of the next instants is slightly different from the others. Sometimes the difference is insignificant: perhaps a single electron moves one way and not another. Sometimes the difference can be extremely significant...

     (Earth. Ten years later and sideways.)
     The alien burped. Or at least seemed to burp.
     General Neal eyed it suspiciously. (‘It’, so Intelligence had informed him, was a male of the species.) This burp-like tic of theirs had always aggravated him. In fact, just the look of these aliens aggravated him. To be truthful, their sheer existence aggravated him.
     Admittedly, the aliens had given him every reason to loathe them. The day the human race discovered they were not alone in the universe was a dark day for humanity. Mankind everywhere now stood on the brink of destruction.
     It is true that during the first encounters these aliens, these Blorg, had always claimed they desired nothing but peace. Perhaps the beginning of hostilities could even be attributed to the faulty judgments of our own decision-makers. In any case, the Blorg were more than well-equipped for war. They had superior space-faring technologies and superior weaponry. Peace was probably never their original intention, but that will never be known for sure. The Blorg had almost annihilated mankind, hunting us down to the remotest and most secure locations.
     Mankind fought back. At first slowly and futilely. But eventually we learned their weaknesses and gave back a hell of a battle. Mankind’s tenaciousness overcame the aliens’ resitance and brought them down to our level. We did to them what they did to us. Now the two sides were ruined, nearly crippled. And the planet Earth lay in ruin.
     But, he thought, clenching his teeth, a general is always a general. No one will be able to take the fighting spirit from him. Still, this is peacetime. He had to put his feelings aside and play his role. He had to make sure the vile Blorg sign the peace treaty with the humans, and that is exactly what he will do.

     It has long been theorized by scientists that parallel universes are not necessarily unidirectional. These theories say that into every instant in time an infinite number of parallel universes converge. These universes contain all the possibilities that could have led to that particular instant. Each of the previous instants that had led to this one instant is different from the other. Sometimes the difference is insignificant: perhaps an electron was slightly there before it moved here, or perhaps it was a bit to the side before it moved to the same, exact position. Sometimes the difference can be quite significant...

     (Earth. Ten years earlier and sideways.)
     For the first twenty minutes after it had landed, the alien spaceship just stood there.
     General Mann breathed slowly, bracing himself. This is just the beginning. There is much more ahead. The transmissions that began a year ago had been properly deciphered, and it was now clear that this was no hoax. This spaceship had not been built on Earth. It had not used any of our known technologies to land.
     First encounter with an alien species. The General regretted he did not believe in any gods.
     A door opened, and a ramp descended from the ship.
     A strange being, two-legged, pink, with a simian-like head, emerged and walked down the ramp. It stood on the ground, seemed to burp, then said, "We are human. We come in peace."