It was on that day that all war ended. The explosion devastated 76% of all life on earth. The other 24% had been prepared. Underground bunkers had been built but there had been no thought to retain organic samples. The final explosion had been felt throughout the entire surface of Earth and then the radiation came. Anybody that had not been in a bunker slowly died from the radiation. Many people died in an hour because the radiation levels were so high but those that were in bunkers survived - sort of. The radiation seeped into the bunkers. Minute cracks in the shielding, caused by the endless bombardment of nuclear missiles, had been the downfall of the survivors, but they did not die. They suffered most definitely but died, no they were not fortunate enough to die. The radiation stunned their growth and created hideous mutations, but the survivors struggled on.

An entire civilisation was built underground, with its own culture, its own laws, its own life. One of the laws stated that all children born with 10% or more of themselves a mutation would be killed. The civilisation thrived, they were short and the lack of sunlight eventually made there skin fade to a dull grey. The killing of mutations kept the change in look down to a minimum, but it was not just the mutations which made themselves change, it was their attitudes. The lack of violence in their lives lead to an increased amount of thinking, the brain increased in size and as a result so did the survivors skulls. Then the power failed.

The civilisation was thrown into chaos, but once again they adapted, the eyes of the survivors grew larger to try and cope with the lack of light. Their skin grew greyer. Then the scientists announced that the radiation levels had fallen enough to permit a return to the surface. There were problems from the beginning. The sunlight blinded many on their return so once again the survivors returned to their underworld to contemplate their fate.

Mark McQueen lay on his bed awake. He knew that the nightmares would come, the horrible visions of creatures. Some called them angels, others called them aliens but Mark, Mark did not know what to call them. They, the ones from the sky, came for him most nights. they surrounded him and then ripped him from his home. His wife had left him, taking his two children, she had thought him crazy. She had asked him to seek professional help, he had told her that he would never see a shrink. They had not come that night, instead someone had left. Mark had woken the next day to find that his wife was gone, she had taken his children. His neighbours, once his friends, now looked upon him with contempt, they had disowned him. Cast him out from their ritual tea parties and their social idling. No longer did he hit balls with a racquet while standing in an enclosed space because he had no junior partners to play with. His work had announced that he would no longer be required for service, they too had barred him from their private social chatter. Mark was an outcast, his children Lucy and John would never know him, as they had been lost forever. He could not win, his wife would never return even if he did get help - she had left for good.

Glancing across at the alarm clock Mark noticed that it was 2:47am. The bright glow from the clock face cast an ominous glow over the whole room. A faint humming noise, barely indistinguishable from the noise of the central heating, could be heard. Mark did not need to strain, he knew what was coming.

A bright light flashed once. The room was lit up as though it was witnessing a lightning storm. The room was lit up again, then again. The light pulses were growing nearer and nearer. To Mark the light would always mean that they had come. That they were about to take him. He had never actually spoken to them or seen them outside of these dreams, nightmares corrected Mark. Maybe that was the wrong word as well. They came sure enough but he was not totally aware when they had him, as though he was drugged so much that he could not think, to the point that his brain had actually ceased to work. That was wrong too he thought, but it was also true. Maybe the drug wore off to the point that Mark could claim snippets of information, pull small trophies out of the dark. Pulling the information into the light did no good as Mark had learned and he wished that he had not seen at all, but there would have still been the evidence. The discouraging fact that they had visited. The sole fact that kept Mark sane. They had tagged him, a small piece of metal was embedded in the back of Mark's neck. There was not a scar that he could see yet he knew it was there, he could feel it. The faint humming noise grew to a low rumble and the periodic flash grew to the proportions of a crazed strobe light trying to alert all to its existence by shouting as loud as it could.

A presence could be felt next to him. Mark tried to turn his head but he could not, it was the same every time they took him. He was frozen by some force. It was as if every thing, his body, his organs, his breath, all activity had been restrained in some manner unknown to Mark. What they wanted, Mark did not know but, he did know that it was not good for him. His life had deteriorated as a result. The light flickered into one enormous bright flash and then everything seemed to slow down. His senses were delayed, his mind activity restrained. Fear rose as sudden as a wave, rushing over him, engulfing him, and then threatening to pull him into the greater ocean of fear itself. A long probe descended from the roof, this was the worst part, the probed flashed in the dull light which surrounded him. A blade, more like a fine needle shot out of the end and then with an almighty rush the needle pierced Mark's forehead and entered his brain. Pain and fear were in no way restrained.

Rising from his sleep Mark could hear a sound. The sound was piercing, almost like the needle last night. It cut into his head and slapped him awake. Glancing across at the clock which read 7:00am Mark understood, the alarm was ringing. Reaching across the alarm was turned off the silence which resulted was more shocking than the alarm which came before. Mark was awake, no matter what happened he knew that there was no way he could retrieve his lost dreams by slipping back into sleep for he could not get back to sleep. Mark rose from his bed and proceeded into the bathroom to relieve himself and then after a quick wash, he lumbered down the stairs. After breakfast he had decided to see someone. Someone who might still listen.

The church was old but Mark knew it would serve his purpose. Walking inside he realised that the church was huge. The roof stretched up into the darkness, beams criss crossed in a puzzle which would figure out how to hold the roof up. The church of Saint Mary was busy. People were here not just to pray but to seek solace in a quiet place. The atmosphere was heavenly but that could have just been because it was a church. Pews ordered into rows like beds in a dormitory held these people. Some stared up at the icon of the faith - Jesus. He was held on a cross, a typical pose, which seemed to bring out a sinister feeling in the building. Mark purposely walked up to the front then turned left which led him to a confession box. A curtain was positioned across a thick grill which Mark could not see through. There was a noise in the next box which meant that the priest had entered it. "Father," said Mark, "I have come to you in a moment of desperation."

"Continue, my Son."

"My life has become a disaster because of one incident. People disbelieve me, but I know what I say is true because I have seen it with my own eyes," Mark was confessing now rather than talking. "I hate them for taking me and then making others disbelief."

"Who are they, my Son?"

"Aliens, I think. They came from the sky."

"Then they are angels?"

Mark was angry, this priest did not belief him either, "angels don't shove probes into your brain."

"My Son...," the priest's voice tailed off as he found that Mark was no longer there.

The people outside the box were staring at Mark as he stormed out of the building. Several people were shocked by the tone that Mark had used with their Father. Suddenly the huge stain glass window at the head off the church which depicted Saint Mary blew in. Shards flew into people and the heavenly atmosphere of just two seconds ago had been shattered. Screams and shouts could be heard by Mark and he ran for he knew who had done this.

They had come for him once before in the day, they had also destroyed the glass were he stood. Mark could see police rushing to help. Panic and fear had erupted out of the church and was rippling through the surrounding crowd of on lookers. Then Mark heard it, this time the rumbling began almost straight away. They could not take him here, now, in front of all these people. It was insane. Wait, everybody would have to believe him if he was to be taken by these aliens, angels or whatever. There was a ripple through the air and in a blink of an eye time appeared to stop. It had never been like this, but then again each time was slightly different. There was what looked like a sudden flash but it could have been anything, Mark could not be certain with this confusion. Then someone ran from the church and all hell broke loose.

A person of diminutive height proceeded from the church at approximately 11:36am on August 12th. The person was asked to halt but would not respond. After another two attempts to warn the fleeing man to stop, officers were allowed to open fire. One bullet struck but the subject keep running and eventually left the scene. Two officers were dispatched but failed to find the subject. At least that is what the police reports said, according to what Mark had seen it was completely different. An alien ran from the church. Police fearing the worst opened fire. One bullet hit and the alien was floored, but two seconds later he got up and continued running. No officers were dispatched to make any chase. Mark had recognised the creature from his visitations, he had not seen very much of them but what he did see that made a connection were the eyes. Two, huge, big, black, staring eyes. The eyes penetrated you and burrowed into your skull. They watched your every thought and appeared to know what you would do next. They were knowledgeable, but most of all the were scary. There was only one option - to chase him.

His creature had passed through this area, Mark could feel it. That strange presence of dread. A forbodding sense of doom. These were the usual signs that came with a visitation. Something moved rapidly up ahead and Mark ran after it. The district was a poor part of town. The streets were run down and full of rubbish. The buildings were condemned or at least should have been. Mark followed his prey into a warehouse. High walk ways spanned the roof reminding Mark of the support beams in the church. Looking around Mark could not see it so he walked forward, and then he saw it. It was a wretched thing and did not look as though it would harm anybody. Then something happened, when the creature saw who was approaching, it rose to it's feet then began to laugh. The creature was short about four foot eight, it's head was large and it's grey skin made it's huge black eyes stand out more. The creature was very much like the picture of aliens that Mark had seen on The X-Files or The Outer Limits. The creature approached Mark, still laughing, then it grabbed him. Pain, inconceivable to Mark before this point in time, lashed through his body with such ferocity that Mark was thrown clear across the room. When Mark recollected his thoughts he realised that the alien had gone, the warehouse was empty except for the packaging it held. Mark staggered to the door, his head still spinning from the fall, when he realised that there was a dull throbbing pain in his hand. Looking down he noticed that there was a cut where the alien had grabbed him.

What had happened, thought Mark. Had it been a failed attempt to take him away or was it something else. Why had the alien cut him and what did it want? These were the questions that Mark wanted answers to, but finding answers could be difficult. There had been an advertisement in the local paper about a help group for alien abductees - that was a start. Mark had dismissed the group at first as a bunch of crack pots, but now he realised that maybe they really were in the same boat as him. There was not long till the meeting was due to start, maybe half an hour, but it was long enough to get to it.

After Mark had signed himself into the meeting he had been ushered into a room in which he now sat. There were six seats in total including his, five of them were taken. A woman, tall and thin sat next to him, she was wearing a dress that looked as though she had just thrown it on and nearly missed. To his left sat an unshaven man who would not stop smoking despite the attempts of an elderly woman who sat opposite. The last person was a man who looked fairly normal apart from his eccentric dress sense. His was wearing a formal suit and a bow tie, there was nothing wrong with that except that it did not suit the situation. Apart from his clothes the man looked fairly normal, Mark guessed his age at about 37. The door opened and a loud woman walked into the room, she was one of those people that were always cheerful no matter what. She walked across to the empty chair and sat down, the wooden chair protesting under her weight - although to be honest the weight did not completely show.

"Hello group," said the woman.

"Hello Maurine," said everyone in the group except Mark.

Maurine turned to look straight at Mark, "Group, we have a new member. Everyone say hello to Mark.

The rest of the group turned to look at Mark, "Hello Mark," they chanted in unison.

"Hello," said Mark rather unenthusiasticaly.

Maurine turned to look at the rest of the group and said, "Group, Mark is going to tell us all about his experiences." Maurine turned to look at Mark again, "go on Mark."

Mark surveyed the other members before talking, they sat with baited breath as though he was about to tell them some enormous secret. Some world shaking secret which would change their lives and everyone else's. "It began about six months ago. These aliens took me and no one would believe me. They seem to take me quite regularly and although its normally confined to night time they have taken me during the day once before. This afternoon I even came face to face with one, he was running from a church which I had just visited. After that I decided to come here."

The eccentric man in a suit looked up and spoke, "what do they do to you?"

Mark turned to face this man and spoke thoughtfully, he was not going to risk describing it the way he had done to the priest earlier today. "They do a variety of experiments their favourite one is shoving a needle into my brain," Maurine winced at that comment.

"Do you want to know why they do that?" asked the eccentric man.

"Why?" asked Mark warily.

"They are trying to invade our world. However they don't quite know what we are like so they need to extract our memories to find out exactly what we are. When they have enough information they will invade," the man who sat smoking sighed and rolled his eyes as though he had heard this speech many times.

"Really," replied the young woman who was obviously bored with this speech.

"It's true I tell you," protested the strange man.

Maurine interrupted before anyone else had a chance to get in on the argument, "now lets not have this argument again."

"But it's true," the strange man was very adamant that what he said was the truth.

"You're all wrong," everyone stopped and looked at the old woman, "there actually aliens from the planet Nagilum 4. They came here to make friends and because they had run out of coffee."

Oh God thought Mark this was a bad idea coming to this place.

Bright light flared white in Mark's eyes. "Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing here?" Mark yelled the questions out loud, he had no idea where he was. Something had happened but he could not remember anything. A sudden wave of fear washed over Mark and his heart pounded but then he began to remember. The sea of confusion which whirled around inside his head receded and Mark's mind was clear. Serenity and calmness replaced the fear and Mark realised that there were two people standing over him. A strange panic surged through his body like a thousands volts of electricity and at that Mark jolted upright.

"It has not worked," spoke one of the people, "why has it not worked."

Mark looked closely at the two people. He could not see them properly because of the bright light in his eyes. Then Mark felt a stabbing pain in his hand and then his mind cleared, he was able to think once again and the memories came flooding back. The abductions, the aliens, the light and those operations. "Why are you doing this to me?" screamed Mark in desperation.

The room where Mark lay erupted into activity and snippets of what the aliens said reached his ears, "not worked...drug failed...send back...perfect specimen...genetic code is exactly what we need...if he can fight the drug he will not cooperate."

Had it all been a dream thought Mark as he jolted up in his bed. There was pain in Mark's hand and that was enough to convince him that it had not been a dream. Why had the been taking him and most of all what did they want? There was movement in front of Mark, there was something in the room with him. Was it an alien trying to sort there failed attempt at an abduction. What did they want?

Suddenly a voice sliced through the darkness, "we want to survive. We want to be normal. We want to be human."

The creature stepped into the pool of moonlight that stretched across the floor of Mark's room. The creature was an alien.

The alien stepped closer then spoke again, "we are from your future. We discovered many years ago the secret of time travel. Our leaders decided to use the time travel project to send people back to a time before the great war. To a time before we humans mutated into what you see before you. We are trying to get a genetic code from someone which we can then use in the future to cure us of this affliction."

Mark was astounded, eventually he spoke, "how different are you?"

"Totally different," replied the alien, "we are different in appearance and that is not all. When we first arrived we had to learn your language because we speak an entirely different language. We live underground and that is our main problem. We can not survive on the surface, our skin our eyes, they're just not suited to surface living."

"But," protested Mark, "I've seen you outside my room. There was that alien, sorry human, that came yesterday, he was out in the sun and all that."

"We can wear protective lenses for our eyes but even those can only protect for a short time. The person that you saw is seriously ill now and may die. Any of us that come down here are threatening our lives."

"So," Mark laughed, "how do you time travel?"

"We travel sideways through other dimensions. In one dimension I would have explained this an hour ago, in another I would have just met you. It is like an infinite parallelogram, there is are diagonal sides but the straight sides are none existent. If you travel sideways far enough you can travel to any point in time, understand?"

"Not really."

"It is not important whether you understand the concepts of time travel or not, what is important is whether or not you will help us."

This was the chance Mark had wanted all his life, to become a hero. Here was his chance to save the entire human race. Here was his chance to prove his stupid wife, his petty neighbours and his distrustful employees, even those morons at that stupid help group that they were all wrong about him. That they were the ones who were wrong not him. "I will help, but on three conditions..."

"Yes?" asked the alien.

"Tell me what you have put inside me and then remove it and lastly you must promise never to visit me again, I want my life back and with you I have no life."

"You have a locator device and a identification chip. The locator device was in your hand but it was removed by that person who you met earlier. Those humans who shot at him destroyed his own locator device, he was ready to die until you walked in. Once we have your genetic code we will remove everything from you and we will never need to visit you again."

It was a fair exchange, Mark would save the entire human race and as a result he would get to live in peace. "I'll do it."

The alien lifted up a device in his hand and spoke into it, "begin transfer." There was a pulse of white light which became more frenzied with each passing second until suddenly the light faded and Mark found himself standing in a stark metallic corridor.

He had spent three hours on the aliens, humans time ship while they had extracted enough of his genetic code and had then proceeded to heal him. He lay now on his bed watching the sun rise thinking about how the humans of the future could once again watch the sun rise. How the could once again fell the wind and the warmth of the sun on a cool summers day. He had repaid humanity a hundred times over, he had saved humanity.