Silver, Silver Everywhere

It shimmered, flowed and described glittering scrolls in the crisp air; a quicksilver blanket covering everything. Then, just as rapidly as it had appeared, it was gone.

Perhaps this was one optical illusion too far.

Being a genius, Sangeeta didn't think that she had overreached herself, though perhaps limits would need to be put on her research. In the wrong hands it could start a war.

The multiple 3-D projectors were powered down and the local wildlife poked apprehensive noses, paws and beaks from burrows and nests. Being chromed without warning was enough to unnerve the toughest carnivore.

Immersing the immediate region in reflective hues had not been Sangeeta's primary intention. The research was into how to extend the growing season by illuminating crops at night using powerful, low-power projectors. But then she found out too late that the metallic side effect had attracted the military funding that was now backing the project. Being able to turn cardboard missiles and their launchers into gleaming metal long enough for enemy satellites to be fooled could buy valuable time from their point of view. Growing anything eco-friendly didn't enter into it. The sooner that Sangeeta's project became viable enough to find different backers the better. No one in her team wanted the invention to become a weapon of war.

But it was too late - the government took over her department and compelled everyone to sign the Official Secrets Act.

Granville refused and started to upload the sorry saga onto the Internet. Before he could add any more, he and his blog disappeared - to where, no one knew.

After a nerve-racking pause, Sangeeta was given instructions to simulate multiple plywood tanks, missiles and other weaponry across the world into metal. Why, she had no idea. No war or invasion was imminent as far as anyone knew. Perhaps Granville did, but chose not to endanger anyone else by telling them. There had been rumours on the World Wide Web that aliens were trying to make contact, and it would have made some sort of sense from the military's point of view if the planet could show that they were battle ready.

Sangeeta doubted that aliens with the technology to travel the galaxy would have been fooled for one moment by her invention. But, not having Granville's determination to stand up to the authorities, her team set to work.

Shortly into the frenetic project, Granville turned up without warning. All those who had known him sensed that there was something wrong in the considered way he spoke instead of the words tumbling out as they usually did. Yes, the authorities had assured him, an alien spaceship was trying to make contact and they needed to be prepared.

Until then, because she didn't believe it, Sangeeta had been persuaded to follow the plan.

Now, everything had changed. Surely if an alien wanted to invade they would have done so immediately and not waited weeks for these puny primates to get used to the idea that they were not alone in the Universe.

After researching as much as she could using the computer of a friend able to bypass the regional servers being blocked, Granville's revelation was confirmed. Sangeeta was convinced that if there was an alien out there, its mission involved nothing more threatening than curiosity. But all the asteroid tracking stations, ground telescopes and satellites were now only accessible to the planet wide authorities preparing for invasion.

With everyone who might have been willing to make friendly contact locked out, Sangeeta could see a terrifying scenario loom. What if her invention created the illusion that the planet was hostile? Surely, however benign the alien's intentions, the show of battle readiness could provoke an understandable reaction. If there was a network of friendly civilisations out there, the last thing they would tolerate was an evolving species prepared to do battle before anyone had the chance to say 'hello'.

At the dead of night, Sangeeta used her security pass to unobtrusively slip into the project's control room. It was from there all the installations across the planet were primed to be activated as soon as the authorities responded to the alien's repeated attempts at first contact.

The reprogramming took hours. The most difficult thing was slipping out without anyone suspecting a few crucial elements had been changed.

When the acknowledgment to the alien's many greetings was at last sent a huge spacecraft slipped from the dimension concealing it and filled the sky.

Sangeeta's team were ordered to set in motion the battle ready illusion.

It took longer than anticipated and the planet held its breath, half expecting a bolt from the sky to eliminate all life forms on the planet.

At last the military hardware was illuminated so brightly it lit up the world.

But it was not with a metallic, menacing gleam.

Paisley patterns of every hue swirled across the war machinery and cardboard troops. The pinks, yellows, blues, greens and gold were reflected onto the clouds and filled large stretches of the blue Earth with welcoming, rotating hues of every colour.

Not even an alien could have mistaken that for a hostile act.