An Odd Parole Hearing

My mother always told me, "You can do what you want, as long as you stay safe and out of trouble." So far I'd taken her advice. I was never all that rebellious, and it was easy to obey the law. But it's hard to obey laws that you don't know are written. When they first took me, I had no idea what I did wrong. They simply threw me into a cell without any explanation of why I was there.

It was a dimly lit room, I couldn't see anything hardly. There was a metal slab hanging on the wall for me to sleep on, and a simple sink and toilet if I needed it. It was lit by a small red light in the middle of the ceiling. I couldn't even tell what part of the world I was in. I wasn't claustrophobic, but cabin fever began to set in, quick.

I paced. I couldn't do anything else. When they took me I had nothing on me. Nothing in my pockets, nothing to keep my mind busy while I waited. And I waited, and waited. It seemed like an eternity before there was a sign that something was happening. Suddenly the red light in the ceiling turned blue.
The wall across from the sleeping slab began to open up. A small doorway appeared and a dark hallway was on the other side. It was lit be blue arrows that lined the walls. They were flashing as if to point me in a specific direction. There was no other direction to go outside of my cell, so I had no choice but to follow them. After I passed each one, a wall would appear behind it preventing me from going back.

I continued down the hall, turned left, then right, then left again. Each arrow vanishing behind a new wall as I walked. When I came to the end of the hall, it was a dead end. Nothing but a wall stood before me. I couldn't do anything but wait. A bright flash came from the wall in front of me and it took a minute for my eyes to adjust. A doorway had appeared and beyond it was something I thought I would never see.

I slowly walked through the doorway and into a fairly large room. It seemed to be an observation room. The far wall was a giant window that looked out over the Earth. I could see the majestic blue marble in all it's glory. The continent of Africa was prominent in the view and I could see the clouds covering the oceans.
My awe was broken by someone speaking.

"Please. Have a seat Mr. Cavanaugh."

I snapped out of my daze and saw who it was speaking to me. They were human, or at least I thought they were at first glance.

Three humanoid beings sat behind a table in front of the large window. They were somewhat human in appearance, but their facial features gave them away as anything but. They had slightly elongated skulls, and their eyes were larger than a humans. Deep blue skin covered their faces, and there was no nose to speak of. A chair sat some twenty feet away from the table, facing them.
It occurred to me that they were speaking my language. I had thought that extra-terrestrials would have trouble communicating with humans, but it seemed I was wrong.

The one in the middle spoke first, "Mr. Cavanaugh, do you know why you are here?"

I hesitated to answer. I didn't know what was going on. Last thing that I remembered was working on my pickup truck. There was a bright flash of light, then I woke up in that metal box of a room. Words escaped me so I just shook my head.

It continued, "You are here because we feel that humans deserve a chance to join the rest of us in the galaxy."

I didn't know how to react, so I sat still, making sure I paid attention to every word. No telling what these things would do if I didn't.

"Do you have anything to say, Mr. Cavanaugh?"

I did but I couldn't find the words. These things had me at a loss. Suddenly everything came to fruition in my mind. We were definitely not alone in the universe. Here I was sitting in front of three alien beings, miles above the surface of the Earth. A thousand thoughts ran through my head all at once. Was I the first to make contact? How many more were there? Were they hostile or were they peaceful?

A sigh escaped the alien on my left. The one in the middle spoke.

"We understand that this is all a bit overwhelming for you."

He nodded toward something behind me, and another alien appeared behind me grabbing me by the arm and raising me to my feet. It was very strong, I couldn't resist at all. It's grip wasn't tight, but it wasn't loose either. It's like my arm was stuck in a metal grip, not tightening, but not letting me go either.
It ushered me out of the room and back down the hall way. Each wall disappeared as we got closer to my cell. It pulled me through the door way and sat me down on the metal slab. As soon as it let me go and turned to leave, I jumped to my feet. It seemed to know that I was attempting to resist, because it immediately turned back and pointed, what I assume was it's weapon, at me. To my eyes it was just a large crystal in the general shape of a gun. I threw up my hands and let it know that I wouldn't be resisting anymore. How could I? What was I thinking? I was miles above the Earth, imprisoned by aliens, and I had the nerve to try and escape. It's human nature, I suppose, to want to be free from imprisonment.
The alien guard turned back and left my cell. As it did, the wall sealed itself up and I was locked in the metal box again. With everything that was happening, exhaustion was setting in. A thousand questions still raced through my mind, but my eyes were getting lazy. I decided to try and sleep.

I awoke to a bright flash of light on the wall next to the bed. What looked like a computer screen had appeared on the wall, and was showing me the inside of the observation room. The same three aliens were sitting at the table in front of the window, but two guards could be seen on either side of the view screen.
I heard voices coming from what I assumed was the same hallway that I was ushered through by the flashing arrows. But it seemed that the next person was not at all happy about the situation.

"Where the hell are you taking me?" a male voice shouted.

"What the hell is going on, you freak?"

A man was flung into the room from behind the camera view. He was a well built man, middle aged, and not weak by the looks of him, but the guard had no problem flinging him to the floor in front of the three aliens at the table. He jumped to his feet and shouted as he ran toward the three. He stopped short as if hitting a wall. The barrier between him and the aliens was clear now as it reverberated from his impact. He slowly got to his feet this time, rubbing his face after his failed attempt at an attack.
"Mr. Davish! Do you know why you are here?" the middle on asked.

"What the..? Aliens aren't supposed to speak English. What the hell is going on?"

"You are here because..."

"What the hell is going on?" he shouted, louder.

"You are here..." the alien tried to continue.

"Let me out of here! Where the hell am I?"

"You're in space, Mr. Davish."

"Space?! How the hell did I get here? Why did you kidnap me? Answer me!"

The three of them seemed to sigh in unison. The middle alien then nodded to the guards. They quickly grabbed Mr. Davish and ushered him out of the room. Mr. Davish was clearly an uncooperative inmate.

The screen then blinked out, and I was left alone in the room again. I started to wonder how many more people they had abducted. A few minutes later the screen popped up again with the same view of the observation room. This time the guards carried in a young woman. They gently set her on the floor in front of the trio of aliens and stepped out of view. The woman seemed very upset as she rocked back and forth. I didn't see her face, but I could see her fear.

"Miss Kim? Do you know why you are here?" the middle one asked once again.

She started when she realized that they were talking to her. Her fear seemed to take over as her head whipped back and forth looking for something. She began to hyperventilate, then fainted. Then aliens nodded at the guards, and they gently lifted her and carried her out of the room. The screen blinked out again.

The screen never did pop up again. I waited, staring at the wall waiting for another screen to pop up and show me another interview, but nothing came up. Another eternity passed before I saw the doorway open up in the wall once again. A guard was standing in the doorway.

"Come with me" he commanded.

I nodded and followed it back down the hallway and into the observation room. The three aliens were waiting for me.

"Welcome back, Mr. Cavanaugh" the middle one said.

"I'm sorry," I began, "I know you've probably answered this already, but why am I here?"

The middle alien smiled and nodded.

"Mr. Cavanaugh, you are here to represent humanity."

"Represent humanity? What do you mean? You said something about joining the rest of you in the galaxy."

"It seems you've overcome your fear of us, so I will explain.

We are the Annunaki. The first race of intelligent beings in the universe. We are here to assess whether or not human kind is ready to join the rest of the galactic civilizations that have grown over the millennia."

It kind of made sense to me. I remembered learning about ancient cultures in school, and remembered lessons about how some of them claimed to have divine or extra-terrestrial assistance in their culture.

"We've been studying your species for some time now, and found it prudent, in the current century, to assess the human mind and spirit. And as you probably observed from your cell, the results are questionable."

"So you're here to bring us into the rest of the galactic world?"

"Not quite, Mr. Cavanaugh."

"Then why am I being imprisoned here?"

"The human race is a violent species. The Galactic Federation of Species has determined that the Earth be put on lock down until the human race can squelch it's violent nature. We are here to determine if humans have been rehabilitated."

"Rehabilitated?"

"Think of this meeting as what your Earthling authorities call a 'parole hearing'."

"Parole hearing? Are you telling me that the entire planet is in prison?"

"In rudimentary terms, yes."

I couldn't hardly believe it. The Earth was one giant prison. It started to make sense, however. For decades humans have reported sightings of UFOs, and alien beings abducting them. The UFOs never really interacted with us, like guards never really interact with inmates. The abductees all seemed to be missing time from their lives. Now I knew that this is what they were abducted for.

The alien continued, "These meetings will continue until the human race has been rehabilitated and is able to safely join the rest of the galaxy."

It all made perfect sense, and they were right. Humanity is a violent species. Constantly killing each other for no reason. Innocence is destroyed by rape and murder. Soldiers go to war and kill other soldiers because their leaders disagree about something. It only made sense for the other species in the galaxy to want us safely locked away.

"So, Mr. Cavanaugh."

I looked at the alien with sobering eyes.

"Do you feel that the human race has been rehabilitated?"

I didn't even have to think about it.

"No."