Africa 25,000 BC
The lights first appeared in the sky at sunset, hundreds of kilometres away across the lush African savannah. They moved fast, horizontally and vertically at impossible speeds against the burning orange backdrop, shimmering from a vibrant blue-green to a blinding white-yellow.
A family of primates resting in a Baobab tree paid little notice to the alien intrusion, as if the stars had dropped down from the evening sky and danced for their attention. Mother Ape casually picked nits from her two siblings, eating them with a quick gnash of teeth and lick of her lips. Her innocent, deep brown eyes darted from the scalps of her young to the events unfolding on the horizon. Father Ape sat a few limbs higher, drifting in and out of a contented nap.
The distant intruders released intense spotlights onto the terrain, stirring up dust and debris. The visual display was silent, but the pandemonium was clearly heading their way. The wind picked up and the Baobab tree began to sway. A group of giraffes crossing the savannah stopped to watch the approaching lights. Overhead, a flock of birds darted left and right, their sense of direction faltering.
Father Ape rolled onto his back and stared up at the brilliant display of stars. They shone with intensity only possible through a sky yet to be tainted with atmospheric pollution. Directly above their tree, a hole in the sky devoured the brilliance of the celestial heavens within an inky black void. If Father Ape had any form of higher intelligence he would have realised the brightest stars were forming straight lines, converging to form a triangle around the void.
Father Ape watched with mild curiosity as the triangle began to rotate, gathering speed and pulsing in a mirage of dazzling, multi-coloured lights. A low frequency hum reverberated across the savannah and the group of giraffes nervously broke away. The confused flock of birds started dive-bombing to their death in the grassy field.
Father Ape finally took notice and sat upright. Mother Ape and the siblings looked up as the luminous shape descended, consuming the sky. An intense white light arced up from within the void and spotlighted the giraffes. The entire area lost gravity as rocks and dirt slowly ascended towards the light. The giraffes floated as though they were in space, their hooves desperately trying to make contact with anything that could give them traction. A snake curled and slithered about as though it was swimming underwater.
Father Ape aggressively swung down from his branch to protect his family. A whirring sound emanated from behind them and brought with it a powerful gust of wind and blinding lights. A sleek craft of alien design, barely visible through the luminous glow, darted to the terrain spotlighted by the mother-ship.
The apes started fretting and bounced from branch to branch. A swarm of tiny, red glowing darts shot from the craft like busy worker bees and honed in on the floating giraffe. As each dart found its home, minuscule needles pierced their skin. The darts lit up blue and the needle retracted from the animal, then dropped away and flew back into the scout ship.
The spotlight disappeared and everything dropped as regular gravity was restored. The sleek craft circled the Baobab tree and bathed it with pulsating, probing lights. Father Ape ripped off a branch and hurled it at the lights, screaming and bearing his white teeth. The siblings crawled onto Mother Ape for protection.
Their world abruptly changed as a white-hot light enveloped the Baobab tree and manipulated gravity. The apes floated helplessly from the limbs of the tree. The siblings struggled to hang on to their mother, dazed and disorientated by the sensation as the world distorted and rippled like they were underwater.
The buzz of approaching darts echoed through the air, honing in on the primates. The siblings screamed as the needles pierced their skin and commenced with the injection and extraction of DNA. A second later, the darts completed their mission, detracted, and flew back to the craft. The overhead spotlight disappeared and gravity returned. The primates fell back into the Baobab tree, grappling for the closest branch.
As quickly as they arrived, the intruders shot off into the distance and joined another spotlight. The mother-ship silently glided away to the west and continued its business. Father Ape scratched his shoulder where the dart had pierced his skin and watched the lights disappear into the night. Within minutes, the family had almost returned to normal except for the occasional fleeting glance back to the alien lights.
By dawn the next morning, they would have almost forgotten the events entirely, completely unaware they had played an integral part in the evolution of mankind on planet earth.