We got the radio going and quickly found a broadcast from France. Fortunately it turned out we had a French major from nearby Radford University in our midst, and he was able to translate.

The bottom line is that the initial Martian attack was absolutely devastating. Major cities all over the world had been wiped out, and as many as two billion people were feared dead. However, the threat now appeared to be over. Over the course of the last several hours, all the Martian machines seem to have shut down. In the cases where humans succeeded in opening them up, the occupants were found to be dead.

Then that French astrobiologist I had seen quoted earlier joined the broadcast. His theory was that the Martians, having come from an otherwise dead world, had forgotten about the threat posed by microbes. When exposed to the alien viruses and bacteria of Earth, their bodies quickly succumbed to the onslaught of germs.

Does that mean we were now safe? The astrobiologist was cautionary on that. He said it depended on what kind of capabilities the remaining occupants of Mars had left, and whether they would realize their mistake. But for now at least, yes, we were safe.

So where does mankind go from here? It's hard to say, except that we have a massive job ahead: Rebuilding civilization. That will clearly require a great deal of international cooperation. But what happens after that? Will the petty jealousies between nations once again conspire to pull us apart from one another? Or have we as a species learned once and for all that we must live together as one, or eventually die? Only time will tell.

On the bright side, there are unconfirmed reports out of Alaska that Sarah Palin was vaporized when she tried to field dress a Martian.

There is, however, one thing that is absolutely certain: The next time I get a cold, I'll be thankful as hell.