Subtitle: The fight against Climate Change is inevitable. It begins here…

This realistic fiction story is for Junior High and Senior High Students between the ages of 10 and 18 years old, and also people from all walks of life who are concerned about the climate change topic and how to live responsibly to save the planet.

The story is about Imani, an inquisitive teenager of Dr. Aporizoya, a renowned Ghanaian scientist who drove all the way from Accra to Keta with his teenager on Christmas Eve to have a drink. 

The scientist was only trying to spend quality time with his 16-year-old son for the first time, but chose Keta because of the news of high sea levels in the area, which pushes some inhabitants further into the hinterland. While at the restaurant, the television broadcasts news about individuals stranded due to the sea taking over their homes overnight. The journalist attributes this phenomenon to climate change. Imani, having heard the term before but not fully understanding it, begins to question his father about the meaning of climate change. 

Their conversation continues as Dr. Aporizoya explains climate change and its impacts on the Planet. To provide Imani with a clearer picture of what is at stake, the scientist shares a story based on declassified information from the U.S. called “The Alien Detour.” This tale describes Zorgaz, an alien kingdom that resides on a different planet in the Milky Way Galaxy. Like Earth’s inhabitants, scientists in Zorgaz spoke openly about climate change and proposed ways to mitigate its effects. Unfortunately, the alien leaders ignored the warnings and continued to burn fossil fuels and pollute their environment, leading to devastating consequences: heatwaves, tsunamis, massive volcanoes, droughts, and excessive floods that threatened to wipe out all life on their planet. The aliens began to apply all that the scientists asked them to do, but it was too late. 

In a desperate bid to avoid extinction, the alien king, Baltz, selected his finest soldiers and sent them into space to search for a new planet. The Operation Seach and Conquer (OSC) new planet was led by Captain Teroz, a fierce warrior with a good heart who fought more wars than any other alien in the history of their kingdom. This adventure eventually brought them to Earth after a month of travelling in space. The alien spaceship remained far away while they collected information about Earth and assessed their chances of conquest. During this 24-hour assessment, Captain Teroz fell in love with the African continent and thought of coexisting with humans. The alien Captain envisioned training African leaders to develop their countries, eliminate corruption, foster equitable regional development, and create sustainable jobs.

However, his dreams were abruptly interrupted when their advanced computers discovered that Earth was also on the brink of collapse, much like their home planet. It was described as living on borrowed time. Captain Teroz received orders from his superior, General Smatz, to leave Earth immediately in search of another planet. Despite the orders, he secretly disobeyed his superior and attempted to save Earth’s inhabitants by delivering videos and images from his planet to Dr. Klovec, the UN Secretary-General. He wanted to warn the inhabitants of the Earth to take care of their planet before it was too late. Unfortunately, Dr. Klovec misunderstood his intentions when his true identity was revealed. He escaped for his life without fully explaining himself to Dr. Klovec.  Captain Teroz narrowly escaped being left behind by his team for putting them in danger by making contact with humans when the mission was called off. 

Imani was deeply affected by the alien story and recognised the similarities between Earth’s leaders and those of the aliens. Inspired by this realisation, Imani dedicated himself to climate change activism, undeterred by any obstacles, including writing to the president and world leaders about the urgent need to protect the planet.