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First Contact
24 June 2012 21:40The sun beat down on me and the rest of the media gathered on the white house lawn. I wasn’t dressed for the heat. I was sweating through my shirt, hoping that I wouldn’t sweat through my suit on camera. Six hundred of us were jammed into a crowd here for an amazing chapter in humanity’s history. Soldiers, politicians, scientists, and media. We stank.
The bulbous pink and blue spaceship settled silently on the grass as the entire world watched their feeds, drinking in every second of Earth’s first contact with alien life.
I could see the president craning his neck to get a good look at the ship. His face betrayed his nervousness. I’d never seen him this worried and the country had been through some scary issues during his term.
I was surprisingly calm. For one, the ship looked like it belonged in a kid’s cartoon and also, if the aliens were going to invade us, they picked the nicest day we’ve had in months. You’d think an invading force would like a little more cloud cover. I had a feeling that whatever was going to happen today wouldn’t be bad. But I’d been wrong before.
A door opened on the side of the craft and a rampart slowly lowered itself to the ground. The entire planet stared in an expectant hush.
A kindly old man stepped out of the ship. White hair, glasses, a nicely tailored but cheap suit, and a warm smile. His back was straight but he moved slowly down the ramp as he looked around at us. His giant eyes blinked behind his large glasses. He stopped at the bottom of the ramp, raised his hands, and motioned for us to come closer.
I stepped forward.
The crowd gasped. The old man smiled. None of the soldiers opened fire. So far, so good, I thought.
I took more steps, getting close to him. He smelled like vanilla, licorice, old books and raspberries. I found myself smiling back at him.
“Hello.” I said. And paused. I could hear a hundred journalists stab me in the back with their eyes. They all probably had amazing speeches planned. I did, too, but I couldn’t remember it just now. I held my microphone out towards the old man.
“Do I speak into this? Is that what you’re saying?” the old man said and winked at me. I nodded.
“People of Earth. Or as my employers call it, Cor Carraway 6.” He said. “My name, or the name I’m chosen, is Arnold Mintz. This form I’m wearing was created here, in this ship, to communicate with you. After a lot of research, I decided this would be the least threatening shape I could assume for what you call First Contact. You understand so far?” He looked at me expectantly. I nodded.
“I am an expert at this. My company has third-party-brokered many primary contacts before. This planet you are on has been recognized as possessing life capable of space travel and worthy of joining the galactic council. As an aside, there are mining rights we’d like to talk to you about and we’d also like to warn you about an extinction level event but that won’t be here for another century or so.”
A warm breeze rustled the grass.
“There are a lot of details to go over so if you don’t mind…..how do you say it.....take me to your leader?”
I grabbed the old man’s hand and started walking back towards the crowd.
tags
The bulbous pink and blue spaceship settled silently on the grass as the entire world watched their feeds, drinking in every second of Earth’s first contact with alien life.
I could see the president craning his neck to get a good look at the ship. His face betrayed his nervousness. I’d never seen him this worried and the country had been through some scary issues during his term.
I was surprisingly calm. For one, the ship looked like it belonged in a kid’s cartoon and also, if the aliens were going to invade us, they picked the nicest day we’ve had in months. You’d think an invading force would like a little more cloud cover. I had a feeling that whatever was going to happen today wouldn’t be bad. But I’d been wrong before.
A door opened on the side of the craft and a rampart slowly lowered itself to the ground. The entire planet stared in an expectant hush.
A kindly old man stepped out of the ship. White hair, glasses, a nicely tailored but cheap suit, and a warm smile. His back was straight but he moved slowly down the ramp as he looked around at us. His giant eyes blinked behind his large glasses. He stopped at the bottom of the ramp, raised his hands, and motioned for us to come closer.
I stepped forward.
The crowd gasped. The old man smiled. None of the soldiers opened fire. So far, so good, I thought.
I took more steps, getting close to him. He smelled like vanilla, licorice, old books and raspberries. I found myself smiling back at him.
“Hello.” I said. And paused. I could hear a hundred journalists stab me in the back with their eyes. They all probably had amazing speeches planned. I did, too, but I couldn’t remember it just now. I held my microphone out towards the old man.
“Do I speak into this? Is that what you’re saying?” the old man said and winked at me. I nodded.
“People of Earth. Or as my employers call it, Cor Carraway 6.” He said. “My name, or the name I’m chosen, is Arnold Mintz. This form I’m wearing was created here, in this ship, to communicate with you. After a lot of research, I decided this would be the least threatening shape I could assume for what you call First Contact. You understand so far?” He looked at me expectantly. I nodded.
“I am an expert at this. My company has third-party-brokered many primary contacts before. This planet you are on has been recognized as possessing life capable of space travel and worthy of joining the galactic council. As an aside, there are mining rights we’d like to talk to you about and we’d also like to warn you about an extinction level event but that won’t be here for another century or so.”
A warm breeze rustled the grass.
“There are a lot of details to go over so if you don’t mind…..how do you say it.....take me to your leader?”
I grabbed the old man’s hand and started walking back towards the crowd.
tags