4. The Encounter (ii)
“What do you want with us?”, Sequillious demanded, now making her echoing voice heard. “What is your objective of seeking us out?”
“Well”, Alan stumbled, taken aback. “It’s er, the pursuit of knowledge, uhm… all in the interest of science and advancement”, he fumbled, caught like a deer in the headlights with that interrogation.
“Earth is in a terribly sorry state. Earth has been destroyed, there is no compassion or sense of responsibility here. It is dirty, polluted, filled with greed and unnecessary stress. Focus on the problems on Earth and do not interfere with us Ladingans”, Sequillious uttered reproachfully.
“Your objective is not for the pure pursuance of science and knowledge – you fibbing earthling. There is money involved on a big scale. I will repeat my question – what is the objective of seeking us out?”, she continued in her booming voice, unrelentingly.
This was most bizarre for Alan. He had never expected this. He was the intelligent one who was going to find life on other planets…lesser lives, he had always assumed. Now his vision had been somewhat turned upside down. His world, in fact, was turning upside down.
“Well”, he said, trying hard to get his thoughts together, like in a tough job interview with a person who was out to thrash him and test his reaction, “Uhmm, there were a few possibilities that had crossed our minds”, he mumbled absent-mindedly. “
Sequillious stayed silent. She was waiting.
Feeling threatened, caught by surprise and defeated, Alan finally plucked up enough courage and said “Well, there was the possibility of working together with you….trading with you, exchanging goods and services and perhaps arranging tourism between Earth and Ladinga.”
Sequillious glanced the other way, almost turning up her nose. “Have you ever thought about collaborating with cockroaches on Earth?”, she asked rhetorically.
Feeling very small at the condescending question, Alan replied meekly, “I’m sorry – I don’t understand. What do you mean?”
tinkerthinktank 