by Eando Binder
• “It is not for me to judge, nor to condemn, as to the manner in which the authorities acted when the Robot Aliens confronted human eyes, but I think that the mere reading of these facts will bring a flush of shame to many a man who had something to do with the welcome accorded our ambassadors from Mars. Perhaps the alibi should be that their coming was so unexpected and startling—a flaming meteor which excited the superstition of every person thereabouts—or that the newspapers with their desire to ‘scoop’ one another piled lie upon lie till no one knew the truth. Or perhaps world conditions were such that any such advent was looked upon as a threat of war from a foreign power. Nevertheless X says that he is glad he finally came into communication with earthly people and that he hopes much interchange of information will take place.
“All technical questions will have to be left in the ah at present till we are able to teach X the finer intricacies of our language. After all, as yet, he knows less of the language than any ten-year-old on Earth—which is the best I have been able to do in two months. I know there are many puzzling questions that scientists will think of, not the least of which is how the Martian is able to so closely control his robot when there is a vast gulf of millions of miles between them. Light takes an appreciable time to cross that distance. How then could the robots dodge the bombs in that aerial attack, when the very impulse from Mars, if it traveled at the speed of light (which is the fastest thing we know of) would take minutes to get here? X intimates, although it is not clear to me, that his controlling impulses, and the return impulses (of eyesight and hearing), travel instantaneously by means of some bizarre higher physics of which earthly science knows nothing.
“At the first request from the authorities, I will turn over the Robot Alien into the hands of scientists who will be able to do far more than I have in the matter of interchanging thought. But they must have patience, for communicating solely by writing is laborious, especially when one subject must be taught the meaning of each new word, sometimes by lengthy processes.
“With greetings from X on Mars, I end this brief work.”
* * *
Bert Boddel pointed dramatically skyward as he looked around the group of young boys and girls collected about his ‘scope.
“Here comes Mars! Now let me adjust the clock and point the ‘scope and then we’ll all take a look.”
This done, one after the other they peeped through at a small lumpy orange in the sky; some had to be dragged away from the eyepiece.
One girl’s voice came awed from the darkness; “Who’d think it possible for those funny things to come from away-y-y up there!”
* * *
“. . . So I just stood there kinda fierce-like,” said Lieutenant Arpy for the 864th time, “an’ looked back at it. Damn’ thing was chilly to look at, but it-didn’t really scare me. You don’t believe the papers, do ya Murphy, when they says everybody ran? I’m telling ya, so help me Hannah, I stood there all the while . . .”
Murphy rolled a haggard, wistful eye at the clock. Two a.m.! And he hadn’t had a wink of sleep yet! In fact, he hadn’t had much sleep on night duty at the switchboard any more since the meteor had landed.
Lieutenant Arpy started version number 865 . . .
* * *
“Now, I had a suspicion all the time, Peabody, that those Robot Aliens were from Mars. Of course, I didn’t say so in my interview because I wasn’t quite decided at the time and thought it better to make it general. But, if I’m not mistaken, I was the first to even suggest an extra-terrestrial origin for the Robot Aliens. Wasn’t I, Peabody?”
“Yes, Professor Honstein. By the way, sir, you speak tonight at the Astronomy Conclave on the subject of ‘The New Orbit of Pluto.’ ”
Peabody was the forgetful professor’s faithful Boswell and memorandum pad. Such reminders as this he had just made were absolutely necessary in the savant’s haphazard life.
“Oh, tut, tut, Peabody. ‘The New Orbit of Pluto’ be hanged! I am going to speak tonight to my brother astronomers, yes, but not about Pluto. I shall speak, Peabody, on my personal experiences with the Robot Aliens! We must not forget that I was the first to suggest that they came from extra-terrestrial regions . . .”
* * *
“Confidentially, though,” whispered Captain Pompersnap to his ogling relatives, “I myself saw the folly of attacking the Robot Aliens without first ascertaining if they had any belligerent tendencies! You know, we men of the Army must obey our superiors without question, mentioning no names!”
His sly manner told much to the listeners, who one and all thought his actions had been above reproach . . .
At the same moment, the arrogant Major Whinny was subtly hinting to a group of fellow politicians that higher authority had also misled him . . .
Under similar circumstances, Colonel Snoosharp pointed an accusing finger at Washington . . .
Secretary of War Rukke and the President volubly agreed that the “misinformation from Fort Sheridan” had caused the war-action on peaceful ambassadors. They, obviously (with a suitable air of innocence), were hardly to be blamed at all. . .
A week after the work called “The Robot Aliens” was published, a mob stormed the Miller mansion at Owensboro, dynamited the last Robot Alien to nothingness, and burned Frank Miller alive. Their reason (later published) stated that Frank Miller was a Frankenstein who had loosed his irresponsible brain-children on a peaceful world and then attempted to cover his malign sin by concocting his cock-and-bull Mars story. Having always been a decided recluse, not given to associating much with general society, the mob had no trouble in believing he had always been a secret experimenter and had “made” the Robot Aliens in a spell of madness.
Of the storm of controversy and denouncement which that hideous action aroused, and of the bloody but short civil war that followed, we will say nothing. But we will add that Frank Miller is only one of many geniuses who died martyrs to their enlightened beliefs. People of reason and high intelligence admit that some day Mars will again send proxy ambassadors and vindicate his memory.
After all (it should be plain by now), “civilization” on Earth has only begun.
THE END
