The Visitor

by Tony Harmsworth

  ‘No, sir.’ I had to revert to calling him sir. ‘I haven’t always been honest.’

  ‘No? When have you been dishonest?’ Strangely, he didn’t seem too surprised at my confession.

  ‘I concealed a microSDXS memory card of the discovery of AD1 and smuggled it back to Earth. Sorry.’ I had to come clean even if it lost me my position as leader of the diplomatic team. I couldn’t go into the meeting with the alien weighed down by a guilty secret when my Prime Minister was being so supportive and honest with me.

  ‘In the corner of your diary?’

  My God, he’d known all along!

  ‘You knew?’ I gasped. I felt so small and foolish.

  ‘We watched you and grew to admire your dedication to the project. We surmised you were holding it as an insurance policy against me lying to you about UFOs. It almost cost you the Goonhilly job, though. I went against advice and approved your appointment.’

  ‘It was as you say. I’m terribly sorry, sir.’

  ‘Evelyn, it’s Roger and I trust you implicitly. You never used the memory card or the information it contained. At any time, we were able to erase its contents, but we didn’t. I hope it shows how much we trusted you and your integrity.’

  ‘I now feel unworthy, Roger.’

  ‘Don’t, because I now need to trust you even more than I did with the silly memory card.’

  ‘I won’t let you down.’

  ‘I know, but this is a really big ask, Evelyn. We’ve been agonising over whether to tell you at all.’

  ‘Sounds serious.’

  ‘It is.’

  The Prime Minister went silent for a moment, took a deep breath and continued, ‘George Rainey isn’t only a career diplomat, he’s also a senior MI6 operative.’

  I guessed what was coming so decided to get my own back over the memory chip.

  ‘Roger, I guess you’re going to tell me that if things go badly awry in the Cluster, our problems will vanish in dramatic fashion.’

  ‘Evelyn, you’re too damn clever by half. You worked it out?’

  ‘If I’d had more time since coming out of the coma, I am sure I would’ve suggested that some precautions should be in place. Please let me know the plan, Roger.’

  ‘Firstly, let me say that this plan has been agreed by the United Nations, USA, Russia, EU, and Japan. NASA, ESA, CSA, Roscosmos, UKSA, and JAXA are also aware.’ He paused and continued, ‘there’s a small nuclear device attached to the Cluster. George has the trigger. He’ll not use it unless it is essential or AD2 is violent or, and here is where our trust in you lies, you give him the code words ‘George Cluster Solution’. We tried to make it something which wouldn’t be said accidentally. If you use those words, he’ll detonate the bomb.’

  ‘And the ISS?’

  ‘We’ve been opening the distance in stages over the past month and it is now thirty-five kilometres away. The bomb will produce a directed explosion, with the bulk of the material ejected at a tangent to the ISS. The débris will miss the ISS and the remains of the Cluster will vector towards the atmosphere and burn up during re-entry.’

  ‘That’s more of a precaution than I had in mind, sir.’

  ‘It is a fully agreed strategy. In the Cluster, only you and George will be aware of it.’

  ‘I understand. I’m sure it won’t be necessary. Thank you for letting me know and entrusting me with the responsibility.’

  He sipped his tea and I mine.

  ‘It won’t be necessary, I’m sure. Your clear thinking on how to reveal Allen to the world might well be the reason we can be confident the meeting will go well. I am sure you, I, and perhaps a manifestation of Allen himself, will be sitting in this office in the not too distant future.’

  ‘I hope so, sir, and I’m sorry but I cannot call you Roger during such an important conversation. Perhaps when this is all over.’

  ‘I understand, Evelyn. Don’t worry about it. Being prepared to put your life on the line for your fellow human beings is enough for me.’

  Our conversation moved on to the detail of likely questions and answers which might arise during the historic meeting. Eventually time was up, and he helped me to my feet and wished me well.

  As I left his office, before his secretary closed the door, I heard him say, ‘See you in a few months, Evelyn?’

  ‘Count on it, sir,’ I said.

  ««o»»

  Now, in the Cluster, I was face-to-face with the alien and it somehow knew about the nuclear device. How was that possible? We’d most certainly not allowed for the eventuality he’d detect it. It was just an emergency precaution. How did he sense it? Could he read minds? I had to keep my cool and play it by ear. My team, of course, knew nothing about the bomb. In my mind’s eye, I imagined George’s finger hovering over the detonation button. Keep cool, Eve, I said to myself. I guessed someone would have cut the media and public video feed by now. I could see the general and colonel in animated conversation with each other.

  ‘I don’t have the ability to deactivate it. It’s a security measure only.’

  There was a long pause before he continued, ‘Explain the circumstances under which this security measure would be applied.’

  That sounded threatening. Now I’d have to be even more careful.

  ‘Nsyncadma, we’ve never encountered anyone from another planet and some of our leaders were worried you might be dangerous. If you were to be dangerous, we’d consider ending this meeting using the device, but only as a last resort.’

  ‘What’s going on?’ I heard in my ear from Reg. I raised my hand to indicate he should be quiet.

  ‘But it would kill all of you,’ Nsyncadma said.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I am surprised.’

  ‘It would be a last resort if you were to be a real danger to our planet.’

  ‘An interesting perspective and all of you were prepared to die if that were the case.’

  ‘Only two of us knew about the device and none of us wants to die. We too are explorers and meeting you is a wonderful experience, but some humans were worried about the meeting of our two cultures. There was concern you might have an intent to harm us, hence the security measure.’

  ‘I am not a threat to you.’

  ‘I’m sure you aren’t, but how do our leaders know for certain until we’ve spoken more.’

  ‘If you are sure I am not a threat, deactivate the device.’

  My God. This was getting tricky.

  ‘Because you’re not a threat to us we don’t need to use the device and it’ll remain harmless, but I cannot overrule our leaders.’

  He went silent. I assumed he was considering the situation. I did not want to affect his thinking process by speaking out of turn.

  ‘I am disappointed.’

  ‘Nsyncadma, human beings have a warlike and violent past. There are still wars on our planet. We live in separate countries dotted around our world and those countries argue with each other. Some fight each other on points of principle. It’s a human way most of us despise, but it seems to be in our nature. It means each country is suspicious of the motives of each of the others. There’s a lack of trust between our nations and the device is nothing more than a typically human attempt to ensure we can trust you.’

  ‘But its very presence destroys trust.’

  ‘Yes, it’s a failing of our species.’

  ‘I am disappointed.’

  ‘As I said, it’s there as a last resort. It would only ever be activated if you weren’t what we believe you to be.’

  ‘And what do you believe me to be?’

  ‘An explorer. A person with curiosity, wanting to learn about strange peoples and cultures.’

  ‘And what do your leaders fear from me?’

  ‘The unknown. Please trust us, Nsyncadma. I’ve no desire to die. I want to get to know you, to understand you, to take you down to Earth and have you meet our leaders, to show them you mean no h
arm.’

  Again, a period of silence. What was going on in the minds of everyone else in the Cluster? They’d all be wondering where the device was and who, apart from me could activate it.

  ‘We’ll talk more when the device is deactivated. I can be patient.’

  It was clearly a concluding statement. He wasn’t prepared to talk unless we deactivated the bomb.

  I unstrapped and rose from my seat and made my way to the airlock. Reg quickly followed me and opened it to allow us to move into the observation sphere.

  Once we’d evacuated the alien sphere there was clear anger.

  ‘What the fuck is going on, Eve?’ asked Reg.

  ‘You’ve got a bomb strapped to the Cluster? How dare you?’ said Petra.

  ‘This is intolerable, Doctor Slater. Whose idea was it?’ asked Hugh.

  ‘Is that why the military are here?’ asked Reg, looking accusingly at General Forster.

  ‘Is not right, Eva,’ said Yuri putting his hand on my shoulder.

  ‘What’s this about, Doctor Slater?’ asked General Forster. ‘I’ve no knowledge of any device.’

  ‘Nor I,’ said Colonel Ivanov.

  ‘Hold your horses!’ I exclaimed. ‘I’d no choice in this matter. It was a simple precaution put in place by all our governments. If AD2 reacted badly towards us or threatened us, there’d be a solution to protect Earth. It’s a logical step. I didn’t intend there to be such a device, but I understand the reasoning behind having some protection. If he’d said, “Surrender or else,” we’d have a way of preventing the Earth being enslaved, perhaps.’

  ‘And which of us has the other vote on it. Not me!’ said Reg.

  ‘Better I don’t say,’ I said.

  ‘This needs to be resolved, Eve,’ said Mia.

  George nodded agreement which meant he was going to leave it up to me.

  ‘Can’t we deactivate it ourselves?’ asked Hugh.

  ‘We can’t talk under these circumstances,’ objected Petra.

  I tried to apply the voice of reason, ‘Why does he want it removed? Think about this. If he has evil intentions and we throw away our only method of stopping him, we would be pretty foolish. Our governments had no inkling he’d sense its presence.’

  ‘I agree with him. It’s a matter of trust,’ said Reg.

  ‘Yes, Reg, he wants us to trust him, but he won’t trust us. We know we can end this meeting and destroy him. We don’t know what he can do to us, do we? Think about it. Now calm down, all of you. I don’t have a choice in this matter.’

  ‘I think the general and I should take over negotiations,’ said Colonel Ivanov forcefully.

  ‘No, colonel. This is my responsibility,’ I said firmly.

  ‘We shall see about this,’ said the general, picking up his reflexlet.

  I hoped my authority was as strong as had been promised by the Prime Minister.

  ‘But you were prepared to sign our death warrants if necessary,’ said Petra.

  ‘Yes, but for it to become necessary it meant the entire planet was in danger. Think about it, Petra. Your own President authorised it with the President of the USA and the Prime Ministers of Japan, France, Germany, and Britain. I’m merely their instrument in this and I wouldn’t kill all of us unless our entire world were in danger. The heads of NASA, Roscosmos, ESA, JAXA, CSA, and UKSA as well as the United Nations, are also aware of the device and agreed to its deployment. This is beyond our control but is nothing to do with the military – so don’t waste your time on that call, general.’

  He looked daggers at me.

  ‘I’m horrified,’ said Reg.

  ‘I wouldn’t have protected us in quite this way, Reg, but when the plan was revealed to me, I could see something like this had to be in place. You will too, when you look at it in the cold light of day.’

  ‘He is watching this argument,’ said Alana who had remained silent up to now.

  ‘It is absolutely disgraceful,’ said Mia.

  ‘I as disappointed as he, Eva,’ said Yuri.

  The words ‘et tu Brute’ flashed through my mind. ‘Let us all settle down. Arguing does not help,’ I said.

  ‘It is so wrong,’ said Reg.

  ‘Must I continually repeat, it was agreed by our governments and the chiefs of our space agencies. Probably more advisers were involved. I’m sure it was a combined decision and we don’t have the right to overrule our governments, so kindly stop insinuating I’m the villain of the piece. We have to play with the hand we’ve been dealt. No one expected him to be able to detect it,’ I said, trying to bring back some order and exert my authority. I needed to make them understand we were all merely pawns when it came to the defence of our countries and our world.

  Alana turned to George, ‘Come on, George, you’re supposed to be the diplomat. What do you think?’

  ‘I can see the reasoning, and understand all of our misgivings, and Nsyncadma’s concerns. However, if our governments have put a security measure such as this in place, who are we to object?’

  ‘But he might sit in there for years. When he said that he can be patient, we must remember he’s been patient for millions of years already. Why on earth would he be a danger to us?’ asked the mathematician, Alexei.

  ‘Would you trust him with the lives of every person on Earth, Alexei, including your own family?’ I asked.

  ‘But we’ve now created a standoff,’ said Reg.

  ‘You have to do something, Eva,’ said Yuri.

  ‘Try a one-to-one approach,’ said George.

  ‘How do you mean?’ I asked.

  ‘Just you and him. In private. Talk the problem through,’ said George.

  Silently, I thanked George for the suggestion. ‘Help me through the airlock, Yuri. I’m going back in there alone. Alana, disconnect the ambient microphones, please. I want to build a rapport. This has become personal.’

  ‘Let me come too,’ said Yuri.

  ‘No, Yuri, only me and him, being to being. If it were both of us, we might disagree. I head the team. My responsibility to resolve it,’ I said firmly. My Russian friend shrugged his shoulders and opened the airlock door for me.

  I passed my secret microphone to him, ‘Keep this for me,’ and I avoided eye contact with George. Our lives were now in his hands, not mine. I could see the military men talking into their reflexlets. I had to hope Presidents Parker and Gorelov would not undermine me, but Mr Clarke had promised me I had their backing.

  I flew into the alien sphere, spent a couple of minutes removing my helmet, pushed myself off towards him and took hold of a strap above my head to slow me. Now I floated in space, my head no more than a foot from the beautiful gold nose cone with its mysterious silver blisters, my hair sticking out in all directions in the zero-g.

  I said in the softest, most conciliatory voice, ‘Nsyncadma, speak to me, please. Only you and me. Two living, thinking beings.’

  30 Trust and Friendship

  ‘We can’t be overheard, Nsyncadma. It’s only us speaking now. Two beings alone with each other.’

  ‘I am disappointed.’

  ‘I know. So am I, but I answer to my leaders and I understand their problem. Can I try to explain why they’ve done this?’

  ‘I am listening.’

  ‘I’d like you to entertain a concept.’

  ‘I will listen.’

  ‘Imagine you’re one of the many leaders on my world. You distrust one of the other leaders and he’s tricked you many times. You’ve been kind and generous to him and each time he’s broken his promise to be generous in return and has, in fact, done harm to your people. Can you imagine such a situation?’

  ‘It is not something my people have experienced. The Carpellums experienced it during their primitive period.’

  ‘Carpellums?’

  ‘Two intelligent species on a nearby world to ours.’

  Wow! That was fascinating in itself.

  ‘Our peop
le have experienced it many times and still do. Many lifetimes ago, my own nation found a new land on the other side of the world. The people who lived there were kind and generous, yet we stole their land from them, overpowered them with superior technology and made them live in camps in poor conditions. Imagine you were one of those people and you were trying to become friends with us. Would you trust us?’

  ‘I suppose not, but it is such an alien concept for us.’

  Oh, the irony – the alien thought it was an alien concept! ‘But you can imagine the scenario I’ve described?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Because we were well-known for doing this to people in America as well as Africa, Australasia, and India, we expect others to be as untrustworthy towards us as we’ve been towards them. When we discovered how advanced your technology was, our leaders might have become afraid you could do us serious harm. For that reason, security measures were taken and hence the device.’

  ‘But it—’

  I stopped him. ‘Wait, Nsyncadma, I need to know if you can comprehend the reasons for it. Both you and I hate the idea of it, I promise you. Foolish people killed my mate, my partner because they were afraid of you. I’ve suffered great loss because I wanted to be friends with you.’

  ‘We do not have mates.’

  ‘Keeping it simple, we’ve two sexes. We must mate with a member of the opposite sex to reproduce. I’m female. My partner Mario was male. His seed would grow inside me to produce a child. Many mates live together their entire lives to the exclusion of all others. The loss of my mate was devastating to me. He was killed, with twenty-two other people and his death was entirely because I wanted to understand you and your people.’

  ‘It is irrational.’

  ‘Yes, humans can be irrational but overall, we’re kind, generous and friendly. We can suffer paranoia. Do you understand the word? Some of our people are paranoid that you might be dangerous.’

  ‘I do understand the word, but why it should arise among civilised intelligent people is more difficult to accept.’