Then worry.
“She has taken off her helmet. Should she do that?”
“Congratulations, Commander Dawkins! Your team back in Houston as well as the whole global-watching nation congratulate you. This is truly a historical moment. We, as a nation, are enormously proud to be able to witness this making of history moment as it unfolds!”
“We are concerned, however, that you have removed your helmet. Since we do not know the air quality on planet Socrates, do you think the removal of your helmet under these uncertain circumstances is a wise decision?”
With a weak voice, as she was still in shock from the reception she was receiving, responded: “Yes. I have monitored the air quality here. Finding the air quality here is very similar to earth. I find that it is perfectly safe.”
From another corner of the world where members of the Modern Flat Earth Society organization were just hanging out; a shout went up. “Fake news. Fake news. Nobody honestly believes this nonsense.Hollywood has managed to build a stage in the back lot of their studio, making up all this crap. Who, in their right mind, would believe all this made-up nonsense coming out of Hollywood?”
“Someone capable of flying a spacecraft to another planet? A dead planet, at that. Where there is no life. Especially life that supports intelligent people just like us. Surely you stupid Americans do not believe this? So, what can we expect from a group of disenchanted retrogrades? These are the same misinformed people, who are, sadly, still holding onto their belief that the earth is flat, and the holocaust never happened.”
26
The Return of a Daughter
Two historic events occurred as soon as Allison disembarked from the NASA spacecraft. First, Allison received a frantic message from Houston reporting the following: “Commander Dawkins, in about one minute and thirteen seconds a giant dust storm, will be crossing our atmosphere, disrupting communications for at least forty-eight hours—or longer. Good luck with your investigation of planet Socrates [NASA code name for Zorbus]. Please proceed as you know best. Expect the return of communication as soon as the dust storm clears out of our hemisphere.”
Secondly, two workers dressed in what looked like Hazmat suits whisked Allison into a white tent, specifically set up to perform a full body examination. Precautionary measures to determine if she was carrying any type of harmful contagion; something that might be harmful and dangerous to the Zorbus people. Allison was considered an alien persona—although she once lived there. The results of the test were negative— which allowed Allison to proceed to a small platform set up in advance, awaiting her arrival. Seated, all she could see was faces, faces, faces, just a sea of faces and more faces. “More human faces than I have ever seen before.”
“What in the hell am I doing here? she wondered. I have at least three billion people on this planet watching my every move, wondering what all this means. And at least seven billion or more people on planet Earth waiting anxiously for me to report. But what am I supposed to report? Things I have discovered on this strange planet.” Strange to them, but not strange to me. Should they be fearful for their lives?”
So many questions and just one person is sent here to find the answers. She had every right to be scared. “What assurance do I have that the new planet Zorbus will allow me to safely make my return trip to Earth?” Then, the moment she had been anxious about since her arrival: Meeting her parents. Would she remember them? Would they remember her?
As her parents approached, walking very slowly, as they had aged considerably from the passing of time; and the loss of their only child. A child who had somehow miraculously returned. And in a spectacular way at that. Emotionally overcome and crying wet tears, mother, and daughter hugged. Allison’s mother fussing over her daughter as if she was still four years old. Her father was overcome with emotion.
The pain of the loss of their only child never completely healed. He had, over the many years, never fully forgave himself for the accident. Taking away his only child in just a blink of an eye. Now, with unbelieving eyes, she was back. They embraced and whispered joyful words of endearment for only a few minutes. Can one fix the empty chambers of a broken heart from the loss of their only child when that person, once thought loss forever is now back.
Recognizing that all eighty-three members from the Zorbus Supreme Council were assembled in the Lazio Amphitheatre, watching, and anxiously waiting to welcome this stranger, Allison to their planet of whom they had many questions. They were very well aware that this was not your ordinary stranger to their planet, but the daughter of one of the Council members, Spurketts which all members respected and looked up to.
A member of the Supreme Council escorted Allison to her seat of honor. Tel-Link standing by to televise her speech to all corners of the Zorbus globe. Immediately following the initial Council ceremonies and welcome address, Allison began her speech, which was broadcast to the entire Zorbus world: “Greetings to all the wonderful people of planet Zorbus. My home planet, planet Earth sends good wishes, and expectations for a long, and lasting friendship between our two planets; planet Earth and planet Zorbus.”
“To all the people of planet Zorbus: My name, if you don’t already know, is Racine Spurketts. You are probably wondering how I can speak your language, Sorbeezee. As strange as it may sound, I was once a citizen of planet Zorbus. The proud daughter of Uloff and Gerta Spurketts. Many of you hearing my voice for the first time, are probably puzzled: Where has she been for these last twenty-one years? It certainly was not off to another Zorbus country, where kidnappers hid me away in some unknown sanctuary.”
“Just age four at the time, I didn’t even know what a ‘kidnapper’ was, thinking that it might be short for kids who nap.’ The audience in the Lazio Amphitheatre began to laugh. “My absence and my unexpected return are just as strange to me as it is must be to you. It was always my hope to return someday. But not in my wildest dreams did I think it would ever become a reality. However, as you can see, in my case, miracles do happen.”
Allison continued, “At the age of four, on my birthday, a tragic accident occurred. Not to go into elaborate detail, this is basically what happened. When traveling around Zorbus these many years ago, it was a common practice at the time (no longer) to use an airbus, uniquely fitted with a separate space capsule. A space capsule that was magnetically attached to the taxi’s mainframe—purposely designed for small children to ride in.
“Due to an unexplainable freak accident, my capsule was detached from the main body of the taxi and hurled into outer space. I passed through our atmosphere, landing on planet Earth in an Iowa cornfield. I do not expect you to understand this, but ‘Iowa’ is what is called a ‘state’ in the country where I came from. Iowa is just one of many states in America. A ‘cornfield’ is like our ‘mezzo’ plant we grow on planet Zorbus.” Allison continues: “Why I did not disintegrate in the process, no one knows. Planet Earth is where I grew up and livid for all these years.”
“Planet Earth is almost twice the size of planet Zorbus. With over one-hundred and ninety-six sovereign nations. Each nation, is unique and different. Many languages are spoken on the planet with English being the most common, followed by Spanish. Planet Earth’s climate, seasons of the year, diversity of life, and many, many other phenomena found on planet Earth are remarkably like those you find on planet Zorbus. Although, many similarities, there are an equal number of dissimilarities.”
In conclusion of her speech, and as expected, many questions from the Supreme Council and the Zorbus public in general. Allison responded the best she could. Noting the somber expressions on the faces of some members of the Supreme Council: “I wonder what they are thinking? Perhaps they think my being here poses a threat to their safety and way of life. In case they haven’t figured it out yet, when they made that distress call, picked up by NASA, their lives were changed forever, and will never be the same. We are now interstellar partners. Whether they like it or not.”
Continuing the dialogue with the Zorbus people, Allison concluded her responses to questions, advising her audience: “in order for my Spacecraft to lift off and enter the right orbit, I must limit my visit to Zorbus to less than three days.”
Then Allison walked off the Amphitheater stage and began walking among the people. There were no barriers, no security guards holding back the mob of people. Citizens of planet Zorbus are taught at an early age to respect everyone’s space and to be tolerant of their spoken words. Even if they did not always agree. Planet Zorbus Politics
After all the public clamor to meet this incredible woman, Allison made her final farewell toasts, departing with her parents to visit her old home. They were met at the front door by a very polite robot. Allison, with a quizzical expression on her face, gave her father a curious look but not saying anything. A lot of the interior of the old home she could not remember. Amused that her mother had kept her old room just the way it was the day she disappeared. Allison’s mother then announced she was going to fix Allison’s favorite meal.
“My favorite meal? I don’t recall having a favorite meal. Although I must have, I do not recall eating any meals when I lived here.”
The favorite meal prepared by her mother was served with lots of pomp and ceremony. Politely, Allison pretended to eat with relish although the meal, whatever it was, did not taste that good. “I guess I have become too Americanized to enjoy any other type of food,” she thought.
Shortly after the luncheon, Allison’s mother excused herself and said she needed to take a nap. It was then that Allison noticed how much her parents had aged. Sadly, the chemistry with her parents was just not there. The truth was that Earthling Allison missed dear Peggy and her other adopted siblings.
Looking around the crowd and the streets, Allison was aware of how stilted life on planet Zorbus was. Almost everyone she met, while touring the streets and surroundings, seemed almost robotic! Noticing their interest in her visit, Allison decided to meet with a group of young people, anxious to learn about her life on planet Earth. (At least the young people were more like our own. Outgoing, friendly, and eager to learn. It just seemed as they got older, they became sterner in their outlook on life. Even their smiling, outgoing, friendlessness seemed forced, she observed.}.
The young group of students talked about life on Zorbus. How the young of their society preferred playing outdoor sports to inside sports which included their version of football, baseball, soccer, tennis, and skiing. Taking little interest in inside sports which involved ice skating and something like American hockey, volleyball, and their version of basketball. The young students had something that resembled and worked like our cell phones. But not designed for social networking the way planet Earth uses them. Unlike Americans, students and adults alike only used their cell phones for ordinary purposes and emergencies---not for social networking. One of the reasons, they explained, “with the introduction of artificial intelligent robots, scientists had not bothered to upgrade cell phone technology in years.”
Allison shared with her young admirers gathered around her, about America’s love of sports, movie stars, and video games we play which can be played inside or outside. How Americans love to eat. About American farms and national wildlife refuges, the vastness of the country. A country filled with rivers, lakes, mountains, and wildlife. There was so much to discuss and compare. And so little time to do it in; given little chance for a break in conversation, young men, and women of planet Zorbus acknowledged attending social clubs where drinks of low alcohol content are served, and dancing allowed; actually, encouraged. Some of their friends were artists. Others travel in theatre groups around the country.
“Yes!” They had movie stars they practically worshipped. And everyone followed their favorite sports team as well as idolizing some of the players. The students explained, that from a very early age, everyone was taught Zorbus history. Emphasizing how important it was for the ruling governments of each country to maintain friendly relationships with their neighbors. Mostly in fear a disaster of the magnitude experienced in the past could happen again.
Allison gave a summary of American history, emphasizing how today, so many American citizens were becoming concerned about their future, noticing the buildup of so many weapons of mass destruction, conventional as well as nuclear warheads when there was no known, credible threat to America’s national sovereignty. This disturbed her and many around the country, fearful that something like what occurred on planet Zorbus---of course, they did not know about planet Zorbus’ history at that time---might happen to planet Earth. If some type of deterrent was not put into place soon, she emphasized, to stop the proliferation of more deadly weapons, something awful was going to happen.
Allison expressed optimism, hoping her visit to planet Zorbus might bring the two planets closer together. Perhaps teaching us how to live with our neighbors without violence, and our sharing our advancement in technology. Something which planet Zorbus seemed to be falling behind, technologically speaking. Suddenly, Allison realized she had to return to her parent’s house and her young guests to their homes. Before departing, Allison was pressed into signing a little diary that each one of them seemed to always have on their person.
There were two things Allison observed during the group discussion that disturbed her. First, appearing out of nowhere, were three robots walking slowly and gazing at the group. Secondly, just as suddenly, when this happened, a noted drop of the student's voices was detected. Several of the students stopped talking altogether. Especially when the robots were so close, observing them.
After reflecting on the information, she had gathered, up to this point, about the Zorbuspeople, Allison was very happy to be an American. They don’t have any observable type of social network. How can that be? God, get me back to America with all its warts and flaws, she mused. “Now I am beginning to understand why Earth’s creation of humanity is so different than that of planet Zorbus. If the hands of fate had not chosen to take me away from here. I can only imagine what hell I would have lived through.”
“Just Imagine. Everyone on earth having the same thought process, in every way and every detail, how boring life would be. That pretty much sums up life on Zorbus. In America, it is always refreshing to hear of some rogue(s), bucking the system and others raising a little hell. Even if the action of said perpetrators lands them in jail.”
Nudging her out of her fantasy, Allison’s father encouraged her to follow him to the garden to meet some of his Security Council friends. After brief introductions, her father explained the necessity of meeting in the garden instead of the house. Primarily out of fear that the house robot might be wired to pick up their conversations. “If that should happen,” her father explained, “It could be very dangerous for us.”
“Why should anyone fear what they say? Hasn’t Zorbus always been an open, free society? Giving everyone the right to speak whatever is on his or her mind, expressing themselves without any fear of repercussion?”
