Alien
Copyright© 2025 by Harry Carton
Chapter 5: Canada
CANADA
April 4, 15:28. Alister 5 reporting.
“I aim to be as helpful as I can be.” I replied “Now, let’s get back to work. Elliot, are you okay to keep going?”
The young autistic didn’t respond; he was focused on the text of the message displayed -- if you can call it ‘text.’ To everyone else it was just a meaningless mishmash of symbols, as if you tried to type in all the fonts available in an old personal computer.
But to Elliot, it was speaking. It was like a symphony, a sonnet, and a mathematical theorem all rolled into one. He was ‘getting it’ -- grokking it, as Heinlein would say.
Dave looked over Elliot’s shoulder. “Looks like a Jackson Pollock to me.”
Elliot turned and looked at him, and then back to the panels. “It’s beautiful,” he said, “like a symphony of stars.”
Washington whispered to Harkness, who was sitting next to him, “That’s not Elliot speaking. He got that phrase from the message.”
The group grew silent again, watching him as he traced invisible patterns in the air. The alien text seemed to dance before his eyes, as if he were conducting the symphony himself.
“They’re looking for someone,” Elliot said finally, his voice a whisper. “Someone ... or something, very important to them. It’s like ... it’s like they’re lost without it.”
The room was silent as they digested Elliot’s words. The stakes had just been raised significantly. The group looked at each other, a mix of awe and concern etched on their faces.
“But why us?” Suzi finally spoke up, breaking the silence. “What could we possibly have that an advanced civilization from another galaxy would need?” Nobody could come up with an answer.
Dr. Helberg was startled as Commander C’Droit took a step forward, and sat on the end of the couch. His size and apparently his weight made the cushions depress significantly.
“Okay...” said Harkness. “So we have an itinerary. Who do we know that will keep his mouth shut and can get us into the G12 meeting?” He looked down at the itinerary. “Which meeting do you think we can crash?”
“Well,” Suzi replied, “the Canadian Prime Minister came to my retirement party from Harvard. But it’s not a ‘he’. Her name is Claire Sussman. I can call her and set up a face-to-face meeting. Commander, could you teleport us into her office? We just can’t have you walking through Ottawa.”
C’Droit was quick to answer. “Teleport? Probably not. Handling a large group would be beyond Selvin’s capabilities. But you could walk through Ottawa with a projection of a normal-looking human, and then he could just pop me in to replace the projection. I take it that Ottawa is the capital of Canada.”
“Yes. I keep forgetting that you’re not from around here,” she grinned. “It’s easy to forget you don’t know Earth geography like we do.”
“Selvin and I know quite a bit of Earth geography, probably more than you. But not the names of the cities,” he smiled in reply. His face wrinkled. It was the first time I’d seen him move his mouth.
Harkness asked, “Why not just have him pop into the meeting? Why bother having the hologram at all?”
Suzi thought about it, and answered, “I think having a teenager just disappear, to be replaced by an alien in a space suit, would have a bigger impact. Think about what a magician does.”
The group took a collective deep breath. “Okay, so we’ll need to get to Canada,” said Suzi, her voice filled with determination. “And we need to do it without arousing suspicion. Let me just send Claire a message. She gave me a private number if I ever needed to contact her in an emergency. I think this would qualify.” She tapped a code into a device she pulled from a pocket.
While waiting for a response, Dave spoke up, “In the meantime, we should consider what we’re walking into. We know nothing about this ship’s intentions or the ‘something’ they’re looking for. What if it’s not something we want to hand over?”
“Well,” said Dr. Helberg, “They aren’t asking for anything -- we know of. And they are coming from hundreds -- maybe thousands -- of light years to Earth. We need to be flexible. We’re just asking Ms. Sussman to get us into the G12 after all.”
Suzi nodded. “And we’re going to need her to keep it all quiet. This could blow up in our faces if we don’t handle it right.”
While they discussed the implications of their findings and the potential risks of going public, Elliot remained lost in the alien script. His eyes darted back and forth as he murmured to himself, his fingers occasionally tapping the table as if to the beat of a silent melody.
Suzi’s device beeped, and PM Clair Sussman’s face appeared on her tablet. “Dr. Craynet?” she said, “I’ve cleared my office. You said you’d probably never need to contact me. I assume it something important.”
“Yes, Madam Prime Minister. Be assured that is something of extreme importance.” Suzi said at the tablet in her lap. “I have something -- someone -- that you must meet. I, err, we can be there any time you say. There will be three of us -- you know Dr. Freida Helberg, we met at a Conference in Switzerland. And one other. The basic subject will be how to get us into the G12 meeting. You’ll understand once you see what I have to show you. Believe me, I wouldn’t waste your time.”
“Can we meet at 7 pm Eastern time, tonight? I can cancel my dinner plans if it’s necessary,” the PM of Canada said. “I assume you want this to be private.”
Suzi said. “That would be in about an hour from now.” She looked a question at the Commander. “Let me check with the others.” She hit the mute button on her conversation. “Is that do-able?”
When C’Droit nodded a yes, and Freida did as well, she un-muted the tablet. “Yes, 7 pm will be fine. Shall we just come to your office through the regular entrance?” Sussman nodded yes, and said she had to run to catch up with someone from the Parliament. She terminated the call.
“Well, you all heard that. What do you think?” Suzi asked.
“It’s risky,” Harkness said, “But we might not have much choice. If Elliot is right and they are searching for something, we need to be ready for anything.”
Dave nodded in agreement. “We should also consider that the ship might be looking for something we’re not even aware of. It could be a piece of technology or a person with unique abilities.”
C’Droit’s gaze settled on Elliot, who was now munching on his sandwich, oblivious to the conversation around him. The alien’s expression was unreadable, but there was a softness in his eyes that hadn’t been there before. “Indeed, Earth is full of surprises,” he said, almost to himself. “As it will be with the intergalactic ship. Since we’re meeting with the G12, we must consider the bad as well as the good. We must prepare for the worst and the best. The ship could be searching for something dangerous, something that could threaten Earth’s existence.
“What happens to Earth is not technically in my mission’s goal, but it becomes part of the mission, now.”
The group nodded solemnly. “Elliot, are you okay with this?” Suzi asked, her eyes searching his. He didn’t respond, and just waved a hand. It could have been in answer to her question, or it could have just been a signal to whoever was controlling the scrolling text -- ‘Time to scroll the panels.’ We couldn’t tell.
Washington said, “I’m happy to stay with Elliot, as much as I’d love to be in Nightwing. I understand you have to limit the size of the party.”
Raoul Santiago chimed in with agreement: “I think it is wise to bring in people who are already known to the Prime Minister. There must be some people she already knows to back up the strangeness of the situation.”
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