The president stood up as to leave. I then informed him about the missing Alkarrens and handing him the coordinates that I had, I said that if they were still alive, he could redeem his country by returning them to us. He looked at them and showed his aide who acknowledged him first by a nod, then mentioning they were in the same area. The president said he wanted a crack team ready to move immediately, and then assured me if they were still alive he would personally escort them to us. I then shook his hand and showed him out.
After he had left we had a discussion about them; if they were indeed alive, how would they react to us and how they may have been treated over that time. It was all speculation; we just had to see how it played out. My thoughts turned to this speech we had to make. I wondered what was in it. As the time got nearer I was getting a bit nervous. This was to be the biggest live speech I had ever given and I did not know anything about it. Perhaps more speculation, however, I would know soon enough.
The time had come and as we stepped out of the shuttle, the officer in charge of the soldiers approached us and stood to attention and announced that they were our escort to the chamber where all the leaders and representatives of Earth’s governments were meeting. This is it I thought as we entered the chamber. All went quiet as we were shown to the seats near the podium. We were then announced by the secretary general to make our speech. Lara and I stepped up to the podium. I said, ‘‘Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I must say we have been made very welcome since our arrival on earth. My special thanks to the prime minister of Great Britain for what he has done for us. Now you are dying to know what the Alliance has to say. I will let you into a secret. I am as well, as I have no idea what is in the speech so here goes.’’ I pressed the activation button on the unit which held the speech. A screen appeared. At the same time Lara stepped forward and entered her code followed by myself doing the same. A message appeared on the screen that simply said ‘Read as is.’ Then the speech appeared; it was in Alkarren! I turned to Lara saying, ‘‘Read as is, don’t they mean translate as is? If I read it as is they would not understand.’’
Lara agreed and said, ‘‘Big mistake.’’
I cleared my throat and started, ‘‘You are now aware that you are not alone in the universe. A little history for you first. The alliance of independent worlds was set up with various species who had the same goals in life: friendship and to coexist with other races, free trade and freedom for its people. It consists of seven full members plus several probationary members. To become a full member your society must be peaceful and respect each other and have equality for its citizens under a full democratic system of government. The probationary members have not quite reached this state but are working with progress towards these goals. Earth on the other hand has a long way to go, in fact would not yet even be considered for even probational membership due to continued wars and conflicts between its peoples, adding to this the difficulty of dealing with so many different governments, many considered undemocratic and repressive to their citizens and how they treat females in particular. The thing is, you were not even considered to be approached yet but for one very serious predicament that has come to light. That is the earth faces a great danger. We do not wish to scare you but you are in line to be invaded by species known as the Silka. This race are reptile in appearance, but unlike most species does not recognise the existence of other sentient beings, only seeing them as their next meal. A number of civilizations have been annihilated by them. They consume all life forms on a planet before moving on to the next. You cannot reason with them, we have tried. Also due to zero contact with them we understand very little of their family and command structures. They are more advanced than earth and due to this reason we the Alliance will not stand back and see your world annihilated. The only good news we can offer you is that they are still a few years away. So here is the offer to the citizens of Earth, a very special probationary membership with some important restrictions. A file is attached to this speech and our emissaries Lara and Jake will upload it to your internet for your governments along with its citizens to view. Benefits for earth are huge such as trade and technology. Please do not expect access to our very advanced weaponry but some older weapons that are more advanced than yours may be considered, along with power sources such as fusion reactors and anti-gravity technology. Please understand we cannot have you roaming beyond your solar system alone at this time, so you will not be offered star drive technology. In the meantime we hope you will select an ambassador to return with our emissaries to represent earth in negotiations for earth’s special membership of the Alliance. Thank you for listening.’’ Well that was a simple speech straight to the point I thought, I could now see some bewildered representatives. I had already told the larger governments about the Silka, I now asked for questions from the chamber.
‘‘How do we know you are telling the truth and the alliance hasn’t got a secret agenda to invade us?’’ was the first question.
I replied, ‘‘The alliance does not invade anybody. I as a human have lived on the Alliance world of Alkarr for thirteen years. It’s a very peaceful world of over two billion inhabitants. How many murders do you think took place there in the last ten years? well I will tell you, zero. This is why they have not contacted us. They have also known of our existence for decades. We are so primitive in our behaviour compared to them and besides if they wanted to invade us they would have no trouble in doing so. I can give you an example. They could initiate a planet-wide electromagnetic pulse which would destroy anything that worked by electricity and put earth back in the dark ages but they would not of course do that because they are our friends and not our foes.’’
Next question, ‘‘What do these Silka look like?’’
I had expected someone would ask to see one so I said, ‘‘You wish to see a Silka, well I was going to show you anyway, but before I do if there is anybody with a delicate disposition as now is the time to leave?’’ I waited and no one left, ‘‘Well don’t say I did not warn you.’’ Activating my pid and projecting a 3d image of the Silka, it was so lifelike and some screams were heard in the chamber. I assured them, ‘‘It’s only an image but as you can see their teeth are perfect for tearing flesh from their victims. You do not want to be in the vicinity of these raptor looking reptiles. They are what nightmares are made of.’’
Another question was, ‘‘What gives the alliance the right to restrict us to our own solar system?’’
I answer with, ‘‘What gives you the right to expect to be given star drive technology? If you want to go out in the big wide universe by yourself, you invent your own star drive, or take more than half a century to get to example Alkarr with sub-light engines. Besides you will probably get lost. After all, it’s a big galaxy out there.’’ I then said, ‘‘The other alliance members would be very wary of you going to their planets as earth has a poor reputation and would be a world where many would fear to tread. Alkarr for instance has decreed that apart from myself no other human male will be allowed to step foot on it. Look at it this way. If you had a system that has worked well for thousands of years, I am referring to the house system we live under on Alkarr, you would certainly fear outsiders who could upset it. As all males are chaperoned on Alkarr, they cannot have human males just wondering about, but this restriction does not extend to human females. My sister can go where she wants when she wants by herself. Please also note this restriction only applies to Alkarr and not the other Alliance worlds where it would be possible for limited groups of both sexes to visit. For this reason though, it’s not for me to judge and say who should be your ambassador, but please consider a female; it would be in earth's best interest.’’
Other questions included, ‘‘What sort of trade goods could be exchanged?’’
I replied, ‘‘Various items. For example you make plastics. These are used everywhere. I am sure there a
re a number of goods earth produces that you could trade with. In the end you could always use gold as a currency to buy things.’’
One undiplomatic cheeky aide of a representative said, ‘‘I think Alkarren girls are very pretty. How can I get a date with one?’’
In reply I said, ‘‘Your will be lucky, Alkarren girls don’t date. It’s not how it works with them.’’ Quickly thinking, I also said, ‘‘I can get you a date with a Lusianian if you like.’’ This brought about the desired laughter from the chamber, not an appropriate question to ask I thought, but at least it backfired on him. There were more questions about the Silka. It was the main topic. Nearly everybody was concerned. To add to this the whole procedure was being televised and I hope to hope it was not causing people to panic, so I tried to reassure them by saying, ‘‘The Alliance can protect Earth without much difficulty. They can outgun the Silka so please don’t worry too much.’’ Saying, ‘‘We must now take our leave. It’s up to you now to select you ambassador and we thank you for listening.’’ We left the chamber and were escorted back to our shuttle.
After we had uploaded to the web the conditions of the Alliance probational membership we prepared to leave. This time I decided we would be invisible all the way back and as soon as we were airborne I turned on the illusion generator, making our way to back to London. As soon as we had left US airspace I let Ellie pilot us the rest of the way to back to our cargo ship. We had not yet told the rest of the family that an attempt was made to kidnap us as we wanted to wait until we had returned and had all of them seated in front of us. We gathered all of the family in the entertainment room. On telling them some cried, while others were in total disbelief and shock. We spent some time comforting them.
Without thinking Perri said, ‘‘You can't trust humans any humans.’’
Lumi looked at her with her hands on her hips saying, ‘‘I hope you do not include our husband Jake and his sister Rachael in that statement.’’
Perri realising her mistake said, ‘‘Err of course not I see them both as Alkarrens at heart.’’ Sneaky but cleaver way to get out of that one I thought, some of the other wives shook their heads and tutted at Perri.
I could not let it sit there, I then said, ‘‘Come on you cannot blame all humans for what happened.’’ I gave those that were not there a full account about our meeting with the president regarding the missing Alkarrens and that the president of America was personally dealing with the situation. They should hold judgement to after he had reported his findings.
A news broadcast reported that any country wishing to put forward an experienced ambassador to represent Earth would need to do so by midnight GMT. This ambassador would have to be neutral and represent Earth as a whole, above individual countries. There would be two rounds of elections; one vote from each UN member country, and there would also be no veto from the larger countries. The first round would be to find the top three and the second, which was to be between the final three. Hopefully the winning candidate could achieve around fifty percent of the vote, which was probably a tall order but we would have to wait and see.
The next morning during breakfast I had a call from the president with news about the missing Alkarrens. They had been found alive and well, having been held in secret at the very same base where those military jets originated from. Details were a little sketchy at the moment other than they would be arriving in London late that day and were being flown in on the president’s plane, air-force one, accompanied by the president himself, who incidentally was keeping to his word and personally escorting the Alkarrens to us. He mentioned that he was having a meeting later with various world leaders, and for that reason would not be stopping long. Not asking him further I assumed it was about the elections for the ambassador for Earth.
My family were ecstatic when I gave them the news. Straight away Alenna wanted to prepare for their arrival and she had to make a room available for them. Normally it would have been two rooms: one for mothers and one for the daughters. But we had not counted on this happening and had only prepared two rooms for the ambassador. It was going to be very difficult to accommodate them as well. Alenna said under the circumstances the mothers would have to share with their daughters. I pointed out that they may have been kept together for years anyway, so for another week or so it wouldn’t hurt them.
Alenna was trying to juggle who could share with whom; it did not add up whatever way she tried. She just could not make it work. There were not enough cabins unless the ambassador was a woman by herself or with daughters only, so then they could all be put into one cabin, not an ideal accommodation for an ambassador but what could we do with the limited room to hand. We could then use the second cabin for the Alkarrens. We would have to wait and see after the first round of elections so we could then get some idea. I dreaded to think that we could end up with real problems if in the circumstance that we needed three cabins if the chosen ambassador had a large family. The four oldest girls had pestered Rachael into taking them shopping as they wanted to spend the money Pooky had won on the simulator. She had finally surrendered to them and agreed to take them straight after they had finished eating, only if their mothers were also willing to let them go. The girls now pestered their mothers who were even less willing to let them out of their sight, especially on a strange planet to them like Earth. I weighed in on the girls’ side and said, ‘‘It will be fine as they were going with Rachael, and do not forget that they had their police escort. An hour or two would give them some responsibility.’’ The trick was to get Alenna to agree and the other mothers would then concede; after much humming and hawing she finally relented and said they could go.
The four mothers watched from the bridge as the limo left with their daughters. I could see they were uneasy. On Alkarr they had no problem worrying about where the children were; however, on Earth that was another story, especially now with what happened to us on our journey to the UN meeting. It has now had an effect on them and as a result they had become over cautious. I had no trouble when I took the girls to purchase ice creams at the beach. Alenna was now thinking she may not have made the right decision on letting them go. I said to stop worrying and that they would soon be back. I left them on the bridge as I had to do some routine maintenance checks on our shuttle Calypso.
Just over an hour later I returned to the bridge to find Alenna, Jenna, Minty and Yarkeli still there, pacing up and down muttering under their breath. They just could not settle; in fact, they were so worked up they blamed me for allowing them to go. Then Alenna said she couldn’t take it any longer and was about to call them up, that was until I stopped her. I said, ‘‘They would not take it too kindly if you hurried them back, just wait a little longer.’’ After another twenty minutes they started on me again. I replied by telling them, ‘‘You are like four cats on a hot tin roof.’’ Something then caught my attention out of the corner of my eye, so I said, ‘‘Well anyway that’s it then, it’s over.’’
Alenna replied, ‘‘That’s what over?’’
Smiling I said, ‘‘Look behind you out of the window.’’ As they did their mood changed, they could now see the limo with their daughters and Rachael returning. At that moment they all made for the door. I jumped in front of them,
‘‘Out of the way,’’ they cried.
‘‘Where are you going,’’ I proclaimed.
‘‘We have to go and meet them,’’ they said.
I now replied, ‘‘What, no you cannot do that. Go to the galley get a drink and relax and let them come to you. That way it will show that you had trusted them. Now shoo!’’
I followed behind and as expected the girls came looking for their mothers to show them what they had purchased, which was mainly clothes and my daughter’s hair maintenance products. As Pooky did not have hair she had brought a cap in a lime green colour w
ith a slogan on it, which simply read “Alien girls rule.” At the time I did not ask but presumed she had chosen the slogan and had it printed for her. They had also thought of the younger sisters as well for which they had purchased drawing and colouring books, puzzles along with some colourful modelling clay. After the girls had left the galley to take the presents to the others and presumably to go to their cabin to try on the new clothes. I turned to the mothers and said, "There you have all been worrying about nothing.'' I then left before anything else could be said.
The president called me; this time he had a lot more information. First, he told me he had just taken off with the Alkarrens on board. He repeated the statement that they had been kept at the very same base as those military jets that had tried to kidnap us had originated from. He then went on to say they had also been kept there without the knowledge of any former presidents or himself. In fact, very few knew that they were being kept there, only those in charge plus a handful who guarded them. So that they could not draw any undue attention from others on the base, they were being kept in a high security underground bunker which hid them well. Although they did get into sunlight a couple of times a week, this was within an area with high walls so no one could look out and most importantly for their captors, no one could look in. This was their worst nightmare, not knowing what was going to happen to them and why they had been confined this way for so long. The only good thing was that they had indeed been kept together, as it was probably easier than keeping tabs on all six separated during their time in captivity. During their fifteen years in captivity they had also learnt to speak English. Adversely over this period of time they had also built up a total distrust of humans, but human men in particular. The president had tried to talk to them and had apologised sincerely to them, saying had he known of their existence he would have had them released, as they were not threat to his country. He told me they were reluctant to say anything and were quite bitter towards him, which was understandable after how they had been treated. He mentioned that two female guards had over time befriended them, having now come forward with their story, as he understood they could not do or say anything without getting into trouble. They had in fact been threatened that if they were to say anything about the captives they would be killed. They felt that they could now speak freely knowing that all their superiors were under arrest, which would help their case in the forthcoming trials. When he mentioned us to them and that they would soon be going home, they did not believe him at first as they had been made many promises over the years, all which had turned out to be false. That was until he showed them the pictures of the Alkarren princess surrounded by spectators; only then did they consider he may just be telling the truth. He then informed me that they had been punished just recently for refusing to provide any technical information on how to disable a shuttle, which I believe had something to do with us. I was totally horrified and outraged at the punishment that had been enacted upon them though, they have all had their hair cut short! This act being done to an Alkarren female was a total insult. I would be speaking to the president later in person on the matter, as it was a very serious matter indeed, I could see that there was going to be trouble ahead for me when those six women found out about me, a human male living with Alkarrens.
Chronicles of Jake 1: My Return to Planet Earth Page 15