“…contact first in Iowa, with umbrella seeds spreading up through Canada and the Arctic, across Siberia, Mongolia, China and Western Australia before crossing Antarctica and into Africa. Reports have also come in of floaters, gigantic alien creatures resembling what could only be described as flying jellyfish.”
The voice changed to that of a woman.
“At this point, the State Department is refusing to consider this an attack or an invasion, saying they are waiting on NASA to provide more information on the nature of these alien artifacts and the intrusion of alien craft into our atmosphere.
“The US Air force has circled and followed several of the so-called floaters in a variety of military aircraft, from helicopters to a C130 Hercules. These intercepts have been undertaken for the purpose of photographing and observing the floaters, relaying the information to NASA. There have been no hostile acts undertaken by either party.”
There was stunned silence within the cab of the truck. Bower wanted to grab the speaker on the radio and shake her, how could they not see this as an invasion? For all her posturing with Elvis, she secretly shared his fears. Somehow, in siding with him mentally in that moment she felt safer, as though she were aligning with someone stronger, someone better able to defend her. It was a fleeting thought, but in those few seconds the notion was overwhelming.
“A spokesman for the United Nations has noted that the alien mother ship is showing no consideration for international boundaries or geographical countries, either as we recognize them, or as they exist in the form of landmasses. The seeding, as it is being called, is following an orbital pattern that bisects rather than comprehensively covers various countries. Congress has issued a statement calling for calm, urging citizens not to panic. And - just a moment - we’re crossing live to Capitol Hill where senior NASA scientist, Dr. Frederick Enrado is addressing the House.”
Dr. Enrado had a slight twang in his accent, indicating English wasn’t his native tongue. Bower couldn’t place his Spanish-like pronunciation, but she didn’t think he was from Mexico. She wasn’t sure why, but she got the feeling he originated from one of the countries in Central America.
“I appreciate that there is an overwhelming amount of interest in the activities of the alien spacecraft and what the media has labeled the seedlings, but I must stress that conjecture and guesswork will only inflame a sense of fear. At this time it is important that we remain composed and do not react. We are in a time of transition, a time of initial contact. It is important that we maintain a sense of order until the situation becomes clearer.
“We have established a coarse form of dialogue with the alien entity. As you can appreciate, like any two people from different cultures with different languages, without any common ground between them, communication is limited.
“In an attempt to quell the uncertainty and sense of fear, NASA, ESA and SETI are providing transcripts and the raw feed through the various member agency websites. Please remember, the point of this transparency is to counteract the conspiracy theories circulating on the Internet and in the media. At this point, we caution the general public not to read anything into the discussion beyond what is officially stated by NASA.
“We have to take our extraterrestrial visitors at face value when they say they come in peace, even if we don’t understand their methods. To react with hostility would be to act without any basis or design.
“At this point, our dialogue is limited to basic concepts, the exchange of simple identifiers such as Earth, stars, moon, spaceship, etc. If you’ve seen the transcripts already, you’ll know it is much like talking to a preschooler. In that regard, NASA is developing a primer, a means of exchange that will grow in complexity over time.
“Reading from one of the transcripts, an example of one exchange is: We come in peace. We come for life. We come in peace. We come from a star. We come in peace. We come from afar.”
Elvis couldn’t help himself, blurting out, “It’s fucking Dr. Seuss! The goddamn Cat in the Hat is back.”
As funny as that observation was, Bower felt irritated. She wanted to hear what was being said, not some wise-crack from a grunt.
The radio broadcast continued.
“As you can appreciate, the consistent theme in these early messages is to reinforce peaceful intentions. For us to assume anything else would be foolish.”
“I am asked what we know about the seedlings that have landed throughout the world. Unfortunately, we do not know much more than you do. Until we can establish field research efforts, media reports are the best sources of information we have, and NASA is working with several news crews on location to document the alien phenomena in detail so we can begin to draw some scientific conclusions. So what do we know?”
He paused, and they could hear the sound of paper being shuffled.
“I am reading to you directly from field reports. These have been subject only to initial oversight by our contact science team, so any points made here this afternoon are subject to revision as more information comes to hand.”
Elvis snapped, yelling at the radio. “For fuck’s sake, man. Spit it out.”
As if in reply, Dr. Enrado continued. “The pods or seeds as they’re called do not pose an immediate, active threat. Although we do not know their exact composition or their purpose, they appear to be made of some kind of biodegradable resin. They are not directly harmful to humans in that they do not pose a physical threat such as a poison. Having said this, it is the recommendation of NASA that you do not touch or move any pods you may find. Please, leave them where they fall, and remain well away from them until we can determine a subsequent course of action.
“The umbrella-like parachutes the pods descend on are flimsy and fragile, deteriorating rapidly in what appears to be some form of oxidation. We have taken samples which are en-route to our labs for analysis, but it will take time to investigate this phenomenon properly at a microscopic level so we ask for patience and understanding.”
From the background noise on the radio, Bower got the distinct impression no one in Washington DC watching the briefing live was any more patient than Elvis.
“The floating entities that have been described as jellyfish appear to be related to the appearance of the pods. Their frequency is far less, appearing only once every couple of hundred square miles, while the pods are spread with a frequency of anywhere from a few hundred feet to a couple of miles.
“The floaters appear to be living organisms resembling a squid or a jellyfish. The large dark purple, bladder-like structure at its head appears to provide buoyancy in much the same way as an airship or a zeppelin. The trailing tentacles have not been observed making contact with the ground. I must repeat that. There have been no confirmed cases of any contact with the ground from a floater. Also, from what we can determine, the tentacles are not involved in propulsion. They have been observed streaming in front of floaters moving with the prevailing winds, and drifting behind them when these alien creatures head into the wind.