The Aliens of the Flaming Red Sun/3 It's not altogether nice

Back to Proxima Centauri and the Aliens of Porrila

It’s not altogether nice
Peter Bliggs noted the tentacles of the Centaurian on the computer screen flashed scarlet. The Centaurian looked young, near his own age. Did the Centaurian like the Terran suggestions? Peter could never quite understand Centaurian expressions. Hopefully he clicked the computer for an analysis. No. That shade of scarlet meant derision. Then Peter set about typing the translation. Here it is. “What’s the matter with you Earthlings? You think you should develop Ramjets OR Beam propulsion. Can’t you see what’s obvious? Use both together in the same craft.” Momentarily Peter put his hand in front of his face. He turned to his assistant and spoke. “They despise us. They don’t even send some alien in authority. Will we ever get their respect?”

Sadly Peter carried on translating. The team helped him find English terms for the insults the alien kept hurling at them. Mercifully the alien stopped. “How will the public take this? Should we release it?” he asked his companion. “We’ll have to the team leader” pointed out. “Too many private individuals have radio receivers and have their own translations.”

The following days were the worst so far in Peter’s working life. At erratic times that alien transmitted yet more. Regularly the alien tentacles flashed some shade of scarlet. For those who could read alien emotions what the Centaurian expressed was almost worse than what he said. There was an all pervasive sense that the Centaurian had power over the Earthlings. The Earthlings could do nothing about it and the alien enjoyed that.

The alien told them how disappointed the Centaurian community were. The earthinng failure proved they were not much better than the lowest of the planet Porrila.


 * (To be continued)