Contact across the Solar System

Preparing for a Second Trip

Back on Venus, Orthon was taken aback at how fierce the anti-espionagers often were, and the sort of political connections that they seemed to have. Connections like US Senator Ferguson. That made him reluctant to invite anyone on any further trips. If he invited anyone, it would be influence buying. If he didn't invite anyone, it would be snubbing. There seemed to be no way out of this quandary. He expressed his concerns at a meeting of the Gang, and Firkon responded "We ought to wait a while and let the Earthers work it out. It seems like our contact effort has been a bit much for them to digest."

Ramu said "That's a concern that we've had over the years, that if we contact one nation, then the others will feel left out and gang up on it. Like a bit over a century ago, if we contacted Britain, then France and Germany and Russia and the United States would have combined against it. But if we had contacted all of them, we would have found it hard to keep them from fighting each other and then trying to conquer us. Even without our contact, they ended up fighting a much bigger war than we expected."

Firkon noted "A lot of anti-espionagers may seem like kooks and crackpots, but kookiness and crackpottery can go a long way in Earther politics. I've seen it happen."

He then talked about US anti-Communist paranoia, like the 1919 "Red Scare", and around 1950, Richard Nixon and Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee. "I remember Richard Nixon insinuating that his opponents were soft on Communism and influenced by Communism."

Kalna recalled following Adolf Hitler's speeches from her early days as Earth observer.

After some more conversation in that vein, about Fascists and Communists and political kookdom in general, they decided to wait some months until the dust settles.

They still answered questions from Earth people, however.

Someone asked about Nazi UFO's, and the Contact Committee requested more information on them. After getting some, including some artist's conceptions, the Committee responded

"We have found no evidence that Nazi Germany ever had vehicles like our scoutcraft. That regime's most advanced known vehicle was the V-2 rocket, and it obviously isn't very comparable. One also has to ask why the Nazis never put any of these alleged vehicles into service. They did so with their other advanced weapons, like their V-2's and their jet aircraft."

"We would never have wanted to give any of our technology to that regime. Some of the things that it did are so horrible that they have made some Earth observers physically ill. So if those alleged vehicles are real, they would not have come from us."

Several people asked if Nerith would be willing to go on a performing tour on the Earth. Orthon responded "I asked Nerith herself about this, and here is her response:"

"I first must give you some bad news. I am sorry that I have to disappoint my Earth fans, but I would prefer not to visit the Earth at this time. Our contacts are just beginning, and I don't think that the Earth would be very safe for me. I also would prefer to leave visiting the Earth to people with more expertise and experience there."

"But don't let that keep any of you from appreciating my work. I appreciate that you like what I've done, and I hope that one day I may visit your planet."

Another person asked about the Bermuda Triangle.

"We have no connection with those disappearances. In fact, when we researched them, we found someone's work that showed that all of them were much less mysterious than what many authors had claimed. Instead of happening in clear daytime, they often happened at night in bad weather. Sometimes weather that even our pilots prefer to avoid."