Contact across the Solar System

Assessments Continue

The CIA continued its studies of all the video that the travelers had sent back. The cities of the outer worlds were like the Venusian and Martian ones in having little or no evidence of a military force beyond a lightly-armed police force. Also, the farther out in the Solar System, the less interest the people had in Earth affairs.

"What the twelve travelers have sent back," an analyst added to the Trimmer file, "amplifies our earlier conclusions. Not only do most SSC people have little taste for military adventures on our planet, the ones farther out from the Sun often have very little interest of any kind in our planet. We all laughed when a Plutonian stated that we are mainly known among his fellow Plutonians for arguing about whether or not Pluto is a planet. From statements from various SSC people, we conclude that the SSC itself is aware that it would need a large army for a successful occupation of our planet. The SSC also seems aware that if its more advanced technologies were weaponized, that the resulting weapons would be indiscriminately destructive."

"We have considered the likelihood that some provocation may make the SSC want to respond with military force, some provocation like Pearl Harbor or 9/11 from our history. But we have concluded that it is very close to impossible. The SSC could easily impose an interplanetary blockade if it chose to do so, and anyone hoping to do a terrorist attack on a SSC homeworld or a SSC ship would risk having their intentions discovered with telepathy. The most plausible terrorist scenario is an attack on SSC vehicles or personnel at the Earth itself, and the SSC seems to be very careful about security. It is also likely that the SSC would shrug off such attacks as typical Earth-people barbarity."

However, some politicians, like Senator Ferguson, considered the CIA dangerously complacent, and the Senator said as much when some CIA analysts briefed him and some fellow US Senators about the SSC. Others did not find much to quarrel with, since the SSC had clearly not sent an army to "pacify" the Earth.

Other intelligence agencies reached similar conclusions, and many politicians agreed that the SSC was currently posing no military threat, despite its ability to do so. But some other politicians could not resist grandstanding, like complaining that the SSC likes others more than them or that the SSC is not doing enough for them or that the SSC wants to take over the Earth or that the SSC is hopelessly effete and unworthy of emulation.

While many Earth people continued to like and admire the SSC, the anti-espionagers and other critics continued to find fault with the SSC.

"I find it very offensive how the mall rats brag about their exploits on our planet. Look at how they showed off pictures of themselves on the Earth. Don't they have any shame?" one of them wrote, continuing at length in that vein.

But some SSC Watchers and various other people found those pictures to have an endearing sort of innocence about them, as if those SSC people were tourists who were enjoying themselves.

Another result of the twelve travelers' trip was a conference called "Can Christianity Survive the Solar System Community?", a conference that became big news in the United States and Europe. Several conservative Catholic, Eastern-Orthodox, mainline-Protestant, and evangelical-Christian religious leaders and theologians got together to discuss this great issue.

Some of them were confident that Christianity would survive the SSC's presence, pointing to all the previous enemies it had survived. The Roman Empire. Islam. Communism. Western secular rationalist humanism. But one theologian discussed in detail some cases where Christianity had lost or at least suffered setbacks, cases like Islam and Japan.

They had a panel discussion on evangelizing the SSC, and they concluded that the prospects were very grim. The SSC's leadership seemed to take good care of its citizens, and thanks to its Earth residents, it was likely aware of Christianity for centuries without having much desire to convert. One SSC politician apparently said as much in the twelve travelers' recent trip, despite SSC people avoiding expressing any opinions on Earth religions. One historian pointed out a surprising fact: Christianity's most successful conversions involved converting leaders, and these leaders then converted the rest of the population. So that would be hard to do for the SSC.

Someone asked who would visit the SSC if invited, and that provoked a lot of argument over whether that is worth doing or not. Ranging from how the SSC is an enemy of Christianity to wanting to state their case to the SSC.

However, liberal Christians, liberal believers in other religions, and New Agers tended to see the SSC as kindred spirits, and some of them considered SSC members' beliefs to be vindication of their own beliefs.

But atheists, agnostics, secularists, and skeptics tended to be wait-and-see about it. One prominent atheist blogger wrote "Is being 'spiritual but not religious' in our future? Judging from what the SSC's beliefs seem to be, it would seem so. Don't get me wrong about the SSC. As I have written elsewhere, there is a lot to like in it, a lot that they are doing that we are ought to be doing. If they invited me to visit their cities, I'd go in a heartbeat. But their religious or spiritual beliefs I simply cannot stomach. Of course, they could have succeeded where theologians here have failed, but I'll believe it when I see it."

A few months after the twelve travelers' return, the Earth Contact Committee met to discuss how the twelve travelers were doing. Apparently very well, without the eccentricities of the first contactees. The first two travelers were also doing well, even if somewhat frazzled by their fame.

"So we kept them from thought projection, and it worked," said Orthon. "I was worried about something else possibly being responsible for the originals' eccentricities."

"Heh," said Firkon, "we thought that it was OK with George."

"I must concede that I made a mistake about that. George seemed like a good receiver when I first met him," said Orthon.

"So even good receivers are not good enough, it seems."

But they felt confident enough to consider who to invite next, since they were sure that they could avert the problems of the first contacts. They considered various politicians, journalists, scientists, religious leaders, and other notable people. Ilmuth proposed Sheila McKenna. "It would be nice to meet her again," she said. But there was a risk that anyone who went on a trip would be marked out as a quisling by many Earthers. Not that that wasn't already happening to anyone who seemed sympathetic to the SSC.

They also considered inviting some anti-espionagers, like Paul Jenkins and Senator Ferguson. "It would be good to reach out to them, to show them what we are like," said Orthon.

Ilmuth had a sour look on her face. "Senator Ferguson? Oh no. I've seen how he behaves."

"But we can still try."

This led to more general discussion of Earther opinions of the SSC, both positive and negative, and also issues like a possible SSC Embassy on the Earth and amnesty for Earth residents. Contact with the Earth is not far enough advanced to have a physical embassy, but a good place for one would be New York City or nearby, since that's where the United Nations headquarters is. Amnesty was already a contentious issue, as a result of someone telling the anti-espionagers about amnesty negotiations with various governments.

But what to give Earther governments in return for amnesty? Apologies? Lots of gemstones? Technical assistance with SSC technology? Building things like solar panels and synfuels factories? Revealing the locations, activities, and/or identities of former residents? Doing that for current residents? At least to national police forces like the US FBI. That proved to be a contentious issue, and nobody wanted to reveal details of drop-offs and pick-ups.

Then Saudi Arabia. Yet another Earther war. Yet more "evidence" that Earthers aren't worth contacting. Military intervention was out of the question, but humanitarian efforts might be possible. That would require finding out what the refugees in camps might need, especially what Earther charities weren't getting to them. Also what might be easy to produce in suitable quantities. Then there was the question of getting the aid to the refugees. The idea of flying near a war zone was not a very pleasant one.

[Author's note: I'm not sure which way the story will go next, so I'll leave off here]