Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
There were a lot of arguments and back and forth.
Honestly, I got their side of it. There were already a lot of Krezikians on the surface, working on cleaning up the mess humans had made.
Sending the military back would put them at risk.
But I stood my ground. They made the wrong choice by approaching this issue so aggressively.
If they wanted to make it right, they had to show the humans they meant it.
The process of sending the humans back was going to be work.
Picking them up was easy. They went from base to base, sucked them all up, and stuck them in rooms. Sending them back was a process, from finding out where they needed to go to bringing them there without risking the aliens transporting them.
Rilphaer’s people were a big part of that.
Not only were a large group of them sent down to protect the Krezikians already on the surface, but they were also in charge of bringing the humans back home, with Mezar’s help to monitor it all.
To my surprise, a portion of the lower enlisted from more than a few international military branches refused to go.
My message had not only been shared world wide but to each communication monitor in every room on the Krezikian ships.
People a lot like myself volunteered to stay and work with the Krezikians and the delegation to make sure they understand the human side of things.
They wanted to help the planet just as much as the Krezikians did.
Not only that, but one of the military leaders, a German general, had connections with a few scientists who had been working on addressing global warming in their labs.
She called them, connecting the Krezikians and starting the conversation on what each party could share with one another.
It went way over my head, but luckily, I wasn’t required to be part of every conversation.
While all this was happening, which definitely wasn’t a quick process, I was gearing myself up to speak with the world leaders.
Literal world leaders. I’d never felt smaller than when I stood outside the room the leaders would meet in every day to discuss amongst themselves the issue of the Krezikian invasion.
Glancing back at Aster, I grimaced. “Are you sure about this?”
“Just get it done,” Trevuk growled.
Trevuk had come along because the delegation couldn’t agree with what would be done with the humans who were outright aggressive to them, and he had the most knowledge about what infractions had occurred to isolate those humans.
Neither he nor Aster would speak to the humans directly unless they were invited into the conversation, but he was there to provide me with any information I needed to back up my arguments.
I scowled at him. “Not helpful. You were a lot nicer to Knightley than to me.”
Something flashed across his face before he narrowed his eyes on me. “He is useful. You whine too much. Just go. I need to return to our ship and make sure the humans aren’t causing trouble on their journeys home.”
It felt like there was more to it than that.
Knightley had taken my place as liaison while I was busy with the alien delegation and Krezikian leaders, and he and Trevuk had worked closely together the last few days to bring my ideas to fruition.
Before the humans left, there was a lot of positive feedback about the solarium and the opportunities the humans got to stretch their legs and socialize.
Knightley told me over a video call that Fimai had reported an improvement for those military members showing signs of depression and anxiety, too.
While it hadn’t lasted very long, I was glad I made an impact.
“You will do well, Enzo. I believe in you,” Aster said, pulling my thoughts away from Trevuk’s not-so-covert glances at my friend during our last video call. I’d figure that out later.
Drawing in a deep breath, I allowed Aster’s words to boost me and nodded to the security guard outside the meeting chamber. He used his handprint to open the door and stepped aside to allow me past, with Aster and Trevuk following close behind me.
The room was a lot larger than what I’d been in before on any of the ships, probably about the size of a college lecture hall.
It had to be, since there were probably more than two hundred people in here, clustered in groups and arguing with each other.
There were a few chairs available for those who needed it, but otherwise, everyone was standing.
The guards led me and my companions through the groups and toward a small group of Krezikians watching the humans on one side of the room.
Aster greeted them with a slight bow, which I copied, only to be offered handshakes from each of them.
“Thank you for coming,” a female Krezikian with long blonde hair said, glaring over my shoulder at the world leaders behind me.
“Every time one or more tries to approach to speak with us, they are swarmed by others and shouting starts. Even after your message, they have not decided whether or not to speak with us.”
That irritated me. This had gone on far too long. Nodding to her, I assured her, “I’ll handle it. Is there a mic or something?”
She led me to a section of the floor with a circular design and had me stand in the middle.
Without warning, the floor under our feet lifted, creating a platform that allowed us to be above the masses.
Meanwhile, my little circle raised a little more, putting me at center stage, so to speak.
And when I spoke, my voice was amplified so I could be heard over the ruckus of the room, and Aster told me before I came in that it was fitted with technology that would project my voice in whatever language the leaders were most comfortable with.
If that wasn’t enough cool tech to get them to pay attention, I wasn’t sure what was.
“Ladies and Gentlemen. Can I have your attention please?”
All eyes swung my way and the din of the room settled to more harsh whispers and murmurs amongst themselves.
“Thank you. I’m Staff Sergeant Enzo Rossi. I’m sure you’ve all seen my face before. I’m here as a liaison between you and our new alien allies.”
“You mean overlords!” someone shouted. I was really grateful that I got the translator chip. Fear of needles or not, I needed it in this room. I wasn’t sure the tech from the amplification thing would go both ways.
A few other people shouted similar rhetoric and the tension in the room swelled a little. I put a hand up, waiting for them to quiet down again before speaking.
“No. That’s not what I mean. And if you had taken a few minutes to just listen to them, you would know that wasn’t the case. The Krezikians came here with a purpose. They’re here to save the planet from the damage we as humans have done. Without their help, we’ll die.”
I thought it was best to stick to the facts. If I kept things simple, there would be less room to argue.
“How do we know that’s what they truly want?” a male voice in the middle demanded. “They could just be buttering us up to take over our planet.”
It took work not to roll my eyes. “The Krezikians are part of a galaxy-wide entity called the Intergalactic Alliance for the Ecological Protection of Planets. They work with planets like ours, who are either not caring for their planet as they should or are at risk of planet death. Either in giving them new technology and teaching them new ecological practices to better protect their planet or evacuating species whose planets are too far gone to save.”
“If they were truly here to help us, why would they attack us?” a female voice with a French accent asked closer to the front.
“That was a mistake on their part,” I explained with a sigh.
“The Krezikians are a peaceful people. They thought it was best to safely neutralize the threats of military action while speaking with you all, so they could explain themselves without fearing for their lives. It’s a mistake they’re working on fixing right now. ”
The wall behind me suddenly turned into a screen, showing ships dropping off military members at their assigned bases. I hadn’t known the wall could do that, so it took me a second to shake off the shock and turn back to the people in front of me.
“Are we going to be able to go home then?” she asked.
“Not yet,” I replied with a shake of my head. “Not until you better understand what’s happening and what options you have.”
A familiar face, the freaking president of the United States, pushed to the front, a deep frown on his face. “What do you mean by that?”
Drawing in a breath, I started at the beginning.
I told them about our planet’s future if no action was taken, about the need to step in before humans were ready for this kind of interaction, and about what steps the Krezikians were currently taking to fix things.
Every time I gave a fact or statistic, an image popped up behind me, either with data on the decline of the planet's health or images of the work currently being done to save the planet. Even in a little over a week, the Krezikians had done a lot on the clean up portion. They had machines diving into the ocean, cleaning up the trash, while smaller machines did the same on major rivers around the world. There was a lot of ground to cover, so it wasn’t instantly better, but they made more of a dent than a lot of the clean up groups here on Earth ever had.
It surprised me that the world leaders were willing to listen to me.
I asked some of the military leaders if they wanted to be the ones to talk to them, and while some of them were on the platform behind me, they refused to take my place.
I knew the most about the Krezikians. It was better for the person with the most information to be the speaker in this case.
As the presentation wrapped up, I lifted my chin, making eye contact with as many people as I could.
“Let me be clear. The Krezikians and the IAEPP are here to help. They are willing to share technology and information with us when they are in no way required to do so. However, their first priority is the health and stabilization of the planet. The list of life-sustaining planets is short and losing one that has so much of its life left just because we aren’t ready to interact with aliens is not something they can allow to happen.
And to be honest, we don’t have a choice but to work with them.
If they all left right now, our planet would die and take our entire species with it.
We need to learn to work with them. How we do that is entirely up to you, but if you want to avoid all those worst case scenarios you keep coming up with, you need to figure out a way that works for everyone. ”