Second Landing - Floyd L Wallace

0:00Second landing by Floyd Wallace. Earth was so far away that it wasn't visible even the sun was only a twinkle, but this vast distance did not mean that isolation could endure forever. Instruments within the ship intercepted radio broadcasts and within the hour early TV signals. Machines compiled dictionaries and grammars and began translating the major languages. The history of the planet was tabulated as facts became available. The course of the ship changed slightly. It was not much out of the way to swing near Earth. For days the two within the ship listened and watched with little comment. They had a decide soon. We've got to make or break, so the first alien. You know what I'm in favor of, set the second. I can guess, said a Daniel who had spoken first. The place is a complete mess. They've never done anything except fight each other and invent better weapons.

1:04It's not what they've done, said ball, the second alien. It's what they're going to do with that big bomb. The more recent for stopping said a Daniel, the big bomb can destroy them without our help. They may do just that. I may remind you that in two months, 29 days, we're due in Willow Wars, said ball. Without looking at the charts, I can tell you we still have more than 100 light years to go. A week, said a Daniel, we can spare a week and still get there on time. A week, said ball, decided their problems. They've had two world wars in one generation and that the third and final one is coming out. You can't help feeling in everything they do. It won't take much, said a Daniel, the wrong diplomatic move or a trick or happy soldier that set it off. And it wouldn't have to be deliberate. A meteor shower could pass over and their clumsy instruments could interpret it as an

2:09all-out enemy attack. Too bad, said ball. We'll just have to forget there ever was such a planet as art. Could you forget so many people? I'm doing it, said ball, just give them a little time and they won't be here to remind me that I have a conscience. My memory isn't convenient, said a Daniel, I ask you to look at them. Ball rustled, flicking the screen intently. Very much like ourselves, he said a plus, a bit shorter, perhaps, and most certainly incomplete, except for the one thing they lack and that's quite hard. They seem exactly like us. Is that what you wanted me to say? It is the fact that they are an incomplete version of ourselves touches me. They actually seem defenseless, though as opposed they're not tough, said ball. Nothing we can do about it. There is, we can give them a week.

3:12In a week, we can't negate their entire history. We can't begin to undo the effect of the big ball. You can't tell, said a Daniel, we can look things over. And then what? How much authority do we have? Very little, considered a Daniel. Two minor officials on the way to Willifors and we run directly into a problem. No one knew existed and when we get to Willifors, we'll be busy. It will be a long time before anyone comes this way again. A very long time. There's nothing in this region of space. Our people want, said Ivanil, and how long can Earth last? Ten years, even ten months, the tension is built in by the hour. What can I say? Said ball. I suppose we can stop and look them over. We're not committing ourselves by looking. They went much closer to Earth, not intending to commit themselves. For a day they circled the planet, avoiding radar detection, which for them was not difficult.

4:18Testing and sampling. Finally, if Daniel looked up from the monitor screen, any conclusions? What's there to think? It's worse than I imagined. In what way? Well, we knew they had the big bomb. Atmospharic analysis showed that as far away as we were. I know. We also knew they could deliver the big bomb, presumably by some sort of aircraft. That was almost a certainty. They'd have no use for the big bomb without aircraft. What's worse is that I now find they also have missiles, range 1000 miles and upward. They either have or are near a primitive, foremost-based tunnel. Bad said, Ithaniel, sitting there, wandering when it's going to hit them. Nermousness could set it off. It could, and the missiles make it worse said ball. What did you find out at your end?

5:20Nothing worthwhile. I was looking at the people while you were investigating their weapons. You must think something. I wish I knew what to think. There's so little time, Ithaniel said. Language isn't the difficulty. Our machines translate their languages easily, but I've taken a cram course in two or three of them. But that's not enough. Looking at a few plays, listening to advertisements, music, and news bulletins, I should go down and live among them. Read books, talk to scholars, work with them, play. You could do that, and you'd really get to know them, but that takes time, and we don't have it. I realize that. A flat, yes or no, said ball. No, we can't help them, said Ithaniel. There is nothing we can do for them, but we have to try. Sure, I knew it before we started. Said ball, it's happened before. We take the trouble to find out what a people are like, and when we can't help them, we

6:22feel bad. It's going to be that way again. He rose and stretched, well, giving me an hour to think of some way of going at it. It was longer than that before they met again. In the meantime, the ship moved much closer to Earth. They no longer needed instruments to see it, a planet revolved outside the vision ports. The Southern Plans were green, coerced with rivers. The oceans were blue, and much of the northern hemisphere was glistening white. White clouds covered the pole, and a dirty pole spread over the mid regions of the north. I haven't thought of anything brilliant, said Ithaniel. No, I said ball. We're going to have to go down there cold, and it will be cold. Yes, it's there, winter. I did have an idea, said ball. What about going down a supernatural beings? Hardly, said Ithaniel, a hundred years ago it might have worked. Today they have satellites, they are not primitives.

7:25I suppose you're right, said ball. I did think we ought to take advantage of our physical differences. If we could, I'd be all for it, but these people are rough and desperate. They wouldn't be fooled by anything that crude. Well, you're calling it, said ball. All right, said Ithaniel. You take one side and I the other. We'll tell them bluntly what they'll have to do if they're going to survive. How they can keep their planet in one piece so they can live on it. That'll go over big. Advice is always popular. Can't help it. That's all we have time for. Special instructions? None. We leave the ship here and go down in separate landing craft. You can talk to me anytime you want to through our communications, but don't, unless you have to. They can't intercept the beings we use. They can't. And even if they did, they wouldn't know what to do with our language. I want them to think that we don't need to talk things over.

8:28I get it. Makes us seem better than we are. They think we know exactly what we're doing, even though we don't. If we're lucky, don't think that. Ball looked out of the port at the planet below. It's going to be cold. We're ongoing. You too. Sure, we don't want to change our plans and land in this other name of the sphere. It's summer there. I'm afraid not. The great powers are in the north. They are the ones we have to reach to do the job. Yeah, but I was thinking of that holiday you mentioned. We'll be running straight into it. That won't help us any. I know. They don't like their holidays interrupted. It can't be helped. We can't wait until it's over. I'm aware of that, said Ball. Fill me in on that holiday. Anything I ought to know, probably religious in origin. That's so. It was religious a long time ago, said Ivanil. I didn't learn anything exact from radio and TV.

9:29Now it seems to be chiefly a time for eating office parties and selling merchandise. I see. It has become a business holiday. That's a good description. I didn't get as much of it as I ought to have. I was busy studying the people and their hard to bend down. I see. I was thinking there might be some way we could tie ourselves in with this holiday, make it work for us. If there is, I haven't thought of it. You ought to know you're running this one. Ball looked down at the planet. Clouds were beginning to form at the twilight edge. I hate to go down and lead the ship up here with no one in it. They can't touch it. No matter how they develop in the next hundred years, they still won't be able to get in or damage it in any way. It's myself I'm thinking about, down there alone. I'll be with you on the other side of the earth.

10:30That's not very close. I'd like it better if there were someone in the ship to bring it down in a hurry if things get rough. They don't think much of each other. I don't imagine they'll like aliens any better. They may be unfriendly if annual acknowledged. Now he switched the monitor's green until he looked at the slope of the mountain. It was snowing and men were cutting small green trees in the snow. I thought of a trick. If it saves my neck, I'm for it. I don't guarantee anything, said it, annual. This is what I was thinking of. Instead of hiding the ship against the sun where there's little chance it will be seeing will make sure that they do see it. Let's take it around to the night side of the planet and light it up. Say, pretty good, said ball. They can't imagine that we'd light up an unmanned ship, said it, annual. Even if the thought showed occurred to them, they'll have no way of checking it. Also, they won't be eager to harm us.

11:32With our ship churning down on them, that's thinking, said ball, moving to the controls. I'll move the ship over where they can see it best, and then I'll light it up. I'll really light it up. Don't spare power. Don't worry about that. They'll see it. Everybody on Earth will see it. Later, with the ship in position, clawing against the darkness of space, pulsating with light, ball said, you know, I feel better about this. We may pull it off. Lighting the ship may be just the help we need. It's not we who need help, but the people of Earth, said it, annual. See you in five days. Without he entered a small landing craft, which loved a faintly luminescent trail as it plunged to work early. As soon as it was said to do so, ball left in another craft heading for the other side of the planet. And the spaceship circled to Earth, unmanned, blazing, and pulsing with light.

12:33No star in the winter skies of the planet below could equal it in brilliancy. Once a man made satellite came near, but it was dim and was lost sight of by the people below. During the day, the ship was visible as a bright spot of light. At evening, it seemed to burn through the sunset colors. The ship circled on bright, shining, seeming to be a little piece clipped from that center of a star and brought near Earth to eliminate it. Never or seldom had Earth seen anything like it. In five days, the two small landing craft that had loved it arched up from Earth and joined the orbit of the large ship. The two small craft slid inside the large one and doors closed behind them. In a short time, the aliens met again. We did it, said ball exultantly. As he came in, I don't know how we did it, and I thought we were going to fail, but

13:34at the last minute, they came through. Ethanol smiled. On him tired, he said, rustling. Me too, but mostly I'm cold, said ball, shivering. Snow. Nothing but snow wherever I went. It was a miserable climate, and yet you had me go out walking after that first day. From my own experience, it seemed to be a good idea, said Ethanol. If I went out walking one day, I noticed that the next day, the officials were very much more cooperative. If it worked for me, I thought it might help you. It did. I don't know why, but it did, said ball. Anyway, this agreement they made isn't the best, but I think it will keep them from destroying themselves. It's as much as we can expect, said Ethanol. They may have small wars after this, but never the big one. In 50 or 100 years, we can come back and see how much they've learned. I'm not sure I want to, said ball.

14:37Say, what's an angel? Why? When I went out walking, people stopped to look, some melt in the snow and call me an angel. Something like that happened to me, said Ethanol. I didn't get it, but I didn't let it upset me, said ball. I smiled at them, and what about my business? He shivered again. It was always cold. I walked out, but sometimes I flew back. I hope that was all right. In the cabin, balls, but his great wings, Renaissance painters had never seen his look, but knew exactly how he looked. In their paintings, they had pictured him innumerable times. I don't think it hurt us that you flew, said Ethanol. I did sell myself vocationally, but you don't know what an angel lives? No, I didn't have time to find out. Some creature of their folklore, I suppose, except for our winds, they're very much like

15:37ourselves. Their legends are bound to resemble ours. Sure, said ball. Anyway, peace on earth. End of Second Landing by Floyd Wallace.