The alien folded its arm back, bringing the computer up to one of its vertical pairs of eyes. It turned it around, apparently unsure how to hold it.
Frank’s heart fell — they’d have to start over from scratch, apparently, trying to learn to communicate.
Suddenly a second starfish alien emerged from the spherical lander. It came toward Frank quickly, its body rotating as it did so. When it got close, Frank saw that it had something in one of its hands — a device that ended in precisely the same sort of tripronged connector he’d come to associate with Tosok technology. The second alien took Hask’s computer from the first alien and plugged it into the device it had brought along. Lights began flashing on both devices.
Frank was aware of a high-pitched buzzing sound, barely audible. At first he thought it was coming from Hask’s computer, but his ears soon focused better on the source. The two aliens were apparently conversing, using mostly ultrasonics. The buzz alternately came from one of them, then the other.
The lights stopped flashing on Hask’s computer. The second alien disengaged it from the device he’d brought, and proffered it to Frank. Frank was surprised, but took it back. The alien handed the other device to the first alien, then twirled back a dozen meters.
The buzzing started again from the first alien, and within seconds, the synthesized voice Frank had come to associate with Hask was emerging from the device the starfish creature was now holding. "Do you understand me?" said the voice.
"Yes," said Frank, his heart pounding with excitement.
"There is no accepted way to render my own individual name in the subset of the Tosok vocal range that you apparently communicate with. Please assign to me a name whose sound you can replicate."
Frank was momentarily lost. "Umm— Tony. I’ll call you Tony."
"Tony. And you are?"
"Frank."
"We came as soon as we received the Tosok message. I saw from orbit that we were not too late."
"Too late?"
"To keep your planet from being wiped clean of life."
"You came to prevent that?"
"We did. The Tosoks tried to extinguish us as well. We are… resilient.
They have been subdued."
Frank felt his features spreading into a broad grin. "Welcome to Earth, friend."
The new aliens — already dubbed Twirlers by CNN’s correspondent — were originally from the star humans called Epsilon Indi, which, although it was eleven light-years from Earth, was only nine from Alpha Centauri. The Twirlers had begun using radio centuries before humanity had, and so a high-speed Tosok mothership had been dispatched to that star, arriving there thirty-odd years ago. Although it took decades, the Twirlers had managed to defeat the Tosoks.
There were twenty-six Twirlers aboard their beautiful mothership, but it was Tony who served as the sole communicator with humanity. And today, Tony was addressing the General Assembly of the United Nations. He stood at the same lectern Kelkad had used five years before, the great seal of the planet he’d so recently arrived upon spread out behind him, embraced by olive leaves.
Tony no longer used Hask’s voice; once that had been explained to him, he asked for a sample of a new voice so that he could adopt it as his own.
Frank had mulled it over, then sent an aide to Blockbuster Video to rent To Kill a Mockingbird; Tony now spoke with the voice of Gregory Peck’s Atticus Finch.
"People of the Earth," said Tony. "My government sends its greetings. We are pleased that the Tosok plan has been averted, and that you are safe.
But other worlds have not been so fortunate. We have found three that have been wiped clean by the Tosoks, and two continents on my own home world were rendered uninhabitable during our conflict with them. You have a grievance, no doubt, against the Tosoks who came here — but I hope you realize that they in fact have done nothing against Earth beyond the killing of a handful of individuals. In concert with races from two other worlds that the Tosoks had threatened, my people are planning to try the few surviving Tosoks for genocide and attempted genocide — including the five surviving ones here on Earth who were involved in the plot. We invite you to participate in this undertaking if you wish, or to leave it to us. But we do now formally request the extradition of the Tosoks known as Rendo, Torbat, Dodnaskak, Stant, and Ged. We assure you, they will pay for their crimes.
"I stand here, in your United Nations, whose brief, and — I hope you will forgive me for saying — troubled history has been explained to me. The UN, with whatever problems it has, represents an ideal — an abstraction made concrete, a belief that by all working together, peace can be assured. It hasn’t always worked, and it may not always work in the future, but the ideal — the promise, the hope, the concept — is one that my people share, as do those of the other two inhabited worlds I mentioned.
"Our three worlds have already begun creating a — well, let me translate it in a parallel way — a United Planets, an organization representing all of our interests, designed to ensure that never again will war rage between the stars.
"Your planet is, frankly, primitive compared to the existing members of the United Planets. But I see here that the United Nations has long been involved in upgrading the standards of its less affluent, and less developed, members. This, too, is an ideal shared by the United Planets, and I stand before you all, as representatives both individually of your nations and collectively of your world, to invite Earth to join us." Tony paused, looking out at the faces of humans black and white and yellow and red. "My friends," he said, "we offer you the stars."
EPILOGUE
The next time he was in L.A., Frank Nobilio stopped by the offices of Rice and Associates to say hello. To his astonishment, he found Dale Rice in the process of packing up his diplomas, books, and framed jigsaw puzzles.
"What are you doing?" said Frank. "They can’t fire you; you’re the boss."
"I’m leaving," said Dale. "I’m finished."
"Mr. Rice exits a winner," said Frank, nodding. "Are you going to that Georgia cabin you’d always talked about?"
"Not Georgia," said Dale. "And I’m not retiring. Seventy-two is young, son."
"Then what?"
Dale pointed a finger upward.
"You’re becoming a judge?"
He laughed. "No. I’m going up."
"Up?" And then realization dawned. "You’re going with the Twirlers?"
"Yes."
"But why?"
Dale shrugged. "Maybe some of your idealism has rubbed off on me. Or if not yours, maybe some of Atticus Finch’s. Maybe, down deep, even after all these years, I do believe in the ideals of justice. And that means, whether they’re guilty or innocent, that the Tosoks deserve the best damned defense they can get."
Frank’s mouth dropped open. "My God — you’re going to defend the Tosoks!"
Dale smiled. "I went by the Tosok section of the L.A. County Jail yesterday and spoke with Dodnaskak, who has succeeded Kelkad as their captain.
She’s pleased to have me as lead counsel. So, yes, the Twirlers are going to take me with them when they return home."
"Incredible," said Frank. "But good luck. I have a feeling you’re going to need it."
There was quiet between them for a time. "You know, the trials are going to be like Nuremberg," said Dale. "There’ll be judges from each of the worlds the Tosoks threatened, but Tony says the judges don’t have to be legal types; after all, there are widely different judicial concepts among the various races. Maybe you should put your name in for being one of the Earth judges."
Frank’s eyebrows went up. "Me? No, no — not me. It wouldn’t be right. I’ve already made up my mind what the verdict should be."
Dale looked at him. "You darned idealist, you. You’d let them off."
Frank just smiled.