“Planet Earth is
being ‘Harvested’ Tim.”
“What do you mean
Harvested?”
“I mean the
population of Earth is going to be collected up and shipped off to some other
planet or city or whatever. I really
don’t know where they will be taken.”
I’m about to ask a
few hundred more questions but Espree holds up a hand, shaking
her head in dismissal.
“I know you have a
hundred questions Tim and they will all be answered in time, but for now, you
must listen to me.”
Considering the
circumstance I suppose that’s the right thing to do.
She takes a long
pause, as if gathering her words carefully, then looks at me - the look, one of
sympathy and of frustration.
“You are an
immortal spirit Tim.”
She kept harping
on that the other day at lunch. I don’t
really get why that is so relevant right now.
“OK.” I say shrugging my shoulders - waiting for
her to make a point.
“And this universe
is a trap.”
“Uh, OK. But professor, please, can you tell me about
this invasion?” Her behavior is really
confusing me.
“It is why you are
being invaded Tim and why you are here at this time, confined as you are to a
planet - you are in a trap!”
“Well, OK, but how
do you know about all this? Are they
going to take over the earth? What’s
going to happen to everybody?”
She seems to slump
– as if she’s given up trying. I don’t
know what I did to cause that reaction.
I just think that discussions about deep things, like spirituality and
philosophic traps seem rather inappropriate considering aliens are on our
doorstep.
She shakes her
head and gets up from her chair. “I
should know better but I thought you might be different Tim. I was being much too hopeful, and silly.
“This is a universe
of force, not reason,” she says more to herself than me. Then she motions for me accompany her to the
window.
“Point out
something big.” She says looking out the
window.
“Why, uh, what
for…”
“Just point to
something large!”
“OK. OK.”
There’s a big
heavy palm tree outside the window. It’s
about 50 feet high.
“OK, that tree.”
Almost
instantaneously the tree begins to shudder.
I hear a grinding, popping sound as the tree pulls up out of the ground,
rises in the air and turns upside down!
Then it smashes down into the ground, pushing deeper and deeper until
only its roots are showing.
Professor Espree
turns and looks at me, her eyes flashing with anger.
“This seems to be
the only thing you people understand, force, stunts, spectacle, it’s downright
exasperating! Why do I have to come
across as some kind of supreme being for you to take me seriously?”
I’m still trying
to conceive of how she did that. She
didn’t even move. There was no squinting
like Yoda, no trembling, outstretched arm, nothing.
“Can you teach me
how to do that?”
She shakes her head
and smiles in resignation.
“That is the easy
part Tim. Unfortunately what appears to
be quite impossible is my ability to ‘un-teach’ you the things you’ve learned that
make you incapable of doing that!”
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