Alice: The Girl From Earth

14

It sometimes happens that if things go well, they go very well indeed. The old woman had not only invited Alice along with her to the space port under the pretense of being her daughter, but even fed her supper in a caf‚ near the train station and, because Alice had admitted she was a foreigner, showed her the city’s sights. And then their taxi arrived at the launch site.

Well before they came to their destination the car slowed to a crawl and could hardly move more than a hundred yards before coming to a halt. It appeared the entire capitol city was rushing toward the space port. It might have been a joke the world’s first space ship was returning to the planet. The streets were decorated with flags and big pictures of the astronauts, and every time the old woman saw a picture of her son she clasped Alice by the sleeve and loudly said:

“And who is that?”

“Our Tolo.” Alice answered.

“Yes. Our boy.”

The old woman had already started to believe somewhat that Alice was, in fact, her daughter. Finally, when the main entrance to the space port could be seen ahead of them, the taxi came to a final halt in the current of busses, cars, bicycles, and other means of transport. The driver turned to his passengers and said sadly:

“You’d better continue on foot. I’ll be stuck here until evening. No one’s moving in this.”

Alice and the old woman thanked the driver, paid him, and headed off on foot. The driver caught up with them about twenty paces later.

“The car can sit there.” He said. “What can happen to it today? The traffic’s packed solid. And I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t see the landing.

The first chain of police in white parade uniforms were standing by the main entrance. They held the driver back; he remained in the enormous mass of people who hadn’t been given tickets, but they let the old woman pass through with Alice almost without a question. The old woman showed them her documents and one of the cops even said:

“I’ll take you to the field. Make certain no one else stops you.”

The old woman nodded to Alice and whispered:

“It’s the only way he’ll get to the field himself. His ohota is to not let people through. He wants to see the ship land and our Tolo come out of it too.”

A half an hour later the old woman and Alice had made it to the last barrier; before them stretched the seemingly endless concrete field where the ship was scheduled to land.

Loudspeakers and radios were all the time broadcasting descriptions of the ship’s re-entry into the atmosphere, his breaking maneuvers, and its approach to the landing field. Very little time remained before its landing.

All around them stood generals in uniform and medals, and the country’s very important people; the leaders of the government, famous scientists, writers, artists, actors, reporters. They were all waiting in tense expectation.

But none of them could have guessed that, in that enormous crowd filling the space port, the most excited of all was a little girl by the name of Alice who had come from the future and from the other end of the Galaxy. And she was excited more than anyone else because she knew she held in her hands the fate of the entire planet.

Alice began to feel that her knees were shaking a little, and her palms had become moist. She began to move forward a little, until she was touching the very barrier itself.

“Where are you going.” The old woman asked. “I’ll go with you.”

Alice casually opened her bag and felt inside for the cannister. She took it out and hung it over he shoulder.

“And what’s that?” The old woman asked.

“A thermos.” Alice answered. “If you want something to drink I can open it.”

The old woman didn’t ask anything else; she was too busy watching the sky and the bright point of light that had suddenly appeared before their eyes.

The space ship, with its cargo of astronauts and Space Plague aboard, was coming in for its landing.

The ship descended slowly, like in a dream. For a minute it hung suspended over the field itself, blue flame from its tail playing over the concrete. Then it was on the ground, and a short hurricane carried off the spectators’ hats and caps.

The orchestra began to play, and several space port employees began to unfurl a thick role of white rug from the gate to the ship for the astronauts to walk on to meet the welcoming party.

“What should I do?” Alice asked the little archaeologist. No one was listening to her now; they were all waiting for the ship’s airlock to open and for the astronauts to emerge.

“Are we far from the ship?” Purr asked.

“About three or four hundred yards from the ship. I’d never be able to run there. They’d catch me.”

“Oh.” The archaeologist sighed. “So close, ands till to far! I might be able to make it.”

“But you could never carry the cannister with the vaccine.”

But here again the old woman came to Alice’s erscue. When she saw that the members of Coleida’s government pushed across the barrier and were now on both sides of the long white rug held ready for the astronauts, because they were as thrilled as anyone else and could not stand waiting any more than the old woman, the mother of Engineer Tolo moved away from her police escort and said:

“My son is over there.”

She spoke the words with such firmness and conviction that the policeman could only nod his head and let her pass.

Alice grabbed onto the old woman’s hand, and when the policeman tried to stop her, the old woman turned and said:

“This is his sister. I won’t move a foot without her.”

“Just leave the bag.” The cop said. “They don’t want any bags.”

Alice clutched the bag tightly, and it proved to be a hindrance because the old woman pressed forward and the policeman moved back and Alice was pulled between then. And then Alice heard Purr say in Cosmolingue, which none of the Coleidans could understand:

“Let go! Remember what we’re here for.”

Fortunately, the policeman heard nothing; he was trying to hold back the advancing crowd with his other hand. Alice let go of the bag with Purr in it and hurried forward.

They made it almost as far as the landed ship itself. But then everyone stopped. The old woman too.

The ship’s airlock was slowly turning, opening.

“It must have been like this back on old Earth when they met Gagarin and Glenn.” Alice thought. “It’s a pity I was born so late.” She said to herself.

And at the very moment that the airlock had slid as far back into the ship as it could go and the first astronaut, the ship’s captain, appeared in the round hatch, Alice jumped between a general and the Prime Minister, darted away from the outstretched hands of the honor guard, and ran for the airlock.

“Stop!” They shouted from behind her.”

“Don’t worry.” Alice heard the old woman’s voice. “That’s my daughter.”

As she darted forward, Alice pulled the vaccine cannister off her shoulder.

The ship’s captain, watching what was unfolding, burst into laughter, and waved her to one side.

Alice stopped for a moment. She had realized that the airlock was too high there was no way she could reach it. The spray of vaccine would not reach inside the ship.

“Raise the gangplank!” The ship’s captain shouted; evidently, he had decided that Alice wanted to present the astronauts with some gift, and he had decided to let her do it.

A moment later an automatic gangplank rose from the ground and extended itself forward and touched the ship.

“Don’t move!” Alice shouted to the captain, who had been about to step onto the gangplank.

Alice had already jumped onto the gangplank, moving forward, before it could even stop.

Behind her came policemen intent on reaching her and stopping her.

Alice flew like an arrow along the gangway, the cannister in her hands.

She aimed it right in the Captain’s face and pressed the button.

A strong, grey stream of pungent vaccine struck the Captain; out of surprise he jumped back.

Millions of people on Coleida who watched that moment either at the space port itself or on television, gasped in horror. All the inhabitants of Coleida could only believe it was an attempt on the lives of the astronauts.

Alice stood before the returning ship’s airlock and continued to press the button down on the cannister of vaccine. The mist quickly wrapped itself around the ship and filled all its internal spaces.

Then the button itself gave a click and the stream of vaccine cut off.

The cannister was empty.

And out of the still not dissipated cloud a number of strong hands grabbed hold of Alice and dragged her back.