Illegal Alien

Her translated voice was identical to Hask’s — presumably Hask had simply copied the translation program from his portable computer to hers. "I do very well, thank you," she said.

"You’ve been here all this time?" asked Dale.

"Yes," she said.

"But why here? Isn’t it too cold for you?"

"My space suit provides adequate protection when I feel the urge to get outside of this lander," said Seltar, "but when I do go outside, the light is agreeably dim. The sun does not get far above the horizon this far north."

"Amazing," said Dale. "And the others all think you’re dead?"

"They do," said Seltar. "And we must keep it that way."

"Why?"

"I am your only hope."

"To clear Hask, you mean?"

Her tuft split in the now familiar Tosok shrug. "Your language lacks sufficient pronouns. I am your only hope. I am the only hope of you."

"Pardon?"

Hask stepped forward. "As Cletus might have put it,‘I am the only hope of y’all.’ She means she is the last hope of the human race."

"What?" Frank felt his eyebrows climbing.

"The things we shall tell you must remain secret," said Seltar. "You cannot divulge them to anyone without my permission."

"We promise not to say anything," said Dale.

Hask turned to Seltar. "He is speaking the truth."

"Then tell them," said Seltar.

Hask turned back to the humans. "Seltar and I belong to what you might call a different religion than the other six Tosoks, although perhaps a different philosophical school would be a better description." He looked at Frank, then at Dale. "The crossbreeding that is the norm among Tosoks — four males and one female involved in most unions — has led to a substantial degree of interrelation among the Tosok people. The result is that we tend to think of the survival of our race as more important than the survival of any one individual. The school Seltar and I belong to abjures that; we have seen the damage it can do. That is why we are mating exclusively with each other."

"I don’t understand," said Frank. "Surely such interrelation would have all kinds of benefits. I bet you have fewer wars than we do."

"We in fact have no wars," said Hask. "I was amazed to learn of the human propensity for them. But on the question of interrelation, as in all questions, one side always has more power, and in this one, the negative aspects of protecting the species at all costs are greater than the benefit."

He paused, as if thinking about how to express himself. "Dale, during this case we encountered at least one juror who would say and do anything to get accepted, presumably in order to ensure a particular outcome. Well, Seltar and I did everything we could to get appointed to one of the star missions." His two front eyes blinked. "The tragedy is that several missions did get away without any of us among the crew."

Dale sounded confused. "What are you talking about?"

"What do you think the purpose of the Tosok expedition to your solar system is?" asked Hask.

"Exploration, no?" said Dale. "To see what was here?"

"No. The purpose of the mission was survival — survival of the Tosok race."

Frank nodded, his worst fears confirmed. "So you did come to invade Earth."

"Invade?" Hask’s tuft waved backward. "No. We certainly would not want to live here. Your sun is so bright and large, your air smells, and all those annoying insects! No, no, the Tosoks are quite content with our home."

"Then what did you mean by saying your mission is survival?"

"We come from a world currently orbiting Alpha Centauri A at a distance much greater than your world orbits your sun. In fact, we orbit so far out from Centauri A that we are just on the outermost edge of orbital stability — any farther out, and the gravitational effects of Centauri B would be significant."

"So your planet is at risk," said Frank.

"At risk? No, not at all."

"Then what’s the problem?"

"There is a third star in our system — Centauri C. Centauri C orbits the center of mass of the A-B system in a hugely eccentric path. Approximately every four hundred thousand Earth years it passes very close to us. When it last approached us, Centauri A was positioned between Centauri C and the center of mass of the A-B system; when it next approaches us, Centauri B will be between C and the center of mass. Indeed, since the orbital period of C is a precise multiple of the A-B orbital period, there is a perfect alternation: on one pass, A will be between C and the center of mass; on the next pass, B will be between C and the center of mass, and so on."

"So?" said Frank.