Page 41 of The Space Traveller's Lover
They enter the court building, walking through the aisles without being stopped. Sam is amused as he gives a military salute to the officers, but they do not react in the slightest.
Back in his cell, Shaillah carefully places Sam onto his bed and makes him fall into a deep sleep. As she wraps the bed covers snuggly around his body, she softly pats him on the chest and blows his curly hair gently off his forehead.
“You rest now, my dear friend. Tomorrow will be an interesting day.”
Shaillah closes the heavy cell door and races down the stairs like a fleeting ghost. She exits the outside gates, passing in front of the night guard, who sips unwittingly at his cup of coffee.
Out in the open, she saunters through the fields with her arms fully open while her gleeful eyes stay fixed on the starry sky. “So far and yet so close,” she says to herself as she glances through the constellations, taking her time to admire the glittering starlit night. She watches the prominent Orion stars shining over the horizon, then focuses on the less conspicuous Eridani system, waving its dim pearly wreath right off the bright star Rigel. She watches each faint point of light on its wavy river-like pattern, feeling as if her ancestral home is calling on her, and she is responding. All the while, she cannot stop thinking about Rothwen.
The approaching scouting-craft interrupts her thoughts. As the craft smoothly brakes to a halt and silently hovers by her side, she swiftly boards it, flying through the opening top cabin.
In an instant, the craft jets off vertically and disappears into the night, leaving behind a bright orange trail that soon dissipates across the sky. The groups of puzzled onlookers calling the police that night will be flatly dismissed and told to stop drinking.
CHAPTER 17
THE WITNESS
Professor Khan, please explain. What is the probability of intelligent life existing on another planet and visiting us, here, on planet Earth?
The court hearing is being broadcast live on all major news channels. Throughout the world, giant screens in city centres show images from the courtroom in real time as the latest headlines scroll beneath.
Judge Abiko solemnly enters the room and takes his seat at the podium. A stocky man with a serious round face and short grey beard, his impassive expression demands total respect. He orders his papers while looking around the courtroom over his thin glasses, channelling all his authority through his piercing narrowed eyes as he tells everyone to be seated. He speaks in a firm tone as he describes the day’s proceedings and asks the prosecutor to call his last witness.
Ms Porter, the chief prosecutor, is a lady of a strong-minded demeanour. Behind her black-rimmed glasses, her steely brown eyes briefly focus on Sam with a frosty look before calling her star witness. Even the heavy make-up and thick mascara can’t smooth out her stern face; her flattened hair, pulled tightly back in a bun, makes her look even harsher.
Professor Mishu Khan takes the witness stand and readily stares at the packed gallery as if he’s about to start another of his famous scientific lectures.
As emeritus professor of the World’s Institute for Science and Space Exploration (WISSE, or WIZE as it is most commonly known), he is the leading expert for the prosecution. He has dedicated most of his professional life to researching one of the most crucial questions scientists and laymen alike have ever asked: Are we alone in the universe? He has gained a worldwide reputation for his outstanding work in biocosmology, being the first man to discover life-essential amino acids in warming coalescing molecular clouds.
His face is partially covered by his bushy white beard and thick sideburns, as if trying to hide the all-pervading wrinkles. His small, beady eyes give off a flash of vitality and strength that is in complete contrast to his ageing complexion. He’s wearing a navy blue overall with red trims. Over his left top pocket, a thick red badge, topped with a glossy golden star, boasts of his high position in the WIZE organisation.
Sam holds the professor’s scolding gaze as the revered scientist is about to speak. He remembers the famous Khan’s lectures on the science programs, but never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that he would be confronting him one day, contradicting his every word.
“The data from our high orbit surveillance satellites show,” Khan explains in a confident tone, “that there has never been a positive irrefutable evidence of an alien spaceship, ever.” He raises his voice even louder on the word “ever”.
“Thank you, Professor Khan. Please explain. What is the probability of our survey satellites missing such an event?” Ms Porter asks.
“Zero,” Khan confidently replies, looking straight at the judge, “our specialized Near Earth Objects satellite network scans the space around us in all frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum, constantly analysing and identifying every signal, every second. I may add … I have dedicated most of my life to studying life as we know it. With our powerful optical, infrared, and radio telescopes, we’ve acquired a vast amount of data in our extensive research. So far, all we have to show for it is the presence of stable life-essential amino acids in distant molecular clouds.”
“Objection, Your Honour,” Wray protests. “How can we be so sure? Maybe we haven’t detected it yet because we do not have the right means to do it. The alien technology may be so different from ours that it is impossible to identify it.”
“Sustained!” Judge Abiko replies instantly.
“Let me bring to your attention, Your Honour, another matter that is equally as important,” Ms Porter continues, unabated. “Professor Khan, please explain, what is the probability of intelligent life existing on another planet and visiting us, here, on planet Earth? What is the probability that these aliens may be similar to humans?”
A brief suspenseful silence seems to spread across the crowded courtroom, all eyes now fixed on Professor Khan, who appears to be thinking hard on his best answer.
“Our best cosmic statisticians have concluded that it would be virtually impossible for intelligent life to evolve the same way somewhere else. Even here on Earth, where the conditions are perfect, how come only one species, us, has evolved advanced intelligence? In our cosmic backyard, on the Orion spiral arm, suppose that solar systems with habitable planets are abundant, for the sake of argument.
“We know it would take us a considerable number of lifetimes, with our current technology, to get to any of our closest stars. For example, it would take us tens of thousands of years to get to our nearest star, Proxima Centauri, at around four light-years away. And to reach the exoplanets around the star Wolf 359, we would have to travel double that distance. So, if any alien makes it here, first they have to be an extraordinarily advanced civilisation, able to warp space or travel close to the speed of light. They would’ve, by now, let their presence be known, or we would’ve, by now, detected some trace of their advanced technology, at least. As for the probability of intelligent life living on another planet and visiting us, I can answer this with another question.”
Khan stops for a second to look across the expectant audience. Then he adds in a sarcastic tone, “Where are they?”
A rumble of sceptical laughter ripples through the entire room, followed by heated arguments for and against UFO sightings.
“Order, order!” Judge Abiko leans forward, hammering impatiently on the table.
Sam purses his lips to stop himself from contradicting Professor Khan.Erin is right. There’s only one way of making them believe me. We have to show them, he says to himself.
