The Legacy of a Starman
Chapter 18
Ford pulled out of Matt's ass slowly and walked over to the dresser, picked up the buzzing device and activated it. After quickly reading the message, he smiled and said, "Nothing that can't wait until morning," he grinned. "I believe that Matt's sweet ass is overloaded with sperm and needs some help relieving the pressure. However, that doesn't prevent you from adding more sperm to Mike's ass, Matt."
"I'm always up for that," I agreed.
"My dick has had enough," Matt sighed as he pulled out of my well-fucked hole. "I can stay hard for a couple of rounds, but even I can't keep it up forever."
"Sit on my face then, and we'll see if Mike can resuscitate your wilting dick," Ford suggested. "If it still doesn't want to play, I think Mike wants to take another turn at your sweet hole."
"My ass is always ready for a big dick," Matt nodded enthusiastically. "And you do shoot enormous loads. The ones I've seen in the porno films never shot that much. Well, except for one or two guys who were astonishingly blessed with huge loads, smaller loads like mine were the norm. But, I never saw any of those men deliver the goods in someone's ass or mouth. It was always a solo performance that sprayed cream all over their faces and chests."
We set to "work" at our assigned tasks with gusto. Ford made all kinds of piggy noises as he ate our loads out of Matt's hot ass and I did my best to revive Matt's dick. I was having some success, but not enough for a good fuck. It refused to get hard enough for that.
"Maybe you need more inspiration," I said. "Roll on to your back and pull your knees into your chest. Ford can continue munching on your tight hole, while I suck your dick and sit on your face. The taste of your own load may be what you need to get hard again." And it worked, of course. In fact, it worked a little too well. Within a few seconds he was hard as steel, and a few seconds later, he was filling my mouth with another load of dick gravy.
Ford had felt Matt's ass pulse wildly as the young man climaxed. Knowing that Matt was good for a second time around, Ford pushed me away from Matt's dick and sat on it. I didn't move away from sitting on Matt's face, so the "inspiration" held. A couple of minutes later, Ford felt the unmistakable pulsing of a new load jetting up his hungry ass. Matt's cries of pleasure were muffled in my ass as he ate me out hungrily as his climax peaked and slowly receded.
My dick was hard as a rock, so I swapped places with Ford and slid my dick instead of my tongue up Matt's young ass. "Yeah, that's want I need," Matt praised. "I'm gonna be a bottom for the rest of my life!"
"With a dick as big as yours, that's doubtful," Ford countered. "Besides, your dick loves to fuck, as we can attest." I nodded agreement. "But, I think you might find that you're into a three-way when you can find it. And if you go to the sex club, I'm sure you'll find a number of couples who would love to take you on," Ford suggested.
I slowly fucked Matt, knowing that if I increased the pace at all, I'd spray more jizz into him far too soon. Ford had returned to sitting on Ford's face. Without a second thought, he started sucking on Matt's deflating dick again. Matt was on his back once more, servicing both of us. Ford's dick was hard, so I pushed him off Matt's big dick and started sucking on my husband's leaking dick.
"You keep that up and I'll nutt in your mouth," Ford warned me.
"Then, stick it in Matt's mouth while I shoot another load up his ass," I proposed. Within seconds, Ford was pushing his dick as far as he dared into Matt's mouth. He had returned to sucking on Matt's dick while I increased my rhythm again into our young protégé's asshole. "I'm gonna nutt!" I warned too late.
"Me, too!" Ford bellowed. I watched his dick pulse and spray into Matt's sucking maw. Matt's throat worked several times, trying to get all of Ford's discharge into his stomach. For a raw beginner, Matt did a great job of swallowing every drop of Ford's cream. I knew how much Ford shot, so I knew what Matt was taking. My load filling his ass didn't abate for nearly a minute. Watching some other man take Ford's load always produced an extra big load from my heavy balls. Matt's tight ass was hungry and I loved feeding it.
When I pulled out, I immediately began felching Matt's ass. Matt wasn't allowing Ford to pull out of his mouth and insisted that he needed every drop that Ford could dribble after that big climax.
Finally, we separated and lay next to each other. "That's the best initiation anyone could hope for," Matt beamed in the semi-darkness of the bedroom. "I wish I hadn't waited so long."
"We all come out when we're ready and the situation is right for it," Ford opined.
We fucked, felched, rimmed, sucked dick, and slept until 8:00 the next morning. Matt left with a full ass and a full belly. We fed him dick, nutt, and breakfast. He was a very happy man when he departed.
"I wonder what he's going to do about a place to live, if he parents find out what he's been up to," I asked Ford.
"If it comes down to it, we can recommend several men that we know who would give him lodging and dick and ass for as long as he needs it, I'm sure," I replied. "So, what was the message on the communicator?"
"Oh, it said to standby for an important message at ten this morning," Ford responded. "I have no idea what's going on that would require that they knew we'd be available at the right time."
"Maybe it has to do with something that they want to be sure isn't overheard or read by the natives," I ventured. Ford shrugged and let it go. But, I didn't let him go. As he bent over the sink to wash a pan, I pulled his shorts down and knelt behind him. "I need to reclaim this pretty hole."
He bent over farther and wiggled his ass suggestively. "Take it any way you want to, but I'm gonna get a big piece of your manhole, too," Ford smiled over his shoulder. "You haven't shot a load in more than two hours, so I expect a massive load."
I had no way of knowing the volume, but my lengthy climax indicated that it was my usual massive amount. Ford spun me around when I'd finished and took me over the table top. His enormous dick felt huge in my ass as it always did. And his climax was of epic proportions as well. "I love it when we reclaim each other after a hot night with other men," I sighed as he pulled out of my ass and lay beside me. Rather than felch out each other, we agreed to let the sperm stay where it was deeply planted. Our love tunnels would absorb our loads as they usually did. Perhaps later, we'd suck out the last remnants.
However, the hour of the "important" message was approaching. With devices in hand, we waited for the connection. At exactly ten, both devices buzzed. Simultaneously, we connected to the message. "Usual rendezvous point at 10 p.m. local time. Details to follow afterwards." We glanced at each other after we'd read it.
"What the hell does that mean?" I wondered.
"I think we're being met by the shuttle and are going back to the ship orbiting Earth," Ford ventured. "Otherwise, they'd have just sent a message. I wonder what is so important that it has to be a face-to-face contact?"
"I guess we'll find out when we reach the rendezvous point," I shrugged.
We spent the rest of the day observing and noting reactions from the general population as we visited more grocery stores and malls. I wondered if our reports hadn't been detailed enough and we're being called to account for our perceived failure. Ford assured me that we'd have been told long before now if our reports were inadequate. And he didn't think we were being recalled, either. From all of the positive press the encounter with the Alliance was getting, we didn't think that a nefarious plot had been uncovered. By mid-afternoon, we gave up speculating what was going to happen this evening. Whatever happened was going to happen and we were helpless to impact the direction of it.
At the designated hour, we approached an abandoned farm house in the country about 20 miles from town. Ford parked the car behind the building and we exited the vehicle. We looked about, but saw nothing. A moment later, a shuttle materialized slightly in front of us. The cloaking device was working well, I smiled to myself. A door slid open and we were beckoned inside.
"Do you know what this is all about?" Ford asked the pilot and only other being on the craft.
"I'm just the driver," the pilot responded. "You'll be told when we arrive at the ship." We weren't in too much of a hurry as we made at least a dozen other landings, picking up more passengers. Ford asked them what they knew about what was happening; but to a person, they had no more idea of what was going on than we did. Someone finally asked the pilot when we should expect to rendezvous with the ship in orbit. "One more stop and we'll depart for space," he replied.
The last stop was in southern France. We landed in a field just outside of a small village not far from the Atlantic coast. Vineyards and fields of various grains surrounded us. With the last passengers aboard, the pilot headed for space. Within another ten minutes, we were aboard the main vehicle and were being escorted to a conference room near the bridge. There were at least 150 people in the room already. We were told that another group would arrive in a few minutes and then the briefing would begin.
Everyone present glanced at others in the room and all seemed to shrug. No one had a clue what was going on. The last group entered the room ten minutes later, equally perplexed as the rest of us. Most of the people in the room knew each other, but that didn't seem to demonstrate anymore commonality or reasonable ideas as to what this was all about.
The room darkened and everyone took a seat. A hologram of the commanding admiral of the fleet appeared in the front of the room. "You have all been called together for a specific reason. The fleet needs the two ships that are in orbit around this planet. And before you ask, no, there are no threats that require the withdrawal of these two ships. The Alliance has other higher priority exploration needs. This contact with Earth has gone far better than anyone has imagined. Therefore, there is no need to keep our ships here.
"Now, as to why you are here," the image smiled. "We are appointing you as emissaries or ambassadors of the Alliance to 50 of the most populated nations. Messages have already been sent to the governments of those 50 nations. And additional messages have been beamed to the other nations, informing them of what we are doing. They have been told that any time they need to see an emissary of the Alliance that they will be given first priority in getting an appointment with the nearest Alliance representative. We don't anticipate any problems. However, we do expect all of the other nations to test your ability to give them an immediate appointment. Do NOT disappoint them or the Alliance.
"Additional messages have been prepared and will be arriving soon on your communication devices. You will be sent to your respective countries in pairs. Additional personnel will be assigned to your embassy as needed. Any questions that you have should be directed to your supervisor. Good luck!" the admiral concluded. His hologram winked out.
An immediate buzz filled the room, a combination of voices and communicators. Ford and I checked our devices. We were designated emissaries to the United States. We would have a staff of twelve people initially. If there was a need for more, we were to communicate that to our supervisor. We were also told that a report was expected within a month of taking up residence in the nation's capitol. Ford would be designated as the primary representative of the Alliance. I was his deputy. Our condo mates were leaders of our support staff.
"Now what do we do?" I asked Ford.
"Well, let's get our condo mates and talk this out," Ford replied. We corralled them and started with how we were going to accomplish this. Within less than a minute of discussion, all four of our communicators sounded again. Our new supervisor's face appeared on all four devices.
"Gentlemen," he smiled. "Welcome to the diplomatic corps." We acknowledged his greeting, but before we could begin asking questions, he told us to hold all questions until after we'd received addition training on the ship. Meanwhile, the United States government has been notified of your impending arrival. We have obtained a building suitable for your needs and that of your staff. It has been swept for listening devices and has windows that will not transmit sound waves. We have a special issue with Ford's deputy. As he is half alien and half native, he will be known to be a native of Earth. However, the other half of his heritage will be a secret. At this point, the question is, what is a native of Earth doing as a representative of the Alliance?"
"And do you have an answer for that?" I asked.
"Not yet, but we have several ideas," our supervisor replied. "If you have any ideas, please forward them on to me. You are a special case and we don't want to lose your expertise and knowledge of Earth and the Alliance just because of where you were born. So, pay attention to your training. At the end of each day, you will be tested. That will be an opportunity to ask further questions that weren't answered in your training that day."
The training was scheduled for a week. After the first day of instruction, we were given the rest of the day off to connect with other ambassadors and their staffs. Ford pulled our group out for a quick meeting to ask all of them to report their strengths to him by tomorrow, so he'd know what capacity that they could serve in best. I quickly finished my report, telling him that my strengths were getting fucked and bred by his magnificent dick and then turning him around and pounding my baby gravy deep up his ass. As a footnote, I reminded him that I'd live on this planet for many years and knew a lot about it. I should be the person who he went to for information about why people of Earth acted or reacted in some odd manners.
That night in our quarters, he read my message and laughed most of the way through it, because I'd added several salacious sentences about sex with him. "I expect a demonstration of all those positions tonight," he finally said when he looked up at me. "And your point is well taken about when it comes to understanding the people of this planet. I'll take your advice and your dick willingly."
"Well, first thing, Mr. Ambassador is that you get a congratulations fuck," I began. "I was thinking that you should get on your back and pull your legs into your big chest. You know that perfect ass of yours needs to be prepared for a deep ride and seeding." It wasn't like he needed to be told what to do. He loved getting fucked as much as I did. But, I thought we should start off with his new "deputy" showing him how valuable I could be. He was a willing accomplice when he saw how hard my dick was.
With our clothes scattered about the bedroom, Ford was on the bed with his legs pulled into the proper position. My mouth was on his asshole, eating him out and getting him ready for my fat, long dick. There was the faint scent and taste of cum in his ass. What was unusual about that was that rarely did we go more than a couple of hours without breeding each other. With the class taking nearly eight hours, with a short break for lunch, we had had no time to exchange sperm. I was hoping that we could make up for that loss this evening. We'd take a break for dinner, but then would go back to fucking each other far into the night.
Keeping in mind that we had class the following morning, we stopped fucking at midnight and slept in until after seven. That gave us just enough time to shower, don our uniforms, and shovel in some breakfast before the second day of class began. Today we were instructed how to be politicians, blathering platitudes without saying or committing to anything. Our instructor posed several questions that were sure to be asked by the media and by the leaders of each country and how we should respond to them. Even the staff people had to have ready answers to questions. They, too, would be interviewed and asked their views on the topics of the day and what position the Alliance had on those areas of interest. For the most part, responses from the staff should be "no comment" or "ask the Ambassador". As a last resort, "the Alliance has no position on that issue" is the ultimate fallback position.
The staff had one more day of training and then they would be sent down to the embassy to see to last minute details, including furniture, kitchen appliances and fittings, and office supplies. Two of the staff members were excellent cooks, so they were designated our embassy chefs. Others had a great deal of experience dealing with correspondence and appointment schedules. However, it was still the Ambassador's responsibility to set parameters for who got in to see the Ambassador and who would be shuffled off to others on the embassy staff.
The remaining four days of our training was specifically designed for the Ambassadors and their deputies. I won't bore you with the details, because the details are boring. The Alliance had already set the rules for our embassies and protections for the embassy staff. All the countries had agreed to the Alliance requests, knowing that to deny any request would lose the embassy to another, smaller country. The prestige of having Alliance representatives living in your country was a major political and environmental coup. Being the largest countries by population required that the most intensive environmental remediation start there.
But, with North Korea as the 49th most populous country, there was an obvious problem. As they were a closed society and wanted nothing to do with outsiders of any kind, they were skipped over and Taiwan moved into the top 50. That was a problem for mainland China, but the Alliance made it abundantly clear that they didn't care about the petty politics of the Earth. The rest of the world generally recognized Taiwan as an independent country and would be accorded an embassy. If mainland China chose to be pig-headed about the decision, the Alliance was more than willing to delete them from the new embassy list. Of course, China blustered and postured, but the Alliance held firm. Mainland China caved. End of discussion.
We were picked up by the embassy limousine and taken to the embassy compound first. The car that we'd left at the rendezvous point earlier in the week had been returned to our condo. After an hour of sorting out last minute details, we flew to Washington, D.C. where a motorcade took us to the State Department with all our staff escorted by the D. C. Police. After presenting our credentials as the Ambassador and deputy, we introduced our staff. They were immediately added to the "diplomatic immunity" list the State Department kept. The Secretary of State suggested that the President would like to meet with us at our earliest convenience. Ford had anticipated that and stated that we were available this afternoon, if the President was. After conferring with the President's appointment secretary, our meeting was scheduled for 1:30 that afternoon. No specific length of appointment was mentioned, but we knew the President was a very busy woman, so we would take up little of her time. This would be more of a "meet and greet" event than an involved, diplomatic discussion.
Back at the embassy, the phones were ringing constantly. Everyone seemed to want an appointment to interview us for print media as well as television and the internet. Members of Congress wanted to meet with us as well. But, first on our list after we met with the President was to meet with the Ambassador from Chile. They were below the top 50 countries cut-off line. Small countries in the Caribbean and several Central and South American countries had also lodged requests for appointments. Ford directed that the Ambassadors from those countries should seek an audience with Alliance ambassadors that were stationed in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, or Venezuela. If the distance was shorter for them to fly to Washington, D.C., then Ford would be happy to see them. Otherwise, please see the designated ambassador in the aforementioned countries.
One of our condo-mates who was now on the embassy staff caught my eye. Something was in need of attention that Ford or I needed to deal with. "As you know," he began, "both of you had careers here before you joined the Alliance officially. The clothing manufacturers that you modeled for are rushing out heavy numbers of their old catalogues with you and Ford featured. Be ready to answer questions about that." I nodded my understanding and moved off to alert Ford that what we'd discussed during our training on the orbiting ship was about to overtake us. He smiled an acknowledgement. We were ready for it.
"And that will be followed by the tabloids featuring our activities at the local sex clubs," I pointed out. "As far as I know, there will be no pictures to go with that." Ford nodded to that as well. That had also been discussed during our ambassadorial training. "And the nature of our relationship will soon follow," I added.
"Our cover story, such as it is, is already in place," Ford responded. "As it is very close to the truth, I'm not seeing a problem."
"Other than the religious bigots, I agree with you. However, they are generally shooting themselves in the foot daily with their ridiculous claims about the Alliance neither existing nor speaking to the inhabitants of this planet," I pointed out.
"And we will show that the other 49 embassies across the planet are staffed with other combinations of sexual partners, most of which are male and female. I'm sure that won't stop the bigots, but it will give others a clear idea of sexuality in the Alliance generally," Ford responded. "And the variety of sexual couplings will blow them away," he laughed.
"Yeah. Initially, I was taken aback by what I saw, but it quickly passed. There is nothing special about how residents of Earth get it on. In fact, they are in the minority. To each, his own I say."
Our appointment with the President was cordial and filled with questions. We wore suits, rather than our uniforms. We knew the latter would be too militaristic and would fan the flames of the crazies who were sure that we were here to wipe out the inhabitants of Earth and take it over. The President had three of her top aides with her, but they took notes and kept quiet. After the usual pleasantries that we expected, she got right to the point of what we were facing. "You bring us many solutions to our environmental and global confrontation issues. And we are very grateful for that. But, you must be aware that there are many questions about the Alliance that haven't been asked and answered yet. Most especially, your, uh, relationship. In the past, this might have been a problem. However, in these slightly more enlightened times and with the marginalized religious groups imploding, we hope there will be only minor hand-wringing. I'm led to believe that you, Michael, are a native of this planet and that Ford is from, uh, elsewhere." We smiled at the diplomacy apparent in her characterization. "Your relationship is as husband and husband?" We nodded. "And that is common?"
"That would depend on the planet and species," Ford dodged. "As we were discussing before we arrived, heterosexuality as you understand and practice it is in the minority across the cosmos. Monogamy is in the minority as well. Some spacefaring beings and their cultures have evolved to apply different standards and mores when on other planets, but not their home planets. To you, I'm sure it is a curious mixed bag."
She seemed at a loss for words. "I had no idea," she mused. "I suppose our views seem quaint, outdated, and ridiculous to you."
"Not at all," Ford responded with a smile. "We appreciate and celebrate each culture's special additions to the Alliance. We judge no one based on how other planets and cultures conduct their private affairs. We hope that your planet will soon be able to join the Alliance as full members."
"Well said," she replied with a smile. "Now, I'm sure you have a full calendar with legions of people wanting to speak with you. Please feel free to use the offices of the Secretary of State with any problems you may encounter. I've asked them to give you every courtesy and extend to you the protection of the United States. If it is agreeable to you, we will station members of the Diplomatic Protection Corps around your embassy to keep away the crazies and the gate-crashers. Should that prove to be intrusive or insufficient, please let the Secretary know immediately. And Mr. Ambassador," she said rising, "We are honored and pleased to have you representing the Alliance in our Capitol." She extended her hand and Ford took it and kissed the back of it. He's such a gentleman when he puts his mind to it. She turned to me and bid me "good afternoon" with an extended hand, too. I repeated Ford's hand kiss. "Such delightful representatives of your group," she beamed.
Back at the embassy, I checked Ford's calendar. There were no appointments with foreign ambassadors as they'd all been asked to get appointments with embassies closer to them. But, there were still requests coming in from the media. And a number of congratulatory messages from our friends back in California. One that stood out though was one from our father. He was effusive in his praise and wished us the best of luck. He also asked how long we'd be away. I passed the message on to Ford and he shrugged his shoulders. "That's not something that was discussed at any of our briefings. I suppose we could ask, but the answer will probably not be an answer," he sighed. "But, go ahead and send the request. The ship will leave orbit tonight. As you are aware, we do have communications devices that will broadcast to a booster stationed on the moon. That station will then forward the message to the Alliance Central Command. Did you hear anyone say when that station on the moon would be operational?"
"I spoke with one of the command staff just before we left. She said that the booster was already in place," I replied. I left a note for one of our staff to ask the question about how long we'd be here. The message was immediately responded to: "No idea."
Meanwhile, Ford had been conferring with his scheduler. "Send messages to the major news networks and ask them to send one pool representative to conduct an interview. I'd prefer that it happen as my last appointment this afternoon. Mike should join me," he said. "If they can't agree on one person, the individual networks will have to wait at least three months. That should light a fire under them."
Additional invitations to parties, diplomatic receptions, and political groups were politely declined. However, requests for assistance on environmental and health issues were welcomed and passed along to embassy staff with expertise in those areas. And requests for appointments from members of Congress were referred to the State Department. We didn't want to favor one political party or faction over any other. Requesting guidance from our host country seemed to be the correct, diplomatic position. But, there was one invitation to a State Dinner hosted by the President which we accepted. I made sure that our calendar was open next Wednesday for the entire evening.
Two hours later, the networks had agreed that the only reasonable choice was PBS. All other networks were viewed as having liberal or conservative biases by the others. The interviewer and three technicians entered the embassy conference room at 4:00 p.m. It took them about 30 minutes to set up the equipment and test the linkage to their studios. With prepared questions from the other networks in addition to her own, the interviewer sat in a comfortable chair angled in a conversational setting next to Ford. The flag of the Alliance hung in the background. The names of all of the members of the Alliance were already known to the Earth dwellers from previous communications and videos about Alliance history. The broadcast was live and carried by all the news and network channels.
"Mr. Ambassador," she began, "thank you for taking the time to speak to us on such short notice. I'm sure you have a very busy schedule as this is your first day on Earth. Well, that's not exactly true, is it?"
"As Ambassador, this is my first day. However, I have spent several years observing Earth society and customs. During those years, I met my husband and now deputy," Ford smiled, heading off an obvious question that would surely be asked.
"About that," she started, "he was born on Earth and you met when he was in his late teens. Is that right?" Ford nodded. "And you married or whatever the custom is within the Alliance later?"
"Yes, that ceremony happened more than ten of your years ago," Ford smiled again.
"So, there is homosexuality in the Alliance?"
"In the Alliance, sexuality is expressed in many forms. As I told your President earlier this afternoon, heterosexuality, homosexuality, and monogamy are all minorities in the Alliance, and none are judged as either better or worse than any other form that sexuality takes. Sexual conduct is a private matter that is not discussed in public. It is no one else's business what you do, how you do it, or with whom you do it. Within each culture, that may differ. But, as a matter of policy, the Alliance doesn't care," Ford concluded.
"Does the Alliance not have a moral code?" she pressed.
"The Alliance has a code of conduct that forbids the taking of another one's life, spouse, or children. Slavery is forbidden. Property expropriation without compensation and permission is also forbidden. Exceptions do exist when warfare faces us, but those occasions are rare and must be voted upon by the member representatives of the Alliance. Interference in the cultural growth or direction of another planet and its people are also forbidden. Your views on how people should act are your views. You may not impose them on others. Religious freedom is celebrated, but only to the extent that such views are not forced or coerced on others," Ford added, knowing that would probably send waves of resentment through the proselytizing religions of Earth. But, he knew the Alliance wouldn't budge on the issue of religious tolerance.
"And what about freedom of expression and the press?" she asked.
"I didn't think it was necessary to enumerate all of the laws of the Alliance," he smiled. "But, yes, those are guaranteed, too."
"How long do you think it will take before Earth can be a member of the Alliance?"
"That depends on Earth. You already know what the qualifications for admittance are. When those are met, Earth will be welcomed into full membership."
"On another subject, I'm sure you've had many requests from movie and television studios to assist them in telling the story of the Alliance. They do have a lot of material that the Alliance has furnished, but with artistic license, many will write a screenplay that deviates from what actually occurred. Is that a problem?"
"No," Ford replied. "If they wish our assistance as technical advisors or editors of scripts, we'll be happy to help out. But, we do have a limited staff and can't spend all of our diplomatic efforts in script review and technical expertise. We ask that those who wish to avail themselves of our help to contact us with proposed schedules and themes. We'll do what we can to provide appropriate staffing."
"There are some here who think you are withholding technical advice about energy generation and other scientific advances," she stated. "Are they right?"
"To a degree, yes," Ford responded directly. "If there is a possibility that these advances could be turned to military or harmful purposes, those will continue to be withheld until such time as the Earth is ready for membership. You have a long and savage history on Earth. In that way, you are not unique. Until that savagery is subsumed and you are a cohesive planet, such advances cannot be shared. Would you share atomic technology with the Romans or Egyptians or other conquerors from your history? Of course not! They wouldn't be able to resist the temptation to use it against their defenseless neighbors. Your planet has come a long way since those ancient days, but you still have much to do and learn before you can join the Alliance. You have incredible potential. We hope you rise up to meet it."
"Other people are concerned that you are going to take us over with your superior technology and weapons," the interviewer stated. "Why shouldn't we fear that?"
Ford thought for a moment and then replied. "Yes, we've had millennia of scientific advances and could easily swamp any planet we wanted to take over. But, that isn't our way. Besides, it would be counter-productive. There is a spirit in all beings that yearn to be free, to make their own way, to chart their own future. Taking over a planet never works in the long-run. Empires have come and gone across the galaxy. The only ones that survived are the ones that allowed all their people to make their own choices. Those that didn't understand that were summarily overthrown by those that they tried to control. It never works out to take over a planet, even if that planet is rich in resources that you think you desperately need. It is much simpler to bargain with those inhabitants for resources. To take them always leads to disaster."
"You have designated embassies in the 50 most populous countries. North Korea was number 49 on the list, yet you don't have an embassy there. Why is that?" she asked.
"They didn't want us. We will not press ourselves on anyone. Consequently, as Taiwan was number 51 on the list, they gained an embassy. At some point, the people of North Korea will want to join the rest of humanity. It may not be in your lifetime, but these things always have a way of working out," Ford smiled.
"You have made some people very unhappy with your alternative energy sources. Specifically, the petroleum and coal industries are not on friendly terms with you. Is that going to be a problem?"
"That's up to the residents of the planet. If they wish to continue to pollute the air, raise global temperatures, change the climate in catastrophic ways, they are welcome to do it. It is their planet. But, I can tell you from the experience of other planets that dependence on fossil fuels won't end well. Eventually, the planet reacts, seeking balance. And that balance comes at a heavy price. Plants, animals, and sentient beings experience a massive die off because of dramatic weather changes. Starvation and wars erupt. Fewer than 10% survive and they are reduced to a subsistence living, similar to pre-agrarian societies. In effect, they have to start all over again," Ford cautioned.
"And you have told us that we are in danger of over-population. What should we do about it without impacting the people who wish more children for religious or cultural reasons?" she pressed.
"Again, you have choices to make. Continuing on in your current manner is a sure recipe for starvation and wars. There is only so much arable space on this planet and only so much food can yield from that. Already, you have pockets of substandard diets that lead to debilitating diseases. That's only the beginning."
"Are you suggesting that people be sterilized to curtail population growth?" she challenged.
"I'm not suggesting anything, other than you have choices that you need to make. The outcome of your current population trajectory is unsustainable."
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