Counsel

When they came to our solar system, large numbers of people panicked.  There was rioting in the streets, looting of stores, and all the problems that the governments of the world predicted would happen if aliens were suddenly revealed to us.  But then we all sort of got used to them.  There were speculations of course about their reasons for being here, and sometimes the debates got very heated.  The religious proclaimed them as either angels or demons, Christians especially heralded them as one of the last trumpets of the archangels before the second coming of Christ.  The more secular just wondered what purpose these ambassadors from the galaxy might have.  Was it invasion, colonization, or an invitation to join them?

We waited for them to do something.  

The United Nations met in general assembly to consider our actions. How do we communicate with them?  It was generally agreed that we probably could not defend ourselves from them; their technology must be far advanced to ours.  We debated.

And we waited for them to do something.

They finally came.  They appeared in a column of light in the middle of the general assembly.  It frightened everyone there, of course.  UN security forces raced into the chamber with weapons trained on the extraterrestrial intruders.  There were three very different beings standing motionless inside that column of light for all the nations’ delegates to see.  Some of our ambassadors tried to escape before death rays were unleashed.  But there were no death rays.  The Secretary General called for order and calm, and he ordered the security forces to lower their weapons.

The three were obviously different species, and probably from different planets.  One was reptilian or perhaps avian, one was arthropod-like, maybe insect.  And the third was approximately humanoid.  From them came a voice, we never could tell who was speaking.

“We greet you, leaders of Planet Earth.”  The assembly broke into an amazed murmur of questions and surprise, everyone heard the greeting in their own language.

“We regret any concern we may have caused you.  We needed time to learn your languages.”

The Secretary General replied through his microphone and his translators, “We, the people of Earth welcome you.”

“We thank you for your welcome.” answered the three aliens with their one voice, “Please have no concerns.  We come in peace, and will do no harm.  We bring you greetings from a great society of beings from many planets.  We wish to communicate with you.  Would this be acceptable to you?”

And this began Earth’s communication with aliens.  It was not all wonderful and beautiful.  The aliens stood patiently as we quarreled over who should communicate.  Every nation great and small wanted access to the visitors.  The aliens accommodated everyone.  They seemed to be able to be in more than one place at a time.  Some to the rogue nations demanded advanced weapons to dominate the world.  The aliens respectfully and diplomatically declined.  In fact, they did not offer any advanced technologies to us at all.

“We have strict prohibitions to interfering with the technological development of emerging cultures,” they explained, “You have done very well on your own.  We trust that you can continue to progress.”

After months of state visits and tours of Earth, we got a bit impatient.  Finally, one head of state asked the aliens bluntly, “Why are you here?  What do you want?”

The three responded immediately.

“It appears that you are going through a difficult stage of development.  We all went through similar difficulties, nearly destroying ourselves and our worlds.  We wished that we had mentors to guide us through the problems we created for ourselves.  We are here for you if you need someone to communicate with.  We are here for you.”

And we all waited for them to do something.