Illegal Alien

Tony no longer used Hask’s voice; once that had been explained to him, he asked for a sample of a new voice so that he could adopt it as his own.

Frank had mulled it over, then sent an aide to Blockbuster Video to rent To Kill a Mockingbird; Tony now spoke with the voice of Gregory Peck’s Atticus Finch.

"People of the Earth," said Tony. "My government sends its greetings. We are pleased that the Tosok plan has been averted, and that you are safe. But other worlds have not been so fortunate. We have found three that have been wiped clean by the Tosoks, and two continents on my own home world were rendered uninhabitable during our conflict with them. You have a grievance, no doubt, against the Tosoks who came here — but I hope you realize that they in fact have done nothing against Earth beyond the killing of a handful of individuals. In concert with races from two other worlds that the Tosoks had threatened, my people are planning to try the few surviving Tosoks for genocide and attempted genocide — including the five surviving ones here on Earth who were involved in the plot. We invite you to participate in this undertaking if you wish, or to leave it to us. But we do now formally request the extradition of the Tosoks known as Rendo, Torbat, Dodnaskak, Stant, and Ged. We assure you, they will pay for their crimes.

"I stand here, in your United Nations, whose brief, and — I hope you will forgive me for saying — troubled history has been explained to me. The UN, with whatever problems it has, represents an ideal — an abstraction made concrete, a belief that by all working together, peace can be assured. It hasn’t always worked, and it may not always work in the future, but the ideal — the promise, the hope, the concept — is one that my people share, as do those of the other two inhabited worlds I mentioned.

"Our three worlds have already begun creating a — well, let me translate it in a parallel way — a United Planets, an organization representing all of our interests, designed to ensure that never again will war rage between the stars.

"Your planet is, frankly, primitive compared to the existing members of the United Planets. But I see here that the United Nations has long been involved in upgrading the standards of its less affluent, and less developed, members. This, too, is an ideal shared by the United Planets, and I stand before you all, as representatives both individually of your nations and collectively of your world, to invite Earth to join us." Tony paused, looking out at the faces of humans black and white and yellow and red. "My friends," he said, "we offer you the stars."

EPILOGUE

The next time he was in L.A., Frank Nobilio stopped by the offices of Rice and Associates to say hello. To his astonishment, he found Dale Rice in the process of packing up his diplomas, books, and framed jigsaw puzzles.

"What are you doing?" said Frank. "They can’t fire you; you’re the boss."

"I’m leaving," said Dale. "I’m finished."

"Mr. Rice exits a winner," said Frank, nodding. "Are you going to that Georgia cabin you’d always talked about?"

"Not Georgia," said Dale. "And I’m not retiring. Seventy-two is young, son."

"Then what?"

Dale pointed a finger upward.

"You’re becoming a judge?"

He laughed. "No. I’m going up."

"Up?" And then realization dawned. "You’re going with the Twirlers?"

"Yes."

"But why?"

Dale shrugged. "Maybe some of your idealism has rubbed off on me. Or if not yours, maybe some of Atticus Finch’s. Maybe, down deep, even after all these years, I do believe in the ideals of justice. And that means, whether they’re guilty or innocent, that the Tosoks deserve the best damned defense they can get."

Frank’s mouth dropped open. "My God — you’re going to defend the Tosoks!"

Dale smiled. "I went by the Tosok section of the L.A. County Jail yesterday and spoke with Dodnaskak, who has succeeded Kelkad as their captain. She’s pleased to have me as lead counsel. So, yes, the Twirlers are going to take me with them when they return home."

"Incredible," said Frank. "But good luck. I have a feeling you’re going to need it."

There was quiet between them for a time. "You know, the trials are going to be like Nuremberg," said Dale. "There’ll be judges from each of the worlds the Tosoks threatened, but Tony says the judges don’t have to be legal types; after all, there are widely different judicial concepts among the various races. Maybe you should put your name in for being one of the Earth judges."

Frank’s eyebrows went up. "Me? No, no — not me. It wouldn’t be right. I’ve already made up my mind what the verdict should be."

Dale looked at him. "You darned idealist, you. You’d let them off."

Frank just smiled.