A Taste of Earth by Justin Tyme

  After two hours without learning any more about the probe, Dipesh and John walked down the hall to refresh their coffee. Irene soon joined them, and gave them details on the latest global developments. It looked grim. All the other impact sites had undergone the irreversible beginnings of massive environmental changes. “As for the cause,” she said, “it’s unique to each location, and nobody has a successful method of containment, yet.”

  “So much for ET being friendly,” Dipesh said.

  John let out a sigh. “You’re jumping to conclusions. Hachiman’s motives could be benign. How do you know it doesn’t view us as we would mice?”

  “You know,” David said with a raised eyebrow, “this thing might not be the only one. We should prepare for an invasion.”

  John grimaced. “Do you really think we have any hope for survival against an alien race as advanced as this?”

  “God help us,” Dipesh said.

  “God?” John chuckled. “Do you think Hachiman’s race believes in your anthropomorphic god?

  “God is creative,” Dipesh said, “and it’s very likely He’s created life elsewhere even if they don’t look or act like us.”

  “Talking about how extraterrestrials might view God,” John said, “is like mice speculating about how dolphins might like pasta.”

  “Not if the basics of communication and relationship are universal.”