Writer's Cramp Contest: Contact Day

Author's Note:  This is a contest piece; I won't be editing the on-line version. Any feedback or criticism is still appreciated since it will help me in my future writing.  Due to space reasons, I'll probably be removing this from my portfolio soon; but I'll be saving an off-line copy of any reviews.



                                            Contact Day



Shit! 3:00 on a Saturday morning is no time for a phone call.  Of course, if I hadn't been expecting the call, I would have had my phone turned off.  I told the hot little blonde to hit the road; never did get her name.  Then I rolled over and tried to see if I could get at least a little bit of sleep.

As I showered I thought about the upcoming day.  As a lowly assistant to an assistant, I was pretty sure I was only being included in the ambassadorial party to provide a little eye candy.  That's just the way the sexist assholes who ran the State Department would think.  So, I figured full make-up, hair down, and show a little more cleavage and leg than was professional.  At least if I was going to die today, I was going to die looking damn good.

At exactly 6:30 the doorbell rang; my military escort had arrived.  They took me to what the "experts" believed to be the most likely landing spot.  The rest of the party was already there: the Secretary of State and a few other top department officials.  The President was conspicuously absent.

I took my place with them and waited.  As we stood in silence, my mind drifted back over the last few months.  It was hard to believe how everything had changed.

At first it was just a crack-pot rumor; but, eventually anyone with a telescope could verify it was true.  There were literally thousands of alien space ships headed towards Earth.  Scientists at NASA and across the globe tried to make contact, but there was no response from the oncoming armada.

Once their imminent arrival was certain, panic started to break out.  Even the most naive of optimists was at a loss to explain why so many ships would come on a peaceful mission.  While the official position of the US government was to wait and see, this was mainly due to a lack of choice.  We might be able to nuke one hostile ship, but nuking this many ships would render the planet uninhabitable. 

Martial law had been declared shortly after I'd received the call.  This was due to all the militia whackjobs who had sworn to mount a first strike on the aliens.  Other countries were dealing with similar problems.  The tension had driven the entire world insane.  But, now, it looked to be almost over.  After the tension of the last few weeks, even enslavement might actually be a relief.

Once they finally made it into Earth's atmosphere, the ships had scattered.  We were waiting under the one hovering over Washington DC; others hung over cities throughout the globe. Clusters of ships were grouped over large urban areas, but even rural areas had their own spaceship.  My delegation had been put to together weeks ago; I could only imagine the scramble to put together someone to greet the aliens in Podunk, Iowa.

They kept us waiting, but eventually the spaceship started to descend.  A doorway opened in the front of the ship and a ramp extended downward.  What appeared to be a giant silver humanoid robot walked down the ramp, it was followed by a motorized cart carrying a giant crate.

"Greetings People of Earth.  We come in peace."  Yeah, like we hadn't heard that before. "We bear gifts to mark the monumental occasion of your species joining the ranks of the space-faring.  The true human race has finally been born."

It removed the cover of the crate.  Mugs?  The crate was filled with what appeared to be coffee mugs!  I managed to pick one up.  It had a picture of a fully-suited astronaut high-fiving a little green man.  "Happy Birthday Earthling" was printed on it.

The robot seemed to sense our less than thrilled reaction to its gift, but wildly missed the reason. "Don't worry Earthlings."  It pointed back towards the ship.  More carts were coming down the ramp with crates.  "We brought enough for everyone."

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Prompt: Aliens land bringing us a birthday present. (They consider our day of birth to be our first step into space – April 12, 1961.)  It has taken them this long to reach Earth to give us our birthday present.  What is the present they bring?