Two weeks later, indeed, on the planet Isis, Olwen, the spirit of Isis, looked around her. She loved to sun at the top of the mesa. It was so lovely up here. She looked around her at the red and purple mountains to the north, east and west. To the south was a valley.
Suddenly, as she looked up at the sky, she noticed that something was coming down. Oh, dear, she thought. She got up, and ran towards the southern edge of the cliff. It was a big, black thing. She had not seen anything like it before, and the noise it made was unbearable. She couldn't believe it. All the animals fled, as it descended. What could it be?
Suddenly, it stopped, right in the middle of the valley. Olwen looked down, fascinated, as a door opened, and out stepped what looked to her as the most unbelievable of creatures. At least they didn't look like any creature she had ever seen here on Isis. They were looked pink and soft, at least most of them did.
There are so many of them, thought Olwen. What do they want? Where did they come from? The creatures looked around them, at the valley, and the mountains. They weren't like the rest of the creatures here, because even from this height, she could see and hear that they talked. Maybe that way, I can find out what they want. And what they're doing here on my planet, she thought.
All of the settlers looked around them at the mountains, and the valley. They had to stay in the valley because of the low oxygen content, and the ultraviolet. They began to set up houses, and cutting the trees and grasses in the valley.
What are they doing?thought Olwen furiously. What do they think they're doing? My valley, my planet! They can't change it. It's perfect just how it is. How dare those strange beings come out of nowhere, to destroy her very own planet.
Olwen left her mesa, and climbed down the side of the cliff, and reached the valley.
"What are you doing?"she asked furiously. "Who are you? What do you want? Where did you come from?"
The settlers were shocked at what they saw. They knew that on this planet there were only animals, that the game was plentiful, and that there were no beings with near-human intelligence. And here, before them stood an alien.
"We didn't know there were aliens on this planet."said one of the settlers.
"Aliens?! This is my planet. What do you want? Why are you cutting down these trees? This is my valley. My planet. Why are you changing it?"
The captain stepped forward.
"We mean no harm."he said.
"No harm? Just look what you are doing! And you mean no harm? Go back to wherever you came from. That's where you belong. Not here. This is my planet."
"We had to leave our other planet."
"Well, you're going to have to leave Isis, too. I don't want you here."
"Our planet is overcrowded, worked out and damage. We need to start someplace new. Perhaps you could help us. We didn't think there were aliens on this planet."
"I don't care what happened to your planet. What planet was that, by the way?"
"Earth."
"Earth? I don't know about anything changing on Earth, and I don't care. However, you can't change this valley. Leave it the way it is, if you want to stay."
"We can't do that. We need to have houses."
"Why not live in a cave?"
"Caves?! Good heavens, no! We can't live in caves."
"They are good enough for all the other creatures. Why not you, too?"
"We are not like the other creatures."
"I am beginning to see that."she said angrily, eyeing all the settlers and looking at the places where the grasses had been cut.
"We need to live in houses."
Olwen sighed.
"Why couldn't you have stayed on your planet? Well, I guess you could build the houses, you already cut down the grasses and a few trees, but no more. You will only build the houses. Just that. After that you build nothing else, do you understand?"
"Yes. And now that you are here, if we were to need your expertise, where can we get a hold of you?"
"On the mesa. I live halfway up the mesa, or sometimes on the top."
"The mesa? But the ultraviolet...and the oxygen."
"Why should that bother me?"
"Oh, well, we shall see each other again?"
"Maybe."said Olwen, and she walked away towards the mesa.
Back on Earth, everyone knew that the settlement had been successful.
"They got that far. I guess you could say that's something."Arthur was telling them.
"Wow. I didn't know you had so many connections."said Wheeler. "You find out about these things pretty quickly."
Arthur sighed.
"Hard not to. It was on all the news channels, and newspapers, Wheeler."
"Wouldn't it have been better if the ship had just been meteor struck, or something?"asked Ma.Xiomara.
"Guys, please."Arthur said. "We just have to see what kind of things are going to happen. I don't think they will be good, though. I've got a very bad feeling about all this, you know."
"I guess our mission is over, Gaia."said Kwami sadly. "There's no hope left."
"Don't say that, Kwami."said Mati.
"It's true."Kwami told him.
"Yes, sad but true."Arthur repeated.
"Everybody should've just forgotten about trying to make people open their eyes, and just taught them a good lesson."Ma.Xochilt said. "People will never open their eyes, not even now. They will simply go somewhere else, and see what damage they can do."
Her sisters and Sissy agreed.
"Maybe we can still do something about the people who are still here."said Mati.
"What can we do, Mati? Look, recycling won't do much, because, well, people don't recycle, anyway, and as for energy conservation, please, I have an aunt who just loves to keep the lights on, because she knows that will make us mad, and an she says we shouldn't be wasting our time worrying about stupid things like that. Ha. But of course, what else can you expect from a human."
"The only problem with you, is that you're too negative."Mati said angrily.
"Negative? No, of course not, we are just being realistic. If people haven't changed by now, they probably never will. We've tried everything we can think of. Have we not?"
"Well, yes, but maybe we didn't think of everything."
"Maybe Mati is right."said Arthur. "You know, I've been thinking lately, and I just came up with something. You see, we should get more people to start becoming planeteers, by having them join the Planeteers."
"What are you talking about?"asked Linka.
"It's really very simple. I was thinking we should start something like a Planeteer Association, or club, or something. Look, it's simple. My cousins, over here, have always said people don't care about anything but money, right? That's where I got the idea. You see, what if we paid people to recycle, and conserve energy? They sign up, and well, we could pay them to sign up, and when they do, you see, there are different areas. I've sorted it all out by your rings.
Kwami will be in charge of the first branch, which will be planting trees. This one is, like, if you join it, you must plant trees, and take care of them, and the person who plants the most trees will win a prize.
Wheeler, in charge of recycling. People will separate the organic and inorganic wastes in their homes, and instead of the city trash trucks picking it up. Every week, we will have a special truck, to pick it up, and of course, people who will see how much you've collected, and the person to do the best will win a prize.
Linka, in charge, energy conservation. You will keep track of people's electric bills, and so forth. And well, I'm kind of stuck on this one. I think we ought to have two prize winners for this. One, the one that has used the least energy, and two, the one that has made the most progress, in changing their energy consumption. And of course, we will also encourage people to use solar power, but more about that later, one step at a time.
Gi, the same, only with water, instead of electricity. And finally, Mati, you should be in charge of endangered animal products. Teaching people not to support the poachers.
At the end of the quarter, it will be in quarters, I think, the branch that has made the most progress will get a prize for its members. I thought we should start everything with a big fair. That way , it will attract more people."
"Arthur, that is a great idea!"cried Mati.
"Well, I just thought it would be neat."he said.
"We should get started right away!"said Kwami.
"Well, first, of course, will be...recruiting, or should I say hiring people. Luckily, money isn't a problem for us, since we will be non-profit, and a lot of my relatives will be happy to help us."
"Everybody to the GeoCruiser."
And they began making plans all the way to Arthur's house, where the preparations would begin.