Houston, We Have a Problem
Jerry Johnson’s tech company had provided top-tier managed IT services in Houston for years. Jerry knew people, among them the current director of NASA itself. After a careful examination of the truly “alien”— by which Jerry’s mind meant utterly unique— signal, he saved his data, backed it up, encrypted it, made several copies, stored them securely in cloud and non-Internet locations… then called NASA director Charles Bolden. Charles picked up after two rings and Jerry jumped right in, “Charlie, don’t trust these ET flimflam artists. They’re up to something.”
“Jerry Johnson, is that—?”
“Ain’t got time for chit-chat, Charlie. You gotta put up a digital blockade.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about, Jer—”
“Don’t you give me that government double-talk! You’re monitored, I’m monitored, let it come out in court, but we ain’t got time to dilly-dally over details! These ‘space aliens,’ I know you know about ’em. You’ve already run up the flag in Florida, I’m sure. Look, they’re doing a takeover. They’re not benign; I don’t care what they promised!”
“How do you know they promised us anything?”
“How do you know who ‘they’ are if you haven’t been in contact?”
Charlie was silent for several moments. Jerry had him.
Charlie’s Aliens
“Look, Jerry, you provide managed IT services in Houston, you weren’t appointed by the POTUS to protect interests foreign, domestic, and extra-planetary, alright? Why don’t you let the big boys handle this?”
“Big boys my foot! You think you been to space and you know everything?”
“Jerry, we’ve dealt with these… beings… before.”
“Oh, they’re beings now, are they? Is that it? What have they promised you, advanced weapons tech? Some peace or health panacea for mankind the world over? Never trust Russians bearing gifts, Charlie!”
“Jerry, it’s ‘beware of Greeks bearing gifts,’ the Russian thing is a spin-off, and there’s certainly no Russian—”
“And where did the Greek saying come from? The Trojan horse! That’s what this is, Charlie!”
Charles sighed. “Look, Jerry, I know that the managed IT services in Houston you boys over at HoustonTech have been developing for years have helped us at NASA out in ways that are unprecedented. I know your business is top of the line, because:
• You’re in Forbes’ Top Ten Technology World Incubators
• You advance commercialization of emerging tech companies
• You help entrepreneurs and startups change the world
…and so many other ground-breaking things you feel vindicated dialing my private line and telling me not to do what I’m going to do. But these… beings… have requested communication with all IT providers in the country, we’ve got companies lining up for a piece of the pie, and you can be with ’em… or against ’em, Jerry. I think you can’t get more progressive than this—”
“When’s the other shoe drop, Chaz? When’s it time to pay the piper? All government organizations and tech companies lining up doesn’t seem to you, strategically, a bad move? You’re literally making a deal with the Devil and Mephistopheles is gonna come collect! You think you can keep this classified forever? I know what went down at Roswell, Charlie!”
“Jerry, I’m going to ask one more time. You in, or out?”
“Out. And don’t get catty when I say I told you so,” at which point Jerry hung up.