Dan
Dan had very little patience when it came to human fickle minds. He sat uninterested, barely keeping a yawn in as the new fuel strategist spoke about lowering fuel costs by increasing mining.
"I think investing in subterranean methane mining in the Southern Crater Fields of Jenovaterra would be beneficial. It would be highly beneficial; we could cut down our fuel rates by up to 5%," the man declared with an air of triumph as if he'd just discovered faster-than-light travel.
The man listed out some figures that Dan found amusing. Dan let the man babbler even though all he wanted was to leave the meeting room. The environmentalist sat silently beside him, probably scared of the Chief of Energy Operations, who seemed more interested in laundering his black money than addressing the planet's critical energy needs.
Dan didn't want to be part of this discussion more than he wanted to sleep on a nail bed. The stone-headed humans were hell-bent on destroying this lush Earth-like planet that humanity had colonized after rendering their homeworld uninhabitable.
Dan leaned back on his chair and looked at the holographic display filled with numbers and charts, disinterested. Grosh has outgrown this phase of development millions of years ago. Yet Dan couldn't remember them ever being this stupid. Even when their brains hadn't evolved to their current extent, they knew what happens when you destroy the planet you live on. A successful civilization knows to respect its home. It was a miracle humans hadn't gone extinct by now. Perhaps their astonishingly high reproduction rate had something to do with it, a biological compensation, as if the universe, in its peculiar sense of balance, had given them one redeeming trait to offset their reckless self-destruction.
Grosh didn't usually take an interest in interacting with lower intelligent species, but their oracle, Dan's grandfather, saw something in the future that prompted him to send Dan to rescue these reckless species. And it wasn't the first time this has happened, either. Grosh had rescued Earth time and again.
"What do you have to say, Dan?" the Chief asked, turning toward him.
Unlike most aliens stationed at the Embassy, Dan did not remain a silent observer. He involved himself in New Earth's geopolitical matters with deliberate care, and when he spoke, people listened. His opinion was often treated as the final word, not out of fear, but because experience had taught them that his judgment was sound. His counsel had guided humanity through more than one fragile decision, always toward outcomes that benefited them.
That, after all, was the reason he was here.
Humanity stood at a dangerous threshold. Intergalactic expansion marked a critical phase in any species' evolution, one Dan had seen countless times before. Most intelligent civilizations did not survive it. They collapsed under the weight of their own boastfulness, or burned themselves out through unchecked exploitation. Very few, like the Grosh had learned the value of restraint, of secrecy, of remaining hidden within the vast mesh of the universe rather than announcing their presence too loudly.
Humans were not a threat yet. But one day, if their progress continued unchecked, they could be.
That was why Dan had been unsettled when his grandfather summoned him to Earth. He had not understood the reasoning then, and part of him still didn't. But his grandfather's judgment had shaped Grosh survival across millennia, and Dan trusted it, even when it ran counter to his own instincts. His father, less convinced but loyal all the same, had agreed without protest.
So Dan had come.
And now, as the Chief waited for his answer, Dan wondered, yet again whether humanity would prove itself an exception... or another familiar ending.
Dan sighed as he stood up. These meetings always led to controversies, and nothing riled up these small humans more than stamping on their egos.
"Mr. Krick is absolutely right; the methane reservoirs beneath Jenovaterra hold significant potential. It seems he's done his research this time," Dan said, putting no effort to hide the condescending smile he gave the man. Dan rose from his seat, his towering frame commanding the room as he strode to the front, his gaze sweeping over the gathered officials.
"But what he conveniently failed to mention," Dan continued, "is the catastrophic consequences of tapping into those reserves. Jenovaterra's southern region is already geologically unstable, and extracting methane at that scale will only exacerbate the problem. Fractures in the crust could trigger surface collapses and atmospheric contamination, further destabilizing the delicate balance you've barely managed to maintain on this planet.
"Not to mention," he added, his eyes narrowing, "methane leaks into the atmosphere are a far worse pollutant than anything you're currently dealing with. In your desperation to hoard energy, you're risking another environmental collapse, on a planet you haven't even fully colonized yet. Grosh learned millions of years ago to respect the ecosystems that sustain us. You, however, seem determined to repeat every mistake you made on Earth."
Dan's voice dropped into a low growl as he concluded, "This is my opinion as an advanced species. The rest is up to you. Perhaps you'll choose survival this time, though I doubt it."
Dan left the conference without waiting to hear their final decision. He didn't care if they chose to destroy their planet with their stupidity. His term was almost up. The next ambassador would take his place in a few years, and he would go back to his comfortable life at Grosh. He was a high-grade officer in his world. A member of the royal family. He was going to be the leader, but his hereditary status wasn't the reason he was given the position of leader. He had claimed the position with his merit; his father was never too fond of him. And perhaps that was why he had send him to Earth so he could sway people's political opinion in his absence. He didn't though, he knew Grosh were smart, they knew what was good for them, and his father was not it.
His arrival had been a saving grace for the humans. His arrival prevented a nuclear war and unsustainable development that could lead to human extinction. Humans were so disconnected from nature that they refused their own biological call. Same-sex relationships were frowned upon in their culture even though it came naturally to them. Grosh embraced that part early on in their evolution, so their biology changed to mate with any gender their inner soul connnected with.
Dan ran his fingers through his hair, moving his head from side to side, cracking a few bones. The higher gravity of Earth wasn't good for him.
Not to mention, he was hungry; he was always hungry. The food on Earth was less carolie dense and had fewer nutrients as well. NEAE spent a lot of money on developing alien food and keeping the alien ambassadors happy, but for Dan, there was nothing better than home. He didn't know what the other aliens felt, not that he would want to have a heart-to-heart with them. Intelligent alien species avoided socialising with intelligent species. And the aliens on NEAE wasn't capable of higher intelligence. Moreover, they didn't Dan. No liked him and the feeling was mutual.
He was respectable, but he didn't like to take bullshit from others, especially not egoistic human males; females were still tolerable. More than tolerable, actually. He preferred males on his home planet...but he couldn't stand them on Earth. He preferred the company of female humans more than male. He hadn't met a single human male who caught his attention.
The Grosh way of making love was much different than humans. But he had learned the human way of making love. And he did it like they preferred it. He didn't want to scare the humans more than they already were scared of him.
Dan's communication device buzzed, Ira's name flashing across the screen. She was one of the few humans who didn't crumble under the weight of his presence. Unlike most of her kind, Ira had a spine, a rare quality Dan found both irritating and refreshing. Dan appreciated her bluntness.
There were no hidden agendas, no calculated smiles to unravel. Ira spoke her mind, sharp and unfiltered, cutting through the tiresome layers of human pretense. Most humans were masterful actors, their true intentions buried beneath practiced facades. It was exhausting to constantly sift through lies and half-truths. But Ira was different. Her candor made her easy to decipher, and that, in turn, made her easy to deal with.
Ira's curt voice blared through Dan's communicator. "You need to have a formal introduction with the new intern. Come to my office."
Dan glanced at the holographic clock hovering before him. "I have a meeting with the New Earth Secretary in an hour. I can't," he replied flatly.
"Bullshit," Ira shot back immediately. "This won't take more than ten minutes, and you've been avoiding it since he arrived. You're not too busy; you're just being difficult."
"I have priorities, Ira," Dan said, rolling his eyes. "And introducing myself to an intern isn't one of them."
"You're impossible," Ira hissed. "The kid is terrified of you, Dan. Maybe if you acted like you gave a damn for five minutes, he'd stop thinking you're going to vaporize him."
"I don't care what he thinks," Dan replied. "He's here to assist, not to be coddled. If he can't handle it, he's in the wrong place."
There was a moment of silence, but Dan could sense Ira's fury brewing on the other end.
"You know, for someone who's supposed to be an advanced species, you can be a real ass," she snapped finally. "This isn't about you. It's about being professional."
"The discussion is over, Ira," Dan said firmly, cutting through her tirade.
Just before the line went dead, he heard her mutter, "Bastard."
Dan smirked, shaking his head as he leaned forward, silencing the communicator. Ira might be infuriating, but he had to admire her persistence.
He had more pressing matters to attend to than dealing with yet another intern. Every year, NEAE hired a bunch of those clueless fools. Most of them were bumbling, untalented incompetents who barely made it through the door. Dan loathed it. The last thing he wanted was to waste his time with one of them.