Six Scifi Stories Volume Three

Star s*x-3

The next day started out hopefully.

Team Earth set up early in the Worlds' Fair hall and attacked their mission with fresh enthusiasm. Strayhorn and Blakey manned the booth while Dinah and Mahalia traversed the crowd, using big smiles and chocolate from the Diogenes' stores to try to lure visitors.

The four teammates attacked the day as if it were their first at the Fair. Every one of them dug in with new energy and intensity, casting aside the pessimism of the previous day. Even Blakey gave it his all.

And they tried everything. Every line of bullshit they could imagine.

"Come one, come all!" said Dinah as she worked the crowd--wondering as she did so if any of the aliens understood a word she said. "Come see the vacation paradise of Earth!" Naturally, she left out the part about Earth being a global warming hellhole. (Though it could be a paradise to some of the aliens, for all she knew.)

"Follow me!" Mahalia said from the other side of the room. "Spiritual enlightenment awaits you on the holiest planet in the galaxy--Earth!"

"Visit the ancient world where all life began!" said Dinah. "Meet the seers whose visions foretell your future!

"Come to the miracle planet!" said Mahalia. "Heals all wounds, cures all diseases, and grants eternal life!"

"Your fantasies will come to life on Earth!" said Dinah.

"The gambling capital of the galaxy!" said Mahalia.

"Where golf is a way of life!"

"Be king of the world for a day!"

"Find lost treasure!"

"The streets are paved with gold!"

"Whatever you want!" said Dinah. "That's what you'll find on Earth!"

But it was all for nothing.

Throughout the day, only a handful of aliens came close enough to the booth to see the phony presentation whipped up by Strayhorn and Blakey--computer-generated images of a paradise that was nothing at all like the modern, dying Earth. The rest of the crowd was too busy gawking at other displays to take a look. Even the booth next-door, which featured a gray blob oozing green liquid in a silver bowl, attracted more attention.