"George Alec Effinger - The Aliens Who Knew, I Mean, Everything" - читать интересную книгу автора (Effinger George Alec)

imperialist fascist regime in Liechtenstein or the spontaneous depletion of all the
world's selenium.

"Just a second, Mr. President," said the secretary. I could hear him muttering to
someone else. I held the phone and stared out the window. There were crowds of
people running around hysterically out there. Probably because of the aliens. "Mr.
President?" came the voice of the secretary of defense. "I have one of the aliens
here, and he suggests that we use the same plan that President Eisenhower used."

I closed my eyes and sighed. I hated it when they said stuff like that. I wanted
information, and they told me these things knowing that I would have to ask four
or five more questions just to understand the answer to the first one. "You have an
alien with you?" I said in a pleasant enough voice.

"Yes, sir. They prefer not to be called 'aliens.' He tells me he's a 'nuhp.' "

"Thank you, Luis. Tell me, why do you have an al- Why do you have a nuhp
and I don't."

Luis muttered the question to his nuhp. "He says it's because they wanted to go
through proper channels. They learned about all that from President Eisenhower."

"Very good, Luis." This was going to take all day, I could see that; and I had a
photo session with Mick Jagger's granddaughter. "My second question, Luis, is
what the hell does he mean by 'the same plan that President Eisenhower used'?"

Another muffled consultation. "He says that this isn't the first time that the
nuhp have landed on Earth. A scout ship with two nuhp aboard landed at Edwards
Air Force Base in 1954. The two nuhp met with President Eisenhower. It was
apparently a very cordial occasion, and President Eisenhower impressed the nuhp
as a warm and sincere old gentleman. They've been planning to return to Earth
ever since, but they've been very busy, what with one thing and another. President
Eisenhower requested that the nuhp not reveal themselves to the people of Earth in
general, until our government decided how to control the inevitable hysteria. My
guess is that the government never got around to that, and when the nuhp
departed, the matter was studied and then shelved. As the years passed, few people
were even aware that the first meeting ever occurred. The nuhp have returned now
in great numbers, expecting that we'd have prepared the populace by now. It's not
their fault that we haven't. They just sort of took it for granted that they'd be
welcome."

"Uh-huh," I said. That was my usual utterance when I didn't know what the hell
else to say. "Assure them that they are, indeed, welcome. I don't suppose the study
they did during the Eisenhower administration was ever completed. I don't
suppose there really is a plan to break the news to the public."

"Unfortunately, Mr. President, that seems to be the case."

"Uh-huh." That's Republicans for you, I thought. "Ask your nuhp something for
me, Luis. Ask him if he knows what they told Eisenhower. They must be full of