“Look. I live on Earth, or that’s what we call it. I don’t understand why you don’t believe me.”
Captain Hearns looked at the doctor, a pronounced eyebrow already raised. “Have you ever seen a humanoid of this type?”
The doctor was already shaking his head. “Not quite.” With a pop of the wrist, a translucent notebook emerged from the doctor’s arm, but on second thought, he closed it, and looked at the man sitting before him.
“Dave, is your name? Dave, I realize that you believe that your species rapidly evolved on your planet into the hominoid form that you are sporting now, but did you ever consider the possibility that maybe your species was somehow abandoned on the planet that you call Earth? I mean, you have to admit, you don’t quite fit.”
Crossing the examination area to look at Dave from a different angle, the doctor continued. “You described to us the principles of evolution and adaptation, and how animals on Earth might gradually improve their physiology and their chance for survival through the influence of their environment, as I recall.”
Dave nodded with a tired face, but the nod began to quit as the doctor went on; “But look at yourself Dave. Your form should have adapted to survive the planet, according to those same principles that you described, and yet here you sit, in a hairless body-- just like us-- and wouldn’t survive a single night on the very surface your own planet without your thick blankets and warm boots.”
Dave looked down at his boots. With a hiss, Captain Hearns let out a puff of heat, crossing his arms against his chest quickly. “Where are you really from, ‘Dave’?”
The doctor let out a laugh; “No Captain-- he believes what he’s saying about his origins, it’s just that I’ve suddenly presented him with conflicting elements within those beliefs, so take it easy on old Dave here!”
Plopping down playfully on the examination table next to Dave, the doctor smiled broadly. “Dave, listen.”
Dave listened.
“We know you’re an Earthling, we’ve known all along-- Captain Hearns and I, we were just messing with you. Here’s what’s gonna happen Dave. We’re gonna take you home, back to your blankets, and you’re going to forget you ever saw us.”
With a defiant smirk, Dave raised his head up.
The doctor gave out a good laugh and leaned towards the Captain. “He didn’t like that last part did he Cap?”
With a shrug as an answer from the captain, the doctor suddenly stood up and frowned. “No Dave, yeah. We are-- this is a science vessel, archeology and ancient civilizations is our gig. We’ve been trying to figure out Earthlings for a while now, where they came from, how they got here, and just who in the hell they think they are, and all that.”
Blinking into the overhead light briefly, Dave cleared his throat; “Where are you guys from?”
“Ha! I dunno... can I tell him, Captain, where we have traveled from on this fine evening?”
Captain Hearns, brushing a new screen onto the wall, seemed to have lost interest in Dave. “Doesn’t matter, he won’t remember anyway.”
Dave scowled, running a hand across his head.
As he blinked, the doctor inhaled and held his breath, to add suspense to his words when they finally emerged. Dave and Captain Hearns looked at him, waiting.
“We live right down there.”
Pointing to the floor of the ship, the doctor waited for Dave’s comprehension, but Dave’s face suggested no such thing. Captain Hearns glanced over at the doctor’s pointing hand, and with a nod, looked at Dave with a small shrug.
“Dave, we live inside of your planet. We were here first. One day we come out to check on the surface, and here you all are, like squirrels, digging around on the roof.”
With a snicker, captain Hearns shook his head, moving a smaller screen back into the wall.
Finally laughing along, Dave stood up. “Don’t worry about wiping my memory, captain... I’ll have no trouble forgetting you two, and even if I remembered, I don’t believe your twisted stories.”
A doorway appeared in wall next to the captain, and with a gesture, he showed Dave the way. Wasting no time, Dave stomped towards the door. The doctor’s voice followed him out.
“Who said anything about a memory wipe, Dave? And besides, those aren’t my twisted stories, they’re your twisted stories now! See you later!”
