Page 11 - Extraterrestrials, Foreign and Domestic

Mrs. Whittle’s Call to Judgement

“I think so. Please don’t ask me to spell it. Gobleshu spoke English
perfectly well, even if I couldn’t locate his face, but some words just
didn’t make any sense to me. I’m sorry.”
“That’s quite all right.”
The reporter stole a glance at his watch.
“Well, Gobleshu told me about the judgement while we were
traveling. He didn’t want me to be surprised or nervous when we got
there. He said it was just a formality: the Entelekons are very
concerned about maintaining good form. Now, I still wasn’t sure
about what was going on. Maybe I was going to meet my maker—but
I had never considered it a mere formality!”
O’Donnell again felt the need to get his informant back on
track. “I see. Now, what can you tell me about your trip? Did you
land on the moon or any other planets?”
She frowned.
“I’m sorry, sir: I have no idea. It seemed like just a few minutes
passed and then we got out. I had no sensation of motion or a
bumpy landing like in an airplane. We were inside a huge room, like
the Grange barn in Braxville. I heard some strange sound like a
bunch of crickets, and then Gobleshu told me it was time to leave. So
he brought me back to my house. It was all over very quickly, let me
tell you.”
“But—but, what happened?” O’Donnell’s exasperation boiled
over. “You mean they didn’t molest you? Don’t they want you to
give a warning to the people of Earth? Aren’t you going to start a
new religion?”
She stared at him. “Certainly not!”
The harried journalist looked at his notes.
“Surely you have some idea about this experience, Mrs. Whittle. If
not exactly according to the Bible, you did say it had to do with a
judgement.”
“Oh, yes, now I recall. Gobleshu said that the Entelekons had
been weighing our faults against our virtues, and finally found us
wanting. This had taken a long time, but now it was final. They had
to have a representative from Earth to receive the sentence in person,
so they had sent Gobleshu to fetch someone, anyone. Me. That
scared me a little: if it really were the last judgement, then I would be
cast into hell. But that wasn’t what they had in mind.”

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