.

whose jaw had fallen in amazement, managed only to stutter "Hello” before he received an elbow in his right side, right between his tenth and eleventh rib.

      â€œWelcome aboard" she said in rather faltering English. “I expect you’re hungry. I’ve brought you something to eat."

      â€œThank you, that’s very kind," said Elisa angrily, glaring at her man.

      The girl said no more. She placed the tray on a support to their left and her face lit up with a beautiful smile, then a few seconds later, she disappeared once again in the same module she had arrived with.

      "Pretty no?" commented Azakis watching the Colonel.

      â€œPretty? Who? What do you mean?" Jack hastened to respond, mindful of the blow he had just received.

      Azakis burst into a roar of laughter then, with a wave of his hand, he invited them to help themselves.

      â€œWhat on earth is this stuff?" murmured Elisa, while in decidedly inelegant fashion sniffing the various dishes.

      â€œLiver of Nebir," the alien hastened to list, "rib of Hanuk and boiled roots of Hermes, all accompanied by, shall we say, an ‘energy’ drink."

      â€œIt was completely different at the Masgouf restaurant," commented Elisa laconically. “But I'm starving so I think I’ll try something."

      She grabbed a piece of rib with her hands and, without too much trouble, began to gnaw it down to the bone. “This stuff won’t give us an enormous bellyache, will it Zak? You try it as well, my love. The taste is a little strange but it’s not that bad really."

      The Colonel, who was watching Elisa with horror while she devoured all those strange foods on the tray without restraint, just mumbled, "No, no thanks. I’m not hungry.”

      His attention was attracted instead by the strangeness of both the tray and the containers used as plates. He grabbed a bright red one and tested its consistency. It was strange and quite cold. Colder than it should have been and, despite this, the food in it was boiling. He lightly ran the tip of his index finger across its surface. It was incredibly smooth. It didn’t seem to be of either metal or plastic. On the other hand, how could it be plastic? They used it for completely different purposes. The other decidedly bizarre thing was that, despite the perfection of its surface finish, there were absolutely no reflections in it. The light was like swallowed up by that mysterious material. He put his ear close to the smooth surface and, with the knuckle of his middle finger, began to gently tap it. Incredibly, the container did not make any noise. It was as if he were knocking on a big wad of cotton wool.

      â€œBut what are these objects made of?" he asked, greatly intrigued. “And the serving tray? It would appear to be of the same material.”

      Azakis, somewhat surprised by the strange question, also approached the tray. He picked up another vessel, this time pale green in colour, and lifted it up to the level of his eyes.

      â€œIn actual fact, it’s not really a ‘material’.”

      â€œIn what sense? What do you mean?”

      â€œWhat do you use to hold objects, food, liquids or substances in general?"

      â€œWell, we usually use wooden or cardboard boxes to transport materials. To serve food we use metal pans, china plates and glass glasses. To transport or store foods and liquids in general, we use plastic containers in a variety of different shapes."

      â€œPlastic? Are we talking about the plastic we’re interested in?” asked Azakis shocked.

      â€œI believe so,” replied the Colonel softly. "Actually, plastic has become one of our biggest problems with regard to the pollution of our planet. Even you told us you found disproportionate amounts of it everywhere." He paused briefly, then added "That’s why your offer to recover it all appealed to us so much. We may have found the solution to a gigantic problem."

      "So, if I have understood correctly, you use plastic as a container and then throw it away without restraint, polluting every corner of your planet?"

      "Precisely" replied Jack, increasingly embarrassed.

      "But that's madness, it’s absurd. You’re poisoning yourselves with your own hands."

      "Well, if you also consider all the smog caused by our means of locomotion, from our factories and power generation systems we’ve actually managed to do a lot worse. Not to mention the radioactive waste that we still do not know how to dispose of."

      â€œYou're completely crazy! You’re destroying the most beautiful planet in the entire solar system. And, unfortunately, it’s our fault too."

      â€œHow is it your fault?”

      "Well, it was us who changed your DNA, a hundred thousand years or so ago. We gave you superior intelligence to any other beings on Earth and what have you used it for?"

      "To bring the planet to ruin." Jack spoke with his head down, like a student who is being reproached by the teacher for not having done his homework. "But now you're back! I really hope you can give us a hand to fix the damage we've done."

      "I don’t think it’s going to be that easy" said Azakis increasingly upset. "Thanks to Petri’s analysis on the state of your oceans, we’ve seen that the amount of fish in them has been reduced by over eighty percent since the last time we were here. How did that happen?”

      At that point, Jack just wished the floor would swallow him up. "There are no excuses" was all he managed to say almost in a whisper. "We're just a bunch of condescending, arrogant, conceited and silly mindless beings."

      Elisa, who had been listening to Azakis’ tirade in silence, swallowed the last piece of Nebir liver, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, then said quietly "We're not all like that you know?"

      The alien looked at her in surprise, but she went on with decision "It’s those ‘in power’ as they are called who have reduced us to this state. Most normal people fight every day to protect the environment and all forms of life which inhabit our beloved planet. It’s easy to come here from millions of kilometres away, after thousands of years and moralise. You may well have given us our intelligence but you didn’t leave us even a shred of an instruction manual on how to use it!"

      Jack looked at her and realised he was head over heels in love with this woman.

      Azakis was speechless. He certainly hadn’t expected a reaction like that. Elisa, on the other hand, continued undeterred “If you really want to help us, you should make all your technological, medical and scientific knowledge available to us, in the shortest possible time as you certainly won’t be staying on this devastated planet for very long."

      â€œOkay, okay. Don't get too upset,” Azakis tried to answer. "I think we did put ourselves at your disposal, without hesitation, to give you a hand or not?"

      "Yes, I know. I'm sorry... You could just have taken your plastic and headed off back to where you came from without even saying goodbye and instead here you are risking your lives together with us.”

      Elisa really was sorry for her outburst. So, to defuse the situation a little, she exclaimed cheerfully "But the food was delicious!" Then, she approached the alien and looking up at him from below said softly "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have."

      "Don't worry, I do understand and to show you there’s no hard feelings, I'll give you this.”

      Elisa held out her open hand and Azakis dropped a tiny dark object into it.

      "Thank you, but what is it?" she asked intrigued.

      "It’s the solution to your problems with plastic."

      Nasiriyya - The dinner

      After