An Interview
“Thank you, Señor Delacruz, for agreeing to speak with me.”
I am sitting in a comfortable chair next to the comfortable bed of Señor Mateo Delacruz, whose deeds are famous here in the Free State of Cuba but perhaps are overshadowed by events that made the earth feel a lot less small, a lot less lonely, and a lot more dangerous. Señor Delacruz is confined to his bed, but it affords him a view out the window, facing East he says, so he can greet God every morning, so he can see the bustling city of Havana, and in the right conditions, you can see the Space Elevator of Turquino.
“Si, Si, it is my pleasure, Mister Broaddus.”
He remains a humble man, as he has always been. Born in the year 2005 under the reign of the dictator Fidel Castro, Señor Delacruz has always been passionate about the liberation of his people from what he famously called the “Iron Yoke” of communism. While his achievements as a man and for the people of Cuba are enormous, it is his perspective on the events we have come to refer to as Contact that I would like to speak to him about today. The conversation I am about to transcribe took place with the aid of an interpreter and alternated variously between his native Spanish and English. I have reproduced his words here in English for English audiences, but the recording of the full interview—unedited, just as it occurred—can be found on my website.
“Mr. Delacruz, today marks two important anniversaries. The chief anniversary being the successful overthrow of the Communist regime in Cuba led by you and your Free Radicals fifty two years ago, in the year 2036. One year to the day prior to that, in 2035, marked the event we know as Contact. What do you remember about Contact day?”
“Oh, very little, you see. I was not looking at the stars very much, but spent most of my time staring at the ground, scraping a living for myself and my family. I was born outside Santa Clara, and spent most of my life within 30 miles of the center of that city. So when Contact happen, I am not sure I noticed until a day or two after—news takes a long time to get to the surrounds of Santa Clara, you see. I was sitting outside at night, enjoying a cerveza, and I heard a plane flying overhead and happened to look. So you see, it was by mere chance that I saw the great and terrible ship looming in our orbit above the plane.
“Of the ship itself, I remember very clearly. It was defined by hard lines and edges, was almost diamond shaped, with a point at the front and a point at the back. I thought it was much closer given its size, it took me some time to realize that the massive ship was in orbit. I could not speculate its size, you see, it was so long ago, and so unfathomably large. It was maybe two or three hand-lengths long, from my seat.”
He pantomimed holding his hands out and lining them up to measure.
“It was high enough to still capture some sun—even though it was directly overhead, it’s edges were illuminated in full sunlight. I could see small lights moving around, in and out of what seemed to me like ports in the side. It was like an ant colony flying overhead. I was shocked into silence, you see, and I watched it for as long as I could. I put my cerveza down and never touched a drop of alcohol since—I wanted to be sure my senses were my own, I was not being fooled. I watched the ship until it was no longer visible. I went inside to my wife and my son, who were getting ready to sleep. I told them what I had seen, and promised I would show them the next day when it passed overhead. I told my wife—I said, ‘My love, I have seen something extraordinary. Either the Americans have advanced their space program faster than I thought possible, or we are being visited by another world.’ She did not know what to think of this news, but she could see I was shaken—normally she would dismiss my ravings and tell me to clean the dishes, but she knew something was different here.”
“What was going through your mind? Did you connect the arrival of this ship to your work with the Free Radicals?”
“No, no, not at first, you see. I remembered my father telling me stories of the Cold War—the Cuban missile crisis, the space race—and he spoke with a sincerity and terror that made them sound like terrifying years to live through. I feared that this ship in orbit represented a terrifying escalation. If it was American, would the Russians launch something next? Were things really that bad? If it was from another world—did they come in peace? I had no context for how to even think about alien beings. In all honesty, I put the thought out of my mind. My mother always taught me not to borrow trouble from tomorrow—I would leave future worries for some time in the future. In that moment, my concern was rest, and work.”
Thank You For Reading!
This is the first installment of my Sandbox Earth series. This series is the deep lore of the Adventures of Tylus Worran, it is like a prequel but it tells you about the infancy of humanity’s life among the stars. I am very excited and happy to be bringing this story to you finally, I hope you find it interesting and compelling and I hope you understand why it has been stuck in my brain all these years!
Thank you for reading, and God Bless you!
Great beginning, Scoot. I love the interview angle. That is an angle I am using with my latest,"The Worst Golfer in America". Turning for the next chapter in your saga now.
Fascinating beginnings. Bravo.