Contact across the Solar System

Congresswoman Cristina

As details of Kalna's and Ilmuth's 1990's residency were revealed, an American satire TV show did a satire of the two. It showed Kalna and Ilmuth relaxing in bed after doing a hard day of work in university libraries doing research. "Isn't it horrible that the Earth isn't as hot as an oven?" Kalna asked. Ilmuth responded with "Well, I miss those lovely dust storms." They then described how scary it was to be outside a building without a roof over their heads.

Kalna found it sidesplittingly funny, and Ilmuth got worried about her, before she joined Kalna in uncontrollably laughing. The two sent the producers a message saying how much they loved it.

But that was the main sort of action in the United States for several months, even as the SSC people visited nation after nation after nation. Much of that was due to the efforts of Senator Mitchell Ferguson and his anti-espionager allies in the US Congress. As the residents' activities became revealed, Senator Ferguson shifted to demanding complete technology transfer as a condition for diplomatic relations. Though many people considered him silly, putting the US in a category with China and Taiwan and their silly one-or-two-China squabble, he nevertheless continued.

One of Senator Ferguson's allies was a charismatic, energetic, flamboyant, and eccentric young Representative from Los Angeles, a certain Cristina Martinez-Ortega, descendant of mestizo Mexican immigrants with bronzed skin and a Spanish accent. "Yes, I'm a mutt," she sometimes said about herself. Outside of the SSC issue, she was often at loggerheads with Senator Ferguson on policy issues, with her being an outspoken progressive and Senator Ferguson having a grudge against anything he considered "socialist". She often noted her humble origins, and she was often ridiculed by her opponents for having worked in beauty salons, doing hairstyling and manicuring. "So what?" she once responded. "That shows how working-class I am."

She provoked lots of controversies, like when she lamented that some inner-city people don't seem to value education very much. "You should be like the Jews. You should be hated for being too educated rather than not educated enough," she said with a laugh. Also, when she did a video of herself talking about some issues as she cut up some vegetables, she held an onion and said "Let's try to find God. Or whatever we might call her. Or it. Or him. Whatever." She turned it, she ran her fingers across it, she smelled it, and she noted that entity's absence on the outside. She then asked "Is God on the inside?" She cut the onion, noted its interior, and said "She's still not there." She cut it some more and said "No wonder I can't find her. All I'm getting is more outsides." When she finished cutting it, she stated "God is on the inside of everything. Like these pieces of onion. (laughs) No matter how much I cut that onion, I couldn't find her."

There was also the time when she and her family were planning a big wedding for her and Mike, a shy and introverted tall blond software developer who served as her technical assistant and cameraman. It was to be a church wedding with a big reception with lots of family members there, but the planning of it got bogged down, and the two ran off somewhere with a few friends and had a civil wedding with vows that they composed for themselves. Though this annoyed a lot of family members, they made up for it later by having a big party.

When the Aurora dropped its capsules, Cristina did not have much to say. "It's too weird. Why aren't they landing on the White House lawn? Or Dodger Stadium?" But when the resemblance of the fonts came out, she made a home video in which she ranted about how creepy the SSC people are as she made guacamole in her kitchen. "Does everybody realize what this means? These Solar System people could be among us right now. Any one of us could really be one of them. It gives me the creeps." She concluded with "It's so upsetting. Glad I don't have to eat my guacamole right away," as she put it in the refrigerator.

That caused a lot of controversy, and when she held a town hall in Los Angeles a few weeks later, she attempted to address it. "OK, all you wonderful people, let's try to do this a little differently. Instead of getting into a shouting match over who's right, let us all ask ourselves what we want and what our goals are and what our interests are. I have done that with myself and I want to stay true to myself while representing all of you." Some people were willing to do that, but not enough. Nevertheless, her political career survived, and she cautiously supported the Message Committee and Sheila McKenna, and even Arlene Pugliese's and Brad Goldstein's trip.