Pursuit

Part 3 - Trapitide Colony

El died? He didn't seem sick, although I had no idea how Trapitide sickness looked like. El's death was a shock to all of us. We decided to take the Trapitides to a different facility. We thought keeping them trapped in the quarantine region for longer would not be the right thing to do. Maybe El died of hunger. We didn't know what they ate and didn't think about providing them assistance either. Bad move on our part. Later Col told us El died of old age and injuries during travel. El, the captain of the ship was the oldest among the crew members. There were five crew members on their ship and two of them died due to malfunction in their hibernation pods. Now that El was dead, there were only two Trapitides left. They worried that they would go extinct if they were not given any assistance.

We decided to finally break the news to the public. But the biggest problem was, where would the Trapitides live? The human population of the earth was already pretty high and we didn't know how fast the Trapitides would grow. We decided to have a formal and peaceful discussion on the topic.

"They can live in the desert regions. They can withstand those temperatures", Justin, a senior scientist from Roscosmos suggested.

"Not a good idea. They would still be living between humans. We don't want humans to get uncomfortable. They might end up occupying the Oasis for water and hinder human population over there", another scientist pointed out.

"I guess humans should try to live with them"

"Are you crazy? Humans are not like Trapitides. We already divide ourselves based on country, color, religion, and whatnot. You think we would accept the Trapitides as a part of us so easily?"

"Why are you taking their side, Kelly?"

"I'm not taking any side. I'm just telling the truth"

"She's right. And how can we trust the Trapitides? What's the proof they are here to live in harmony with humans?"

"Well, we are still alive and they didn't try to escape the quarantine zone when they easily could"

"So you are telling us we should risk our lives to save some aliens about whom we don't even have much knowledge"

"Can you all shut up? We are not here to argue ab-"

"Poles"

"What?"

"Poles", I said, "Why don't they stay on the poles? There's not a lot of human population over there, especially the North pole which is almost devoid of any humans. There is water and the Trapitides have been living in freezing temperatures all their lives."

"Let's pitch this idea to the president. Sounds like a good plan", Janine said.

Although the Arctic region seemed to be a perfect place for the Trapitides to live, there was one big concern. Global warming. There were concerns about melting ice sheets and rising levels of methane in the region. The Arctic was very vulnerable to global warming and it seemed to be affected more than any other region on earth. We didn't know how the colonization of the region by the Trapitides would affect global warming. While the Antarctic was in a better position, there were some human populations over there that we didn't want to evacuate.

After countless discussions and studies, it was decided that the Trapitides would be allowed to colonize the arctic region with a few conditions that made sure they didn't impact global warming. They would also be monitored by the polar satellites to make sure they live by the rules. The Trapitides agreed to everything and were permitted to occupy the region.

...

Five years passed. The Trapitides lived in their private space given to them in the Arctic. Their population grew from two to twenty-eight. At first, it seemed like rapid growth in a short time but later they told us it was a controlled population growth to set up the colony after which they would reduce the rate of reproduction. The Trapitides were asexual beings. They could reproduce on their own without the need for a partner. They became ready to reproduce after the age of about twelve Earth years and after that, it would be their choice as to how many offspring to produce.