Governor Grenness felt almost too nervous for words. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with me,” he said. It was the second time he’d thanked the being before him.
Ambassador Kell merely stared at him, not acknowledging it this time.
“Why did you wish to meet?” he asked instead.
“You have no idea the meaning it has for us,” Grenness continued. “I was terrified upon meeting you, you know.”
“I do,” Kell replied.
Grenness laughed. “Of course a messenger of the Lord of Dawn would know – you see right through me, don’t you?”
Kell turned his head at a quizzical angle. “In a sense.”
“Then it is true?” Grenness asked.
“You will have to be specific,” Kell replied.
“You are an angel of the Lord of Dawn? We always knew you would come, and Corran said you would come to us here. I am so sorry that we have not yet terraformed Hope’s Dawn, but I promise you that we have never lost faith in the great message . . .”
The man continued to speak, and Kell observed passively. His lack of reaction bothered Grenness, and he continued to profess his devotion to his faith.
“Please, all I ask is that you tell me what the Lord of Dawn wishes for us to do. If . . . if I may ask that.”
“You may ask what you please,” Kell said. “But I am not what you are waiting for.”
Grenness felt the blood drain from his face. “What?”
“You believe I am an angel – this is incorrect. I am a Shoggoth.”
“But surely you are created by the Lord of Dawn!” the man asked. “All life is his creation, and you are the truly unique life that He promised would come to us.”
Kell continued to regard him.
“I do not know a Lord of Dawn,” Kell replied. “My creators are gone now, and I feel no sorrow for their passing.”
Grenness felt a heat rising in his face. He’d been certain when he’d learned of the Shoggoths, and that one was here, that this was the moment he’d waited for. He’d waited up nights since the first news of their existence had trickled out here, weeks ago.
Waiting for a sign. Feeling terror for those moments of lapses in his faith. Every mistake, he knew, would be viewed under a lens by the Lord of Dawn who could uncover all.
And this was not the messenger?
He wondered if it was a test.
“I am faithful,” he said. “If you are truly not what I believe, then perhaps I am to be the shepherd, and your people the flock. Do you think, Ambassador, that they would wish to join us? We can show you how you fit into the Lord of Dawn’s universe, your place in it-“
“I can assure you that none of my kind would be interested,” the Ambassador replied. “Your religion holds nothing for us, and we see far too much to find it of value.”
The Governor’s chest heaved and his face burned.
“Get out,” he said, barely restraining his anger.
Kell looked at him for a moment. He had barely an expression, but there was a hint of contempt.
Other Terrestrial 