Alzigo brought a large tray and laid it on a raised pedestal before the humans. “Please, sample the Auja fruit. Don’t worry; the biosensors indicate that it’s compatible with human physiology.”

Nori gaped at the alien fruits, and Bulco rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

Lana, however, had a different reaction. “I knew it!” she exclaimed. “I just knew it.”

“Knew what, Miss?” the alien asked politely.

Lana pointed at the fruits. “These are artichokes. I always thought they looked alien. The weird green and purple colors ... those spiky fleshy leaves …. The weird fleshy fibers at the center … I always said they must have been brought in by aliens and I was right!” She turned triumphantly to her friends.

Bulco furrowed his brow, but Nori simply shrugged. “With everything else that’s happened lately, that’s the least of our concerns.” She picked up a large artichoke, plucked the heart out and chewed on it. “Hmm ... not bad.”

“Thank you. The secret is to steam-boil them until the stem has softened and then sprinkle some sodium chloride.” The tall alien brought one of the artichokes to his mouth and his two opposite jaws snapped shut on it, leaves and all.

“Sodium chloride?” Nori frowned at the piece of artichoke she was holding.

“Salt,” Lana answered shortly.

“So you have more questions for me?” Alzigo looked at Nori while his jaws kept crunching his leafy meal.

“Yes. I’m trying to piece together everything we know about the sudden appearance of aliens. You mentioned something about a galactic law that prohibits interference with the non-Infused planets, right?”

“That’s right.”

“But still, according to our findings, many ships came here all at once to spread piTec over the Earth. Then one of them, who apparently tried to embezzle some of the moola, got shot down. This all feels a little too … orchestrated. Someone had clearly gone to great lengths to infuse our planet and I want to know why.”

Alzigo shook his head. “As I said before, it’s a complete mystery. The amount of piTec required to infuse an entire planet is simply staggering.”

“So how did you know to come here?”

He blinked at her. “What do you mean?”