“Neither did we. A few months later another ship, this one all alone but much larger than the others, also appeared near Jupiter, seemingly out of nowhere. The aliens on board were clearly the same species as the ones we’d met before, though they called themselves by a different name. We asked about the galactic empire, and they said the first aliens we’d talked to were liars. There was no peaceful galactic confederation, just a war-torn galaxy where scores of races clashed for supremacy. We’d been duped by alien con artists who’d sold us a bunch of junk and empty promises, but these new aliens told the truth – or so they said. If we had any sense at all, we’d align ourselves with their faction, and accept their protection. Otherwise, we could expected to be invaded by an army of rapacious alien grasshoppers bent on stripping our planet of all its natural resources. And, by the way, if we weren’t doing anything with Mercury, could they have it in exchange for their help? Before we could respond to that request, another ship arrived, also out by Jupiter, and those aliens said the first two groups couldn’t be trusted, and, in fact, we should really accept help from these newcomers, because we’d need their help to escape a cosmic horror that was switching off the stars like lamps, one by one, and coming our way. Incidentally, they liked the look of some of Jupiter’s moons, and they only wanted four or five of them in exchange for helping us set up a force field to protect us from extermination…”

Elena frowned. “Which group was telling the truth?”

Callie sipped her coffee and shook her head. “None of them.”

Chapter Four

“It was all lies?” Elena said.

“Mostly stories adapted from our own media, we think, literature and film and immersives – simple science fiction scenarios, playing on our hopes and fears. We figured out pretty quickly that none of the aliens could be trusted… and that’s still our policy. We keep trading with them, though.”

“But how, if there’s no basis of trust?”

“They lie about big things, like where they come from, what they believe, even the nature of the universe – you don’t ask a Liar to talk philosophy. And they’ll lie about insignificant things, like where they were yesterday, or who their friends are, or which way the bathroom is – you don’t ask a Liar for directions, either. But they like to talk about technology, and they like to tinker, and they like making deals, and they don’t usually lie about that. If you offer them something, in exchange for something else, and you make really sure the thing they’re selling you does what they claim, most of the time it works out all right.”

“So they lie. But why do they lie?”