Elementary School Science Revisited

"I am sorry," said Jun Li sounding genuinely confused. "Is there something that you would prefer to be called?"

I took in a deep breath. I would admit that we might not be as technically advanced as species such as the Sisalik or the Saalistaja, but I wouldn't consider us lesser simply because we didn't fly through space, have laser guns, or could turn invisible. "You can refer to us as humans," I said with a sigh.

"Fine," he agreed. "I will change all lesser species to humans," he continued.

"No!" I shouted starting to get irritated, but I had absolutely no idea why. "Only species from the planet Earth are called humans," I emphasized.

"So are these humans?" Jun Li asked as he put a picture of a German Shephard onto the screen in front of me on the bridge.

"No, those are not humans. Those are part of the Canidae Family also known as a domestic dog," I said. I could feel the headache forming across my forehead, the pounding in time with my heart rate.

"But they are a lesser species from Earth," pointed out Jun Li going back to being confused. "And according to you, anything that was considered to be a lesser species from Earth should be labeled as human."

"Okay, I am only going to explain this once to you," I said as I closed my eyes and leaned back into the captain's chair. "There are billions of different species on planet Earth and they are all going to be classified under different things. The classification system itself is divided into seven sub-categories that go: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species." I paused for a moment to let that sink in.

"Those, for example—" I said waving to the dog still on the monitor, "Are part of the Kingdom Animalia, Phylum Chordata, Class Mammalia, Order Carnivora, Family Canidae, Genus Canis, Species Canis familiaris. Understood?"

"I understand what you are defining as a classification of species, we have something similar, but I don't understand why you are insisting that these… domestic dogs aren't human. They are lesser species from Earth."

"Fine, in comparison, humans are part of the Kingdom Animalia, Phylum Chordata, Class Mammalia, Order Primates, Family Hominidae, Genus Homo, Species Sapiens," I said trying to be as detailed as possible so that he could see the difference. I mean, I knew that I didn't explain the Domain category, but I didn't think that it was necessarily relevant to explain why humans and dogs weren't the same things.

"But according to you, you and the domestic dog share three classifications which, in your own words, would mean that you share a commonality," said Jun Li, apparently completely missing my point. "You know, it is rude that you are insisting on being the only lesser species known as humans on Earth when you technically have similar characteristics to the dog."

"Fine, just label everything thing on planet Earth as human then," I said with a sigh, completely giving up on my explanation. At least this way if a tiger managed to make its way to another planet it would be considered to be listed under human and therefore an endangered species.

"I was planning on it," he said smugly.

"Now, can we get back to the topic of the barrier that was created to protect us lesser species?" I demanded getting comfortable in the chair. I would have to bring in a blanket or something if I was going to spend any amount of time here. Or maybe I would just have a supply of blankets in every room.

It wasn't like I was going to be paying for them.

"The Ozone layer?" asked Jun Li.

"Yes, how is the Ozone layer a barrier constructed by aliens?" I asked because that was the first time I had ever heard that theory about it.

"There was a particular species that was around before the Alliance was created, maybe about 240 million years ago by Earth standards. They went around to the different planets in the known universe searching for one that they could call home. Once they got to Earth, they found giant lizard creatures similar to the Sisalik and decided that they were to be protected. They took the gases found in the atmosphere and created a barrier between the lesser species and the rest of the universe so that the lesser species could grow and evolve as they should without outside influence or being hunted to extinction."

I was going to skip over the whole lesser species, aliens meeting the dinosaurs, and the creation of the Ozone in order to ensure that we could evolve at our own pace and bring up the elephant in the room. "If you have all this information, and yet, humans are not a known species in the universe, how did you learn all of this?"

"What do you mean?" he asked and I was ready to bang my head against a wall.

"When I was first released, and when I met Pippa, it was brought up that humans were an unknown species that must be protected and that Earth's coordinates must be erased so that no one learns about us. If that was the case, then how could a) you find Earth the first time and b) know that it was aliens that created the Ozone layer to protect us?"

"I did mention that this was around 240 million years ago right?" asked Jun Li and I would have sworn that if he had a body right now he would be looking at me like I was stupid. "The information that the Sisalik were able to get their hands on was nothing more than myths and legends of a completely untouched, pure planet in a galaxy far away that no one knew about. According to what I understand from my online reading, you have a similar legend and yet you are susceptible?"

"What is the Earth equivalent?" I asked stunned. Never once had I heard of Earth referred to as an untouched, pure planet. Clearly, no aliens had been here to see it for themselves.

"Atlantis. You humans have a legend of the Lost City of Atlantis that scientists are still looking for. Is it really that much different?"