TomMazanec
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2020
- Messages
- 465
Short story. Probably Sixties or early Seventies. English (do I have to specify this if it is English? I often forget, because I am monolingual).
Viewpoint character is minor crew member on alien exploration ship landing in Northern Hemisphere in late summer, before radio was invented here. They are surreptitiously observing the planet. They see the tree leaves begin changing color and dying, and are horrified that they brought a plant virus to Earth. The VPC talks to the ship's ecologist, who plans to learn the food chain by seeing first the herbivores, then the carnivores die off. The VPC is sad, as he hoped at least the carnivores would survive (maybe not the brightest bulb on the Xmas tree). The ship leaves in the early spring, and just before takeoff the VPC sees buds on a tree and wonders "On another planet, can a plant die twice?"
Viewpoint character is minor crew member on alien exploration ship landing in Northern Hemisphere in late summer, before radio was invented here. They are surreptitiously observing the planet. They see the tree leaves begin changing color and dying, and are horrified that they brought a plant virus to Earth. The VPC talks to the ship's ecologist, who plans to learn the food chain by seeing first the herbivores, then the carnivores die off. The VPC is sad, as he hoped at least the carnivores would survive (maybe not the brightest bulb on the Xmas tree). The ship leaves in the early spring, and just before takeoff the VPC sees buds on a tree and wonders "On another planet, can a plant die twice?"
