Zebedee Clark was a businessman. The silver tooth tucked just after his incisors twinkled when he opened his mouth in a grin. The two men-like figures seated opposite him stared with blank faces. Zebedee took out a stick of cigarette and handed one over.
Source
“Care for some?” The first Henna shook its head. Zeb couldn't tell if they were male or female.
The second Henna took the stick, regarded it for some time, and then asked Zeb what he was supposed to do with it.
“Oh, it's a cigarette. You light it like this,” he took a lighter out and lit it, “then you smoke”. The first Henna waved the first puff of smoke away from his face, obviously irritated.
“You mean you inhale fire?” The second Henna asked, handing the stick of cigarette back. Zeb laughed.
“If you don't smoke, you won't understand.” He batted his eye at them then puffed out smoke in rings. He liked to be mysterious like that so the Hennas would think he was someone important. Every time they came to earth, they seemed to be the important ones.
Children clamored around them, and adults struggled to take pictures with them or prepare special meals to welcome them. Some even took pictures with them and offered them their houses.
But with him, the Hennas were just another one of his business partners. He offered them coffee which they never took, and turned the air conditioning on to the highest because he knew it made them uncomfortable.
“So, what are you here for?”
The Hennas were exactly like men, but where men had ears, they had nothing. Instead, there were tiny antennas situated just above their brows, you could miss them if you didn't look closely. Their coloration was also slightly deep, they were more dust-colored than white, but besides these features, they were exactly like men.
“We need something really valuable. My master is ready to pay for it in gold.” The first Henna replied. He raised the lower part of his hoodie to show Zeb the small chunk of gold he had secured on his sticky body.
“When you say valuable, what do you mean? What's valuable to you?”
The first Henna waved smoke from his face again. He didn't like the smell of tobacco.
“Something that could change my master's status and cause him to be rich afterward.” the second Henna replied.
Zebedee thought for a while, these people loved to get extravagant items. Something that would suggest they had more power or influence than the others on their planet.
“I have something special in my collection, if you return not too long from now, you can get it.” The Hennas glanced at each other uncertainly, then looked back at Zeb.
“We need it as soon as possible. Our master is upset with us because last time we came, we brought back diamonds. Other Hennas already had that”.
“I understand. I will make sure to give you only the best this time around.”
They rose as he dropped the stump of his cigarette to take their hands in a handshake.
Zebedee went into his lab the minute they left. Those Hennas were trying to mirror Earth. He wished to tell them they couldn't but if he did, it would mean bad business for him. He knew exactly what he was going to sell them.
Something abstract and elaborate, something they could never have.
They came around the next week. Zeb knew from the first Henna's bulky look around the middle that he had a lot of gold on him. He smiled.
“Welcome. Let's go to the lab”. He took them there even when he sold his pet rat to them. It made his business look more sophisticated. “I have something special for you.” He took out a glass jar with nothing in it and held it up. “This contains one of the mysteries of Earth.” The two Hennas moved closer to take a better look at the glass.
“I can't see anything,” the first one said.
“Me neither” his partner concurred.
“Patience, gentlemen. This glass holds what we all know as gravity. With this, you can control the planets, even create your own planet.” The two Hennas gasped. “I was only able to get this portion of it, that's to show you how valuable it is.”
The first Henna began to remove all the gold he had stuck to various parts of his body.
“We will have it no matter how small.” Zebedee smiled. He knew these people too well, only they didn't know him. Once they stepped out of that building, they were never going to find him again. Bulldozers were already waiting to tear the building down.
He had gotten enough gold to be rich forever. It was time for retirement.