The spaceship descended directly onto the White House lawn and hovered above the ground. It was about the size of a telephone booth, emitted no noise, and had no doors or windows. No defense mechanism detected its arrival.

The cell phones of every staffer up to the president herself received a call simultaneously. The message repeated, “I mean no harm. I am here to offer counsel.” Everyone looked around, wide-eyed until they noted the oblong metallic orb on the White House lawn.

The Secret Service arrived first with their daunting gear. They surrounded the aircraft and called out, “Come out with your hands up!”

A wall dissolved and a young girl wearing a sky blue dress with a white waistband stepped out with her hands raised above her head. She smiled warmly but made no other movement toward the security forces.

The security contingent had never rehearsed this scenario. Most stole glances at one another about what to do next. After a full minute, the security chief called out, “Who are you? Where do you come from?”

“My name is Daphne,” she said, brightly. “I come from Zhobe-23.”

“Why are you here?”

“I mean no harm. I am only here to offer counsel. May I speak with President Jasper?”

“No.” The security chief narrowed his eyes. He struggled to determine the next step. This innocent-looking visitor clearly commanded technology superior to their own.

“I have no weapons,” Daphne said, anticipating his reluctance. “Please inspect me and my ship. I mean no harm.”

The chief nodded to the soldier on his left, and he advanced cautiously to check her for weapons. “Clear!”

“Turn your ship off,” the chief said. “But keep your hands where I can see them.”

Daphne made a slight movement with her right thumb to touch the ring on her finger. The ship fell on the lawn, shaking the ground as if a building had collapsed.

The chief touched his earpiece and nodded to himself. “Follow me, ma’am.”

President Jasper sat at a small table in the Rose Garden. “Please have a seat,” she said, signaling the chair on the other side of the table. “Can I offer you some coffee?”

“That would be wonderful, Madame President. Thank you.”

President Jasper nodded to her aid, who poured coffee into two white cups, each with the presidential seal. Daphne added one teaspoon of sugar to her coffee and stirred it gently.

“I understand you are from another planet,” the president said. “Pardon me for saying so, but you don’t look like it.”

Daphne smiled gently and said, “I’m from Zhobe-23. It’s very far away.” The lilt in her voice sounded both fleeting and condescending, much like an accomplished physicist would describe an atom as “teeny weeny.”

The president frowned. “Why are you here?”

“I mean no harm. I came to offer a solution to your problem.”

“Which problem exactly?”

“Climate change, of course. My people predict planetary devastation within the next ten years. You must know that.”

“We have a lot of problems,” the president said, rubbing her temple. “War, disease, famine. They’re all important. They all need work.”

“Of course.” Daphne smiled politely and sipped her coffee.

“What is your solution, then? Don’t tell me it’s carbon markets.”

“Let me show you.” Daphne stood and gestured with her hand toward the garden. Together, they walked to a grassy area. Daphne knelt on the ground cross-legged and pulled at a small patch of grass. She resembled a little girl playing outside on a hot summer day.

She used her fingernail to lift some dirt out of the ground and then removed her necklace. The Secret Service officers flinched noticeably at every movement, exchanging quizzical expressions.

She opened the locket on her necklace and pulled something out. She held it up in the air as if to study it. The sun shone through a nearly transparent winged seed.

She placed it gently inside the hole and covered it with a small amount of earth. To the surprise of everyone, a small shoot emerged immediately and grew at a staggering pace. It quickly formed two cotyledons and then leaves. The green shoot turned light brown as it became woody. Within a minute, it was four feet tall, then continued to double in height at a similar rate.

No one said anything, not even Daphne. They all looked on in wonder as this strange plant quickly grew into a robust tree. Its limbs were sturdy and long, the bark deep brown, with pale green starfish-shaped leaves. Then it stopped growing.

“It is a beautiful gift,” President Jasper said. “But I don’t think beauty will solve any problems.”

Daphne smiled and said, “Wait.”

The leaves of the tree trembled gently in the breeze as large white blossoms sprouted from the outermost branches. They aged quickly and formed spherical seed pods, which split open with a cracking noise, filling the air with hundreds of winged seeds. They settled onto the White House lawn and the mall nearby.

Once on the ground, each seed sprouted and grew in the same way as the first. Within minutes, a small forest occupied the Rose Garden, flowered, and sent an assault of seeds into the air. The staff gasped, mouths open.

When the seeds eventually fell on concrete, easily drilled their roots into it, and grew into robust trees, the crowd understood the full effect of Daphne‘s gift.

“You are welcome,” Daphne said. Everyone turned from the spectacle to find her ship hovering behind her. She stepped in, sealed the door, and shot up to the clouds like a bolt of lightning.