Remember that strange elongated object hurtling through our Solar System from another star? The object - named 'Oumuamua for easy reference - that was so strange and so elongated that scientists said that rather than an asteroid, it was probably a spaceship containing alien technology? One minute they were speculating on what kind of mobile devices the aliens had aboard the ship. And the next minute the object had vanished from everyone's news feed, replaced by a Chinese space station that's going to crash into Earth in case the Olympics are too boring.
What we did not hear about was the mission to explore this object. A lot of people wanted to explore the object, but after Netflix increased its monthly subscription fee by a dollar, we could afford to send just one mission.
There were three camps of scientists that speculated on what the elongated asteroid spaceship might contain. Some thought it held bacteria. Others thought it held plants. Others thought it held space cats.
Earth could afford to send only one mission, so people voted on what kind of mission should go.
"It has to be bacteria. Bacteria is the only organism that can survive the harsh and unforgiving elements of space."
"No - it has to be plants. Only plants could survive in a place where the only food was sunlight and ice."
"No, and no again. It must be cats. For only cats would have a coat and neck fluffy enough to survive the cold of outer space."
After a day of voting, Team Space Cats was way ahead.
The mission to confirm the presence of space cats launched a week before Christmas. The whole world was watching.
It was an asteroid ship full of cards. The cards had been sent because there was no room. The mission was a failure.
"There isn't life at all. These aren't space cats. It's just a pile of birthday cards that someone couldn't bear to throw out!"
He shook his head - everyone shook their heads.
And they read the cards. There was nothing else to do. And there, at the bottom of every card, instead of a signature, was a little paw print.
