Eu suspeito que esta não é a história correta, porque não é contada na primeira pessoa, no entanto, o enredo é basicamente semelhante e gostaria de saber se é relacionado. Se nada mais, pode movimentar uma memória em algum lugar.
De qualquer forma, O que a EPA não sabe não vai feri-los é um conto de Suzette Haden Elgin. É um prefácio de sua trilogia Ozark , que é cerca de doze famílias Ozark que conseguiram viajar para outro planeta e colonizá-lo. No conto, um grupo de Ozarks ficou preso na Terra quando sua espaçonave quebrou, e eles estão procurando as partes para consertá-lo.
Eles encontram a parte final puramente por acidente quando uma criança brincando em um ferro-velho a encontra. Eles reconstroem a espaçonave e no dia seguinte eles se foram.
Possible or not, there it was. "Twelve Arkansas families disappear from the face of the Earth overnight!" the newspapers screamed, using the biggest type they had available. "FBI estimates a thousand gone without a trace! Authorities baffled!" "Administration suspects terrorists!"
They were gone, and much of their belongings with them. All their houses and outbuildings were swept and tidy and still. On every kitchen table lay a neat stack of envelopes with bills inside, and checks or cash in each one to cover the obligation. Even the junk piled in the yards and ditches and ravines was tidy; the vegetation around it seemed to have all been burned away by the kind of fire that burns so hot it leaves not even ashes behind, though not a single fire had been reported. The junk itself looking burnished and shiny and sparkling, with no sign of the rust and filth that had been there the day before. But nobody had seen the Ozarkers leaving the hills. Nobody had seen them drive away, or get on a bus, or board a plane. Nobody'd sold them gas; nobody'd sold them tickets. Not one of them had given notices at the places where they worked, or offered any other warning. They were just GONE. As if they'd never been there at all.