Alien Pets

by Trisha McNary

  “What are you saying, young man!” said Mistress Moneeka.

  But Master Mytaar, still with downcast eyes, said nothing.

  “You treat Eegor and Tilde like pets,” said M. Hoyvil. “You command, and they do your bidding. But when they misbehaved, you accepted that. You said, ‘That’s just how Earthlings act. They’re an inferior species.’ But they looked to you for guidance because you took away their ability to act as individual sentient beings by making them your pets. And your guidance was bad.”

  Mistress Moneeka gasped. “How dare you speak to us this way! We’re adults, and you’re just an adolescent! I will report this behavior to your primary gene contributors!”

  Antaska’s eyes widened, but still no one noticed her.

  “No. No. He’s right,” said Master Mytaar, finally speaking up. “As I said, this is partly our fault. It’s true that we accepted behavior we knew was wrong. We could have easily put a stop to it.”

  “But they’re only Earthlings! They’re like barbarians compared to us,” said Mistress Moneeka. “And that’s how everyone treats them, all the Verdantes, not just us.”

  “If they’re like barbarians compared to us, it’s because we’ve kept them down,” said M. Hoyvil. “We say we don’t want to interfere with their evolution, but almost everything we do keeps them from evolving. Why is that? Is it because we’re so dependent on them? Because we can’t travel in space without them along? Are we afraid that they’ll become telepathic too, and then we’ll be stranded?”

  For several moments, there was complete silence in the room.

  Finally Master Mytaar spoke again. “Young student, it’s true that we failed to provide proper guidance to our human pets, but what you’re suggesting is preposterous. Do you really think there’s some kind of conspiracy among our race to keep the Earthlings from evolving and becoming telepathic? So we can make use of them to meet our needs?”

  “No. I don’t think it’s necessarily a conspiracy,” M. Hoyvil answered. “People might be doing this without thinking much about it. But it’s happening. And it’s wrong. I don’t like it, and I’m not going to treat Antaska like that. She’s just as sentient as any of us.”

  Antaska hid her smile. She was impressed by M. Hoyvil.

  Mistress Moneeka gasped again.

  “I think we’ve talked enough about this tonight,” said Master Mytaar. “We’ll punish Tilde and Eegor, and I’ll stay at home for some time too. That’s all you need to know. Your behavior has gone beyond what’s acceptable for a student speaking to a master. But I’ll let it pass this time because of the upsetting circumstances that were partly my fault. Besides, you’re only 650 years old. People your age sometimes have wild imaginations.”

  He paused as if waiting for M. Hoyvil to say something.

  Like an apology? Antaska wondered.

  But M. Hoyvil stayed silent.

  “Anyway,” said Master Mytaar, “You won’t see me or Eegor again on the trip to the space station. I wish you the best of luck on your voyage. But I must warn you that your troubles with this Earth human may just be starting. Beware, and be safe!”

  That was kind of rude, thought Antaska.

  “Thank you, instructor,” said M. Hoyvil.

  Then he walked over to Antaska and Potat, and the three of them left together.

  Chapter 20

  Later that night, Potat and Antaska lay on their backs on the round bed in their room.

  It’s really my room, but I’m willing to share it with my pet, thought Potat.

  They both watched the slow-moving hologram of space displayed on the ceiling.

  Potat spoke to Antaska telepathically.

  “So, if I talk to you now, are you going to listen? Or are you going to keep pretending that you don’t hear me?”

  “No. I hear you. I can’t deny it any more,” Antaska answered her out loud. “My cat talks to me. I might be crazy, but I won’t pretend I don’t hear you.”

  “Right. But will you listen when I tell you what to do?” asked Potat. “Because I’m always right. You know that, right?”

  Annoyingly, Antaska didn’t answer her.

  Instead, she said, “I hear the Verdantes talking too. Do you think I should tell M. Hoyvil about that?”

  “No! You can’t let them find out you’re telepathic now!” Potat insisted. “You heard them saying they value humans as companions because they’re not telepathic. If the Verdantes find out about this, they might not let us travel with them.”

  “Would they send us back to Earth!” Antaska asked.

  “No, I don’t think they’d do that,” said Potat. “But we might have to stay on the Verdante planet with all those strange giant adult people.”

  “That would be awful!” said Antaska.

  “So don’t tell him yet,” Potat advised. “Do you want to be stuck on one boring planet for the rest of our lives?”

  “OK, I’ll wait, but I hate deceiving M. Hoyvil like that,” said Antaska. I hate hiding it from him. I was so proud of him tonight, and I know we can trust him.”

  “Yes, I picked the right one, didn’t I?” said Potat.

  “What are you talking about?” asked Antaska.

  “You know. Back on Earth when we were picking out our Verdante. You were going to pick those other two, but I made you wait to get the best one,” said Potat. “The same way I’m trying to make you wait for the best mate. I told you not that Eegor, but you didn’t listen at first. At least you figured it out after a while.”

  “You’re right,” said Antaska. “I do need to wait to get the best mate. Maybe I’ll meet a hot alien guy in outer space when we get there.”

  She reached over and petted the striped gray fur on the top of Potat’s head.

  “Be careful what you wish for,” said Potat. “Anyway, don’t tell M. Hoyvil yet. You’re not deceiving him, you’re just waiting till the time is right—like as soon as we get moving in warp space away from the Verdante planet,” said Potat.

  Potat didn’t worry about Antaska telling M. Hoyvil. The little cat knew she would get her way. Potat had always been able to persuade Antaska to her point of view even before Antaska became telepathic.

  Then Potat thought about M. Hoyvil, her new pet. It would be extra work for her to care for two pets, but Potat had decided to adopt him anyway. And he’d proved his worthiness by protecting Antaska, although he’d been slow to understand that there was a problem. Of course, like all humanoids, M. Hoyvil had some weaknesses. Like Antaska, he needed a cat to look after him and provide guidance.

  It wasn’t long before Potat could tell that Antaska was asleep. She waited a few minutes more. Then she padded over and curled up next to Antaska’s fluffy pink hair. The little cat settled in and was soon asleep too.

  In his room, M. Hoyvil stayed awake longer than Antaska and Potat. With his super-powerful hearing, he had heard something puzzling a while earlier. It had sounded like two women talking—one out loud, and one telepathically. He remembered his wish that Antaska was telepathic.

  No. I’m just imaging things, he decided. That must be it.

  Chapter 21

  Two days later, the space ship dropped out of warp space into the star system of the Verdante home planet. M. Hoyvil sat next to Antaska on a round sofa in one of the four space viewing rooms located around the space ship’s equator. Their seats were reclined all the way back, and Potat lay on her back between them.

  “We’ll be on the home planet in a few more hours, so I should probably tell you some more about my species,” M. Hoyvil said out loud to Antaska.

  “Sure,” said Antaska. “I’d like to hear more about the Verdantes.”

  “Well, first of all, you’ll notice that all the females will get off the ship on the home planet. They won’t get back on when we leave on the big trip to unknown space. We don’t allow our females to travel in space for safety reasons,” M. Hoyvil explained. “But don’t worry. We can take Earth females along because it’s not dangerous
for them to travel with us.”

  There was a lot more to it than that. The danger in space was for telepathic females, but M. Hoyvil didn’t want to explain that for some reason. He just didn’t want to think about it.

  Antaska and Potat will be safe with me, no matter what, he told himself.

  “Anyway,” M. Hoyvil went on, “we’ll be on the Verdante planet for a week. We’ll stay at the residence of my primary gene contributors, Master Meeepp and Mistress Bawbaw. You’ll meet some of their Earth human companions and some of their other companions while we’re there.”

  “That sounds good,” said Antaska.

  “I won’t be around at night,” M. Hoyvil told her. “We’re only there a week, and the all the males are gone for a hundred years. So they have these social events whenever we’re home. They’re really important. I hope you won’t be bored.”

  “No. I understand, and I won’t be bored,” said Antaska. “Besides, I’ll have Potat with me.”

  Potat purred loud in between them.

  A few hours later, the ship approached the Verdante planet.

  M. Hoyvil pointed out the two bright stars of his planet’s binary solar system to Antaska. One was yellow, one was red. The stars grew ever larger and closer. The yellow star started to look less like a twinkly dot and more like the Earth sun Antaska was used to—a bright yellow circle surrounded by glowing light.

  “I should warn you that sometimes Earth humans are disturbed by their first sight of our second star, the red giant,” M. Hoyvil told Antaska as that star loomed closer. “Because Earthlings are used to seeing a small yellow dwarf as the largest object in their sky.”

  Antaska looked out at the large red sun. M. Hoyvil was right. It was impressive, and she might have been scared if he hadn’t given her the warning.

  “Next, you’ll see the ten planets in our binary solar system come into view,” said M. Hoyvil. “That one’s the home planet.”

  He pointed at the planet with his large, six-fingered hand, and Antaska stared at their next destination. At first, the Verdante planet looked like a bright green gem. Then it increased in size until small mountains, oceans, and other features were visible. It looked similar to the cloud-decorated land and water masses of Earth when seen from space.

  But when the space ship penetrated the planet’s atmosphere and slowed to approach, it was clear that this planet was larger than Earth and much greener.

  They entered the planet’s gravity well. The lounge they were in was now sideways relative to the ground they were heading toward. It was like they were lying on the side of a wall. But the ship’s artificial gravity kept them from falling. Antaska felt a wave of dizziness.

  Then the floor of the room began a slow rotation to one side. The change was gradual and gentle, but Antaska was glad she was lying down on the couch instead of standing up while this was happening. She noticed Potat’s claws digging into the fabric of her ship suit.

  “It’s OK,” Antaska tried to reassure her.

  “Oh, right. I forgot to warn you about this too,” said M. Hoyvil.

  “I guess we’ll forgive you this time,” Antaska heard Potat say telepathically.

  To distract herself from the rotating room, Antaska looked for buildings, but she couldn’t find any. She saw only green-covered lands, water bodies, and some areas of rock and sand. On their final approach, there wasn’t a single humanoid-made structure in sight. Giant trees loomed up large in the wide view seen from the transparent bubble.

  “Many of our planet’s trees grow to over 500 feet tall, far past the height of Earth’s tallest redwoods,” M. Hoyvil explained.

  At last, the floor stabilized parallel to the approaching ground.

  “Do you want to go over to the side to look down and see where we’ll be landing?” M. Hoyvil asked Antaska. “It’s a cool view if you’re not scared of heights.”

  “I’ll go,” said Potat telepathically.

  M. Hoyvil picked up Potat and put her on his shoulder.

  “I’ll look too,” said Antaska.

  They walked to the outer edge of the room’s clear bubble. Straight down below them, a round, paved area grew larger as the ship sunk down toward its landing platform.

  Of all the areas of the planet Antaska seen so far, only this area had a flat concrete surface with no plant life at all. Rising from, parked on, or landing on this surface were vast numbers of round Verdante space ships of various sizes.

  A gigantic stone statue of a tree dominated the center of the enormous circle. It was even bigger than the largest living trees Antaska had seen from above.

  “What’s that?” Antaska asked M. Hoyvil, pointing at the stone tree.

  “That statue is a memorial,” said M. Hoyvil. “It’s for all the trees and plants that died a million years ago when my species first came to this planet. In their ignorance, they killed most of the natural life in this area. Do you want me to tell you the story? I have to warn you that many Earthlings have trouble accepting this, and sometimes I have to admit that I feel the same way.”

  “Yes, I’d like to hear the story,” said Antaska.

  She was curious, and Potat stopped washing her face. She sat up straight and alert on M. Hoyvil’s shoulder looking toward his face.

  “The trees on this planet are sentient. They don’t talk to me, but the adults claim to understand them,” he said. “And this is the story they tell. When the Verdantes first settled on this planet, we weren’t evolved enough to understand the speech of the trees. We cut down many of the trees, and we built wood and concrete buildings on the land.

  “After many generations of living here, some of my ancestors claimed to hear humming sounds and whispering voices in their heads. At first, everyone thought these people were crazy. No one listened to them. But as time went on, more and more people heard the sounds and voices. Finally, people of all ages could hear the humming, and the adults could hear the voices as well. They stopped denying the voices were real and started to listen.

  “The voices identified themselves as the large trees that grow on this planet. They said they were long-lived sentient beings, rooted to one spot by their physical manifestation as plants. They forgave us for killing their people, but they asked us to stop. We could build our homes underground where no sentient life would be killed. Fortunately, our population was small at that time, and we hadn’t killed any trees outside of this area.

  “Since then, this spot has been a dead zone. It’s the only place on the planet where no life grows or will ever grow. The trees let us use it as a landing port. And we built this statue from the first stones that we dug up to build our new underground homes.

  “So each time we take off on or return from a trip to space, we see this monument. It’s supposed to remind us of the harm we can cause if we don’t understand the other species we find. But I guess we still haven’t learned,” M. Hoyvil said as he finished speaking.

  Then, without any bumps or jerks, the space ship came to a smooth stop. They had arrived.

  Chapter 22

  In a vacuum-powered passenger tube, Potat, Antaska, and M. Hoyvil whooshed around and down miles deep into the Verdante planet. They landed at the exit to the underground residences. Inside a pocket on M. Hoyvil’s jacket, Potat shook herself vigorously to clear the aftereffects of the unaccustomed motion. The tube door opened, and she popped her tiny head out to investigate.

  A brilliant burst of strange new sights, sounds, and smells bombarded the little cat. The air, cool and crisp compared to the space ship and even Earth, sharpened her senses. Only the planet’s 0.8 Earth gravity, a close match to the space ship, felt familiar.

  Potat’s tiny eyes grew wide to take in the sight of the vast underground area. Plants, grass, trees, flowers, everything was at least three times larger than on Earth. Surrounding the huge domed space, tall trees soared hundreds of feet up to blend blurrily with what looked like a deep blue sky.

  “Ah! The fresh smelly smell of the old home!” e
xclaimed M. Hoyvil.

  He took a deep breath of circulated underground air.

  “Up there is a holograph made to look like our planet’s sky,” he explained, pointing upward.

  Imitations of the planet’s two suns—the red giant and the white dwarf—shone on the twilight side of sky-like blueness dotted with drifting puffy clouds.

  “But the sunlight is real—channeled down from the surface,” he said. “The air is also circulated from above. This is my neighborhood’s central park. The entrance to our underground home is a few miles around this path.”

  Verdante-sized paved walkways wandered through the miles of enormous park, gently rolling hills, and gigantic landscaped greenery.

  “Beautiful! Amazing!” said Antaska in the breathless voice Potat recognized as verging on culture shock.

  Must be hard to be a humanoid, thought Potat.

  She leaned farther out of M. Hoyvil’s pocket and widened her ears. Fascinating! The chirps and tweets of alien birds, the rustle of unknown creatures moving through the grass, the buzz of insects, the quiet hum of the air circulation system. And beneath that—oh no! Not them again! That humming sound was the same slow telepathic speech Potat had listened to on the space ship for a whole month! Unlike the two humanoids, Potat understood this very, very slow speech, and she found it most annoying.

  “Ccccccccccaaaaaaaaaaa….,” blasted as loud in her mind as the blare of an ancient Earth ship horn.

  Many trees at once, maybe all of them, telepathically spoke the beginning of their word for cat. Their rate of expressing about one word per hour sorely tried the patience of a creature who lived at seven times the speed of an Earth human.

  I thought the four trees on the space ship were bad, but they were nothing compared to this bunch, thought Potat. I guess I know what I’ll be doing for the whole week we spend on this planet—having a boring conversation with sentient plant life! I just hope when we get inside it’ll cut down on the volume.