by S A Pavli
“Sorry about that,” she said.
“I’m not,” I smiled at her and leaned over to nibble a soft fragrant neck.
“Be careful of my tentacles,” she said.
“Your telepathic disguise is very good,” I said. “They hardly show.”
I mulled over the problem during the next few days. If I could persuade the Hianja Council to simply send a few giant Hianja starships to Earth and announce themselves, that would definitely do the trick. But they stubbornly insisted that if Earth did not want contact, they were not going to intrude. How polite of them.
Our Hianja passengers all began to thrive on the better rations, particularly the children. We were faced with a dozen unruly youngsters trying to explore a starship that was not designed to accommodate them. The ship had cavernous spaces which often had no proper access, no protected gangways, stairs or walkways. One could walk along a passage with a sheer drop on one side and bare electronic machinery on the other. The adults had to be organised to look after the children and keep them occupied and soldier robots were brought into service to patrol the gangways and ensure the children did not go to places they should not.
But the ship did feel a different place with people and children buzzing around. I decided teaching the children soccer may help to keep them out of trouble. Two ‘five a side’ teams were recruited and the elements of the game imparted. A football of sorts was manufactured. The results were happy mayhem. Even the adults decided to take part, with each village forming its own team. I found myself acting as adjudicator, instructor and referee. Soccer has arrived in the Hianja Federation!
Manera had collected samples of the planet’s ecology and kept herself busy analysing and recording. The planet had a good climate and there was no reason why it could not be settled.
The trip therefore passed quickly and the day arrived when we dropped out of Hyperspace and our passengers were able to look at their new home. Other than Jensa, none of them had seen anything like it of course, and they were goggle eyed with disbelief. There was no question that they would need a long period of education and acclimatisation before they could become useful citizens of the Federation.
We were contacted by Krusniet and Kemato who congratulated us on our achievements. They were immensely relieved to have been proved correct about the Peacekeppers. Jansec and his dissident supporters within the Council had been silenced by the events that had unfolded on the Peacekeepers planet. But what to do about Earth still divided them.
“We will talk when you arrive,” promised Krusniet.
“Talk is the currency of politicians,” I said to Manera later, when we were back in our apartment. I knew Krusniet was a principled guy and would try to do what he promised, but I felt we had been betrayed by the politicians of both our species.
“If it was up to Krusniet alone, contact would proceed tomorrow, whether Earth wanted it or not,” she said.
“I know. But they are not all like Krusniet,” I said.
“Perhaps Jansec can swing things,” she said. “Lanatra is on our side.”
“Ah. Behind every great man, there is a great woman,” I said. I had no idea where the saying came from, or even if I was pronouncing it correctly.
“Stabbing him in the back?” she asked.
“Pulling the strings perhaps?” I suggested. We both chuckled at our mutual cynicism. “Although I suspect it’s the other way around in the Hianja Federation.”
“And don’t you forget it,” she said firmly.
“Earth men will never be subjugated,” I said bravely.
“I think I shall now proceed to demonstrate the Hianja wrestling death lock on you, just to show you who your master is.”
“The Hianja wrestling death lock? Pah! No problem for a…” I never got to finish the sentence as she put both arms around me and pulled me down on the bed, straddled me and pushed her breasts in my face.
“Are you sure that’s the Hianja wrestling death lock?” I asked voice muffled by her plump mounds.
“That’s what my wrestling instructor told me,” she said. “Do you surrender?”
“Er, no… that’s okay. I’ll just stay here for a bit,” I said.
“Yeah, that’s what he said,” she laughed.
We passed the time with a few more so called Hianja wrestling lessons until the announcement was made that the ship was in orbit. The Lisa Jane was still in orbit and it seemed a good idea at this point to fly the shuttle over and re-install Alfred back into the Lisa Jane. Manera and I decided to do this and then take a flyer down to our original accommodation later.
We bid goodbye to our new friends and wished them the best of luck. Jensa and her grandson bid us a warm goodbye and Jensi suggested a visit to Earth to see some real soccer, which provoked enthusiastic cheers and laughter. There was warmth and friendship aplenty, and I confess, at times I was almost in tears. Those poor people had been released from a life of suffering and they could still hardly believe what was happening. I promised to visit them again before returning to Earth.
Jansec and Lanatra came to see us off, and Lanatra gave me a long and intimate hug and a broad smile, which I thought was a very good omen for future human and Hianja relations. I wasn’t sure that Manera saw it in the same light though. I expressed my great respect to Homalatonens crew, the engineering team and Colrania and her engineers for the magnificent job they had done and got a warm hug from Colrania and a hope that we would meet again, which I reciprocated.
Finally, Manera and I were in the cockpit of the Epsilon.
“Phew, that was very emotional,” I said.
“Yes, but happy emotional,” she said. “I am so pleased for the settlers. The trip was worth it just to liberate them.”
“It was. It’s an indication of the callousness of the Pramasticon and its allies that they were prepared to inflict such suffering.”
“They were not up to killing them, but it seemed all right to abandon them to a primitive life of pain and deprivation,” said Manera with a grim expression.
“Not very different from much of Human and Hianja history,” I said. “Someone else’s suffering is not your concern.” She nodded soberly.
“Alfred, are we all systems go, as they say in the movies?”
“We are Paul. A little low on fuel, but it’s a short trip.” The Epsilon’s fusion rockets used water as the fuel, so topping up was not a problem.
“A more than successful trip don’t you think?”
“Indeed. It was touch and go for a little while, but we prevailed.”
“Thanks to your little viral friends. I think the Hianja Federation owe you a debt of gratitude. Perhaps they should put up a statue of you or something?”
“A commemorative plaque perhaps,” he suggested. I chuckled and Manera joined me. Alfred was definitely developing a sense of humour.
“A statue of you and Manera would be more appropriate,” said Alfred. “Honouring your contribution to Human Hianja relations.”
“In a Hianja wrestling death grip?” I suggested. Manera tried unsuccessfully to suppress her laughter.
“I don’t see the significance of that,” said Alfred.
“Ah sorry Alfred, just a personal joke between us,” I said.
“Yes. I can imagine the context,” said Alfred with that superior disapproval that English butlers do so well. Manera and I tried to repress our laughter. Alfred may be a computer but it seemed rude to offend him.
We completed our systems checks and fired up the manoeuvring jets to ease the shuttle out of the Settang’s bay. Once clear Alfred applied the main engines and the shuttle swooped away from the giant starship. The Lisa Jane was still berthed in the Ensadis shuttle bay and we made rendezvous with the Hinja starship in just a few minutes. She was berthed near a giant orbital Space station. The sky was dotted with starships, shuttles and maintenance craft, a busy port scene but not one that ancient sailors could have imagined.
It was, bizarrely, not allowed for ships to
use the AI pilot for close quarter manoeuvring and I had to relieve Alfred in order to bring the Epsilon into the Ensadis shuttle bay next to the Lisa Jane. The Captain and crew of the Ensadis were enjoying some shore leave so we waited for our lift back to Hian. This was a Hianja Tanseh which docked in the same bay so we could just walk across and board it. It had a pilot, a burly red head male who clearly had no idea who I was and almost completely ignored us, other than a cursory greeting. The on board computer took over once we were clear of the Ensadis, but the pilot kept his own council until we landed on the huge government building, then he gave us a curious look, and suddenly a comical expression of enlightenment spread across his face.
“You are the alien,” he said, his eyes wide.
“Correct. Thank you for the lift,” I said, with an amiable grin.
“And I thought it was just another shuttle trip,” he said, shaking his head. “They won’t believe me.”
“I must be the most famous individual in all Hianja history,” I remarked as we exited the shuttle.
“And Earth history, when it eventually comes out,” said Manera.
“But I am very humble,” I said.
“It is your most endearing quality, how proud you are of your humbleness,” said Manera with suppressed laughter.
We were met by Krusniet and Kemato with warm hugs and effusive greetings.
“The outcome is a great relief to all of us,” said Krusniet. “And Jansec has had his nose rubbed in it.” He grinned broadly, clearly enjoying that bit. “But the Council still wants the Humans to make the first move. We have issued the invitation, they must accept.”
“I had hoped that you would send a delegation,” I said. “They can hardly ignore two or three giant alien starships in orbit around Earth.”
“We can try to persuade them,” said Kemato. “Now that we have a Peacekeeper ship that we can trust.”
“Yes, send Cora and the Settang Despass. It will scare the hell out of them initially, but Cora will have them eating out of her hand in no time.”
“We have met Cora,” said Kemato. “But we have not had a chance to become acquainted. You are impressed with her?”
“Very,” I replied. “She is the most intelligent and urbane AI that I have met. Apart from Alfred of course.”
“Thank you Paul. You’re not just saying that because I am listening?” Alfred’s plumy tones from my comm were loud enough for all of us to hear.
“Alfred, you know how scrupulously honest I am,” I said, putting some hurt into my voice.
“It goes with his humility,” said Manera, with a smile.
“Of course,” I agreed. Krusniet and Kemato looked a little baffled, but smiled anyway.
“Paul, how do you feel about working with us to persuade the Council?” asked Kemato. I did not need to think about the answer to that, but I pretended to think about it just to be polite.
“I think this is something that the Council has to decide without interference from me,” I said. “The only thing I would say, and you can quote me, is that the people of Earth have been anticipating this event for hundreds of years. Once they hear of it, they will be enthusiastically in favour. You will be inundated with human tourists believe me.” It was a cop out, I knew. But I could not face the prospect of speeches, meetings and more speeches and meetings. Krunsniet nodded, and looked genuinely understanding.
“Yes, you are right Paul. But hearing from you, after what you have done with the Peacekeepers will go down well.”
“Let’s have a compromise. I can record a speech which can be shown to the Council. Not as an official representative of Earth, but as just an Earthman. And my suggestion stands. Send a couple of starships, and the Settang, to Earth and say hello. I can promise you, the desire for good relations will be unstoppable.” Krunsniet and Kemato smiled.
“Very well Paul. We respect your wishes. Now, would you like to stay with us, or return to Earth?” This was a hard one and I looked at Manera for guidance. Alfred’s voice interrupted my deliberations.
“Paul if I may remind you. We are on an exploratory mission which was not completed. But we have enough data to return to Earth and it is our duty to do so. The planet we discovered will be a good candidate for settlement.”
“Yes, duty. That seems to be coming up a lot recently,” I sighed.
“What I was going to suggest,” continued Alfred, “Is that I can return with the Lisa Jane, and you can stay. If that is what you want.” I looked at Manera and she gave me a quizzical look in return.
“Do you want me to make the decision for you?” she asked.
“Yes. No. I don’t know. I can feel Admiral Crozier looking over my shoulder,” I said.
“You know what he would say,” she said, a smile on her face. “And I would like to see more of Earth,” she said.
And so it was decided, more by default on my part. There was no rush to return and I was able to spend a few days enjoying the pleasures of Hian. We visited our friends, the Peacekeeper ‘settlers’ who were now temporarily housed in a relatively, for Hian, remote fishing and farming community, becoming acquainted with their new lives. I prepared my speech to the Guardian Council, with some help from Manera and my Guardian friends. I resumed my disguise as an asteroid miner, to Manera’s amusement. I asked Manera if she would want to live in Hian, but she preferred her home planet.
“Too crowded here, too artificial,” she said. “I’m a frontier girl.” I would hardly call her home planet ‘frontier’. True, it had half a billion people instead of five billion, but it was certainly not lacking the civilised comforts.
But the time came inevitably when we were due to depart. We had a last evening with our three Guardian friends. Colrania and Lanatra were also invited. It was a warm and sociable evening and I began to have second thoughts about leaving. Life seemed to have become a series of arrivals and departures. But I should not bemoan my lot. Nine to five at the office or factory, it was not!
Chapter 32
The Ensadis took us part way back, and then it was just me and Manera in the Lisa Jane. Sharing the ship with Manera made me realise how lonely the Space scout’s job was. Just one more soul in the ship transformed it from an empty container, into a home. Or was it me that had changed?
I had often talked with Manera about Earth history and the differences between us. She continued to be insatiably curious about all things Human and spent much of her time searching the ship’s library for interesting material, both factual and fictional.
“Do you think Hianja are more civilised than Humans?” she asked me once.
“Depends what you mean by civilised,” I said cautiously.
“Sophisticated, respectful of others, peaceful. That sort of stuff.”
“As individuals or as a society or race?”
“Both.”
“As individuals, I think yes.” I replied. “I never saw any sign of bad behaviour or rudeness. As people you are the epitome of politeness and respect for others. Humans are more unruly and argumentative. But as a society, we have the same respect for law, democracy and human rights.”
“Do you find that boring?” she asked. “I mean all that politeness and consideration for others?”
“No, not at all. Because it’s not superficial. There is empathy there and real concern for others. I like that. Us humans could do with a bit more of that.”
“We are ten thousand years ahead of you,” she said. “At the same stage in our development as you, we were in a lot of trouble.” I remembered what she and others had told me of their history. The continuous wars and conflicts over land, religion and political ideas had almost decimated the Hianja civilisation. It seemed, during that period, that they were unable to put past conflicts and enmities behind them.
It was all brought to an end by the accidental release of the ‘pacifying’ virus by a group of feminist scientists. It had been designed to pacify males, making them willing to compromise and to reject violence. It had worked ver
y well. But an unexpected side effect was that it had changed the birth rate so less and less male children were born, until none at all were born. The species had managed to survive by storing up male sperm until a genetic solution was found. But the male sex was never the same again. Hianja males had been changed for ever, most would say for the good.
“I have great admiration for humanity,” said Manera. “You managed to do something naturally that we could not.”
“Well, it was touch and go for a time,” I said. “For three hundred years we had terrible wars in which millions died and billions suffered. We invented the technology to go to the stars, while children starved and innocent people suffered.”
But her questions were not always so serious. She was hungry to explore human art, literature and particularly music. I had to confess to being a bit of a philistine. Fifteen years studying engineering, computing and science and learning the skills of being a pilot and astronaut had left little time for the arts, to my embarrassment. Music was the exception; everyone loves music after all. So I did my best to educate her on the history of music and the diverse movements, styles and forms that had evolved over hundreds of years. I wanted her to enjoy the same kind of music as I did, but sadly her tastes were quite different. She was ecstatic over classical music and adored opera. Oh well, that is what earphones were invented for; so you don’t have to listen to your partners music!
We discussed how to proceed once we arrived. We could just report in to the SES and put ourselves into their hands. But what if they locked us both up and decided to study Manera like some laboratory animal? Surely they would not do that? Could I take the chance? The alternative was to announce our presence to the Earth’s media. But we did not have the means to do that, and they would in any case take it as a hoax. In the end I decided to go the ‘official’ route in the belief that it would be blatant stupidity to ignore a real live alien in our midst.