“You can open your eyes now.”
Blinking, they opened their eyes and looked up to see a lush clearing with standing black obelisks at the edges. All was hazed over by a bluish mist. Due to the medallions? Certainly the intensity had eased.
The twins drank in the beauty of their surroundings. Normal colors for the gigantic tree ferns, crawling white parasitic vines, black rocky outcroppings, the sky. Vega! The pale blue star hung almost directly over head, appearing at this distance about twice the size of their home star, Alsafi, which was a medium-sized yellow-orange star. An obloid, not a sphere.
They exchanged a glance, unable to speak as yet, then spied the other's medallion. Each looked down at their own. It was completely black with a slightly indented center piece. Carved? It did not seem mechanical, but they could cept a subtle field emanating from it. A radiation screen?
It was Story who first turned around and caught sight of the being that had spoken to them. Qe clutched qer sister's shoulder, and she, too, looked and gasped.
The being was about a foot taller than they were, but strongly insectoid. The strongest impression was that it resembled a giant dragonfly. The Odonata had been imported to Draco and other Terra-like planets to help manage indigenous insect populations. On Draco they had adapted beautifully, forming a perfect balance with the new Human populations and other species in the ecosystem of the planet. But the dragonflies that the Rentclifv twins knew and loved were a little larger than the size of their hands spread open.
The being hovered, wings a blur. The twins remembered from their school studies of biology that the Odonata had two pairs of wings. These could be maneuvered independent of each other, and so had afforded them spectacular flight skills, their wings able to move so fast that they seemed to hang motionless in the air. This creature hung in the air like that.
But it wasn't completely insectoid. Instead of an exoskeleton, it had a skin covering with hard plates in places. It wore several woven sashes, decorated with the jewel-like cases of tiny insects. The torso was long and in two sections, the larger barrel-chest, and a long, tapering abdomen section on which were attached short legs that rather seemed an afterthought. The twins would soon learn that the legs were for perching and never walking or running. On the other hand, the being had much longer arms, also a hybrid of insect and humanoid. The fuzz on the arms seemed more feathery than furry.
More prominent was the head, about one-third the size of the chest section. Like the Odonata, the head was mostly covered by two compound eyes that wrapped around so the being would have almost 360 degree vision. There was nothing that was like a nose, but the rest of the skin-covered face prominently featured a mouth that was somewhat triangular, with flaps instead of lips. It was open right now, curved startlingly into a smile, revealing very sharp, serrated teeth.
“You really don't have wings,” that mouth said in that same, soft sibilant version of Englang. “And your optical organs...” As it spoke, it gestured dramatically with its slender, seven-fingered “hands” that were almost skeletal.
To their shock, they realized the being was nervous, if not a little scared, by their own appearance. Cory was aware her own heart, and probably her qother's, was beating very fast. “How can you speak our language?” she asked, looking up, blinking at the iridescent compound eyes.
“That's—” The being blinked also, a membrane moving down over the faceted eyes before disappearing again. It touched a diamond-shaped design on one of the sashes crossing over its body. “This is a translator. Well, it enables us to emit your speech patterns, I should say. I am actually speaking, though our primary communication is visual.” It wiggled its digits again. A signed language?
As the being was obviously not hostile toward them, the children began to relax minutely. “Can I touch one of your wings?” Cory asked, intensely curious.
It blinked again. “I shall have to analyze. The surfaces are sensitive to certain substances.”
“Really, Cory, that was kind of rude,” Story muttered. To the being, qe bowed. “I am Vestor Rentclifv, but you can call me Story. What's your name?”
To their surprise, the creature bowed back, but in a long, exaggerated motion as if it was a courtier from an ancient court in Europe in Terra's history. “I am Xiel-qoran-el,” it replied, smiling again. “I realize you have many, many questions. I will explain everything as best I can, but you might be more comfortable in an enclosure.”
“I have a zillion questions,” Cory stated flatly. “Call me Cory. I'll be calling you Xiel because the whole thing is too long. I don't see an enclosure around here, and I'm not going anywhere with you until we get a few more answers.”
“Cory...” Story waved at qer sister, but she ignored qer.
“Very well,” Xiel-qoran-el replied, again gesturing.
“So, you knew we were coming here?” Cory snapped. It bothered her tremendously that this thing, even with some sort of universal translator — which she knew well was something that usually had to be programmed — could speak their language. That didn't add up with Slimy sending them to yet another universe not Alpha. To her knowledge, only Crater was able to listen to a few sentences of a spoken language and immediately begin to learn the language on the fly. But even he needed exposure to another language to do that. “Are you a he or a she or a qe? And could you please come down to our level? My neck's getting stiff!”
“Cory, really, we need its help,” Story broke in, exasperated. “How can we get its cooperation if we treat it this badly?”
But Xiel was already settling down onto one of the black rocks beside them. The four wings shook, then they stilled, shimmering and iridescent in the bright light of Vega. “Since it's clear that you did not come here of your own accord,” Xiel responded, sounding a bit amused. “I don't mind how you are to me. I have responded to your third inquiry and I will attempt to answer the first two. First of all, yes, we wondered if you might come here. We were able to monitor your activities since you first appeared in what you call Hendor Universe. How we are able to do that will need more in-depth explanation later. As for your second question, I'm guessing it has something to do with a gender role? My species, by your designation, would be classified as having three genders. The role I would take in reproductive cycles would be as... hmm, I suppose you could say I am a 'second planter'. Since you only have one such role in the cycle of your species, then you would consider me a male, I suppose.”
The children's eyes widened at that. Planter? Oh, that means... “We understand,” Story said abruptly, turning pink. “You can see into another universe? Then you must be a High telepath!”
“Telepath...” Xiel considered the term. “I don't think we're telepaths like you think. We cannot send thought or transport mentally. I don't know what powers you refer to, I guess. What we can do is look across the membrane between universes. You have the power of perception? We were alerted to your presence when you appeared in what you are calling Hendor. We've been monitoring our planet in several other universes for sometime… well, not all of us.” He smiled again. “There's only a small select group of Xandee who have this power. That's what we call ourselves. Our planet is Xanda and we are Xandee. We call our universe Xost.”
“You've been watching Vriesia?” the twins said together.
The smile deepened, and with the serrated teeth, appeared more like an evil grin, though they could sense nothing sinister from the Xandee. “For decades,” Xiel replied. “That's why our translator can understand your language, of course. It's designed using the Vriesian's database. We feel a bit of kinship to them, naturally, sharing a planet.”
The Vriesians — like the Andromedea's Chief Science Officer, Major Veladassar abe Ti — were Humanoid but could only live near the poles. That group of Humanoids, evolving on Vriesia over many hundreds of thousands of years, was one of the four Origin populations to have been discovered. It was believed that various Origin Species had come from another
galaxy, establishing populations in a one-time colonization effort on Terra, Vriesia, Eson, Hgun —planets who would one day colonize others and then form the United Star Communities.
“They don't really look like you,” Cory murmured. “So you know all about the USC, then. And you probably know about Dracons and everything.”
“True, they don't resemble us much,” Xiel admitted with a surprising noise like a chuckle. “We don't have all that much in common. They have no spoken language, but have a gestural language. We have both. Because our vision is so acute, we use gestures probably more than the verbal. Actually, our little group has learned to speak your language in the hope that we could one day make a connection with one of the species that visit Vriesia. We use our voices more for, well, singing.”
“The Vriesians are telepaths,” Story observed. “Though most are low telepaths.”
“We inferred that,” Xiel replied. “It was one of our greatest puzzles for a long time, their body language. Then it was decided that facial expressions which did not accompany gestures had to reflect a mental state... thought or even thought-transmission.”
Cory was still bursting with questions, but suddenly she had a more urgent need. “I'm thirsty,” she blurted out. “And I have to go to the bathroom.” She scowled; there was absolutely no chance of a bathroom here.
“Oh, Cor,” Story whispered, but qe stood up. “Sorry, Xiel, but I'm afraid I'm in the same state as my sister. Do you have, er, a bathroom somewhere?”
The Xandee blinked rapidly four times. “We will go to the Center for sustenance since of course you probably don't hunt... but we have no rooms for personal hygiene. We use the forest for elimination.”
“Oh, shit, well, I can do that!” Cory snapped, jumping up and pointing away from the clearing. “I'm going that way. Nobody follow me!”
“Cory, don't say that,” Story muttered, referring to the one swear word they'd heard their mother use often. “I'll go this way.” As qer sister stalked off into the forest of tree ferns, qe started in the opposite direction.
“Ah...” Xiel started to say, but closed his mouth. He was at a loss of what to say. Despite all their preparations and even after observing the children in the force field bubble near their star, he hadn't been prepared for the real thing. But he would admit to continued fascination for these amazing young beings.
He touched another diamond shape on one of his sashes. It came away in his hand, then with a few more deft touches it expanded in size until it was about half his height. An image appeared on it, another Xandee, also wearing the colorful sashes and decorations. The other Xandee signed an inquiry: (“Honorable Xiel-Qoran-el, did you make contact with the wingless ones?”)
Xiel smiled and signed back: (“They are full of questions but do not seem to be afraid of us. Fortunately, I think they will come with me to the Center. I have water for them, but they will need food. They do not hunt, you know.”)
The other tilted his head in agreement. (“It's incredible that after all this time, someone from that universe actually came here! Well, I'll come to you now, then. So everything is all right, Honorable?”)
Xiel made the same head gesture. (“It's fine, Zanil. Though there has not been any evidence yet of the other entities. I don't yet know if they came or not.”)
(“Be mindful, Honorable,”) the one named Zanil signed back.
(“I will.”) Xiel's digits flicked over the device, which collapsed. He pressed it back onto the woven surface of the sash.
*
After taking care of qer hygiene, Story leaned back against the rough surface of a tree fern. Feeling a pang of homesickness, qe reached out a hand to the nearest ground fern, but of course the fronds made no response.
Vestor... came a soft voice from within his mind.
The qild straightened. “Prater, you're still here?” Qe realized qe had only dimly felt the cybernism since they were transported to this dimension and Prater hadn't once even thought at qer. Qe thought qe should think about that some more, but there was just too much going on to indulge in contemplation. “Are you all right?”
This level of existence will not be possible much longer, the weak thought continued. Are you all right? This isn't making you sick?
Story wasn't feeling all that great, but qe'd assumed it was because qe was hungry. “I just need to eat. The Xandee will find something we can eat, I'm sure. Don't worry!” But he was worried. How can Prater still be Linked to me, anyway? qe wondered, frowning. This isn't right!
It was highly likely they were going to lose Prater before they could return to Alpha Universe. And what impact that could have on Story's mind, qe did not want to think about. I can't deal with this right now!
Qe pushed off from the tree and started off to return to the clearing.
Cory bounded back into the clearing from the other direction just as qe arrived. “Whew, that's better!” she said enthusiastically, waving at her twin. “Now for dinner!” She looked around at the undergrowth along the edge of the clearing, curious.
“I cannot allow you to sample any fruit or other edibles without testing,” Xiel admitted, gesturing to her. “In a moment a colleague of mine will arrive, then we can all go to Center Cone. It's our main research facility. There I can determine which of our foodstuffs should be safe for you. Meanwhile, here is some purified water.” He held out a metal cylinder that he produced from where it had hung on a braided cord strung somewhere under his sashes. “It's plain water, all additional mineral content removed.”
“Oh, yeah,” Cory said happily, accepting it from him. She opened the flip-top and immediately drank. It was rather tasteless — probably distilled — but it was water. She took a long swig, then passed it over to Story. “Thanks, Xiel!”
Just then they heard the whirring of an approaching Xandee. The twins looked up in wonder and watched as another of the dragonfly people zipped into the clearing and stopped abruptly, hovering. The Xandee bowed its head, but the twins felt it was more a gesture of curiosity than politeness.
“This is Vestor and Vestor Rentclifv,” Xiel introduced them, gesturing in his language as he spoke aloud. “They prefer to be called Story and Cory. Children, this is my associate Zanil-nilox-el. Since you like to truncate names, you may call him Zanil.”
To the twins' surprise, the new Xandee turned its head away from them, and faced Xiel directly, raising the long-digit hands and holding them over its eyes. Because the digits were so thin, they didn't really hide the eyes. The mental emanation that the twins picked up was one of embarrassment and profound respect toward Xiel. The newcomer did not speak, but instead made a sort of trilling sound that Cory thought was really pretty.
Xiel gestured quickly to his colleague. “Forgive him,” he said hastily. “Zanil-nilox-el is shy... and is acknowledging with his hand gesture that I am his superior. I think he's overwhelmed by meeting you at last.” He smiled his wide, toothy grin. “This is indeed a historic time for us! Zanil, get yourself together and greet the children.”
“It's okay, we don't bite,” Cory said with a smirk. “Hi, I'm Cory. So Xiel is a big gun around here, eh? Nice; I thought he was just the bravest one!”
Zanil blinked, and turned again to his superior. But he chose to speak aloud through the translator. “Honorable, I don't understand this being's reference to a weapon. Surely you did not threaten them?”
“No, no, she only means that you're an important person, a leader?” Story interrupted, giving qer sister an eye roll. “Are you in charge of that Center Cone, then?”
Xiel tilted his head. “I am... and if you could, because of the obvious limitations of the translator, please refrain from using the vernacular. Remember that it's based on the version of Englang that the Vriesians use.”
“Yeah, Cor, remember that one time when you called a Vriesian fleet officer a jopper?” Story murmured.
“Oh, ha, yeah, that was embarrassing,” Cory said, pinking.
&
nbsp; “You called a Vriesian a rotten-smelling aquatic animal?” Xiel asked, blinking.
“No, no!” Cory laughed nervously. “A jopper on Draco is a great little tree frog with attitude! I just thought this particular Vriesian had a sense of humor that reminded me of those playful frogs. I didn't know that on Vriesia a jopper was a kind of fish that is one of the worst-smelling species on record, heh!”
“I'm amazed that you were able to create a translator based only on your observations of Vriesia,” Story admitted. “They don't have a spoken language either.”
“But Humans have lived on the land portions of Vriesia for a hundred of your years,” Xiel explained. “Speaking Englang, of course. We have observed both species. A remarkable culture of interspecies harmony which we Xandee have found inspiring. As our own species ventures more and more into outer space exploration, we intend to take that culture as model to shape our own interactions with other sentient species.” He made a quick flick of digits that Story thought was a sort of a shrug. “At least that is our dream.”
He glanced skyward. “Xan is setting... so we should get to the Center now.”
“Aren't you hungry, too? What do you eat, plants?” Cory burst out abruptly.
The elder Xandee, who had lifted from his rock perch to hover again, bent his head toward the girl. “No, we do not eat plants,” he explained. “Later, when you take your rest, we will hunt. I suspect you would find the experience distasteful.”
Story elbowed qer sister. “Come on, Cor, if they're really like the dragonflies they resemble, they're predators. They eat other insects.”
“Oh...” Cory turned white.
“How are we getting to the Center?” Story asked, peering up at the Xandee.
“We shall carry you... and though we tend to fly rather fast and make sharp moves, I assure you we will fly slow and straight.”
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