Dreaming of Ayama

by K. A Knight

  I reach the desk in the middle of the room, but before I can touch anything, the alien darts forward and waves his hand across what I thought was just the metal of the desk. It lights up, showing weird looking letters and numbers. It looks like a keyboard, it glows blue and is a touchscreen, but with no actual keys. It curves around most of the desk and I can’t make out what any of it means.

  The alien barks out a noise, grabs a chair, and places me in it, before patting the top of my head like an obedient pet before scooting into his own chair and starting to type. Three screens appear, like holo projectors above the desk, and I watch in awe at the technology.

  It continues its weird barking, growling language as it types almost too fast for me to see. A word appears on the screen, looking like random letters, and the alien looks at me. I shake my head in confusion and it frowns. Leaning forward, it scrolls on the holo and another word appears. I shake my head again and the alien keeps going, showing me more words. I have just lost hope when I recognize one—Earth.

  I jump up and down, almost clapping my hands. “That’s us, that’s Earth!” I shout, and the alien looks from me to the screen before pressing on the word.

  A small image of my planet from space appears in the top left, before lots of information in what I’m guessing is its language scrolls across the screen. It seems to take it all in, clicking and grunting to itself before jumping up and starting to search the room. I follow its progress as it picks things up before growling and discarding it, throwing it over its shoulder to a rapidly growing pile in the middle of the room. When it’s done, it growls, kicking at its bed before grabbing its obviously injured foot and hopping on one leg, its cat eyes narrowed on the offending object. A giggle slips out and its head cranes around until it sees me. Once it spots me laughing it straightens, letting go off its leg, and tries to grin at me. I look away and it doesn’t think I notice when it throws the bed one more narrow eyed look before hobbling back over to its chair. It grunts before typing again, and on the screen in front of me appears a box. I look over at the other screen to see the same box. He nods at me and then to the keys, before showing me. It types in its language on its box and I watch in awe as it translates into English in mine.

  My mouth goes slack-jawed and I look from the alien to the screen, we can communicate?

  “My name is Nidolak, you are Effie?”

  I squeal, leaning closer to the keys to type, when I groan at the still alien language, it leans closer and looks at the keys before making a choking sound. When I look over, I see a blue blush covering its cheeks before it turns away and quickly types something on the other screen. The keys change beneath my fingers to English, and when I look at the alien, he doesn't look at me. Is he…embarrassed?

  “Thank you, my name is Effie,” I type, and it translates into his box on his screen. He flashes his fangs again and I concentrate on the box on my screen.

  “Beautiful name, you come from Earth? You are a long way from home? How did you get here? This is a level one classified colony planet.”

  “We crashed—please, I need your help. Have you found any other survivors? I need to find my family. I need to find my father.”

  It looks over at me, its mouth tugging down before it types faster.

  “I saw footsteps on the shore, but I did not follow them, it is possible it could be another of your kind. I also received word from command that they had found the downed ship and were searching for survivors. If your people are out there then we will find them.”

  SURVIVOR LOG 0001

  Date: Unknown

  Mission: 43, Colony

  Ship: Dawnbreaker

  Location: Unknown Planet.

  We found the remains of the Dawnbreaker yesterday. To say it has been a crazy ride since the crash would be an understatement. My men are still missing, and an alien is staring at me as I write this.

  I guess I just needed to get my thoughts down and in order. So much has happened that I don’t even know how to process it…and maybe keeping this log will help me remember everything, or at least let people know what happened to us if the worst was to occur. I still don’t know why we crashed other than the rebellion, The Saviours, was to blame. But I’m not sure how they managed it or where the half-finished transmission I found in the Dawnbreaker bridge ties in. Who were they trying to warn us against?

  Anyway, I guess that’s a problem for another time. Today...today I will find my friends. Barrott, Cain, Eldon, and Auden. Then I will find Effie and Howard, there has to be a way to track their pod along with any other survivors. The alien is standing now, I guess it’s time to move on.

  - Indy, signing off.

  Ground Day Two

  Panting from exhaustion, I watch the back of the alien as it jumps and twists through the forest ahead of me. Wide-eyed, I gasp when it scurries up a tree then flings itself over a massive hole in the ground. Not even breathing heavily, it crouches on the other side and stares at me. Its head tilts to the side as its tongue darts out again.

  “Frenndd,” it calls, with more clicking and grunting at the end. I look from it to the hole and then the tree. Spaceballs, well, should I say ground balls now? How the hell am I supposed to get across that? The thought of my guys being in trouble is what gets me going.

  Muttering to myself, I look around and spot a log to the side, so I wander over to it. It crosses the hole and seems steady enough. I place my foot on it and wait to see if it will hold my weight. When it doesn't snap, I step my other foot onto it. I freeze when I hear a snap. Fuck.

  Throwing myself backwards, I land on my ass on the ground as the log falls into the hole, broken. A weird high-pitched grunting has me looking at the alien. Its tail lashes the ground as it smacks it, and the grunting is coming from it. Is it... laughing?

  Great, not only am I stuck with an alien, but an asshole alien too. I flip him off, even though he won't know what it means, and climb to my feet. He watches me, then flips up his first finger at me. My mouth drops open, did he just swear at me?

  Looking around again, I trudge over to the tree he used. I jump and try to climb on the lowest branch, but it’s too tall. I keep jumping, hoping to catch it. The air above me moves and before I know, it the alien is clutching me to its back as it swings across the hole. Swallowing my initial scream of surprise, I let the feeling of flying burst across me. Laughing as we glide through the air, I drop to my feet on the other side. It’s over too soon, and I’m left staring at the alien with my grin fixed firmly in place. He flashes his fangs, pushing his lips apart, obviously trying to mimic me. It ends up looking like he wants to take a bite out of me, but it's the thought that counts.

  He grunts at me and then turns, before pouncing through the leaves and trees. Grimacing, I follow him. I forgot how annoying sweat and dirt can be. It’s sticking to my skin, making me dream of my shower onboard. I’m trying not to think of the ship, or Effie and Howard, because if I concentrate on everything that has gone wrong and give in to my worry, I won’t be able to move. And right now, my guys need me, and I can imagine that the rest of my family are safe somewhere. Pushing out a breath, I focus on one step after the next.

  The ground is weirdly squishy beneath my boots, not like the hard packed soil of Earth. The plants and flowers seem to be alive, moving and climbing around the trees and ground. The noise of the forest is so unique, with bird songs and animals hunting. But it all sounds so different, the noises are almost lyrical, like they are singing. It’s beautiful, in its own alien way.

  Following after the alien, I allow my mind to wander. I spin theories of their race and world, wondering if there is more life out there that we haven't discovered yet. Surely the governments and leaders of Earth would have told us if they found proof of alien life. I always thought the idea was possible, after all, there are millions upon millions of planets out there. We can’t be the only planet with life, and now, watching the tail of the alien in front of me move tree branches out of its way, I know we aren’t. A
lthough my emotions are running high and I'm scared for my men, I can appreciate how much of an amazing discovery this is.

  No doubt if any other humans found them, they would dissect them and experiment on them until they figured out how they work. The thought makes me sad, since they almost seem sentient. Like part of the flora and fauna on this planet itself, the trees welcome it, the flowers watch it, and the animals follow it.

  Something darts towards me, making me yelp and jump in the air. My stalker cat licks my leg before darting back to hide in the trees. Squinting, I try to make out where it is, but its fur helps it hide. Great, at least he hasn't left me.

  “Frenndd,” the alien grunts at me.

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.” I start walking again and it turns back around. “I have got to teach you some more words,” I say to its retreating form.

  “So, where are we going? Do you know who took my friends?” It ignores me as it swings over logs, which I have to climb over.

  Thirty minutes later, with sweat pouring down my face, I try to get it to stop.

  “Please, just give me a second” It ignores me again, and starting to get angry, I pick up a rock and throw it. It bounces harmlessly off its back, but the alien whirls around, fangs flashing. Hissing, it scans the area before landing on me, where I smile and try to look innocent. It straightens from its crouch and approaches me. The alien stops before me, towering above me.

  It grunts and clicks at me, gesturing around. I watch it with my eyebrows raised before it slowly shut ups. It stares at me, and I stare back. Okay, this is awkward. I really need to stop calling it ‘it’ and ‘alien.’ I point at myself and say, “Indy.” Then, I point at it and wait.

  Its neck twists in a horrifying way as it cranes around, looking behind it, before looking back at me. So, that didn’t work. Looking around for inspiration, I groan before looking back at the alien. Smacking my chest, I try again. “Innddyy,” I drawl out and gesture at it. It looks at me again.

  “In-dy,” I repeat, and then smack its chest lightly. It jumps back and hisses at me. Friend it gets, but names are hard?

  I point at it, and say, “Friend,” and then point at my chest, and state, “Indy.”

  Its head tilts again before it hits its chest and grunts out a couple of noises, then mumbles, “Frend.”

  Right. Blinking at it, I try to come up with a solution.

  “Well, Fred it is. So, Fred, where are we going?”

  I start walking and Fred falls in next to me, throwing me looks as it walks. Eventually it must just decide to ignore me and starts leading again. The trees break up ahead as light streams in, and seeing this, I grin and speed up. At the treeline, I gawk at the sight before me.

  Two moons, one large and one small, hang in the air, glowing down on the aliens in front of me. Ranging from smaller than me and bigger than Fred here, in an array of different colours, at least twenty aliens stop what they were doing and stare at me. All with that unblinking look I’ve gotten from Fred.

  “Er, hi?”

  They all start grunting that weird language again as they burst into movement. I flinch as they come towards me, but Fred stops next to me, halting them. I swing my head from it to them as Fred speaks.

  One steps forward, a deep navy blue with white spotting, and bigger than Fred with a mean looking face. He stops in front of me and watches me the way you would an animal. His hand lifts, to do what I don't know, but my cat stalker takes this as its cue to jump out. He leaps in front of me and snarls at the big man, before pushing back into my legs, making me stumble back a few steps.

  I swear I hear grunts of surprise, but I know for sure I do when I drop my hands to the cat’s fur and soothe him. All the aliens watch me as the cat purrs and winds around my legs. It's my turn to look from Fred to the big guy again. A wave of murmurs runs through the crowd as they point at me.

  Fred and the big one converse as I watch, and before I know it I’m being ushered, without being touched thanks to my cat defense wall, through the crowd. They part from me, some try to reach out and touch my hair, while others watch me in what I am guessing is awe?

  I’m even more confused, but I follow Fred.

  It leads me over to a sitting area and points from me to a log, nodding my understanding, I roll my eyes and plop down. The cat jumps up next to me and puts its head in my lap, Fred recoils at this before bowing his head. Without taking his eyes off the floor, Fred scurries backwards and disappears into the crowd that is still watching me.

  And I thought this day couldn’t get any weirder.

  “Well, Stalker, it looks like you are some sort of alien repellent,” I mutter, continuing to stroke the big cat’s head. “I really should give you a name.” I watch the aliens as they all huddle in a big circle, seemingly having a meeting right there and then.

  “How about Stal? Like short for Stalker? No? Okay. How about… Ker?” The cat purrs at this, “Ker, it is”

  “Psst!”

  I sit up straight, my hand stilling as I try to figure out whether I’m hearing things.

  “Psst!”

  Looking around, I frown when I don’t see anything, then something hits my head, making me rub it and look towards the sky. Shouting in surprise, I fall off the log and ungracefully land on the ground. The alien, huddle? Herd? Flock? Who the fuck knows, but they all turn to me at once as I stare from the humans hanging in baskets in the tree, to the confused looking aliens.

  Cain’s head peeks out through a wood slot, making my eyes bulge.

  “Hey guys, it’s Indy!”

  There's a commotion in the cages as Barrott rushes forward and elbows people out of the way in the same basket as Cain. Eldon and Auden do the same in the other cage, until all my men are staring down at me.

  “What the fuck?” I yell.

  Fred scurries forward, and crouches in front of me.

  “Frennd?” Fred asks.

  “No shit, Fred!”

  “Fred, really, you named the alien?” Barrott comments incredulously.

  “I think there are more pressing matters at the moment!” My voice is getting higher and higher, as the aliens shuffle around.

  “Get them down,” I tell Fred. It looks from me to the aliens before speaking to them.

  The cages lower, until all the humans spill out onto the ground. Barrott is instantly on his feet, but three aliens appear and point to the logs. Warily he sits, his eyes moving over everything, assessing. I stand up and face the talking aliens before looking over at my men.

  “You are all stupid, and in so much trouble, and you’re welcome.” I grin.

  “Indy,” Barrott growls and I smirk.

  “Nope, you don’t get to act all bossy when you all went into the big, dark forest I told you not to, and got kidnapped by aliens,” I reply, keeping my smile firmly in place.

  “Indy.” He sounds pained and amused, and when I follow his gaze, I turn back around to see the aliens all watching me again. Awkward.

  Raising my hand, I wave, and the alien at the front flicks its tail back and forth faster. I start to panic when it stays silent. “Er-hi, that’s a nice tail, grew it yourself?” I inquire and choked laughter comes from behind me. Turning and ignoring me, which I don't blame them, the aliens start talking to each other again.

  “Hey, how come Indy didn't get caged?” Cain questions, as he lounges next to Barrott.

  “Because I’m awesome,” I declare, as the humans sit. Their eyes wide and fearful. There must be at least ten others here, I’m guessing from other ships. Feeling silly sitting on the ground, I get to my feet and dust off my ass.

  “So, what's the plan now, Fred?” I address my alien buddy, only to shout when a man rushes from the humans and pulls a knife. With a yell, he leaps at Fred. Fuck!

  I jump, knocking into the man, and we both fall sideways onto the ground. I scramble to get the knife before standing and glaring at the man.

  “Why did you stop me? They attacked us!” he shouts. I continue to l
ook down at him, still holding the knife.

  “So your great plan was to attack them? One man against at least twenty aliens. I don't know if you have noticed, but they are bigger and stronger than us! Oh, and we are on their planet!” I finish on a shout, before turning to check on Fred. When I do I drop the knife in shock. All the aliens watch me, before crouching on their knees with their head bowed, and a fist over their stomach.

  “Spaceballs” I mutter.

  “Indy,” Barrott growls. Really, I don't know how he can convey so much emotion in just one word, it’s a talent for sure.

  “Yeah, yeah, I know. I fucked up,” I mutter.

  Ground Day Two

  “Indy, what have you done?” comes Barrot’s growl, but I daren’t move my eyes from the kneeling aliens.

  “I don't know!” I yell.

  “Fred?” I call, addressing the alien who kneels in front of me. He bows his head farther. “Erm, okaaay, any advice?” I question the humans behind me.

  “Why don’t you play duck, duck goose?” Cain suggests, and I can’t stop myself from giggling.

  “Yo, alien dudes!” I shout, and they all lift their heads.

  “Alien dudes?” Eldon or Auden repeats, sounding like they are holding back laughter.

  They all stand slowly and Fred grins at me, doing that creepy flashing teeth thing, which has all the humans gasping. “Yeah, that’s their version of a smile,” I inform them.

  Fred moves forward and starts talking, his hands moving as he does, and I nod and make understanding noises and he steps back with an expectant smile.

  “Erm, what did it say?” one of the other humans inquires.

  “Not a freaking clue, could have been, ‘do you want sauce with that or now we will eat you all.’ Hard to tell.” I shrug.

  Fred frowns, obviously realising I did not understand a word he said. He looks at the other aliens and they have a quick conversation.