“Is he going to be ok?” Karen asked.
One of the attendants looked back and said “He will be fine. We can fix this. We are just waiting for a part.”
Karen thought that last part “waiting for a part” was a mistranslation, but then someone entered the room carrying what appeared to be a prosthetic leg. They motioned to Karen to step back and closed the door.
Fifteen minutes later, the door opened and Jason walked out. He was fine, and he was walking. He did have a prosthetic leg – a fully functional permanently attached prosthetic leg that looked nearly natural. These aliens had created a human compatible prosthesis in almost no time. “Impressive technology,” thought Karen.
Jason said, “Will you look at this. It’s the damndest thing.” He held out his left leg. “And I can feel everything like it was my own leg.” Then he looked at them and asked, “So what the hell just happened?”
Karen and Bishop caught him up on what little they knew, which was actually very little.
Asha entered the room and spoke. “Hello. I am Asha. I am an ambassador from Sapiea. I have been asked to serve as you as your liaison. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” responded Bishop.
“Who is the leader?” asked Asha.
“That would be me, I guess,” replied Bishop.
“Then I am assigned to you,” replied Asha. She paused for a moment, then continued, “The translator seems to be working better now. Do you agree?”
They all agreed.
She continued, “We have many questions for you. The council will want to meet with you shortly, but first let us extend our hospitality and provide proper welcome.”
She introduced them more formally to Paumi and Sava Doll. “This is Paumi. He is the designer of the translation device implanted on your neck.” Then Sava stepped forward. “This is Sava,” she continued. “He is the commander of this ship.”
Bishop asked, “So we’re on a ship?”
“Yes. You are aboard the interstellar vessel Maximus. Now, let us show you your quarters and, by the way,” she interjected, “do you need anything? Food, drink, anything?”
“I am fine” replied Bishop. “Anyone else?” he asked looking at his companions.
They all nodded they were good.
Asha escorted the three through the ship to deck eight where there were still some vacant quarters. Karen and Jason were given rooms next to each other. Bishop was given the room across from Asha’s quarters. Asha added, “The disk on your neck also gives you access to the ships computer. If you can’t find your quarters just ask CHRIS. That’s the name of the ships computer,” she added. “Just speak your questions aloud.”
Asha gave them a quick tour of their quarters, showing them the sleeping area, the personal hygiene facilities, and how the lights and door operated. They were suitable for humans. Sapiens and humans appeared to be of very similar physiologies, with only some minor cosmetic differences.
Asha said, “You will need some clothing. Especially you,” she added, pointing at Jason’s bare left foot and pants cut off at the knee.
Everyone laughed.
“You are somewhat larger than Sapiens, so we will have to manufacture your clothing. May I scan you for size?” They all nodded their heads in affirmation. Asha understood what that meant and scanned each of them with a small hand-held device. “Would you like clothing done in the style of the clothes you are wearing now, or would you like clothing of the Sapien style?”
They had seen several Sapiens now and the Sapien clothing seemed comfortable and practical. They wore loose clothing that looked like it was made from cotton. They wore shirts and pants and shoes that looked like slippers, but were as rugged as boots. Their shirts were generally long, extending several inches below the waist and worn out. They had oversized pockets on both the right on left sides and came in a variety of colors.
Jason responded first, “Surprise me. I’ll be happy with Sapien styles. They look fine.” Then he added, “Sapien, I assume that’s your species.”
“Yes,” Asha replied. “We call ourselves Sapiens. There are three species aboard this vessel: Sapiens, Dolek, and Nanda. Each is from a different world. You’ll meet the others later.”
Bishop was impressed, “Different worlds,” he thought. “I always knew it.” Then he said aloud, “Sapien clothing will be fine for me too.”
Karen added, “Why buck the trend? I’ll go native too.”
Asha thought that was an odd way to put it, but it made her laugh. Perhaps that was the point.
“Please take a few moments to relax in your quarters. Your clothing will arrive shortly. In the meantime, I’ll be here in my quarters.” She pointed to her door. “If you need me for anything, just speak my name aloud and continue. The personal disk also serves as a person-to-person communication device.”
They went into their separate rooms and got acquainted with their environment. About twenty minutes later their new clothing was delivered. They changed into fresh attire. Then Asha called them on the personal communicator. “The council would like to see you now,” she announced.
They met Asha outside their quarters and she escorted them to the council chambers. Inside the chamber was a large half-round table with five seats and a monitor. Sava sat in a chair near the center. To his left were two other Sapiens they had not yet met, and a monitor. Too his right sat a smaller teal colored alien and an empty chair.
Asha motioned them to take a seat in any of the several chairs which sat facing the table. They sat, then Asha took her seat in the empty chair at the table.
Sava stood and introduced everyone. He started at the monitor on his left. It had an image on it of what appeared to be some sort of sea creature, almost reminiscent of a cuttlefish. He said, “This is the Nanda, Dot.”
Continuing around the table he said, “These are the Sapiens Ama Sod and Dam Sha. This is the Dolek madi-tah, and of course you already know Asha.” Then he asked, “Your species, what are you called?”
“Human,” replied Bishop. We are from a planet called Earth, a planet in another galaxy called the Milky Way.”
Another galaxy, everyone thought. So there are other universes.
Sava continued, “We apologize for hijacking you. It was not our intention to capture anyone,” then Sava went on and gave them a summary of their mission, the Mahatma, and the great void and, in the end, explained how they used the gravity well generator to ‘sample’ the void and accidentally drew them into their ship.
Bishop, Karen, and Jason were amazed. They sat silent for a moment, then Bishop asked, “Can you return us to our world?”
“Unfortunately, we cannot,” Sava answered. “We used the gravity from a black hole to pierce the barrier and drew you toward the gravity. We have no idea how to reverse that process.”
This was disconcerting news, but with all that had just occurred the gravity of the situation didn’t fully sink in… yet.
Now Sava asked, “And you. What is your story?”
Bishop responded and told them about their experiment and the lab and about how they had ripped a hole in space-time. Then he got to the part about them. He explained, “We created this gap in space-time and somehow, either captured your galaxy or created it. We are unsure. Regardless, your entire universe is sitting in a containment field in my lab.”
Everyone on the council gasped. Now they were as shocked and as amazed by his story as he was by theirs. And they were concerned that their entire existence depended on this ‘sphere’ he described sitting in his lab. It was mind boggling.
Sava spoke, “Since we cannot return you, and since we were asked by the Mahatma to bring you, I see no alternative but to continue on as planned. Perhaps the Mahatma can help find a way to return you to your world.”
Bishop and the others agreed. They saw no other option. The meeting was closed and the humans were returned to their quarters.
Sava ordered a message be sent to home world. It read as follows:
beings from beyond the void. They are intelligent and friendly.
Cannot explain more. Do not fully understand, but these beings may be responsible for the origin of our universe.
Returning to Mahatma to seek answers. Not awaiting response. Returning to FTL flight now. *END
Sava ordered the ship to resume course to the star system Hail. It did not take long for the story of the three visitors to spread throughout the ship. The entire crew was confused and curious. And, as should be expected, rumors abounded about the meaning of it all. Vhamora and the creator were now being talked about openly, and even the most practical scientists could no longer dismiss the topic as mere folktale.
Eventually things settled. The crew became accustomed to the humans being on board and the humans became more comfortable with the aliens and life aboard the ship.
Bishop and Asha spent much time discussing the cultures and history of their two worlds, and were becoming fast friends. And even though they were different species, there was an occasional flirtation between them. Asha thought Bishop was not unattractive for an alien, and as aliens go, Asha was quite cute.
Jason was learning to play Bemsi and was spending time with manna-rah and the Nanda. He liked them, and he particularly appreciated the fact that alcohol was as popular with the Sapiens and Dolek as it was with humans. He and manna-rah frequently drank together.
Karen spent much of her time in the physics labs, learning about Sapien technology and the other planets they had discovered. She found the Sapiens to be warm and friendly and was enjoying their company.
Life aboard the ship had become comfortable for all. And that was good. There were still several months left before they arrived at star system Hail. They continued FTL flight.
Chapter 9: True Intentions
Gaba Dor had arrived home on Sapiea the day before and was making his report to the Council of Elders. They wanted to be prepared for the upcoming meeting with the queen and wanted to know all they could.
Abatta Hai, the council leader, said, “Gaba, please tell us all you know about the Tecate’.”
Gaba replied with a list of items. “There seem to be three types of Tecate’, black, blue, and golden colored queens. The queens are more conversive than the other Tecate’ and more intelligent. You’ll find dealing with the queen different than your interactions with the emissaries. They do seem interested in contact.
“The black Tecate’ are workers. They appear to be the labor force of Tecama and apparently act under the direction of the queen.
“The blue Tecate’ are what she referred to as drones, and serve as the queens’ guard.
“They have some industry: mining, refining, and construction, but their technology is limited and seems not to have advanced in a long time. Their facilities are old, but maintained.
“Their cities are comprised of pyramid type structures that vary in size, but are all of similar design. The pyramids are massive and strong. They are constructed from a concrete type material the Tecate’ manufacture and are reinforced with metallic girders.
“They do have massive farming operations. They harvest several types of growth but their main product seems to be this substance they call manava. The queen apparently needs this for nutrition. This comprises the supplies they insisted come along with the queen.
“As you know, the nights and days on Tecama are about two months each. During the night the Tecate’ go into some sort of state of torpor, or hibernation, and are inactive. During the day they are active the entire time. When the day-night cycle changes it seems to take them three to four days to go into the inactive state, and about the same to come out of that state.”
He added, “For us the nights were long and boring because of the inactive state of the Tecate’. Their entire society shuts down and we were pretty much left on our own with nothing to do. We explored as much as we could, but the nights were dark and they have no artificial lighting, so we stayed mostly in our quarters. ”
He continued, “It seems they stay mostly in the horizontal position. I’ve seen them stand upright only when greeting one another, or when observing something, or when interacting with us. They also appear to have affection for one another. I’ve sometimes seen them greet one another with a hug and a long embrace. The blue Tecate’ that met the returning emissaries greeted them in that manner.
“I think that summarizes most of what I know. Do you have any questions?”
“Thank you, Gabba” replied Abatta. “We actually know very little about the Tecate’, and I think this gives us more information than we had before. That should be helpful when we have our meeting with the queen.”
Gabba interjected, “Oh, one more thing. While we were on Tecama we noticed that we never saw wildlife of any kind. We were in the Tecate’ city the entire time and never went out of the city center, except when we toured the farms. It is possible there’s wildlife outside the city, but Avan and I sometimes wondered if the Tecate’ were the only animal life remaining on Tecama. We are uncertain if there is other life on that planet.”
“Thank you, Gabba. That will be all.”
*****************
The cargo ship Spracus had arrived at Tecama to pick up the queen and her supply of manava. Cargo ships were large, spacious vessels with ample storage and small crews. This ship was in a nearby system, about to load a regularly scheduled pickup, when they received the call to divert to Tecama. So the vessel was empty. The cargo ships are a much slower form of transport than passenger cruisers. Since they were nearby when they diverted, they were able to arrive in ten days. But the trip from Tecama to Sapiea was much further and would take several weeks.
Most of the interstellar vessels were designed to remain in space and received passengers and supplies only from shuttles. The cargo ships were one of the few vessels that actually landed on the surface. It was more efficient to load and unload cargo from the ground, and often the cargo was too large for a shuttle.
The Spracus called Avan Moc on the surface and requested landing coordinates. The ship would need two square acres of open, level surface to make ground. Avan informed them the Tecate’ had made space on one of their farms and were prepared to meet them there. He provided the coordinates and the ship made its descent.
When the Spracus landed they were greeted by Avan Moc and several Tecate’, including the queen and her entourage. Ten crates of manava stood by ready for loading.
Avan saw the crates and said, “We were scheduled to take only five crates of manava.”
The queen replied and said, “It would be helpful to us if we could take these.”
The captain of the Spracus looked to Avan and said, “We are empty. We were diverted before we loaded, so there’s plenty of room on the ship.”
Avan said, “Ok. I guess its fine then. Load them all.”
After loading was completed, Avan, the queen, the two blue drones, and two black worker Tecate’ boarded. They prepared for departure.
The queen said, “We have never seen this type of craft before. Would it be possible for me to observe our takeoff from the bridge?”
“I see no problem with that,” answered the captain, so they all went to the bridge. The queen watched while they made ready and lifted off. She remained there, observing until the vessel made FTL flight. Before she left she asked, “How do you land a craft this large?”
The captain said, “Oh, that’s easy. You enter the coordinates here and press the autopilot button. The ship’s computer actually lands the craft. If you don’t know the coordinates you hover over the spot you want to land and, when you press autopilot, the computer lands the ship straight down.”
“Easy,” she said as they departed. She joined her entourage in a cargo bay that had been fitted to provide more comfortable accommodations for the Tecate’ body shape. After the doors closed she stood up and embraced each of the two blue Tecate’. They, in turn, embraced t
he black Tecate’.
The Sapiens thought this action of embracing was a sign of affection. It certainly was affection when Sapiens embraced one another, but for the Tecate’ this was a form of communication. This was the additional communication method that had been theorized by the Sapiens, but never proven. This was also the reason the Tecate’ relied so little on audible communication and had such a rudimentary language.
What was actually going on was an exchange of information. Exactly, an exchange of memory. The Tecate’ brain was very different than that of the Sapiens, or the Doleks, or the Nanda. The Tecate’ stored their memory in long strands of DNA, and they had perfect memory. The remembered everything they ever saw, and when they embraced, they rubbed the moist areas of their crest together and exchanged their encoded DNA memories.
The Long Day Page 9