Aliena Too

by Piers Anthony

  She touched the tip of his arm and put him into a prolonged orgasmic siege. She trusted that that signaled her appreciation of his discovery.

  In due course he departed, leaving her with a problem she had never anticipated. If they truly were under observation by some powerful alien culture, what should they do next? She couldn’t even signal the home planet for advice; that would be monitored too.

  Was this all paranoid imagination? That was possible. But it seemed more likely that they really were under observation by some outside intellect. Quincy had stumbled on a phenomenal revelation, and had the sense to alert her in true privacy.

  She would have to investigate this. But how? She would be almost constantly under observation by the alien sensors. She agreed with Quincy that if they were governed by a hostile intellect, the mere fact of evincing knowledge of their nature could trigger savage destruction. How could she investigate without risking that?

  She couldn’t. She was no innocent child whose whimsies could pass without notice. She was surely being constantly watched, as she ran the ship and the classes.

  A child. A child might be able to do it. Except that a child would not have the necessary knowledge or experience.

  She thought of Maple, her human daughter, who had accepted the unusual shifting of her family with fortunate grace. Maple still considered Aliena her mother, though there was no genetic link between them, but also accepted Star as her apparent mother. Could she accept a responsibility like this? But how could she even be told, and what could she do if she knew? She was a child, carrying a doll.

  Then it flashed upon her. A doll! Aliena could give Maple another doll, or replace the one she had, the pink starfish. And give her a hint of its nature.

  But, again, how? She couldn’t use the robot translators to tell Maple, because the suspect grains of sand were in them. She couldn’t speak directly to the girl, because Aliena was a sea creature and Maple was a land creature. Also, making the doll with built-in sensors would require robot assistance, and that would give away its nature. So this notion, tempting as it was, was not feasible.

  Unless Quincy had a notion. She decided to ask him.

  She intercepted Quincy as he was departing a class. Explora was with him. Well, this was a matter that concerned all starfish and all humans; it could be shared with her. “Let’s go to the storage bin.”

  He was surprised, then must have realized that she was concerned with privacy, rather than with breeding. “If you wish.”

  Before he could ask Explora to depart alone, Aliena spoke. “Come with us, Explora.”

  Confused, Explora was silent. So was Quincy. Explora had before been excluded from their private dialogues, and surely believed that they were breeding in nature. Starfish did not have three-person breeding, not even when only simulated; that was an occasional human phenomenon.

  The three of them fit a bit tightly in the bin, their arms adjacent like the spokes of gears. The others waited.

  Aliena plunged in, first rehearsing the background for Explora. “You are now adult and destined for increasing responsibility. Therefore you will be party to serious matters not known to others. We have discovered alien sensors embedded in our construction and machinery. We may be under observation by a culture we were not aware of before. I think of them as the proctors, watching without interfering. The sensors are not embedded in organic things, hence this wooden meeting place, for privacy. We must not speak openly of our discovery, because we prefer not to advertise our discovery to those sensors. It is possible that their makers are long gone and they represent defunct artifacts, but it is also possible that they remain ‘live’ and are actively watching us today. Discovery could trigger serious consequences for us.”

  Explora understood immediately, being a starfish. “What do you wish of me?”

  “Share the information about the proctors and sensors with others when you can speak with them privately, whether here or some other organic setting. Otherwise do nothing; we must seem oblivious. This is merely information, not any projected action.”

  “I will do that. Should I depart now?”

  “Not yet. I brought Quincy here for consultation in this matter, and you may also have useful input. I wish to expand our surveillance of the alien artifacts, which resemble microscopically small grains of sand. They seem to be throughout the ship, which indicates they are also in our home world where the ship was constructed, and have been for some time. We need to know whether they are also on Earth. We need to look for them on Earth, and we can’t do it ourselves. Since we can’t communicate with humans without using the translation robots, this is awkward.”

  Both remained silent, agreeing.

  “It occurred to me that we could place a sensor of our own, keyed to recognize the alien artifacts, taking it to different locations on Earth. If it confirms their presence, we will know that the alien culture is galactic in nature, or at least spread across a number of light years, and that we, and probably other sapient cultures, are being monitored. At that point we will need to come to a decision on what action, if any, to take regarding the proctors.”

  Again, both silently agreed.

  “The problem is the placement of that sensor on Earth. We could fire it into the ground and see what it indicates, but that could easily miss the artifacts if they are thinly spread. I prefer to have it taken to likely places, as could readily be done by having a human person carry it. A person who might do so without attracting notice is my daughter Maple. She has a starfish doll formed of organic material that we might modify to include our sensor. But I do not want to do this without informing her and her present mother Star. The question is how to inform them without also informing the aliens, assuming they are watching. Do you have notions?”

  “You are surely being regularly observed,” Quincy said. “But the aliens may not be paying as much attention to the rest of us, as we are lesser figures. We may be more free to act.”

  “How do you conclude this?”

  “It’s my empathy. I’m trying to think like a galactic alien, a proctor. If they are monitoring hundreds, thousands, or millions of worlds they will have to be efficient and not waste their resources spying on folk who don’t matter. They wouldn’t want an information glut that drowns out what is relevant.”

  When he said it, Aliena saw that it made sense. His empathy was paying off, as it had when he stalked the nesting birds in the race. “What can you do?”

  “I can try to tell Maple about the doll, in a manner that won’t alert the aliens even if they are watching. You can prepare the doll while I do that, so there is no direct communication between the two of you about the doll, but she will know. Maple can then tell Star, when they are private. She can also tell Gloaming and Lida when they visit. All of it under the radar.”

  “How can you tell Maple without alerting the sensors?”

  “By doing something they won’t react to, but that she will.”

  “This is not clear to me,” Aliena said, mildly annoyed.

  “He can understand things in ways we can’t,” Explora said. “He is talented.”

  That open appreciation annoyed her more. Explora was coming across like a girlfriend. “How?” she repeated.

  “I believe she knows about the glasses Lida wears, and how you are in touch with her through them, Quincy said. “I will make a wordless sign with a picture of those glasses and a picture of the starfish doll, and an equals sign between them.”

  “How will that help?”

  “She knows you use the glasses to be in touch with Lida,” he said patiently. “This suggests that you will be similarly in touch with her via the doll. She should also realize that it’s a secret, or she would have been told openly. She’ll catch on; she’s not a dull girl.” He flashed briefly. “She may take after her mother in that respect.”

  And he was probably right. He not only knew how a human thought, but he also empathized with the child in a way Aliena herself had failed to do de
spite the child being hers. Her annoyance continued. “Do it.”

  “I will help,” Explora said.

  Aliena departed, pointlessly frustrated. She had been missing aspects, and now Explora would be making out with Quincy in the private bin. Aliena had become human enough to resent that, while being starfish enough to see that her resentment was foolish. The human was indeed useful, and Explora was doing exactly what she had been designated for. It was unreasonable for Aliena to be jealous of that. But she was. Part of her annoyance was her own failure to abate her annoyance despite knowing herself to be at fault in experiencing it. Emotion had such complicated eddy currents!

  She went to see about modifying the doll. The sensor would have to be crafted of organic materials, which was a special technical challenge, then inserted into Maple’s doll when she visited. The doll represented Aliena herself, a pink starfish, so it was fitting that it be adapted for this purpose. Maple should also like participating in a secret hunt.

  That night when she joined Quincy, he was somber. “I am sorry I irritated you. I know I’m not as sharp as you would like me to be.”

  He thought he was the one at fault. That was his miscue. But it made her feel better, both for his apology and his confusion. His empathy was not perfect. “I was being female,” she said, and extended her arm.

  Surprised, he touched it. She delivered an intense jolt of pleasure. “Wow!” he flashed.

  “You did good work today.” Then she put him to sleep.

  When Lida and Star next visited, both were obviously pregnant. The one came to see her husband, the other to bring Maple to see her mother. Star nodded to Aliena, then retreated, staying out of it.

  Aliena intercepted Lida, leaving Quincy to signal Maple to come to him. Curious about this change, the child went. Meanwhile Aliena spoke via the translators to Lida. “You have done well with Gloaming. I know it has not always been easy.”

  “He is a good male. Obviously I decided to bear his child. But I confess to missing Quincy.”

  “As I miss Brom, though I encouraged Star to bear his child. But what must be must be. Quincy has had some remarkable insights and I am becoming increasingly attracted to him.”

  “And you want my leave for that,” Lida said a bit curtly. “You already have it. I would far rather have him be happy with you than alone.”

  “There is more going on than that. Talk with Maple when you can do so privately.”

  Lida gazed at her uncertainly. “There is a problem?”

  “Not of your making. This is something else.” She could not safely be more specific.

  Then Maple was through with Quincy, who put away his pictures. The child came back to talk with Aliena, and Lida went to talk with Quincy.

  “Is Quincy going to be my other daddy?” Maple asked brightly.

  Aliena flashed with humor, which she could more readily do now. “We do not have marriages or families in the manner humans do.”

  Maple looked at her cannily. “You didn’t answer.”

  “Do you want him to be?”

  She would not be diverted. “You still didn’t answer.”

  “He may be. We are developing mutual respect. You know I would have stayed with you and Brom if I could have.”

  “And Quincy would have stayed with Lida. But Gloaming is all right too.”

  “He is,” Aliena agreed.

  “You kissed daddy.”

  She was referring to the incident following the duet, when Lida had lent Brom her glasses. “I did, in my fashion.”

  “Daddy and Star are going to have a baby.”

  “They may,” Aliena agreed cautiously, uncertain what Maple would think of having a half sister. A full sister genetically, but that was only part of it.

  “Gloaming and Lida too.”

  “They may,” Aliena agreed again. Maple should not be jealous of that one.

  “So they’re going to be busy.”

  “They are.” Where was this leading?

  “Maybe too busy for me.”

  “Oh, Maple, they’ll never be too busy for you!”

  The child ignored that reassurance. “So maybe it’s a good time for me to be busy too, on my own.”

  She was jealous of the attention that the new babies would take in the two families? Or was this something else? “What do you have in mind?”

  “Travel. I want to show Alena everything.”

  She had named her doll Alena, close to Aliena’s name. She knew. “That would be nice. Will you lend her to us for a few minutes?”

  “Sure.” Maple beckoned to an attendant robot, who approached. She handed it the doll. “Take care of Alena for a while.”

  The robot gravely accepted the doll and walked away.

  “You know Alena will not talk to you,” Aliena said.

  “Sure. But she’ll know what I show her.”

  And the child would show her doll anything that might be of interest. “I’m sure she will like it.”

  Maple shrugged. “Maybe. So can I go to interesting places?”

  “You can. But you can’t do it alone.”

  “Maybe Martha can go with me. She likes to travel.”

  The bodyguard. Maybe that would work. “Sam and Martha are due for a vacation. They could take you.”

  Maple clapped her hands. “Great! I won’t bother them at all at night.”

  The child had caught on to the developing romance between the bodyguards, and approved. “That would be nice. But do not give them any trouble.”

  “Oh, they like trouble. That’s why they’re bodyguards.”

  Aliena lifted an arm warningly.

  “But I won’t give them too much,” Maple said hastily. Then they both laughed, Aliena by patterned flashes. “Anyway, I like Quincy. He should make a good other daddy.”

  “Quincy is a starfish now.”

  “So he can be with you. He wants to be, and it’s okay with me.”

  “I’m glad you approve of him, Maple. But such things are complicated.”

  Again the child gazed at her with uncanny perception. “Not if you don’t want them to be.”

  What was she hinting? “Why do you say that?”

  “Mom, I want you to be happy. I know you still love daddy, and he loves you, but it’s time for you to move on.”

  “As he has, with Star?” Aliena asked, trying to keep the edge down.

  “Yes. You want him to be happy with her, and he is, and she is, and so am I. You sang when he agreed.”

  “I did, and so did you.”

  “So he moved on. But you didn’t.”

  “Maple, I have a ship to run! A mission to maintain.”

  “You didn’t answer, again.”

  “How can I answer such a thing?”

  This time Maple did not speak. But a tear formed in her eye. That made Aliena’s human emotions roil painfully.

  “Oh, Maple, how did I hurt you? I never want to hurt you!”

  The child shook her head. “It’s all right, Mom,” she said as if comforting another child.

  “Maple—”

  The robot returned with the doll. It looked unchanged. Maple took it and tucked it under her arm. “Time to go. I love you, Mommy.”

  “I love you, Maple.”

  Maple turned to go, then turned back. “Is it true I cost you your body?”

  How had she learned that? Aliena’s pregnancy had triggered an immune response against her brain, forcing her to give up the body. “That is a way of seeing it.”

  “Was I worth it?”

  “Oh yes!”

  “I’m glad. Will it happen to Star and Lida?”

  “No. We have made sure there will be no further immune rejections. They will have healthy babies, and will be able to stay with them.”

  “That’s good. It’ll be like having a little sister and brother both.”

  She had even picked up on the anticipated genders. “Yes. I hope you will not be jealous of them.”

  “Oh, I will be, but I’
ll do what you do: carry on regardless.” But there was definitely an edge.

  “We all do what we must, even when it is not always comfortable.”

  “Yes,” Maple said seriously. Then Star came for her, and they departed.

  Aliena felt foolishly depleted. Star was taking good care of Maple, yet these visits always made Aliena wish she could have stayed in the human host. At times like this she felt more human than was convenient. Worse, she was having increasing trouble understanding her daughter. She hated that. She was a genius relative to humans, including the child, but emotion could not be fathomed purely by intellect.

  That night Quincy mentioned the matter. “Maple understands about the doll. She’s a good girl; I like her.”

  “She likes you too.” Then she put him to sleep before the dialogue could wander into uncomfortable territory.

  Aliena spoke privately with Explora. “There may come a time when I am unable to run the ship. I will train you to run it in my stead.”

  Explora, a good soldier, did not question this. She was ready to assume the responsibilities of adulthood as required. “Train me.”

  Aliena did. It was largely a matter of tracking the assorted sensors that indicated the ship’s functioning, and directing the robots when required. It might have taken a year for a human to train in, but Explora was a starfish. In a few days she had it down.

  “Now I will provide you with ‘hands on’ experience in my absence,” Aliena said. “I will retreat to stasis for a time. You may rouse me if there is need.”

  Explora was not alarmed by the prospect. She simply flashed acceptance.

  Aliena went to a stasis chamber. But she did not activate it. Instead she tuned in on Maple’s doll, Alena.

  Somehow the child knew, maybe because of the analogy Quincy had made with Lida’s glasses. “Hi, Mom,” she whispered, kissing the doll.

  Sam and Martha, now engaged, took their vacation, and Maple went along, conveniently leaving the two pregnant women to birth their babies without her supervision. Aliena suspected that neither Sam nor Martha would have been entirely at ease without someone to guard, even on their time off, and they did like Maple. It was a business relationship that felt more like family. They toured the world in a month, and Maple showed Alena all the sights. All the indications were that they all had a fine time.