Shadows

by Brian Whiting

  The shorter visitor stepped off the shuttle and approached holding a wand approximately two feet long and very thin until the end, which was shaped like a teardrop. The visitor raised his right hand parallel with the ground and Alex mimicked his movement. The wand touched the back of Alex’s hand; the contact lasted about three seconds and for a moment Alex thought he felt his hand warm up for a instant, but as soon as the feeling arrived it disappeared.

  The visitor repeated the movement standing in front of Jack.

  “What if I said no?” Jack tilted his head slightly and squinted.

  The smaller visitor turned back to look at Pak who responded, “You may stay here if you wish.”

  “Just checking.” Jack raised his hand and let the smaller visitor touch it with the wand for a few seconds until the visitor quickly spun away and returned inside the shuttle.

  “Excellent. If you would follow me we can get underway.” Pak turned around, his back to Alex and Jack, and walked onto the shuttle.

  Jack and Alex followed but trailed behind a bit.

  “I’m taken off guard about how polite they are, and with proper grammar. If they were distant human relatives, their language would still evolve. Doesn’t make sense,” Jack whispered.

  “I had the same thought. I’m also curious why they took a blood sample,” Alex responded as he stepped onto the loading ramp.

  The first thing Alex noticed was the odd layout. It was clear this was strictly a personnel shuttle. The entire length of the shuttle was filled with a large circle of seats all facing inward, without even a cockpit. Pak remained standing near the center and gestured wide, saying, “Sit in any seat you like.”

  Alex and Jack sat in the seats farthest away from any of the eight others already occupied. As soon as Alex sat, his seat began to move slowly under him. The cushion under his legs widened, and he felt a slight decline naturally occur. When it stopped Alex felt completely relaxed. Then a silent thin metallic beam slowly curved around from one side of the seat to another. As soon as it completed its movement it retracted to where it had come from, leaving behind a strap of fabric that began to tighten against Alex’s hips.

  Once Jack was seated, Pak took two glasses of water from one of the others already on the shuttle and handed one to Alex and one to Jack.

  Jack grabbed the bottom of his seat hard as it moved to conform to his size. Then he reached out for his glass. Alex did the same.

  “Please drink this water. It is a gift and simple custom among our people.”

  Alex moved the cup to his mouth and smelled the liquid, which smelled like nothing. He drank the four ounces rather quickly. Jack did the same.

  It occurred to Alex that he could feel emotions from those in the shuttle, a mix of excitement and fear. He found that he could focus on any one of them and sort out much more specific emotions, something he couldn’t do with humans too well yet.

  Alex watched as one of those seated began making multiple quick gestures with his hands, until the female guard cut off his view as she took her seat. Alex didn’t make eye contact with her, but he could feel malevolence coming from her, and it was distracting.

  Alex almost missed the ramp closing as he heard no noise, even after it supposedly sealed.

  The moment Jack finished drinking the water, Pak spoke. “The water you just drank contained medicines both to cure you and to protect us from infections you carry.”

  “There are many among my people who would be greatly offended about receiving medication without their knowledge,” Alex said, looking into Pak’s eyes. He was a bit annoyed himself.

  “I apologize, but this will be expected from any of your kind that ever comes into contact with ours.”

  Alex returned his attention to the one still making subtle gestures with his hands above his lap. He elbowed Jack slightly to pay attention. Jack had been too busy noticing that everyone in the shuttle was keenly staring at the two of them.

  Just as Alex was about to speak, the ramp of the shuttle opened.

  “I guess we forgot something,” Jack theorized.

  Alex turned his head to see out of the shuttle, the new area appeared dark gray.

  “I think we’re here already.” Alex pushed a button that released his comfortable restraint.

  Jack pushed his button and two additional arms began to move around his body, each leaving its own strap, securely affixing him to the seat. “Uhhhh… “

  One of the aliens smiled and said, “Simply push the same button again.”

  Jack did so, and all the straps released and retracted to where they had come from.

  Alex kept his attention on the one who was making hand gestures, who was now placing a very thin piece of eyewear on the seat he had been sitting in.

  Alex exited the shuttle along with the others into a large hangar bay. There were numerous other shuttles relatively near, but further away Alex noticed other designs, some larger, some whose purpose couldn’t be even remotely guessed.

  “It looks like a dead upside-down spider. That one.” Jack pointed to a craft in the far corner.

  They were led on a lengthy walk toward the nearest corridor, occasionally passing members of the ship’s crew. The crew would all stop their activity and stare at Alex and Jack as they walked by. One or two would make an odd movement, turning their head left and touching chin to collarbone and then lowering the top of the head toward them.

  “Why does some of your crew make that odd gesture with their heads? Does it have any significance?” Alex asked Pak, who didn’t appear to be willing to engage in conversation. After a few moments Alex stopped waiting for an answer and just continued walking.

  Just before Alex walked into a corridor large enough to drive a vehicle in, he noticed the vegetation growing along the walls of the hangar. It was curious to him that he had overlooked it before. The corridor itself looked a lot like the corridors on the Enterprise, simply larger. They walked only a short distance before they were waiting before a door. Once it opened they all stepped into a room about the size of a small trailer. There were no furnishings or decorations, and the walls were painted various shades of brown. There were no windows. The door closed, and Alex waited a few moments for someone to say something or for anything to happen.

  “What do you think we are waiting for?” Jack whispered.

  “Beats me. I’m more curious about why we are all crammed into this small room.”

  Just then the door opened and a couple more people walked into the space, and then the door reclosed. Alex had looked out into the corridor during that moment; nothing seemed different. He noticed his mind was quiet, which scared him for a moment. He focused his attention on Jack and then on the growing feeling of concern from the others in the room. He then focused on each of the others, and as soon as he did he could specifically pick out individuals’ emotions: fear, excitement, concern.

  The door reopened and everyone stepped out and began walking in various directions. The room was spherical in nature. Six feet from the room they had exited was a railing which prevented them from falling to the level below them. He looked over the railing to the level below, from which several people looked up to him with odd expressions on their faces.

  “This way,” Pak said, his back turned away from Alex and Jack.

  “It was an elevator,” Alex whispered to Jack.

  “Were you always Mr. Obvious or is this a new talent.”

  Alex smiled as they walked around a small portion of the large room until they reached a big ornate set of doors. They were not metallic like the others. They appeared to be wooden inlaid with silver, gold, and jewels in various forms, suggesting that they had perhaps been stretched and at one point liquified.

  This room was far unlike anything he had seen on the ship previously. The air was thick with growth and perhaps decay, or maybe it was just stale. This room was also circular in nature and had two distinct parts. The outer band of the room was darker, made with materials in black and dark brown
. Dead trees lined the middle of the outer ring as if the trees had grown out of the metal in the floor, and old dead vines lined the walls. Nothing was alive, yet the area appeared pristine and very clean. Pak stopped at the separation between the outer and inner circles. The inner circle had a slight elevated incline which stopped at about eye level. They walked up the incline. As soon as they reached the top of the incline they observed that it descended to even below the level where Pak was still standing. There were dozens of people sitting at various tables, walking, talking. Some tables designed for just one person, some for eight and every number in between. Tables had affixed screens with controls and other oddities. Others appeared clean of any kind of object. The tables themselves seemed to be formed out of the ship itself, as if they were chiseled and polished without any seams. Nothing appeared to be attached, as if everything was meant to be part of this space. The room itself seemed like a mixture of light greens and light blues, with polished white pieces of furniture.

  Alex and Jack descended into the arena of activity. Three others slowly approached them, shoulder to shoulder. One of them was the captain they had seen earlier on the viewscreen. Rosmussin, that was his name. The other two were a male and a female. They all met where the descending floor evened out. One of the others was speaking, but Alex’s attention was caught by a holographic representation of the Enterprise hovering above one of the tables a short distance away, where it was being meticulously studied by a male and a female crewmen.

  Jack elbowed Alex. He turned to looked at the trio of people standing before them.

  “Are my words not correct? What is your name?” the male in the center, Rosmussin, said.

  “My name is Alex, I am—”

  “What is your name?” the other male said, obviously directing the question to Jack.

  “Jack.”

  “Which one of you is the captain of the earth ship?” Rosmussin said.

  “That’s me. We are very surprised to find other humans in space. Perhaps you care to explain some of your history.”

  “It is we who are very surprised to see you in space. Perhaps you can share yours as well,” the female responded, then added, “My name is Lindi, I am second in command of our vessel.”

  “I am first in command. We spoke before,” Rosmussin replied.

  “I am third in command,” the other male said. “My name is Dentri.”

  “Please, this conversation will be lengthy. Let’s get comfortable.” Lindi walked a short distance to a raised pedestal where she placed her hand on the center. A portion of the floor folded inward in front of her, and she walked down and into a cavern-like space.

  This room was far less sterile and artificial, more cozy and comfortable. Large cushioned chairs that appeared to be reclinable circled the room. In the center was a small round table with a circular cushion that surrounded the table. The room was a bit more dimly lit. It seemed much like a lounge.

  “Sit wherever you feel more comfortable,” Rosmussin said.

  Alex hesitated and Jack stepped into the room, walked toward the center, and sat down on the circular cushion by the circular table. Everyone followed to join him. Alex watched as the captain tapped the table five times in rapid succession.

  “How can I be of assistance?” a female voice came from the ceiling.

  “Please bring a variety of refreshments to our location,” Rosmussin stated.

  “Of course.”

  “I think the best way to proceed forward is to ask you about your rapid expansion into space. But before you reply, I feel it’s important for you to know that the moment you stepped into this room, everything you do or say is being recorded and transmitted to thousands who may be observing from our home,” Rosmussin said.

  Alex looked at Jack for some kind of clue to how he felt about this. He received nothing that was helpful.

  “Alex, our people hold Earth in high regard. It’s very important to our long-term… vision… for our people. It’s important we document this meeting properly, because it will likely be reviewed billions of times over the eons.”

  “No pressure!” Jack quipped.

  “Would you like us to increase the atmospheric pressure?” Rosmussin asked.

  “It’s a figure of speech,” Alex replied.

  “Please refrain from those, because they will create misunderstandings among my people,” Rosmussin said.

  Alex began the long story of how they had created the antigravity technology, finding the crashed ship in space, the battle for Earth, and recent exploration. He purposefully left out any reference to the orb, because that mystery was still bothering him.

  As he told his tale, a crewman brought a tray of beverages and later a tray of food. Alex much preferred a drink that tasted like a cross between banana and guava, but he tried them all, whereas Jack stuck with straight water. The food looked liked grilled strips of chicken and crispy bread, too thick to be considered chips, too thin to be slices of bread. Overall the food wasn’t bad, really, or good. It was just boring.

  When Alex finished the story, he turned to the captain. “Now it’s your turn. Please explain. I am sure you understand our confusion.”

  “Eons ago our society was split much like yours is. On one side we had the spiritualists who, among other things, claimed to know and have prophecies. They filled our society with false beliefs and stunted progression. One of these beliefs was that a great evil was coming to befall us.” The captain stopped talking as if to consider something, but then continued.

  “Our society was very prideful. Perhaps we still are. Our pride was our undoing. We discovered a way to stop the aging process and it altered our bodies in unpredictable ways. In a short time our reproduction process lengthened from three months to six months to nine months to sixteen months. In addition the chances of getting pregnant went from eighty percent to less than five percent. At the height of the spiritualists’ power, they kidnapped and cast out thousands of adolescents onto a ship and sent them into deep space. Our society rebelled and squashed the spiritualists for taking the healthiest and youngest among us, sending them elsewhere.” Rosmussin leaned back in his chair more comfortably.

  “Jump-forward thousands of years, and our chance of reproducing has been zero for hundreds of years now. Our species now mourns the loss of any life, as we have the exact number of our society remaining and every so often it ticks to a lower number. Eventually it will be zero. Imagine our surprise when we discovered the location of our long-lost ancestors the spiritualists sent off into space not only alive but thriving on planet Earth. It was a joyous celebration the likes of which no life has ever witnessed.”

  “Our joy was short-lived. We visited the planet on many occasions, and each time our people would become infected and die within weeks or months of making contact.”

  “Laws were quickly erected to protect not only the people of Earth, but our people as well.”

  “A whole branch of our society was formed to learn Earth’s secret of reproducing. There were many more deaths before we stopped trying to focus on creating a vaccine for ourselves, as the anti-aging serum we took would destroy the antibodies. We created a method of stopping the transmission of the harmful virus, a cure of sorts.”

  “More like a culling,” Lindi said, interrupting him.

  “Yes, it was unthinkable to introduce this cure into your population. We predicted it would cause the death of ninety percent of your inhabitants. Instead, the order was to quarantine your planet and forget about finding a cure for our reproduction problems.

  “Some people couldn’t let it go, however. The cure was stolen from a secured facility and it was introduced into your society. The death toll was catastrophic. This cure consistently afflicts your society even to this day, it’s always under attack by other pathogens, which you originally didn’t have to be concerned about. Once the cure was delivered, we tried to intermingle the natural way, artificially. We planted small groups of our people on earth, but still we were u
nable to reproduce. Your people experienced an explosion of invention and industry as a result of our intervention. Yet our people continued to be killed, wars, battles, skirmishes. Our quarantine was reestablished.

  “Again, a few bad choices later and a group of our people broke the quarantine and kidnapped a number of your people and brought them back to our home. Although those responsible were punished, our scientists took the fruit of their deed and tried to solve our problem. Many of those kidnapped were experimented on. All attempts to find a cure to our reproductive problem failed. Many of those kidnapped died.

  “Based on your rate of technological advancement we didn’t anticipate your arrival into deep space for several hundred more years. Imagine our surprise when you showed up on a routine resource-gathering operation.”

  Alex could feel deceit coming from the captain. The implications of what Rosmussin had just said were only just starting to sink in, and his mind raced to use the information to some benefit.

  “I’m a bit interested in the spiritualists who sent us to Earth. They spoke of an impending evil. It’s ironic you mention th—”

  “Alex!” Jack nearly shouted. “Don’t you think it’s time for a restroom break?”

  Alex was startled, but let it show only for a quick moment. “Yes. Please, we have been here for some time. May we use your bathroom?”

  “The repository,” Rosmussin responded. “Ahh, yes, of course. Place your hand on the pedestal behind us and it will lead you to the place.”

  “Are we being recorded there as well?” Jack asked with a serious expression.

  “No, the recording is limited to this room, and only while I deem it necessary.”

  Alex and Jack both stood up and walked to the pedestal. Alex placed his hand on it and a wall receded, exposing an inner room. They walked inside. Alex found he really did need to use the restroom and looked for a urinal. Instead he found an odd seated contraption, resembling a chair one might use for massages, and a few holes in the wall that appeared to be separate from the other oddities in the room.