Contact

by M. D. Neu

  “It’s okay, Auntie.” Suloff held Faa rubbing the top of his head. “He’s not that heavy…yet.”

  Faa nuzzled into Suloff’s arm. “Faa comfy.”

  “Who am I to argue with the two of you?” Mirtoff rustled the top of Faa’s head.

  Ecra held out a glass of e’xin for Mirtoff. “Come sit. Let the worries of the day be gone from here.”

  Sipping the e’xin, savoring the richness, she smiled with relief. “Very nice. Is this new from the agro ships?”

  “Yes, I’m very pleased. We’re hoping to be able to double production in the coming months. Now that we’ve reached Earth, getting more resources would be helpful.” His brows raised with hope.

  She took another sip of the warm liquid. It would be nice to be able to give her people more luxuries such as this, but it was best not to make promises she was in no place to keep. “Send your request to Speaker Rosta and her staff. You realize I can’t play favorites in these matters.”

  “I know, I know, but you can’t fault me for trying,” Ecra said. “Do you remember mother coming home and father greeting her with a glass every night? She would have the one e’xin. Do you remember?”

  “Of course. But I remember a little one, no bigger than Faa, occasionally knocking the glass over when he rushed to greet her,” Mirtoff mused. So many images of the past filled her mind. Ecra was always finding a way to get into trouble.

  “I don’t recall such things.”

  “Not you, never you.” Mirtoff chuckled at the memory. “It must have been Ta’nan, even though she was the eldest, and as I recall very athletic, not a clumsy awkward little Yép. Like you.”

  “I was never a clumsy, awkward little Yép. You must be thinking of someone else.” He sipped at his drink, trying to hide his smile, but the color filling his cheeks and ears could not be hidden. “That was so long ago it seems like a different life, much like our lives when Ka-shi was alive. Right, Suloff?”

  “I wish I remembered her better. Sometimes I wish she was here.” She glanced from Faa to her father and aunt. “I imagine she would be excited to meet the humans. I remember her reading me stories of life on other worlds.” She shifted Faa in her arms.

  “Yes, I believe your mother would as well,” Erca said. He turned to Mirtoff. “I appreciate that you are worried, my sister, and you haven’t gotten to spend much time with us, but how go your dealings with the humans?”

  Mirtoff leaned back, letting the softness of the chair caress the curves of her body. “They are so different from us, and I keep having to ask myself: how open is too open? The moment we arrived here, their worldview transformed.” She sighed. “Most of their reactions were not what we were told to expect. And now, trying to get the Speaker’s House to support my actions is almost as hard as trying to figure out what these humans will do next.”

  “I’m sure that’s not the case,” Erca said. “I have no doubt you’ll do what is right. You always do. That’s how you became speaker general. You always do what is best no matter the cost, and people respect that.”

  “I don’t always know.”

  “Danu agrees.” Ecra watched Mirtoff closely. “He worries for you as much as we do. Why do you suppose he pushes you so hard to come to these meals?” He grinned. “It’s so you can relax and rest.”

  “I know. Even tonight he was hurrying me along.”

  “You’re not going to talk about work are you, Auntie?” Suloff sat in a side chair with Faa on her lap, rubbing his head. “I thought you came to get away from that?”

  “You’re right,” Mirtoff said, amused by her niece. “Let us leave work at the door. How go your studies? Are you doing the Za’entra and your family proud?”

  Suloff frowned. “I should let you and father talk about work instead.” She rolled her eyes at the question and continued to rub Faa’s head, much to his delight.

  Both Ecra and Mirtoff laughed.

  “It’s good to be with my family.” Mirtoff enjoyed another sip of the warm e’xin. She grinned at her brother, niece, and Faa.

  The human reception would come soon enough, and Mi’ko can handle it. There’s no use worrying. Plus, he may enjoy himself, as may the others in attendance.

  The break from the Speaker’s House and her life as speaker general was what she desired. She needed to feel what it was like to be a Nentraee again. She even allowed herself a fleeting thought of Danu and what he was doing during his off hours. Maybe she should have offered him to come to share a meal with them. He and Ecra got along well, and it would be nice to spend time with him outside of work.

  She smiled at the ridiculousness of the idea and took another sip of her e’xin. She was sure he had better things to do than spend his off time with her and her family. She sighed relaxing deeper into the chair. This was perfect. Everything else would wait.

  Fifteen: Reception

  TODD ADJUSTED THE knot in his lavender tie with shaky hands. He glanced over at Jerry, who had been watching him dress. “I’ll give you a call later and tell you where to meet me.” Todd tightened his tie. Unhappy with how the tie looked, he loosened it and redid it. “I’ll get more info from Jim, but it’ll be fine. They have our names, and we provided the security information they asked for. Still, get there early, just in case.”

  His light gray suit was his best fitting and complemented his now neatly knotted tie flawlessly. He straightened his collar and gave himself another once-over. He was happy with his appearance. His new haircut and his perfectly shaped goatee were amazing.

  Gotta look good for the Nentraee.

  He went over to Jerry, bent, and kissed his forehead.

  “Wow! Don’t you look sexy.” Jerry reached out and pulled at Todd’s tie. “Maybe, I won’t let you leave. Keep you here for myself. I wouldn’t want some hunky Nentraee to fall for you.”

  “Okay, you’ve convinced me.” Todd started to untuck his shirt.

  “Go on,” Jerry said. Then adopted that teasing voice that Todd always hated. “Everything’ll be fine.”

  “Shut up. This is a big deal.”

  “Uh-huh.” Jerry rolled onto his side. “You’ve been driving us crazy with this Nentraee stuff for weeks. Now, go. I’ll see you tonight. Love ya.”

  “Later, hon.” Todd grabbed his keys off the nightstand.

  He walked lightly to try to be quiet enough to not wake up Dan, but his shoes clacked on the hardwood floors.

  Bianca ran across the dining room on one of her secret kitty missions. “Crazy cat,” he whispered.

  Before leaving, he scanned the dining room table to make sure he had his notes. He’d spent the last few weeks going over everything available on the Nentraee: reading government reports, media articles, and contacting companies that had already met with the aliens. His goal was to make sure CRiNE didn’t screw up.

  “Good luck today.” Dan rubbed his eyes as he sluggishly made his way from the guest bedroom to the bathroom.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.” Todd frowned at his shoes.

  “You didn’t; I gotta pee. See you tonight after the big dinner. I’ll light a candle for you when I’m with my mom at mass…again.” He frowned.

  One of the reports Todd had read said that since the Nentraee arrived, every religion had seen an increase in attendance at services. He only hoped that folks wouldn’t be joining the groups of religious protestors and xenophobes popping up.

  “Sorry, Dan.”

  “It’s not your fault. Just be safe today.” He rubbed his eyes again. “Thanks for letting me crash here. I know it’s made things easier on my family. Once my mom realizes they aren’t the devil or whatever, I’ll get out of your hair.” He walked into the bathroom and closed the door.

  So much has changed.

  TODD BRUSHED OFF the white cat hair from his suit jacket as the limo bringing the Nentraee finally pulled up to outside the office. All the CRiNE staff was hovering in the lobby ready to get their first in-person look at the aliens. There was no way to st
op the staff, so they didn’t try. Varick, Todd, Lorena, and Grant stood ahead of everyone forming a barrier. They hadn’t planned for this. Todd should have known better. Still, he pushed the team through countless, exhaustive practice meetings to ensure there were no blunders.

  The four Nentraee exited the limo and slowly made their way through the double doors. They were tall—not freakishly tall, but they stood as tall as Todd. Even the females.

  Remember, don’t touch them. Touching is an intimate act. They are formal. Small talk is not necessary. Also, they are polite but direct.

  Todd turned to Lorena. The color drained from her face. She took a deep breath and calmly leaned against the reception desk.

  As the Nentraee entered the lobby, Todd didn’t know where to look.

  The eldest Nentraee male was the vice speaker. He appeared in his fifties by human standards. Todd recognized him from the photos in the reports. He was from the Ultween clan, was darker in coloring from the rest, and had handsome aqua eyes. Slightly chunky but not fat, his suit was pressed and neat but not as well tailored as the others. A lopsided bow that matched the color of his suit tied back his shoulder-length, brown hair.

  If Todd was judging him by human standards, he would call him neither handsome nor unattractive. From the report, it was learned the vice speaker had a wife and three sons, and he was considered an accomplished businessman. He took a shaky breath.

  The tall female next to him had to be his security guard, Vi-Narm. She was from the Dentraee clan. She would travel with the vice speaker everywhere. Todd didn’t want to mess with her. Her face was made of hard angles, and she didn’t smile. Her mouth was a perfectly straight line. She didn’t keep her hair as elaborately braided or in nearly as high a bun as the other female Nentraee did, instead keeping it up in a tight bun to one side of her tanned face. She had no spouse and no family. From what the file said, the Dentraee clan were very religious, but Todd couldn’t tell by looking at her.

  The male with the reddish-brown hair and deep-olive complexion was of the same clan as the speaker general a Za’entra. Dan would call him “muy caliente,” considering his broad shoulders and sharply tied-back hair. It took a moment for Todd to recall his name. Weaqu. There wasn’t a lot more in the file on him, which was kind of a bummer.

  Todd’s neck started to warm up.

  The shorter female was from the Caleen clan. Their skin tone and facial features were the fairest of all the Nentraee clans. However, of the three other Nentraee in the lobby, she was as by far the least attractive. Her dirty blonde hair was styled up with heavy braids with several curls falling out of place. Her blue eyes were cloudy, and her skin was blotchy. It was unfortunate.

  It’s the ridges in her forehead; they’re really pronounced. More so than the others. They just look funny.

  Her name was something Cee. GanCee. Todd remembered finally. It would have sucked if he couldn’t remember.

  At least I have their names in my file.

  He scrutinized the group again, taking in their appearance as a single group.

  The lobby was completely silent as Todd and the others waited. A couple of coughs from behind him made the lack of noise even more noticeable.

  Why isn’t Varick introducing us?

  Todd glanced at Varick whose mouth was quivering or trying to form words. Todd wasn’t sure.

  Crap.

  “Welcome to CRiNE.” Todd stepped forward. His voice shook as he gestured around the lobby. “I’m Todd Landon, Human Resources Manager. This is Varick Braun, our CEO…um, Chief Executive Officer.” His hands trembled as he pointed to Varick. “This is Grant Nguyen, our VP, sorry, our Vice President of Marketing and Sales. This is Lorena Sanchez, our Vice President of Engineering.”

  The four Nentraee bowed.

  Varick cleared his throat, scanned the lobby, and finally found his voice. “Yes, welcome to CRiNE. I’m Varick, as Todd said, and this is my team and my office. Welcome.”

  Todd closed his eyes for slightly longer than a blink.

  Thank God. I thought you would never talk.

  “I Vice Speaker Mi’ko Soemu.” Mi’ko bowed. “This is Security Aide Vi-Narm.” She bowed. “Me Métkip Aide GanCee.” She bowed. “And in last place, Weaqu me Jektĩl Aide.” He bowed.

  It was charming to listen to the Nentraee speak English; they seemed to often miss words or use the wrong phrase. Their lack of using contractions added to this charm.

  After bowing, each member of the Nentraee delegation stepped forward and greeted the team from CRiNE with firm handshakes, which surprised Todd considering how they supposedly felt in regards to touching. Grant shot him a frustrated look as he was the first to be greeted in this way by the Nentraee.

  Todd shrugged slightly, not sure what to say or do. Best just to go with it.

  The Nentraee’s stiff shoulders and timid faces showed discomfort. However, their handshakes were strong to the point of being painful. Todd flexed his hand when it was over.

  Varick worked his fingers after the handshake and turned to Todd with a look that seemed to ask how Todd thought things were going.

  Todd nodded in the affirmative.

  The first moments of the Nentraees arrival were awful. Everyone was milling around, not talking. Still, seeing the Nentraee for the first time—actual, real-live aliens—was mindblowing. After the handshaking, the awkwardness passed. Todd had a big dopey smile on his face. Even the way the Nentraee moved was different, graceful, yet with a rigidity that made him wonder if they had steel rods running from shoulder to foot. One of the oddest things about them was their lack of body hair, other than at the top of their head. No eyebrows, no arm hair, nothing. Did they have hair anywhere else? Perhaps that was why they had long hair—to compensate for it elsewhere.

  “Please, let us move to the conference room for our discussion.” Varick gestured. “And allow the rest of my staff to get back to work.”

  Todd bit his bottom lip and sneaked a peek at Kati, who frowned at Varick but made her way back to her office with the rest of the staff.

  Several people, including Kati, ran into one another with their heads almost craned over their shoulders to get final peeks at the Nentraee.

  The CRiNE conference room was a meeting room and a demo space. It had built-in features that allowed the flat screen TV to lower so they could show demo videos and other interactive media. A couple of displays would come up and out from the high-gloss maple cabinets to show different applications for the company’s software.

  Todd adjusted his jacket. He tried to focus on the meeting but was more fascinated with the Nentraee—how they were so engaged, how they moved, how they sat, and how they grasped at each item mentioned by Grant or Lorena. He had almost hoped for a cultural snafu to spice it up.

  Eventually, Varick leaned back in his chair. “Well, Mister Vice Speaker, it’s getting late.” His mouth turned up in an unnatural manner. “Why don’t we continue our talks in the car on the way to the reception? I’m sure we can hammer out the rest of these details later.”

  The vice speaker nodded at GanCee, who would be heading up the CRiNE project.

  “Vice speaker,” GanCee started, “we can call ahead the other and let know we going to be behind schedule. What you like?”

  Bowing, the vice speaker turned to his other aides. “We shall stay here and finish our talk and then go welcome. Vi-Narm, please contact Denes with the other members of our delegation and advise them of the situation.”

  Todd noticed Weaqu run his flawless fingers over the Nentraee version of a computer tablet. Weaqu shifted his broad shoulders. “Now please, Missus Lorena Sanchez, you certain that you able integrate the scan device with our current system? What about the waresoft? Will that able to adjust?”

  I guess it’s back to business.

  “Of course, there may be issues; that’s expected with a project of this nature, but nothing in the information you provided us indicates there will be an issue with your current systems,” Lor
ena said. “As for the software, we will need your assistance with the translation matrix, but everything else should integrate easily enough.” She flipped through her notepad and made a few hasty notes.

  Todd caught the vice speaker’s forehead tighten into what he thought was a frown.

  I wonder what that was about.

  “We work with companies all over the world,” Lorena added. “Well, our world. We’ve never had an integration problem.”

  “It’s one of our main selling points, which is why we’re the leader in biometric security,” Grant said.

  It didn’t take long before Vi-Narm was back to her seat, and everyone was again focused on the meeting.

  So much for leaving.

  FINALLY, ALMOST AN hour later, the limo pulled out of the CRiNE parking lot and headed off to the reception at the hotel. Todd texted Jerry once they left, so he knew to wait for him at the entrance of the Fairmont Hotel.

  As they rode, Varick addressed Mi’ko. “You see, Mi’ko—I’m sorry, Mister Vice Speaker—our biometric technology and algorithms are very robust and can easily be modified to accommodate the Nentraee with whatever needs you have. We will, of course, need to work with your engineers to ensure the binary translation operates properly, and there will be extensive testing.”

  “Binary coding seems to be common between our two people,” Weaqu said.

  Varick adjusted his position on his seat. “We’re very proud of our algorithms.”

  “And the hardware?” GanCee asked.

  “Plug and play,” Varick said, and the Nentraees’ brows raised. “Um…well…what I mean…” He turned to Todd.

  “Sorry, it’s an American colloquialism. It means that we may not need to physically configure your devices, depending on compatibility. However, we’ll need to—”

  “Yes. Thank you, Todd,” Varick interrupted.

  The landscape and traffic passed. Todd kept having to stop himself from tapping his leg. He hated being tardy for anything—something his mother forced into him and Brad.

  Varick continued to blather on regarding the technology as the vice speaker and the others listened intently. Todd thought about Jerry and Dan and how he now understood what they were getting at when all he did was talk about the Nentraee. He dusted off a fleck of dirt from his suit. They were expecting a lot of cameras and media at the event. Luckily for him, they would be focusing on the Nentraee and Varick. He planned to leave the limo last. So, with luck, he would quietly enter the hotel, find Jerry, get to their table, and stay out of the way.