In the hallway, as she approached the airlock, Alice’s voice rang out. “Anna Hauser. Stay where you are. You cannot go outside without an escort. Security has been notified. An escort is approaching your position.” Anna could swear that Alice's voice had the ring of a mother scolding her child.
“It’s all right Alice, I asked my dad, and he said it was okay,” she smarted off.
“I do not understand the reference.”
“I felt you were scolding me like a child.”
“You felt childish by your actions?”
“No, you made me feel that way by your commands, Alice.” Sometimes, Anna thought, the machines could be rather thick.
“It is not as safe since the incident. We are still trying to analyze the data and assess the threat, if any.”
From down the hallway, she saw someone from Security approaching her. Watching the woman stride toward her, she noticed how fit she looked even with the suit on. God, she needed to work out more!
“Good morning, Dr. Hauser. I am Corporal Jenkins. I will be your escort.”
“What is your first name, Corporal?”
“Amanda,” the corporal replied.
“Well, Mandy, I guess let’s get going.”
“Lead on, Doctor. And don’t call me Mandy.”
Exiting from the airlock, Anna rejoiced in another fine day on Searth. The sky was clear and orange-red, normal for this planet; during the warmer months fall colors painted the landscape and the sky a forever sunset. Shrubs and small trees dotted this area as far as the eye could see, about what one would expect to see at higher elevations on Earth. Some vegetation bore fruit, but only two species had turned out to be edible so far. Unlike Earth, the season changes were not too drastic. The winters were cold but not harsh. The summers were warm but not scorching. The climate is what Anna liked best about this planet, and she longed to be out of her suit. She hoped the air would be cleared by Medical and she would be able to breathe the pretty molecules of this amazing world.
After reaching the garden some two hundred yards away from the dome, Anna began inspecting her work. Corporal Jenkins stationed herself at about twenty yards away. The corporal had a good line of sight yet was far enough away not to be a hindrance. The sensors on the ground and the cameras with variable wavelength filters told the story of how the plants were doing. But Anna was old-school. She wanted to witness with her own eyes and feel with her bare hands the plants and the soil. Some physical nuances told the story better than numbers and graphs. She could not feel the ground in her environmental suit but she knew that plants, at least the ones on her home world, had some basic intelligence of their own and appreciated the personal touch. She did not want them to feel neglected. She turned on her external speakers.
“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. You are probably wondering why I called a meeting here today.” Anna often joked with her plants because they couldn’t criticize her delivery and technique, unlike the humans she knew. “Today I will be inspecting your buds and root systems. I will be taking some samples. I am aware this may be uncomfortable, but I will complete my task as soon as I can to minimize this.”
They know you are good to them and mean them no harm. Please, do not call out to the other!
Anna froze. Her thoughts were racing. She knew immediately this wasn’t a joke. The voice did not come from her comm system or from her cochlear implant. She turned her external speakers off and quickly scanned her immediate surroundings. There! Over to her right and on top of an outcropping of rocks perched one of the scooters. Funny that she hadn't seen or heard it coming. She glanced back at the corporal, who seemed oblivious to what had just happened. Should she alert the corporal to ensure nothing bad happened next? Because clearly, there was going to be a next.
Please do not call out to the other! The scooter pleaded again, sensing what Anna thought. It is an enormous risk that I call out to you. Do not make this meeting more dangerous by including the other.
Her microphone did not register any sounds coming from the scooter. This could be telepathy. She turned her internal microphone off to keep the conversation private. The scientist part of her tested her hypothesis, thinking of something the scooter would have no knowledge of. “Ice cream.”
What is ice cream?
OH, MY GOD, Anna thought. The scooter really was communicating with her.
Correct. This one is calling out to you. What is God, and what is ice cream?
“Let us save those terms for a later time. Let us start at the beginning. Why are you communicating with me?”
Communicating equals calling out?
“Yes.”
It is important.
“Are you talking about the vision?”
Talking equals communicating?
“Yes.”
Vision equals far-seeing?
Anna thought about that for a moment. “Yes, far-seeing equals vision.”
Our kind has been watching your kind moving things around since you came many suns ago.
It was her turn for clarification. “Suns equal days?”
Yes. Our markings of the before, the now, and the after.
“We have similar expressions for the passage of time.” And then she quickly added, “We mean your kind no harm.”
That is still undecided among us. We continue to watch.
Anna thought about that. “We mean you no harm on purpose.”
We are agreed on this. Before, there was a bad meeting. The youngling meant no harm.
The scooter was referring to the incident with Corporal Harris. How does he know about that? Anna wondered.
“Doctor? Is everything all right? You haven’t moved from that spot in a few minutes.”
The corporal! Engrossed in what was going on, Anna had forgotten she wasn’t alone. The corporal was coming over--she needed to do something quick. In the few seconds it took the corporal to come over to her spot, Anna frantically thought of a plan.
“Hey, what are you looking at?" Jenkins asked as she approached. "Oh, it’s one of the scooters. Don’t get too close to it. I don’t want what happened to Corporal Harris, to happen to you. Not on my watch!”
Anna switched on her mic. “Don’t get your hair in a knot! I just noticed how slightly different this scooter looks from the others.” The scientist in her took over. “Observe the darkening on three of its legs. I think I am going to call this one Fred.”
“Well, when you and Fred are finished playing doctor, you need to get back to your work. Since Harris’s incident Security does not want people playing around. For now, we need to get the job done and return to the dome. That is the safest protocol under our current situation. How much longer do you require?”
Anna glanced at her checklist. “I am almost done here. There is another garden two hundred yards in that direction which I need to check.”
“I am familiar with the spot.” The corporal moved away to her sentry position and Anna switched off her mic again.
From the outcropping, the scooter looked up at her. You did not alert the other to our meeting. Why?
“You said it’s important not to. Now, what about this vision?”
I am an Elder that has the far-seeing. It takes many suns for the Shrim’ra, the Gift, to come to us. It was chance that we met.
“You mean you are the same scoot...I mean the same of your kind that I met before? By the way, what is your kind called? We call ourselves humans.”
Yes, I am the same one. We call our kind Te’Hat. There are many clans on this land. I am from the Sce’Rood clan. I am called Melon.
Anna snickered and jerked her hands to her faceplate in an automatic attempt to smother her laughter. The motion alerted the corporal. Anna waved her off and returned to the scooter. “I’m sorry. I meant no disrespect. It is only that melon in human-speak is a kind of food.”
If it is more preferred, Fred is acceptable.
“Fred might be preferred in this case, thank you. Now, we must quickly
get to the telling of the vision. The other is asking me to finish my task quickly.”
Days before, I had the far-seeing, the vision of the shaking ground. The clan was deciding how to communicate this to your clan when our chance meeting took place.
“Yeah, I turned and tripped over a rock and fell flat. When I lifted my head up, there you were.
Correct. You had come close enough to an Elder with the Shrim’ra, the Gift, to communicate to you. I was with two other younglings and did not have time to commune with the clan about this, so I took the chance to warn you.
Her pulse quickened. When, Anna thought, was the one question that needed answering. “How many days, or suns, in the future does this happen?”
We do not know. Sometimes it is sensed it is sooner than later. We have agreed this happening is later, not sooner.
“You and I probably need to talk some more. Why don’t you come with me and I will take you to the dome, and you can speak to some of our Elders.”
Dome equals shelter?
“Yes.”
I must go and communicate with the other Elders in our clan and perhaps others far away before the next meeting. I know you will talk to your Elders about this gathering. If your Elders are wise, we will have many answers for them.
“I understand. Hope to see you soon, Fred!”
Good to meet with you, Anna Hauser.
“Just Anna is okay, thanks.”
Yes, Anna.
Fred pointed a leg at Anna, apparently as some kind of parting response. Anna nodded to the little scooter. Fred turned around and quietly scooted off his perch and vanished.
“Dr. Hauser.” This time it was Sonny.
“Yes, Sonny,” she replied, trying to sound nonchalant.
“What did the trilobite communicate to you?”
“I don’t know what you mean.” Anna tried to play it cool, but at the same time she wasn’t going to pull the wool over Sonny’s eyes.
“Alice alerted me to your unusual behavior and asked for a consult. I have been monitoring you for the last eleven point two minutes. I tapped into your visor, and you have been standing in front of the trilobite for the last eight point six minutes without leaving the spot. You continued to do so after the corporal inquired about the purpose of your behavior. You offered an explanation I now know was meant to deceive and returned to the trilobite. The trilobite lifting its leg was the final piece of evidence. You nodded to it as if knowing something. Given your recent encounter with another trilobite and the vision you had, you are most likely being targeted for something. What did the trilobite communicate to you?”
“Okay, okay!” Sheesh, Anna thought, it’s a good thing these machines could not read minds or people would have committed suicide from the constant nagging. “Can’t this wait until I return to the dome? I do have some actual work to accomplish, and I would really like it if I don’t have to tell this story fifty thousand times. We will regroup and tell this story once or twice, okay?”
“Perhaps. Is this time sensitive?”
Anna felt an ominous dread. “Not yet.”
She collected the corporal and headed to the other experimental garden. She needed to check on the Earth plants that were being tested in this planet’s soil. Hardly watching where she went, she daydreamed about what this turn of events could mean. She had the impression the scooters meant no harm to the humans, but she realized if the shoe were on the other foot, the humans wouldn’t be as calm and courageous. No, definitely not. We must be very gentle with them, she thought. Try not to cause a panic. The captain and Sonny will know what course of action to take. At least I hope so.
Melon approached the entrance to his clan home, worried on several levels. The Elders had decided they should warn the Two-Legs but were unsure how to make first contact with them. Melon had been watching the Two-Legs since they arrived. He didn’t get the impression they were aggressive or hostile. Then, the chance meeting took place, and Melon had decided to warn Anna Houser about the far-seeing. Melon had done what he thought he must when he spoke to the Two-Legs, but what would the leaders say about him taking this chance? As far as the other worry, he understood he had started something in motion. Melon just hoped it would not lead to their clan's destruction.
FOUR
Decisions
At the emergency Council meeting, everyone was all abuzz about the recent events surrounding the exobiologist Anna Hauser. An indigenous intelligent life form on Searth! Who would have seen this coming? What to do now? Chairman Isabell Rocha called the group to order.
“Okay, let’s settle down and take our seats so the meeting can get started. General Zhou, could you start us off?”
The general stood and spoke gravely. “Certainly, Chairman. A few days before this second incident with Ms. Hauser, I investigated another incident involving the trilobites and one of my security men. Corporal Harris broke our protocol and picked up one of the trilobites. He is currently in a contamination ward of the hospital. Some of you are already familiar with this incident. It has been concluded from several sources that this was likely a reflexive act by the trilobite to right itself and the movement inadvertently broke the corporal’s helmet. My investigations down on the planet and information received from Major Patel’s interview with the corporal leads me to believe there were no nefarious motives in the trilobites. It is my opinion the corporal’s incident precipitated the second meeting with Ms. Hauser. This could be their way to mitigate any misunderstandings that may be developing among our people. We are the aliens in this scenario. To secure our place here on this planet, some sort of mutually beneficial relationship should be worked out as soon as possible.”
“Thank you, General,” Isabell said as the general sat down. “Captain, do you have anything to add?”
Levi stood and addressed the room. “Only three things, Chairman. First, I want to remind people here that it was an impulsive youngling who cracked Corporal Harris’s helmet, not a mature adult. Ms. Hauser related this to us from her communication with one of the Te’Hat Elders who we are calling Fred. Second, their behavior seems to imply a benevolence that is the result of a higher-level type of civilization, or maybe they are just very simple-minded and gullible. I do not believe in the latter explanation since they seem to be moving with real purpose, which implies a fair amount of intelligence. I am saying this because we need to proceed with caution. A higher type of civilization may also have very specific taboos and customs we need to be careful to respect. Thirdly, we need to recognize the fact that they were here first.”
Matt stood up. “You mean if they asked us to leave, we would have to comply with that?”
“Yes, we would, as long as I am captain."
Matt returned to his seat, feeling intimidated by the captain’s displeasure. An uncomfortable silence engulfed the room as Levi also took his seat.
In an effort to break the discomforting hush, Isabell plowed right on through. “Thank you, Captain, for your assessment of the Te’Hat. Now I am opening the floor to discussions about options.”
Before anyone could start, Sonny addressed the chairman. “If humans are to treat the Te’Hat with the respect that they claim to have for them, we must leave this place.”
“What?” Matt leaped to his feet and shouted. “Is he kidding? We are trying to save our own species!”
Sonny answered his outburst with a history lesson. “At the expense of another civilization? I must point out human history is full of empty promises and deceit. In nearly every instance, one group of people has pledged cooperation and respect when moving into another group’s territory, only to stir up conflict and war over that same territory. There will always be individuals who believe that the stronger group should take by force what they cannot get through peace. This predictably leads to conflict. Dr. Allen believes we should take what we want.”
Dr. Allen was livid. “Do you propose we put an end to our species because someone else just happens to live here too?”
“Dr. Allen, please control yourself.” The chairman scanned the room. She looked into the eyes of her friends and colleagues, seeing distress on some faces and anger in others. The room fell silent again. “It seems this is a touchier subject than I imagined. I think I understand the ramifications of both staying and leaving. Both sides make good points. So, this is what I propose. We stay here as guests of the Te’Hat until the Atlantis comes back. We can study them, and they us, and then at that time we can decide with the Te’Hat what is best.”
Everyone agreed to the compromise. “It’s nice to see we can still take a good compromise when we see one," remarked Isabell, relieved and somewhat sarcastically. "All of us should be cautious about calling Searth home until we are confident that we will not be here against the Te’Hats' wishes. Thank you all for coming on short notice to discuss this.”
The meeting broke up, but the attendees loitered about the conference room, forming little knots of people to discuss the topic further. Captain Metcalfe wandered over to the other three captains, who were already in discussion. Only Captain David Williams from the Intrepid was there in the flesh.
“…that should buy us time for now,” Captain Schmidt said as Levi walked up. Captain Gunter Schmidt was from an influential family back on Earth and commanded the Valiant. Levi seldom had conversations with him that were not strictly business. “Ten years is plenty of time to make our case with the locals.”
“Good evening, gentlemen,” Levi began. “You guys aren’t already planning to take over the place, or did I walk up at the wrong time?”
“No, Levi,” Bill Collier from the Wanderer explained. “Gunter said we should be able to iron out any difficulties by the time we get back.”
Levi’s attitude became more serious. “I had my own reasons for saying what I said back there, but what Sonny said also keeps ringing in my head. All of you would not be where you are unless you were good at extrapolating and critical thinking skills.”
The Journey of Atlantis: The Children of Earth Page 5
