by R. E. Weber
Theo was about to ask a good sign for what? but he thought better of it. He had a feeling that the answer might somehow be quite complicated.
Moments later, the platform glided to a halt at another ledge. Then Orientator stepped onto the ledge closely followed by Theo. They proceeded through another doorway and down another corridor, before stopping by a doorway to his left.
‘These are your assigned quarters, Theopolis. You are to use them to rest, change your clothing and take in sustenance.’
‘Sustenance?’ said Theo.
‘Nourishment or food,’ replied Orientator.
‘Oh,’ said Theo feeling a little stupid.
‘I will return in seven hours to collect you for your meeting,’ said Orientator, before turning and walking quickly away.
‘What meeting?’ Theo shouted after Orientator. But no answer came back.
Chapter 6 – First Contact
Theo awoke suddenly to a loud bleeping noise, and as he opened his eyes, he wondered if, just for a moment, he’d dreamt his fantastic journey to Polisium. But even though he couldn’t see anything in the darkness, as he sat upright and felt the strange foamy bed underneath him, he realised that it had all been real. He was still in the quarters that Orientator had taken him to, on a space station orbiting the planet Polisium, billions of miles from Earth.
The beeping noise stopped and then a pale light on the ceiling pulsed into life, dimly illuminating the room. Theo sat upright and glanced around. The room was about five meters square, by about three meters high and like most of Polisium Prime was pale and featureless. As he looked to his right, he noticed a small flashing white symbol on the wall. He flung his feet over the side of the bed, yawned heavily and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Then he rose and walked over to examine the symbol, which looked like a pair of lips or a mouth. Was it perhaps an icon like on his computer back home? Sleepily, he touched the symbol, which bleeped lightly, and he heard the familiar voice of Orientator.
‘Theo, I will collect you in thirty minutes time. Ensure that you have bathed, changed your clothing and taken in sustenance.’
‘But how do I….’. Then there was a loud bleep.
‘Orientator?’ said Theo. No answer came back. ‘Orientator, are you still there?’ There was still no response.
Wondering whether Polisians understood the meaning of good manners, Theo walked back over to the bed and sat down. He glanced at his watch. It was 5am, Saturday morning. What was happening to him? Had he really been dragged half way across the Universe just to sleep? He could just as easily have done that back home.
Glancing back at the wall where he’d seen the mouth icon, he noticed that a further six icons had now appeared. The topmost icon was a small circle with several dots inside it, while beneath it and to the left was another one – an empty circle. To the right was another consisting of two narrow, horizontal rectangles stacked one on top of the other, while underneath was another that looked like a fat letter T. To the left of that was one that looked like a box with sloping sides and no lid, while at the bottom was another which looked like a pile of irregularly shaped objects with a few wavy lines above. They all clearly had some sort of function. But what? Why weren’t the options just displayed in plain English? Why was everything in his life a riddle?
Theo stood up and walked over to the collection of icons. Which one should he select first? Orientator had asked him to have a bath, change his clothes and eat. And after lifting up his arm and smelling his armpits, bathing seemed like a very good idea. Two of the icons looked like they might indicate washing facilities. The box without a lid, he guessed, might be a bath, while the circle with dots could be a shower. As he’d always preferred showers, he tapped the circle with dots. Immediately, a doorway opened up to his left to reveal a small empty chamber. Was it perhaps a shower cubicle? Tentatively, he stepped into the cubicle to have a closer look, and almost immediately dozens of small holes appeared in the walls and ceiling and began to squirt powerful jets of warm water in every direction. Soaking wet, Theo staggered backwards out of the cubical. ‘Idiot’ he said out loud as he began to take his wet clothes off.
*
Several minutes later, Theo had finished showering. The drying facilities – the empty circle icon, which also appeared inside the cubicle – had just used the same holes to squirt jets of warm air at him. Afterwards, he had taken his wet clothes into the cubicle, laid them out on the floor and activated the drier again. Then he’d watched as they’d gotten blown around and around the cubicle as if caught in a mini tornado. It had taken no more than a couple of minutes for them to become fully dry.
As he sat back down on his bed ready to put his clothes back on, he remembered that Orientator had advised him to change. He looked back at the icons and noticed the fat letter T. That seemed like a good bet for clothes as it looked a little like a short-sleeved shirt. He walked back over to the icon and touched it, and a small rectangular compartment opened up in the wall. Inside the compartment was a neat pile of folded clothes: a plain grey jacket and trousers made of some sort of shiny material. He lifted the jacket and trousers out of the compartment and found that, hidden underneath, was thin folded garment resembling a leotard. He put the jacket and trousers down, then picked up the garment and held it out in front of him. It was a long and black and made out of a stretchy Lycra-like material. It had two longs arms, two legs and a hole for his head, with a small hood. It wasn’t a leotard, but a unitard – like the outfits that gymnasts wore. He held it up against his body. It was only small, yet because it was stretchy he guessed that it might just about fit him.
He sat down on the bed and then pulled the unitard on, putting his legs through the neck and head hole and then pulling it up and over his chest, hooking his arms into the sleeves and then sliding his legs down. It slid over him surprisingly easily and didn’t feel as tight as he’d imagined, and once it was on and he’d pulled and stretched it in several places so it fitted snugly around him, it felt quite comfortable. He pulled the hood up around his head until all that was visible was his small round face. Then he stood up, looked down at himself and grimaced. He looked like a very weedy Ninja assassin. If Jules could see him now…
He pulled the hood back down and then put on the jacket and trousers. They too, fitted perfectly. There were two clips at the bottom of the jacket at the front, and as soon as he clipped them together and squeezed, the jacket automatically zipped itself up to the top. He unclipped them again and watched as the jacket unzipped itself. Power zips. Why had nobody on Earth invented them? The trousers also had a similar fitting, which he tried several times much to his amusement, finding that they were adjustable depending on how long he squeezed the clips together. Then he sat back down on the bed, removed the jacket and looked down at the unitard and shiny trousers, feeling faintly ridiculous. He hoped that nobody was secretly watching him.
As he sat on the bed his stomach began to rumble, so he looked back at the icons on the wall, wondering which one might represent food. There were three icons left which he hadn’t yet selected: the two rectangles, the collection of irregularly shaped objects with the wavy lines, and the box with no lid. The collection of objects seemed to be the best bet; they did, after all, look like steaming hot food. He walked over to the wall and touched the icon. To his right a doorway appeared, and through the doorway he could see a small cubicle. Inside however, instead of a plate of hot food, there was a small round seat with a large hole in the middle. And something told him that it wasn’t a hot food dispenser.
*
After he had finished using the toilet, he looked back at the panel of icons. Which one could he use to wash his hands with? There were only two left that he hadn’t used, so he touched the box without a lid. A compartment opened in the wall to his left, revealing a small bowl. A washbasin. He plunged his hands into the bowl, and a hole then appeared and began to squirt white liquid into it. Once the bowl was full, he rubbed his hands together in the liquid
for several seconds and then removed them. Instantly, the water drained away, and then two more holes appeared and blew jets of warm air back into the bowl. He thrust his hands back in and rubbed them in the warm air until they were dry. Then, as he pulled his hands out of the basin, the compartment disappeared.
As only one of the icons – the two rectangles – was left now, he knew it had to be food, so he touched it. Directly below, a small horizontal slot opened in the wall, and then a shelf with a tray on it slid out. On the tray there was a beaker and a small square plate. The beaker just contained what looked like water. But on the plate was what appeared to be a cheese sandwich.
Theo took the tray over to his bed and sat down. He picked up the cheese sandwich, or whatever it was, and looked at it from every angle as if expecting it to change into something. It didn’t. He then sniffed it. The familiar odour of sliced bread and strong cheese met his nostrils. He then took a small bite out of one corner. The bread had a slightly odd herby taste to it, but other than that it was just like regular sliced brown bread. And the cheese was quite strong, with a bitter aftertaste and a firm texture. It wasn’t the best cheese sandwich he had ever tasted. But he had suddenly become very hungry and so it would have to do.
Theo finished the sandwich quickly, and even though it was only small he felt quite satisfied. Then he took a sip of the liquid in the beaker. It was just plain water and it tasted exactly the same as it did back on Earth. Some things were after all, he guessed, universal. Realising how thirsty he was, he quickly gulped it all down. Then he put the beaker back on the tray and put the tray back on the shelf, which slid back into the wall. He looked back at his watch. It was now 5.27am. Just in time for Orientator. He went back to his bed, sat down and put his shoes back on. Then he waited.
A couple of minutes later, right on schedule, a doorway appeared and Orientator walked in.
‘Theo, follow me,’ he said. Then without waiting, he turned and walked out of the room. Looking at Orientator striding away, Theo grinned. Perhaps if he had the time, he might try and teach Orientator about human manners.
*
In a matter of minutes, Theo and Orientator had travelled across the huge station core, up to one of the higher levels in the station, down another long corridor and into a circular room at the far end. The room itself was about ten meters in diameter and doughnut shaped, with smooth, pale grey walls. In the centre of the room was a cylindrical column, which was pulsing faintly with random swirls of white light.
Orientator stepped forward as if addressing the column and spoke several words in a language that his earpiece didn’t seem to want to translate. Then it turned to face him.
‘I am now required to depart,’ said Orientator.
‘So what’s happening?’ replied Theo.
‘This will be explained to you.’
‘But…’
‘Goodbye Theopolis. We will converse later,’ replied Orientator, before turning and heading off through the doorway.
A little irritated at being abandoned once more, Theo turned and stared at the column, which seemed to be the only thing in the otherwise empty room. It was gently shimmering and pulsating with flecks of yellow light. He walked towards the column to examine it more closely, and as he approached he noticed that the lights were beginning to flicker more rapidly as if they had somehow become excited. He stopped in front of the column, with his face about twenty centimetres away from it, and stared at the swirls of light, like a child mesmerized by a flickering television.
After a few seconds, noticing that the lights were beginning to merge into a pattern, Theo stepped backwards so he could make out the overall shape more clearly. Then he realised what he was looking at. It was a face: a glowing human like face, complete with a mouth, nose and eyes. Then the mouth began to move.
‘Good morning, Theo,’ said a loud, clear, feminine voice with a distinctly English accent.
Startled, Theo stumbled backwards, hit something behind him and almost fell over. Turning around, he found that a seat had appeared, seemingly from nowhere.
‘Erm, sorry, I mean, good morning,’ replied Theo.
‘I trust that you had a comfortable journey and are suitably refreshed,’ said the voice.
‘Er, yeh… yeh, it was OK thanks. The cheese sandwich was quite nice.’
‘I am pleased to hear it,’ said the voice.
‘Where am I?’ said Theo. ‘This room, I mean?’
‘This room is known as the Sensorium,’ replied the voice.
‘Sensorium?’ said Theo.
‘Yes,’ said the voice. ‘It is capable of inducing sensory inputs. Images, sounds, smells, and even touch can all be artificially simulated for you.’
‘A bit like virtual reality?’
‘Broadly speaking, yes. In your terms, you might describe it as a highly advanced virtual reality classroom.’
‘Sounds pretty cool,’ said Theo. ‘So I’m guessing you’re some sort of teacher then, are you?’
‘Yes,’ said the voice. ‘And before we continue, would you like to sit down? We have much to discuss.’
Theo sat down in the seat, which moulded itself precisely to his body, immediately relaxing him.
‘I imagine you have many questions,’ said the voice.
‘Erm, yeh I suppose you could say that, but I don’t know where to start.’
‘The best place to start would be by introducing myself. My designation is First Mentor of Polisium Prime.’
‘Don’t you have names here?’ said Theo. ‘I’m not really into this whole designation thing.’
‘My name wouldn’t make a great deal of sense to you Theo, but if you like I can attempt a translation. You might call me Soulful elder mist of the oldest red star of Typhos and tutor of Achilles kind offspring.’
‘Er, yeh, that is a bit of a mouthful,’ said Theo.
‘It is indeed a mouthful Theo. However for our purposes today, First Mentor or Mentor will suffice.’
‘How about Mist?’ said Theo. For a moment there was no reply, and in the silence Theo wished he hadn’t spoken.
‘Mist?’ said First Mentor finally. ‘You want to give me a common or informal name?’
‘Well, erm… I’
‘Normally, I would not allow this. However as I am not yet your Mentor, we could treat this meeting more informally. Mist will suffice for the moment if you wish.’
‘Talking of which, why am I here?’ replied Theo.
‘You are here because, quite simply, you accepted our invitation.’
Theo paused for a moment as he thought back to the events of the past few weeks. Then he smiled.
‘I thought that somebody back home had set all that up. So how did you do it all? You know, the newspaper, the website and all that?’
‘Do you believe that such rudimentary tasks are somehow beyond our ability, Theo?’
‘Erm, well, no of course not,’ said Theo sheepishly.
‘I am pleased to hear it.’
Inwardly, Theo winced at his stupidity. Then he rapidly changed the subject.
‘OK, so why have I been invited here? Why me?’
‘You have a number of qualities which meet our criteria.’
‘Which are?’
‘Your age, your intelligence and your personal circumstances, to name but a few.’
‘But what…’
‘Theo,’ interrupted First Mentor, ‘if you would permit me to continue...’
‘Oh right, yeh, sorry.’
‘Let me start by telling you where you are. Hopefully, you should now be aware that you are in orbit around a planet known as Polisium. And you are probably aware that you are on-board Polisium Prime, which is the largest of several orbital habitats around Polisium. These habitats are comparable to cities on your world.’
‘Yeh, Orientator said.’
‘Polisium is at the centre of an alliance of inhabited worlds located around several local star systems. This alliance is known as The Affinity. With
in The Affinity, there are several advanced civilisations of sentient beings, which are allied for the mutual benefits of knowledge, resources and security.’
‘And you said Polisium is at the centre of this Affinity?’ said Theo.
‘Polisium is the administrative centre and founder member of the Affinity.’
‘How big is it – the Affinity I mean?’
‘You mean, how many worlds does it encompass or what volume of space does it cover?’
‘Both I suppose,’ said Theo.
‘The diameter of space covered, in your terms, is approximately a thousand light years. Your own world, although not a member of the Affinity, is at the outermost edge of Affinity space, approximately four hundred and ninety seven light years from Polisium. And there are twelve civilisations within the Affinity.’
Theo thought for a moment. ‘OK, so if there are so many Alien civilisations near us, I mean Earth, how come we’ve never detected any of them?’
‘Quite simply, because of your current technological level.’
‘So you’re saying we’re quite primitive then are you, us humans?’
‘That is a matter of perspective. If you locate your species along the path of a typical civilisation’s development, you will actually find that you are quite highly advanced. Most civilisations remain in a non-technological state for many thousands of years, as did your own. So the human race is actually quite advanced, relatively speaking.’
‘Really?’ said Theo, surprised. ‘Little old us?’
‘Yes,’ said First Mentor. ‘However in comparison to the other civilisations within the Affinity, you are considered less advanced. More primitive if you like.’
‘Got ya,’ said Theo. ‘So anyway, you were saying that we weren’t able to detect any other civilisations. I mean, how come? Surely we’d be able to pick up their radio signals? We’ve got these huge radio telescopes all over the planet, listening to stuff from space.’
