by Kurt Winans
Ross spoke first by asking, “What purpose do these serve you?”
He then heard that the tentacles were a normal aspect of the alien’s anatomy, and they had nothing to do with age, gender, or reproduction. Their purpose was that of a pleasure center, because the tentacles enhanced sensory awareness. Having them exposed to the atmosphere was simply relaxing for the mind and body. Many of the alien species enjoyed moving about freely with the tentacles exposed, while others preferred to keep them covered except during private meditation.
Unfortunately the down side to exposing the tentacles was that the area around them was very susceptible to disease if dirt or other pollutants were present. In that regard, they were similar to some of their major organs. That was why the alien had been wearing the protective covering on the Moon and subsequent visits with Ross on Earth. Ross remembered learning many years before that the alien clothing was used primarily as a filter for the same reason, so the skin like covering on the back of their heads made perfect sense.
The alien’s thoughts must have been transmitted to all present, because the ladies were nodding as if they understood what Ross had heard. Wanting to provide additional insight about his species, the alien then removed his clothing so his entire body could be viewed. From the back, a few major organs could be seen close to the surface of the skin, but the real surprise was a series of slits on each side that were almost directly under the alien’s arms. Upon close inspection, the slits were roughly four inches in length, and the alien’s thoughts informed his human observers that they were in fact gills used for breathing. There were three on each side that moved very little during normal breathing, but the alien flared them out for a moment to showcase their maximum potential. He turned to face them all as he informed them that the gills were an aspect of their anatomy that they were born with just like a heart or lungs. Much like the tentacles, they too could be susceptible to contaminants.
From that new angle, or orientation, additional organs could be seen through the thin and somewhat transparent skin, but there didn’t appear to be any dominant feature that would distinguish male from female. The alien informed them that he was a male of his species, as the other alien disrobed. He identified the subtle difference between himself and the body of the second alien. That alien was a female, but unlike most humans, it would have been impossible to notice the difference if had not been pointed out. In simple terms, the height of roughly four feet and body shape of both male and female aliens was nearly identical.
At that moment Ross, and the others, were prepared to answer any questions with regard to their own human anatomy. Luckily, disrobing probably wouldn’t be necessary in order to showcase male or female specifics. After all, it was probable that the alien species had long ago studied and discovered the answers to such questions of human gender and functions of reproduction. Still, there might be other questions.
The alien put his uniform and scalp covering back on, and the female exited the room. Janet prepared herself to ask him a few troubling questions.
At what she felt was the appropriate moment, she asked her host, “Why was I abducted, and then held with the group of other abductees for such a lengthy period of Earth time?”
The alien’s thought projections reminded them all that even though many years had passed on the planet since the time of her abduction, her actual ageing process had only been measured in days or weeks. They learned that her selection for abduction was actually a random act performed by a stealthy scout ship, and it had been a common occurrence for many Earth years. Depending on the point of view, Janet was simply in the right or wrong place at the right or wrong time. The reason she had been held for so long was actually flattering, if she could accept that way of thinking.
Thousands of humans had been abducted and briefly studied over the most current few Earth centuries, but the vast majority had been returned within a very short time due to their lack of development. Only a select few, like Janet, who passed initial mental and physical testing, were then taken to the larger deep water vessel for prolonged observation. The first mental test given to an abductee by the aliens was to deliver a thought, and wait for a response. The power to form the message that had been sent rested within the individual recipients mind. If the abductee responded verbally to the aliens thoughts, then they had passed that first mental test.
To that end, Janet, like the other humans she had met during her captivity, was a special case. They each represented a very thin slice of the human population that was deemed by the alien species to be somewhat advanced. During the time of certain revolutions around the host star, many specimens from the planet were kept in captivity, while other cycles produced no viable candidates. Janet learned that in her case, she was the only specimen who warranted additional observation of those taken during 1957.
Her next question was even more direct, and carried a slight tone of aggression as she asked, “Are the four of us, along with all the other human specimens as you call them, destined to provide slave labor for your species?”
The alien became somewhat direct as well when his thoughts asked them all just how many times they needed to hear that was not the case.
Ross pulled his mother back a few feet to help defuse the situation, and asked his old friend, “Can you try to see this entire situation from her point of view?”
He then heard a voice in his head asking to explain, and Ross said, “Most of us on your transport vessels became a new breed of pilgrims when we volunteered to travel to a new world. It’s simply not the same for the abductees like my mother, because they never had that same chance to exercise their free will.”
His point was that Janet, like many of the others that had been held captive, missed a large portion of their lives just to appease the curiosity of the alien species. Janet also realized that she was probably unconscious aboard the alien scout ship longer than she originally thought. It must have taken some time to administer all the mental and physical testing the alien had spoken of.
The alien nodded in acknowledgement of Ross’ opinion when he realized how difficult captivity could be on any species.
Janet heard his apologetic thoughts along with an additional question. She replied, “It’s true that we were never mistreated or used for breeding experiments, at least as far as we could tell, but we were also never given the opportunity to return to our lives on Earth if we wished.”
Once again the alien nodded in acknowledgement of Janet’s statement, and then informed them all that her captivity had only been for observational purposes. Their species wanted to learn if the specially selected humans could mingle with other life forms. That observation was an important aspect of determining how far the human evolution had come from a philosophical point of view during the previous few centuries of Earth time. The conclusions drawn from those experiments would play a major role in determining if the species was ready for non-secretive public contact. The observations may have gone on for as long as another Earth century, but the discovery of the asteroid altered the plan. It was then determined that the abductees could be used for an additional purpose. Because Janet and the others had experienced lengthy exposure to the aliens’, it seemed they would be perfect to assist with the integration of the two species during the flight.
As Janet listened carefully to the thoughts of the alien, it occurred to her that she, along with the other long term abductees, had just been thrust back into the role of teachers. Only time would tell how much she would be called upon by any of the voluntary pilgrims for her insight, and she decided that she would help them whenever she could. After all, it wasn’t their fault that she had been living among the aliens for an extended period of time.
To that end, she used a more relaxed and civil tone toward their host when she asked her final question of, “How long will it take us to complete the journey to this new world you keep telling us about?”
The gathering of people near the observation windows was larger than in re
cent memory. They were well aware that the time all of them had been waiting for was drawing near. According to the information provided by their hosts, the fleet of transport vessels would be arriving at the new world very soon. It was therefore understandable that almost everyone wanted to gaze upon it during final approach.
As far as Ross was concerned, the timing couldn’t have been better. Six weeks had been a long time for many of these people to be crowded into cramped spaces, but then again it was preferable to what they had all left behind. Ross figured it was sometime around 2057 back on Earth, or year 35 if a post-apocalyptic calendar had been implemented. He, like many others to be sure, wondered if anyone had survived the multiple impacts created by huge chunks of the asteroid and the Moon.
During the late stages of their present journey, several people had come to Ross with complaints about the dimensions of their sleeping and living quarters. Although Ross had nothing to do with how they had all been accommodated, he needed to remind them that the transport vessels had been built by the alien species. It was only logical that the specifications of the sleeping quarters would be more fitting to the alien species own size and body type. Ross couldn’t fathom why some people were complaining to him about what couldn’t possibly be altered, but his own height of six foot-two had certainly made him well aware of the discomfort they spoke of. He also realized it was just one of the means by which the passengers blew off some steam. He couldn’t blame them really. After all, there was a huge level of uncertainty of what was to come.
Janet on the other hand had really enjoyed the six week journey. She had used the time to become acquainted with every detail she could about the lives of her two children and one granddaughter. Throughout the exchange of information about her children’s respective lives, Janet had also been able to fill in knowledge gaps by entertaining them with several stories of her own youthful years.
During one such conversation, Janet discovered that neither one of her children had ever been told the origin of their names. Shocked and somewhat miffed at Robert for neglecting such an important task, she immediately asked, “Would the two of you like to be enlightened as to how you were named?”
Jessica spoke for them both, “Of course we would.”
Ross had been born on July 7, 1950, which was almost exactly three years to the date after Robert and Janet had met during the cleanup and investigation of a crash site near Roswell, New Mexico. It seemed only fitting to make good use of the coincidence, so Ross was named for Roswell.
Jessica was born on January 20, 1955, and Robert and Janet once again used an aspect of their introduction to assist with the naming of their new baby girl. The lead intelligence officer at the Roswell site throughout those several days when Robert and his men were cleaning up the debris from the alien spacecraft was Major Jesse Marcel. Jessica became the obvious choice as a female derivative of his name.
It was instantly obvious that both Ross and Jessica were surprised to learn of the commonality in their naming, as they had always thought that their parents had simply picked names for each of them that began with the same initials as their own. Their choice of names had also become another interesting connection between the Martin family and the alien species. Janet was then equally surprised to learn that the alien Ross had become such good friends with had been the flight leader of that mission when the 1947 crash had occurred.
Ross decided the current conversation provided a great opportunity for him to divulge exactly how he had arrived at the choice of names for his two daughters. There was incentive to do so, because a coincidental parallel to how he and his sister Jessica were named now existed.
Ross looked at Aurora, and said, “I never really thought it was important to inform you of how both you and your sister were named, but your grandmother’s recent story has changed my mind.”
He began with the naming of Aurora, and she, along with Jessica and Janet, listened intently as the story unfolded. Although Janet had no previous knowledge of the article, Ross reminded the other two ladies of the necklace and emblem that he had cherished until recently since the days of his youth. He continued by adding that Grandpa Hank had originally received the emblem from his father in 1897 when he was four, and had kept it until his death when it had been bequeathed to Ross. Between the two of them, the necklace and emblem had remained in the family for one hundred and twenty-five years before Ross returned it to his alien friend. It had come from the debris at a crash site of what was an alien spacecraft, and Ross had discovered that the craft had been piloted by the father of the alien that they all knew so well.
Both Aurora and Jessica nodded. They remembered seeing the necklace countless times, and hearing the story of the origin on several occasions as well.
Aurora then asked, “What does all that have to do with my name?”
Ross reached for her hand and said, “I’ll get to that.”
They all continued to listen as Ross told Aurora about how he and his grandfather would speak at length about space and extraterrestrials. Those conversations were what sparked his interest in venturing into space someday. Grandpa Hank had also told him all about the small dusty town where the crash of 1897 had taken place, and that town was the genesis of this entire family odyssey. Ross then took a deep breath, and with a smile on his face said, “The location of that crash was north of Fort Worth, in Aurora, Texas. I named you in honor of the small town that my Grandpa Hank grew up in.”
All three ladies gasped in response to their new found knowledge, and Jessica said, “I’m surprised that you never told me the story behind Aurora’s naming.”
Ross replied, “I’m sorry Jessica, but I never told anyone, including Patty, that story. She loved the sound of the name, but she would have never agreed to use it if she had known where the idea had come from.”
The story continued, as Ross told of how Rachel’s name was chosen. They learned that Ross had spent a portion of his early days with NASA, before Aurora was born, training in southern Nevada. It was another aspect of his life that neither Patty nor Jessica had known about, because it was a top secret location. Ross had done some flight testing, and desert survival training, at an airbase next to Groom Lake in what most civilians now commonly refer to as Area 51. He decided to call upon his experience during that time in the Nevada desert when it came to choosing a name for his second child.
On rare occasions, his survival task would be to hike several miles to a very small town known as Rachel that was located outside the northern perimeter of the airbase along state highway 375. He learned later that one aspect of each mission, or test, was to determine if he would inform anyone he encountered of his point of origin. Would he crack, while faced with the fatigue and delirium that can be associated with dehydration and exposure to extreme desert heat? He had always passed the test, without ever realizing that the people he encountered on each occasion were undercover government operatives. In spite of the extreme conditions, Ross thought Rachel would be a fitting name for a girl. He recommended it to Patty, and she also liked the name.
Once again without ever knowing the true origin, their child had been given a name that Patty would have otherwise balked at. From Ross’ perspective is was a wonderful secret, because she just thought he was very good at picking names. It was pure coincidence that the town of Rachel would later become a major point of interest for UFO enthusiasts. Due to the numerous sightings of strange aircraft in the area, highway 375 became known as the “Extraterrestrial Highway”. No one could ever be sure if the aircraft were secret military projects from nearby Area 51, or alien scout ships. It really didn’t matter what the origin of the flights were, but to Ross, he found the naming of the highway to be somewhat humorous.
Aurora bluntly exclaimed, “You’re kidding me. All these years of not knowing, and now I find out that we were named in honor of a couple of old dusty towns in the desert!”
Ross laughed aloud and said, “Yes, but look at the bright side. At least the one y
ou were named after is in honor of Grandpa Hank, and in our home state of Texas!”
Throughout much of the long journey, the observation windows had become a favorite area of the transport vessel for Ross. Although there was rarely anything new to view in the vast darkness that lay beyond, it offered him some comfort in that the ceiling was higher near the windows than in his living quarters. At least he could stand fully upright in any of the accompanying wide corridors, as opposed to crouching down in most other areas of the vessel. There was something to look at on a few occasions though, as the transport fleet would pass in close proximity to a pulsating star, or some type of distant massive colorful nebula. When he asked his alien friend about an intensely bright white star that seemed to be very close, Ross learned that the star was in fact a tremendous distance from their current position. It gave off the appearance of proximity, because it measured more than a thousand times the diameter of the star that hosted Earth. The star was used as a navigation point by the alien species, but was void of orbiting planets. It became another humbling example to Ross of how small Earth was in the big picture.
When the transport closed in on the solar system that would be their new home, Ross was contacted once again by his old friend. There was some information he needed to relay to Ross, and then it would be communicated to all those aboard the other vessels. The system contained five planets that varied greatly in both size and atmospheric conditions, yet it was one of the few systems his species had charted that contained life of some sort on the majority of the spheres. Ross was free to ask any questions he wished about the system, and did so as the vessel slowed for final approach.
The first few questions were rather obvious, as Ross asked, “How have you identified the system, and which planet will we be on.”
