by Pam Stucky
“Interesting,” said Aly. Emma thought she could almost see Aly creating a file in her mind, a folder labeled “Earth,” in which she was carefully storing the information they gave her. Emma had the feeling that if they came back to visit Jovo in three years, Aly would still be able to pull these facts out of her memory stores. “How much of Earth is covered by water?” someone might ask. Aly would pause, a faraway look on her face, and then, “Seventy-one percent. About seventy-one percent of the planet called Earth is covered by oceans. In these oceans are creatures called ‘octopuses,’ which are rather smart and which have eight tentacles.”
“You were saying about eighty-seven percent of your planet is covered by water?” said Kata, prompting Aly to continue.
“Yes, yes. Our planet is mostly a water world, with only two large land masses, one of which is at the northern pole and mostly covered in ice. With the exception of a few scientific expeditions and explorers, all our people live on the other land mass. Ka’Jovo, the above-ground people, for a very long time in our history thought that meant the oceans were somewhat disposable. That we didn’t really have to be concerned with them. What we can’t see can’t be important, right? But there have always been people who are fascinated with the waters, scientists among them. And one day, as I said, about a hundred years ago, we discovered that the Klyvnini have greater intelligence than we previously imagined. They had, as I said, awareness. Some scientists started an intensive study on them and learned their language, and found that they were quite intelligent enough to learn ours, as well. At that time, a very tentative relationship began. This home,” she said, spreading out all four arms to indicate the full space around them, “was built about thirty years ago when they first introduced the position of Science Ambassador to the Klyvnini. I am the fourth Ambassador to hold this position. There’s also a Diplomatic Ambassador, who has a similar home elsewhere in the ocean. You won’t have seen our conference rooms, they’re locked away in a secure area, but we have rooms where we can ‘meet’ with the Klyvnini, talk with them through specially designed communication tools.”
“Are relations between your two species good?” asked Kata.
Bek returned with a tray of food, which he placed on a short table in reach of everyone. Overhearing the question, he exchanged a look with Aly. “They aren’t ideal,” he said, serving himself a morsel from the tray. “The Klyvnini would prefer to pretend we don’t exist. They don’t think too highly of us. But our activities affect their world, and vice versa, so we have to maintain relations.”
“Why don’t they like you?” asked Chuck.
“They think they came first. Which is both true and not true. Our ancestors climbed out of the ocean while theirs stayed. But technically, we come from the same roots, just a different branch of the same tree, a long, long time ago,” said Bek.
“They have exceptional eyesight,” said Aly. “Ours is pretty good but not as good as theirs. You say those bracelets disguise you, but I’m sure they didn’t fool the Klyvnini for one moment. Our eyes are good enough that we can tell there’s something different about you. You look like us, but at the same time you don’t.”
“Okay, so, back up,” said Chuck. “Conference rooms? Do they … the Klyvnini, do they, you know, walk? Out of water? How do you have conference rooms?”
“Dual-sided rooms,” said Bek. “They stay on the water side; we stay on the dry side.”
“I would love to see that,” said Emma. “Can we see those rooms?”
“One thing at a time,” said Aly. “We’ll get to that.” She was not a woman who would be rushed from her agenda, and control of the conversation would be hers. “As I was saying. The Klyvnini and the Ka’Jovo have had difficult, tentative relations at best, since we learned we can communicate with them.”
Emma sat, taking this all in. Two species trying to get along on one planet? It was hard enough on Earth for one species to get along. “Are there other animals on your planet,” she asked. “Other animals with, I guess, with less intelligence? Animals you can’t talk with?”
“‘Animals’ is not a word we use anymore,” said Aly. “It implies too much distinction between ‘us’ and ‘them.’ We try to refer to all life as ‘beings’ or ‘life forms.’ After all, it was not that long ago that we didn’t realize the Klyvnini were of higher intelligence. We can’t assume there’s more we don’t know. And yes, there are other beings, quite a gamut, from the tiniest microbes to other life forms in the sea, to birds and other forms flying in the sky, to giant beings on the land; a wide variety of beings.”
“Do you eat them?” asked Chuck. Emma shot him a look. “Hey, I’m just being curious. Do your higher life forms eat the lower life forms?”
Aly sighed. “That’s a difficult question, isn’t it? Yes. Some do. Ka’Jovo evolved by eating the meat of other life forms, as did the Klyvnini. There are many who do not eat meat any more, but many others who still do.”
“I, for one, enjoy a good baftoi steak,” said Bek. “Mmmmmm!”
Aly laughed. “I suppose I do too, now and then. I try not to eat meat very often, but … it can be delicious.”
“What about the Klyvnini?” asked Chuck. “Are they vegetarians?”
Bek laughed heartily. “No. No, indeed, the Klyvnini are not vegetarians.”
“Would they eat … us?” asked Chuck.
“Well, they didn’t this time, so that’s a start,” said Bek with a wink.
Emma shuddered. “I think we’re all very glad about that. Thank you, Aly and Bek, for telling us about your people and the Klyvnini,” said Emma. “And I don’t mean to rush. I could ask a zillion questions. But what I want to know right now is, how do we get home?”
Another chuckle burst out of Bek. “You’re asking us?” He shook his head and laughed.
“We need to either find an elevator, or find the stones and magnets we dropped,” said Eve. She looked at Aly and Bek with hope. “I don’t suppose the Klyvnini have, like, an underwater lost and found?”
Aly shook her head. “If they do, I’ve never heard of it. But, we can ask them. I’ll arrange a meeting.”
Emma’s heart skipped. A meeting with the Klyvnini! She was so curious how that might happen, but realized she would just have to wait and see.
chapter eleven
Aly went off immediately to set up a meeting with the Klyvnini. Emma wanted to follow and watch—she could see Aly was using something like a computer, and Emma was curious to find out how advanced (or primitive) the technology was. Was Aly calling the Klyvnini on some sort of phone? Texting them? Could the Klyvnini even have phones or computers under water? But even though Aly was alien to Emma, Emma could read her body language: she wanted privacy.
Emma turned back to Bek, who was encouraging the others to try the delicacies he’d brought out on the tray.
“Looks sort of like cheese and crackers,” said Chuck, digging in to a few of the treats. Following Bek’s lead, he piled some of a soft, light brown substance onto one of the cracker-like pieces, topped it with a small, firm object that may have been a nut, and popped the whole concoction into his mouth. “Orrmmm!” he said with his mouth full. “Mmm!” He chewed and swallowed. “That is good, Bek! What is that?”
The others tried the food as well while Bek explained. “This,” he said, pointing to the cracker, “is something we got at the market, made from … well, I suppose it’s ground-up grains, salt, some oil, and some seeds, all mixed and baked.”
“It is a cracker!” said Emma. “That’s pretty much what crackers are made of, I think.” She nibbled the corner of one of the crackers and her eyes lit up with delight.
Bek’s smile increased on seeing his new friends enjoy the treats. “This,” he said, pointing to the light brown substance, “is mashed beans, mixed with some nut butter and flavorings. And this,” he said, pointing to the firm nugget on top, “is a nut from the sweetnut tree. It’s sweet,” he said, with a laugh.
“Clever name for it,” said Chuck.
>
“Delicious,” said Eve.
“Mrrrmmmm,” said Charlie, his mouth full.
Aly rejoined the group, a look of purposefulness on her face. “They will meet with us at eleven. That doesn’t give us much time. Do you know what you want to ask them?”
Emma realized she’d lost all track of time. Was it morning? Evening? Had Aly and Bek returned in the middle of the night, or had the rest of them all been sleeping during the day? What with the underwater home, the artificial light, and all their travel through the universes, she was completely disoriented.
“Eleven?” she said. “What time is it now? We were asleep. Is it day?”
Bek laughed. “You really are off your center, aren’t you! Yes, it’s midday. Our day has twenty cuts. That is, the day is cut into twenty pieces, each one is called a cut.”
“Like our hours,” said Ben. “We have twenty-four hours in a day.”
“Yes, much like that, I’d guess,” said Bek. “It’s now just past tenth cut. Up above ground, it’s the middle of the day.”
“Can we go above ground?” asked Chuck. “I’d like to see it.”
“Me too,” said Emma, “but we need to figure this out first.” She looked at Aly with hope.
“We shall see,” said Aly. “One thing at a time. First, let’s talk to the Klyvnini, and then we’ll go from there.”
In the end, Aly decided it would be best to limit the number of people in the conference room.
“I’d like to minimize exposure,” she had said. “The Klyvnini don’t communicate with Ka’Jovo very often. Their ideas, their views of the world, they’re very different from ours. Some Klyvnini, I’m told, those who live in farther reaches of the ocean, don’t even believe we Ka’Jovo exist. They don’t believe there’s a world above the water. They believe we’re just made-up stories told to bad oo’broo young ones, to make them behave.”
“Understood,” Kata had said. “I’d like to be there, since my dark galaxy stone was one of the ones lost.”
“Me too,” Eve had quickly added, claiming her spot at the table.
“And me?” Emma knew she wasn’t really needed, but she’d wanted to be included.
Aly had agreed. “But the three of you, that’s more than enough.”
Realizing they were all still dressed for bed, Kata, Eve, and Emma had run off to change into regular clothes. Now, they were all reassembled in the room with the giant windows.
“Almost time,” said Aly. “Everyone ready?”
“Ready as we can be, I think,” said Emma. “Nervous, but ready.”
With a nod to Bek, Aly rose and indicated the designated three should follow her. “This way,” she said.
Aly led them along the hallway to the door from which she and Bek had emerged what now felt like days ago, when they’d frightened Emma and awakened all the rest. Stopping outside the locked door, she entered a code into the panel. The door slid open.
For a moment, Emma feared that passing through this door would lead them to something like the box that had been their first introduction to the house. She shuddered, remembering the fear of being inside that dark room, of being submersed in water and not knowing if they’d ever find a way out. She quickly realized, though, that this door led to a hallway and multiple rooms behind more closed doors.
“Lots of security here,” said Aly. “Just to keep us safe. One never knows.” She waved at the ceiling. Emma looked up and saw what she guessed must be a security camera of some sort. Emma gave a tiny wave, too.
“Through here,” said Aly, turning left down the hall. She reached a hand up to the keypad next to the door, but then paused. She turned to the others.
“I told you that we’ve learned to understand the language of the Klyvnini, and they more or less understand ours. But their vocal cords are very different from ours, and neither we nor they can speak the other’s language very easily. We use translators in the conference room, but I’m not sure how the translators will work with your bracelets. Things that can fool live beings sometimes cannot fool technology. If that’s the case, leave the talking to me as much as possible.” She paused. “Now, the Klyvnini are a very story-loving species. Chances are, they will have made up stories about who you all are already, and these stories may not be kind to you. If that’s the case, to the extent possible, I won’t correct them. I want to raise as little suspicion as possible. Whatever they say about you, even if it seems … uncharitable … I would prefer you not try to correct them.” Aly gave them a look that clearly indicated this was more command than request.
“Of course,” said Emma. “We’ll follow your lead.”
Aly nodded, then reached again for the keypad. She pressed five buttons, and the door slid open.
The Ambassador led her alien visitors into a bright and sparsely furnished room. One wall was completely made up of a giant empty frame, much like the one in the living room. A long, wide table, shaped somewhat like a kidney bean, sprawled in front of the window. Sturdy chairs stood guard behind it, and in front of each seat were a microphone and a small console.
“We’re early,” said Aly. “I wanted to show you the setup. I’ll sit here,” she pointed to the seat in the middle, “and you may sit wherever you like. They can’t hear you unless you’re pressing the button at the base of the microphone.” She demonstrated briefly. “They are seated on the other side of this wall, but this is not a window. They did not like the idea of having lights shining on them, and we can’t see them well in the dark under the water. We compromised with a dual-sided panel and underwater cameras that compensate for the darkness. Essentially, what you see is what is on the other side of the wall, but via video rather than through a window.”
Aly pressed a button on the panel next to the frame, and an underwater scene appeared in the frame before them. “They designed it,” said Aly. “We helped with the technology. The Klyvnini … do not really have technology of their own.” Her words were carefully chosen.
“Are those rocks their chairs?” asked Eve, pointing to what seemed more like stacks of volcanic rock than seats.
“Yes, that’s what they prefer. If you look closely, you can see the microphones hanging from the other side of this wall, and the speaker consoles.” She pointed through the frame as best she could. “Those panels there, on the side of the seats, that’s what they push so we can hear them speak.”
“They can push the buttons?” asked Kata.
“They have nine arms, each with nine ‘fingers,’” said Aly. “They are quite dexterous.”
Emma nodded absently, taking everything in. She couldn’t help but wonder about the animals in the oceans back home on Earth. Were any of them capable of communicating like this? She didn’t think so, but maybe, one day …
“Here they come,” said Aly. She sat in her chair and the others followed suit. “Oh, one last thing,” said Aly, “they prefer that we call them oo’broo when talking to them, rather than Klyvnini.” She pasted on a diplomatic smile, watched the frame in front of her, and waited.
Two Klyvnini glided through the water, then curled and slithered onto their rocky seats. Emma couldn’t help but stare. The last time she’d seen these creatures had been under less than pleasant circumstances. Now, from the safety of the conference room, she studied them. The more she looked at them, the more she realized she didn’t really know what an octopus looked like, not really, and so she couldn’t tell how alike or different they were. The Klyvnini’s heads were enormous, elongated bulbs, with a slight bulge at the top. Their eyes were widespread, mounted on the ends of short protuberances. Their wide, rectangular pupils mimicked those of the Ka’Jovo, and the eyes seemed to be able to move independently of one another. Emma couldn’t see evidence of mouths or ears, but she assumed they were there, somewhere. The skin of the creatures was mottled, and almost seemed to move.
“Are they changing colors?” whispered Emma.
“They are able to do that, yes,” Aly replied. “They can change thei
r skin to hide, or to express emotion.”
“What emotion are they expressing now?” asked Eve.
“I’m not an expert on Klyvnini skin changes yet,” said Aly, studying the new arrivals carefully, “but my guess is they’re annoyed.”
Once the Klyvnini seemed settled in their seats, Aly pressed the button at the base of her microphone. “Greetings, Ambassador Mroo, thank you for meeting with us. These are my friends Kata, Emma, and Eve.” She spoke clearly and slowly.
One of the two Klyvnini moved an arm, unwinding a finger to press the button to activate its own microphone. “They must be your mutants.” The words came through the intercom translator, a nondescript voice filling the air.
With the slightest look out the side of her eye, Aly indicated, “What did I tell you?” but she said nothing.
The Klyvnini continued. “We assumed you had discarded them into our space because of their deficiencies. Throwing into our ocean the things you do not want, as always. Did the others die?”
“No, the others did not die. Thank you for delivering them to us. They had gotten lost,” said Aly, revealing as little as possible.
“What do you want?” said Ambassador Mroo. “We are very busy.”
Aly pursed her thin lips. “We appreciate your time, Ambassador. We have two questions. First, when you found these young ones, they had some special stones with them, which they lost in the confusion. Did any of the oo’broo happen to find them?”
“Special?” said the other Klyvnini. “They are valuable?”
Emma, sitting beside Aly, could almost feel her tense up. Emma started to speak, but Aly stopped her with a gentle hand on Emma’s knee.
“Special only to the young ones. But not valuable,” Aly said.
“Why do you want them so badly, if they have no value?” said the second Klyvnini. “A meeting between Ambassadors? They must be worth something.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t believe we’ve met,” said Aly pointedly. “Ambassador, might you introduce your colleague, please?”
