Through Alien Eyes

by Amy Thomson

  “How is Ukatonen, Dr. Saari?” Commander Sussman asked. She had been waiting outside the cabin with Bruce and Don and Jennifer.

  “He’s no better,” Juna told them. “And Moki’s been worrying himself into a frazzle over the last week.” She looked up at the commander. “He feels responsible for Ukatonen’s depression. If it wasn’t for him, Ukatonen wouldn’t be here.” She shook her head. “I’m glad we’re docking in two more days. They’ve got to get off the ship.”

  “Juna,” Commander Sussman said, “I just got word that the Survey intends to quarantine the ship and all its crew until we can prove that the Tendu do not pose a threat.” The commander looked furious.

  Juna swore in Amharic. “Why are they doing this? No one on board ship has been ill. Dr. Caisson’s only had to bandage a few scrapes, and set one broken arm.” She slumped against the wall, her arms crossed over her chest.

  “I know,” the commander said. “Louise tells me that this is one of the most boring trips she’s ever been on. There haven’t even been any colds.”

  “When will they let us out?” Jennifer asked.

  The commander’s expression was bleak. “They’re not saying.”

  “This is crazy!” Juna protested. “They’ve known we were coming for over two months. Why are they pulling this now?”

  “I don’t know, Juna,” the commander replied.

  “Ukatonen’s almost stopped eating, and Moki’s losing weight as well. I’m worried that the Tendu are going to die while the Survey bureaucracy sits on its hands. This is no way to treat the first alien envoys to Earth!”

  “It’s also no way to treat the rest of the crew,” the commander declared. “Everyone wants to go home. The Survey hasn’t even let our families know that we’ve arrived.”

  Juna felt her own despair welling up inside her. She was aching to see her family.

  “So what do we do?” she asked, looking up. “How do we convince the Survey to release us from quarantine?”

  “Perhaps after we dock, Moki and Ukatonen can convince the Survey that they don’t pose a threat,” the commander suggested.

  “Commander, Ukatonen is so depressed he can barely move and Moki’s not much better. We have no way to prove that this is a psychosomatic illness.”

  “It will be hard,” Commander Sussman admitted, “but Dr. Caisson says she’ll do everything in her power to break this quarantine. Louise used to be a researcher for the Center for Contagious Diseases. Hopefully she can convince them that Moki and Ukatonen aren’t a danger to humans. At least they’ll be allowing us to contact our families once we’ve docked. There will be a lot of security on the link out,” she cautioned. “You may find your calls disrupted if you breach security.”

  “Thank you, Commander,” Juna said. “The chance to talk to my family means a lot to me.” Tears pricked at the backs of her eyelids as she thought about seeing her father, her aunt, and her brother again, even over a secured comm unit.

  “I wish I could take credit for it,” the commander said. “It’s a concession to the crew. The Survey wants to keep the union out of this mess.” She caught herself. “I’m going to do everything possible to fight this quarantine.”

  “I know you will, Commander, and thank you.”

  “I only wish I had better news, Juna. I promise you that I’m going to fight this as hard as I can. But if the Tendu don’t show some signs of improvement. …” The commander left the rest unsaid.

  “I’ll do what I can,” Juna assured her.

  Juna managed to get Ukatonen and Moki out of bed to watch the docking. They sat in the observation lounge and watched the looming space station draw closer. There was a sudden jarring, and a deep rumble as the ship’s docking probes linked with the station’s. Then there was a queasy moment as the ship’s gravity matched that of the station’s.

  “Well, we’re here,” Juna announced.

  Moki’s ears spread wide, then drooped, Ukatonen glanced up briefly, then returned to studying the floor.

  A few minutes later, Juna was summoned to the captain’s conference room.

  “I think you should come with me,” she told the Tendu. “It’s probably about the quarantine.”

  Moki took her hand. They waited while Ukatonen got up with agonizing slowness and shuffled along with them to the meeting. He looked old, Juna thought. Old and sick and tired. The last Tendu she had seen who looked this frail had been Ilto, just before he killed himself. She closed her eyes in pain, and pushed the memory away.

  Commander Sussman and Dr. Caisson were sitting with three e-suited figures around the conference table. She rose as they came in.

  “Dr. Saari, thank you for coming,” she said. “This is Dr. Daniel Nyere, head epidemiologist of the Center for Contagious Diseases; Chief Officer Gabriella Martinez, the administrator in charge of Broumas Station; and Ambassador-General Iago Joven, the United Planets ambassador at large.”

  Juna nodded to each of the anonymous, white-suited figures. They had rolled out some impressive brass for the occasion. The fluorescent lighting made it difficult to see their faces through their faceplates.

  “This is Ukatonen, an enkar of the Three Rivers Council of the Tendu, here on behalf of his people, and this is my adopted son, Moki,” Juna told them.

  The white suits nodded at the Tendu, and the Tendu nodded back.

  “Dr. Saari, could you please enlighten us as to the nature of the Tendu’s illness?” one of them asked.

  “I am suffering from a malady that we refer to as greensickness,” Ukatonen said.

  “I see, and is it contagious?”

  “It is what you call psychosomatic. I am out of harmony with the world. I’ve spent too long on this ship, out of touch with the natural world. It has made me sick. Releasing us from quarantine will help us recover,” Ukatonen explained.

  Exhausted by the effort of making this speech, the enkar slumped back in his chair. Moki touched his arm, ears spread wide, ochre with concern.

  “What has Dr. Caisson found?” Dr. Nyere asked Commander Sussman.

  “Louise?” the Commander prompted.

  Dr. Caisson rose to speak. “I’ve found nothing. No detectable viruses, no antibodies, and their intestinal flora have not infected any of our test animals. Commander Sussman has included a copy of my report in your briefing folder. I believe you’ll find I’ve been quite thorough.”

  “We’ll want to check her results and run some tests of our own,” Nyere told Sussman.

  “Of course, Dr. Nyere,” Commander Sussman agreed. “How soon do you think you can finish your tests?”

  “We should have some preliminary results in about four days, and our final results in a week.”

  “And the quarantine? I have a ship full of people who all want to get home as soon as possible. And there’s the health of the Tendu to be considered as well.”

  “We’re not sure when the quarantine will be lifted,” Ambassador Joven told the commander. “I’m afraid that it’s out of our hands.”

  “Then whose hands is it in?” Juna inquired. “There’s absolutely no evidence that the Tendu are contagious. No human on board this ship has died or gotten sick. Meanwhile, the first representatives of an alien race ever to visit Earth are growing weaker and more depressed with each passing day. If you keep them cooped up in this ship much longer, Ukatonen may die. What are you proposing to do about this?”

  “We’ll do what we can,” Ambassador Joven assured her. “I understand your concerns, Dr. Saari, but we have to take into account the safety of the entire human race.”

  “But– ” Juna began. Ukatonen laid a hand on her wrist.

  “Ambassador Joven, before coming here, Moki and I agreed to abide by your Alien Contact Protocols. Neither of us would injure a human. We bring nothing but goodwill and a desire for harmony between our two people. How can I convince you that we mean no harm?”

  “I appreciate your position, Mr. Ukatonen,” Ambassador Joven said. “I will pass along w
hat you have said to my superiors. I’m sure they will take your expression of friendship and goodwill into consideration.”

  That, Juna thought, was one of the most hollow reassurances she’d ever heard.

  “Ambassador Joven,” she asked, “who is in charge of lifting the quarantine?”

  “That will be a joint decision between the Center for Contagious Diseases and the Interstellar Survey Department, with input from the Department of Defense.”

  “I see. Thank you, Ambassador Joven,” Juna said. These officials had no real authority to free them. She looked down at the bland grey plasteel table, fighting back her anger and frustration.

  When the meeting let out, Juna and the others accompanied the e-suited officials to the airlock.

  ’Thank you for coming,” Commander Sussman said as she shook hands. “On behalf of the entire crew, I urge you to lift this quarantine as soon as possible. Not only do we all want to go home, but we’re also concerned about the Tendu.”

  “Thank you for your hospitality, Commander,” Ambassador Joven said. “Dr. Saari, Mr. Ukatonen, Moki, Dr. Caisson, it’s been very nice meeting you. We’ll be publicly announcing your arrival in a few more hours. After that, you will be able to contact your families.”

  “Thank you, Ambassador,” Juna said, her eyes stinging with tears of longing.

  The airlock opened, and Juna found herself peering into it, straining for a glimpse of the outside, though she knew that all there was to see was the closed and locked door to the outside. She looked around and saw that the others were doing the same. Then the inner door swung closed. Juna heard a heavy clunk as the locks were dogged home, the hiss of evacuating air, and the rush of water, as the decontamination cycle started on the other side of the airlock.

  “Well,” she said, feeling the sound of the closing door settle like a weight on her soul. “Let’s go sit in the garden until I can call my family.”

  Ukatonen, Eerin, and Moki settled themselves in the midst of the circle of sunflowers and bean vines that the gardeners had planted especially for the Tendu. The sunflowers were more than two meters high, with huge, platelike leaves. The bean vines, growing up the sun-flowers’ sturdy stems surrounded them with a curtain of living foliage.

  Ukatonen lay flat on his stomach, barely aware of the others. His eyes were closed and his nose brushed the lower leaves of a bean vine, inhaling the scents of earth and growing plants in an attempt to feed the starving place inside. He longed for the wet warmth of the jungles of Tiangi, for the rich, familiar smells of thousands of different plants, animals, and insects growing, breeding, and being eaten by each other. The smell of the rain forest was rich with the smell of life. The smell of this tame garden was as thin and empty as the humans’ clear cold tap water.

  The emptiness inside Ukatonen had grown until there was no room for food or pleasure, and barely room for allu-a. He felt like a seed rattling around inside a sun-bleached gourd. In a strong wind he would crumple up and blow away, but there weren’t even any breezes here, only an endless sameness surrounded by a universe full of nothing at all. Even this tiny scrap of a garden couldn’t rescue him from the sterile monotony that had overtaken his spirit. He felt as though he was about to fade away entirely. His eyes slid shut, and he slipped back into the welcome oblivion of sleep.

  Juna sat down at her comm unit, her mouth dry with fear. She glanced down at Moki. What if her family didn’t like him? She had left Ukatonen sleeping in the garden. This introduction would be complicated enough. They could meet Ukatonen later. She smoothed her hands against her pant legs, took a sip of water, and punched in the comm address for her father’s house.

  The round, pleasant face of her aunt Anetta appeared on the screen, “Hello, Ad Astra Vin– Oh!” Anetta’s blue eyes widened in amazement as she recognized Juna.

  “Hei, Netta-Tati, olen palatal”

  “Oh, my god! Oh, my god! It’s Juna!” Anetta exclaimed. She started to run away, then stopped and turned back to the comm screen. “I’ll go let everyone know you’re here!”

  Juna felt giddy with joy at seeing Aunt Netta again. She squeezed Moki’s shoulder, wishing she could link with him, and share the full intensity of her joy.

  Then her nephew, Danan, was there. “Juna-Tdti Juna-Tdtil You’re back!”

  “//ei, Danan,” she began, then saw her father striding into the comm’s viewfield. “Isi!”

  He looked older, his face more creased, his hair whiter than she remembered, but healthy and happy. “Hei, tytar” he said, throwing an arm around Danan’s shoulders, drawing him closer as he sat down to speak with her. “You look almost like a teenager again,” her father teased. “I expected you to look like– ” He broke off awkwardly, not wanting to bring up her transformation.

  “Ukatonen changed me back again,” Juna told him. “You’ll meet him later.” She drew Moki into the comm’s viewfield. “This is Moki, Isi, he’s my adopted son.”

  “Hello,” Moki said. “It’s good to meet you.” A flicker of pale orange nervousness forked like lightning down the bami’s back. Juna touched him lightly, reassuringly, on the shoulder.

  Her father looked from Juna to Moki and back again for a long moment. Juna’s heart caught in her throat. She should have waited, should have broken the news more gently…

  Then her father’s seamed face broke into a wide smile. “Hei, tyttarenpoika. Welcome to the family. Puhutteko suomea?”

  Sudden relief brought tears. Her father had just referred to Moki as his grandson. He was willing to accept him as part of the family.

  Moki looked up at her, purple with puzzlement.

  “He wants to know if you speak Finnish,” she translated, wiping away the tears.

  Moki’s ears lifted, and he shook his head.

  “Well, then,” her father said, “we’ll teach you.”

  “When are you coming home?” Danan asked.

  “First they have to let us out of quarantine. I don’t know when they’ll do that,” she told them, shaking her head. “They’re worried about the Tendu. Ukatonen and Moki aren’t well, but it’s more like a case of severe homesickness. There really isn’t any reason to keep us here. The Tendu don’t have anything contagious, and none of the humans have been sick.” The security telltale at the top of her screen was blinking, warning her that her words were being cut off.

  “Juna? Can you hear us?” her father asked. “Is everything all right?”

  Juna pressed the Acknowledge key and the security telltale stopped blinking. “I’m sorry, Isi– there was a problem with the comm at my end. Can you hear me?”

  Her family nodded.

  “Hopefully, they’ll let us out in a few days. So, tell me, how is everyone?” Juna asked, steering the conversation away from dangerous ground.

  Anetta, Danan, and her father fell all over themselves telling her the news. Juna’s fame had brought reporters to the vineyard. The subsequent coverage had increased interest in the winery, and sales were booming, helped by several extremely good years.

  “We bought another ten hectares just spinward of Toivo’s place, and we’ve still got enough in the bank to send Danan to the best college in the system!” her father told her proudly.

  Juna smiled. There had been so many years of struggle; at last the family was prosperous.

  “And Toivo? How is he?”

  A shadow crossed her father’s face. “Not so good, dear. He tried to kill himself last March. We stopped him, but he moved to one of those zero-gee colonies a few months later.”

  Juna glanced at Danan, who was looking stony and determined. Clearly he missed his father very much.

  “You talk to him, dear. Maybe you can get him to come back,” her aunt told her.

  Tears welled up in Juna’s eyes. “I’ll try, Netta, I’ll try.”

  “Harvest starts next month. I hope you can make it,” her father said. “We can’t wait to see you and your little one. What was his name again?”

  “Moki, Isi, his na
me is Moki,” Juna reminded him.

  “Bring Moki, and the other one.” Juna heard the question in his voice.

  “Ukatonen, Isi”

  “Bring Ukatonen, too, but most importantly, bring yourself.” Her father reached out and touched the viewscreen. “We’ve missed you so much.”

  “I’ll come, Isukki” she said. “We’ll all come. Thank you.” She reached out and touched her father’s fingers on the screen. “We’ll come as soon as we can. Good-bye.”

  Juna’s eyes were brimming with tears as she broke the connection. Her father, Anetta, and Danan were all right, and they were looking forward to meeting the Tendu. But there was still Toivo to worry about. She wiped her tears of joy away and keyed in the comm address for him with a heavy heart.

  The comm rang several times, followed by the familiar ascending chime that signaled a recorded message. Toivo’s face appeared on the screen. He looked at least a decade older than Juna remembered; his face seemed thinner, more haggard, tired and cynical.

  His message was ordinary enough, but his voice sounded harsh and bitter. A descending chime prompted her to record her own message.

  “Hello, brother,” she said in Amharic, which had been their private language since their time together in a refugee camp. “I’m back. I heard about the accident and I want to talk to you about it. Danan, Father, and Netta send their love. They want you to come back. I want to see you too. Please come for a few days at least.”

  Juna turned off the comm program, leaned back, and closed her eyes. Moki touched her shoulder. She looked up at him. He held out his arms in the wordless gesture for linking.

  “We should find Ukatonen first,” Juna said.

  “He’s probably still in the garden,” Moki told her.

  “Let’s go check on him.”

  They found the enkar sleeping in the garden. They sat in the sunflower circle, and watched him sleep.

  “Moki, what are we going to do about Ukatonen?”

  “I don’t know, siti. What can we do?”

  Juna shook her head, feeling the crushing weight of responsibility on her shoulders. “I wish I knew, bai. I wish I knew.”