Through Alien Eyes

by Amy Thomson

  “Dr. Saari, Ukatonen, Moki, I am honored to introduce you to my bio-father, Quang Nguyen Xaviera, current head of the Xaviera family.”

  Juna’s eyes widened fractionally in surprise. They must really want the Tendu, if they were sending the son of the head of the family to court her.

  “I am honored to meet you, Mr. Xaviera,” Juna said.

  Mr. Xaviera bowed to her. “Thank you Dr. Saari, I am honored to meet you as well.”

  Mr. Xaviera greeted the two Tendu as formally and as ceremoniously as he had greeted Juna. Ukatonen and Moki returned his bow and greeted him in equally formal Standard and Tendu skin speech. Then Quang Nguyen Xaviera escorted them into the house and introduced them to his wife, Abeo, a tall, commanding African woman who ran one of the largest shipping concerns in space. She was dressed magnificently in brightly printed African robes, and wore heavy gold jewelry.

  “Welcome, Juna. Welcome, Ukatonen. Welcome, Moki,” she said. “Welcome to our house.” She clapped her hands and a dark-skinned girl came forward bearing a tray with a fragrant bowl of rose water and crisp linen hand towels.

  “This is my daughter Oseye.” Oseye bowed her head, peering sideways at the Tendu.

  “Please accept our humble hospitality,” she said, proffering the tray. They washed their hands and Oseye carried off the tray.

  “Your journey must have been very long,” Mrs. Xaviera said. “My other daughter, Ngoc, will show you to your rooms. I am sorry that my other son, Raoul, is not here to meet you, but he is studying on Earth.”

  Ngoc, a somewhat older version of Oseye, escorted the guests down a long hallway to an elegant suite, then bowed and left them.

  “When can we go see the forest?” Moki asked.

  “I don’t know, Moki,” Juna answered. “I’ll try to arrange something as soon as possible. Right now, let’s unpack and get settled.”

  They showered and changed. Half an hour later, a young boy knocked on their door. He was bearing a tray with tea things artfully arranged on it. He introduced himself as Joao, a member of a collateral branch of the Xavieras, one of Yang’s cousins.

  Moki watched Joao intently as he deftly poured the tea and served each of them.

  “Our father, Quang Nguyen, respectfully invites you to visit him in the aviary when you have finished your tea. I will be honored to escort you there.”

  The young man was well trained. He didn’t stare at the Tendu, though Juna noticed a few covert glances in their direction when he thought they weren’t looking. Once he had served them, he glided quietly to the door and stood beside it like a statue.

  Mold’s ears lifted and he flushed purple with curiosity. “Isn’t he going to eat with us?” he said in skin speech.

  Juna shook her head. “No, Moki, he’s supposed to be invisible, like a tinka, only he’s a person.”

  “You treat people like tinka?” Ukatonen asked. His skin turned beige. He was clearly appalled at the thought of such rudeness.

  Juna shrugged. “I don’t entirely understand this, Ukatonen, but even though he’s a member of the family, he is functioning in the role of servant. As a servant he’s supposed to be invisible. But he’s considered to be a person, and has the legal rights of a person, unlike a tinka. So he’s more like a bami. Perhaps later, when he is off duty, you can ask him about it. But,” she added, taking one of the exquisite tea biscuits from the silver tray, “it is not polite to discuss such things in front of Joao now, not when he is unable to participate in this discussion.”

  They finished their tea, with Moki sneaking occasional wide-eyed glances at their young servitor. Joao watched him back. Ukatonen watched all the watching, slow blue and green ripples of amusement sliding across his body.

  Joao escorted them through the compound and down a long breezeway that ran along a courtyard dominated by a large steel sculpture. Several children were sliding down it, and they left off what they were doing and followed the visitors, staring curiously af the Tendu and giggling. They were bright and happy children, brown and beautiful. It was easy for Juna to imagine her own daughter playing among them. This would be a wonderful place to bring up a child.

  Then they rounded the corner of a large building, and found Quang Nguyen Xaviera standing inside a huge aviary, watching a cloud of hummingbirds zooming around a feeder. The tiny birds were almost too fast to see as they dove and hovered in front of the bright red feeder. Quang Nguyen looked up as they came in.

  “Welcome,” he said. “I wanted to show you around our compound. I thought that the aviary would be an interesting place to start.”

  “What is this?” Moki asked.

  “It’s a place where we keep birds, Moki. Most of these are hummingbirds from Brazil, one of the places on Earth where my family comes from.”

  “Why are you keeping hummingbirds?” Moki asked.

  Mr. Xaviera smiled. “We keep them because they are beautiful, and rare. The rain forests where they once lived were destroyed. Until they can be replaced, we keep them safe here.”

  Ukatonen’s hand darted out and he plucked one of the brilliant birds from the air and stuck his spur into it Mr. Xaviera’s eyes widened in surprise and alarm.

  “Ukatonen!” Juna cried, terrified that the enkar had offended this rich and powerful man.

  Ukatonen released the bird. It zipped off unharmed, to Quang Nguyen’s evident relief.

  “Fascinating. They are much like the watani at home. They eat nectar?”

  Mr. Xaviera nodded hesitantly. “Yes, yes they do. That feeder is full of it. The red attracts them.”

  Ukatonen held up his arm, and let the skin around his spurs turn bright red. As they watched, one of the hummingbirds came up and sipped drops of nectar from his spurs.

  “When I was a bami, I used to do this all the time,” Ukatonen said. “It was harder with the watani, but these birds are extremely tame. There was one who I trained to come to my hand. It used to follow me around, pestering me for nectar.”

  “Did it have a name?” Joao asked.

  Ukatonen shook his head. “My people do not name animals. They simply are. Sometimes we tame them, but they are not really pets, not as you humans know them. We tame them to understand their nature better.”

  It was an awkward moment, until Moki broke the tension. “Mr. Xaviera, when can we see the forest?”

  He smiled down at Moki. “How about right now?”

  They followed him out of the aviary, and down a path into the jungle. Soon they were surrounded by tall trees.

  “This is the oldest part of the forest,” Mr. Xaviera explained. “These trees were planted by my grandfather. I look at them, and feel young.”

  Moki and Ukatonen were both looking up at the trees, their skin blue-grey with longing.

  “Mr. Xaviera, can we climb these trees?” Moki asked.

  “Are you sure you can climb them safely?”

  Moki nodded.

  “And you will not hurt any of the plants or animals?”

  “Yes, Mr. Xaviera, we will be careful,” Moki said reassuringly.

  “Is it all right with you, Juna?”

  “Of course, Mr. Xaviera. They’re both expert climbers, and I can assure you that the creatures and plants will not be harmed.”

  “Then please,” he said spreading his hands palms upward, “be my guests.”

  Moki scrambled up the trunk of the nearest tree. Uka-tonen followed him, moving as swiftly as his dignity would allow. They were up the tree and out of sight in less than a minute.

  “Wow! Just like a monkey!” Joao said, staring upward, his mouth agape in amazement. Then he remembered himself, and looked embarrassed.

  “Joao!” Quang Nguyen snapped. “That’s no way to talk about our guests.”

  Juna laughed. “It’s all right, Quang Nguyen. Sometimes they remind me of monkeys, too, but they’re much more civilized. Look at them now,” she said, pointing at the two Tendu flickering blue and green as they leaped through the trees, the lighter gravity
making it look as though they were flying. “Aren’t they beautiful?”

  It took the Xavieras a while to pick them out, but finally she saw Joao’s face open in delighted recognition, and then Quang Nguyen saw them too. Juna watched them wistfully, longing to climb with them, but held down by her human responsibilities.

  “I’m afraid that they’ll be up there for a while,” she said apologetically. “It’s been a long time since they’ve been in an environment that was anything like their own.”

  Quang Nguyen smiled. “I understand. I feel much the same way when I’m back in Vietnam. I’m glad we are able to make them happy. May I show you the rest of the compound?”

  He gave her the grand tour, introducing her to various members of the family as they encountered them, making a particular effort to bring eligible bachelors to her attention.

  “This is one of our retreats,” he told Juna. “Most of the people here are on family leave or sabbatical. We encourage the members of our family to take long family leaves, and allow a two-year sabbatical once every seven years. After all, what is the point of having wealth if one does not have the time to enjoy it?”

  Juna smiled but didn’t comment, not really knowing what to say to this. She had never thought about what it would be like to be wealthy. The idea felt strange to her.

  The clamor of children’s voices came to her. They rounded a corner and were facing a schoolhouse with a large, well-equipped playground filled with children.

  “This is our school,” Quang Nguyen said. “It has just let out for the day.”

  “Surely these are not all your children!” Juna exclaimed.

  He shook his head, his dark eyes alight with amusement. “No, most of them are from Copernicus City. We take as many of their best and brightest as we can, and we run a lottery, giving chances to the poorest thirty percent of the families. It gives us an interesting mix of students. Only about five percent of the students are actually family members.”

  “Sir, my shift is over,” Joao said. “May I please be excused?”

  “I’m sorry, Joao. Please run along.”

  “It’s been a pleasure serving you, Dr. Saari. I liked meeting the Tendu.”

  “Thank you, Joao. Please feel free to come and visit us later, if you wish. I know Moki would like to get to know you better.”

  “Thank you, Dr. Saari!” Joao bowed and ran off.

  “Mr. Xaviera, may I ask you a personal question?”

  “Please, go ahead.”

  “I notice that your children work as servants. Why is this?”

  “That is a very good question, my dear,” he said, sitting down on a bench. “Employing our children as servants has been Xaviera family policy for several generations. We even emigrated from the Earth to the Moon in order to continue doing so.

  “Many of our children will go on to run large organizations. We feel that it’s important for them to learn to serve before they learn to rule. That way they do not take their privilege for granted. We are very strict with them during the years they are in service to the family. They must each work three days a week, and make up for the schooling that they miss. We have tutors to help them. They are paid what we would pay a regular servant. Half of this money goes into a fund that they receive when they reach majority. The other half is theirs to spend, save, or invest.”

  He smiled. “I invested most of my spending money in an older cousin’s start-up company. We lost our shirts, but we learned a great deal from the experience. What we ask our children to do is both difficult and controversial, but I was raised that way, and I feel that it was a valuable experience. As a servant, I learned things that I never would have in school, things that served me well, and are still serving me well.”

  “You know,” Juna said thoughtfully, “this is very similar to how the Tendu treat their bami. I assume that Moki would also be expected to serve?”

  Quang Nguyen looked surprised. “We had not really thought about that.”

  “He is my adopted child,” Juna pointed out.

  “I apologize. How old is Moki?”

  “There’s no way to know for sure, but Ukatonen thinks he’s about thirty-six Tendu-years-old, which would make him approximately thirty-three or thirty-four Earth-years-old.”

  Quang Nguyen raised his eyebrows in surprise.

  “The Tendu mature very differently than we do,” Juna explained. “In many ways, Moki is more independent than a human child. He would make a good servant. He is extremely obedient, and he already has many of the necessary skills. But,” she continued, “he has a deeply stubborn streak. It does not show itself often, but when it does, he would rather die than give up.

  “He nearly died twice,” Juna recalled. “Once when he was trying to get me to become his sitik, and again when he tried to sneak on board our starship, so that he could go with me. Both times it was because he refused to give up.”

  “I see,” Quang Nguyen remarked. There was a long silence.

  “It’s the Tendu, isn’t it? That’s why your family is interested in me.”

  “It would be counterproductive to lie,” he said. “Humanity stands to gain a great deal from the Tendu. They stand to gain a great deal from us. An alliance would be very advantageous to our family, but I think you underrate yourself, my dear. You are young, intelligent, and beautiful. More importantly, you are strong and determined. You survived four difficult years among the Tendu. You brokered a most impressive treaty; and you have withstood and triumphed over some extremely powerful political pressure.”

  “I had help,” Juna said. “Without the Tendu, I would have died on Tiangi. Some of the finest minds of both our people helped to forge that treaty. And Mr. Manning, and Analin Goudrian helped get us out of quarantine.”

  “But you stood at the center of all of those things, Juna. You helped make them happen,” Quang Nguyen replied. “You have met my wife, Abeo. She possesses strength like yours. She is both the rock, and the river raging around it. That is why I cherish her as I do. That is why I proposed that we court you. A woman of your strength and vision would be an asset to our family, even without your ties to the Tendu.”

  “Still, this is a marriage for gain,” Juna said with a shrug. “I’m not entirely comfortable with that.”

  Quang laid a gentle hand on her arm. “Juna, every marriage is for gain, else, why would we do it?”

  “But I want to gain a family,” Juna explained.

  “And you will be,” he said. “Tonight we will have a reception in your honor. Most of the rest of this branch of the family will be there, including all our unpaired men. Hopefully one of them will strike a spark in your heart. Please, give our family a chance, Juna. We would be honored to have you join us.”

  “All right,” Juna said. Perhaps she would be drawn to someone at the reception. Belonging to a family like this certainly would have advantages– for the Tendu, for the child beneath her heart, and for herself. It would not be wise to turn away just yet.

  He glanced at his watch. “I’m afraid that I must leave you to attend to some other duties. Please, feel free to wander wherever you like.”

  “Thank you, Quang Nguyen.”

  “You’re welcome. I’ll see you tonight.” He turned and walked off across the compound.

  Juna headed for the forest. She wandered through the woods on the neatly groomed, cleared path. It was good to be in the forest, alone. Up overhead, a bird called, a loud, sonorous call. Farther away, another bird replied. There were faint rustlings here and there in the foliage, as unseen animals fed or fought, or courted. She looked longingly up at the treetops, aching to be up in the hidden world of the canopy. Finally, she could stand it no longer. She stripped down to her bra and underwear, wrapping her clothes in a couple of broad green heliconia leaves, pinned together with twigs. She tied the package around her waist with several strands of vine and started climbing.

  Juna climbed steadily until she reached the treetops. She found a sturdy branch and sat for a
few minutes, admiring the glorious view. The trees stretched away to the edges of the dome, and beyond that was the sterile grey surface of the Moon. Beyond the dome overhead the crescent Earth hovered in the sky, against a background of brilliant, un-twinkling stars. This would, indeed be a wonderful place for her and the Tendu to live.

  On Tiangi, she would never have been able to sit in such a vulnerable spot. The sky belonged to the enormous raptors that patrolled the canopy, looking for any animal unwary enough to stick its head above the treetops. She had been attacked and nearly killed by one of the huge, soaring creatures as she sat in an exposed treetop.

  After spending a long pleasant interval admiring the view, Juna climbed back down into the canopy, and called to the Tendu. She heard a pair of answering calls, and headed toward them.

  Moki came swinging up to her, his skin rippling blue and pink with excitement. “It’s wonderful! It’s like home, only different. Everything is from Earth, like you!” he exclaimed.

  “Yes, Moki, everything is from Earth, like me,” Juna said, amused by his excitement.

  Ukatonen leaped onto the branch, his skin azure with joy.

  “It’s good to be here,” he said. “Moki’s right, it is a great deal like home. Thank you for bringing us here.”

  “You’re welcome,” Juna said. “Have you looked above the trees yet?”

  They shook their heads.

  “There are no koirah here,” she said. “It’s safe. And the view is incredible.”

  She led them up into the clear, bright sunlight. “Look,” she said. “Isn’t it amazing?”

  Slowly, tentatively, the Tendu looked around at the dark sky, the crescent Earth, the myriad pinpoint stars, the harsh sunlight.

  “It’s very strange,” Ukatonen said. “It looks like night, but the sun– ” He shook his head.

  Moki’s ears were spread wide as he looked around. “Is that Earth?” he said, pointing.

  Juna nodded.

  “Where’s the rest of it?”

  Juna was explaining about how part of the Earth was in shadow so that you couldn’t see it, when a shuttle passed overhead. The two Tendu vanished into the canopy. Juna sighed sadly. Even here, in this safe place, their instinct to avoid high, exposed places was too strong.