Proxima Trilogy: Part 1-3: Hard Science Fiction

by Brandon Q Morris

  “You know what the worst thing was? Up to the very end I was not sure which of you two was the real one.”

  “I can imagine it. He was very clever about that,” Marchenko says.

  “Why did he know so much about us?”

  “He wanted to kill me with his electric whip. In order to buy time I told him what had happened. And then Gronolf intervened.”

  “Gronolf? Is that the alien? Do you understand his language?” Adam asks.

  “We are still working on our communication. So far we have managed to exchange names.”

  “Can you teach us his language once you have learned it?”

  “That won’t be possible, Eve. Some of the sounds he uses are in the ultrasonic range, and you could not pronounce them. Right now, I am recording all of his utterances, analyzing the context, and later I will attempt to create a linguistic model.”

  “That sounds doable,” Adam admits.

  “It works as long as we are dealing with something we can see at the moment. Once we talk about abstract issues, it will become more difficult. Maybe then symbols will help us.”

  “A sign language.”

  “Yes, Adam.”

  “How long will it take until we can converse fluently?” Eve asks.

  “That will be a lengthy process. Maybe never.”

  “Lengthy?” Eve looks at Marchenko and then at Adam, obviously distressed. “That’s bad.”

  “What is the problem?” Adam asks.

  “You wouldn’t know this. We might only have a few days left. Something really huge is approaching us.”

  “Something huge?” Adam gets up slowly. He needs to move around now.

  “I don’t know what it is. On the map it looked like another planet.” Eve looks as if she has not told them everything yet.

  “And how do you know it is approaching us?”

  “I called it,” Eve explains. “I thought I was sending a distress call. I had no idea the thing would go on a collision course right away.”

  “You used the aliens’ systems? That was risky.”

  “What do you know about this, Adam? You were gone, I had lost Marchenko, so to me, this seemed to be the only way out.”

  “Eve did the right thing,” the AI’s voice says. “From her perspective, it was the sensible approach. It is always easy to judge things in hindsight. Understanding these strange systems was already an enormous achievement. This might help us avert the threat.”

  “Do you think the alien actually needs our help?” asks Eve, tilting her head.

  “I don’t know,” Marchenko says. “It would be better if he can manage it on his own. If he can’t solve the problem and we also fail at it, he won’t be as restrained as he is now. I think we are in his good graces because you killed Marchenko 2 in front of him, but if you later become responsible for the death of his species, he might not be so happy.”

  “I can sure understand that,” Adam says.

  Brightnight 36, 3876

  The machine—which the larger foreigner had carried—is full of surprises. First of all, he was amazed at its intelligence. Together they managed to get at least some rudimentary communication going. Gronolf now knows that the machine calls itself ‘Marchenko,’ that the alien he met first is ‘Eve,’ and the other one is ‘Adam.’ Pronouncing these names is difficult, though, because the alien sounds use only a small part of the acoustic spectrum. It is as if he had to sing constantly in a different voice. However, the two aliens have even greater problems with his name. In order not to cause them unnecessary frustration he lets them believe that ‘Gronolf’ is his complete name—how could you teach someone to pronounce a word, if they cannot hear half of it? Only the machine can pronounce ‘Gro_#_-nolf#_$__#’ correctly.

  The true nature of Marchenko is still a mystery to him. He probably does not come close to doing him justice by using the term ‘machine.’ During their attempts at communication, Marchenko has proven to be much more. He still cannot judge how much more. Sometimes the machine reminds him of an Omniscience. An Omniscience consists of the compressed information, thoughts, and emotions of numerous Grosnops. The Knowledge Scientists developed this concept many cycles ago, because the machines built by the Motion Scientists had become too complicated over time to be controlled even by the most talented individuals. A spaceship like the Majestic Draght would be impossible without being controlled by an Omniscience. Yet this Marchenko machine is much too small for that. Not even this shelter building could contain an Omniscience!

  If Gronolf is honest with himself he would have to admit the second surprise was really a shock. He urged them to walk to the control room and offered to carry the machine. Yet the machine refused. He did not understand the reason for this, but he agreed. A few milli-bubbles later, Marchenko suddenly stood behind him on four legs. While Gronolf’s own species also has the ability to regrow limbs, that takes many bubble periods, not just a moment. He was particularly impressed by Marchenko’s trick of letting his legs crawl separately from his body. At that moment Gronolf recognized that he had seen one of those legs accompanying the alien Eve. He’d stepped on it—crushed it—when he’d turned to follow her as she’d run away.

  Now it is time to go to the control room. Due to Marchenko’s abilities, Gronolf hopes they will be able to solve the problem caused by the alien. His anger at Eve has dissipated since she saved his life. The situation had been obvious—Eve used Gronolf’s own weapon to punish the four-legged machine that had knocked him down. He was still not sure about the role of that other machine. It must have had its own agenda, which should be impossible for a machine. Perhaps it was defective—or had been programmed by a different faction of the aliens. What a mess it would be if these aliens started to continue their squabbles on this planet! Therefore he prefers to believe in a defect.

  Gronolf does a leg squat and then stands up again. His muscles need to be moved. The long, thin wound on his side, where the hot wire dug into his skin, is already starting to close. It will take only a few days before it is completely healed. He gestures with his touch-arms to get the aliens to start walking. They talk in their low-pitched language and then follow him, with Marchenko taking the lead. Adam and Eve let their touch-hands meet. Strange how that species managed to survive without load-arms!

  He watches the aliens through his rear eye. Now Eve strokes the grass growing on Adam’s middle bump. Why don’t they just rip it out? Does it maybe fulfill some ritualistic purpose? Due to their sizes he can easily tell the two apart. Is that a normal variability? Or is Eve younger than Adam and therefore shorter? At some point he will have to ask Marchenko about the purpose of the protective clothing. These creatures’ skins are probably so sensitive that they have to protect themselves against foreign environments all the time. This would indicate they developed in a place with a low injury risk. Gronolf tries to think of such places on his home world, but he can only think of the slime swamps of Eltok. Yet there, due to the population of sawtooth crawlers, the injury risk is actually much higher than on many beaches.

  They are making good progress and will soon reach the control center. He hopes Eve told the others that the general will be waiting for them there. Gronolf still does not have a bright idea as to how to honorably dispose of the remains. The general probably used to like sitting in his command chair, so it is fitting that he stayed there after his death. Gronolf does not mind seeing him, as it is good to be reminded of one’s mortality, and he also feels a bit motivated by the presence of a high-ranking officer. It would be a great honor for him to save the world under the eyes of the general.

  Gronolf moves directly to the holo-map in the control center. He notices through his right-side eye the others stopping in front of the general’s chair. Eve and Adam interlace their touch-hands. Their posture seems to express awe, even though he is still far from understanding the aliens’ body language.

  Soon afterward Marchenko joins him at the holo-map. Gronolf demonstrates how to use the four secto
rs of the control panel. Due to the sounds generated by the pressed keys, he could do this with his eyes closed. Gronolf knows that Marchenko can also hear in the ultrasonic range, so he will appreciate these melodies. Among Gronolf’s people it is considered the highest skill of a navigator to select a travel route not just by the highest efficiency but also by its harmonic sound. This tradition is still used in modern space travel—at least it was so before his time in the sleep chamber.

  Gronolf closes all four of his eyes and remembers his time in the egg, when he only had his sense of hearing available. His mother managed to create a whole world in his mind through her songs and stories. Back then he still believed these were all meant for him, but of course the other siblings in his plex also participated.

  “Gro_#_-nolf#_$__#?”

  Marchenko pronounces his name with the perfect intonation. He can’t remember when he last heard it so perfectly. The system here certainly does not manage to do that. He opens his eyes. His childhood is still there, but his memories of the time right before his long sleep are still missing. If he could just remember them, they might be better able to solve the problem they are facing. Gronolf cautiously hits his belly to get rid of his frustration.

  “Marchenko?” He tries to pronounce the other one’s name correctly, too.

  “Gro_#_-nolf#_$__#?”

  “Marchenko?”

  “Whatt isss thatt,” the machine asks.

  Once again Gronolf is surprised, because a miniature arm grew on Marchenko’s shoulder and it is now pointing at the symbol for the Majestic Draght. Gronolf is not sure what the words of the machine mean, but it seems to be a request for information. How can he explain what is happening there? He moves his right touch-arm, hits his upper body, and starts to stumble. Was that clear enough? If the Majestic Draght hits Single Sun, it will be a catastrophe for his people and the planet. Yet why is the capital ship not reacting to his warning messages? Could it be that the alien Eve triggered a self-destruct mechanism? However, Gronolf has never heard of such an absurd process. If this has to do with the unauthorized contamination of the shelter building by aliens, it would have been enough to awaken him, and he would have eliminated the problem.

  There must be something going on in the background he does not understand. Does not yet understand, he corrects himself, because he is going to find the cause.

  May 9, 19, Marchenko

  There are three deep tones and one high one. The alien is using all four hands simultaneously to touch one key each on the inner edges of the segments. The virtuoso movements of the hands are impressive, even of the lower ones which are obviously meant for heavy labor. If one of these aliens should become a pianist, human competitors would stand no chance.

  Suddenly the projected 3D map disappears and they once again are standing in a bare room. Gronolf presses four other keys and then claps his hands. Suddenly a blue wall appears out of nowhere in the middle of the room. The alien stands in front of it and moves a finger over its surface. Lines can be seen where he touches the wall. A virtual blackboard, very practical, Marchenko thinks. He probably wants to explain something.

  Gronolf draws a large circle and a slightly smaller one. Then he points at himself, and suddenly his figure, at perhaps one-tenth of its actual size, appears in the larger circle. It must be the planet. Gronolf reaches for the smaller circle and gives it a push. The circle starts to move towards the planet. This must be the thing Eve accidentally called. The alien snaps his fingers, and inside the smaller circle a miniature image of Eve appears. It really was Eve who set this thing in motion, that seems clear. Yet why doesn’t Gronolf simply contact it to send it back?

  Marchenko makes himself as tall as possible. The alien realizes what he wants and picks him up so he can reach the wall. With his front leg, the former ISU 4, he draws a stylized arrow pointing from the planet to the approaching object. It is supposed to symbolize a radio message. He is surprised when Gronolf erases what he has added. He draws another arrow and the alien once again erases it. When this happens again on the third try, Marchenko is certain: Gronolf wants to tell him that his messages do not reach the object or don’t have any effect. Suddenly he feels so hot he checks his own core temperature, but it remains unchanged.

  Marchenko remembers the rather risky method they used to gain access to this building. They let their ship, Messenger, crash on the surface so the impact would melt the ice. What if they destroyed whatever sends Gronolf’s messages into space, like the antenna of the building? He did not notice anything like that, but it might be possible that he had not recognized the alien technology.

  He has to explain to Gronolf that it might be related to the antenna. Something like that can be repaired, can’t it? He draws the building they are in and sketches an ice layer on top of it. Then he indicates an object crashing on it by drawing and erasing it at different positions. In the end he points at himself and adds a symbol on the roof of the building that resembles a sine wave. He hopes the extraterrestrial will understand that he is referring to an antenna.

  At least Gronolf is watching Marchenko intently. Then he puts Marchenko down and erases the complete drawing. Why doesn’t he indicate whether he understands? Marchenko taps against his legs, but the extraterrestrial does not react. Instead, he types something on the segmented control panel again.

  “Gronolf,” he says then, and his image appears on the wall. What is that going to be?

  The image changes. Marchenko sees the piece of scrap he has become. It is a sad sight. He will have to use the time when Gronolf rests to take on a useable shape again.

  “Marchenko,” the alien says. Nothing else happens. He must be waiting for a reaction.

  “Marchenko,” Marchenko repeats. Gronolf stamps his foot loudly on the floor so that Adam runs toward them.

  Now they can see a red star orbited by a planet. The image is not to scale. The star is blinking.

  “Sotoka,” the alien says.

  “Sotoka,” Marchenko replies.

  This time Gronolf does not stamp the ground but keeps looking at him. He must not have given the right answer.

  “Proxima Centauri,” Marchenko says, and gets a stamp of the foot as a reward.

  Then the planet blinks.

  “Sotoka-so.”

  “Proxima b,” Marchenko answers. He now understands the principle. It is a good idea to exchange basic vocabulary this way. Gronolf must have noticed that Marchenko has a perfect memory. So he probably will end up as the interpreter.

  The extraterrestrial quickly presents many more words. Some of them Marchenko does not recognize. In the case of others, such as an animal that looks like a mixture of a shark and a killer whale, but has no eyes, he can only use the generic term ‘fish.’ It gets really interesting when Gronolf projects a landscape that looks quite surreal.

  “Dutoka-so,” he states.

  Is this his home planet? The giant frogs obviously did not develop on Proxima b.

  “Adam and Eve, come here. This should interest you,” Marchenko calls out.

  The image shows a beach with the ocean waves surging against it. The water seems a brownish-green, probably because the sky is a lush green instead of the azure of Earth’s sky. A small white sun is visible on the horizon, while a larger yellow one is almost at the zenith.

  “Dutoka-so,” Marchenko says to Adam and Eve. “That must be Gronolf’s home.”

  “Which planet has two suns?” Eve asks.

  “It is probably Alpha Centauri,” Marchenko suggests. “That would be plausible. It is possible to fly from there to here in less than a generation. And Alpha Centauri is a binary star.”

  “Wow, the green sky, take a look at this,” Adam says. He sounds so enthusiastic it seems he would like to travel there right now.

  “That must be caused by the composition of the atmosphere,” Marchenko says.

  “Dutoka-so,” they hear Gronolf say.

  Oh right, he has not repeated the word in English yet. “Alpha Centau
ri,” he says out loud.

  Then there are pictures of Adam, Eve, and himself on the beach. The scale does not seem to be quite right, or the waves are much higher than on Earth. What does Gronolf want to say with this? Is it an invitation? The landscape fades and can only be seen in contours. He wants to know where we come from, Marchenko thinks. Should we tell him that? What if the Grosnops then show up in our solar system? Even if Gronolf appears to be reasonable—he does not know their civilization. No, it is definitely too early for that.

  Marchenko draws an image of the constellation Ophiuchus on the wall, which looks like a child’s picture of a house, and then he marks Proxima Ophiuchi, Barnard’s Star. There will be time later to reveal the true position of the solar system. In spite of this he feels bad, because Gronolf showed him his home planet without any ulterior motives. As Barnard’s Star is a red dwarf, Marchenko can only show him pictures from Earth that he has manipulated accordingly.

  Adam taps on his housing. “To be honest, we are really exhausted.”

  Sure, he totally forgot Adam and Eve have to sleep now and then. And they will need food and water. By tomorrow Marchenko should be able to make himself a useable body again.

  Brightnight 36, 3876

  He wondered for a long time whether he should show these strangers his home. He has to admit he did it for himself—seeing the soft beaches, the fertile sea, and the sky as green as an arrow crab on the holo-display filled his stomach with joy. Gronolf is not sure whether he correctly understood the explanation given by the machine.

  The aliens, who call themselves humans as he now knows, seem to have watched something damaging the antenna of the building. That is almost impossible, but it would explain why the Majestic Draght is not answering his calls. The major question is why it would have reacted to the control impulse sent by the alien Eve. Could the antenna somehow have lost its power? It is only a vague feeling, but it looks to him as if he is far from really understanding the situation. He will have to go through his archives and refresh his memories.