First Contact

by

RJMcD

 

Chapter One

 

"The names," Dek said.

"That still bothers you?" Brian Rodriguez asked.

"Yes. It makes no sense to us."

"I don't know how else to explain it," Brian said.

Dek seemed to sigh. He sat back in the chair, bringing his larger arm on to his lap. That was usually a sign that he was wrestling with a problem. Brian knew to give him time.

After a few moments Dek said, "It's all the Lees."

Brian smiled. "You've said that before. How can they know who is who, right? Then you add the Li's and so on. And the custom of different countries using their historic names first, instead of last."

"Some Asians," Dek said. "Earth having different races. Different customs. Easy to understand. But not for a name. It's basic. Which even you agree. "

"Um," Brian said. They had been down the same road half a dozen times before, and he couldn't come up with a different way of saying the same thing.

"You explain it to me, this time," he said.

"Yes. That might work," Dek said. "From the beginning. Every thinking, communicating, advanced organism must have a name. Flurons. Earth people. All else. More people, more names. Or people would get confused. Earth people have 'last names'. Very similar to our 'historic names'. You put the 'last name'. . ." Dek paused, and his eyebrows bounced up and down, which Brian knew to translate as laughter. ". . .last." Dek's eyebrows started bouncing again.

Brian smiled, knowing Dek would recognize the expression for what it was meant to convey. Flurons may have had a hard time catching on to everything else human, but they loved a good laugh. "Good, so far," he said.

During an earlier talk he had introduced the term "surname", but Dek said that sounded almost exactly like an insulting word in Fluronese, so Brian hadn't used it again.

"The next step does not follow a straight path," Dek said, "It is not confusing. It is complex. No reason. You have many cultures. Fluron has one. Each culture uses a different set of hist. . .last names." His eyebrows bounced once. "Again, not like Flurons, each culture has two. . .genders? sexes?"

Brian nodded, encouragingly.

"No. Which is it?" Dek asked, always a stickler for precision and understanding, though it seemed a wasted effort in most cases. Brian did give them full marks for effort. They were really trying. So was he.

Explaining things to Dek was difficult for Brian because, except in the most general way, nothing on Fluron was like anything on earth. They had a government, a military, agriculture, an education system – but little about the functioning of their infrastructure made much sense to Brian. For their part, the Flurons, despite their superior intelligence, were just as befuddled about the human concept of culture, and the human way of thinking.

"Either word is fine," Brian said.

Dek moved his smaller arm on top of his large arm. Brian didn't know if this was a subconscious gesture, or even if the Flurons had a sub-conscious, but he did know they frequently did it when they were unhappy or irritated. His guess, based on absolutely no evidence, was that they were reverting to a primitive day when their small arm would act as a restraint to their more powerful arm. He made a mental note to ask Dek about that one day, but decided to keep the advantage of knowledge for now.

"Each culture has a different set of historic names," Dek continued.

Brian was sure he had used the Fluron term "historic names" instead of "last names", the human term, because he was upset that Brian hadn't told him that either "gender" or "sex" was correct, and the other word wrong. Not for the first time, he wished he'd taken school a little more seriously, especially English grammar.

"Each gender also has a different set of names. But these are individual names. Not historic names," Dek said. "It is a separate set in each culture. That is practical."

"Right, so far," Brian said. He hadn't introduced cross-gender, or non-gender names, such as Pat, Terry, Kim, and, god forbid, Lee, into their previous conversations. Dek was having a hard enough time with the order in which the names fell.

"All of these things make a basic thing, complex," Dek said. "But the evolution of earth people started in many different places. At near the same time. I can understand how the system came to be."

"Good," Brian said.

"But I can not understand. Why did all earth people not decide to put the historic name first. The family name second. The individual name third," Dek said. "Some have an individual name first. Like you, Brian Alan Rodriguez. Second, another individual name. Third, a name that is both a family name and an historic name. You said."

"That's correct," Brian said. "It works."

Dek sighed again. "I am not sure I will ever understand you people."

"But we're getting closer," Brian said, smiling.

"Yes. We are," Dek said. "I will say it again. I thank you for trying to explain earth people to me. We all thank you."

"You're more than welcome," Brian said. "I'm learning just as much about you, and I'm sure the people back home, who are getting my reports, are learning, too. The more we understand about each other, the better off we both are."

"Understanding is good," Dek agreed. He nodded to show he agreed, though he did it awkwardly. Fluron's necks were as thick as their heads, and though they easily turned on the vertical axis, they had little ability to move on the horizontal axis.

"My people back on earth – and here, too – are amazed every day at how smoothly First Contact is going," Brian said. "Your leadership was very wise to choose a sociologist to lead your group, though it has thrown things out of whack a little."

"'Out of whack' means 'unexpected' – or 'not normal'? I do not remember," Dek said.

"More like 'not normal'. Causing a change in direction or plans. Or just not being in line with other things," Brian said. "Our leaders feel very strongly that they should be involved in this."

"You agree?" Dek asked.

Brian shifted in his chair. "Well, I don't work directly for them, but in a sense they are my bosses. They keep urging me to convince you to let travel resume between earth and Serenity."

"Will they begin travel against our wishes?" Dek asked.

"I don't think so," Brian said. "You threatened to take your people and leave, if they did that, and they don't want that to happen. It's bad politics to be known as the politicians who ruined First Contact with an alien race. But they're still very uncomfortable with it."

"Are you?"

Brian shrugged. "It's odd. I mean, who am I? I'm a junior-level manager, not even the head guy on Serenity. Your picking me, is a little strange."

"Hup explained that," Dek said.

"Yes, I know. But the fact that you monitored all our communications for months, without us knowing it, and then somehow decided I was the person you wanted as liaison, or whatever, is . . ."

"Out of whack," Dek said.

"Yes."

"But you were the only one who communicated analytically. About the people here. In your colony. You wrote to your brother. About the different earth cultures working together here. You observed everything carefully. You were always writing about language. You had the most desire to understand others. You are trusting. You are trustworthy," Dek said. "How could we choose another earth person?"

"But I'm not a professional," Brian said. "Home Base – earth – keeps asking if they can send a professional linguist, and a trained sociologist, and some other experts."

"You want that?"

Brian smiled. "Frankly, Dek, I'm enjoying the hell out of this. To be the first guy to learn about people from another planet. To be the first guy to teach you about us. That's pretty fantastic stuff. The first human contact with another race, and, hey, I'm the guy. I think I really fell into it here. They say I'm famous back on earth. I'm just telling you what earth is telling me."

"I understand," Dek said. "We are happy with you. We do not wish to change. If your leaders wish to get involved, I can understand. But it would not be good. We will leave. We learn from you. That's good."

"And I learn from you," Brian said.

"And send reports."

Brian nodded. "As do you."

"Yes. Do they want more information in your reports?" Dek asked.

"Well . . . I'm not sure. They want answers to the questions you won't answer, of course," Brian said. "But basically, I think they just want to see for themselves."

"They have video reports. Hup's greetings. Hup's interview. My greetings."

"Yes."

"Shall we do more video transmissions?"

"It might help. They'd probably feel more comfortable if they saw you a lot. You could even overdo it, until they got so used to you they'd be bored. But I think it's just that they want to meet you," Brian said. "They feel uncomfortable about being omitted from such an important thing. They don't understand why they should be left out."

"After two weeks and four days this feeling is still strong?"

"Oh yeah," Brian said. "Maybe stronger. I'm not sure." He shifted in his seat. "I think there's something else."

Dek waited.

"Well," Brian said, "I've touched on the stories about First Contact and aliens."

"Yes. The imagination of your cultures. Green monsters. The War of the Worlds."

"I think they're nervous."

"What causes that?"

"Well, not everyone believes things are, as we say they are," Brian said.

"Please say more about this."

"Right. Well, it's the invasion thing. Sorry to be so blunt, but, basically, there's a minority group back home that is still suspicious of your intent. They're not here, so they imagine the worst. My report on your weapons might be responsible for some of that feeling. I think people got nervous."

"But we gave the demonstration to show what we could do," Dek said. "We don't do it. That should be good."

"That's what I'm telling them," Brian said. "But some people were intimidated. Just finding out how powerful your weapons are, coupled with you guys having secretly monitoring our communications between Home Base and here, and within the colony, even with encryption. And you learned our language . . . Plus, you're all so smart. . . Well, it adds up to something formidable. That makes some people nervous."

"We have no military units with us," Dek said. "There are fifty-two of you. There are twenty of us. For two weeks and four days we have only talked. We have learned little of your language. Words. Not all meanings. Your customs still confuse us. Understanding should be good."

"I know," Brian said. "Some people are just naturally nervous about things like that."

"You, too?"

"No," Brian said, though he wasn't totally sure he believed that.

He had kept the topics of invasion, war and similar subjects, out of the conversation until now. Dek had never brought them up. But over the last week Brian had noticed that communications from earth had subtly shifted in tone. Reading between the lines – something the Flurons couldn't do, though he was sure they were still monitoring Serenity's communications with earth – he had sensed that a minority faction was gaining ground. Not everyone back home thought that teaching aliens about earth's culture was a smart thing to do.

"Will this nervous become a problem?" Dek asked.

"The nervousness? The nervous group?" Brian said, correcting his grammar. "I doubt it. There's always a group that's contrary to everybody else."

"We appoint such groups, too," Dek said.

"I know, you said," Brian said. "But with humans it's not a Reason thing, not a function of logic, all the time. These groups form independently. They really believe what they say, and sometimes they get emotional about it."

"I know. You said," Dek said. His eyebrows bounced once.

Brian laughed. "Okay, here's something I haven't told you. I'm nervous about something. Two things, actually."

"That is not good. Can I help?"

"I'm not sure," Brian said. "Maybe I should have mentioned them before." He shifted in his seat again. "First – and I know this bothers Home Base, and you and I have talked about it before . . Where is your home planet, your Home Base?"

"I have said that we are forbidden to say that," Dek said. "I have said why. I can not break this rule."

"Right. But the questions you won't answer, bother the hell out of some people. Out of everybody, I guess. Me included, at least a little. It doesn't seem fair. It indicates you don't trust us, so some of us don't trust you. You know where we are, and where we're from. You know we have colonies on sixteen planets."

"One for agriculture. Twelve for mining. Three as stations for further exploration. This is one for that," Dek added.

"See? You know that stuff about us, but we don't know the same stuff about you."

"We found out from listening."

"It doesn't matter how you found out," Brian said. "It's not even."

"Many things are not even," Dek said.

"Some people regard your reticence as suspicious. I can't . . . " Brain stopped. Dek was waving the hand on his small arm, a signal that they had agreed to in the first few days of their conversations.

"Reticence?" Brian asked.

"Yes," Dek said.

"Hesitation. Reluctance. Reluctance to say or do something."

Dek nodded.

"Anyway, they're suspicious about your refusal to tell us anything about your planet, and your other travels."

"If this becomes an important problem we will have to leave," Dek said.

"Can't you contact your planet and get permission?"

"I can contact them. I will not get permission. I will explain it is of increasing importance to you. That is correct?"

"Not to me," Brian said. "It's important to me, but only of increasing importance to some people on earth."

"The nervous group?"

"Right," Brian said.

"I would not like to leave," Dek said. "Later, we plan to permit travel again. Between Earth and Serenity. We will want to meet more of your people. Later than that, we plan to go to Earth. But not if there is a problem. Earth problems do not seem to have simple solutions. To earth people. We may never go there."

"Contact your planet, wherever that is, and see what you can do, okay?"

"I will," Dek said. "Your second problem is sex."

Brian sat up straighter. "How did you know?"

"You talk different when that is the subject. You glance away often. You smile more. You find my speech more amusing," Dek said.

"Your score," Brian said, then quickly translated the slang. "You're right."

"This is because you have two genders on earth. We have one gender on Fluron. To reproduce on earth, one representative of each gender must be involved. Only your female gender can become pregnant. Any Fluron can have sex with any other Fluron. Sometimes, they will both become pregnant. I find this difference to be fascinating."

"So do I," Brian said. "So do I."

"What is the problem?"

"I don't mind talking about sex," Brian said. "It's just that it seems odd to dwell on it."

"We do much talk about the difference in your cultures," Dek said.

"Sure. Since you guys only have one culture, we don't need to talk about your culture as much as we talk about the various earth cultures. And you only have one gender, so what's there to talk about there? We covered how you reproduce and all of that. For both of us. I mean, how Flurons reproduce and how we reproduce. And we talk about the differences between the male and female cultures on earth. But, jeez, all the time?"

"It is not all the time," Dek said. "You mean it is too much of our conversation."

"Does Ark talk about sex so much with Nancy Lee?" Brian asked.

"Yes. But Ark has only been talking to her one week. And one half. She thinks different than you, sometimes," Dek said.

"Yeah, of course," Brian said. "Women are a whole different ball game. I've told you that."

Dek started to raise his small hand.

"Ball game," Brian said. "'A whole different ball game' is something totally different, with a different set of rules. A different everything. You know, we really do need a linguist here. I'm not sure I'm explaining words with the official definitions. Which is another thing: I think a dictionary would be handy, and I don't understand your objection to that."

"We want to learn," Dek said. "We have your dictionary. You gave to me. I gave you Fluron. We want to learn what you think."

Brian made a face. "Now, see, that doesn't make sense to us. Suppose I'm wrong? And I probably am on a lot of words."

"It is what you think," Dek said.

Brian sat there for a moment before replying. "Okay, whatever."

"Whatever," Dek said, and his eyebrows bounced once.

"Now you want to talk about sex some more, I'll bet."

"Yes. We still want to see it," Dek said. "And the gestation."

"It doesn't look like that's going to happen, Dek," Brian said. "I volunteered. So did Johnny Dorsett. We could probably get a couple more, if we wanted."

"But no females," Dek said.

"Females are just not inclined to put on a show for aliens," Brian said. "No offense."

"Agreed. No offense," Dek said. "Even for science."

"Nope. None of the twenty-six women on Serenity," Brian said. "Even for science. And frankly, I think they've talked themselves out of the idea that it's for science, or for furthering understanding between our races, or any of that. Now they just think it's some sex show, and they don't want any part of it. Including having you guys examine them all through their pregnancy – if they get pregnant. And repeat shows because they probably won't get pregnant the first time? They're just not going for it."

"You are talking faster. I can not understand it all," Dek said.

"Me, either," Brian laughed. "I've told you before how much I love women, but their way of thinking is sometimes as foreign to me as yours."

"I am not sure what you are saying. You have said it before. You do not understand their culture. You like their physical form."

"That's it. I know, it's hard to understand," Brian said. "I never really had to put it in words before. While I'm explaining things to you, sometimes I get to understand them better myself."

"I am right? You don't understand them. You like their physical form."

"Pretty much," Brian said. "They're beautiful. They're sexy. All that stuff. We've gone over that many times. . ."

"High heeled shoes," Dek said. "Lingerie."

Brian laughed. "Yep."

"But a different culture. You have a difficult time understanding," Dek said.

"Right again," Brian said. "You guys – or girls, or whatever you are – don't realize how easy you've got it. One sex. Wow. Though that three-year pregnancy thing has got to be a hassle."

"It takes that long to prepare," Dek said. "The videos you showed me. Earth babies are so vulnerable. They are born unready."

"Parents take care of them, like I told you," Brian said.

"So much of their time. The parents. We don't understand that."

"We enjoy it."

"Yes. You said. You said you want to have children," Dek said.

"Oh, I sure do. As many as the law allows. I'd love to have two kids. I could probably only qualify financially now for one, but one day . . . "

"You must have a male and female," Dek said. "To have children."

"That's the way it works," Brian said.

Because either Fluron in a relationship could find themselves pregnant, the responsibility for raising a child fell on the pregnant one. This was neither a financial or social hardship, though Brian hadn't quite figured out how their society handled that process. Both the financial and social arrangements of Fluron were, to him, very odd and very complex. Dek insisted that they were neither.

"It's about lunch time," Brian said. "Ready for a break?"

Dek nodded.

 

Chapter Two

The Serenity Colony was a base station for exploration. If no worthwhile planets were found within a reasonable distance, it would become a stepping stone for another base station on a still more distant planet.

The planet – actually a good-sized moon of an uninhabitable planet – had plant life and oxygen, though the air was thin. Both humans and Flurons had to wear masks when venturing outside the mountain-side dome.

Long ago, it had been become an article of faith that the likelihood of finding other intelligent life in the universe was close to non-existent. Missions to other planets had lost their military character, and had become openly commercial, underwritten by the government. When unmanned explorer vehicles found promising planets, people would follow. If, as was the case with Serenity, the planet could support life without extraordinary expenditures, a colony was established. The goal was to extract natural resources that had been depleted on earth.

Serenity, despite its plants and oxygen, had turned out to be nothing but unprofitable rock and soil. Had it rained more often, it might have had more potential. The agri- boys passed on it, and so did the miners. That meant that the fifty-two inhabitants needed to turn it into a base station, from which more unmanned explorer vehicles could be launched.

All that changed when the Fluron ship landed.

Earth had hastily prepared and launched a military vehicle. Thehe fifteen other outposts had been put on high alert, but none had the resources for military action.

The initial panic quieted down some, when nothing happened for three days. On the fourth day the most bizarre sight in the history of earth had taken place. A door opened in the Fluron ship, and a space-suited Fluron had descended. When he touched the surface, he turned to the dome. Every human was pressed against the windows, watching. Many, it should be admitted, were terrified.

The Fluron unfurled a piece of white cloth, about three feet square. On it, in black, blocky print, was written, "Hi!" The Fluron waved a big arm at the people in the dome.

It took another day and a half before contact was actually made, but things happened very rapidly after that. The military vehicle from earth was diverted to a mining planet, though it would still take another month to arrive. The other outposts lowered their alert level. Communications poured into Serenity so fast that three people had to be in the office around the clock. There were a million questions, and one by one, many of them were being answered.

On the third day, Dek chose Brian Rodriguez as liaison. The colony director gently insisted that he should be the one dealing with the Flurons, but they wouldn't agree. The director capitulated, but arranged to see Brian's daily reports before they were sent to earth and the other colonies.

A regimen was quickly established. Brian and Dek talked for four hours each morning. They broke for lunch (neither humans or Flurons could prevent themselves from getting queasy just looking at, or smelling the others' foods). Both Brian and Dek would write reports, then meet again for three more hours.

Humans toured the Fluron space ship, and Flurons moved freely, with escorts, around the domed colony. Generally, the Flurons seemed to prefer to stay in the portion of the colony that was carved into the mountain's side, rather than in the half of the dome that was exposed.

They were comfortable with the oxygen and humidity levels inside the dome, and didn't need space suits. Many of Serenity's inhabitants wished they had kept them on.

Flurons were around the height of human females. They had faces not terribly unlike human faces that had been smoothed out. They even had hair on their heads, though only on the sides and top. That was because they had an eye in the middle of the back of their head. They couldn't see with it, but it was sensitive enough to detect motion. (After a week of mingling with the human inhabitants of Serenity, the Flurons started a game of walking quietly up to a human from behind, and making a loud noise. It tickled them no end that the humans didn't detect they were there. Eyebrows bounced like crazy.)

The most notable physical characteristic of the Flurons had created an awkward moment a week into the talks between Dek and Brian.

"One of my crew told me something," Dek said. "We have heard humans refer to us as 'lobs'. Is that a bad thing?"

Brian flushed. "It's not bad," he said. "It's . . . Well, you're new to us, and that's a little scary. You understand that?"

"Yes. You scare us."

"So some of the people here have tried to relate your appearance to something familiar," Brian said. "We have a sea creature on earth called a lobster. One of its arms is very large, and the other is small. So, some of the people have started referring to you as 'lobs'. It's not meant to be offensive."

"Not meant to be," Dek said.

"Not meant to be, and it really isn't. It's just nervousness, and a desire to fit you in with something familiar, so you don't appear so . . . well, so alien, I guess. Don't pay those people any attention."

"Okay," Dek said. He paused a moment before adding, "We have some creatures. Both arms the same size. It can not do some things. It has no strong arm. We may think of you like that. Okay?"

Brian spread his hands. "Okay by me," he said.

"We call these creatures dickheads."

It was a full thirty seconds before a confused Brian Rodriguez realized that he had heard the first alien joke. He doubled up with laughter, as Dek's eyebrows rapidly danced up and down.

 

Chapter Three

The sessions between Brian and Dek had been very unproductive for the first five or six days. Though Dek had learned English by monitoring communications, he, and the others aboard, had not understood much of what they had heard. The difficulty Flurons had in comprehending human thoughts, views, and actions had almost made them turn away, without making contact. It was only when they had determined they were sure they could land safely, and present themselves as non-threatening, that they decided to take the risk.

The Fluron who had volunteered to be the first one out of their ship – the one who had unfurled the sign that said "Hi!" – wasn't entirely convinced that a human wouldn't shoot him.

Brian's initial questions centered on finding out what the Flurons knew about the parts of the universe where humans hadn't yet explored. He hit a brick wall. Dek explained that he and his crew were under some very strict rules one of which was not to reveal information that could lead an alien being to their home planet. So Brian didn't find out if the Flurons had come across other alien races, whether there were inhabitable planets close by, or if there were other Fluron ships in the area.

Home Base – Earth – was irritated by the lack of what they considered to be critical information. On the other hand, they didn't insist that Brian press too hard, because the Flurons threatened to pull up stakes and fly off, if the conversations came to a stand still. In effect, the Flurons were able to set the agenda.

Slightly over a week ago, Nancy Lee had started having meetings with a Fluron, similar to Brian's meetings with Dek. The humans started having lunch together, filling each other in about their meetings with Dek and Ark.

"They've got a real bug about sexuality," Lee said. "Today, Ark wanted to know which male on Serenity I found most attractive."

"Who'd you say?" Brian asked.

"Johnny," Lee said, making a "Who else?" expression. "Then we spent three hours on 'Why?' Hell, I didn't know 'why', myself. I sure do now."

Brian laughed. "About a week and a half ago, Dek asked me the same thing."

"Which guy on Serenity you found most attractive?" Lee said, grinning.

"Ha-ha. Which girl," Brian said.

"And you said . . .?"

"Actually, I said you," Brian answered.

"Really? Aren't you sweet."

"I'm not so sure about that," Brian said. "The next day he set up the meetings between you and Ark. Now all you do every day is talk, and write reports, just like me."

"But it's fascinating!" Lee said. "You realize we're the most important human beings alive? It's thunder and lightening."

Brian didn't normally use trendy slang, but "thunder and lightening" hit the mark.

"Of course," Lee said, "you've been doing it over two weeks, and I've only been doing it a week or so."

"You'll get tired of talking about the differences between men and women. At least, it's starting to get to me."

"Maybe. Right now I find it fascinating. By the way, has Dek told you that Fluron has a twenty-five hour day?"

"Ark told you that?"

"Yeah. I think it slipped out. They're very closed mouth about Fluron. We were talking about the differences in our cultures, and he suggested that they had advanced faster because their day was longer. Over thousands of years, it could make a difference."

"He didn't say it was because they'd been around longer?"

"No, just that they advanced faster," Lee said.

"Which means they think their race started about the same time ours did," Brian said. "And that means they have an idea when ours started. How could they know that?"

"It could also mean they know that all life, everywhere, started around the same time. Or at least that they think it did."

"Be sure to put that in your report," Brian said. "Some astronomer can probably find all the planets with twenty-five hour days, and locate Fluron."

"Already wrote it up," Lee said. "Frankly, though, I don't know why we care. It's not like it would do us any good to go there without being invited. It might even be farther away than we're capable of traveling."

Brian nodded.

"Dek told me that because all life on earth started in different places at the same time, he could understand there being different cultures, and different sets of names," he said.

Nancy laughed. "The Lees! Ark loves my name. They're having a hard time figuring our why everyone doesn't arrange their names in descending order: historic name, family name, personal name. Except what they call an historic name is basically the same as a family name."

Brian nodded. "It sounds like it to me, too. But the interesting thing is why they believe human evolution started in different places on earth at the same time."

"Think they've been watching us that long?"

"No, I don't think so," Brian said. "They'd know more about us, if they had been. My guess is that Flurons started like that, then blended together into one race, once the different groups met. So they figure we did, too."

"Maybe," Nancy said. "From some of the things they've said, I guess I agree. They don't know much about earth at all. Nothing real specific."

"Why don't you ask Ark what they know about the start of earth life, and I'll ask Dek," Brian said.

Nancy nodded.

They both concentrated on their lunch for a few minutes.

"Did Ark get very specific about sex and pregnancy?"

"Of course," she said. "He asked me to volunteer. I told him to forget it. I half suspect that they decided to start a dialogue with a female human, with the hope of convincing one of us to participate in your little sex show."

"It's not my little sex show," Brian protested.

"You were the first volunteer," she teased.

"Then Johnny, then about half a dozen others all came to me, and said they'd do it."

"Guys," she said, with a shake of her head.

"It's for the good of mankind," Brian said.

"Yeah, sure. Loan them some more sex disks. I don't know why that doesn't do it for them."

"Dek told me they want to measure body temperature in various places, and watch cell reaction – and that seeing a 3D video wasn't the same as real life. They also want the girl to get pregnant as soon as possible, so they can study that."

"Uh-huh," she said, obvious skepticism showing in her voice. "Well, if they'd open up travel again, I'm sure they could find thousands of couples at Home Base who would volunteer. Tens of thousands. Hundreds of thousands. But no woman here wants to be known as the first exhibitionist who did it for an audience of aliens. Then to have them poke and prod us for nine months? Not on your life. Somebody will, just to get famous, but they'll have to get a volunteer from earth."

"They may end up doing that," Brian said.

"Really?"

"Dek said they're going to stop objecting to travel, once they've learned enough to feel secure, and have become competent in communications and customs."

"That make take a while," she said. She chewed a bite of food and swallowed before adding, "Actually, they're learning the language amazingly fast. The words, anyway. But the understanding is coming very slowly."

"Dek told me a joke today," Brian said.

"You're kidding!"

Brian repeated the dialogue. Lee laughed as hard as he had.

"A joke is subtle," she said when she'd calmed down. "That's really impressive."

"I got the feeling that he had studied and rehearsed it, but he couldn't have. He mimicked my statements, but turned it around. He'd make a good straight man. His eyebrows didn't start, until I started laughing."

"Isn't that eyebrow thing weird? No sounds. Just those bouncing eyebrows."

Brian smiled and nodded.

"But I know what you're saying about understanding," he said. "They think in a whole different set of references than we do. I think it's going to take years, before we really communicate in terms of the other's culture."

"I know. I'm running into the same thing. But, in a way, that's what makes it so interesting," she said. "It's understanding their thoughts. Aliens! We're communicating with aliens. We'll be in the history books, Brian."

"Looking like dopes," he said. "In fifty years, when we understand them completely, all our putzing around will look very amateur."

"But we'll always be first," she said. "First Contact. First interviews. First people to be chosen to communicate and learn. They'll never be able to take that away."

"I've been thinking about that for the last couple days. What do you think about the future? Okay, we have First Contact with an alien race, and I'm sure there's a million things we can learn from each other. But then what? I don't think we have all that much in common . . ."

Lee laughed.

"Right. But you know what I mean. We learn about each other and . . . and what?"

"That's the exciting part," Lee said with a grin. "We don't know what. Neither do they. It's all new. Or maybe nothing much does happen. That makes this the exciting part, doesn't it, and I think we ought to take advantage of it."

"You're right, there," he said. "And we are writing the first reports. Which reminds me that I've got to write up this morning's session."

"Me, too," Lee said. "I'll see you for dinner?"

"Same time, same place," Brian said.

 

Chapter Four

"I communicated with Fluron," Dek said.

"What'd they say?"

"I can not break the rule," Dek said. "I can not tell you where Fluron is. Or the population. Or other things. But I have permission to tell some things. Small. Shall I . . ."

Brian waved his hand. "Small. Unimportant?"

"Yes. Other unimportant things."

"It's a start."

"Yes, it is," Dek said. "We have gone to many planets. You have gone to less. You have gone for sixty-three rotations. Years. We have explored for three hundred and twenty-seven. Measured in those years. Much longer."

"Flurons have had space travel for three hundred and twenty-seven earth years?" Brian said, a bit astonished.

"Yes."

"Wow."

"Okay. We have found eleven planets with animal life," Dek said. "Not counting Fluron and Earth. Ten were primitive. Different levels. Early levels. One was almost as advanced as Earth. It is very far away. Farther from here than from Fluron."

"In the other direction," Brian tried to clarify.

"Another direction," Dek said.

"Too far for us to travel there, and meet them?" Brian asked.

"Much too far."

"Damn. Wouldn't that be something?"

"It is something," Dek said.

"I mean, to meet them."

"Like us meeting you," Dek said.

"Yeah, I guess it is. Damn."

"Something else I can tell you. You wonder at our interest in your reproduction."

Brian nodded.

"Your planet is the only planet with life forms in two sexes."

Brian frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You have males and females. To reproduce you need one of each. Flurons are all the same. You know this. It is the same on all planets with life forms. That we have found. They reproduce like us. Not like you. Not like other life forms on your planet."

"Wait a minute," Brian said. "You're telling me that none of these other planets where you've found life, have males and females? Not even in their lower life forms? Not even the animals?"

"Correct."

"They all have one sex, like you guys?"

"Correct."

"You're sure?"

"How could we not know?"

"All eleven?"

"All twelve. Counting Fluron."

Brian took a moment to let that sink in.

"That's really hard to believe," he said. He sat back in his chair, and tried to get comfortable with the thought.

"You do not believe me?"

Brian had turned his eyes from Dek, and was staring at the ceiling. He spoke slowly. "Yeah, I do. Why not? Sure, I believe you. It's just . . . I mean, I just figured this was the way it was. Males and females. The way things worked. The natural order of things. I thought you were the different ones. To find out that we're . . . It's weird."

"Out of whack?" Dek asked, his eyebrows jumping once.

Brian laughed. "Very out of whack. Very. Geez, I don't know what to say."

Dek was silent.

"That's why you're so interested in our sex lives and pregnancy," Brian said, half to himself.

"Our leaders thought it would help you understand. If you knew this. It would help our conversations. You know our interest."

"Sure," Brian said. "It does."

"Good. Can we talk more? About human sexual attraction? We need to understand that better."

It took an effort for Brian to bring himself back into their conversational routine. The idea that humans were the odd man out in the universe, was hard to digest. For a while, he answered Dek's questions with vague generalities, but the alien slowly turned the topic to Brian's personal preferences. That technique was effective, and Brian got back into the flow.

During their afternoon session, Brian's mood had changed from stunned, to reflective, to curious, to expansive. He and Dek seemed to reach a new level of openness, with Brian sharing his personal sexual experiences, and Dek revealing some details of the life forms Flurons had found on other planets. The alien even told him how the Flurons had interacted with the life form that was, behind humans, the most advanced that they had found.

Their meeting ended with an invitation to Brian to communicate directly with one of the Fluron leaders. Though he had toured the Fluron ship three times, the communications room had never been in use when it was shown to him.

Brian tried to back out of the opportunity, explaining that leaders should talk to leaders, and that some of his superiors on Serenity – and certainly those at Home Base – might get upset.

"We choose you," Dek explained.

"I know, and I appreciate that," Brian said. "It's a political thing. It's as if one of your crew members did something only you are supposed to do."

Brian didn't see how Dek could fail to understand that analogy, but he did. He also insisted.

"I could get in trouble," Brian said.

Dek was silent. His small arm moved across his body, and he grabbed his larger arm.

"We do not wish to make a problem," he finally said. "Come in one hour. You will come to have liquid with us. We have earth liquid for you. From your cook. A communication will come in. You are there. Chance. We will say you are there. They will ask to talk to you."

"That could work," Brian said. "That way it wouldn't be something I had agreed to in advance. A coincidence."

"Surprise!" Dek said, and his eyebrows jumped once.

 

Chapter Five

"Hello, Brian," Dek said.

Brian was in a fog. His thinking felt muffled.

"Hello, Brian."

"Hello," he said, but was surprised he couldn't hear himself. He didn't care, though. He didn't care about anything. He thought about the drinks he'd had with Dek on the Fluron ship. There was going to be a call from a Fluron big shot. What had happened to that?

"I am Dek," the voice said.

"Yes," Brian said.

"We are on our way to Fluron," Dek said.

"Fluron?"

"Yes. We will arrive in eighty-one days. I think you will like it. We will do all we can do. We want you to be happy. We will give you everything we can give you."

"Thank you," Brian said.

"I apologize for the surprise," Dek said. "I know you do not like surprises. We will balance that."

"Thass okay," Brian slurred.

"Good," Dek said. "You are coming awake."

"I am," Brian said. "I feel . . . Gravity?"

"No. The gravity is the same as Serenity. And Fluron. Very close to earth gravity."

"Hmmmm. I feel lighter. And heavier," Brian said. He smiled.

"We replaced your DNA in some ways," Dek said. "Some other changes. We used Nancy Lee's DNA."

"I like Nancy," Brian said.

"You said," Dek said. "That is why we chose her."

"Good choice," Brian said.

He realized his eyes were closed and he opened them. The ceiling was dimly lit, and the bare walls were dark. He was comfortable. Cozy. He closed his eyes.

"We had consultations," Dek said. "A genius on Fluron gave us the solution. It grants your most important wishes. Ours, also. A perfect plan."

"Okay," Brian said.

"The screens say you are close to awake. You don't sound it," Dek said. "Why?"

"It feels good," Brian said.

There was silence for moment. Then the bed began to tilt slightly to one side. He grabbed it. He became more alert.

"I feel funny," Brian said. "I'm on your ship? On my way to Fluron?" He was becoming aware of a voice that said the words he was saying, but it wasn't his voice. What caused that? He wondered.

"Yes," Dek's voice said. "You wanted very much to know where Fluron is. This desire was included. You will know. Is this good?"

"I guess," Brian said. He thought he heard his voice, or at least a voice. He spoke louder. "How long is the trip?"

"Eighty-four days," Dek said. "We have traveled three days."

"How long will I get to stay?"

"You will stay until you expire," Dek said. "We do not plan to return."

"What?"

Brian was suddenly much more alert.

"I've been kidnapped?" he asked.

"Explain," Dek said.

"Taken against my will," Brian said. He opened his eyes, and lifted his head slightly. The room was dark, but he could make out a door.

"No," Dek said. "You wanted to come. You said. You wanted to know where Fluron was. You said you would love to see it."

"Yeah, but I meant to visit," Brian said. "I don't want to live there."

He tried to sit up, but he got dizzy, and fell back.

There was silence.

"We were not sure," Dek admitted.

Brian realized that the voice was coming over a speaker, and that he was alone in the room.

"That's not what I said," Brian said.

"It is done," Dek said with finality.

"Well, undo it!" Brian said. "You should have asked me."

"You might have declined. That would have made our mission a failure," Dek said.

"Of course I would have declined. You tricked me. You drugged me." Brian was saying things as fast as he realized them. "You lied to me."

"Okay. We chose you. You would not think we would lie. You were a good choice," Dek said.

Damn it, Brian thought. He was rapidly coming out of his fog. Whether it was the wearing off of whatever drugs they had used, or the simple adrenaline rush of self-preservation, his mind and his body were quickly reaching normalcy.

"We have done the things you want," Dek said.

Wait a minute, Brian thought. "DNA. What'd you say about DNA?"

"You admired the female form. Nancy Lee especially," Dek said.

Brian sat up. He looked at his body. He was naked. He was Asian. And he was female.

"Goddamn!" he yelped. "What the hell have you done to me! Damn it, Dek! Where are you? Goddamn you!" He abruptly recognized the voice that spoke his words. It was Nancy Lee's.

There was silence for a moment, and then the door opened.

"Dek! What the hell is this? Undo it! Whatever you did, undo it now!"

"I don't understand," Dek said. "You said you wanted her body."

"Not like this! You can't just do something like this!"

Dek was silent.

Brian swung his short legs over the side of the bed. I'm little, was the odd thought that filled his head.

Dek turned and walked out.

Brain shouted for the next twenty minutes, but no one responded. He touched and prodded his petite, female, Asian body, as if he hoped to find it wasn't attached to him. But he felt everything. It was him, without being him. It was also crazy. He was still himself. His brain, his thoughts, his memories, his knowledge – everything that constituted what he thought of as himself, was okay. It was just living in a replica of Nancy Lee's body. And if the body could be changed, it could be changed back.

After half an hour of trying to deal with what the Flurons had done to him, he calmed down. Things could be undone. He could explain to Dek. This was all temporary.

"Hello, Brian," Dek said.

Brian looked toward the voice, and saw the speaker in the wall.

"Look, Dek, we've got to have a talk. Right away," Brian said. "Turn the ship around. Get your guys ready to reverse this thing."

"We can not turn the ship, Brian," Dek said. "We can not reverse your body change. It can be done once. Not twice."

"I don't believe that," Brian said.

"It is true," Dek said.

"But why do this to me? You could have kidnapped Nancy."

"We can not kidnap. It is against our rules. Ark asked her. She did not want to come to Fluron."

"Then one of the other women."

"You wanted to come. You wanted her body. You said."

"No, no, no! Not 'wanted it' wanted it! I wanted it. I wanted to do her. You've got it all screwed up. You've got to fix this, Dek! This is very bad."

"I have spoken with our leaders. While you were shouting. The only choice is to continue with the plan. It is too expensive to start again. Earth people may get mad, also."

"I'm mad," Brian said. "I want you to give me my body back, and reverse this ship."

"Those can not be done," Dek said.

Brian started shouting again, but Dek didn't reply.

The stress, the shouting, and the banging on the walls wore Brian down over time, and he finally sat on the bed and began feeling sorry for himself. There was no other furniture in the room, and no clothing. The temperature was comfortable, but the silence got to him. It made it easy to think, and that made him crazy.

Eventually, Dek came back on the speaker.

"Hello, Brian," he said.

"Hello."

"You are calm?"

Brian hesitated. "Yeah, Dek, I'm calm."

"Good."

A minute later the door opened and Dek walked in. He held his small arm behind his back.

"We give you what you want," Dek said. "We get what we want."

"This is not what I want," Brian said, enunciating each word clearly.

"I understand now. We knew there was a chance we had misunderstood. We could not take that chance. Too expensive. But we are sure the rest is. What you want," Dek said.

"I want to go back to Serenity," Brian said. "I want my body back."

"We can not do either."

Brian was silent.

"We have your fondest wish for you," Dek said. "This will balance our mistake. It will make you happy. We will also make our mission a success. This is good."

"Nothing can balance this," Brian said. "I want to go home. Now."

"Not possible," Dek said. "Balance is possible."

Brian waited.

"You said your highest wish was to have children," Dek said. "We have brought Johnny Dorsett, the most sexy male in your colony. Nancy Lee said. He is next door. And here . . ."

Dek pulled his arm from behind his back and displayed a black nightie and high-heeled sandals. "What you said excites you most for sex. They will fit you perfect."

Brian's stared at the lingerie and heels.

"And we will watch," Dek said. "Many times in eighty-one days. You will be pregnant when we arrive. You will have your children. Your strongest desire. We are anxious to learn. To see. It balances our mistakes. Good?"

 

The End

 

 

 

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