Читать книгу Star Map - Fabienne Gschwind - Страница 12

It took two hours to pull the Abhysal into a huge hangar and moor it. In the meantime, it was known that the temperature inside the ship was about 25-30 degrees C° with very dry air. There was a little more oxygen, and instead of nitrogen, there was a nitrogen-argon atmosphere. But that would make no difference to the people. Kiki had been busy collecting data and was confident that the translations would go smoothly.

Finally, the crew was ordered to get ready for disembark. They all met again in the airlock. Everyone had given themselves a soslindum shot and drank liquizy. Only their clothes were not well coordinated. It seemed like everyone had their own idea of how they should appear in front of aliens.

Milo appeared in a suit with a white shirt and tie. Joe wore her usual gray machine operator overalls and sturdy safety shoes. Lex had donned light trekking gear and was wearing hiking boots. Nemo and Joe had not put on their technician suits because it looked too much like soldier armor and it could be misunderstood by the aliens.

Nemo wore a Hawaiian shirt and shorts, and for shoes, he wore sturdy sandals.

Jay appeared in a military gala uniform that Nemo had sewn for a theatrical performance, and with his black lacquered shoes he looked very dashing. The suit was tailored and Jay muscular body bulged under the fabric. He had even trimmed his short haircut on the quick and massaged on gel into his nearly black hair. He looked like an ideal perfect army officer.

"We're such a messed-up company." He sighed when he saw the others, then put the earpiece in his ear and hung the speaker around his neck. This would loudly translate his words as he spoke. Finally, they were signaled to disembark and to leave the ship.

The hangar was mostly without artificial gravity, and eight soldiers threw them a rope so they could shimmy down. As they neared the ground, artificial gravity caught them and they slid gently to the ground.

Jay reared up and began his welcoming speech.

"We are explorers and we come in—" He got no further, for the soldier in his gray helmet interrupted him.

"Shut up, Maxmale, and follow us!!"

Jay looked at his friends in irritation, somehow everyone had imagined a different first contact. But they were surrounded by the soldiers and taken through the huge hangar. The soldiers walked very slowly, and there was plenty of time to look around. In the meantime, Kiki also gave information using hearing aids. With the highly sensitive sensors of the Abhysal, everything could be analyzed in a very short time and Kiki gathered a lot of information.

First to the aliens:

These also were bipedal and stood upright. They had two arms, the head was on top of the torso. They had two pairs of eyes on the front of the head, but quite far apart. Their depth vision was probably not very good, but they had to have a very wide field of view for that. Around the head, they had other sensory organs. Kiki was convinced that they were some kind of pressure sensor.

Several holes were probably ears and some kind of dog snout seemed to be the nose. The soldiers wore gray helmets with visors, but there were other aliens in the hangar that could be observed. The color changes of their skin were particularly noticeable. Kiki pointed out that it was much like the way chameleons changed skin color, she even hypothesized that it was emotionally tied. Similar to the facial expressions of humans.

There were probably two species. One had scaly skin and short horns on its head. Their legs were also longer and they seemed to be good sprinters. The other had a kind of short hair stubble on their body and a crest on their head. Their legs were shorter and stronger, they seemed to have opposable thumbs on both hands and feet. The hands also had a different number of fingers in the form of claws.

All in all, the alien's appearance was not repulsive, only their legs were bent in somewhat unusual places.

The hangar was packed with ships, and it was not as warm here as the stated 30 degrees inside the ship. The temperature was more like 20 degrees, so perfectly comfortable for humans. Perhaps that was because the hangar was on the outer hull and didn't heat well. It also quickly became clear that it was cold here for the aliens. Many of them wore thickly lined overalls and a hat on their heads.

The others wore almost no clothes. Just some kind of apron. Joe couldn't help but think of her carnival costume when she was a kid. Basically, it was a big garbage bag in which they had cut a hole in her head and two holes in her arms.

When they came out of the hangar in a warm area, it became clear that this "plastic bag" was the standard attire. The bag had many pockets, and most of the aliens also wore a belt with small pouches around their waist.

The soldiers also wore such a plastic bag and over it a number of different protectors and helmets. In their hands, they held a weapon that looked like a short rifle. At their waist was another weapon that looked like a whip.

"You are now entering the inner area of the ship," Kiki explained, giving more details about the ship’s structure.

But here their escort stopped because the soldiers didn't seem to know where to go and their boss went over to a kind of phone booth to get further instructions. They continued in a huge corridor, the gravity was set very low to facilitate the transport of goods. Kiki used the time to clarify the ship’s structure.

There was an outside area where the ship's hangar and storage rooms were located. In the lower part of the ship was what Kiki calls a recreation area. "Shopping area, museum, food court, casino, miniature golf, and so on..." explained Kiki, who could see just about everything with her sensors. It had to be said that the ship was nearly cubed in shape having an edge length of about 500 meters.

In the middle, there was probably a living/working area. The ship was modular. The individual modules were the size of large gyms. The blocks were stacked on top of each other like Lego blocks and each was connected with open airlocks. In the event of a leak or fire, they could be sealed very quickly.

Kiki went on to explain that there were three types of blocks. One type of block was a kind of living area whose walls were equipped with small cabins, and there were also common areas where many aliens stayed. And there was a kind of office building where the aliens mainly did desk work. What was special about these blocks was that the floor and ceiling were used by simply putting artificial gravity on the ceiling. A strip in the middle of the room remained without gravity and was used to transport people and goods. The third type of block was more like what humans were used to, and it was used for laboratories, workshops, production facilities with a normal layout. The engine room, which housed power generation, propulsion, and life support, was located in a dome on one side of the ship.

The crew was very glad to have some information in advance so they felt they were not in the dark.

But how were the five doing?

No one had talked about it, but they all knew that if they left the ship, they might never return. Perhaps they would be imprisoned somewhere or dissected like laboratory animals? Who knew what atrocities these aliens were capable of?

It was not surprising that everyone had been injected with a strong dose of soslindum, the fear could be so well dampened.

Lex herself was the most fearful of the group, but with the soslindum she felt okay, and what she had seen so far didn't make her feel like her life was in danger. She was also firmly convinced that with all their knowledge, the crew would surely come to some sort of agreement. Nemo was thinking exactly the same thing, and Joe was so excited that she couldn't think of anything to say. Meeting aliens had been her secret dream, and now that dream has come true!

Milo's care robot had known full well that it wouldn't be good for Milo's sensitive nature to walk around in an alien spaceship, so he had sedated Milo appropriately with powerful anxiety inhibitors. Milo had also immediately agreed. Now he simply followed the crew, felt calm and content. At the same time, he watched the aliens with curiosity and interest.

Only Jay was annoyed with the aliens. He found their behavior totally unprofessional. They hadn't searched them, and now they were just standing around, not guarding them at all. As if they knew perfectly well that humans would not pose any danger!

Actually, that was not so wrong. After all, the aliens were neither fast runners nor good fighters, but they had prevailed in evolution because they possessed some kind of empathic abilities. Anciently, they could instantly sense if a hungry predator was nearby. This ability had atrophied in most of them, but all aliens could still judge whether or not another creature was about to do something "bad" to them.

And that was the case here, none of the soldiers sensed any danger coming from the strange Maxmales. The constant pale color of their skin also played a role. A constant pale color was a sign that one of them was particularly calm, content, and at peace with himself. It didn't seem to matter that Jay was dark-skinned, it was much more important that his skin color stayed the same and didn't show any other colors. Just as the humans had the feeling that the dolphins were always smiling, the aliens succumbed to a misconception here.

But at last, the time came and the soldier leader stepped out of the phone booth. He spoke and his words were translated and transmitted in the crew's hearing aids.

"Okay, we need to go to the government block. Morchen wants to see the Maxmales in persona."

Another soldier raised his visor and groaned. "The central corridor is closed today for construction, which means we have to walk a huge arch..."

The commander ignored him and took the path.

Meanwhile, all the soldiers were completely relaxed and had placed their weapons back in their holders.

Two aliens walking behind the crew were whispering to each other, but the microphones the crew was carrying were strong enough to pick up the dialogue and provide a translation.

"Well, I've seen many subspecies of Maxmales, but I've never seen such beautiful specimens."

"I agree, that light translucent skin is amazing and that cute head fur, too!

"And how do they smell? Wonderful! It's just the legs that bend funny."

"Well, I find their eyes fascinating, and I've only seen such elegant clothing on sculptures, but you're right, their legs really bend funny..."

At the front, the commander grunted a little, and the soldiers quickly fell silent.

Jay looked at his crewmates. They all knew each other so long that a glance was enough to communicate. And it was clear to all of them that the aliens were unaware that they were aliens. They were thought to be some kind of subspecies!

Jay decided to make this clear at the first opportunity. But there was no opportunity to do so because now they had to cross residential and office buildings. There was a simple pulley to hold on to and let them be pulled into weightless zones. In the apartment block, people discovered that more ropes were stretched through the weightless zones and that bags hung from them like bunches of grapes. Only a closer look revealed that they were sleeping bags in which the aliens were slumbering in zero gravity.

Kiki explained that according to the scanner, there were about 20’000 aliens on board. 1/5 of them were working, 1/5 had free time, and the rest were sleeping. "They seem to have a tremendous need for sleep," was her analysis.

But now they had arrived at the government block, as the soldier had called it. It was in the rear third of the ship, and the only difference was that carpets were on the floor and the artificial gravity was stable. All along the way, the crew had noticed; the gravity was fluctuating quite a bit and the air pressure was far from constant as well.

Finally, they stepped onto the bridge.

Well, it wasn't a bridge in the true sense of the word. In part, it looked like a mission control center, reminiscent of a medieval throne room and an open-plan office at the same time.

The bright light that was already everywhere in the ship was especially bright here, and almost too bright for the people who had to squint their eyes until they got used to it.

At the end of the room was an alcove surrounded by screens, probably the leader of the ship was sitting here. So far, there was no evidence that there were two genders among the aliens. But the captain of the ship with his tall stature and broad shoulders was automatically classified as male by the humans.

"Morchen, here are the Maxmales prisoners."

The alien captain turned around first and then waved a couple of staff members over.

He had them show him a projection of the Abhysal and consulted with his colleagues. It was clear that no one had seen a similar ship, and everyone wondered what it could be.

Finally, he stood up and went to the crew. "Maxmales, tell me right now, what kind of ship is this? Some new kind of spy ship?"

Jay stepped forward and hurried to explain. "This is a misunderstanding. We are not Maxmales. We're from the other side of the galaxy."

The software did its work and Jay's words were transmitted aloud.

The translation was correct, for it was as if a bomb had exploded. There was a moment of silence in the room, and the alien's skin began to pulse violently.

"You idiots, these are aliens! Why didn't anyone recognize this?" roared Morchen.

"Give them contamination clothing and send a disinfection team here, who knows what germs they're carrying."

After some confusion, the crew was given bulky plastic coveralls, and they were taken to medical services. They were now in a part of the ship where gravity was set to normal by human standards. You had the feeling of walking through a modern light metal building. However, the gravity plates definitely did not work as well as on the Abhysal and there were always fluctuations. Every now and then they passed pressure doors, sealing off individual sections from each other. This seemed to be urgently necessary, because again and again there were strong pressure fluctuations or strong draft winds. The lighting was somewhat less bright and quite pleasant for humans. Especially Joe and Nemo looked around with interest, trying to fathom and understand everything. Lex made sure that Milo was doing well. But he seemed to be fascinated by the aliens and looked at everything very closely. When they arrived at the sick bay it was time for Jay to stretch his head and take a look at everything. The doctors were also wearing these plastic tunics like everyone else, but they were dark brown. There were some structures that looked like big scanners and in one corner Jay saw some kind of projection zones where several medical people stood around pointing at projected medical holograms. Maybe they were discussing an operation they wanted to perform. Lex also looked around and sighed with relief. For a moment she had feared she was being taken to a modern torture chamber, but here too everything looked professional and peaceful. An alien with a brown apron and several rank signs on his shoulders rushed up. The crew understood through the translation devices that it was the chief physician.

The chief there waved them off in a panic, and his skin turned purple: "Aliens? What? No, we are not responsible for that. That's something for exobiologists."

So, they began another trip through the ship. Again and again they passed residential quarters using these transport ropes. The heat was becoming unbearable for the crew members and the plastic overalls they were wearing were damp with sweat.

The excitement at the office of the Biologist was even greater, "I'm an exo-botanist! What do I want with aliens, do they look like plants?"

Nemo almost had to laugh, the whole situation reminded him of a slapstick comedy. But he pulled himself together not to frighten the aliens. For lack of an alternative, the soldier leader took them to the astronavigation room. Here a large map of the Milky Way was displayed and Nemo pointed to the edge of the Milky Way on Earth. "That's our home planet."

The astronomer then pulled out a camera of some sort and asked for a group photo with the aliens.

Finally, they were returned to medical services and taken to a quarantine room. They were able to remove their suits; all were drenched in sweat. "I thought I was going to pass out," Lex said, fanning herself to get some additional cooling.

A couple of doctors began exams, taking skin swabs, collecting breath samples, and packing everyone into some sort of MRI.

In the meantime, more than six hours had passed, and the thirst was becoming unbearable. In the dry 30 degrees, everyone had chapped lips and dry throats. So, they asked for water. But the doctor wanted to make sure there was no translation error, so he called a chemist with a periodic table. In the end, they didn't want to poison the foreigners.

Joe and Nemo puzzled for 10 minutes until they understood the spiral structure of the periodic table. "Just pay attention to the number of protons..." said Joe and so, she pointed to the atom with one proton for hydrogen and the one with 8 protons for oxygen.

And then to sodium and chlorine, after all, they had to replace the sweaty minerals.

The chemist immediately understood that she meant water and table salt and promised to come back immediately.

But unfortunately, he misjudged the amount of water. And they asked him to bring more.

In the meantime, all sorts of scientists had gathered outside the quarantine room and were peering through the glass door. Despite the closed door, the microphone could translate their words. They were arguing about the possible metabolism of aliens.

Finally, the chief of medicine gave the okay, confirming that the aliens posed no bacteriological, virologic, or other danger.

Morchen ordered them into a seminar room.

With a procession of onlookers and a team that looked like a television crew, they entered the seminar room. Next to Morchen was a small alien hiding her face with red metallic paint. And another who wore gray soldier's clothes and covered his face with a mirror-like layer of varnish. The fourth was an alien dressed all in white, whose face showed deep furrows. Again, humans arbitrarily divided the aliens into male and female. After all, it was easier to think in terms of HE and SHE than IT.

Morchen introduced himself. "I am Morchen, Supreme President of the Squeltrem. Next to me is Prial, commander of the soldiers. This is Squlaira, Head of Information." He pointed to the person with the chrome paint and then to the other person with the red-painted face next to him.

The large alien with the metallic colored face was intuitively classified by the humans as him, while the smaller alien with his petite nature was classified by the crew more as a woman. Morchen pointed at the alien dressed in white: "And this is Mantichal, Dean of the Council of Elders.”

Jay wondered to what extent the titles and ranks had been translated correctly.

"Why have you come here? What is your purpose? Do you understand what we are saying?" Squlaira suddenly intervened.

Jay took the floor. He explained who they were and what their mission was. He hesitated for a moment whether to reveal that they were on their own unless he claimed they had backup. Yes, that was best, he quickly made up a white lie and started talking.

But Squlaira could tell something was wrong. She stepped toward him. "Aliens! I am a very sensitive empath, and even though you are a different species, I can feel exactly that you are lying to us."

The humans were stunned and dismayed at the same time. They were dealing with a species that could read their minds! Jay pulled himself together and, in a panic, told the whole truth about the vortex and that they were stranded here.

"What weapons do you have onboard?" the Prial pecked.

Despite Soslindum dampening their emotions, the crew was very anxious, even Jay muscular body shaking in nervousness. Honestly, Jay explained that the ship had no weapons on board, “the only weapons we have are from my private collection. There are various projectile weapons and blank weapons, I can tell exactly where they are. If you wanted to confiscate them...” He seemed very depressed and wondered if he hadn't put the crew in danger with his weapons mania. More simple questions were asked about propulsion and power generation. Here, Joe and Nemo answered succinctly.

“They are telling the truth." Squlaira finished the short round of questions. And the others agreed with her as well.

Morchen flapped his ears and waved another soldier over. "Take them back to their ship, let them rest. In the next cycle, we will discuss further action."

He turned to the humans. "As long as you are peaceful and cooperate with us, we will not harm you. Go!"

As they left the hall, they heard Squlaira grumble, "We should have locked them up."

On the way back, their escort made a huge detour. But that was more to protect them from the many onlookers. Another person had joined the escort and introduced herself as the coordinator and contact person. On the way to the ship, she gave a short introduction to the people.

The aliens called themselves Chrismaxes, a word combination of the Maxmale and Chrismale species, both of which were native to the same planet. The Chrismaxian Empire encompassed 170 planets and three times as many astro-colonies. The Squeltrem was a free trade association. "The free allies" was the literal translation of Squeltrem. Most Squeltrem members lived on similar starships as they were now aboard. There were about 93 of these cube ships—that's what Jay called them—and several astro-colonies and some lunar and planetary bases.

The coordinator, who did not give her name, rambled facts and figures about ship sizes and crew numbers.

Finally, back on Squeltrem, the crew quickly dispersed. "I need to go to the bathroom!" shouted Joe, running off. Nemo took off his shirt and wrung it out; "I need something cold..."

Milo's nurse robot was already on the scene, making sure that the half-dried Milo drank something and taking him immediately to sickbay.