Traveler

Chapter 2

They were orange. Bright, virulent orange, with undulating cyan ridges from top to bottom. They were also around eight feet tall, vaguely squidlike, and didn’t seem to ‘ambulate normally.’ Instead of legs or feet, there was a dense column of short, thick tentacles beneath them, constantly wriggling and shifting to almost glide them in one direction or the other. It was a bizarre sight, but I was on an alien planet.

After my ship was pulled from its pre-planned course of the cosmos, it was set down not-so-gently onto a field of green just outside what I could only assume was a large city or settlement of some kind. AMI’s repeated warnings of detected lifeforms surrounding us on all sides and a high presence of electromagnetic fields was more than enough information for the moment, and I quickly tuned out the rest of her droning. If they were hostile, I’m (fairly) sure they wouldn’t have brought us all the way down here just to blow us up.

I should note at this point that there’s no gravity in space (duh) or on my ship(not as duh), for those that don’t already know. My boots have magnetized soles to keep me attached to the vessel when I need to move around - the same kind you see in every movie about space, really. Much more effective than a tether, but after years of it you kinda forget the important things.

Which is why, after ignoring AMI’s continued warnings, when I stepped off the ramp of my ship I proceeded to propel myself directly up and over the heads(?) of my welcoming party in a soaring arc of low-gravity gracefulness. I could only hope the ripple of burbling sounds that came up from the mass were amusement and not offense.

Thankfully, since it was low gravity, when I came ‘crashing’ down a long five seconds later, I more or less just bounced harmlessly on the ground for a few feet. I scrambled to clutch at the grass(?) and anchor myself - sprawling out like a wounded starfish as I did - while the aliens moved to encircle me. I had a few seconds to look around and orient myself while they did this, and if I could John Carter myself on this planet, I wasn’t too worried about being surrounded on the ground by the Squidfolk.

They had gone mostly quiet, but the world I found myself on was alive with other sounds. A faint whine came from the direction of the settlement - towering spires of iridescent glass and silver metal looming in the distance, not unlike coral - and everything hummed, chirped, or squeaked as it passed by. Even the Squidfolk seemed to whisper amongst themselves, a shivering high-pitched sound that made the hairs on my neck stand on end.

The grass was also not grass, but a thick layer of moss or mycelium of some sort, fluffy and bright green beneath me. It was about the same level of fluffiness as a shag carpet, which made it awfully easy to reacquaint myself with the ground. I noticed while I was down there that the green mycelium fruited into bright blue mushroom caps periodically - and in the distance I could see one such mushroom had grown to be absolutely massive, at least two or three times taller than the Squidfolk.

It took a few extra seconds to stand upright properly, without launching myself skyward, but once I actually realized the gravity was significantly lower, the appropriate training started flooding back. Shuffle, don’t step, and move slowly and purposefully - almost like you’re underwater, but you’re not. I pointedly ignored AMI’s chiding comments and instead listened to her observations of the Squidfolk.

“The organisms currently surrounding us seem to be largely cephalopod-like in nature, but aside from their unique coloration I do not see any indicator of chromatophore cells or active camouflage abilities. I can detect that the pattern of dermal ridges is unique to each individual, and that their vocalizations are similar to that of dolphins’ on Earth. It will require further analysis as to whether or not I can provide translation services for their language.”

I… Did not know AMI could do that.

“Yes, one of my pre-programmed subroutines is a linguistic analysis module that has been cross-referencing human vocalizations, languages, and patterns of speech with those of the animal kingdom during our voyage. I can say with 90% confidence that I can determine the intent of most vertebrate lifeforms up to 80% accuracy, and up to 60% accuracy for invertebrate life forms such as the organisms you have uncouthly dubbed the ‘Squidfolk’. I expect that with increased interactions with non-terrestrial organisms that my accuracy will improve and future translations will be easier.”

Well, that was a lot to take in, but I guess the net result is that talking to aliens just got a whole lot easier. Maybe.

“So, can I talk to them now?” I asked, aloud for my sake and the Squidfolks’. When my voice came out normally, I took that as a negative.

When two of them lashed out with ten-foot-long flagella and grabbed me by both arms, I took that as a double negative. Their grips were firm - and not slimy or wet - but not painful, and they didn’t seem interested in dragging me around like they did my ship. Instead they were just kinda holding me do- oh. Yeah, that made sense.

They didn’t have suction cups on the limbs they had grabbed me with - instead they were long and smooth with noticeable ripples of muscle, almost like a snake. I realized shortly after they grabbed me that I hadn’t actually seen where the tentacles came from, and I barely saw them move to grab me - were they recessed in their torso, or just blended in so well with the rest of their body that I didn’t notice them at first?

Their speed was shocking, though; With how slowly they moved around, I wasn’t expecting them to be able to grab that fast. Another mistake on my part, I suppose; I’m doing a horrible job at this first-contact thing, but at least they seemed friendly enough. Or at least peaceful - friendly might not be the right word yet.

“Can you understand me?” I asked the one on my left, who looked to be slightly taller and thicker than the one on the right, with four blue stripes along its torso instead of five. I needed to find a better way to identify these aliens.

“If I can translate their language and you can learn their names, we can use that to identify them.” Came the ever-helpful voice of AMI, to my eternal gratefulness. Yes, AMI, names are used to identify things. Great job.

The Squidfolk I questioned turned to look down at me - and it had to look down, because I was about four feet shorter than it - and stared for several long seconds with six unblinking eyes before it shook its head. That act alone had a lot more implications than it should have had, and I found myself frowning with thought and staring silently up at the Squidfolk in return.

I slowly lifted my hands - which they allowed me to do, definitely promising - and spoke again, this time gesturing towards them, then myself, carefully enunciating and pantomiming as per the completely theoretical training I received.

“Can anyone here understand me?” I made a point to look slowly around at all of the Squidfolk surrounding me, gesturing from my mouth to them and vice versa. The majority of them were congregated in a loose circle around me, about ten feet away excluding the ones on either side of me, all staring unblinkingly at yours truly.

Strangely enough, that seemed to work - the sea of Squidfolk parted before me and my Squid-custodians (squid-centurions?) began leading me in the direction of the city. As we approached, I took the time to look around some more.

The sky was blue - and for a moment I was thankful for that bit of consistency, until I noticed the green haze that was a hundred feet or so above us, and the presence of not one but two suns hanging high in the sky. So, whatever galaxy or solar system I found myself in was a binary star system. That was cool. Definitely not in Kansas anymore.

“Robert, you’ve never lived in Kansas. You’re from Georgia. Are you experiencing any cognitive difficulties or physical symptoms indicative of a harmful atmosphere? I have not detected any known toxic gases - the atmosphere here appears to be primarily composed of nitrogen, oxygen, and noble gases. Strangely there are very little gaseous hydrocarbons present within the atmosphere, and aside from trace amounts in the soil I have detected very little evidence of carbon-based petroleum or distillate products. The humidity is comparatively high, and while I do see evidence of terraforming and agriculture, I do not see much evidence of industrialization or mechanization - excluding the spaceships, obviously. Furthermore - “

“Yes, thank you for the info dump, AMI, I’m fine. It’s a figure of speech. Again.” Is it possible to hard-code figures of speech and a sense of humor into an AI? I guess not at this stage.

“I think that my sense of humor is perfectly well developed for an artificial intelligence. For example, I found the experience of sailing through the air with you - however briefly - quite titillating, even if you did so with all the grace of a fish out of water.”

Right then, moving on. The city was closer now, and much larger than I had initially thought. The haze must have affected my view. We weren’t heading directly to the city, however - my escorts had guided us instead to a series of smaller, hemispherical huts on the very edge of the city, tucked away in the shadow of the colossal structures. A few of them had what were obviously antennae sticking out in various directions, complete with reflective discs and blinking lights.

“How’s this for signs of technology, AMI?” I murmured, peering closer at the huts as we moved towards them. It was getting warmer as we approached - not to an uncomfortable point, but certainly noticeable, emanating almost directly upward from the ground. Interesting. Geothermal vents, or something else entirely?

“It appears to be a series of broadcasting and receiving stations. From the heat and EMR signatures I expect there to be some kind of power generation plant either nearby or directly beneath us, as well. Perhaps the planet is more volcanically active than we thought, and the beings here have managed to successfully contain and harvest the majority of the heat and gases? It requires further investigation.”

Well, further investigation it would get, as we were being led steadily towards one of the largest of the domes. There was no door - just a large open archway with a shimmering haze within it. Stepping through it felt like stepping through a curtain of water, but I was completely dry when I emerged on the other side.

My ‘captors’ had released me once we reached the building, but they followed behind me a few seconds after I entered. Thankfully it wasn’t bigger on the inside or anything, but it did have a series of screens and beeping computers, words and symbols in a language I couldn’t even fathom flashing across paper-thin glass(?) monitors every couple of seconds. There was another Squidfolk at one of the stations, four tentacles sprouting from a few feet below its head(?) and expertly working multiple dials, buttons, and keys, practically a blur over the span of the control panel.

It was a little disconcerting to watch, and another reminder of how alien the Squidfolk truly were. Something that walked so slow but moved that damn quickly was something to be wary of.

“Depending on the structure and strength of their flagella, I estimate being struck by one of these ‘Squidfolk’ would provide enough force to break bones, if not worse. I would advise not antagonizing these beings.”

Definitely what I wanted to hear being stuck in a room with three of them. They still weren’t showing any signs of aggression, though, so best to carry on as normal. The third Squidfolk - and I realized as it turned that their dermal ridges were a light green, rather than blue, and their eyes intermittently flashed a dazzling purple color instead of that bottomless inky black. Not a different species, but an older one? A different gender? I hadn’t seen any indicator of sex organs - and I definitely wasn’t going to ask or try to find out - but out of all the ones I saw in the crowd before, none looked like this one.

As the Squidfolk turned to face us, it also grabbed a circular device from the control panel behind it. It looked a bit like a tiara - and my suspicion of its purpose was confirmed when the Squidfolk gently set it atop its own head, nestled perfectly between the fin-like protrusions on either side. Within a moment it began blinking and chirping much like the rest of the devices surrounding us, little antennae and lights coming to life with barely a touch. Then the Squidfolk began to speak - and its high-pitched chittering was quickly overlaid with a robotic facsimile of Human English.

“Hel...lo. You are a Human, from Planet Earth. We are the Luthon. You are on our Planet Luth, twelve approximate light years from your planet. We intercepted your craft because we were foretold of your arrival.”

Well, holy shit, on multiple levels. Before I could offer a response, the newly-dubbed Luthon reached out and pressed a button on a panel a few feet away from me. It flickered to life, and a grainy video began to play, flickering as though coming through on a fading signal.

“This is Alan Simpson, Head of the Traveller Project on Planet Earth. Five years ago we sent several hundred of our finest Humans into the depths of space in hopes of finding suitable uninhabited planets for us to expand to and colonize. Since then, our troubles have only compounded. Astronomers and physicists have reported that there is a near-Earth asteroid set on a direct collision course with our planet within the next decade.”

Through the static on the screen, I saw my potentially-former boss’ face set into a grim line of determination.

“Already, we are planning and moving towards possible solutions and methods to prevent this, but because of the imminent threat I have issued a redaction and a reassignment for all Travellers who receive this message. Your primary assignment is no longer the discovery of uninhabited, colonizable planets. Your new primary assignment is to seek out other Travellers and correlate all existing data to find any colonizable planet within range, establish a communications array on that planet, and begin colonization efforts. As soon as possible.”

That… Was not a good sign. AMI was suspiciously quiet about this, as well.

“I do not know how long it will take for this message to broadcast and reach anyone capable of receiving it - and damn those technicians for saying built-in long-range communication was unnecessary for the ships themselves - but I have a duty to myself, the planet, and this project to ensure Humanity’s survival, at any cost. To this extent I have launched a series of unmanned, automated vessels containing all the necessary technology and resources to colonize a planet - this was the second stage of our plan to begin with, but circumstances have forced our hand.”

Definitely not a good sign. If they’re launching the supply ships now, and expecting us to coordinate and colonize before anyone’s even had time to report back...

“There are tracking beacons incorporated into each of these ships, and your vessels - as well as your Autonomous Memory Interfaces - are equipped to detect and interface with these beacons. Godspeed and good luck, Travellers, you may be our last and only hope. I hope I will be here to hear back from you.”

The image flickered, then cut out. I stared at the now-clear screen for several seconds in silence. The Luthon seemed content to let me do so, which I was especially grateful for.

“When was this message received?” I asked, almost entirely to myself. I only jumped a little when the Luthon actually responded.

“Approximately twenty of your Earth years ago. We have been waiting since for signs of either indicated vessels in hopes of understanding the purpose of this message. We have limited understanding of other races, but we have had contact with them in the past. This is the first contact we have had with the Human race, however. We have received your broadcasts in the past and have gained an understanding of your language because of it, but we know next to nothing of your planet and culture.”

I had pretty much tuned out most of what it was saying after the first sentence. Twenty years? And no other transmissions or contact of any kind? My thoughts were becoming increasingly frantic and I felt my heart beating faster in my chest. The only reason Alan wouldn’t have sent a follow-up message after that kind of message was if he couldn’t. If he was dead, or worse, if Earth was destroyed - and the vast majority of Humanity with it.

There were only a few hundred of us Travellers. Men, women, and everyone in between of all possible origins, armed with the knowledge and hopes of Humanity, alone and drifting in space in pursuit of a new planet. Now, the last of Humanity, cast to the corners of the universe with the same hopes, but no planet Earth to fall back to or to resupply from. No home to go back to - until we created a new one.

I didn’t realize I had sat down on the warm metallic floor of the hut, but I had. The Luthon had kept their distance except for the one with the translator on its head, standing next to the screen a few feet in front of me with its head tilted slightly to the side.

“Are you well? We have limited understanding of your kind, but even we understand loss. We do not know the exact location of your Earth, but we have long-range sensors that should be able to detect its presence, if it survives. If it does not, you may stay with us until you feel capable of leaving. We would very much like the opportunity to speak with you and learn more about Humans, despite their current situation. Does this sound acceptable?”

Finding it more than a little surreal to be consoled by an alien, I could only dumbly nod my head, not trusting myself to speak.

The ship had the spatial coordinates of Earth on it somewhere, and I’m sure AMI and I could figure out a way to interface with the Luthon’s technology to try to triangulate Earth. We had to try. If that didn’t work out, well, we still had a mission to follow. It was beyond a simple search and explore mission, now - the very fate of Humanity could depend on us few hundred alone, if I had assumed correctly and Earth was destroyed.

I was never much of a religious person, but for our sake, I hoped to God it wasn’t.