years we’ve been putting out transmissions that would reach
other stars. They’re assuming that the aliens picked up the transmissions and
that’s what led them here.”
“So this says that they most likely live ninety-five to 125
light years away. Wow,” Leewood said. “That means it takes over ninety-five years
to get there! You’d need to be immortal to make that journey. Think that’s it?”
Harrington looked thoughtful for a minute then snapped her
fingers, “Trade.”
“What do you mean?”
“Look, they’ve already told us that they want Adamarus as
their liaison or go-between, right?” Leewood nodded once. “One of the most
likely things they’ll want to do is trade with us. Certainly that’s what we
want with their advanced technology.”
“That doesn’t explain this immortality thing," Leewood
said.
"Yes, it does! If their planet is 100 light years from
here, a round trip would take over 200d years and so…”
“Of course,” Leewood punched his hand. “They wouldn’t want to
deal with a different person every time they pulled in here. They’d want the
same person. And with his traits…honesty and so on and so on…”
“Exactly,” Harrington concluded. “They’re grooming him to be
the person, or I should say one of the people – clearly more than one person
will be needed—but probably they want him as their main contact.”
“And let’s not forget, they saved his life,” Leewood added.
“Damn,” Harrington looked thoughtful. “You know…things
couldn’t have been more perfect for the Loud if they’d planned it all out.”
---
Adamarus stared at the bright green floor and walls of the
completely empty dome. After a moment he decided to get up and walk to the
window for a closer look. He took a deep breath and started to get up, but was
stopped midway by the soft but powerful and unmistakable sound of great
quantities of air being inhaled.
Frozen half out of his chair he waited nervously. Then it
came, a terrible screeching sound that he had heard before in his “dream",
his memories while in the boogieman’s ship. It went on for several seconds.
Adamarus didn’t need to cover his ears – the walls reduced the sound to a
manageable level, but a vibration still reached through the insulation and sent
shivers down his spine. He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand
up and goose bumps rise on his arms. And then it ended.
In the silence that followed, Adamarus noticed he was sitting
down again. Looking up he saw a small box above the window with lights on it. Along
the bottom was a progress bar. It reached 100 percent. He jumped when a
mechanical voice began speaking. “Hello, Captain Adamarus Maximus. Forgive me
but I am staying out of view until we’ve talked for a while. Your species is so
alien and so small – you… well, you resemble something on our planet called a
raba-worm. The raba-worm is extremely revolting and disgusting to us. It will
take time to adjust myself. Please do not take this personally. I am sure that
you find us strange to look at as well and will also need time. Behind your
seat you will find something that may help with our first meeting. We have been
monitoring your video broadcasts for some time. According to our studies, in
your culture, meetings such as the one I hope we will have are often helped
with this substance. And we have heard that…appearances of the other party may
improve with continued ingestion of this substance. I have already ingested a
quantity but I’m bigger than you and may still need more.”
Adamarus followed the instructions the mechanical voice had
issued. He reached around behind his seat and grabbed the paper bag hidden
there. He opened it and smiled. It contained a six-pack of beer. He set it on
the seat beside him. After the way the Loud had staged their arrival at the
hospital, playing the theme song from a popular ER reality show, he should have
expected something like this.
other stars. They’re assuming that the aliens picked up the transmissions and
that’s what led them here.”
“So this says that they most likely live ninety-five to 125
light years away. Wow,” Leewood said. “That means it takes over ninety-five years
to get there! You’d need to be immortal to make that journey. Think that’s it?”
Harrington looked thoughtful for a minute then snapped her
fingers, “Trade.”
“What do you mean?”
“Look, they’ve already told us that they want Adamarus as
their liaison or go-between, right?” Leewood nodded once. “One of the most
likely things they’ll want to do is trade with us. Certainly that’s what we
want with their advanced technology.”
“That doesn’t explain this immortality thing," Leewood
said.
"Yes, it does! If their planet is 100 light years from
here, a round trip would take over 200d years and so…”
“Of course,” Leewood punched his hand. “They wouldn’t want to
deal with a different person every time they pulled in here. They’d want the
same person. And with his traits…honesty and so on and so on…”
“Exactly,” Harrington concluded. “They’re grooming him to be
the person, or I should say one of the people – clearly more than one person
will be needed—but probably they want him as their main contact.”
“And let’s not forget, they saved his life,” Leewood added.
“Damn,” Harrington looked thoughtful. “You know…things
couldn’t have been more perfect for the Loud if they’d planned it all out.”
---
Adamarus stared at the bright green floor and walls of the
completely empty dome. After a moment he decided to get up and walk to the
window for a closer look. He took a deep breath and started to get up, but was
stopped midway by the soft but powerful and unmistakable sound of great
quantities of air being inhaled.
Frozen half out of his chair he waited nervously. Then it
came, a terrible screeching sound that he had heard before in his “dream",
his memories while in the boogieman’s ship. It went on for several seconds.
Adamarus didn’t need to cover his ears – the walls reduced the sound to a
manageable level, but a vibration still reached through the insulation and sent
shivers down his spine. He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand
up and goose bumps rise on his arms. And then it ended.
In the silence that followed, Adamarus noticed he was sitting
down again. Looking up he saw a small box above the window with lights on it. Along
the bottom was a progress bar. It reached 100 percent. He jumped when a
mechanical voice began speaking. “Hello, Captain Adamarus Maximus. Forgive me
but I am staying out of view until we’ve talked for a while. Your species is so
alien and so small – you… well, you resemble something on our planet called a
raba-worm. The raba-worm is extremely revolting and disgusting to us. It will
take time to adjust myself. Please do not take this personally. I am sure that
you find us strange to look at as well and will also need time. Behind your
seat you will find something that may help with our first meeting. We have been
monitoring your video broadcasts for some time. According to our studies, in
your culture, meetings such as the one I hope we will have are often helped
with this substance. And we have heard that…appearances of the other party may
improve with continued ingestion of this substance. I have already ingested a
quantity but I’m bigger than you and may still need more.”
Adamarus followed the instructions the mechanical voice had
issued. He reached around behind his seat and grabbed the paper bag hidden
there. He opened it and smiled. It contained a six-pack of beer. He set it on
the seat beside him. After the way the Loud had staged their arrival at the
hospital, playing the theme song from a popular ER reality show, he should have
expected something like this.
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