“Appearances of the other party may improve with
continued ingestion,” indeed! He laughed out loud. At the same time, unknown to
him, the lights on the translator were having a fit. He heard another screech
coming from outside and struggled to get himself under control.
Then the sound of inhaled air came again and another screech.
“Adamarus, the translator may be malfunctioning. It could not translate what
you just said.”
Adamarus calmed himself and spoke for the first time. “I’m
sorry. I was laughing. Can you understand me now?”
“Laughing. Yes we know about laughing. Yes, I can understand
you now.”
The Loud came out from his hiding place directly behind the
suspended room Adamarus was in. It turned around and faced Adamarus, and then,
without leaving the floor, its body shot up 100 feet, expanding and sucking in
air. Adamarus gasped. Then the Loud’s muscles flexed and it shrank again
forcing the air through boney chambers which made up its head. Again the ear splitting
screech reached into the sound-proof chamber causing his body to vibrate. Lights
on the translator above the window blinked and a status bar made its way across
the bottom. “At last, we meet face to face.”
Adamarus’ face went slack, a frozen smile remaining in place.
He remembered the dream he’d had though he knew now that it was a memory;
moving hills in a strange place, and he knew he was looking at one of those
hills. He had seen the reproductions from his descriptions and had asked for
the memories to be restored but there hadn’t yet been time.
He realized that the silence was growing uncomfortably long. He
glanced at the seat next to him and made a decision. He grabbed one of the
bottles of beer, opened it and took a large drink.
He still didn’t know what to say so he lifted the beer bottle
towards the creature in a mock toast. “Here’s looking at you.” Unbelievably, a
long tentacle appeared from somewhere along the creature’s side holding a beer,
and the alien mimicked the action. Adamarus took another drink watching the
alien. The creature also took a drink, its long tentacle carrying the bottle up
and pouring the beer into the oval hole at the front of its head.
Adamarus studied the creature noting as many details as
possible. He guessed it was about twenty feet wide, thirty feet long and twenty
feet high. It seemed to glide along the floor on a layer of dark red rippling
flesh that the creature’s massive body rested on. Above this was a dark gray
layer with puckered holes running along it. As he watched, more tentacles
emerged from the holes. There were three on each side near the front of the
creature as far as he could tell. The tentacles extended twenty to twenty-five
feet and were about four feet in diameter at the base, tapering out to their
ends. Above this layer things got more complicated.
The front three-quarters of the Loud was a fleshy wrinkled
gray with long sharp thorns. They were dark gray, about four feet long, lying
flat and pointing downwards. This was the area which expanded upward and filled
with air before the Loud spoke. This area was a single large lung Adamarus
correctly guessed. When it expanded, the large dark gray thorns lifted and
pointed outward much like a blowfish.
Adamarus realized that their two species were so different
that they would never even be able to get physically close to each other, let
alone sit down at a restaurant and dine! Behind the lung area, making up the
rear of the animal, was a large muscle extending from the bottom layer upward
to the back of what Adamarus thought of as its head. In front, just below the “head”,
were what looked like remnants of hands or perhaps flippers; six large bony
fingers extended about twelve feet down in front over the gray thorny lung
area. Each had three joints and for all the world looked like the bones within
a human finger enlarged many times. Later he would learn that these were the
Loud’s equivalent of ribs
continued ingestion,” indeed! He laughed out loud. At the same time, unknown to
him, the lights on the translator were having a fit. He heard another screech
coming from outside and struggled to get himself under control.
Then the sound of inhaled air came again and another screech.
“Adamarus, the translator may be malfunctioning. It could not translate what
you just said.”
Adamarus calmed himself and spoke for the first time. “I’m
sorry. I was laughing. Can you understand me now?”
“Laughing. Yes we know about laughing. Yes, I can understand
you now.”
The Loud came out from his hiding place directly behind the
suspended room Adamarus was in. It turned around and faced Adamarus, and then,
without leaving the floor, its body shot up 100 feet, expanding and sucking in
air. Adamarus gasped. Then the Loud’s muscles flexed and it shrank again
forcing the air through boney chambers which made up its head. Again the ear splitting
screech reached into the sound-proof chamber causing his body to vibrate. Lights
on the translator above the window blinked and a status bar made its way across
the bottom. “At last, we meet face to face.”
Adamarus’ face went slack, a frozen smile remaining in place.
He remembered the dream he’d had though he knew now that it was a memory;
moving hills in a strange place, and he knew he was looking at one of those
hills. He had seen the reproductions from his descriptions and had asked for
the memories to be restored but there hadn’t yet been time.
He realized that the silence was growing uncomfortably long. He
glanced at the seat next to him and made a decision. He grabbed one of the
bottles of beer, opened it and took a large drink.
He still didn’t know what to say so he lifted the beer bottle
towards the creature in a mock toast. “Here’s looking at you.” Unbelievably, a
long tentacle appeared from somewhere along the creature’s side holding a beer,
and the alien mimicked the action. Adamarus took another drink watching the
alien. The creature also took a drink, its long tentacle carrying the bottle up
and pouring the beer into the oval hole at the front of its head.
Adamarus studied the creature noting as many details as
possible. He guessed it was about twenty feet wide, thirty feet long and twenty
feet high. It seemed to glide along the floor on a layer of dark red rippling
flesh that the creature’s massive body rested on. Above this was a dark gray
layer with puckered holes running along it. As he watched, more tentacles
emerged from the holes. There were three on each side near the front of the
creature as far as he could tell. The tentacles extended twenty to twenty-five
feet and were about four feet in diameter at the base, tapering out to their
ends. Above this layer things got more complicated.
The front three-quarters of the Loud was a fleshy wrinkled
gray with long sharp thorns. They were dark gray, about four feet long, lying
flat and pointing downwards. This was the area which expanded upward and filled
with air before the Loud spoke. This area was a single large lung Adamarus
correctly guessed. When it expanded, the large dark gray thorns lifted and
pointed outward much like a blowfish.
Adamarus realized that their two species were so different
that they would never even be able to get physically close to each other, let
alone sit down at a restaurant and dine! Behind the lung area, making up the
rear of the animal, was a large muscle extending from the bottom layer upward
to the back of what Adamarus thought of as its head. In front, just below the “head”,
were what looked like remnants of hands or perhaps flippers; six large bony
fingers extended about twelve feet down in front over the gray thorny lung
area. Each had three joints and for all the world looked like the bones within
a human finger enlarged many times. Later he would learn that these were the
Loud’s equivalent of ribs
Similar Books
