– they protected vital organs.
On top was the “‘head." There was no neck. It was perhaps
sixteen feet wide, twenty feet long and eight feet high. If you could imagine a
very large eroded hollow bone and then flatten it and folded it over upon
itself three times, making the upper fold round and twice as large, you’d have
most of it. A crest ran along the top of its head from the front to the back.
In the front was a gaping hole which contained wet, slimy
looking, black tentacles which always seemed to be in motion – this was the
mouth. It never closed.
Embedded on either side of the upper head, running on either
side of the crest from just behind the “mouth” to a point three-quarters back,
were green translucent sacks – obviously eyes, though they were nothing like
any eyes he’d ever seen. Within each, instead of a pupil and iris, there were
dozens of small receptacles which looked like pale cream-colored mushrooms. These
waved back and forth, gathering together in groups seemingly when the alien
wished to focus on something. Now that he watched them, he realized that the
receptacles could divide into smaller groups; its “eyes” could focus on several
things at the same time.
Looking the alien over, Adamarus realized many aspects of it
were superior and more evolved. This creature was incredibly different from
anything in his experience. The fact that its height varied constantly between
twenty and 100 feet whenever it wanted to communicate would have implications
he could not begin fathom.
Adamarus took another drink. He could feel the alcohol taking
effect and realized the beer had been a brilliant idea. “So, you know my name.
What’s yours? What do I call you?”
It screeched its reply but the translator announced, “Does
not translate.” The creature reacted to this in a way that surprised Adamarus.
It had managed a very human shrug without shoulders or arms. Adamarus asked him
to repeat its name. The screech the creature made sounded a little like a very
distorted version of the word “bugs."
“How about this, I’ll call you Bugs.”
The Loud seemed to consider this for a few seconds then
startled Adamarus again. All six of its tentacles came up and wiggled at Adamarus
like it was imitating…a bug! Then it shot up, came down, and after a pause, the
translator replied, “As long as you don’t try to exterminate me.”
Clearly, Adamarus would have to remember that these creatures
had watched his species’ entertainment videos and listened to radio for who
knew how many years. Every response from it would be based on the knowledge it
had gained from those years. That thought was somewhat depressing but he guessed
it was better than nothing.
“Bugs, we need to talk about a serious personal matter.” Bugs
settled back and waited. “You’ve made me young again which would be great, but
my wife and I are much older, and this has created an imbalance which is unacceptable.
You must restore me to my real age.”
“I see. This is not my area of expertise, Adamarus, and I can
see this is a big problem. Try not to worry for we will do anything you wish to
make everything okay again. I will discuss this at once with those who
specialize in this area, and tomorrow we will resolve the problem, either by
restoring you to your proper age or, another possibility is giving your wife
the treatment so she is as young as you. Is this acceptable?”
Making Grace young again had not even occurred to him. No,
that wasn’t exactly true. In the back of his mind he had wondered if that might
be possible. But this presented new problems. Would it be safe? How would Grace
feel about it? How would his superiors feel about it? Nero had to be considered.
“How safe is the…treatment?”
“I will ask that as well…in fact, I will bring a
communication device so that any and all questions you have can be addressed.”
Relief washed over Adamarus. “Thank you, Bugs.”
“Now let’s relax and talk
On top was the “‘head." There was no neck. It was perhaps
sixteen feet wide, twenty feet long and eight feet high. If you could imagine a
very large eroded hollow bone and then flatten it and folded it over upon
itself three times, making the upper fold round and twice as large, you’d have
most of it. A crest ran along the top of its head from the front to the back.
In the front was a gaping hole which contained wet, slimy
looking, black tentacles which always seemed to be in motion – this was the
mouth. It never closed.
Embedded on either side of the upper head, running on either
side of the crest from just behind the “mouth” to a point three-quarters back,
were green translucent sacks – obviously eyes, though they were nothing like
any eyes he’d ever seen. Within each, instead of a pupil and iris, there were
dozens of small receptacles which looked like pale cream-colored mushrooms. These
waved back and forth, gathering together in groups seemingly when the alien
wished to focus on something. Now that he watched them, he realized that the
receptacles could divide into smaller groups; its “eyes” could focus on several
things at the same time.
Looking the alien over, Adamarus realized many aspects of it
were superior and more evolved. This creature was incredibly different from
anything in his experience. The fact that its height varied constantly between
twenty and 100 feet whenever it wanted to communicate would have implications
he could not begin fathom.
Adamarus took another drink. He could feel the alcohol taking
effect and realized the beer had been a brilliant idea. “So, you know my name.
What’s yours? What do I call you?”
It screeched its reply but the translator announced, “Does
not translate.” The creature reacted to this in a way that surprised Adamarus.
It had managed a very human shrug without shoulders or arms. Adamarus asked him
to repeat its name. The screech the creature made sounded a little like a very
distorted version of the word “bugs."
“How about this, I’ll call you Bugs.”
The Loud seemed to consider this for a few seconds then
startled Adamarus again. All six of its tentacles came up and wiggled at Adamarus
like it was imitating…a bug! Then it shot up, came down, and after a pause, the
translator replied, “As long as you don’t try to exterminate me.”
Clearly, Adamarus would have to remember that these creatures
had watched his species’ entertainment videos and listened to radio for who
knew how many years. Every response from it would be based on the knowledge it
had gained from those years. That thought was somewhat depressing but he guessed
it was better than nothing.
“Bugs, we need to talk about a serious personal matter.” Bugs
settled back and waited. “You’ve made me young again which would be great, but
my wife and I are much older, and this has created an imbalance which is unacceptable.
You must restore me to my real age.”
“I see. This is not my area of expertise, Adamarus, and I can
see this is a big problem. Try not to worry for we will do anything you wish to
make everything okay again. I will discuss this at once with those who
specialize in this area, and tomorrow we will resolve the problem, either by
restoring you to your proper age or, another possibility is giving your wife
the treatment so she is as young as you. Is this acceptable?”
Making Grace young again had not even occurred to him. No,
that wasn’t exactly true. In the back of his mind he had wondered if that might
be possible. But this presented new problems. Would it be safe? How would Grace
feel about it? How would his superiors feel about it? Nero had to be considered.
“How safe is the…treatment?”
“I will ask that as well…in fact, I will bring a
communication device so that any and all questions you have can be addressed.”
Relief washed over Adamarus. “Thank you, Bugs.”
“Now let’s relax and talk
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