Ghosts of Ophidian by Scott McElhaney Page A

appealing of the foods was something that reminded them of corn flakes. It had a very subtle sweetness, giving it a little more flavor than the other foods. The only disappointment c ame from how dry it was since they would be forced to consume the “cereal” without milk.
    The water tasted very metallic, but they figured it had to be expected for as long as it had to have been stored inside the ship. The AI admitted however that there was a water filtration system in use on the ship, so they figured they should be grateful it didn’t taste even worse.
    Their next immediate concern was the temperature inside the ship . While the bedrooms they selected offered each of them a comfortable bed with two blankets each, this would not sustain them throughout their waking hours. Since all the other beds were not in use, they took more blankets in order to ensure their sleep would be spent in comfortable warmth. The blankets all smelled dusty and old, but they decided to worry about their laundry issues later.
    They searched the rooms for clothing, but located nothing of the sort. The AI eventually understood their request and directed them to a storage room on the next floor up. There, they discovered Carhartt-like one-piece uniforms of all sizes. Unfortunately for their particular needs, it appeared as though the aliens didn’t wear any kind of underwear. They located their particular sizes and brought several uniforms back to their respective bedrooms.

Fifteen
     
    Conner awoke to the discovery that he had no way of knowing what time it was or if it was even a new day. He drew one of his blankets around himself as he rose from the bed. It took him a moment to locate the light switch in the dark. After banishing the darkness from the room, he located the wrist unit from his spacesuit. The digital display told him that it was 6:41am.
    Without the benefits of a sun, a moon, or even a planet to stand on, he would have to rely on that timepiece to keep track of the passage of time. Accepting that he wasn’t going back to sleep, he decided to try on one of the alien uniforms and begin a new day of investigations throughout the ship.
    “AI, can you hear me?” he asked as he struggled with the unusual clasps on the alien Carhartts.
    “Yes, Conner Steele,” it replied, “You’ll be pleased to note that we are no longer in the gravitational well of your star.
    “Does that mean we are no longer in the solar system?”
    “Yes,” the AI replied.
    “Hmm… I was going to ask you if you could teach me your language,” he asked, “I mean, the language of those people in your cargo hold.”
    “Yes, though I’m not quite sure how to teach someone a language,” it replied.
    “I could just give you words and you can tell me what they are in your language,” he said, moving around the room to test the feel of his new outfit.
    “Okay, we will do that,” it said.
    There was a sudden knock at his door.
    “I want to learn too, Conner,” her voice came from beyond the door.
    He opened the door and discovered that she too was dressed in one of the alien uniforms. He stepped aside and gestured her into his room.
    “I could hear you two talking through the wall,” she said, “I didn’t want you to learn the language before I could get a chance to.”
    “I was thinking of going for a walk of discovery while I bounced some words back and forth with the AI,” he said.
    “Let’s do it, then,” she stated.
    . . . .
    They spent the morning moving through the forward portions of the ship, all the while practicing the gurgling sounds that went with the words they were learning from the AI. They started with the basic words they felt they would need when introducing themselves to the aliens they now learned were referred to as “Ah Fidonay”. This meant that they would need to learn words such as friend, peace, help, planet, shuttle, and dozens of others.
    Conner and Dawn quizzed each other on these words as they made their way to