its torso and peeled back the flaps of its chest to peer down at the squirming organs.
L’aida was reaching into the exposed chest cavity, wrapping her tendrils around the rib cage to break it open, when the creature came to. It thrashed and convulsed furiously and the two of them had to pin it to the table with their tentacles. L’aida shouted, “Terminate it! Terminate it!”
Klatu reached for his weapon, but the creature grabbed him and squeezed his tentacle. When he tried to pry away the thing’s fingers, it yanked him forward so that their faces were only inches apart.
L’aida had the creatures legs held down and she yelled over her shoulder at Klatu, telling him to hurry. When he did not answer, she turned and fell silent at the sight of the two beings staring wide-eyed at one another. The male spoke softly in his garbled language and Klatu’s forked tongue made ridiculous attempts at repeating the words.
L’aida violently shoved the male backwards and he fell dead against the table. Klatu yanked his tentacle free and collapsed onto the floor.
***
It was a small enough box that it fit inside the center of his tentacle. Klatu ran his tendrils along its ornate golden surface and opened the lid, taking out the tiny data card. The card contained his people’s most sacred, ancient texts; the teachings of the earliest prophets who foresaw their journey into the stars, up to the personal accounts of those who witnessed the miracles of the Beneficent Redeemer.
His mother had given him the box many years ago, and he held it to his chest when he sometimes became desperate enough to pray for The Sight. Other than that it mostly sat on a shelf in his sleeping quarters.
The blue-green planet of the humanoids rotated miles below him, and he was so lost in thought that he did not hear L’aida slithering across the room. Her antennas brushed the horns dotting his neck. She pressed close to him and stroked the back of his head with her tendrils. “How are you feeling?”
“I do not know.”
“Do you think it was real?”
He nodded slowly. “But then, of course I would say that. I’m just the fool who carries on like he’ll someday possess The Sight.”
She looked down at the planet with him. “Why don’t you start by telling me exactly what you saw?”
He told her in detail about the female and the small creature, who he now knew to be her daughter. They were playing, running through a field that led to the woods where he had found them. Klatu told her about the male now laying dead on their examination table; that he was their husband and father, and that he had told them he would be along soon. There was more that Klatu could not bring himself to say. When he made contact with the male’s mind, a debilitating sense of horror and grief latched onto him. He saw the birth of that child when it was just a tiny drooling thing that the mother caressed and fitted to her breast. He saw that same child lying dead in the grass and it was as if everything good had gone out of existence. And it was his doing.
Klatu lifted the box of sacred teachings to his forehead and began to weep.
***
They selected a less densely populated terrain. Klatu landed on the dry desert sand, feeling an intense heat that threatened to cook him alive inside the suit. He sprinted across the landscape and his suit took on the appearance of rock formations and small shrubs.
The intercom crackled, “Straight ahead, just over the dune. Do you see it?”
Klatu stopped running and peered over the sandy hill, seeing a small hut with a cluster of males assembled outside. “Abort the mission, Klatu,” L’aida said. “There are too many of them.”
“No,” he said. “I can do this.”
“I said abort.”
He slid down the dune and went past them into the hut where
L’aida was reaching into the exposed chest cavity, wrapping her tendrils around the rib cage to break it open, when the creature came to. It thrashed and convulsed furiously and the two of them had to pin it to the table with their tentacles. L’aida shouted, “Terminate it! Terminate it!”
Klatu reached for his weapon, but the creature grabbed him and squeezed his tentacle. When he tried to pry away the thing’s fingers, it yanked him forward so that their faces were only inches apart.
L’aida had the creatures legs held down and she yelled over her shoulder at Klatu, telling him to hurry. When he did not answer, she turned and fell silent at the sight of the two beings staring wide-eyed at one another. The male spoke softly in his garbled language and Klatu’s forked tongue made ridiculous attempts at repeating the words.
L’aida violently shoved the male backwards and he fell dead against the table. Klatu yanked his tentacle free and collapsed onto the floor.
***
It was a small enough box that it fit inside the center of his tentacle. Klatu ran his tendrils along its ornate golden surface and opened the lid, taking out the tiny data card. The card contained his people’s most sacred, ancient texts; the teachings of the earliest prophets who foresaw their journey into the stars, up to the personal accounts of those who witnessed the miracles of the Beneficent Redeemer.
His mother had given him the box many years ago, and he held it to his chest when he sometimes became desperate enough to pray for The Sight. Other than that it mostly sat on a shelf in his sleeping quarters.
The blue-green planet of the humanoids rotated miles below him, and he was so lost in thought that he did not hear L’aida slithering across the room. Her antennas brushed the horns dotting his neck. She pressed close to him and stroked the back of his head with her tendrils. “How are you feeling?”
“I do not know.”
“Do you think it was real?”
He nodded slowly. “But then, of course I would say that. I’m just the fool who carries on like he’ll someday possess The Sight.”
She looked down at the planet with him. “Why don’t you start by telling me exactly what you saw?”
He told her in detail about the female and the small creature, who he now knew to be her daughter. They were playing, running through a field that led to the woods where he had found them. Klatu told her about the male now laying dead on their examination table; that he was their husband and father, and that he had told them he would be along soon. There was more that Klatu could not bring himself to say. When he made contact with the male’s mind, a debilitating sense of horror and grief latched onto him. He saw the birth of that child when it was just a tiny drooling thing that the mother caressed and fitted to her breast. He saw that same child lying dead in the grass and it was as if everything good had gone out of existence. And it was his doing.
Klatu lifted the box of sacred teachings to his forehead and began to weep.
***
They selected a less densely populated terrain. Klatu landed on the dry desert sand, feeling an intense heat that threatened to cook him alive inside the suit. He sprinted across the landscape and his suit took on the appearance of rock formations and small shrubs.
The intercom crackled, “Straight ahead, just over the dune. Do you see it?”
Klatu stopped running and peered over the sandy hill, seeing a small hut with a cluster of males assembled outside. “Abort the mission, Klatu,” L’aida said. “There are too many of them.”
“No,” he said. “I can do this.”
“I said abort.”
He slid down the dune and went past them into the hut where
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