Alien Manifesto (15 page)

~

Personal log Galactic Star Date
11542.50

This light cycle I am heading to the hilltop
that overlooks the city's entrance. George constantly shadows me. I
only hope he does not give my location away. In a curious note I
found a fresh carcass of one of the animals that I have been eating
lying at the fire pit of my home base campsite. It had been neatly
cleaned and skinned. I have not seen any intelligent life forms
since the crash. I do not know where it came from. I will be
watchful. While unfriendly natives are possible, I think by this
gesture that their intentions are friendly. Well, onward I forage,
one mystery at a time today.

~

Personal log Galactic Star Date
11542.50.5

I have reached the hilltop overlooking the
city and found a small cave near the top. The top is flat and
perfect for my observations. Judging by the number of creatures in
and out of the entrance and the constant activity this must be
quite a large city. My best guess would be 200,000 or so of
George’s people. The corridors and tunnels must extend for miles
underground. At the dark cycle, I can see a light source of some
sort.

Yet I can see no sign of the power source or
any evidence of an exhaust of atmosphere or reaction waste. I have
found several other smaller entrances on the other side of my
observation post. Curious note, I found another cleaned carcass at
the beginning of this light cycle.

In addition, George is nowhere to be found. I
am both puzzled and concerned by the identity of my mysterious
benefactor. I must admit it is a big help not to have to search for
food, leaving only the transport of water and sanitation to
interrupt my observations.

~

Personal log Galactic Star Date
11542.70

It has been ten light cycles since I moved to
the hilltop from base camp permanently. At the beginning of each
light cycle when I wake there is a freshly prepared carcass waiting
by the cook pit, along with fresh vegetation for fuel. I have made
up my mind that I am going to discover the identity of this
mysterious gift giver.

~

Personal log Galactic Star Date
11542.72

I have not slept in two light cycles and still
no gift carcass. I do not know how much longer I can stay awake, I
find myself nodding off almost uncontrollably.

I must have dozed off because when I awoke
there was a carcass waiting for me. That would mean that they are
watching me and that there is more than one. This carcass was still
warm and I have still no idea of who or what left it there. I am
quite sure that if evil was their intent I would be
dead.

~

Personal log Galactic Star Date
11542.100

The seasons seem set for change now. I have
noticed the light cycles increasing in length and a corresponding
increase in temperature and precipitation. The star of this planet
is in the middle of its zenith with this planet. I found at the
back of the cave a natural cistern that now fills daily after the
late storm and electrical discharges. The animal carcasses continue
to appear with unfailing regularity and mystery.

All of my physical needs are being meet with
little to no effort. I have seen kept life forms with less
consideration to the basic functions of life. With the exception of
the lack of electronic technology, this would be an idealistic life
style.

Wondering why I bother to make this log. If
Thomas were coming, he would be here already. Yet I know I must
have hope for that is all that remains to be taken from
me.

~

Personal log Galactic Star Date
11542.111

I am making this log now sure that it will
never be studied. Or even found by anyone capable of understanding
it. For I know I am truly marooned on this planet, forever lost to
my family. I only have George, my only friend, George.

George has returned and it gives me hope once
again. I am glad for the company even if he is an insectoid. Not
only has he returned, I have learned that he is my benefactor. He
brought friends.

I cannot tell them apart therefore I have no
idea how many friends he brought with him. They are a very curious
bunch and in constant motion. I can see that they communicate with
each other but I cannot tell how. They hold their heads together
for a brief time then one seems to know what the other one wants or
does.

~

Personal log Galactic Star Date
11542.137

Today is the day I discovered the
answer to the mystery surrounding the method of communication
between George and his friends. It is some kind of electro-chemical
transference from one creature to another.

The way I discovered this is that today is the
first time I have actually made physical contact with George’s
antennae, before any contact was always limited to a couple of
brief strokes on one of his legs or back.

This time he actually stroked my arm with his
antennae. The most amazing thing happened. I could instantly feel
him in my mind, a connection of consciousness. I understood him and
he understood me at the same instant.

They are a peaceful race, fascinated by my
technology. Until I arrived, they had no knowledge of other life,
electronics, fusion or metalwork. They are here to take me to the
Queen; she wants to meet, to learn from me.

PART THREE

The Queen

From the depths of her meditation on the
coming of the season of the Sun, the Queen of the Ones felt her
aide at her side patiently waiting to be noticed. Slowly, as
consciousness of her physical reality returned, she bade him
speak.

“
My Queen, I have news of a
strange being that has fallen from the sky,” he began.

“
Silence,” the Queen’s emotion
scents flooded the entire chamber with the intensity of her rage.
“You dare interrupt my meditation with nonsense? There can be no
life other than what we know to be on this planet.” The Queen’s
rage scent caused the aide to cower in submission. She could smell
the aide’s fear and yet a hope that she might not dispatch him if
she would but listen. “Approach me so I may touch you and know your
mind,” said the Queen.

The Queen could feel his awe
as the aide approached. To touch the Queen was a great honor and a
death sentence at the same time. For no male may possess the
knowledge of the female, much less the Queen. It was the way of the
Ones. Slowly the aide approached trembling with conflicting
emotions.
My brothers will tell stories of my honor
long after the Queen feasts on me
thought the aide.

The Queen stretched her
sensing antennae outward and waited until the aide made contact.
Instantly she knew all he knew about this strange being from the
sky.
So the legends and their memories were true.
Still I must know more,
thought the
Queen
. The memories demanded that we, the Ones,
feast on this being’s life force at once to gain a complete knowing
of it. Yet I think we may learn more
by studying it
.

It would seem
that this is what this being is doing to us,
thought
the Queen.
He has caused no harm to any of
my children. The fact that he consumed only the body of animals and
not the life energy would mean that he might also impart and gain
knowledge differently than we do.

“
Bring me the male who discovered
this creature immediately. If you wish to remain alive you will do
this personally, touch no one and tell no one. Go nowhere else and
make sure that he touches no one. If he has touched anyone bring
them to me as well. Now leave me, I must meditate on this,”
commanded the Queen.

The disbelief that he would be allowed to live
flooded the space between them and in an instant, the aide was
gone. Fleeing for his life, should the Queen change her
mind.

Could this be a sign of
destiny?
The Queen wondered. Experiences with
other life forms in the distant past had brought her people the
ability to work together and communicate. The engineering skill
used to build their underground cities was but one of many things
the Ones had learned from strangers.

Because of the
others, we were no longer at the mercy of this planet’s whims and
its change of seasons. Yet this creature is much different.
I wonder what changes he will bring to our world
with the knowledge he possesses?
the Queen thought, as
she sank into a deep meditation, trying to understand the
circumstances that had been thrust upon her and her
people.

Once again, the Queen felt her aide waiting
for her to return to consciousness. He was not alone. Her pulse
quickened with the anticipation of learning more about the strange
being from the sky and she stirred quickly to full
wakefulness.

As she opened her eyes, she saw only her aide
and one other male. Fixing her stare on the newcomer, she asked,
“You shared this with no one else?”

“
No, my Queen,” the worker
answered, bowing in submission, his chest plate scraping the
ground.

“
Why not?” demanded the
Queen.

“
I was curious, my Queen. I was
also afraid of what would happen if I shared this knowledge with
anyone besides my senior nest mate. Now I am here and my fears are
realized.”

“
Boldness and reasonable
thought from a male, how unusual a trait,” remarked the Queen. She
stretched out her sensing antennae, “Approach me, I must share your
mind.” The smell of dread and fear preceded George as he touched
her with his antennae. In that instant of knowing, the Queen knew
her feelings had been right. This life form did not share its
knowledge in the way the Ones did. It took a lifetime of
communication to transfer knowledge from one being to another. Yet
they had traveled from another place to our world.
I must know how.

“
I want him under constant
observation. The two of you, and perhaps two more,” said the Queen
as she turned to her aide. “Bring two of your closest brothers to
me. Tell them nothing until they are before me and only then will
you share with them why they are here. The four of you will provide
food and water for this being at my chamber at the summit of the
temple of the Sun. Allow him to observe but not enter the city
until it is time to bring him before me. Go straight there and do
not return unless called for. When I am ready I will summon you.
When I call for you, bring him before me in the throne room of the
temple of the Sun.”

~

Today George approached me with his antennae
extended. I have come to understand this gesture as a request to
communicate with me. I reached out my hands and touched his sensing
antennae. I could feel him say “Brother, it is time to come before
the Queen. I have told her about you and she has commanded me to
bring you before her. I dare not disobey at the risk of my nest
mates.”

A shot of adrenalin made my knees weak. I had
dealt with many different intelligent species in the course of my
chosen profession. Yet none quite like this and certainly not the
leader of an intelligent insect race. I have absolutely no idea of
what to expect.

“
Fear not, brother,” George
thought to me. “She is curious about you and where you come from.
You are in no danger.”

“
I am not afraid, just nervous,” I
thought back. “Will I touch her?”

“
I am but a male and cannot speak
about what the Queen will do. However, as that is the only way we
can communicate with you, I think you will have that great honor,”
George thought back.

“
Then let’s not keep the Queen
waiting, shall we?” I said.

To my surprise George simply moved to the back
of the small cave I had been staying in. He opened a hidden door,
revealing a downward-sloped pathway. I had to bend down to get
through, as George’s people traveled frequently and just as easily
on all six legs. After I crawled through the door, it opened up
into a huge room with high ceilings and filtered light.

At the far end of the room, I could see what
must be the Queen. She was much larger than George and his friends,
who had filed in behind me. She was perched on a large carved stone
throne, studded with enormous gemstones.

In the center of the domed roof was the
largest sapphire I had seen or even heard about. It was several
times the size of the largest one in the galaxy in the museum of
gems and minerals. The sun shone directly on it making it glow,
reflecting off the many other gemstones in the walls and the
Queen’s throne.

As we approached, George and the others
suddenly stopped and scraped their abdomens on the ground, in some
sort of greeting. The queen motioned to me with one pair of her
arms and extended her antennae toward me.

I knew this to be a request for a touch in
order to communicate, from my dealings with George and his friends.
Taking a deep breath, I reached out and gently touched her
antennae. I was instantly swept up in a whirlwind of images of the
Ones and their history. Slowly order returned to my mind and I was
able to sense the Queen herself.