Chapter 3
The entities were completely alien to the men of Seaview. They were relatively short and cylindrical in shape like a worm, standing, for lack of a better word, no more than four feet in height with a short thick tail extending a couple of feet behind them. Their bodies were reminiscent of nudibranchs, a variety of sea snail found in the Earth's oceans. They were large slug like creatures and their bodies were covered in a bluish, spotted, semi-translucent flesh with a faint fluorescent glow that revealed an internal cartilaginous skeleton and organs. There were also two rows of bright yellow and orange ruffled strips of flesh running the length of their bodies that undulated forward and back like slender pennants flapping in the breeze. They had two eye stalks extending from their heads which twitched and rotated to regard first the intruders, then each other, what looked like vestigial gill slits on either side of their throats and a toothless mouth centered beneath the eyes, that were currently agape.
Midway around their bodies they had what appeared to be a utility belt of some sort that had numerous devices and pouches attached. Lee and Harri watched in amazement as the creatures suddenly extended tentacles from their slug like bodies forming the equivalent of human arms and hands. They quickly retrieved a small object from their belts and pointed it at the two men.
"We mean you no harm," Nelson said as he eyed what had to be weapons pointed at them. He shot a quick look at Lee, who then lowered and holstered his gun.
The aliens cocked their heads and exchanged a series of sounds that could best be described as a gargling humpback whale. After a moment the one on the left reached down to its belt and began manipulating a small device. "Who are you? How did you get here?" sounded from the small box on its belt. Harri and Lee exchanged startled looks at the rapid translation to English.
"My name is Harriman Nelson and this Lee Crane, we are from the planet Earth. As far as getting here, we stopped to examine an anomalous flash of light from a small atoll in our ocean and found ourselves suddenly trapped in some form of energy beam. The next thing we both knew we were here, wherever here is," Nelson explained. "Might I ask where we are, and how in fact we did get here?"
"You are on the planet Odeja. I am Kolmar Dix and this is my partner Demari Kir. At the moment I am at a loss to explain your arrival here. Just how did you come to be at this door?"
"We were in our vessel and when we exited we were in a large cavern. We walked to a flashing switch and it opened the door leading to this hallway," Nelson replied.
The Odejaians apparently looked at each other as their eyestalks swiveled to regard the other. Lee and Harri inferred they were as puzzled as they were by their unexpected arrival, though it was hard to tell since they had no way of reading Odejaian expressions.
"Take us to your vessel," Demari said and motioned down the hall.
Harri nodded then they turned and walked back down the hallway to the open chamber door. They entered the room followed closely by the two aliens, though Harri thought ironically, he and Lee were now the aliens. As they entered there was a sudden exchange between Dix and Kir in their native tongue.
Neither Harri nor Lee made any move to go to FS-1 or to open the sub. They had no intention of giving them ready access to the inside of the boat at this moment in time. Kolmar quickly circled the small craft eyeing it closely and slowly waved a small device it had removed from its belt over FS-1 looking for clues as to how it managed to access the portal and arrive on their planet.
After another exchange between the Odejaians, they focused their eyes on their guests. "Is your craft powered by nuclear fusion or fission?" Kolmar asked.
Harri shot a quick look at Lee and received a slight shrug in response. "Fission. There is a small nuclear reactor on board that powers the craft." They were at the mercy of their hosts to return to Earth so they might as well provide some information and hopefully build some trust.
"That explains it," Demari replied.
"I'm glad it explains it to you," Harri responded. "Would you be willing to explain it to us?"
"We are explorers, Harriman Nelson. This chamber is our launching point for reaching out into the galaxy. By means of wormholes, we are able to access different planets, but only those that possess liquid water. Water serves as the receiving conduit on the other end of our probe. We had just visited your planet looking for signs of intelligent life. What we had found was a remote island in the middle of your expansive ocean and no signs of higher life forms. We had intended to make one more foray to your planet and if we failed to locate a more intelligent species we would have ceased any further investigations," Demari began.
"After a jump the portal remains open for a short period of time. You apparently entered into the portal while it was still active, and because you had such a powerful energy source on your vessel, you triggered the transport sequence and it brought you here. The odds of that happening are nearly incalculable," Kolmar finished.
"I see. Might I ask your intentions as you conduct your explorations?" Harri inquired, immediately suspicious given their previous run-ins with 'visitors' to Earth.
"We are reaching out to see what other entities and civilizations exist. When we encounter an inhabited planet, we conduct a covert observation of the dominant species to determine their level of technological sophistication and if active interaction would be of value or even welcomed. If you have concerns over military aggression, we have no such appetites to conquer or rule. Our primary interest is commerce," Demari answered.
"That's comforting to know," Harri responded a bit skeptically.
The creatures chatted between each other and then focused their gaze on Lee. "Does this one speak or is it a mute servant?" asked Dix
Harri snorted in laughter as Lee shot him a nasty glare. "Only on rare occasions does he hold his tongue. Lee is the captain of my vessel and works for and with me on our planet."
"Ah a subordinate, you command him. Then you are the leader of your people?"
"No, I am not the leader of my planet. I have an institute that is dedicated to exploring and protecting the oceans of our world. I have a much larger submarine back on Earth from which we conduct our work. Lee also commands that craft as well," Harri explained.
"So he is more than just a mere drone?" Kir inquired.
"Yes, I am more than I mere drone," Lee replied testily. "I oversee the operations of the boat and ensure the personnel aboard are kept safe during our missions."
"I meant no offense, Lee Crane. It's just that you had not spoken and we have observed other cultures that practice such divisions of their species. We too have a servant class that is genetically mute," Kir replied.
"No offense taken. I was merely deferring to the senior member of our group," Lee added.
"Well, I think it best we retire to a more comfortable location so we may continue our introductions and discussions. If you would be so kind as to follow us, we will move on," Kolmar offered.
Harri and Lee nodded accepting their invitation. They had little choice one way or the other and were at the moment somewhat relieved at the reception they had received and their host's description of their intentions.
(ooloo)
The Odejaians led the two men out of the transport chamber and escorted them down a number of hallways to a smaller room. The walls were covered with hangings that Lee and Harri took for art along with a decorative and colorful print on the wall itself. There were several of what looked like bean bag chairs on the floor and Kolmar and Demari quickly positioned themselves on two of them and sat back. "Please Harriman, Lee, be seated and make yourselves comfortable," Demari said as it gestured to the remaining chairs.
Lee quickly crossed his feet at the ankles and smoothly lowered himself to sit Indian style on the chair. Harri rolled his eyes at Lee's fluid ease in taking his seat. He then leaned down and dropped into the chair hoping to salvage some shred of dignity as he floundered around trying to find a comfortable position. He knew getting up was going to be an ugly proposition at best.
As they settled in, Kolmar pressed another button on the belt around its waist and shortly they were joined by a smaller version of their hosts, which carried a tray that had cups and a carafe resting on top. The smaller Odejaian pressed something on its belt and a round pedestal rose up out of the floor becoming a table for the refreshments. As soon as the tray was deposited and a purple liquid poured into each of the cups, the servant left with no apparent exchange of words.
"Based on the few scans we have taken of you; the drinks are compatible with your systems. It is derived from one of the fruits on our planet that I think you will enjoy," Kolmar offered.
"Thank you," Harri replied and he and Lee leaned forward and each collected a cup. They cautiously sipped on the beverage and found it sweet and rich, somewhat like peach nectar.
"That's very good, thank you," Lee said as he licked his lips. Harri nodded in agreement.
"I'm pleased that you find it palatable. I was wondering Harriman, if you would be willing to tell us about your planet and your society. We are most interested in your people and your history. It will also help to inform us on whether we should pursue contact at this point," Demari responded.
"Of course, if you would be willing to give us some insight into your race and your planet as well," Harri replied.
"By all means," Demari offered.
Harri gave a brief overview of the planet, basic human history, and a limited description of the current state of things. "Do you have any questions?" he asked as he finished speaking.
"Quite interesting. You say that your people have only made limited excursions into space and have only physically reached the moon circling your planet. I find it amazing that you have so easily accepted the transport to this planet and our existence and appearance, for not having ventured far. How is it you are so accepting?" Kolmar inquired.
"Through our exploration of our oceans, and based on the unique nature of our submarine Seaview, we have encountered others from different planets and dimensions. I would hazard a guess to say that our reaction would be the exception and not the norm that you would encounter in a first contact scenario," Harri answered.
"Hmm. Well lucky for us then that we encountered you first. Are you representative of your species? Tell me how many people call your Earth home?" Kolmar asked.
"I suppose you could say that Lee and I are representative of the males of our species. The other half of our population is female. At last estimate, there are around 7 billion people, give or take," Harri responded.
"So it takes male and female to reproduce. Curious. We are both male and female and our role in reproduction changes throughout our life cycle. We can generate offspring individually or exchange reproductive cells."
"That's interesting," Harri commented. "What prompts whether you reproduce yourself or introduce more genetic material?"
"That choice is generally a very personal decision, that I prefer not to go into at this time," Demari replied. "I was wondering, do you have a warrior class that defends your planet, Harriman?"
"A warrior class? In a manner of speaking. Each of the nations on our planet maintains certain military personnel and weapons to protect their borders and their citizens. Many nations have also formed alliances and treaties to pool their forces should they be attacked by more aggressive nations." Harri offered.
"You still have separate domains? You are not a unified people?" Kolmar asked, sounding somewhat surprised.
Harri shot Lee a concerned look as their hosts tried to delve deeper into the human military infrastructure and no doubt defense capabilities. Lee shrugged slightly indicating Harri might as well answer at least one more question. "No we are not a unified people. We are a fractious lot and prone to periods of petty bickering or in more severe instances, global war. It has been some time since a conflict that large has happened, and I hope that's because we're learning the folly of that activity. The major nations of our world tend to work hard to avoid letting things degrade into a situation where such conflict can occur. As I said, when pushed our people can become united and extremely focused on protecting what we value."
"So Kolmar, Harri has told you a great deal about us, how about you telling us about your people?" Lee interjected steering the topic away from Earth defenses.
"You act as a warrior Lee, are you part of your nation's military?" Kolmar pushed back.
"I am, as is Harri, although he has retired. I'm sure you understand our reticence to provide much more information on that topic at this time."
"Quite so," Demari cut in. "In answer to your query Lee, we are a very old people relative to your species. Our planet is located in orbit around binary stars some 6500 light years from yours. We have existed as a sentient species in excess of 10 million of your years and as you have probably guessed we evolved from the sea creatures of our planet. We have been exploring the universe for nearly 2 million of your years, reaching out to discover new worlds and new peoples. Early in our development we too lived in separate tribes and occasionally engaged in war against our neighbors. Unlike you we have not experienced the global wars you have described as we eliminated borders and learned to share the resources of our planet. We do however still retain a warrior class that is raised to protect our world should something arise, especially as we venture out further into the galaxy. To date, we have never had an assault on our planet."
"That's quite interesting," Harri interjected. "You said earlier that you are primarily concerned with conducting commerce with the planets you contact, what kind of things do you trade?"
"Various commodities based on each of our trading partner's needs. We trade technologies, natural resources, food, entertainment; it just depends on what is of value and of interest to both parties. We also function as expediters or middlemen facilitating trade between other planets," Kolmar replied.
"Technologies? So do you provide highly advanced technologies to whomever you trade with?" Lee asked. He was immediately concerned that should they pursue trade with Earth, military advancements would be the first thing most countries would endeavor to obtain.
"We provide appropriate technologies based on the specific planet. We have our own moral code, as it were, that prevents us from providing something that would unfairly advance one faction over another. And as you can imagine we are quite careful with whom we trade and what we offer to limit any potential threats to us or our planet," Kolmar answered.
"That seems quite a prudent practice," Harri interjected. "I would be very interested in seeing how vast a trading area you encompass. Just curiosity on my part, since as I have explained we are nowhere near your level of advancement."
"Of course Harriman, but later. I would suggest that we provide you a chamber in which you and Lee can rest for a time and then we can reconvene for sustenance and see about sending you back to your planet and us possibly accompanying you," Kolmar offered.
"That's quite acceptable to us. We would be more than willing to return to our ship if that is acceptable," Nelson said in response.
"Of course Harriman, I understand. I will have you escorted back and we can reconvene in two hours. Would that be sufficient?"
"Yes, perfect."
With that the Odejaians rose from their chairs. Lee quickly pushed up from his seat as well and fought hard to bury the smile at seeing Harri starting to squirm in his seat trying to get sufficient purchase to rise. As he looked down and made eye contact, Harri shot him a withering glare that said in no uncertain terms if he laughed he was dead meat. Lee plastered his best imitation of Chip's bland XO expression on his face and extended his hand down to Harri. Nelson quickly latched onto it allowing his captain to pull him to his feet.
"Wise choice, Captain," Nelson hissed quietly, as Lee fought even harder not to laugh.
Once all were up, the smaller Odejaian returned to the room and was waiting motionlessly for direction from the other two. Kolmar issued a number of gargling noises and the smaller entity appeared to bow slightly as if acknowledging orders.
"Harriman, Lee, Pradjic will escort you back to your ship. Rest well and we will see you shortly," Demari said and turned with Kolmar and exited the room.
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