****

Contact

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"And I stood before him, and I sang unto her and it appeared to listen. His very countenance rippled like the sea, and the sound of my own voice came back to me, distorted. For a moment, I thought she was mocking me, or it was nonsapient, and mimicking me. Then I understood: the sounds were not important, it was how I affected his sounds and how he affected mine that transmitted the message."

-- Prime Function Aki-Zeta Five

"One Future"

"You say we have alien ships on our scopes?"

"Yes, Joseph."

"How long before we reach them?"

"3 hours and 12 minutes."

"Thank you."

I picked up the comm. "Sick bay, come in."

"What is it, Cap?"

"Doctor, tell me the status of our local psychologist, our local decoder/slicer, and our local anthropologist."

"Geoffrey has second-degree burns, Sneaks has some shrapnel in his left leg, and Tim has a mild case of carbon monoxide --"

"Shut up, Doc. Will any of them be able to be at the bridge in three hours?"

"Well, with the other twelve people who got hurt, no, but I'll give them my full attention. Is three hours and fifteen minutes okay?"

"Not exactly. Do what you can, and do it fast, even give them Healnow if necessary."

"I hear you, Joe. I'll try."

Geoffrey was the anthropologist, Sneaks was the nickname for our slicer, and Tim was the psychologist. If we were to contact this alien race, which might be the last hope for our starship, we would need them good and ready.



Three hours later, Geoffrey, Sneaks, and Tim were at the bridge. The alien ship was fast approaching, and we could see it now. The front of it looked like a crescent moon, but shorter and thicker, and painted bright red. It almost looked like a Protoss Shuttle from StarCraft XXIV.

"Look at that. Doesn't it look amazing?" I said to Sneaks.

Before he could answer, an alien face appeared on our viewscreen.

It certainly didn't look like a Protoss.

It had a huge, bulbous, long face that made me think of one of those Earth warthogs. Instead of huge, smooth cheeks, though, it had what looked like barnacle growth on its "cheeks." It was red.

It spoke.

"Look t thet. Doenit ti look a azhing?"

"Is it mocking me, Sneaks?"

"Sit mickong mi, Snakes?" the alien responded.

"It depends, Cap. Is it sentient?" Sneaks said.

"Yes," said Tim. "Look at the way it moves. It seemed puzzled at your speaking method. It makes hand signals noticeably different from yours."

"So we know it is sentient. Then why does it repeat what I say?"

"Si we noo tis sentint. Dien iy doit rpeat what a sa?"

"Notice it only repeats what you say, Cap. Not me. Not Sneaks," said Tim. "That's another sign of sentience. It only wants to talk to you or repeat what you say.

"Wait a second. Speak gibberish. See how the alien responds."

"If you say so."

"Fi you sa sou." the alien said. It was really starting to annoy me.

"Gibberish it is. Ghijalm gradda asdwerop.Indoodleydee. Futta!"

"Jabberit tisis. Ghidlam dorigratta asdweer. Indoddlefee. Gutta!"

"Well," said Tim. "What's gibberish to us is not gibberish to him, he repeats it."

Geoffrey spoke, for the first time during this little episode. "Maybe that is his language."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Weet doe yioi mean?" said the alien.

"His language is to slightly modify what you say. He seems puzzled at how different one statement is from the next. If you give me enough time, I could decode what he's saying."

"We don't have enough time! We're hurtling toward his spaceship! There's going to be a head-on collision! Can you do it now?" I yelled, exasperated.

"Wi donut hiv-" the alien started to respond.

Geoffrey gave me a helpless look.



A/N: More coming soon! Enjoy. And don't forget to review!