Sarah spread her arms, gesturing to the glowing thing in the bottom of the pool. "Matt, this is the Supica."
"Where did this come from?" he breathed.
"Another planet," Sarah shrugged.
Matt found the response reasonable, considering the circumstances. "How long was it here?"
"More than a year."
"And you were going to show this to me when?"
She didn't reply.
Matt continued to stare. "Who built this thing?"
"Quidsy. It's a spaceship company. From another planet."
"I thought alien spaceships were supposed to be silver."
"Silver's not my favorite."
He rolled his eyes. "This has got to be a gag, or some kind of military thing."
"No, Matt. You're wrong."
"So...hypothetically, what does this thing run on? And don't tell me it's dark matter or dilithium crystals. Rocket fuel? Lasers? Atomic energy?"
Quana cleared her throat. "Auno energy."
He laughed. "Sure. And what is that, exactly?"
"You know how your scientists say that quarks or strings are the smallest subatomic units?...They're wrong. If they had better magnification tools, they'd discover that Aunos are twice as small, and the energy you get from striking them together is greater than the energy in ten atomic bombs."
"Right. Okay. Guess I'll find out later!" Matt walked up to the windowless hull, cautiously poking the surface with his index finger. It felt cold to the touch, and, as he kept his finger there, it soon felt like he'd developed frostbite there.
"Careful."
In seconds, the frostbite changed to a sharp burn. "Ow!" He jerked his hand away.
"Yeah, you don't want to touch that. The exterior is super cooled."
Matt waved his hand around in attempts to rid himself of the burning sensation, stuck the digit in his mouth.
He stared as Sarah pushed buttons on a nearby panel, causing the craft to emit a loud buzzing sound.
A large copper eyeball popped out of the shell on a long stalk, glaring at her.
Sarah let out an exasperated sigh. "Blast!" She pushed the buttons in a different sequence.
Buzz.
"Third time's a charm!" She tapped the buttons again.
Buzz.
"See? You can't even get in it! If this thing is real, it's got to be some type of air force project."
Sarah laughed and shook her head. "You're crazy."
"Audep!" a lion-like voice seemed to growl from everywhere. "Julujau pofokiai! Saojifa emilihu najikece. Oopuhane raraba soqokuru quako eiko ha duquedaka giwi aoqigoia roca."
Matt smirked. "Cute. You programmed it to say stuff, too."
Two turrets on the roof swiveled around, aiming a pair of gun-like muzzles at her. "Patnix roca fat...dolsike...leeg...diete...ri..."
"Dahna Quana Falcameer!" Sarah cried. "Tebesoe: Hieroda duquedaka!"
The eye wiggled back and forth, as if saying no. "Depogast pofokiai. Dool...rey..."
Sarah's fingers flew at the buttons, but the machinery didn't respond.
Buzz.
"Oim...hanna...bid. Duquedaka patnar."
One turret changed position, pointing its barrels at Matt.
"Matt!" Sarah shouted. "Get down!"
Matt dropped to the ground. A second later, the turquoise tiles around him shattered and exploded with a rhythmic popping noise like they had been shot with a machine gun with a silencer.
Sarah pushed the buttons frantically, but it didn't help. One gun burst into flame, but the other continued raining down projectiles, reducing the tiles to fine powder.
Sarah pushed something else, and the craft let out a chorus of low moans. The projectiles stopped raining down, the fire on the other turret puffing out.
"Sarah," Matt gasped. "Could you please tell me what the hell that was?"
"My alarm system. You can't be too careful." A long metal ramp came out, its free end dropping solidly in the dirt.
Matt shakily got up from the dirt, brushing himself off. "Got to be a military weapon."
Sarah marched up the ramp, then stopped at an open hatch, beckoning to him from a field of soft white light.
Matt didn't move. He just stared with his mouth hanging wide open.
She giggled and waved to him with her tail. "Want to see what the inside of a real spaceship looks like?"
Matt gave her a zombie-like nod. With slow, nervous strides, he crept up the ramp, cautiously following her across the threshold.
The ramp led upwards through a short tunnel smelling strongly of naphthalene mingled with epoxy and boiled potatoes. Matt coughed, wondering what damage it would to to his lungs. A sea of noise filled his ears, a chaotic stream of voices and sounds from a thousand radio and television broadcasts all roaring at once, each shouting for the listener's undivided attention, clashing and merging into one big muddy shower of sound.
He entered a round room with a domed roof covered in hundreds of hexagonal monitors, each displaying a different program.
...Well, mostly commercials, as they naturally dominated every channel. They appeared in patterns, like dots on a map, swelling and shrinking every minute, as if being tracked and organized. Actual programs and waveform graphs of radio showed up too.
Dizzy from the sensory overload, Matt fixed his gaze on the center of the room.
A set of furniture stood on a white platform. On the side facing the entrance, a long green bed shaped thing grew out from it like a plant, at odds with the black leather Swedish couch bolted to the floor across from it, and a navy blue recliner, also from Planet Ikea. A long white table thing swelled, plant-like, from the spot on the floor between, rooted there by what seemed to be bone and tentacles.
Sarah lay passed out on a plant thing on the opposite side, her tail dangling through a slot in the back, bare feet elevated on its raised pad. Her mouth hung open wide, drool oozing out the corner of her lip as the thumbs on her feet clutched air.
Matt poked her shoulder, staring with a mixture of disgust and excited fascination as her tongue split in four, then came together to loll at the side of her mouth.
"Nah!" She brushed his hand away, turning over.
Matt winced at the constant televised explosions, the shouting salesmen, the machine gun fire. Sarah has to be pretty tired to sleep through this noise! he thought.
He tried to sleep, but being in an alien spaceship full of TV proved to be a little distracting.
Captivated by the flexing thumbs on Sarah's feet, he sneaked to the recliner, carefully lifting one of her finger-like toes. For a foot that looked like a human hand, it felt surprisingly lifelike. Sarah moaned in response, brushing his hand away with her fourth set of fingers.
Thinking she'd awakened, Matt jerked back in shock, diving behind her chair. For a moment, he didn't move, watching for signs of upset. She only snored.
Matt turned his attention to the tail twitching through a hole in the recliner.
It looks pretty real, but it could still be artificial, he thought as he lifted it up. How is it even attached?
He glanced up at the hole for a brief second, then averted his eyes, dropping the tail. As helpful as it would have been to look up her skirt, his morals won out.
Matt stared at the tail's lower portion. There must be some electrodes in there, he thought. Otherwise she wouldn't react to me messing with it. I'll figure it out some other way.
He leaned over the back of her chair, getting a firm grip on the thing. Now, if she's got it on a belt or a hook, it should come off or move something under the costume...
He gave her tail a strong tug, but all it did was move her.
"Ow! Hey!" The tail wiggled and snapped out of his grip, retreating through the slot in the chair.
Sarah turned around, leaning over the headrest. "Stop that! It hurts!"
Matt could barely hear her over the noise. "What?"
"Stop pulling on my tail!" she shouted. "That really hurts!"
"It does? Really?"
She nodded violently. "Guep!"
"But I thought you said it was fake!"
"It's not fake, you idiot! It's part of my spine!"
"What!"
"It's not fake!"
"You only told me it was expensive! You never said it was part of you!"
"Well it is! Hmph!" Sarah turned her back to him, crossing her arms defensively.
Matt sat down on the Earth couch. "Look. I'm sorry. You never told me."
She didn't reply, staring angrily at a commercial for a tilling claw.
The noise level remained at a constant roar, making ordinary communication impossible. Maybe she didn't hear me, he thought. "I said I'm sorry!"
"No you're not," she grumbled. "That's the second time you tried that!"
Annoyed at competing with the surrounding noise, Matt yelled, "Could you please turn this stuff off!"
"Maybe I don't want to."
"What!"
"I said-fine!" She glanced at the dome. "Supica! Tebesque! Pusasuji qiciheli tohibou moqo rudibugu!"
All the screens turned white.
"Sarah, I know I've acted like a jerk. I'm really sorry. Please, forgive me."
She sighed, slowly shaking her head.
"You haven't exactly been truthful about everything. I wanted to find out the answers myself. Back at the hotel, you said that tail was artificial. I was trying to see how you attached it. Now you're telling me it's real." He stood up. "Before that, you lied and said you had a tattoo. You even lied about your name."
"Would you have believed it if I told you the truth?"
He stared, falling silent.
Sarah stood up. "I'm going to bed. You can sleep here. Please, stay out of my bedroom, and leave my tail alone!"
"What if I have to use the restroom?"
She pointed to a hatch marked with a triangular symbol. "Through there, first door to the right, but knock before you barge in. And stay out of the room at the end."
She marched to a hatch next to it.
"Sarah?"
She turned around. "Huh?"
"Good, er, eyap mez."
The angry look on her face softened a little. "Good night, Matt." She stepped out.
It took awhile, but Matt eventually got comfortable on the couch and nodded off.
For awhile, at least.
He sat up, squinting at his surroundings through sleep crusted eyes, wondering why he couldn't see his alarm clock. It must be 6 A.M. The rows of white screens didn't register in his brain.
Spotting movement past his feet, he squinted and caught a glimpse of an unclothed furry body walking past the hatch. The figure gave a startled yelp, then disappeared. Thinking it a dream, he went back to sleep.
His bladder woke him up again. Following the creature's directions, he climbed through the hatch marked with the triangle, into a tan colored tunnel lined with railings and footholds and handles. The narrow tunnel curved in a circle around the ship, and he had enough room to stand without banging his head. First door to the right, Matt thought, frowning at a closed hatch. He knocked. Hearing no answer, he fumbled with a panel until the hatch opened.
He stepped into a small room containing something like a white, human sized pea pod standing vertical, and, adjacent to it, two cubes, covered in buttons, cups and hoses.
The pod thing only contained showering equipment. Much to Matt's relief, it did not contain human clones. He discovered a few button presses on the cubes could cause them to produce suction. Are these astronaut toilets? he thought as he stared at the confusing array of tubes. There seems to be a lot of...extra things here.
After some awkward positioning, he used a device as a toilet, then cleaned his hands with a strange looking machine on the wall, returning to the sofa.
The sound of a live, non-televised scream roused him from his slumber.
He sat up, rubbing his foggy eyes. "What? Did I pee in the wrong thing? What's the matter?"
"How did you get in here!"
"You let me in."
Sarah's face turned a strange green color. Matt thought it had to do with the ship's lighting. "I did not!"
"Yeah, like I could have done that without getting blown to bits!"
Sarah backed away, and Matt noticed her outfit: Long white shirt that stopped above the middle of her thighs, short sleeves and a big round fan collar. I like this outfit better than the uniform! he thought.
"I can't believe this." Sarah put her hands on her hips, snapping her tail like an angry cat.
Nor can I, Matt thought. You look lovely. "Marry me."
Her mouth fell open in shock, her face gaining more of that green tint. Matt kept looking for a colored light. "What?...No! That's like marrying your dog."
"Hey!"
"What? It's true. We're two different species. That's just...weird."
"Then make me like you. Make me one of those...whatsits."
"It's `Abreya'. And how am I supposed to do that?" She scowled. "You shouldn't even be in here! This is all your fault!"
"How is this my fault? You're the one who let me in!"
"That's because I was drunk!"
"I told you to stop!"
"No, you said `stop drinking beer and start drinking coffee'!" She punched his chest. "I never should have listened!"
"If you had only been drinking coffee, you wouldn't have been drunk."
"Yes I would!"
"No you wouldn't!"
"Yes I would! I'm not like you! Don't you get it? I'm not a deformed human, I'm an alien! A space alien!"
"I...guessed that." He gazed into her koala-like pupils. "Even your eyes are amazing. Those real too?"
Green tinged her face. "Yes, Matt. Not contacts."
"Wowww."
For a moment, Matt lost the capacity for speech.
"Look," she groaned. "Abreya bodies work different than yours. For us, alcohol is a stimulant, coffee is a depressant."
"Interesting. You've never tried coffee before?"
"No. Didn't like the smell."
"But you tried Coke."
"Yeah? I didn't act quite right after that, did I?" She sighed. "I guess I should have figured that out. But I didn't know."
They stared silently at each other. Matt's eyes moved away from her scornful glare, looking elsewhere. "Is this what you normally wear when you're...at home, relaxing?"
Sarah nodded. "They're my bed clothes. You shouldn't be seeing me like this. Let me go change."
She left the room, returning a few minutes later in a colorful Hawaiian floral print blouse and black tube pants, her tail anxiously tapping the floor behind her. "That's better."
Matt raised an eyebrow. "Not really. Your other outfit is cuter."
She snorted, but said nothing. Another uncomfortable silence followed.
Sarah seated herself on the other couch. "Like I said, I was not aware that caffeine made me drunk. I suspected something when I drank your `Coke,' but I wasn't sure. I abstained from drinking anything but water during the course of Lyuntaaz, a religious observance, but last night I tried your coffee. When I started doing espressos I must have gotten carried away."
"Okay?"
"I...remember...you called me..."
"I admit you did sound kinda weird on the phone. But I thought you were just excited about the convention."
Sarah blanched. "What did I say?"
"I didn't understand most of it. Except for the part about waiting up for you. You laughed a lot."
She sighed in relief. "I remember grabbing a cappuccino...driving to the hotel...and hitting a wall, that's about all I remember from last night." She flopped down on a sofa. "So what else did I do?"
"Not sure. I came to the convention alone. When I called and you were still at home. What were you doing, exactly?"
The plant swelled around the contours of her body, like it intended to eat her. "Making my costume, I think."
"The red uniform? I thought you bought that online."
Sarah shook her head. "It's made of cotton. I'm allergic to those manufactured costumes, plus polyester is highly flammable."
She stared at the floor. "But that's not the whole reason." She swallowed. "I was also trying to gather enough guts to go there and show you who I really am." She cast him with a forlorn expression. "I was sick of lying, and I wanted to know if you'd still say Jesus is for space aliens if you knew the truth."
"You're...really from outer space."
"What do you think? Of course I am! My name isn't even Sarah. It's Quana Falcameer."
"Quana. You want to be called that?"
She nodded. "That's my real name."
"So...Quana. You weren't making up a story about the...Ono energy?"
"It's Auno, but yes. It's all true."
"Has anyone actually made bombs out of it?"
She frowned at him like he intended to make one. "Not since the Treaty of Jufuceri. There used to be twelve planets in my solar system. The third planet, Futamer, was completely obliterated by Auno bombs during the War of Duvalha. It took several years to clear up the debris, and we still keep finding pieces of the planet floating around. We've seen sculptures, rocks and pieces of furniture dropping out of the sky from time to time. Of course, someone developed cures for radiation poisoning and cancer, or I wouldn't even be talking to you right now."
"Man, that's messed up." Matt shook his head. "Do you have any super powers, like, I don't know, drinking water with your fingertips? Flying? Telepathy?"
"No. Basically I'm like you."
"I thought you said you weren't like me."
"You don't have fur and a tail do you?"
"No, I guess not. But you don't have any special abilities at all?"
"I...have exceptionally good hearing."
"Uh...Anything else?"
"I can climb trees real well."
"You'll have to show me sometime." Matt thought a moment. "You can at least mind meld, can't you?"
Quana shook her head. "Only God can read minds."
"Oh come now. Here." He sat next to her on the plant couch. "Put your hands up to my temples."
She did, but couldn't keep a straight face when doing so.
"Getting anything?"
"Um, I'm getting embarrassed?"
Matt laughed. "I always thought that aliens could mind meld."
"Nope."
With a soft squeal, she stretched her legs, spreading her toes. The toes bent and wiggled outward like only a hand could. She popped her toe knuckles, balled both her feet exactly like fists.
Matt laughed, staring at her in fascination.
She frowned. "What?"
"That is so cool! I've never seen anyone with feet like that before!"
"Oh." Smirking, she raised a foot and waved hello.
Matt propped up his elbow, resting his head in his hand. "There were at least five hundred people at that convention. Why didn't you just show me privately?"
"I was still afraid. Calculated risk. What better place to blend in than at a convention where the unusual is commonplace, desirable, even? You thought it was a costume, and so did everyone else."
"True, but what about the FBI or the government?"
"In a group of conspiracy nuts? Please." Her tail curled around her ankle. "So, now that you see me as I truly am, can you please answer my question? Do I need Jesus or not?"
"Before last night, I didn't even believe space aliens existed." Matt furrowed his brow. "Is it `every planet has their own Jesus,' or is it `Jesus is the only one for all planets?' How am I supposed to know? "Do you have a holy book?"
"Guep. But wouldn't that be like trying to read about Christ in the Hindu Vedas or the Quran?"
"Not exactly. Hindus and Moslems don't have their own separate planet. You do. You probably have stuff on your planet that no one has seen or written about in Earth books."
"But isn't it still wrong to read that into Christianity?"
"Not if it aligns with the core doctrines of Christianity. Do you have any religions on your planet with an absolute truth, and absolute morality? With only one god? One that doesn't tell you to be your own god? One that's backed up by factual history?"
She nodded. "I'm a Quaceb. Should I stick with that?"
"I don't know. Do you have prophetic books in your holy text?"
"We have the Kisostrom and some others. Why?"
"Any special, anointed, set apart holy person or priest they prophecy about?"
"I'm not sure." She addressed the ship's computer. "Tebesoe: Neebee Gaxea coz benuton gurabo duigoje fopakna kuiyo benuforte ha Wodov."
Blocks of symbols and squiggles filled the surface of the white table as if written there in ink. Matt pointed. "What's all that?"
"A chapter out of the Gaxea, my holy book." She put her glasses on, reading the text. "My god, Ponai, set the patriarch Gom apart as a leader."
"Did Gom have any moral failings?"
She paused in thought. "Gom mated with multiple partners, bringing the wrath of Ponai upon himself."
"Any prophecies about people without moral defects? Someone possibly divine?"
She asked the computer. The table displayed only a few small blocks of text.
"He will be born on a distant star, and a comet will signal his arrival."
"I heard a theory that the star of Bethlehem was a comet. But still, it could be someplace else your book refers to."
"The words for `star' and `comet' in my language do have equivocal meanings."
"Still, it's a big galaxy, right?"
Quana nodded.
"What else you got?"
She shrugged. "`In the Sea of Milk, third of eight brothers circling a single light...'"
"Hmmm...kinda sounds like my solar system...Maybe...What do you think?"
"Yours is the only one I know that has eight major planets, one sun, with a messiah living on the third planet."
"Umm, sounds close..."
"The planet of the Kipom should be blue, with many oceans. There's some vague mention of him being bald, but that's a little confusing."
"Kipom is your term for this individual?"
She nodded.
"That sounds a lot like Earth. I don't know, this Kipom guy could be Jesus, but he might not be. There's a whole lot of stars and planets out there..."
"What am I to do? If I dedicate myself to this Jesus, and it turns out to be the wrong Kipom, that will mean my soul will be punished by Ponai! I could be dead, or worse!" Quana burst into tears.
Matt prayed for guidance on the subject.
Quana prayed too. "When should we expect an answer?"
He shrugged. "Dunno. Israel had to wait a few thousand years to get their messiah."
"I can't wait that long!"
"I know. But I have hope that if you're serious and patient enough, you'll get your answer, or see one that's already there. You don't always know how or when, though."
"I'm very serious about this. I hope I do get an answer soon."
Matt sighed. "I'm hungry. Do you have anything to eat here? Or should we go out?"
"How can we eat at a time like this? I could die at any moment, and not know where I'm going! I'm still unsure about what faith to believe in! The galaxy is so big. What if I'm totally wrong about Jesus?" She buried her face in her hands and wept.
Matt gave her a hug.
She brushed him away. "You can't keep me from going to the bad place."
He sat on the edge of the black recliner. "Look. I'm wrong according to at least a hundred religions on this planet. Of course, there's also hundreds of people who think two plus two equals five. I don't know what's right where you come from, but you can either choose Jesus or reject him. I'm not sure God can help if you're sitting on the fence."
"How can I choose what to believe if I don't have enough evidence either way?"
"Start with a hunch, then follow the clues to see if your hunch is correct."
She stared at her tail. "If your religion is correct, and mine isn't, you'd think it would be sinful for me to practice my religion." She rubbed the ball of fur on the end. "It feels like I'm about to give up everything that makes me an Abreya."
"It's not like that at all. Jesus only wants to take away your sin. You can still be yourself."
Her expression became desperate, pleading. "My religion condemns idolatry. If worshiping Jesus is idolatry to a Quaceb, I have to reject your faith completely. If not, there should be clues in my religious texts that point to Jesus."
"That's about the sum of it."
Quana sighed. "So it's either risk offending my god, Ponai, or risk offending yours with my unbelief."
"If your religion is compatible with mine, we should have the same god. It would be like Judaism."
"I guess that's true...What if I decide Jesus isn't for me?"
"Then there's not a lot I can help you with."
"You could still give me important information about your planet and religion." With tears streaming down her face, she turned away from him, resting her chin on her trembling hands. Her tail constantly snapped back and forth.
She took several deep breaths. "I will choose Jesus. There must be an answer in the Gaxea. My heart will not be at rest until I find it."
Matt bowed his head. "Okay. Not sure if this is the correct decision, but I'll stand by it until we know the true answer."
"Would you still be friends with me if I chose otherwise?"
"If I knew you were wrong, or right?"
"Both."
"No matter what happens, I'm there for you. I've never had a friend like you before."
"I'm glad to hear that." She touched his cheek with the three fingers.
They prayed again.
"Now, about breakfast..."
"I admit I'm also hungry, but I'm hungrier to find out the truth about Jesus and how he relates to extraterrestrials. Let's fast and keep studying. It's how holy people come to decisions."
"I find it hard to think on an empty stomach. Do you have a computer in the kitchen?"
"Guep."
"We could continue our research in there, then. While we eat. I'm starved."
Quana laughed. "I think we do have something here."
She led him to a small white room with porthole windows. A tall table stood in the center, surrounded by stools with dangling tentacles. As he stepped in, he could feel his hair sticking up from static contact with the ceiling, which only stood about an inch from his head.
Quana brought a netted bag filled with mottled black and pink tubers out of cold storage, dumping the tapered lumpy things on the table.
Matt grabbed one, poked its soft, kiwi hairy, wart covered skin. "What's this?"
"Zux Leem. It's a fruit. It's a delicacy." She stuck a tuber into a small gray appliance, which made grinding sounds like a pencil sharpener.
"Zux Leem isn't poisonous to humans, is it?"
"I hope not. Take a seat."
Matt stared at the fleshy chairs. "Will these things bite me?"
"Don't be silly! Sit!"
He climbed into the seat, the soft substance molding and shifting around his body shape like a massage chair.
Quana took a thick slice of something ham-like out of the appliance, placing it in front of him. He stared, but didn't eat it.
She retrieved a slice for herself, took a bite, and smiled at him.
`Alien host graciously offers human potentially dangerous exotic food,' Matt thought. Now what does the etiquette book say about this situation, exactly? Matt poked at the stuff and frowned. "Quana, I'm not sure I should be eating this."
Quana bit into another slice, gave him some orange juice.
"Do you have anything else here that I can eat? I mean, as much as I like the idea of trying alien food, it might poison me."
"I ate your food with no ill effect. I don't see why you can't eat mine."
"Yeah, but you're alien. Maybe you have a cast iron alien stomach or something."
"Fine," she grumbled. "I'll make you some scrambled eggs."
"Earth scrambled eggs? From a chicken?"
"Yes. Those eggs I bought a few days ago."
"Okay. Sounds good."
She dropped the eggs into the cooking device, then opened a box of Meow Mix, cracking the top as she held it over the machine.
"Hey! What are you doing with that?"
"It's real tasty. You'll see."
"No. Stop." He snatched the box away.
"What? It goes good with eggs!"
Matt laid the box down. "Not to me."
"You don't eat Meow Mix?"
"No."
"I have much to learn about your culture." Quana set a tray of eggs over easy in front of him. "Sorry. Pushed the wrong button."
Matt smiled. "That's cool. I don't mind."
She stuck some bread and a petri dish thing full of jelly into the device, and out popped toast with jam, which she set next to the eggs. They said grace.
Matt sipped his drink. "You never owned any dogs, did you?"
"No, but would have you believed I did the shedding?"
He smirked. "No, not really." He ate a bit of egg. "So where did you get that outfit?"
She tugged on the corner of her flowery shirt. "This? I got it from my room."
"No, I mean, where did you buy it?"
"From a store on Earth."
"Oh."
Quana pointed to his costume. "Where'd you get that cute thing?"
Matt blushed. "Online."
He stared out the portholes at the swimming pool. "Has the government harassed you lately? Being that you're an alien and all?"
"Not really. I have a green card."
Matt laughed. "Say what? A green card? How did you pull that off?"
"I just applied and got it. I just had to prove I was who I said I was. They took me to a private room and had some tests done, and the whole thing got set up. Of course, it wasn't easy to prove my Bencap citizenship."
He crunched his toast. "Wow. I had no idea they let space aliens do that."
"The government lets you do a lot of things they don't tell you about. They told me only a handful of individuals from my planet bothered to apply. I still don't know how much a handful is exactly."
"That's cool."
"I would have applied for U.S. citizenship, but I want to see the world, and I still pledge my allegiance to Bencap."
"Legal space alien." Matt chuckled, shaking his head. "So has anyone in that `handful' leaked any technical secrets to the government?"
"I don't know. I didn't see anything at Area 51."
Matt's jaw dropped. "You went to Area 51?"
She nodded. "All they have there is experimental airplanes."
"You've actually been there."
"For a few minutes. I just saw fancy airplanes, nothing more. No Abreyas anywhere."
"People are always talking about how they tried to get into Area 51 and got harassed by soldiers."
"That's just the perimeter. To keep people from taking pictures of the airplanes, so America can stay technologically ahead of its competitors."
"Did the government catch you snooping around?"
"No, not really. They got tons of guards around the fences and stuff, but in the middle of the complex, it's like a ghost town. You can almost go a kilometer without seeing anyone, except maybe a pilot or a mechanic or two."
"You didn't find any aliens?"
"Nope. But the stories do make an ordinary military test site seem exciting."
"That's a disappointment."
Quana picked up a little computer, giving him an improvised English translation of her holy text as they ate. Once finished eating, they returned to the main room, spending hours poring over religious texts.
She set down the device. "I guess there's only one thing we can do now."
"What's that?"
"Go to my planet and talk with some experts."
Matt sat bolt upright in his chair. "What! No way! Are you serious?"
"You don't want to come along?"
"It's not that at all! I'd love to go. I just didn't believe it when you said it."
"Ready?"
Matt gawked at her. "You...want to go...right now?"
She nodded.
He swallowed. "Uh...It might not be a good idea for me to go on this trip. Is there any way we can postpone this until the end of the semester? I...uh...got school."
Quana frowned. "I'm in agony. I know precious little about Jesus. I have to speak to an expert in my religion, and I need you to come with me."
"I mean, I really want to go. I want to go to your planet as much as you do, but I'll flunk out!"
"This isn't a vacation. Finding the answer to this is critical to my whole existence. If you don't want to go, that's fine, I can take your bible and try to figure it out on my own, but you're a human. You have faith. You know your religion better than I do. If you don't come with me, I just have a book. And programs. It's not the same. What if I have questions those things can't answer? What happens if convert to your religion and I meet somebody at home who convinces me not to?"
"The important questions are already answered in the bible...But you're right, it's not the same as having a flesh-and-blood Christian there." Matt scratched his head. "Can't you, I dunno, go do some research on your planet without me, then come get me at the end of this semester?"
"Matt, you're obsessed with scifi. Can you honestly tell me you don't want to travel to a distant galaxy?"
"Look, it's no good if I have to come back here and work at a bad job for the rest of my life. I need to get my schooling done."
"Matt. You're studying art."
"So what? Maybe I think there's some future in that. At least I'll have a degree! I have to earn a living somehow, and I don't want to earn it by working at a crummy grocery store for the rest of my life. I'm sorry. I can't come with you."
She fell to her knees and wept.
"Oh c'mon, don't do that..." Matt's eyes became misty. "What? What is it?"
"I'm so afraid! I'm going to my home all by myself. I have so much guilt, so much sin, and I don't even know what I have to do to take it away." She buried her face in her hands. "I'm not sure I'll be able to withstand the pressure!"
Matt put his arms around her.
She shot him a pleading glance. "Please! I don't want to face my friends and family alone! Not with this! Come with me!"
Biting his lip, Matt let go of her, pacing back and forth. He couldn't bring himself to make eye contact.
"Your faith is so strong. I admire you for it. If people criticize me, I certainly won't have the courage to make a stand for it like you can. There's still so much I don't know."
"But Jesus will be with you."
She stared at the floor. "Why would he stay with me, if I don't even know if I believe in him?"
"If your planet has its own messiah, it won't matter, will it?"
"But what if it does matter? What if they make me reject my only ticket to salvation?"
"What if he isn't your ticket to salvation? What if you get convinced not to believe because they're right? What if you have your own savior, like aliens do in all those movies?"
"What if you're wrong? Please. Come with me."
"I wish I could come with you, but I can't. I have classes! I have to keep up my G.P.A!"
"Is that worth more than my soul?"
Matt rubbed his face in frustration. "Quana, don't be like that. You know I care about you. But so does Jesus. If you accept him into your heart, you can trust him to guide you. If you're true to him, he'll be with you always. You should look to him for guidance, not me!"
"But why would he guide someone who doesn't believe in him? A space alien, no less? What if I just die with a heart full of doubt? I'll go to hell, won't I?"
"You heard the message. If God wants you to accept it, he'll lead you to it."
"With your help!" She clutched his hand. "Please. Help me. I don't want to go to hell!"
"If I leave now, I'll miss classes and flunk. You're asking me to leave everything behind, so I'll have no education or job when I get back."
"Which is more important? God or your career?"
"God. But I can serve Him here on earth without screwing up my grades."
She quoted Mark 10:21-22 at him.
Matt scowled. "That's real nice, twisting scripture around to manipulate people. Technically that doesn't even apply to me."
"Technically it does."
"If I had `great possessions', do you think I'd be working at a supermarket?"
"No, but you're obsessed with riches." She quoted the next verse.
Matt rolled his eyes. "Even the devil can use scripture to suit his own end."
Quana gave him a blank look. "I don't understand."
"You're distorting scripture to make it do your bidding."
Her expression became even more desperate. "What about love, then?"
Matt sighed. "I don't even know if Jesus is for space aliens yet!"
"That's exactly why I want you to come along! Help me to find out!"
"I..." he swallowed. "Look. What if God doesn't want me to go there? I mean, the bible says I'm supposed to share the gospel with all the world. It doesn't say anything about sharing it with other planets!"
She quoted Matthew 15:26-27.
"That was in reference to a Gentile earth woman, not a space alien, but..." He rubbed his face in frustration. "You've really put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?"
"How could I not?"
"Fine. I'll do it."
"Capamfe!" She leapt to her feet.
"I'll go, but you gotta promise to take me back in two weeks."
"I..." she stammered. "I can't. It takes a week just to get there."
"Fine. Three weeks."
"That's still not enough time."
"C'mon! You're not only going to ruin my grades, you're going to make people worry, and food supplies last only so long, especially on my budget. I'm not going to take my chances eating alien stuff that could possibly kill me."
"You know, I have a supply of regular Earth food in the kitchen already."
"Cockroaches and parsley? Maybe a box of eggs and some orange juice?"
"I have at least a week's worth. Mostly perishables, but I can buy some more."
Matt sighed. "It's still too long, and you work at a bookstore. Two weeks. No more or I'm not going."
"I don't know if I'm even going to come back."
Matt slammed his fist down on a chair. "And you want to strand me on your planet with you! That's crazy!"
She sniffed. "Wouldn't you want to be stranded on my planet with me?"
"Not forever! I have family! I have friends!"
"So if you came along, I'd have an excuse to go back to your planet and do further study!"
"I guess that's true...But what if you're wrong and I can't go back? I'll be forced to eat your poisons!"
Quana scowled. "Fine. I'll take you back in two weeks. I...promise." But she didn't look so sure.
"All right, I'll do it. But I need to pack. Clothes, soap, toothbrushes, deodorant, that kinda stuff. Can we...I dunno, fly this ship over to my apartment real quick?"
"I'd prefer if we didn't. I don't want to cause a terror alert."
"Then beam it up."
"I don't have any way to do that."
He shook his head and sighed. "We're in Kansas. Why can't we fly over there?"
"There are air bases not too far from here. I don't want to risk it."
"You said you flew over Area 51. What's to risk? Don't you have a cloak mode?"
"Sort of, but I don't want to see internet videos of you unloading stuff into thin air. Just drive back in your car. In the meantime I'll study the Gaxea some more and see if I can find the answer on my own."
"I hope you do! You don't know how happy that would make me!"
"I guess we still could go, even if I did find out. I haven't been home for awhile..."
"If you find the answer, you can do that by yourself, and take me with you on the second trip after the semester's over." Matt stopped in front of the hatch. "I just remembered. My wallet's empty and I need gas."
"What happened to your money? Did you spend it all at the convention or something?"
"Sort of. I gave the guy at the front desk all the money in my wallet so I could keep them from towing your car." He explained his arrangement with the hotel. "We should probably go back there and see if your car's still there."
"Oh. That's right, I smashed it."
"Maybe now that you're sober, we can tow your car to a repair shop or something." Matt frowned. "Of course, it's totaled...Did you pay it off yet?"
She nodded. "Guep."
"That's good. You planning to fix it? Or are you going to get a new one?"
"Neither. It can wait until I find the answers I need."
"Oh...kay. But once you find your answer, you're going to be facing a lot of legal inconveniences."
She shook her head. "Forget about the car."
Quana led Matt back to the pool, handing him gas money. "Try to hurry back, okay? The sooner you pack, the sooner we can leave and get you back to earth."
Matt rolled his eyes. "Fine."
"Oh, and take this." She handed him a small electronic device resembling a makeup compact.
A silver object, with long rows of complicated buttons. She twisted a dial, extended a rod from a grid of nine bumpy nodules. "In case you get lost again. Just talk to it and I'll answer."
"I did okay driving you last home in the dark..."
"Okay, well, it's set so I can talk to you while you're driving, as long as you don't play with the settings. You know, so we can maybe solve the problem before taking our little trip."
He gave her a vigorous nod. "Good idea."
Matt stared at the silver pyramid she'd used to create the holograms. "Has anyone ever tried to dive down here?"
"No. The Bariafu has a special sensor that detects when trespassers approach. If they're in swim trunks or cutoffs, it generates the image of an empty pool. If it sees skateboards, it changes to a pool filled with dirty, algae filled water."
"What if the skateboarders push somebody in?"
"That hasn't happened yet. Besides, I use the tarp image a lot."
"But they'd know it was fake if they tried touching it, right?"
"That's what the security system is for."
"Oh." He swallowed. "Speaking of which, why couldn't it tell you were the owner and stop firing without entering a code?"
"The security device is on a different system."
Matt rolled his eyes. "I bet that cloaking device came in handy when you first got here."
Quana nodded. Her tail gestured to the ladder.
"Right. Sorry."
Matt rushed back to his car, placing Quana's device on the passenger seat. A hologram of the alien appeared.
"You won't fly me to my apartment, but you can show people in other cars your hologram machine."
Quana frowned. "You're right. That is irresponsible of me."
Her picture disappeared, leaving him with voice only. "Better?"
"Fine," he groaned.
Matt fueled up at a gas station, setting off down the freeway. Quana remained quiet throughout, clicking buttons on something or another.
Matt kept his eyes on the road, pondering his supply list.
"How about this prophecy? `He turned the tables on the temple businessmen.'"
"Jesus did overturn the tables of the money changers in the temple. But that one could be fulfilled anywhere by anyone."
She said nothing, clicking through her book.
"So," said Matt. "What's the real story about your parents? I'm pretty sure your dad isn't really an advertising executive, and your mother isn't a fashion designer."
"They're...sort of like farmers. They keep livestock on their property, and grow plants for food."
"Oh. Wow, so you came here to escape poverty, then?"
"Yeah."
"That sucks. I thought aliens, I don't know, worked out a system where money is obsolete. Where did you get the spaceship, then?"
She chuckled. "The spaceship store. Quidsy."
"Oh. That's right. But where did you get the money? With that entertainment system in your spaceship, I can't imagine you to be poor, or you would have pawned that stuff. Even if you were a goat herder, you would have to be a wealthy goat herder from a wealthy country."
"Nah!" She banged something. "All right! All right! I lied. I'm not a farmer. I'm a princess. Really. And my parents are royalty."
"Everything's better with princesses," Matt laughed. "Actually, I found the farmer thing more convincing, but I didn't understand how you could afford a starship. I can't imagine it to be a government handout. I was only guessing you had a really good social welfare system or something."
Quana appeared in holographic form, casting him a serious look. "No joke, Matt. I am the princess of Bencap." She shut off the hologram. "I came here because they were planning to marry me to a garzok, a heathen, and because, frankly, being a bixok, queen, is boring."
"And being a farmer isn't?"
"Actually, yes. You have more freedom. There's less meetings, you're not wealthy, so people don't flatter you to get favors, and you have a better chance of helping people who really need the help."
"Your story sounds a lot like the plot to Disney's Aladdin, but I guess there's no way I can do any fact checking right now. But why didn't you just tell me you were a princess the first time, instead of trying to lie about it?"
"Because if I took you back and you didn't know, I'd at least have plausible deniability. Now I bet you'll tell everybody."
Matt gave her a mocking smirk. "I can keep a secret. And...If you're a really a farm girl, or a slave with a stolen ship, then it will be super easy to do so!"
"Promise?"
"Yes. Guep. Your secret's safe with me." Not like I know anyone there anyway.
As he rode along in silence once more, Matt thought about the amount of clothing he'd need. "Do you have washing machines on your spaceship or your planet?"
"Of course!"
"Soap?"
"Not really. Our machines make their own soap."
"Drier sheets?"
"Our machines neutralize static without drier sheets and convert the lint into usable fabrics."
"That's great! I'll have to borrow your washer and drier."
He thought about the incident with the Meow Mix, and got concerned. "Quana, how far away is your planet?"
"More than a trillion light years."
"And it only takes five days to get there?"
"Guep, we have laser propulsion."
"That's still a long distance to travel, no matter what you're using for propulsion. You promised a couple weeks, but how long is it really going to take? Ten years? Fifty? I don't think I could take much more than a year, and that's pushing it."
Quana chuckled. "So a few days less than that would be okay?"
"Is it going to take that long?" He frowned, suddenly suspicious. "I don't really want to go a year, Quana."
"No. It only takes five days, like I said."
"That must be a laser propulsion engine with warp drive or light speed capabilities. Either that, or you're using some sort of gravity slingshot...and a really, really, really big planet."
"Guess again?"
"Do you, I dunno, take a shortcut through an alternate dimension?"
"Nice idea, but unfortunately the universe isn't a piece of paper you can fold into a hat. It's more complicated than what they say on TV. Black holes aren't even holes."
"Molecular transporters."
"We don't have those."
"You've exhausted my science fiction repertoire. It's either molecular transport, or light speed, or dimensional travel, or black holes, or taking a wormhole through a fold in space-time. I can't think of anything better than that."
"Time travel."
"Seriously? A time machine? Can we travel to your planet for a year, get the information we need, and come back in time for lunch?" He paused. "Wait. If you did that, wouldn't we end up back on earth before we even left? How would that accomplish anything?"
"It's not like that. You can't actually control what happens. We can't go back to the Kennedy assassination or anything."
"What do you have then? I'm confused. I mean, speeding up time would age everyone too much like Interstellar, and reversing it would put you back where you were before you left, and nothing would be accomplished."
"We have something called Flash Matter Transit Zones. That's what I'd translate the word to in English, at any rate. Pockets of time, fixed in space, with the power to stop everything in the universe for periods ranging from days to months, sometimes years. There are billions of them in our galaxy."
"They stop everything? Like the rotation of the Earth?"
"Yes, Matt."
"Objects stay on the surface of planets because the planet continually spins. Everything would go flying off. And even if you could prevent that, it wouldn't stop the passage of time throughout the galaxy."
"The FMTZ freezes all that. Motion, air, gravity...It's like a glitch in a computer program that locks everything up."
"Wouldn't that kill everything in the universe? I mean, it's not good to stop someone's heart, even for a minute. And that's a lot of hearts."
"They don't seem to do that."
"Wouldn't our air be frozen, too?"
"No. Whatever passes through them is immune to the effect. That's how we can cross great distances in seemingly short periods of time. The people of the planet you leave are unaffected. It even stops the aging process."
"So it's like a cosmic pause button."
"Except you can do things while the universe is paused."
"How do you unpause after it's paused?"
"The effect wears off on its own.
"And that time is enough for your voyage?"
"Mostly, yes. Sometimes you have to find another to keep going."
Matt drove around a slow car. "Is something pausing us now? Right this minute? Because I don't feel anything."
"You never notice the stopped time when it happens to you. Well...except for the sensation of deja vu."
He stared. "That's where it comes from?"
"It's not any more ridiculous than a magical past life that you seem to remember while standing around objects that didn't exist in, what, Feudal Japan?"
"Is this really going to take two weeks?"
"I'm not sure yet. Maybe three or four, depending on what we have to do at home."
Matt frowned and shook his head. It's too late now. "Do you have a replicator?"
"No, but it's a cool idea."
"Darn."
Matt stomped on the brakes as traffic stopped ahead of him. Quana's device flew to the passenger floorboards. He quickly propped it back up on the seat. Lucky thing nobody was moving.
He sighed in frustration, tapped the steering wheel.
Matt arrived at his apartment, emptying the contents of his dressers and closet into a computer box and several crates, frowning at a ratchet set in the corner. What do I really need to bring?
"What are you doing?" Keith asked him. "Moving out?"
"Just going on a trip. A long one."
"Really? Where to?"
"Uh..." You wouldn't believe me if I told you, Matt thought. "Cape Canaveral."
"Cool!" Keith frowned at Matt's costume. "This isn't for some Trekkie convention is it?"
"No."
"Don't you have classes?"
Matt shrugged. "I'm changing my major."
"What to?"
"Not sure yet."
Keith looked a bit sad. "Gonna keep the apartment?"
"I'll think about it. If I don't, I'll have to come back for the rest of my things eventually."
Keith shook his head. "Well, then, good luck at...whatever you're going to do."
Matt packed like he intended to go camping for a month, throwing in a couple obvious things, a bible and the Wava dictionary, a few art supplies, his textbooks, in hopes he'd somehow be able to somehow keep up with the lectures by studying books.
Once he'd packed the last of his things into his car, showered and brushed his teeth, he exhausted half his bank account buying groceries. By the time he had everything he thought he needed, he could barely see out the back window. Only then did he feel ready for his little space expedition.
Quana seemed...oddly quiet throughout the drive. Upon close examination of the device, he noticed the light had gone out, either due to battery or him bumping it.
Halfway to Quana's house, he began having second thoughts, pulling to the side of the road, pondering what this trip would do to his job, his classes, and everything else. He didn't particularly appreciate being used, either. Several horrible abduction scenarios came to his mind, none of them providing much encouragement.
After praying it over a bit, he decided he'd gone a little too far to turn back, literally and symbolically.
He continued on to the house, setting his things at the edge of the pool. Once everything had been arranged in order around the ladder, he laid his stomach on the sandpapery concrete, leaning his head over a stainless steel gutter sloshing with virtual pool water. "Quana!"
No response.
He shouted louder. "Quana!"
Nothing but the sound of fake water slapping against the sides of the pool answered him.
Afraid of the security system, Matt slid down the ladder as fast as he could, dropping flat on the dirt to be avoid being shot.
The ship didn't react, the guns remaining stationary. Matt crawled closer, shouting for Quana again.
The copper eye popped out of the ship, blinking as it shifted from side to side in its socket, iris widening like a camera lens. "Matt!" the lion voice laughed. "What are you doing on the ground?"
"I didn't want to get shot!"
More laughing. "The alarm's off, Matt."
The hatch opened and Quana stepped down the ramp in her tube pants and flower shirt, tail rapping on the ground behind her bare feet. "What took you so long? And why did you shut off the communicator?"
"It ran out of charge."
She laughed. "You don't know what you're talking about. You must have accidentally shut it off."
Matt reddened. "Okay, maybe so. You'll see while I'm late when I start bringing my stuff down. I had no idea what to pack."
"You could have asked."
"Well I didn't. The thing was off."
She rolled her eyes. "You have my number."
"And no cel phone." Matt stepped up to the ladder. "Could you help me bring this stuff down?"
"Sure."
"This won't take long." He brought his supplies down, loading them into a storage room onboard the ship.
Quana became impatient, shoving his things in anywhere in the ship where they could fit. Soon she had it all put away. "There! Now we can go!"
Matt sighed. "Wait."
"What is it now? We've used up so much time already!"
"It can't be helped. Quana, can I ask you something?"
"I suppose."
Matt took a deep breath. "Are you going to take me to some lab where they probe me and cut me open? I mean, I guess if I die, you could always cut me open then, but..."
"I would never do that to you! Your knowledge is too important! It would be a sin against you and Ponai to dissect you!" She shook her head. "You watch too many movies. We have advanced imaging techniques that render dissection largely unnecessary. Plus, I have a large collection of books, videos and computer programs on human anatomy." Her expression became sad. "I can't believe you thought I'd do that to you."
"Sorry. You're right. Too many movies. What about a zoo? Am I going to get locked away in some menagerie? I mean, I'd still be alive..."
She made a grunting ferret-like sound, shaking her head violently. "No dissections, no zoos. I know I haven't been honest with you, but could you at least trust me when I say we're only going there to learn about Jesus?"
"You're not going to make me a slave, either?"
A mischievous grin crept up her face. "Oh? You wouldn't want to be my slave?"
"You and how many others?"
"I see your point." Her grin faded. "Not to worry. Your kind don't exist on my planet, so no one as far as I can tell has made a human a slave there."
"Okay, maybe you might not, but what about others? How can I trust them?"
"I went through the same feelings when I came here. You should probably stay away from the government, stay in brightly lit places, and wear a disguise."
"But Quana! Your parents are the government!"
"That's different."
"I hope so."
"I'm sorry, Matt. This is really important."
Well, she did get a green card, Matt thought. "So I'm going to find out what it's like to be you."
"Kigo," Quana said apologetically. "Guep." She marched up to the hatch. "Ready to go?"
Matt paused. "I need to call my mom. She might get worried."
"Your...mom? But I thought..."
"My adopted mom. Camille. You got a phone or something?"
"Where's the communicator?"
"In a box."
"Well bring it to me."
He rolled his eyes. "That's not a phone."
"Oh ye of little faith. Bring it."
Matt complied.
"Her number?"
He told her. "But you don't have a phone!"
Quana toyed with the device a moment, then pressed the device to his ear.
"Hello?" said Camille.
Matt took the `compact' out of Quana's hand. "Hi mom."
"Hey, kiddo. Why don't you come visit us sometime? I know, we're only your parents..."
"Sorry. I'll visit you again when I can. Listen. I'm going on a trip for three weeks. I just wanted you to know in case you got worried or tried to call or something."
"Where are you going?"
"Cape Canaveral." Quana let out an amused snort.
"Oh. That's nice. Why are you going there?"
"It's for Sarah, you know, my friend? She invited me to a bible conference. I don't know, I think we might see the space center at some point."
The alien burst out laughing.
"Who's that?"
"Oh, that's, Quah, I mean, Sarah. Matt shooed her away.
"It sounds like you're having fun already...What about school?"
"I'll...get someone to take notes for me."
"Really? I hope that works for you. I'd hate to have you drop out for a bible conference."
"I know. I'm going to try really hard to make up for it when I get back. Hopefully it won't affect my GPA."
"I hope so, too...This isn't a cult, is it?"
"No, no, nothing like that."
Quana sighed impatiently.
"I'm sorry, mom. I think...I'm going to have to let you go."
"Take some pictures while you're there. Florida is very beautiful this time of year."
"Um, sure." Matt handed the device back to Quana.
Great, he thought. Now I'm guilty of bearing false witness. But who's going to believe I'm hanging out with a space alien and flying to another planet? "All right. I'm ready."
Quana brought in her hologram device, pressing the door closing button.
Matt watched with unease as the swimming pool and the rest of the world he knew vanished behind the silver barrier.
[0000]
GLOSSARY
Abreya: Furry aliens with bare humanoid faces and hands, long opossum-like tails, and feet resembling human hands.
Auno: Powerful subatomic unit, providing energy surpassing that of nuclear fission or fusion.
Bariafu: A special cloaking system for Pathilonian spaceships.
Duvalha: A dictatorial nation of Kaybok system history.
Fopakna: Quaceb anointing ritual.
Futamer: Planet destroyed in Auno wars of Duvalha.
Gaxea: The core Quaceb religious book.
Jufuceri: Planet in which law treaties regarding Auno energy were drafted.
Kisostrom: A book in the Quaceb Holy Gaxea.
Lyuntaaz: Quaceb religious observance similar to passover and Hanukkah.
Quaceb: A monotheistic Abreya religion, or one who adheres to the religion.
Quidsy: Spaceship manufacturing company.
Supica: Quana's spaceship.
Wodov: Priest or priestess of Quaceb faith.
Zux Leem: An alien fruit.
WAVA LESSONS:
NUMBERS:
Dool: 10
Rey: 9
Fat: 8
Dolsike: 7
Leeg: 6
Diete: 5
Ri: 4
Oim: 3
Hanna: 2
Bid: 1
LEXICON:
Aoqigoia: Neutralize
Audep: Halt!
Benuforte: Prophet
Benuton: Prophecy
Bixok: Queen
Capamfe: Wonderful
Coz: As/for/from
Dahna: I am
Depogast: Reenter
Duquedaka: System
Duigoje: Separated
Eiko/wof: Now
Emilihu: Threat
Eyap Mez: Good night
Garzok: Heathen
Giwi: Will
Guep: Yes
Gurabo: About/concerning/on
Ha: Or
Hieroda: Alarm
Julujau: Invalid
Kigo: Sorry
Kuiyo: Holy
Moqo: In/inside
Najikece: Detect
Neebee: Search
Oopuhane: Individual
Patnar: Firing
Pofokiai: Password
Pusasuji: Hide/conceal
Quako: Self
Qiciheli: Recording
Raraba: Must
Roca: Within
Rudibugu: Background
Saojifa: Security
Soqokuru: Identify
Tebesoe/Tebesque: Command
Tohibou: Run/operate