As a silver ship rushed up from below, the beast shot high above the treetops, letting out an ear splitting shriek. The saddle shifted down its back, threatening to fall off, canned goods and boxes tumbling out of the saddle pouches as it shook.
Matt clutched the saddle rings with a dead man's grip, knees pressing hard against the bird, his petrified semi catatonic mind dully registering the sounds of his groceries cracking a glass dome on a craft below him. He thought about his canned peas shattering the window and laughed like mad.
The bird squawked, defacing the vehicle with a messy splash.
The domed silver object coated in white-purple slime crashed into a nearby tree, breaking in pieces as it fell to the ground.
Nubsa's flight leveled off, her wings flapping less rapidly.
The bird made weird sounds as it glanced over its shoulder, as if telling Matt a joke.
Thinking the coast to be clear, Matt relaxed, taking several breaths to calm down.
The hunter on the tan-brown Grunk popped up right in front of him, firing his baton.
Nubsa turned quickly, flapping her wings, but the goop stuck to her feathers, making her flight erratic.
Letting out a long angry shriek, Matt's ride struggled to stay airborne, furiously beating her wings in attempts to dislodge the stuff.
She remained in the air, but her altitude dropped a foot with each flap.
Matt suppressed cries of fright as he watched the boughs and branches rush past him, uttering his most fervent prayers.
Snap.
Crunch.
Heavy tree limbs crashed down from above as a feathered body descended. The beast circled Matt's pursuer, ripping its beak and claws into the enemy bird's tan feathers. The foe fell bleeding from the air with a shrieking wail.
The hunter on the black Grunk tossed Quana's body over his saddle, tail holstering his weapon as he spurred his beast to aid his comrade.
The wild Grunk flew to Nubsa's side, letting out an apologetic whine as it picked gray stuff from her feathers, but Nubsa made two clicking sounds and a bark, gesturing to the other pursuers with her beak.
The stranger nodded, flying away.
Matt's ride settled on a nearby branch to pick the rest of the gray material from her feathers. Though she managed to chew some away, a stretch of her wing indicated it had accomplished nothing.
Paralyzed in fear, Matt could only watch with dread as the wild Grunk sped after the black one with a hard predatory glare. Matt's mind entertained a myriad of risky rescue attempts, but, out of fright, acted on none of them.
The longer Matt passively watched, the more his self loathing grew. That thing is going to kill her, he thought. And there's nothing I can do about it. Matt's stomach sank as the wild Grunk loom closer and closer to its target.
Folding its wings, it pounced on a blue vehicle, stalling its engine.
As the machine fell, the bird flapped into the air, splattering the next vehicle with droppings.
The Grunk leapfrogged off that one, smashed down on the prow of a white ship across from it, and both ships spun out of control, dropping from the air.
Hearing a loud, human sounding peeping noise, Matt leaned forward in the saddle, staring at the gray bundle hanging from the hunter's ride.
The captive contorted her face in a ridiculous expression, letting out loud, high pitched squealing noises.
The wild Grunk cocked its head in puzzlement, stupidly flying in a circle around Nubsa until Quana peeped louder, throwing in approximations of Nubsa's distress sounds.
Infuriated, the wild Grunk squawked, folding its wings like knives.
For the next few moments, all Matt could only see flapping wings and a cloud of feathers.
A hunter tumbled from the cloud, bereft of mount. Matt thought the male would go splat, but he simply spread his arms, and his outfit became a wingsuit, allowing him to glide away like a flying squirrel.
Matt watched with anxious dread as a Grunkiahu with no saddle emerged from the fight with a bloody beak, female shaped cocoon dangling from cords of gray material stuffed in its horse sized mouth. It flapped to Nubsa's branch, setting its trophy at her feet like an obedient hunting dog.
Seconds later, an enemy Grunk swooped after the male.
An explosion of feathers obscured Matt's vision as two massive bodies clawed and scratched each other, biting and stabbing until blue blood glistened on their breasts and pinions.
They screamed, flapping against one another as they spun and fell, bodies locked together in a brutal death dance.
Matt sucked in his breath, gripping the saddle.
The birds dropped below the branch.
As the squabbling noises died away, a faint voice called out to Matt.
"Quana! Are you okay?"
Indistinct mumbling.
Matt took a deep breath, peering over Nubsa's body.
Quana lay on her back, head hanging over one end of the branch, feet slung over the other.
I must face my fear, Matt thought.
Trembling, he leaned his stomach over the saddle, grabbed the Grunk's wing, and slid down, knees shaking and wobbly as he attempted to stand up.
He slipped, falling face first onto the bark. He screamed as he slipped sideways, staring bug eyed at the nearest firm surface more than a mile below him.
He gasped, frantically scrabbling and clawing at the branch until his fingers hurt and nails felt ready to break and fall off.
Somehow, either by chance or divine miracle, Matt made it back on the branch, shakily crawling on all fours to the mummified body.
"Are you all right?"
"Get the knife out of the saddle and free me from this stuff."
"Right!"
Still shaky, Matt hugged Nubsa's body, edging around beneath her wings until he reached the saddlebag, noting, with great discomfort, how easily the flap opened.
At least I'm alive, he thought fishing in its dark, jumbled interior.
After digging through the mess for over a minute, his hands closed on his lock blade knife. He brought it to the mummified body, sawing the gray material between Quana's feet. It resisted like steel cable covered in caulking.
"You grabbed the wrong knife!" Quana moaned. "You need the Klecut!"
"What's it look like?"
"Wusu brain," she muttered. "It's a laser. It should be in the pouch on the other side."
"On the left side? Where I could fall off and die?"
Quana groaned. "Yes, Matt. Just do me a favor and don't actually fall off and die. I'm not in any position to rescue you."
Swallowing, Matt crept back under Nubsa's wings, grabbing the saddle. "Left?"
"Yes, Matt!"
Matt scooted toward the middle of the saddlebag, turning pale when he saw the end of the branch.
"How am I going to get up there?"
Matt stretched his arms as far as he could around the top. "God, please don't let me fall!"
After hopping several times, he caught a ring, then gave it a tug, throwing his knee up against the leather. He pulled up as hard as he could manage, then, as he backslid, he stretched out his arm, slapping it as far across the saddle as he could reach, digging his nails in.
Matt threw his other arm over, then his stomach, dangling his head over the other side, scrabbling and kicking his legs several times until he at last made it up into the seat.
Up top, he leaned over the side, digging around in the other pouch for more than five minutes, until, beneath a pile of boxes, he found something shaped like a hammer handle. The object had a red crystal and a power button. "Hope this is it!"
Clutching it in his teeth (he had no pockets), he gingerly climbed down Nubsa's wing, crawling down the branch to the mummy.
"Loex. There's a button on the side. Push it and point it at the gray stuff."
"What's loex?"
"I thought you read my dictionary. It means `good.' Now be loex and cut this gray stuff off me."
After poking around for awhile, Matt got the crystal to light up, making a test cut in a loose piece of gray material.
"Careful. Don't hold it anywhere too long or it will cut me."
Cautiously pointing the Klecut perpendicular to Quana's body, away from her head, Matt grabbed several clumps of the substance, cutting thin swaths through it. "Quana, if I free your tail, can you cut yourself out?"
"If I could do that, I'd have fans flocking around me instead of servants."
As Matt nervously sliced into the bonds around Quana's hands, she cried out in pain. He took his finger off the button. "You all right?"
"Yeah. My thumb still works, and it's cauterized, but that really hurt. Please be more careful."
"Sorry. I don't know how to use this thing."
After a few more slow, careful incisions, he got her hands free, and she snatched the device from his hands, cutting away the rest of the cocoon herself. "There. That's better."
She got to her feet, rubbing the wound on her wrist.
Matt swallowed. "Quana..." He looked away, too ashamed to even make eye contact. "I'm sorry I cut you. And...I'm sorry I didn't do more to help you earlier."
"It's okay. You probably would've broken your neck." But she looked disappointed.
Matt felt sick to his stomach. "I'm a failure. Just a stupid coward."
After an uncomfortably long pause, "At least you're not a dead coward." Quana sighed. "It's okay, Matt. You're not your savior. You're only his messenger."
Matt bowed his head low. "I'm glad you're alive at least."
Frowning, Quana climbed around Nubsa's body, chipping away the gray junk. "Let's get going."
Matt got back in the saddle, and they both busied themselves preparing for takeoff.
A large crimson shape shot up from the forest below, spreading its tattered bloody wings like battle torn flags as it rose into the air above them.
The red thing circled once, then let out a strangled cry, slamming into their branch with such force that it shook and threatened to crack under the strain.
The creature rolled sideways and lay still, tongue lolling out of its shattered beak.
With a confused expression, Nubsa poked the body with her beak, uttering worried bleats as she licked and nuzzled the creature.
Quana hopped off the saddle, examining the body. "It's dead."
Nubsa let out an inquiring squawk, but the male didn't answer. Finally seeming to understand, she let out several whining sounds, then howled so loud that it shook the branch and echoed through the woods, leaving Matt's ears ringing.
After a few more piteous bleats, Nubsa poked her beak deep into the flesh of the dead male, resurfacing with a string of bloody sinew hanging from her beak.
"Oh yuck!" Matt cried. "What's it doing?"
Nubsa opened and closed her beak,, sucking the piece of flesh into her gullet like spaghetti.
"Grunkiahus eat their dead." Quana sighed. "Without him, we would have been dead or gotten captured right now." She fell silent for more than a minute.
Matt stared at her. "What?"
"Take eat. This is my body," she muttered. "That Grunkiahu...died for us...Like Jesus."
"No, he died like a dumb animal."
Quana gasped. "Yes! `Like a lamb before its shearers is dumb!'"
"Maybe if you leave out the part where that bird was trying to mount ours in the rear."
"Yeah." Quana frowned. "We should go now."
"How? You dropped the...thingy."
"I still have the other one." She dug a short rod out of the saddlebag. "I really hate to use it, but we've got no choice."
Quana twirled the baton upside down, giving the creature's side a big slap.
The Grunk kept eating.
Turning the rod the other way, Quana rapped the creature's side again. A blue light flashed, causing Nubsa to jerk upright with a yelp.
Their bird's beak returned to the bloody corpse. Quana zapped the creature again. Nubsa turned its gore soaked beak around and squawked at her, but the princess only struck her again.
After a few more protests had been silenced, the bird stopped eating, but remained stationary.
"Shouldn't it be moving?"
"Matt," Quana muttered. "Ear."
Matt squeezed Nubsa's ear. The bird took to the air with surprising speed.
Quana briefly checked her necklace, then experimented with the rod until she developed a humane way to steer the creature, a system of gentle raps backed up by joltings. Nubsa got the idea.
The buildings thinned out, replaced by immense trees with dark candy striped rainbow colored wood and poisonous looking marshmallow-like growths.
As they flew along, these giants varied in size, their exteriors taking on the characteristics of stinkhorns, Basldlomycota and Cantharellus, until they opened up into a clearing.
Nubsa soared over a range of rounded green mountains wrapped all about by horizontal trees that twisted like vines, a lonely place home to nothing but rocks and thick copses of squirming leafy plants stretching on for several miles.
"So, Matt. How does it feel to be an astronaut?"
Matt laughed. "Not what I expected. But I'd be lying if I said this wasn't the coolest thing that's ever happened to me in my entire life."
The princess pointed down. "There it is! The Takofuea!"
Below lay a vast square complex surrounded by hills, grain fields with irrigation canals, and leveled furrows resembling rice paddies. Here and there small clusters of Abreyas in robes busied themselves with animal herding, planting and harvesting whatever it was that grew in the paddies, loading them into bags and baskets strapped to the backs of black purple polka dotted reptiles.
Beyond this stood a complex of stone cubes connected above and below by a confusing array of tubes and pipes, towers and large cylindrical tanks standing at the corners. An ancient acropolis stood at center, occupied by a handful of praying robed figures.
Quana sighed in relief. "We made it! We're finally here!"
"Good. I think I'm getting Grunkiahu sores."
Quana rapped the back of Nubsa's neck, and the bird folded her wings, speedily swooping down upon a tower.
Matt screamed as an unyielding stone platform came rushing up to meet him, stupidly jabbing his feet into the creature's sides in attempts to slow the creature's descent.
At the last moment, Nubsa's wings spread out, slowing their descent. The bird's claws clicked on stone. Again, the bird made noises at Matt like it were joking. Quana giggled.
Upon sighting the ground, Matt let out a happy shout, leaping from the saddle. The impact hurt, but he didn't care. The solid surface felt good beneath him. He kissed the ground in gratitude.
He stood up, legs wobbling beneath him as he slowly regained his composure.
Quana dismounted, consoling the Grunk with petting and baby talk. The creature rubbed its beak against her hand.
"Dusaq! Cehoo gosa bea Takofuea!"
A somber looking male with white hair and fur hobble from the entrance of the tower, wind rippling through his raggedy clothes.
"Dusaq." Quana shook tails with him. "Dahna Quana Falcameer."
"Dahna Poog. Redaheo gosa chik podo. Chik hib coz guom?"
Quana stared in surprise. "Chik midhohu yigazu bisa hua hib?"
The Abreya nodded. "Fanesua?"
Quana grinned, shaking her head. "Yok."
She flashed her buckteeth at Matt. "This is great! He doesn't know who I am!" Quana returned her attention to the stranger. "Coz Bencap."
"Kreah chik raulu layd?"
After a long chat, the male pointed to Matt. "Bisa ticoh rua jufae?"
Quana put her hand on Matt's back. "Ruhdoh Matt coz sejucore Earth. Matt, this is Poog."
"Dusaq!" Matt offered his hand, but Poog only stared at him.
After Quana said something, the male offered his hand pinky finger up, and they shook hands.
The two Abreyas talked some more, saying something about Matt being human. Poog swallowed, saying something long in reply.
"Loex. Hua cazqui kee." Quana dug the laser cutter out of Nubsa's bag.
"What are you doing?" Matt cried when she brought it close.
"I'm going to take your disguise off."
Matt backed away. "Is it safe?"
"Couldn't be safer. They've sworn to not get involved with wealth or fame or riches. There's no motive for them to capture you."
"Wait. Won't I need something to disguise myself when we leave?"
"It wasn't a good disguise anyway."
"It's better than nothing."
"I'll put it in the bag. We could always reattach it if we have to." She removed his fake fur, stowing it in the saddlebag.
Poog laughed and pointed. "Kee ge'l ticoh midhohu susocir!"
Quana nodded.
"Nalah. Kee...Kreah briboqadi moqo kuditig hib chik beekateb?"
Another lengthy conversation. Quana frowned at Matt. "It's no use. Poog doesn't know anything about the Kipom." Sighing, she dug out Matt's bible, Wava dictionary, thrusting them into Matt's hands. "You might need these." She resumed her conversation with Poog.
The stranger told her to cover her head, so Quana donned her cat eared hijab, the ears unfolding, popping out straight.
"Giwua raulu chik gosa ge'l. Gikitu degatec rua Grunkiahu fonome." The monk casually shoved a finger into Nubsa's beak and pulled.
Instead of biting, the bird waddled forward, slurping the digit, following the old one into a stall inside a large spherical hangar.
The monk pulled his finger out, and Nubsa licked his face, sniffing his robes and everything sticking out of them.
Nubsa immediately stuck her head in a water basin, guzzling a considerable quantity, then attacked a nearby grain trough.
The stranger laughed, muttering something in Wava as he stroked the huge bird's neck. He locked it in the stall.
Poog pointed his tail at a `mouse hole' in the bottom of a wall, indicating for them to follow him through it.
Quana grinned. "Servant tunnels! How refreshingly humiliating!"
"Whatever," Matt groaned.
"God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble!" She gestured to the `mouse hole.' "After you!"
"It seems like you're having more fun being humble than I am."
Matt crawled in, following the robed figure through a big stone tube.
The crawl space dropped at an angle, and through rows of tiny windows, Matt watched shabbily dressed monks planting stalks of scraggly mushroom things in a waterlogged paddy. Their dinosaur pets, laden with bags, idly stood around like mules. The windows ended, and Matt could see nothing but stone walls again. "This reminds me of a child's play tunnel."
Quana laughed. "Guess what I thought when I saw your playgrounds."
They crawled through a small box-like elbow joint with domed windows, then a barrel shaped tunnel to a stone box with a ladder. The ladder lead to an identical stone tube.
"This is getting tedious."
"Just keep going!"
They came to a wide undecorated cube with a ceiling high enough to stand beneath. With a sigh of relief, Matt got to his feet and brushed himself off. He frowned at the empty, windowless walls. "What's this place?"
"Probably just a connecting room."
"This place is like a big Habitrail."
The monk led him through a hole, down a tube to a connector with tunnels branching out in three directions, down through another tube. Matt stared through windows at the statues and obelisks surrounding the tiered stone acropolis. The other side overlooked a second set of tubes and a mountain range.
They came to a connector room with what appeared to be a fire pole in the center.
As if doing something ordinary, the monk casually strode up to the pole, grabbed its sides, and climbed it all the way up through a hole in the ceiling, leaving Matt standing at the bottom with his mouth agape.
Quana stepped around him, climbing up after the guy.
Matt tried to follow their lead, but kept sliding down. After falling down for the fifth time and cursing about it, Quana dropped down headfirst from the hole, dangling upside down by her tail. "Grab my arms."
Quana lifted him into another small room. At the end of another tube, there stood a cube half the size of a cheap motel room.
Matt stood up, hair brushing against the ceiling as he took in his surroundings.
A rather spartan arrangement, bed, table, dresser gourd containing robes. Not much else in the way of color or decoration.
A male with brown hair and fur sat behind a mushroom shaped desk in the center of the room, examining a scroll with a tiny metal device, furiously scribbling notes on a tablet computer and muttering to himself.
"Puebuko Shilem?" Quana asked.
The male looked up for a minute, scowled, returned to his studies.
"Puebuko Shilem?" Poog repeated.
The male looked up from his notes again. "Kreeuv!"
"Marud glaap ruanux."
Shilem glared at Quana. "Kai kreah nuxik pikhi?"
She grinned. "Dusaq. Cahna Quana Falcameer. Beekayua pututula gurabo bea Kipom. Poog ucukih chigoselsa hib bea oopuhane gosa maltuje."
The monk stared at Matt. Matt waved, but the male just frowned, arguing with Quana for a few minutes.
The monk eventually sighed and shook his head, turning his attention to his notes. "Guv ticoh mese citboi coz chigosa hacapad moqo bea brisotukobe de bebak brisecujore."
Quana cast Matt a frustrated glance. "He doesn't want to help us."
"Is there someone else we can ask?"
The princess tugged Poog's tail, chatting with him.
The monk smiled, jabbering about something and pointing to Matt's bare feet. "Guv finihu jiaz chiib fuhe nioqo'h coz bea qaigas!"
"What? What did he say?"
Quana smirked. "You're dressed for the occasion."
Matt stared. "Huh?"
"You'll find out in a minute."
"C'mon, Quana. What are we doing?"
"We're going to see someone named Goksar."
"Well, as long as this doesn't involve hot coals..." He followed the Abreyas down the pole and through more tunnels to a cube near the Grunkiahu barn.
Matt asked for a restroom, so Poog showed him a cramped area containing a wiggling spineless cactus thing vaguely resembling a toilet, and a slimy trumpet shaped device, apparently a sink.
Putting aside his disgust, Matt made use of the cactus, then washed his hands in the slimy trumpet, crawling out.
When he returned to the group, he found Quana had changed into a gray canvas outfit with bell bottoms and baggy sleeves.
Matt chuckled. "Nice."
They followed Poog down a long ladder, through a cramped cube, then a tunnel to cobbled path on a green field.
When Matt stepped on the plants surrounding the path, they squirmed against his bare skin.
Shuddering in revulsion, Matt jumped onto a stone, watching with disgust as the blades of grass blinked at him with beady roving green eyes. It sickened him to think he'd have to walk on them without shoes. "Quana, do these things give you internal parasites? Infections?"
"Not any more than the grass of your planet does."
"Gee, that's slightly comforting! Do they feel pain when you step on them?"
"Not any more than grass."
Matt followed the two down the stone path, avoiding all contact with the native flora until they reached the end of the stones.
Matt stopped there, but the other two kept going, unperturbed by the plants squirming beneath their feet.
Noting the casual way they gained distance from him, he cautiously tiptoed after them, trying not to think about what he stepped in.
He followed them over a steep hill, wading into the ankle deep water of an irrigation canal. Matt grimaced as a jelly-like substance that oozed between his toes. The slime moaned and gurgled as he stepped through it, swelling up around him like it intended to engulf him, but nobody seemed to care.
In the distance, a gray skinned Abreya with a speckled tail hunched over the slime, sowed stalks of something bamboo-like. Beside him, a fat bald monk planted stalks of a plaid pattern, and a dwarf in a raggedy outfit used a tool like a pooper scooper combined with a garden claw to dig around the middle section.
Matt squished along behind Quana, wincing at the tingly sensation traveling up his feet.
Matt's companions tugged the dwarf's tail. "Puebuko Goksar?"
Matt smiled at the dwarf. That's Goksar? How cool!
"Dusaq," said the little male. "Bisib chik?"
Quana introduced herself, and the two engaged in conversation.
More than eight minutes later, the fat one handed Quana a bundle of stalks, and she took his place in the canal.
Matt watched with mirth as the dwarf, with liquid almost all the way up to his chest, proceeded to nearly drown himself in attempts to teach Quana how to plant the bamboo things.
Quana, in turn, quizzed him about prophecy. From time to time, the dwarf glanced up at Matt, but then returned to his shoveling.
Poog muttered something to Matt in Wava, but Matt didn't understand. He got left alone in a still quiet, punctuated only by low muttering and the gurgling stomach sounds of the water.
Matt tried to look up the phrases he overheard in his dictionary, but they mostly concerned obscure religious texts in ancient Klargish, which he couldn't follow.
He put the book away, staring up at the purple sky, taking in the warm breeze. He began feeling the rumble of hunger in his stomach. It almost gurgled in harmony with the swamp.
Quana waded back to him. "Sorry I left you out like that. I was trying to get some answers."
"It's okay. I know it's important to you." Matt sighed. "When's lunch?"
"It's past lunch, Matt. Almost dinner time. Don't worry. I'm sure we'll eat soon." She offered him a bag of stalks. "I hate to do this, but would you mind planting Macevas for awhile?"
"Those plants? Sure. Show me how."
Quana dug a tube out of the bag, cracking it in half. It turned green. "It must be broken to grow."
Matt stared in fascination.
She snapped it back straight, giving it a twist, and it stretched out, growing mushroom-like blossoms. "Then you do this." She shoved the Maceva stalk deep into the water. "Make sure it's secure. Put space between them. If one becomes too large, you want to make sure the smaller one's sunlight is not blotted out. They'll grow closer in time." She pointed to a red plant. "Keep those in the center. It provides the others with nutrients. Without the center one, the others will die."
"I think I got it." Matt took the bag of plants, making a few attempts. His stalks ended up being spaced too far apart, with the red ones not far enough in the middle.
After Quana corrected him several times, he got the hang of it, and Quana left him by himself, resuming her chat with Goksar.
From time to time, Quana would go to Matt, asking a question. Apparently the Gaxea contained were prophecies about a "City of Peace" and a messiah called "The Branch."
She waded back to the monk who responded with a series of questions. Quana kept nodding and saying "Guep", which Matt took as a good sign.
When Matt ran out of Macevas to plant, the princess mentioned it to the monk. After a comment had been said in response, patted Matt on the back. "Goksar says that's good, you're earning your dinner."
Matt chuckled. "So what now?"
"Just hang yourself loose, I suppose."
"Um, `hang loose,' you mean?"
"Guep."
The two Abreyas continued their conversation until the sound of something like a didgeridoo interrupted them.
Goksar gestured with his tail, and they followed him to a spherical building in the middle of the complex, climbing through a tube into a round auditorium sized room with a series of long black tables. No windows, only a row of blank green tapestries lining the drab walls, and a few electric lamps for illumination.
The males all sat at tables at one end, females with their cat eared hijabs at the other side of the room, everyone clad in gray robes made of something resembling dolphin or shark skin. Matt could feel their eyes upon him as he walked into the room. They continued staring long after Poog had situated him at a table among the males.
The room buzzed with low murmurs and whispering as Matt dug out his dictionary, searching for appropriate phrases.
A monk set out plates resembling oil pans, and alien cutlery, then a female placed square containers of food in the center of the table, a sort of bread, hairy mushrooms with eyes on them, and a red substance resembling dry spaghetti noodles.
A young male with gold fur smiled at Matt, offered his tail, introducing himself as Chaz. Matt shook the stranger's tail with his hand, gave his name.
"Mot. Chiib eurtep? Chifinihu cewafme."
Matt looked in his Wava dictionary. "Um, palafnu." He slowly looked up the words for a response, explaining his difficulty with Wava.
"Hib...chik...loex?" said Chaz.
Equally slow response. Matt gave him a nod. Good.
A fuzzy eared male next to Chaz introduced himself as Kodo.
Matt clumsily explained he was from another planet.
"Oh!" Kodo grinned. "Kreah sejucore? Delos?"
Matt shook his head. "Earth."
"Husigu kehacik daced gosa kogel con gik?"
Matt gave him a blank stare.
Chaz repeated it more slowly, allowing Matt to look it up. Why are you here?
"Ip lagupo...cevafpe," Matt fumbled. "Hua hib...pisoqo...layd gosa nux...jufae...Quana."
"Kreah ticoh bea nocodo?"
Matt pieced together a rough explanation of Quana's spiritual crisis.
"Yidatucue!" a male across the table shouted angrily. "Chikoodib moqo ip ceygaum. Feut chik deubew bea feobex coz Ponai, chikood faneso ibblesquib ruhd Jesus oopuhane."
A heated discussion exploded around the table, which carried on with great fury until someone rang a cowbell.
An elderly monk in an alien penguin costume waddle into the room, saying a prayer in Klargish as he raised a silver disk above his head.
Food got passed around. Matt took one look at the tray of eyeballs and passed it on in disgust.
"Yihib chik xocteb gosa hapa?" Chaz asked.
Matt looked in his dictionary, decided to tell him he was fasting.
"Oh." His dinner companions nodded, seeming to understand. Kodo suggested that Matt go elsewhere to avoid temptation, but Matt politely declined.
The room fell silent, the stillness only punctuated by the sounds of munching and the clattering of dishes.
Finding the quietness strange and somewhat uncomfortable, Matt busied himself introducing himself to the others, but quickly forgot who was who.
His stomach rumbled as he watched them eat, his mind making illogical comparisons to Earth food as his hunger grew.
Still, after awhile, the quietness and tranquility got to him, and he laid his head on the table.
Quana shook Matt awake. He rubbed his eyes and found his rice dinner ingredients on the table.
"Dinner's over. I brought these down from the Cilaft. Unfortunately, we lost your leftovers, so you'll have to cook a new batch." She waved her tail. "C'mon. The...kitchen is over there."
Matt followed her into a plain gray room with only a stove, a sink operated by twisting a pole, one table, and a few wooden cabinets and shelves containing cooking implements. Seeing a group of monks doing dishes, Matt begged them for some of the implements, then set about cooking.
He stirred his rice. "What did you learn so far? What were you talking with Goksar about?"
"After I explained everything, he ended up saying he'd have to do more research because I seemed to have an answer for everything."
Matt raised an eyebrow. "That's cool." He mixed in the other ingredients. "What in particular did you talk about?"
"I told him I thought the Kipom would look like you, but darker, and he was skeptical. I asked him to list what he thought were key prophecies about the true Kipom, and he said the Kipom should bring peace. I explained that Jesus does that in your heart...He was disappointed that he didn't bring an end to all wars and conflicts."
"Not surprising. People on Earth have the same complaint. But peace between people is impossible without peace between humans and God." He gave her a sideways glance. "Or aliens, I guess."
"What about `peace on Earth, good will toward men?'"
"It's actually, `Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.'"
"Oh." She frowned. "The prophets say the Kipom will die to save the galaxy. I suggested to Goksar that Jesus may have done that. He said the Kipom is also supposed to live forever, so I told him about the resurrection."
Matt sat down and ate his dinner. "Was that it?"
"Well, there was the Yadafcu prophecy..."
Noting his blank stare, Quana added, "The Yadafcu were a race discovered in the book of Rantag. Flawed, hairless, nobody knows much about anymore. I think it could possibly be humanity." She wrinkled her nose. "You smell like a stinky Vitabese in Kemmer."
"Find me a shower and I'd be happy to remedy the problem."
"How about a pool? They don't actually have showers here."
"Fine. You packed my trunks, right?"
She nodded. "I thought you'd want them."
Matt ate a few more bites.
"According to the book of Zajyaf, the Kipom is to live on a planet with one sun, one moon, blue skies and oceans, and he is to either ride on a gray beast, or descend from the sky with armies to do battle. The Kipom is also to work miracles, to do healing, and die in a `city of peace.'"
"Right. You asked me about Jerusalem earlier."
"He's also to be betrayed, tortured, and nailed to a wooden pole."
"A pole? What are they, Jehovah's Witnesses?"
"No...the Holy Branch is to be sinless, born, not hatched, from a virgin, and called a sacrificial Hoyroq..."
"Pretty similar."
"And Jesus is a workman, wrongly accused and executed, just like the prophet Yadafcu said...But Goksar says he's going to study the subject some more."
"Quana, how long are we going to stay here?"
"Um, until I find the answer."
"Could you quantify that? I want to go home sometime. I only have so much food."
"I don't know how long this is going to take."
"I hope we find the truth about this whole thing soon. I told mom I'd only be gone a few weeks. She'll be worried."
Quana dug out her Vemorik. "Let's call her."
"You're kidding."
"No I'm not. Our communicators send a modified form of galactic radiation to transmitters in key locations across the galaxy, including the asteroid belt of your solar system. It's a specialized wavelength that can go through planets. Your scientists can't differentiate it from normal background radiation."
"If the signal goes through planets, wouldn't it go through the transmitter, too?"
"No."
"You're actually going to call my mother."
"Yes. I've got her number saved from your last call."
"Why bother? I can't think of a lie that will keep her from sending the police to Florida to look for me. I found a mission school I want to help out for an additional week? I found a girl? Nothing sounds believable enough to make her not worry."
"I guess you could tell her the mission trip got really involved, and they need you to help out an additional week or so."
"What about college?"
"Maybe you decided you've found your calling and don't want to do that anymore?"
Matt frowned. "That's not exactly true, but I guess it works."
To Matt's surprise, when Quana handed him the Vemorik, he actually heard a dial tone, and Keith's mother's voice. Tinny, like she talked on a cheap disposable phone, but Matt still found the clarity astonishing.
Matt told the woman the lie Quana had coached him to say, and she seemed to believe it. It made him feel guilty, but...nothing he could do about it.
"Well," his mother sighed. "If this is really your calling, I won't try to stand in your way. You're a big boy now. I just hope you made the right decision."
Matt told Keith's father something similar. They said their goodbyes and hung up.
The monk with fuzzy ears wagged his stripy tail as he approached the table, slapping Matt on the back. "Pumcko'hua chibya cikdewteb."
"What's that?"
Quana rolled her eyes. "He says he thought you were fasting."
Matt chuckled. "Fasting from alien food."
Quana explained the situation.
Kodo laughed. "Ah! Eiko hua celini."
He and Quana had a chat.
Quana gave Matt an apologetic glance. "Kodo says it is not good for us to spend so much time together. Will you be okay by yourself for awhile?"
"I thought I was like a pet dog. How does an alien even know what a human male looks like?"
She shrugged. "He wants us to separate, though. I think it's a good idea. Will you be okay?"
"I'm not sure. I still need an interpreter."
Quana talked with Kodo again. "He says that the males must be separate from the females unless assembling, but since our situation is unique, we should be in the company of at least one brother whenever we're together."
"Sounds reasonable. I guess I can still figure things out by myself if I need to."
"Capamfe! Maybe this will be a good learning experience for you!"
"So where's this pool?"
Quana muttered something to Kodo. "He'll show you. And show you where your trunks are."
"Just in case I get turned around somehow...how do you say `pool'?"
"Paryiz. And your trunks are in the Cilaft."
"Thanks, Quana."
Smiling, she crawled out of the room.
Matt gave the monk a nervous grin, pointing to his chest.
Before he could speak, the monk said "Mot."
Matt nodded. "Right. And you're Kodo. Nice to meet you."
Kodo chuckled. "Hua yicelini."
Matt pointed at him again. "Celini?"
"Yok!" the monk laughed, shaking his head no. "Cahna Kodo!"
Matt nodded. "Kodo. Right."
He followed the monk to the Grunkiahu stable, wandering up and down between rows of identical looking stalls occupied by rows of identical looking birds.
"Yiknoli?" Kodo asked.
Matt just frowned, pacing up and down the aisle.
A bird mooed at him, its beak happily panting. Smiling, Matt petted the creature, and it raised a wing peppered with flecks of gray stuff. "Nubsa!"
As if reading his mind, the bird pecked at the saddle hanging nearby.
Kodo let Matt in the bird's pen, and Matt at last could make an assessment of the state of his supplies.
Matt frowned. A lot of things had turned up missing, including his towel. Looks like I packed all that stuff for nothing, he thought. I guess I'll have to drip dry.
Once Matt located his trunks, he searched around for a clean private place to change clothes, but giant bird heads kept following him around, making him feel self conscious.
Kodo looked confused. "Kreah jaiteb?"
Matt read the Wava word for `change,' but Kodo didn't understand. He wandered over to an empty stall, fiddling with the latch until Kodo clicked it open for him.
Matt stepped in and shut the door, hanging his pants over the top.
"Chik hib kusuqalteb moqosa ip Grunkiahu?" Kodo called.
Yeah, I'm changing into a Grunkiahu. Ha ha.
Matt had just pulled off his underwear and slipped his ankles into his red and blue trunks the door cracked open, a curious face staring back at him. "Hey!"
Red with embarrassment, he quickly pulled is trunks on, tying the waistband in a secure knot.
Kodo pointed at him and laughed. "Kreah hishnarf dezafvi coz?"
"Um, these are swim trunks." Matt didn't see the word in his dictionary, so he resorted to pantomime. "Saasaa?"
Kodo laughed. "Lutab."
Shivering with cold, he pulled his pants over the trunks.
The monk led him through the tunnels to an open air enclosure framed by stone walls covered in brightly glowing green mildew. Dusk had fallen, rapidly extinguishing all light save for this fungus, a pair of moons, and some tunnel lights.
Squish. Something slimy stuck to Matt's bare feet, like flypaper. He glanced down and saw a gummy red-purple skin covering the ground, a thick sort of animal tissue that extended the length of the enclosure, swelling around a pool of green water with a rim like a pair of fat lips.
As Matt stepped forward, the substance clung to him, making icky sounds like you'd get on linoleum with orange juice residue all over it.
Since Matt found it slightly more tolerable than the alien grass, he stripped to his trunks, peering over the swollen sides of the pool.
When Matt noticed what lay inside, he backed away in disgust, barely repressing the urge to vomit.
The interior walls of the pool resembled a tapeworm colony from Hell, a mass of white independently wiggling strings seemingly ready to break off and squirm up someone's intestinal tract.
Oblivious to the apparent danger, the males swam in the green water, fur spreading out around their bodies like dogs in a flea bath.
"Layd chikhib!" Kodo stripped and jumped in with a splash.
Since the tapeworms apparently left the swimmers unmolested, Matt leaned over the edge, staring at the bottom of the pool, which resembled a grotesquely swollen bellybutton. The males only pointed at the human and chuckled, splashing him with water.
Forcing his thoughts away from the idea of parasitic infection, Matt pinched his nose and jumped.
The pool turned out to be barely five feet deep, and ice cold. He bent his legs, dunking his head under several times, but still ended up wading around with chattering teeth, skin pale and bumpy as a Butterball turkey. The worm things wiggled between his toes, but didn't go anywhere.
"That's it!" Matt gasped. "I'm done!" With a shudder of disgust, he pushed through the worms and climbed out, dripping and shivering as more goose pimples popped up on his flesh. I think I've qualified for the polar bear club now.
"Codimol ceiogefa?" Kodo called.
Matt just rubbed his arms, stomping back and forth to keep warm. Now I know what a popsicle feels like.
After Matt shivered at poolside for a few minutes, Chaz climbed out, hissing him over to a large box filled with white powder.
What is that? Sugar?
The young male rolled in the stuff, covering his entire body, then shook it off exactly like a dog. He climbed out, waving to the box.
Shrugging, Matt rolled in the dust until he looked like a ghost. When he got out, he felt so comfortable in the powder that he didn't bother brushing it off. Praying he hadn't just rolled in cocaine, he put his clothes back on and asked Chaz for a bed.
The male led Matt through the Habitrail to a spartan little room containing only an electric lamp, an eggplant-like bed with no canopy, a stack of dresser-like gourds bursting with piles of gray fabric, and a table piled with dolphin robes and sheets made of a translucent fleshy substance.
Still cold from his swim, and lacking even a fireplace in the chilly room, Matt pulled on two of the robes, then wrapped all the sheets around himself, hoping it wouldn't pose a suffocation risk. The combination proved to be reasonably warm, so he drifted into a comfortable slumber.
It seemed he had only shut his eyes for a minute or so before he found himself being shaken, and staring up at Chaz's smiling face. "Eyap haofek, Mot! Guvib kehag coz gihaofek kijafwa culumafa."
"What?" Matt groaned. "It's too early."
The Abreya waved a rolled up rug, a navaktos, in Matt's face.
Sighing, Matt sat up and took it, rolling his eyes as he found a Gi'uz being placed on his head.
Chaz led him through the tunnels to the paved courtyard where the acropolis stood. All around him on the ground, male and female Abreyas knelt and prayed on navaktos, some individually, others with their tails wrapped together. Some prayed with scrolls, books, small computers, beaded mitts, or little rods covered in rings, like rosaries. At the top of the acropolis stairs, a robed figure knelt in front of an obelisk.
Matt stared at the weathered statues of saintly looking Abreyas in robes, resembling his experience in the virtual reality fotebja.
A female figure in a gray robe and neflah marched up to Matt with a grin on her face. At first, Matt thought her to be one of the monks, as the hood and outfit made her look the same as everyone else. "Morning, Wusu!"
Matt laughed. "Good morning to you too."
"Hey, you've got Laima'j ash on your face."
Great! he thought. As long as it isn't cocaine. "I would have preferred a towel."
"Sorry. You said put the clothing in last. There wasn't any room. I didn't want to crush you."
Matt sighed.
She giggled, tracing an S curve down his cheek. "This might be a new look for you!"
"Ha ha."
Quana sniffed. "You smell better."
Matt pointed at the acropolis. "Quana, what's that?"
She twirled a brown rug with her tail. "That's the Vansibik."
"Is that a Chirqui up there?"
She nodded.
"And that...transports your sacrifices to the...nafnith?"
Quana raised an eyebrow. "Nalah! You'll make a good Quaceb yet!"
Matt didn't know what to make of that comment.
He stared as a group of monks tied Hoyroqs to posts alongside the Vansibik while a male with a reptile skin robe and gold jewelry took papers and material possessions from a line of males and females in exchange for gold cards. Matt pointed. "What's that guy doing?"
"That's a Carnrick. He trades salvation contracts for goods or services. The contract gives you part of a sacrificial Hoyroq to give the Wodov for your sins. There's a confessional in back. It's a good thing we came today. Full atonement huisiang for intentional wrongs is only done one time per month."
"That's not right, Quana. People shouldn't be charging you money for salvation."
"And how do you know? This isn't your planet."
"I know it's not my planet, but it seems petty for God to be charging money for his love. I think it's a shame that nobody's kicking these money changers out." Matt shook his head. "But maybe you're right. It's not my planet...Are you paying them with your money, or your parents'?"
Quana sighed. "Neither. I'm doing a service contract."
"How do you even know that's good enough to save you?"
But Quana had already walked up to the Carnrick and given him a piece of paper. She disappeared somewhere behind the acropolis, presumably for service.
As Matt waited for her to return, he watched with bewilderment as a monk touched the handle on an abstract sculpture seventeen times while muttering under his breath. Another monk touched it sixteen times, but when he stepped away, he quickly jumped back and touched it that final time. It seemed vaguely obsessive compulsive to him. Every few minutes, someone else did the same thing.
Figures in the towers blew on animal horns, making didgeridoo sounds. Everyone around Matt pressed their faces to the ground before the Vansibik.
Matt just stared at them.
Someone dragged him through the crowd to an open spot on the flagstones. His navaktos got unrolled on the ground.
Matt sat down, staring at the bowing aliens. Although he stuck out like a sore thumb, he didn't bow with them, preferring to endure the stares and indignant mutters.
Matt kept his eyes open, back straight as he stared in bafflement. This might be virtually identical to Judaism, but I'm going to need some serious convincing before I join this religion.
Quana returned to the plaza, doing the ritual at the abstract sculpture. She gave him a half smirk and rolled out her rug, bowing with the others.
Matt couldn't feel any more alone. He prayed to God for guidance.
As he continued to sit disrespectfully vertical, Speckle Tail marched up to him, saying many angry things he didn't understand. After Matt had listened to this angry alien jabbering incomprehensibly for at least a minute, a familiar gray male placed a hand on the other monk's shoulder, muttering something in his ear, and they left him alone.
The bowing continued for several minutes, only stopping at the sound of an amplified voice giving a long speech in Wava. The hard to understand droning voice made Matt's eyelids heavy, but he didn't dare sleep for fear of appearing to bow, or creating another disturbance. He tried to fight off sleep by looking up words in his dictionary.
When the speech concluded, Quana and a group of males and females stood up to sing. With its lack of harmony, excruciatingly long notes, and repetitive clashing melodies, Matt found it painful to listen to, but tried not to show his displeasure visibly.
As the song continued, a male in a costume that looked like an emperor penguin dragged a Hoyroq up the stairs to the altar, sacrificing it as a burnt offering. More sacrifices followed, their smoke wafting through the Chirqui and into Matt's nostrils. The odor reminded him of burning car tires and eggs.
Quana and her group sat down, the crowd breaking into a tune eerily similar to the classic hymn, Holy, Holy, Holy. Although non-English, off tempo, missing notes, and completely off key, Matt found the tune was so recognizable that a chill ran down his spine.
He stared at Quana, wondering if this were her doing, but she only shrugged and sang along.
Shaking his head in disbelief, he quietly sang the English version as he continued staring.
The corners of Quana's mouth turned up as she mouthed the same exact words. God in three persons, blessed Trinity.
The song stopped in the middle of a verse, changing to discordant noise, so Matt just stared at the crowd, trying his hardest to find some redeeming value in what got inflicted upon his eardrums.
After another long speech and a prayer, everyone rolled up their rugs, walking away.
Well, mostly. A large group of them surrounded Matt, each individual curling tails around another's tail as they uttered prayers in Wava and Klargish. Quana, to Matt's chagrin, joined them.
"What was that about?" he asked when the others departed.
"They're just worried about your soul."
"Hmmm. Guess it won't hurt..." He stood up. "Quana! That song! It's..."
"I know! It sounds like an Earth hymn. I thought it was strange when I first heard it on your planet."
Matt took a deep breath. "I'd hate to cry miracle, but...I think it's a sign from God."
"I once thought the same way, but then I talked with Professor Wedgewood about it and she said that, being as there are only nine or so possible musical tones to a scale, it wouldn't be that surprising for at least one of our songs to mirror one of yours...of course, our musical system has extra high frequency notes, since our ears can pick up higher ranges of sound..."
"Which makes the limited note theory a bit less probable, right?"
"Not really. There are many notes in the Nidrix, our musical scales, you probably can't hear."
Matt frowned.
"I'm sorry. The early disciples needed more to go on than mere hunches, and theories about strange events, didn't they?"
Matt shook his head and sighed. "Back to the drawing board."
"It's time for breakfast, I think. You know how to get back, right?"
"Sure." He pointed at the statue with the handle. "What's that?"
"A Dinagla. We pray with it."
"What's with the ritual?"
"We touch the Dinagla four times for the first four prayers of penitence, then four more for the mercy prayers. On the fourth prayer set, we touch it five times, and hope for forgiveness. Until I know for certain that Jesus is the Kipom, this is the only path I know to salvation."
"Sounds...like a rosary."
"Kind of."
"Were you bowing to that pyramid? I mean, the Vansibik?"
Quana shook her head. "It might look like that, but I was actually bowing to Ponai."
Matt furrowed his brow.
"Relax. We don't bow to idols. See you in the Bindif." She bowed low on the ground, pressing her face into the
pavement.
Matt stared at her, mouth agape, as she shoved her face across the stones for a whole yard, standing up with bloody scratches all over.
"What was that!" Matt shouted with worriment. "Why did you do that!"
"It's an act of penance for my sins. I only have to say four Bifafras now before I am fully cleansed."
Matt swallowed. "Quana, you're ruining an extremely attractive face."
"If your arm causes you to sin, cut it off. That's what Jesus said, right?"
Matt fought back tears. "I don't know what connection your face has to sin, but that's too severe an interpretation of the verse."
"That's why I wept when I heard about Jesus," Quana sobbed. "But until I know for sure that he's the Kipom, I just can't take risks."
"I'll be praying for you," he choked, wiping his eyes. "I really don't like this."
Quana nodded. "I know." She walked away crying.
Having no clue how to resolve the situation, Matt set about making himself breakfast.
Armed with an oil can thing for a bowl, a jar of water and his food, he seated himself at the males' table, frowning at all the staring.
A fat male next to him poked Matt's arm, asking to look at his toaster pastries, so Matt handed the box over, allowing him to toy with the foil packages.
Another male asked for the cereal, and his breakfast got passed around the table amid chuckles and laughter, like some sort of show-and-tell. Matt had to look up the word for `stop' in the dictionary before they shared it with the other table, and still one foil wrapped package escaped.
Matt sighed, waiting for the prayer.
Once the leader had given the blessing with his silver Frisbee, Matt tried to open his cereal, but the inner bag had been sealed too well, and he hadn't thought to bring his knife. He tugged on the sides of the plastic, but it exploded all over the table, the little yellow loops scattering everywhere.
The monks chuckled, but Matt tried to ignore them, picking up what he could from the table and stool. He managed to collect enough for a bowlful, covering it with rehydrated milk powder, and as he tried to eat with the clothespin things, found himself being stared at even more.
The springloaded design made it easy to crush the little clusters of grain into dust before they could reach his mouth, but Matt soon figured out a careful method, then ate his toaster tarts cold, washing them down with the rest of the milk.
The Abreyas, in the meantime, ate their meal, something like oversized pollen grains instead of the gray fungus. Everything else looked the same as before.
Matt pushed his things aside, laying his head on the table. Before he knew it he found Quana shaking him awake.
Matt sat up, groggily staring at a room populated only by a few monks with cleaning duties. "Ungh. Sorry."
"It's all right. Shilem will be down in a few minutes with some texts."
Matt's food had disappeared. He searched the table fruitlessly.
"What are you looking for?"
"My food! It's gone!"
"Sorry, I was too busy to see what happened. Do you have any left?"
"A little."
The dwarf slowly waddled in with his arms and tail full of little computers, books and pamphlets and scrolls, throwing them down haphazardly on a nearby table. Matt and Quana joined him there, staring at the piles of paper and equipment.
"They have computers," Matt muttered.
"So did the ancient patriarchs. I told you how Rilla and Bedzyk resisted temptation and learned space travel from Ponai, didn't I? That requires computers."
A figure with brown fur stepped into the room.
"Bitijouge," said Shilem. "Kee hojitahua gurabo ruhd Jesus."
Quana responded with a lengthy speech about Jesus in Wava.
Goksar read something from one of the texts.
Quana grimaced. "Mepjar?"
"Hargawage, ha hapateb coz nacah."
Quana stared at Matt. "They say the Kipom is supposed to make a cannibal religion."
"Well, in communion, you eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ, but it's not literally cannibalism. It's spiritual."
Quana and Shilem discussed the matter.
She frowned. "He says his followers should actually eat flesh."
"No they should not. You know how terrible that would be?"
Quana spoke with them a bit, then read a few things from the bible. This caused the three to become enmeshed in a long complicated debate. Despite his best efforts, Matt found himself dozing.
He only napped a few minutes before Quana poked him to ask questions about the Melchizedek prophecy. Once that had been explained, he fell asleep again, only to be roused again to explain the Jewish sacrificial rituals, the temple of Jerusalem, and the end-all sacrifice of Jesus.
The meeting adjourned for the day.
Monks often walked around barefoot, or with very soft glove shoes. Hearing a different type of shoe clapping on tile startled Matt to attention.
A familiar gray faced female in a crazily patterned servant's outfit now stood by the tunnel entrance.
The color faded from Quana's face. "Dista!"
[0000]
ALIEN CHARACTERS:
Choxu: Prince of the Voorop nation, previous suitor for Quana Falcameer.
Dista: Personal servant of Quana Falcameer.
Goksar: One of the shortest Quaceb monks at the Takofuea.
Kodo: A monk at the Takofuea. Stripe tailed, same age as Chaz.
Nabal: Prince of Kadegni, fiancee of arranged marriage to Quana Falcameer.
Poog: An elderly Takofuea monk.
Quana Falcameer: Princess of Pathilon.
Rusa: A male arranged to be Quana's suitor.
Shilem: A senior scholar of Quaceb literature at the Takofuea.
Tama Falcameer: Queen of Pathilon.
Thiftreda: Princess of another nation bordering Bencap.
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.
Bedzyk: First female ever created, according to Gaxea.
Bencap: A country on Pathilon.
Beaurbak: Security device on a spaceship.
Bifafras: A prayer of penitence.
Bindif: Dining area of the Takofuea compound.
Boomosi: Far rural area of Pathilon, inhabitants known to be uneducated bumpkins.
Bub Tig: Special entree enjoyed by Abreyas.
Carnrick: Seller of ceremonial Hoyroqs.
Chirqui: Obelisks that absorb essences of sacrifices, transporting them to Kwibron, for the honor of Ponai.
Deglos: Planet near Abreya planet Pathilon.
Deoring: Paradise planet described in Holy Gaxea.
Dinagla: A statue which Quacebs use to remind themselves of the great prayers of the faith.
Duvalha: A dictatorial nation of Kaybok system history.
Duwaky: Transit tunnel.
Duxamca: Pathilon's best amusement park.
Elazfil: Coming of age observance for Quacebs.
Ferleok: Coldest of the eleven planets of the Kaybok planetary system.
Fetmip: Chemical that can change coloration of your blushing and blood.
Fopakna: Quaceb anointing ritual.
Fotebja: Abreya entertainment device.
Fubalca: Special knockout gas developed by Abreyas. Contains a percentage of breathable air.
Futamer: Planet destroyed in Auno wars of Duvalha.
Gaxea: The core Quaceb religious book.
Gogibi: Cryogenic stasis machine.
Gojot: "Living room" of a spacecraft.
Gi'uz: Ceremonial Quaceb headwear for males and females.
Grunkiahu (Grunk): A large flying creature, ridden by Abreyas like horses.
Haxgorg: Personal toilet waste disposal appliance.
Hirejosi: A sawing machine.
Hoyroq: Premium sacrificial animal used to expunge Quacebs from their sins.
Iznolgu: Environment suit.
Jiticuha: A monastic organization.
Jufuceri: Planet in which law treaties regarding Auno energy were drafted.
Kadegni: Country located close to border of Bencap.
Kaiaquke: Stellar nursery
Kecuru: Special mineral found on planet Deglos.
Kemmer: When animals go into heat.
Kicabaii: Special gas that exists on Kugifogelo, has unusual properties that affect coloration of its atmosphere.
Kipom: Quaceb messiah.
Kisostrom: A book in the Quaceb Holy Gaxea.
Klecut: A laser knife.
Kugifogelo: Planet nearest Abreya planet Pathilon.
Kwibron: Core religious site for the Quaceb faith.
Laima'j: An aromatic plant, which is burned to ashes for use of bathing and drying off.
Lemwag: Abreya showering cubicle.
Lerilite: Laser sawing element on an Hirejosi.
Lutab: An organic swimming pool, with wormy creatures along the sides for cleaning purposes.
Lyuntaaz: Quaceb religious observance similar to passover and Hanukkah.
Macevas: A plant similar to rice, which is made into a bread-like substance.
Medufa: "Planet of Temptation/Downfall" according to Gaxea.
Mimapi: Matriarchs of the Gaxea.
Miricacci Sector: A galaxy containing the Abreya universe.
Nafnith: Main world altar of Quaceb faith.
Navaktos: Quaceb ceremonial mats.
Neflah: Ceremonial Quaceb headwear for females.
Nidrix: Musical scales used by Abreyas.
Nilfloip: Quaceb compass that directs one to holy sites.
Nubsa: One of the Falcameer family's royal Grunkiahus.
Obnurd: Personal toilet waste disposal appliance.
Pabizol: Vision correcting devices.
Pathilon: Planet of Abreyas.
Pija: A staple food for Abreyas, similar to wheat.
Pijaturu Festival: A grand celebration that harkens back to ancient times, regarding the harvest of Pija.
Pihodai: A group of Abreya Quacebs described in the Gaxea.
Pocwam: A Quaceb saint.
Ponai: Quaceb religious name for God.
Pufedaga: Special mineral found on Ferleok.
Pulotage: Docking center at Bencap palace.
Quaceb: A monotheistic Abreya religion, or one who adheres to the religion.
Quidsy: Spaceship manufacturing company.
Quinamm: A month on the Pathilonian calendar.
Rantag: A book in the holy Gaxea.
Rilla: First Abreya ever created, according to the Gaxea.
Rujodale: An alien type of furniture, resembling a Venus flytrap.
Rukhag: A month on the Abreya calendar.
Saholiqe: A country on one of the planets described in Gaxea.
Sihiku of Tocedopu: Alien tree of forbidden knowledge, described in the Gaxea.
Stopamoya Jerz: Famous Quaceb saint/Pocwam.
Supica: Quana's spaceship.
Takofuea: Quaceb monastery.
Tagososi Bosigoqa/"Flash Matter Transit Zone": Hidden area of space where bubbles of time can be encountered.
Tarru Lorejiba: Matrimony. Literally "Binding of tails."
Tesagob: A sacred Quaceb hymn.
Tuldil of Fuceti: A second version of the tree of forbidden knowledge, according to the Gaxea.
Vanseb: Quaceb religious temple.
Vemorik: Communications device.
Vitabese: One of the smelliest animals on Pathilon.
Voorop: Nation adjacent to Bencap.
Wava: "Tongue", the language of Abreyas.
Wighesh: Dress-like garment worn by male Abreyas.
Witad: Spirit of Ponai.
Wodov: Priest or priestess of Quaceb faith.
Wusu: A chicken-like creature used as livestock.
Yadafcu: A special race of Abreyas found in the book of Rantag.
Yarkolemsis: A month on the Pathilonian calendar.
Zajyaf: A book in the holy Gaxea.
Zorlaeba: "The Evil One."
Zux Leem: An alien fruit.
WAVA LESSONS:
Note: These aren't solid rules. I got tired of trying to trying to write stuff in Wava after awhile and just threw everything together. Sometimes I didn't even spell the alien words correctly.
Bitu: Indicates future tense.
Bri: Used before a word to indicate plural forms. Often used at the beginning of a word.
Cik: Can be used instead of Chik, as a contraction.
Gi: Add to word to indicate "we," such as Gisnaa ("We can").
Iga: Add to word to make possessive.
`Ih: Used to indicate past tense.
Teb: Indicates action progressively, like "ing" in English. Example: "Walking" would be "Jujagteb", not "Jujago".
O'h: Past tense ending in a vowel.
Paga: "Quality of being". Example: "Borpaga" (Worriment).
Yi: Functions the same as "not" when added to words.
Contractions: Words can be combined into contractions. Example: Guki'ua=Guki+Hua ("May I"), Chibya=chik+bya (you were) Kreeuv=What is it (Kreah+Guv) Marud=This female, Chiib (Chik+hib) Bisib (Bisa+hib).
Compound contractions are used sometimes, such as: chigoselsa (chik+gosa+oalesa).
NUMBERS:
Dool: 10
Rey: 9
Fat: 8
Dolsike: 7
Leeg: 6
Diete: 5
Ri: 4
Oim: 3
Hanna: 2
Bid: 1
LEXICON:
Aaberahu: Solely/strictly/alone
Abukos: Nothing
Adanep: Behavioral model
Ahdep: Halt!
Aiju: Closer
Algot: Any
Andere: Amen
Aoqigoia: Neutralize
Artane: Beacon
Audep: Halt!
Ausuhi: Force (v)
Azulfine: Upstairs
Batua: Dressed/wearing
Bea: The
Bebak: Other
Becuro: Finally
Beekay: Seek
Baueco: Bless/guide
Benuforte: Prophet
Benuton: Prophecy
Biofa: There
Bisa: Who
Biti: Let/allow
Bixok: Queen
Boqadi: Answer
Boqedo: Prove
Boine: Bless
Boqadi: Proof
Boru: Worry
Bya: Was
Cacurei: View (n)
Cajbei: Trouble/problem
Cagote: Ignorant
Cao: Far
Capamfe: Wonderful
Casiku: Recognize
Cazqui: Hope
Cehoo: Welcome
Ceiogefa: Already
Celini: Understand
Ceo: Her
Cevafpe: Maximum
Cewafme: Sick
Ceygaum: Cult
Chik: You
Chisda: Heaven
Chuzka: Idiot
Cikdew: Fast (v)
Citboi: Danger
Clozaril: Disable
Coamurugi: Hypothetical
Codimol: Done
Con: With
Coz: As/for/from
Culumafa: Worship/adore
Daced: Plan
Dahna: I am
Darulo: Mate/Have Sex
Datucue: Absolutely
De: Of
Debotoke: Consider
Degatec: Store (v)
Demofoa: Order
Depogast: Reenter
Derako: Soon
Dete: Each
Deubew: Fear
Devibo: Pagan/unbeliever/heathen
Dezafvi: Outfit (clothing)
Docuinu: Best
Doqjah: Surrender
Dotasa: Future
Duboqidu: Grant/allow
Dudpim: Rather/Prefer
Duhem: Die (verb)
Duquedaka: System
Duigoje: Separated
Dusaq: Hello
Dutio: Happen/occur
Eidaraba: Guess/suppose
Eiko: Now
Emilihu: Threat
Eurtep: Well/Somewhat good
Eyap Mez: Good night
Faneso: Should/Might/Shall
Feobex: Wrath
Fapai: Fight (verb)
Fepahoi: Choice/option
Feut: Whether/if
Finihu: Seem/appear
Fipogue: Waste
Fito: At/to
Fonome: Before/first
Foqipi: Child
Fuhe: Even
Fuqapeh: Bride
Gac: Have
Gahagi: Has
Gapsom: Affection
Garu: Keep
Garzok: Heathen
Gaz:u: Know
Geben: Father
Gebupega: "People" (Abreyas)
Gefmoo: Another
Gehgapeqak: Egotistical/Egomaniacal
Ge'l: He
Gibet: Them
Gik: We
Giperhofi: "Weirdo"
Gimble: Affectionate nickname like "honey".
Gingahan: Serious
Giwi: Will
Glaap: Want
Gosa: To
Gosaca: Engine
Guep: Yes
Guki: May/might/can/could
Guom: Where
Gubayo: Hand
Gurabo: About/concerning/on
Guv: It
Guvicoh: "It's" (contraction of "it is")
Ha: Or
Hacapad: Meddle/dabble/toy(v)
Haofek: Morning
Hapa: Eat
Hargawage: Cannibal
Hei: On
Hib: Is/are
Hieroda: Alarm
Hifarud: Ever
Higiwi: I will
Hojila: Tell
Hojita: Tell
Hua: Me
Huqea: Fake/false/artificial/fraud
Hurgoco: Fool
Hurota: Foolish
Husigu: Quantity
Ibblesquib: Forget
Ip: An/"A"
Jagbei: Return
Jagopune: Give up/surrender/leave
Jaii: Do
Jegfoj: Clever
Jeko: Also
Jiaz: Like
Jaogoa: Capture/Catch
Jocabai: These
Johoca: Side
Jomofo: Join
Jopotaju: Comfortable
Jouge: Begin/Start
Joreh: Palace
Jub: So (in order that)
Jufae: Friend
Jujago: Walk
Jujuba: Immediately
Julujau: Invalid
Kai: And
Kahna: Name/"Called"
Kalaja: Political
Kee: So (interjection)
Kehag: Time
Kenuiji: Prepare
Keucam: Happy/Cheerful
Kigo: Sorry
Kijafwa: Service
Kimera: Present/presence
Knoli: Find/discover
Kogel: Stay
Kolapibu: Sharing
Kood: Both
Kreah: What
Kuditig: Specific/Particular
Kuiyo: Holy
Kulwad: Stop
Kusele: Make/Create
Kusuqali: Change (v)
Labuc: By/under the order of/under/subject to
Lagupo: Week
Lajuje: Word
Layd: Here
Legparf: Mean
Leijue: Thief
Liduli: Pace
Lifahu: During
Loex: Good
Lorejiba: Bind
Maltuje: Ask
Marun: Female
Mepjar: Really/seriously
Mese: Too/very
Micha: "Little"/"small", often used affectionately.
Midasu: Truth/True
Midhohu: Honestly/seriously/truly/really/actually
Minahujo: Display/show (v)
Moacibi: Praise/Flatter
Moqo: In/inside
Muhafofo: Relationship (connection)
Naca: Flesh
Najikece: Detect
Nalah: Wow
Najufe: Boyfriend
Nar: Him
Narun: Male
Neebee: Search
Niblet: Kill/destroy/shut off
Nioqa: Dress/clothe (v)
Nocodo: Problem
Nueto: Silly
Nuqida: Prison/jail
Nux: Help
Oalesa: Would
Oopuhane: Individual
Pae: Give
Palafnu: Slow
Paneciqa: Everywhere
Parehe: Then
Paryiz: Pool
Patnar: Firing
Patuihi: Defect
Pebe: Say
Pequecoja: Confess
Peraha: Cage
Pihile: Clearly/definitely
Pikhi: Need
Pimopek: Exterior
Pimqam: Self Praising/Self Important
Pisoqo: Just/only
Podo: Meet/introduce
Pofokiai: Password
Poiagupu: Heart/Mind
Puebuko: Elder (honorific term)
Pugot: Everything
Puguqe: Belong to
Pumcko: Think
Pusasuji: Hide/conceal
Putu: Data/Info
Pututula: Information
Pyoci: Like (verb)
Qafe: Take
Qaigas: Event/Occasion
Qasolire: Purpose/Reason
Qecajeda: Birth
Qilahami: Treatment
Qiol: My/mine
Qoeloqe: Challenge/competition
Quako: Self
Quayhox: Fur
Qiciheli: Recording
Qidu: Table
Qugu: Certain/Sure
Rajua: Dear
Raraba: Must
Raulu: Bring
Redaheo: Nice/fine
Remabe/Reem: Mother/mom
Reodacol: Rain
Repisita: "Jerk" (Disagreeable Person)
Riko: Be
Ritaqomi: Approaching
Roca: Within
Rofi: By
Rua: Your
Rudibugu: Background
Ruhd: This
Rulijo: What we have?
Saasaa: Water
Saojifa: Security
Scrumsaarg: Marriage
Sejucore: Planet
Shnarf: That/concerning
Siruka: Wrong
Snaa: Able/can
Sohenogi: Question
Soisofu: Family
Soqokuru: Identify
Sotukobe: Religion
Subecosu: Bother
Suka: Many/Much
Susocir: Bald
Tarru: Tail
Tebesoe/Tebesque: Command
Tibu: His
Ticoh: Is
Tipohu: Add
Tiks: When
Tocedopu: Wisdom
Tohibou: Run/operate
Toihoja: Board(v)
Toib: See
Tuc: "Child" or "Baby", usually used condescendingly or as a pet name.
Tupaha: Possible
Ucuk: Speak
Umua: Thank you
Vatus: King/ruler/lord
Viravo: How
Weh: Our
Welk: Use
Xoc: Go/Going
Wof: Now
Yalnov:
Yok: No
Yunk: Why
Zaib: Correct
Zoor: Because/since