What is Truly Important (Science fiction)

Here on ATS, there are varous threads on the subject of humanity's first contact with an alien civilisation and how would we cope.

I have a few ideas of my own, so I thought I would put them to fiction in a short story and put it here instead of the more serious threads.

Hope you enjoy.

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What is Truly Important

Earth's first interplanetary spaceship had just made contact with something. A huge silver disk had simply appeared along with a much smaller sphere. The sphere had made a few random maneuvers and stopped still.

It was the young helmsman who suggested replying in kind, and he added a figure eight for fun. The sphere's response was to move foreward to the half way mark between the two ships. An invitation? The earth ship reciprocated.

It was then that the sphere simply entered the earth ship through the hull without so much as a hesitation. Here it was now, in the large common room where everyone gathered for the historical occassion, humanity's first contact with an truely alien race.

The Medical Officer was more interested in the crew's responses. How they acted to this event would be important. They were all trained for this, but she did not think this encounter would be like the training manuals suggested.

The Medical Officer looked over at the three young marines. They were tense. Ordinarily they just stayed in the gym working out and training in martial arts. All they ever said to her was that they would be ready when the day came.

The old Churchman sat alone, he was a quietly odd gentleman. The Representative of Religeon was what his official title said. "Makes sense" to have one on board thought the Medical Officer.

The other gentleman was was also out of place, but his family did finance the expedition and they did insist on a place on board. The gentleman was obviously from a Samurai heritage, "But really, traditional japanese robes and swords on a scientific expedition?"

The Medical Officer looked over at the younger physicist. She liked him a lot, but his single minded devotion to science and his research reminded her too much of her ex-husband. She shook her head in disgust at the memory. If only they had had children, she would have been happy then.

Casting an eye over the other crew members, the Medical Officer was not impressed. Either too young or married. She thought of the Cook. He was very handsome and a very good cook, "perhaps". The Engineer was a nice older fellow, but his daughter was newly married and pregnant with twins. He worried constantly about them.

A sharp noise brought the Medical Officer out of her daydream. Something was happening, the sphere had disappeared and in it's place was a crowd of perhaps twenty very small aliens.

With one exception, they are all a little over 2 feet tall. Mature females who look childishly human except for the leathery wings and long prehensile tail. Bright bronze coloured skin and very large eyes. They all look exactly the same.

The exception is a taller human looking female whose spine extended outward like a flatened ribcage in reverse giving the impression of a circle as wide as she is tall. Clearly a different specie to the little ones.

The little ones immediately looked about and quickly moved. They were very forward, fearless, curious and childlike. The odd female simply remained where she was, motionless, watching.

The little ones showed interest only in the people, tugging at clothing emptying pockets and generally behaving like boisterous unruly four year old human children who want to play NOW!

The Medical Officer noticed there was a pattern to what was happening. The little ones were stopping people approaching the larger alien by getting in the way and being very distracting. Everytime someone tried to address the larger alien, a little one demanded attention. "They're just like children" she thought and smiled.

She noticed the little ones stayed floor-bound in spite of having wings. "Why?" thought the Medical Officer. She lent over and absent mindedly picked up one up as if it were a child. To her suprise; the little alien was as light as a feather. Then she realised. The weight, small stature, big eyes, wings and tail; they were from a subterainian world. The little alien smiled.

"She smiled!" The medical officer was amazed. She looked around to see if anyone else had seen the little alien smile and was amazed at what she saw.

The little ones were crawling all over the marines, hanging upside down from their arms and sitting on their shoulders wearing berets.

The Engineer had two on his lap.

The Captain, Helmsman and a few others were teaching the little aliens how to play a simple children's game called pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man.

The old Samurai had one sitting quietly in his lap though he was obviously ignorring her. Sad she thought.

Oddly there was a small group the little aliens ignored and avoided.

The old samurai sat with the little alien upon his lap. She busied herself while he reflected upon his own childhood. Remembering the loneliness, he reached out a hand and touched her shoulder. The little alien looked at him, yawned, curled up in a ball and closed her eyes.

She trusted him. His eyes filled with tears and he suddenly felt very protective.

The marines were having fun, the big bad aliens were nothing more than kids. Just like their kid sisters back home. They were no threat at all.

The engineer was feeling awkward with two small aliens on his lap. He would have grandchildren soon and wondered if these girls had a family. They both turned and looked at him at that moment and he realised they 'heard' him. They both smiled.

The game of pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man was proving a challenge, the little aliens were very fast learners and were winning.

Not everyone was proving popular with the visitors. The Medical Officer wondered.

The Representative of the Church was clearly horrified at the scene unfolding before him. It wasn't supposed to be this way, they're devils! How was he going to explain this to his superiors.

The cook looked at the little aliens with the eye of a chef and wondered . . . They all looked his way for just a moment.

The Biologist was in a quandary, he was supposed to bring back samples . . .

The Science officer was lost in thought. The alien's ship was BIG. How did it move? These simple creatures couldn't have built that themselves . . .

The medical officer's thoughts were on the aliens. She had always wanted a family of her own, a house full of children. Looking about her, she wondered for just a moment what kind of family these little aliens had. Did they actually have a family? She suspected they were perhaps a colony, like ants or bees. She felt sad for just a moment at the thought of children growing up in such a place.

That was the moment when the aliens all stopped what they were doing and looked at her. One grabbed her hand and pulled her to to her feet. Swept up suddenly in a sea of children, the medical officer was confused, and before she knew it, she was somewhere strange.

Along with the medical officer, the aliens had all simply vanished. All but the little one asleep in the old samurai's lap, it was as if they knew he would protect her.

The medical officer looked about her. The larger of the aliens stood before her smiling. The little ones were flittering about in excitement and more were joining the party. The smell of cinnamon and a soft feeling underfoot.

What struck the medical officer was everything looked organic, everything felt like it was alive.

The medical officer took a step and lost her footing. She realised the gravity was different, but with the little ones steadying her, she felt safe nevertheless.

It was obvious they wanted to show her something from the pushing and shoving, so she complied.

They passage was round and branching, she passed a branch and looked inside. Little ones asleep in piles, the scene reminded her of a litter of kittens.

They came to a cavern and the little ones dispersed and left her alone with the larger female. The Medical Officer wondered; where were the males? She had seen only females. Without the little ones to steady her, the Medical Officer reached out a hand to steady herself by touching the wall.

Touching the wall was a mental shock, she could see a scene of men talking in the cavern. Very normal looking human men. She took her hand away from the wall, the scene disappeared. She touched the wall again and saw the men. She wondered who they were, and understood they were the creators of both the ship and the aliens she had met.

The medical officer wondered where the men were now.

The scene changed to just the empty room. The men had vanished. She then saw a city, an empty city.

Then she understood, the men were an ancient race of intellectual giants who had built all this and more. She also felt something deeply disturbing about the men. She wondered what it was and the scene changed and the city was populated. Many people walking about but not a single woman nor child did she see. Then she understood, knowing without knowing how one knows.

This civilisation was male only, they done away with women. So why were the aliens around her all females? Again she understood. Without males reproduction is controlled.

Horror descended upon the medical officer. She understood their society.

Men who, in the pursuit of scientific, philosophical, and spiritual perfection in every way, began to look upon females, sex and children as obstacles and unneccessary to the persuit of knowledge. In order to devote themselves to the pursuit of absolute perfection, they had simply erased women from their culture.

But where were the men now? The medical officer wondered what had happened.

"We don't know, they disappeared. We are alone." It was the larger alien who silently 'spoke'.

The medical officer realised she was silently being spoken to in words she could understand.

"We learn."

Filled with sadness and horror at the realisation of what had happened, the medical officer understood these aliens wanted something very important. Something they never had, that they have never experienced.

The aliens had watched humanity from afar and were in wonder of the strange men there interacting with females. Then they realised something; they wanted something humans take for granted, a lover, romance, a family. Where a father protected, where brothers played with little sisters, where grandfathers worried for their future.

The medical officer knew of cloning and genetic engineering but resolving this was beyond her comprehension. Where would one begin?

Then she saw the room change around her, a collage of knowledge, the attainments of the creators, all there before her.

"This is a library. I am the interface to the library."

"The ship you stand within is a living machine, the little ones are interfaces designed to allow sentient beings to communicate with the machines."

"We have watched your people from afar and have waited for you to come to us. The moment we arrived on board your ship, the little ones began to learn. We learned everything we needed to know in those first few minutes of interaction."

The medical officer was thinking. Male role models, the genetics of creating the alien males; the library . . .

"You would help us?"

"Gladly."

The little ones were now crowding the medical officer pulling at her long plait of hair.

"Would you like me to teach you?"

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a reply to: Whatsthisthen

Wow I learned a lot here. Awesome! S/F

a reply to: Quantum12

Thankyou

That was just amazing! I wanted to keep reading and reading. You must add more sometime! I loved the little alien beings and the fascinating story behind them.

a reply to: Night Star

Thanks Night Star. First time for fiction . . .