I am told this is a case of convergent evolution.” Our reproductive functions are… similar to yours. There was no guarantee the aliens even had genders. If you are a mister.” Jack contemplated that for a moment. This alien could summon a hologram in thin air! Jack wasn’t fully versed in the tech, but it had something to do with reflective particles circulating in the box. Holographic technology could only work within a specially designed airbox on Earth – they didn’t even work well in low gravity. Holograms appeared in the air above the table, and that already wowed Jack. If you say you can make ‘em work with your tech, that’s fine by us. The aliens must have been pretty hard up to need them. It wasn’t even anything particularly major. The miner looked them over and nodded his head. The alien slid a plastic sheet with figures printed on it in clear, concise English. We’ve got some trade goods we can exchange for them.” I got a list of some of the things we need to get back up and running, things of your technological means that we can adapt to fix our systems. Relief seemed to come over the alien, and it tapped its finger-claw on the metal table. My momma didn’t raise me to let folks die in space if I could help it. Don’t leave nobody stranded in the Belt, that’s our rule! I mean I guess nobody thought of no aliens when they wrote that, but me? I ain’t leaving y’all to die slow out here. “Yeah sure, we can help out if we got the stuff you need. But we make contact with plenty of civilizations that are rather primitive. I’m afraid I’m not much of a diplomat, so I’d rather not go into it. Or at least it sounded kind of like a sigh to Jack. And since we don’t have this FTL of yours…” Don’t want to mess around in their affairs. Y’all don’t want to make contact with primitive worlds and such. But an old memory from childhood surfaced, and he grinned. He and his crew had been hired to extract valuable minerals from the belt, not muse on the subtle details of a first contact situation. Philosophy wasn’t the asteroid miner’s strong suit. This was as far as we could limp without the right parts. Our FTL drive broke down near what you call Proxima Centauri. “There is a general prohibition on your home system. Why didn’t y’all come to see us before all this?” Hell, that device of yours even has a bit of Southern drawl. “Didn’t know there were aliens out here in the Belt ya know. “Well, it’s just odd, given that we just met y’all.” Jack said, taking a drag from his cigarette, the alien coughing a little. Though he was pleased he would go down in history as the first to actually meet an alien face-to-face. Jack himself had slept through most of it. In practice, nobody remembered that class. Theoretically the mining service was trained for a first contact situation, as evidence that alien life did exist had become pretty widespread in recent decades. Jack stifled an involuntary laugh and tried to look serious. The alien’s actual vocalizations were a mishmash that sounded something like a rhinoceros fart. Or, rather, the speaker contraption strapped to the alien’s chest said. “Of course we can speak your language,” the strange being said.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |