Amy Thomson - Through Alien Eyes

Leaf mold flaked and crumbled off Ukatonen’s body as he slowly sat up, still a little dazed from so much sleep.

“Here, en.” Moki handed him* a hot bowl of soup. “Eat this, it will help.”

He could feel himself settling back into consciousness as he ate the soup, as though he had been shattered and the soup was gluing him back together.

Finished, he handed the bowl to Moki and stood, brushing away as much of the remaining leaf mold as he could. He washed off the rest underneath a hose, oblivious of the stares of the humans. Then, still wet, he climbed into a pair of shorts and followed Moki back to their cabin.

Eerin had prepared a feast of fresh vegetables, fruit, and even some raw fish and chicken, all arranged on clean, fresh leaves from the garden. There was also a small gourd filled with Earth honey. It was clear that she had taken pains to make the meal as much like a Tendu feast as she could. While he ate, they told him everything that had happened while he was asleep.

After the meal, Ukatonen went out for a final walk around the ship. It was awash in celebration as the humans said goodbye to each other. He felt a little lonely as he watched the humans rejoice in their hard-won freedom. They were celebrating a homecoming, and he was leaving for an unknown world.

A yellow flicker of irritation forked down the inside of Ukatonen’s arm. He was an enkar; he should be used to leave-takings. After all, he had spent hundreds of years traveling from one place to another. The handful of years he would spend here would be barely an eye blink. Yet he had already been overwhelmed by the humans’ difference. Even Moki, a mere bami, had dealt with the changes better than he had. If he hadn’t gotten greensick, the humans would not have had the excuse to keep them locked up in here. Ukatonen turned deep brown with shame as he thought of how weak he had been on the journey here. He would have to do better from here on out, he told himself.

Moki touched him on the arm. He looked down. The bami held his spurs out, requesting a link. Ukatonen looked at the crowd of humans laughing and talking with each other in the lounge. “Let’s go to the garden,” he said in skin speech. ^’It’s quieter there.”

The garden was deserted except for a couple of humans who were more intent on each other than their surroundings. The garden looked a little tired. Many of the plants they had grown were going to seed, or had gotten lank and tired-looking. The sunflowers in the circle were going dry and brown as the seeds in their big flower heads ripened.

“It’ll be good to see real trees again,” Moki said.

Ukatonen nodded, and they sat in silence a while longer, taking comfort in each other and the garden. It was easier to take comfort here now that Ukatonen knew they would be leaving it behind.

“I’ll miss this place,” Moki remarked. “We worked hard here.”

“There will be other places,” Ukatonen told him. “You have done good work here, and it is time to move on. That is one of the things you’ll have to learn in order to become a good enkar.”

“An enkar? En, I am much too young for such things.”

“Nevertheless, someday you will become one. I allowed Eerin to adopt you for a reason. We need to understand the humans, and that is your job. You must pay attention to the humans, Moki. You must come to understand them so well that they do not surprise you. One day humans will be your atwa. You will be responsible to them and for them. They must be brought into harmony.”

“I can’t do that, en. Humans are not like the Tendu. Besides, there are many humans, and I am only one person. I cannot change them all.”

“If the humans and the Tendu do not achieve harmony, both will suffer,” Ukatonen informed him. He touched Moki on the shoulder. “And you are not alone. The other enkar will help you. But we need to know more about the humans before we can bring them into harmony. That is why we are here. That is why Eerin is your sitik.” He looked directly into Moki’s golden eyes. “You must never forget that. One day you will be an enkar, and then nothing must matter to you but the good of the Tendu. Do you understand?”

“Yes, en, I understand,” Moki said in formal skin speech. He held his arms out for allu-a.

Ukatonen grasped Moki’s forearms and they linked. The bami’s presence was muddy and roiling with doubt. Ukatonen enfolded him with reassurance and approval. Moki’s turmoil gradually eased, and they achieved a harmonious equilibrium, though Ukatonen could still sense the faint muddy tinge of doubt remaining in Moki.

It was no matter, the bami would learn. Already Moki had the makings of an exceptional elder. With Ukatonen’s guidance, Moki would then become an outstanding enkar. All that was needed was time and patience, and Moki would find his way as surely as a stream finds its way to the ocean.

Moki breathed deeply and regularly, his body at rest. Outwardly he seemed sound asleep, but he was awake, and deeply troubled by Ukatonen’s words. It disturbed him to see his future laid out so neatly by someone else. He was coming to prefer the humans’ way of letting each person decide their own future.

Besides, he didn’t think that it was possible to bring the humans into harmony with the Tendu, and even if he could, he wasn’t sure that he should. He liked the humans the way they were.

Juna lay awake beside Bruce, too excited to sleep. Tomorrow she would be off the ship, and free. Then life would get complicated. She knew that she should be organizing some kind of diplomatic mission for the Tendu, and dealing with the requests for interviews and research that had already begun pouring in, but first she needed to see her family. First thing tomorrow she would put in for leave. It was nearly harvest time and they would need her. And then there was Toivo . … Juna pulled the sheet a little higher, and turned onto her side, trying to quell her rising emotions.

Tomorrow, she told herself firmly. Get some sleep and think about all of this tomorrow. She slid closer to Bruce, savoring his warmth. Though it was clear that they were too different to make a lasting pair, he had been good company. Good in bed, too, she thought with a smile. She would miss him. She slid into sleep, amid a haze of fond memories.

Ukatonen stood with Moki and Eerin as the doors of the airlock swung open. A man in an ensign’s uniform led a group of six other humans wearing privates’ uniforms through the airlock. Ukatonen found uniforms oddly comforting. They carried meaning, like skin speech. It was easy to tell the status of the people wearing them. If all humans wore uniforms, his life would be a great deal easier.

’The airlock is ready for departure, Commander.”

“Thank you, Ensign, the crew is ready to disembark,” Commander Sussman replied. Though she was trying to hide it behind a mask of formality, Sussman’s joy at their release from quarantine was obvious. Watching her, Ukatonen understood that Commander Sussman was as constrained by her rank as an enkar. He wished he had understood that earlier, he could have learned so much from her.

The ensign turned to Eerin and the Tendu. “Dr. Saari, the press is waiting to speak to you. If you and the Tendu will come with me?”

Eerin nodded. “Thank you, Ensign.”

Ukatonen picked up his small duffle bag. The crew of the Homa Darabi Maru cheered as the security escort ushered the three of them off the ship. They went down the long, brightly lit tunnel of the airlock and then onto a metal walkway that overlooked an enormous room with high ceilings and bright lights. Huge machines moved immense metal boxes around. The air rang with the whine of machinery and the heavy clang of metal. The smell of metal and hot oil was strong enough to taste.