Dr. Alien, page 18
“I’ll take those suitcases,” I told the agent gripping Sunny’s overstuffed luggage. “My wife can handle the other pair.”
“We’re supposed to walk through that opening?” Sunny asked, reaching for the lighter bags.
“Let’s give it a try. Deal, kindly put my boy down. Time for my family to take a stroll.”
“Un-neck-sis-sary. I done been invited to the very same shindigs.”
Mr. Walt Kelly might be rotating unhappily in his grave, but it made me feel a lot better that Deal was coming along.
“But what make you figger,” he asked, “that that there hole be something to shimmy through?”
I tilted my hand toward the animations. “Those videos keep showing me approaching a room in my ocean clinic. I know it’s the room we’d given to Haxel because that’s the only clinic door we kept open.”
“Might be a hint at that.”
“Or a test.”
“For smarts? Seems a mite easy puzzle for checkin’ a fellow’s IQs.”
“Maybe a test of faith.”
Walking toward the opening, I must’ve been more scared than I realized because my body felt so stiff and awkward. I stepped through the rectangle anyway, Sunny at my side. Deal, still bearing Alex, joined us an instant later.
Big change. We now stood behind the screen.
“That,” I reported, “was one spectacular anticlimax.”
“Or not,” Sunny argued, pointing at a new rectangle becoming visible on this side of the screen. No empty gap, this one. Something pinkish and misty filled it, providing no glimpse of what lay beyond.
I gave it a puzzled frown. “Why the two-step process?”
“The first portal,” Deal said, reverting to his normal speech now that we’d moved beyond public earshot, “likely contained analytical sensors to determine our identities and confirm our various needs. The Houck would not desire uninvited beings aboard their craft.”
His explanation would’ve been more convincing if it hadn’t dawned on me that Deal, almost as much as me, was far beyond his depth and simply trying to be reassuring. I avoided meeting Sunny’s eyes. Didn’t want her sensing my latest doubts, but it seemed she’d grown her own.…
“Maybe,” she said, “they were checking us for weapons and explosives.”
“At least,” I said, “we didn’t have to take off our shoes. Look, these bags are killing my shoulders. Let’s try door number two; we’re bound to give it shot sooner or later.”
Deal reached out with a few limbs. “Allow me. I will not find such weight burdensome.”
I handed over the luggage without argument and sure enough, Deal didn’t seem to notice that Sunny had packed an anvil into each one.
The animations on this side of the screen became consistent and specific. They showed me walking through the new doorway, then Sunny with Alex and finally Deal. After that, the screen went blank for a moment and then the pattern repeated. “Whatever happened to women and children first?” I sighed. “If you hear screaming, I’d suggest, um—”
“That we refrain from following?”
“Delicately put, Deal.”
“You think it’s safe?” Sunny asked so calmly that if you’d heard her, you’d probably think she didn’t much care.
“You bet, considering all those hoops Haxel made me jump through. Otherwise, I’d invite the VP to test it out for us. Didn’t vote for that guy.”
I wasn’t all that sanguine. Aliens had surprised me more than once, and the Houck were extra-galactic aliens, which somehow made them seem extra unpredictable. But proceeding with the confident posture of someone whose spine hadn’t turned to gelatin, I stepped into pink fog and kept walking.
The second step was what my grandfather spoke of as a “doozy.” Everything turned black and I couldn’t hear, see, or feel anything outside myself including a sense of weight. The moment was nearly as brief as it was frightening, and then I was back in the pink, as it were, feeling the way you do after a close call on the highway. Without waiting for my heart to resume running in the right gear, I kept moving.
The fog-blurred surface underfoot was smooth and soft, not asphalt but a great improvement over nothing. With each pace, my body felt different: sometimes hotter or colder, and my weight and even my height seemed to vary. None of this hurt, but it didn’t fortify my courage. Then I nearly turned and ran when I felt these tiny … tugs from deep inside, as though iron pins had been inserted within my bones and magnets were orbiting my spine.
I’d taken no more than twenty increasingly uneasy steps before the internal changes ended and I emerged … into splendor. The Houck apparently appreciated a nice view. If the floor here hadn’t glowed a faint neon green, it might’ve seemed that I’d stepped into deep space. No visible wall or ceiling, just astronomy. Enough stars and whatnot to keep a pointillist busy for eons. And despite that gentle glow, stars blazed twinkle-free beneath my shoes. The room was immense judging by the floor and entirely empty aside from me.
To my left, the Earth hung small but bright; to my right the moon loomed, huge and close enough to appear three-dimensional. Sunny and the rest of our party joined me. We all stood in place, gawking.
Deal broke the silence. “Is everyone comfortable? I find the atmosphere and gravity ideal.”
I checked my favorite faces. “We’re great. Seems our hosts have got that individualized environment problem licked although the gravity seems a bit strong. And speaking of our hosts, where are they?”
A reedy voice exactly like the one Haxel’s translator used came from nowhere. “Greetings, good people. And a most radiant greeting to you, Doctor. We waited for you to become oriented before approaching your group, thus following your own protocol. May we approach now?”
This was Haxel, because I knew which protocol she meant. At the clinic, I’d always paused at her doorway prior to our first session of the day to let her get used to my supposedly unexpected presence. That, as it turned out, had been a waste of time, and I saw no reason to waste any now. “Come right ahead,” I suggested.
Not far from us, a doorway in what appeared to be starry space gaped wide, implying the existence of a wall, and an astonishing being drifted through. I heard someone gasp and it might’ve been me.
“It brings me joy to perceive you again, Doctor. All of you are shiningly welcome.”
“Haxel?”
“I am she.”
Despite the familiar voice, I’d had to ask. This creature resembled my supposed patient less than a raisin resembles a fresh grape. Her diaphanous membranes had spread wide and straightened into multiple gossamer wings blazing with stained-glass colors. These living rainbows framed a tall, bright tubular form with the wavering quality of a candle flame.
“Al,” Sunny murmured, “you’ve been holding out on me.”
“Never seen her like this,” I murmured back. “Haxel, this is my wife Sunny, my son Alex, and as you probably know, my friend and business associate, Deal-of-ten-lifetimes.”
“I am delighted to receive you all. I’ve already met the fifth member of your party.”
I looked around. “Fifth member?”
Haxel didn’t appear to do anything, but the stars above our heads winked out and a high, arched ceiling came into view. I looked upward. Our bodies, blocking the illuminated floor, cast faint shadows overhead. Only mine wasn’t so faint. My mind boggled.
“Gara?” I demanded. “Are you sitting on my shoulders?”
“Sitting, I am not. Likewise, my weight is distributed considerately on your body rather than upon your shoulders entirely.”
I could visualize how she’d hitchhiked here: She’d been waiting on the parking lot, flattened and pretending to be another asphalt bump. As I’d passed, she’d flowed along with me, clinging to my ankles to imitate my shadow until I’d reached this glowing floor, which would’ve revealed her presence. So she’d climbed my back to perch on me, blending in with the sky scene above, hoping I wouldn’t look straight up and notice something blocking the stars.…
“Kindly get off,” I growled, “and tell us why you’re here.”
Instantly, I felt lighter and Gara, condensed into her usual form, hovered near me. “I was invited.”
I knew why she’d kept it secret. I might tell Deal and protecting me from him had likely been a major reason for coming along, an easier job if he didn’t suspect her presence. She must be irked with Haxel for outing her.
I turned toward the Houck, but she spoke first. “Doctor, we desired you to be as clear-minded and comfortable as possible here, thus we have provided you your full emotional foundation, excepting your office manager who was needed to maintain clinic affairs in your absence.”
“Foundation? You mean my support group.” Strange to think of Alex in this context, but Haxel had a point. Just looking at him strengthened me. “I, um, appreciate your consideration. When does the bus leave for the next galaxy?”
“In two of your days. First, we must collect the remaining judges within this galaxy. They, and their respective supports, will be assigned to other sections of this vessel and will not be joining your group nor forming collective opinions with any other group. Meanwhile, I will be your guide. May I show you to your quarters now? Trader, feel free to set down those cases you bear. Do so and they will arrive at your destination before we do.”
Deal complied and all of us non-Houck stared as the suitcases zipped along the floor as if riding a conveyor belt.
Haxel may have meant “quarters” literally since we were assigned three separate and species-appropriate habitats plus a common room to share, complete with three distinct styles of seating. Deal went off to explore his domain with Haxel, but Gara stuck with my family as we entered the human suite.
“How’s your energy holding up?” I asked her, concerned about the lack of sunlight.
“You don’t feel the radiation? Astounding! I bathe in power that touches you not.” Despite her words, she didn’t sound happy. “And our hosts provide me a sonic detailed of this vessel’s environment stellar. I am appreciative most.”
“Yeah. I think even Deal’s impressed by this ship.”
Human central comprised two large bedrooms, a larger living room, and a bathroom. Each bedroom had a four-poster bed with a multicolored canopy and the usual fixings, also a tall walnut-looking chest of drawers. One bedroom held all four of our suitcases—two and a half of them crammed with Sunny’s “necessities.” The décor suggested Arabian Nights meets Mid-Century Modern except for the bathroom, a long and galley-like affair illuminated from above by countless tiny lights in dense clusters. At first glance, I thought straw covered the floor, but it proved to be a soft mat, and the space held the usual human-style amenities all in two different sizes. The Houck, clearly, had included Alex in their planning. I don’t know if the fixtures were solid gold, but they sure looked golden.
“We Three Kings of Orient Express,” I commented.
Sunny laughed. “I see what you mean. We’ll be roughing it in luxury. Space glamping!”
“Why,” Gara asked as we paraded from the bathroom to the living room, “do you suppose Haxel accompanied the Trader?” She draped herself over a recliner not intended for Vithy. Her voice sounded uncharacteristically dry, and she articulated every word so precisely they seemed to be chiseled.
“I wish you wouldn’t worry so much,” I said.
“I wish you would more worry. We know not what pact our supervisor may be suggesting, but should a Trader an opportunity for profit detect, they will disregard the cost to other species and upon it pounce.”
I chewed on that for a moment. “Are all Vithy so distrustful of the Tsf?”
“Only the few sensible.”
If she’d been this suspicious of everyone, I could’ve discounted her fears. But she had a point. Deal could justifiably present himself as an ombudsman for our entire galaxy and negotiate God knows what kind of arrangement. I had no way to assess the stakes here or how high they were stacked. And I wondered if Gara’s crystalline diction constituted a private message for me.
“Tell me, oh wondrous PT, what do you suggest I do?” I’d meant to sound humorous, but it came off a bit desperate.
“I suggest you maintain alertness full.”
Sunny shot me a concerned look, and I batted back a try at a reassuring smile. Then I tried to reassure myself with some old-fashioned self-flattery. Wasn’t I a good judge of character? Surely a better judge of character, even ET character, than a paranoid Vithy? I had no objective reason to trust Deal, but then again, why buy into Gara’s fears? Yet I trusted them both, admittedly with Gara getting the lion’s share of—
Aliens and trust! I’d been even denser than usual. Gara hadn’t laid out her latest concerns for my ears, or not entirely. No, she guessed or perhaps knew from some squeak inaudible to me, that our hosts were listening to us, and she hoped to make the Houck cautious about bargaining with Deal. She’d tried to clue me in by using that voice.
And speaking of speaking, Alex hadn’t said a word since the parking lot. Talk about uncharacteristic. His expression appeared unusually intent, and for once, he wasn’t fidgeting, bouncing, or drumming on his legs.
Sunny must’ve noticed the same thing. “You’re so quiet, child. How are you feeling?”
“I’m good, mom.” His voice turned conspiratorial, which for him meant a shouted whisper. “Just busy recording everything with my DM. Gonna play it at school so I don’t want to be the news.”
“The reporter’s motto,” I said. “That’s my boy.”
Gara shifted off the recliner. “I’d suggest we repair to the room common where we can all comfortable be.”
This time it was easy to read between her lines: despite her super senses she couldn’t hear Deal and Haxel and hoped the common area would facilitate eavesdropping. But the moment we settled there, both Trader and Houck joined us.
“I must attend to other duties shortly,” Haxel stated. “Should you want for anything, call aloud for me and I shall be here within moments. Appropriate food or Vithy-nurturing wavelengths will be served whenever you request, and menus are already traveling to your quarters.”
I spoke quickly. “Do you have time to answer a question or two before you leave?”
“That depends on the questions. What would you care to ask?”
“Can you tell me more about my role here?”
“Not yet. We wish to provide no chance for preconceptions. Any other questions?”
“Yes. How do you manage to hop between galaxies?”
“I, too,” Deal said, “would be interested in the answer. The energy expenditure seems impractical.”
Haxel hesitated before responding. “Our technique is surely identical to your method for interstellar travel, good Trader. Doctor, I will be delighted to answer you soon, but an intelligible response will involve correcting a misconception in your present science, and my duties are pressing.”
“Whenever you can.”
“Before I leave, Doctor, would you mind if I make my own inquiry?”
“Not at all.” Sometimes you can learn more from what people ask than what they answer.
“Speaking as objectively as possible, how would you describe the human race in terms of ethics, compassion, sensitivity, and overall goals?”
In ten words or less? Haxel’s luminous wings, up until now gently sculling the air, became still, giving me the uneasy sense that this question was extremely important.
My thoughts first turned to the negatives, the violence, selfishness, greed, cruelty, and insensitivity humanity exhibited every day and night. People were starving, children abused in appalling ways, animals too, racism used as a political tool, our environment poisoned, while so many rulers and politicians with power to change our lives for the better focused on increasing or preserving that power at all costs. Hate, war, murder, degradation, shortsightedness, slavery of many kinds, the unending quest for profit … an ugly picture.
We were self-infested with predators, scammers, and manipulators squatting in every conceivable socio-ecological-economic niche, ready to exploit every loophole in the human soul.…
Then again, we had our own angelic side: immense creativity, a deep appreciation of beauty and ability to produce it, honor, self-sacrifice, dedication to healing the world’s ills, dedication to serving humanity, heroism, humility, and a boundless reservoir of love. The human bell curve stretched beyond sight in both directions.
“Speaking as objectively as I can,” I said slowly, “I think our species is very young and … unevenly evolved at present. Consider us a work in progress. If things go as I hope, a great work in progress.”
Haxel’s wings swept backward, and the shining form between them seemed to bow. “Thank you for your response and candor. I will return to you soon whether you call me or not.”
When she left, I covertly studied Alex. Clearly his Intrepid Boy Reporter role was fraying. Soon, I thought, he’ll be bouncing off the walls. Didn’t know how right I was.
I turned to Sunny. “Time to unpack?”
“I’d suggest you delay that activity,” said an unfamiliar Houck just then entering the common room. “Haxel is busy, so I have come to show you what humans inexplicably refer to as ‘the ropes.’ Armed with such priceless information, the ‘unpack’ can proceed more intelligently. I’ll answer to the feminine name Laike if anyone dares address me.”
Obviously, Laike’s personality was nothing like Haxel’s, and her speech patterns equally different, staccato but wordy bursts that left me unsure, at first, that my ears weren’t playing tricks. No, my expectations were playing tricks. Hard to believe after dealing with Haxel that any Houck could be such a smartass, to use a word from back in the day when people said “back in the day.”
Despite her style, she offered useful info. Virtually everything in our suite of suites had been made voice controllable, from color and texture to furniture and décor. All surfaces could display whatever we wished. Safety, however, was rigidly enforced and our hosts would not allow us to be harmed. To demonstrate, Laike took to the air by leaping and flapping her multiple wings. She approached a wall at an alarming speed, but the collision I braced myself to witness didn’t happen. Still flapping away, she simply came to a stop.
