Carrie slumped to the sand. The alien sea flopped onto the shore and drew back, flopped and drew back. She put her head in her hands. She’d only seen Dave for the first time yesterday. Not twenty four hours had passed since meeting him. He’d winked at her. He’d complimented her bag. He’d brought her cake.
She drew a sleeve across her eyes. If only she had demanded Gavin send him back to Earth, even if he refused to send her. There was no reason for Dave to be involved. None at all. This was supposed to be her job. She wondered if Dave had a partner. He had never spoken of anyone, but he must at the very least have family and friends who would never know what happened to him, and she couldn’t tell them, assuming she managed to get home. They would have her locked up.
A sob burst from her, and another and another. Tears spilled from her eyes and ran down her face, cutting channels in the traces of yellow gloop. It wasn’t Dave’s fault he had come here, it was hers. She should have been more careful. She should have put away the things Gavin had given her, then he wouldn’t have seen them. He wouldn’t have been tempted to look at them and he might have left the kitchen before the cupboard door opened.
Thinking about the devices she’d left on her table reminded Carrie of the translator. She wondered if she could use to to speak to Gavin, or if it would at least send signals that showed her distressed state. Going home was the only thing on her mind now. If she begged, maybe he would let her. He couldn’t refuse now that her companion had died, surely? The thought of spending another second on this planet looking at the ocean that had swallowed her friend, that had become his grave, was unbearable.
When they’d first left the ocean, she’d taken the translator out of her pocket and put it down on the sand. She soon found where she had left it, covered thinly in alien custard. She exhaled. It was a safe distance from the ocean’s edge.
Carrie reached down to pick up the translator. As her fingers made contact, a cacophony of outraged squeals erupted in her mind. She snatched her hand away, and stared at the device. Reaching out again, she lightly touched it with her fingertips. Once more, there was a chorus of voices. Upon removing her fingers, the voices stopped.
Kneeling next to the translator, she placed a finger on it and concentrated on what the voices were saying. They were speaking English, but they were so loud and outraged, and there were so many, they were almost incomprehensible. Carrie frowned. Some voices were shrilling Catch the invader and Down with all aliens, others were shouting Victory and We got one of them. Carrie could also make out some quieter voices saying Our poor citizens and Gone forever and Eaten by an alien.
Eaten by an alien? Carrie jerked her finger away. She looked at the custard sea and wiped her mouth. The yellow liquid looked like an ocean. It covered at least half the planet, according to what she had seen from her rides on the placktoid guard. It was the colour and taste of custard, and even had its weird viscosity. But she was the only ‘alien’ around, and she had definitely eaten some of it. It had never occurred to her...Carrie’s stomach squirmed.
Laying a finger on the translator again, the voices instantly started up in her mind. The custard was full of beings communicating telepathically. She wondered if they could also hear her thoughts.
Hello? she said in her mind. Can you hear me? The voices continued without reaction. I’m a stranger here. I’m sorry for...Hello? But as much as she tried, she got no response. The custard creatures didn’t seem to hear her at all. She would have to try speaking.
“Hello?” She repeated herself several times at increasing volume, then bellowed.
Some of the closer, louder voices ceased, though a monotonous drone continued in the background. It seemed a few parts of the yellow liquid had heard her. There was shushing, and calls of Be quiet and Shut up, it’s speaking. A single voice piped Murderer! before it was silenced.
“Can I speak to someone?” asked Carrie. “I wanted to say, I’m very sorry for, er, accidentally eating one, or several, of you.”
Cries of Killer, Criminal, He was my best friend and How could you? echoed in Carrie’s mind. Her eyes began to fill with tears. “I’m really sorry. I had no idea. Where I come from, we eat something that looks exactly like you, and I just thought you were the same thing. It was...you were...” The words ‘delicious’ died on her lips.
That’s no excuse was the majority response, closely followed by How would you like it if we came to your planet and ate some of you? and We don’t believe a word of it.
“Honestly, back on Earth, I would never do such a thing. I’m actually a vegetarian, you know, and I have pets. I love animals.”
The outrage this statement provoked was deafening. Carrie removed her finger from the translator in fear her brain would burst. Erratic ripples flowed over the ocean surface. Custard tongues rose up and ran towards her, only to topple uselessly down when they reached the shore edge. Carrie stepped away a few paces, cursing herself.
She folded her arms and bit her lip. There was nothing else for her to do but try again. Gavin wouldn’t find out there was something wrong unless he discovered it through the translator, and there seemed to be no way off this planet without his help. She had to touch the device even if she couldn’t get through to the custard ocean She stepped closer to the translator and placed a toe on it.
“Sorry about that,” she shouted several times until the hubbub quietened enough to indicate at least some of the custard was listening. “I didn’t mean to say you’re animals. I just meant, I wouldn’t have eaten you if I’d realised you were alive. I don’t eat living things, I mean things that once lived, unless you include plants and stuff.” Carrie paused. “What I mean to say is, I’m really, really sorry I ate some of you, and if I’d known you were living, and intelligent, and had feelings, I would never have done it. I don’t know what I can do to prove it to you, but it’s true.”
Anger welled up in Carrie. “And you attacked my friend. Why did you do that? He wasn’t the one that hurt you; it was me.”
A host of ocean voices responded to Carrie’s words, and she could not clearly make out what any of them were saying. The tones were angry, measured, conciliatory, outraged, reasoning, and sympathetic all at once, with none louder than the rest. She listened for several minutes, but the voices went on and on and seemed to be in no hurry to come to any kind of consensus or response she could understand. Carrie’s mind buzzed with the noise. She lost concentration and gave up.
Leaving the shore to walk and think for a while, images of Dave’ flailing hand and the bubble of air, the last air he had breathed, popping on the ocean surface, played over and over in her mind. She pictured his face. He’d tried to make her feel welcome, when no one else in the call center had been friendly. He’d come to her house, thinking she was having a housewarming party. He’d even owned up about stealing the translator. And she had got him killed by eating some of an alien sea.
Carrie reached the edge of the leaf forest where she and Dave had run when the custard ocean was being bombed. She stopped and turned, looking back at the vast yellow expanse. The placktoids had been bombing the ocean, an ocean that could talk and move at will. Of course. It was...it was...what had Gavin called it? The oootoon. The yellow gloop was the other side in the conflict with the placktoids.
Returning to the shoreline, Carrie found the voices had calmed down. There were still so many it was difficult to understand what they were saying, but she could make out some utterances.
What is it, anyway? some were asking, and Why is it here? and What should we do with it? In response to the final question there was a chorus of Ruin, ruin, ruin.
Carrie swallowed. “Hello?” she called, and as she spoke many voices quietened down. “I can answer some of your questions if you like. My name’s Carrie. Carrie Hatchett, and I’m a human, from Earth.”
Human, what’s that? Earth? Never heard of it. There’s no such place. It’s making it up. Are they all murderous savages where you come from, then? How strange to go around all separated like that. How do you...you know?
Carrie’s forehead knotted into a frown. She had to speak to the oootoon, but how was she supposed to speak to hundreds, or thousands or millions of them at once? It was impossible, yet there was nothing to do but to try. She set her lips.
“Yes, there really is a planet called Earth,” she said. “I don’t know where it is, or how I came here from there, but it’s my home. The sea there is blue and it isn’t alive like you are, but it’s full of living things. And the land, well, lots of that is green, but there are also mountains and deserts and icy places where the ground is always frozen. And...” Her voice caught. “And it’s very, very beautiful.” And a long, long way away, she thought.
Blue sea? What’s a sea? Weird. Sounds like a dump. Don’t be rude. Where could that be, then? Is it far? So what? Who cares?
“Anyway,” Carrie said, “I’m here to resolve this problem you’ve got with the placktoids.”
Problem, what problem? Oh, she means the things, you know. Oh those other aliens. What are they? Placktoids they call themselves. Urghh, horrible. Can’t stand them. Soon put a stop to their nonsense.
“So, if we could get on to solving that, I could get out of your way.” And home.
Well, it all started long, long ago, when most of us were just drops, isn’t that right? I’d say it goes further back than that. Start at the beginning, work your way forward, then stop. No, just tell her the important bits. The voices continued, with snippets of information here, an anecdote there, and lots of chatter in between. After a while Carrie’s attention wandered, and the events of the last few hours began to catch up. Her eyelids began drooping, and her head nodded.
When we captured the other one, said a voice. The other placktoid? No, the other one like the one here.
Carrie’s head jerked up. The other one like the one here? She was the only alien here. The other one like her was Dave, but the oootoon had said captured. Not killed, drowned, destroyed or any other word used to describe taking a life.
“Excuse me,” she shouted. “Excuse me. Be quiet, and listen, please, listen to me, it’s very important.” After a few more attempts, there was a lull in the chatter. “My companion, the other human, is he...” Carrie screwed her eyes shut. “Is he still alive?”
The response was outraged. Of course it’s still alive. What do you take us for, savages?