Kibi watched closely as Ilika paused to talk to former shipmates, old friends, and a stranger or two. Among the furry mammals, large birds, a quiet reptile taller than herself, and an eight-legged spider that made Mati’s surgeon look cuddly, Kibi observed a common ritual of greeting that included eye contact and slight bows. She saw very little smiling, hand shaking, or hugging, and started keeping mental notes on what gestures might be unique to her own kind.
Ilika directed them into an eating place where they could choose from a dozen different meals, from a big bowl of leaves and flowers, to strips of raw fish. Ilika selected a little of everything, and Kibi grabbed cups of juice.
The eating tables in the courtyard bustled with activity and overflowed with all kinds of creatures sitting or standing. The pair of humans looked around, then exchanged grins when they spotted a quiet deck beside a pool of water.
Just as they got comfortable on the deck, a large dolphin breached the surface clutching a fish between rows of sharp teeth. Ilika quickly held the tray higher as a wave of water drenched the entire deck.
Kibi looked at Ilika and saw that he was smiling, so she did the same. The dolphin, still upright in the water, tossed the fish into the air, caught and swallowed it, and settled back to the surface. “Zalara Sim!” it said in a high-pitched voice, laying its head onto the deck.
“Krish-ka!” Ilika replied in recognition. “I haven’t seen you in over a year!”
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“Been in Nebula Seven-Two-Seven for months. Very glad to be back eating fresh fish!”
“Zalara Sim?” Kibi questioned, looking at Ilika.
“The name of my planet, in the native language, and some scientists have very good memories. I was the navigator on a stellar observing ship for a while.”
The dolphin laughed in a very human way. “You have a girl now?”
“Krish-ka, this is Kibi, steward of the Manessa Kwi.”
The dolphin rolled its head back and forth, looking at each of them in turn.
“She is much more than your steward.”
Ilika sighed and smiled. “Dolphins can read emotions very well,” he said to Kibi. “Yes, Krish-ka, she’s my dear lover.”
The dolphin brought its wet snout close to Kibi. With only a moment of hesitation, Kibi offered her open hand. The snout nuzzled her fingers, but its teeth remained hidden. “Is he a good lover?” the dolphin asked softly.
Kibi grinned and looked at Ilika. “Most of the time. Enough to . . . you know . . . make me want to keep him.”
Krish-ka laughed and started to slide back into the water. “Be good, Zalara Sim! I must go teach some young ones the difference between a star and an asteroid. Bye!”
When the dolphin was gone, Kibi laughed. “Even I know that much!”
After eating a dozen foods Kibi had never seen before, she took on a thoughtful expression. “I feel . . . perfectly safe here. I’ve never felt that way before . . . anywhere.”
“Just remember,” Ilika began, “Nebador star stations are about the only places in the universe where that’s true. And don’t forget, we’re on-call.
Danger is just a mission assignment away!”
Kibi laughed. “I don’t know about you, but I’m sopping wet! Does that count as danger?”
Ilika grinned at her while shaking his head. “That’s just the price of working side by side with other sapient creatures. Ready to see the mission assignment room?”
She nodded and rose to her feet.
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In fresh, dry clothes, Kibi entered the huge hollow sphere with her mouth open. Thick tree trunks curved around the sides, and ramps connected platforms at many points in the large open space. Soft lights of different colors illuminated all the platforms and other places where creatures of all sorts sat or stood, some talking, others working at consoles.
Mammals and arachnids constantly moved up and down the ramps. Birds floated through the air from platform to platform. Marine mammals and reptiles worked in or near pools at the bottom of the spherical room.
Kibi tilted her head back. Stars and planets shined through every crystal wall. “But . . . how can . . . aren’t we . . .”
Ilika smiled. “Yes, we’re still deep inside the star station. The walls are all display screens, most of them of stars and planets far from here, anywhere some problem needs attention.”
Kibi’s skin tingled as she began to see more than mammals, birds, reptiles, and big spiders. Barely-seen fuzzy balls of light, of different colors and sizes, moved casually from one platform to another, or streaked away faster than the eye could follow, sometimes right through solid walls.
One large orange glow, almost a meter across, hovered near a furry black ursine at a console. As the bear worked, he often turned his head to the fuzzy light, listened for a moment, then nodded and went back to work.
At a platform close to a crystal wall, three small blue lights danced around each other. A large bird changed the view angle and magnification of the star field with sweeps of his wings in the air. After a moment, the blue lights vanished and the bird stepped to a console.
“Ilika . . . with all these glowing orbs . . . I feel like I’m back at Lumber Town with Melorania . . .”
“You can see them? I had a hunch you might. How many colors?”
“Um . . . three . . . no, four.”
“There are eleven or twelve different types of non-material beings here,”
Ilika said, his head tilted up as he scanned the room, “and we experience them as different colors. You’ll see them all in time.”
“Wow. But . . . what . . .”
“Not all creatures in the universe are flesh and blood, my friend. You’ve
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met Melorania. We’ll work with her often, since she’s head of the Transport Service, but there are many others who will be involved in our missions from time to time. The one in charge of Satamia Star Station is here right now.
Can you spot him?”
After a few deep breaths to master her fear, Kibi searched the room with her eyes. She was tempted to point to the orange glow, but changed her mind.
The little blues were always coming and going, like messengers. Finally she knew, and pointed to a beautiful forest-green light, moving slowly from place to place, as if observing.
Ilika
grinned.
“Makes sense,” Kibi declared, “because the whole station’s a big tree!”
They strolled along the ramps and observed the work at display screens or control consoles. Often, hurried conferences took place among flesh and blood creatures, fuzzy balls of light, or both.
Kibi was starting to think everyone was ignoring Ilika and herself, when suddenly she knew she was being watched. She slowly turned and discovered the forest-green light floating in mid-air not far away, and even though it had no eyes or ears, she knew with certainty it was looking at her, and listening to both her words and her thoughts.
“H . . . hello . . .” she managed to stutter out.
Ilika noticed and observed, but didn’t interfere.
The glowing green fuzziness did nothing, said nothing, but a moment later Kibi’s mission bracelet chimed. She flipped open the cover and peered at the little display. “Kibi,” she read aloud, “please move the Manessa Kwi from dock C-Thirteen to C-Fourteen. Kerloran of Satamia.”
Kibi looked up, and the forest-green orb slowly moved away. The feeling of being watched faded as he departed.
“Move Manessa? Me?”
Ilika smiled. “I think your name is Kibi . . .”
“You’ll help me, right?”
Before Ilika could answer, his mission bracelet chimed. “Nope. I have to go talk to someone.”
Kibi looked forlorn. “Do I get Mati?”
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“No way! She’s got enough to deal with, and Rini with her.”
“At least . . . Sata?”
Ilika tapped at his bracelet. “Sorry. She’s in flight somewhere, and it’s not on the Manessa Kwi.”
Kibi sighed. “And I’m sure that if I tried to find Boro, he’d be busy too, right?”
Ilika tried to suppress a grin. “Probably. I’d better go.”
“But . . . I don’t even know where dock C-Thirteen is!”
“Ask someone!” Ilika called back as he headed for one of the doorways that led out of the Mission Assignment Room.
Deep Learning Notes
As Kibi observed, social rituals of greeting would have to be different based on the anatomy of the people involved. Smiling requires lips and teeth. Shaking hands requires . . . you guessed it. Hugging needs arms or wings. Bowing, a gesture of respect and submission, is one of the few things that could be done by just about any animal (at least, those with a head).
A common ritual of trust-building is offering a vulnerable part of the body within reach of the teeth or claws of the other person. Dogs and cats are doing this when they roll on their backs and show their bellies. Kibi did this with her hand near the dolphin’s teeth.
There was a time, not very long ago, when people did NOT know the difference between a star and an asteroid. In fact, “asteroid” means
“star-like.”
Ilika and Kibi discussed how Nebador facilities are about the only completely safe places in the universe. (We’ll skip, for now, why this is the case.) What rules, personnel, and institutions would NOT be necessary because of that?
Most people believe that the universe is populated by, and run by,
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non-material (or “spiritual”) beings. However, most of these same people would not claim to recognize the scene in the Mission Assignment Room because we like to think our gods and angels look like us. In other words, we like “anthropomorphic” spiritual beings (not to be confused with
“anthropogenic,” or man-made). When they don’t look like us, we usually refer to them as “false gods,” “demons,” “devils,” or some other negative term.
Ironically in most cases, these negative terms, while expressing our dislike, also accept the reality of the non-anthropomorphic spiritual beings.
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