Tom watched as all of the Threck behind Amoss leaned to each other and chattered quietly amongst themselves.
“Your words are like moist song I wish to dance,” Amoss may have said… Tom checked Livetrans as the Threck went on:
LIVETRANS: [Your] words flow like beautiful music that could inspire dancing. To speak is to think, [I] think, and Tom speaks Threck words. [Is it] respectful that [I may] call [you] Tom? [Do your] companions know how to speak words? From which winds [is your] faraway land? [Do you] cooperate? [Now you.]
Thank you, Livetrans! Thank you, Minnie!
Minnie had mentioned that Threck could be very “flowery” with their speech. “But,” she’d warned, “on the off chance we ever end up down there, don’t try to make up your own flourishes. They shouldn’t consider it rude—only uneducated, which is understandable for a foreigner, but not worth the risk.”
Tom wasn’t sure if he was supposed to acknowledge the compliment, and then recalled another of Minnie’s tips: “Err on the side of not talking.” Now, this was mostly due to her assumption that she’d be on the scene in short time—that Tom would only have to stumble along for a moment or two until the real emissary arrived. Regretfully, Tom had expected the same.
“Please do call me Tom. My companions speak only in my language. The north winds come from our land. We do cooperate with each other, if that is your meaning. We are friends and team. We would like to be friends with Threck. How do I respectfully address you?”
Tom rushed out an M to Pablo and Angela.
TOM: Hey guys. Sticking to M’s while talking to these folks. If you don’t already have Livetrans up, you can listen in on this conversation and learn something. Tell Zisa, too. No DC with her.
ANGELA: Already up. You’re doing great! I can’t believe this is happening!
PABLO: Will do.
ANGELA: FYI no pressure, but unless something happened elsewhere in the past few years that we don’t know about yet, YOU are the first human being to communicate with an alien lifeform.
Angela added an ecstatic emoji to the M.
TOM: It’s because I’m suuuper qualified.
Tom inserted a terrified emoji.
Amoss’s response began appearing and self-correcting in Tom’s fone.
LIVETRANS: To know and speak with Tom is like bathing in warm mud. [You may] address me as Amoss. Dowfwoss… this is [unknown] for achievement, like winner. Does this have meaning for you? [We have] language Tom speaks with talent, but [we have] no such expertise to speak Tom’s language. Tom’s people [are more] smart than Threck. Such pleasure surges through ourselves at this significant event. The day is dry and hot. May both peoples retreat into [unknown] and continue pleasuring each other with words.
ANGELA: He wants us to pleasure each other.
TOM: You caught that, eh? So should we go with them?
ANGELA: I don’t think we’ve much choice. But my LT couldn’t figure out where he’s saying he wants us to go, and I’m not bathing in any warm mud, just so you know.
TOM: Mine either. And they’re technically all she. Ask Pablo and Zisa what they think we should do and see if you can reach Aether while I stall.
“My people would very much enjoy pleasure of more words with Threck people,” the synth voice played as Tom swung his arms around and mimed inhales and exhales. Talking to Threck, he determined, was more like performance art than conversation. “We would first like to move our belongings from the farmer field, and setup respectful temporary campsite on Threck land, if acceptable to Threck people.”
Amoss emitted an operatic sound Tom recognized. “It’s their laughter!” Minnie had gushed when playing the recording during an early mission meeting.
LIVETRANS: [laughter] [You and your] people are merrily considerate… What are Tom people called? And [you need] never worry about farmer wants. [They are not] Threck. Leave your belongings where you wish, and take what you desire from farmers. [We will] use their [unknown] for respite from dry and hot. Let us go now as there can be no pleasure in this [unknown]. Come along, if you would. [Our] enjoyment of you cannot cease at this time.
ANGELA: Zisa doesn’t think it’s a good idea that we all go with them, and I agree with her. Pablo tried contacting Aether but hasn’t received a response.
TOM: So what the hell do we do?
ANGELA: You and I go with them while Zisa and Pablo transport the EV out of here to the rally point. Zisa says she’s flown a cluster before.
TOM: K. Let them know. I’ll try to explain to Amoss.
ANGELA: I’ll grab our packs.
Amoss was already holding out an insistent, beckoning arm as she took a few steps toward the Country Threck domicile. What had she meant saying farmers weren’t Threck? Clearly she considered them lessor beings—perhaps some sort of class system Minnie mentioned and Tom hadn’t bothered to remember.
Tom took a few conciliatory steps forward as he composed his response.
“My people are called scientists. We live for learning. For science. I will enjoy joining you along with my friend, Angela, while my other friends continue their important work.”
Amoss stopped, her eyes sucked into her head, popped back out, and then peered past Tom to the EV, skimmers, and Zisa and Pablo.
LIVETRANS: Syons People. Some Syons People must work now? No. Let them work later. Come now.
Uh-oh, Tom thought. Is that annoyance seeping out?
Tom made a quick decision he wasn’t sure was wise. “These two are like farmers. They do not need or deserve pleasure of words with Threck.”
LIVETRANS: [laughter] Yes, I see now. Let us leave them to their work while we escape this dry and hot. Come now. Come now.
Tom reached back and accepted his pack from Angela, took her hand, and gingerly stepped over the rows of crops as they followed Amoss and the others toward the domicile.
2.3
Aether decided it was finally safe to open her visor. The air in the EV was essentially the same as what her suit provided, but a hearty lungful of the pod air somehow tasted fresher.
The EV bobbed subtly left as the giant towing animal below shifted its course to the right. The pod’s motion resumed its retchy natural rhythm (the creature propelled itself in bursts, much like a squid), a pool of sea water sloshing about at their feet. Gazing up through her porthole, Aether observed they weren’t so far from the ocean surface. Perhaps 20m. Where were the Sea Threck taking them?
Sorry, Skinny, Aether thought. Sea “People?” When exactly did you stop being Threck? And where the hell are you taking us?
Skinny had last said, “I show you. You will see,” before diving back in the water and trying to shut the EV hatch (Qin had kindly assisted).
Show us what, exactly? How bad the real Threck are? Show us what happens to people that insult you?
How could she have thought first contact would ever occur under the silly ideal conditions outlined in the mission guide?