Another wave of tremors shook the ship once again, and the alien suddenly let out a high-pitched growl that sent chills through all of them. Moving back several more steps, Dedrick took a quick glance around him. They were about halfway between the alien and the room’s entrance. If needed, they could try to run for it, but judging by the size of the alien’s massive legs, their chances of making it beyond that door were probably nonexistent, he quickly realized. Once the alien was fully awake, it would undoubtedly have the upper hand. He shifted his attention to Vera and Chasma. His daughter looked as comfortable and content as she would have been watching TV in her room. His wife, on the other hand, seemed understandably fearful and stressed. But she wasn’t panicking; at least not yet. The two were right next to him, and he had no intention of letting anything happen to either one of them, if he could help it. Still keeping an eye on the immobile being hovering in its purple light, he looked to his left. François, the daredevil of the bunch, didn’t look that reassured either, but a quick glance back from the Frenchman told Dedrick he was OK. Sabrina was tightly glued to him. Ladli, close to them, appeared to be coping.
The alien had begun to slowly move her arms and legs again, as if loosening the joints and muscles of her imposing body. A strong pulse suddenly shook the being’s core once more, and the alien finally came to rest in the middle of the platform, now standing on its massive legs. The being slowly raised her arms out, and began to flex her fingers, its eyes still closed. A moment later, the light show had ended, and it finally stood in front of them, in all its majestic presence, now immobile and utterly silent.
Dedrick, staring intensely at the alien, didn’t notice the small buzzing sound until it got louder. He looked around the room, trying to pinpoint its source, but it seemed to be coming from everywhere. By their expression of discomfort, the rest of the team was obviously hearing it too. Fearfully looking around, Vera was about to put Chasma’s helmet back on, to protect her daughter from the painful noise, when it abruptly stopped. They all turned their attention back to the alien.
Its eyelids began to flicker. The small group instinctively held their breath. The large eyes, at first struggling to deal with the brightness of the surroundings, having been closed for as long as they probably had, slowly opened on the intruders, and stared in absolute silence. François realized they were about to find out if waking her up was such a good idea after all.
At first, seemingly confused, the alien kept blinking its eyes at them, scanning the room and the strange occupants it obviously did not recognize. Dedrick could not get over the beautiful deep purple of its eyes. The tall being slowly lowered itself off the platform, and after some apparent initial discomfort, took a few steps forward. All six humans stepped back with apprehension, but the alien ignored them and, passing right through the fearful group, simply headed for the circular row of life pods. Leaning over one of them, it appeared to stare through the container for a while, before moving to another pod. Waving its hand over the capsule, it awakened the shell and stepped back. The pod began to vibrate slightly and lit up, quickly becoming translucent, and the swirling gases inside started to change color and dissipate. As the object slowly hovered to the center of the room, the central sphere moved back up to the ceiling, and began to spin again. Soon, the encapsulating container was gone, revealing a second alien, even taller and imposing than the first. A few minutes later, the new giant was opening his eyes on the small group of humans.
Just as the first one had, the alien began scanning the room and its occupants. Its large purple eyes stopped on Chasma. Although the stranger’s mouth looked quite different and much smaller than ours, Dedrick could tell without a doubt that the giant was smiling at her. Chasma smiled back. The large purple eyes then turned their gaze on Dedrick. Uncertain of what to do, he attempted a weak smile of his own, which made him feel silly, but appeared to please the tall being. Meanwhile, the first alien was already waking up a third hibernating individual.
A few minutes later, three large aliens were standing in front of the colonists, imposing in their size and unique looks. All present in the room were staring back and forth at each other when Chasma said, “You’re welcome,” addressing the tallest of the three beings.
“Who are you talkin—” started to ask Vera, when they all heard an unfamiliar voice resonate in their heads.
“Thank you.”
The “voice” was deep and clear, with a rich tone that felt strangely soothing. The odd sensation would have been hard to explain for any of them. Completely taken by surprise, Dedrick stared at the giant alien, utterly confused, and yet aware that the voice was telepathically talking to him and his crew… in English.
“Yes, you are correct. We are communicating with you and your friends telepathically, and we know your language. We can also ‘hear’ your thoughts,” added the alien. “My name is Jorh, and this is Mahhzee, my sister, and Gahneo. We are from Kahnu.”
Dedrick wasn’t the only one in shock. They had all heard the strange telepathic voice. The alien had just introduced himself and his two companions, again in plain English. Before any of them could say anything, the alien named Jorh approached and sat down in front of them, his large flexible legs folded under him. Blinking his big purple eyes at Dedrick, he extended his giant hand, slowly. He slowly opened his six even-length fingers to reveal a small white sphere, the size of a football.
The alien watched him hesitate, and spoke again telepathically, “This is for you. A Zarfha sphere.” He then set it on the floor in front of Dedrick.
“A thank you for your help,” offered the alien named Mahhzee. “…For getting us out of Time-Frost. Thank you.”
Turning to François, Sabrina whispered, “I hear them in my head! This is so weird!”
“I know. Me too. It feels really strange.”
Mahhzee was the smaller of the three aliens, but only by a half a meter or so. Two tentacles dangled on each side of her jaw, a feature the other two didn’t have. Dedrick also noticed her eyes appeared to blink more often than her companions when she “spoke.”
“My… My name is Dedrick. We are from Earth.” He realized that last statement probably didn’t mean anything to them. “I… I thank you for your gift.” He didn’t really know what else to say.
“You are welcome, Dedrick. We are quite familiar with all of you.”
“I… I see.”
Sensing the small group’s disconcert, the alien felt he needed to explain himself.
“Your arrival, years ago, awakened us. We do not know why or how, but it did. Since then, we have been following you. We were unable to free ourselves from the pods, but we could ‘hear’ you. We are truly sorry about your planet and your people.”
Dedrick was feeling overwhelmed at the moment. They all did. He had just realized the true magnitude of what was happening. He was engaged in a conversation with beings from another world; another intelligent, and obviously advanced species. They were magnificent in size and stance. They looked proud and confident, and appeared peaceful and mannered. On that last observation, Dedrick truly hoped he was right. After so many centuries wondering if there was life elsewhere in the universe, after so many generations asking if we were alone, they finally had the answer. Life was possible elsewhere. Earth wasn’t the only planet harboring it, after all. So did other worlds, and if these beings were from another star, there was a high probability they were many more out there. But then also came the realization that Earth’s population had probably been completely eradicated. To think they were only a few years away from all the answers. A few long seconds passed before he realized everyone was looking at him.