Getting back to the reality of the moment, he quickly assessed that his companions and he didn’t seem in immediate danger. The aliens could have easily killed them by now, if such was their intention. But he also thought he would be wise to stay on his guard, nonetheless. There was no way to know yet what the imposing beings wanted, or what they were capable of.
“You have nothing to fear from us, Dedrick,” said Jorh.
Suddenly remembering they could read his mind, he tried to stop thinking about anything, only to realize thinking of not thinking was still thinking. Struggling with the idea, he looked up to find the alien female, Mahhzee, smiling at him, somewhat amused. François couldn’t wait any longer. He stepped a bit closer.
“Hi, my name is François… I’m… Wow! I’m not even sure where to begin… How do you—?”
The alien named Gahneo didn’t let François finish his question.
“We can read your thoughts. It is how we communicate on our world. As Jorh said, we do not know how, but we have been able to listen to all of you, ever since you arrived on Kesra. That is how we learned your language.”
“Hearing” the alien’s thoughts was getting to all of them, making them a bit confused and disoriented. It all seemed so impossible. And yet, it was really happening. Looking at the intimidating figure, Vera was wondering if they were Martians, or visitors from another world. The alien answered.
“We are from Kahnu, a planet destroyed long ago. We came to Kesra, this planet you call Mars, to escape. We have been here a very long time. Like you, we are the only ones left of our kind.”
“We are glad you brought Chasma back with you. Without her help, we would still be in Time-Frost,” volunteered the alien named Gahneo.
Although she had a feeling the being already knew her next question, Vera asked it anyway. “Why were you ‘talking’ to Chasma only, and not to all of us? I mean, before you were out of those things,” she added, pointing at the pods. Her voice betrayed her anxiety about the alien’s interest in her daughter.
“Vera, you have nothing to fear from us, I promise you. We have been following your progress for quite some time now, and we have become quite fond of you and your friends.” The female alien was now seated on her crossed legs, next to Jorh. “It would appear Chasma is much more receptive to our telepathic call than the rest of you. We think it may be because she was born on Kesra, and is still quite young for your species, although we’re not sure why that would make a difference. We tried for years to communicate with Dedrick from time to time, using what you call dreams, but his mind was resisting us. It was an exhausting effort for us while still in Time-Frost. Over time, the connection had weakened, but as Chasma got older, we were able to establish a stronger telepathic bond with her. She was much more receptive than any of you, so we concentrated our efforts on her, hoping she would guide you all to us.”
“I told you it was OK, Mommy,” said Chasma, looking at her mother reassuringly. She was smiling, and the way she did had a soothing effect Vera did not expect. She suddenly felt at peace and safe, looking at her child, so confident and calm. Unable to resist, Vera smiled, passing her hand on Chasma’s cheek.
“How long have you been in these pods?” asked François.
“A very long time, I’m afraid,” replied Jorh. “According to your Earth calendar, we believe the destruction of our world took place seventy million years ago.”
“Se… SEVENTY MILLION YEARS?!” repeated Sabrina loudly, absolutely dumbfounded. She was not the only one taken aback by the alien’s statement. The entire group was in shock.
“Yes. At that time, your planet was still home to large primitive creatures you call dinosaurs, a time when none of the species on your world had yet entered the third stage of evolution, what you call self-awareness. We used to come to your wor—”
The alien named Mahhzee suddenly wobbled, and barely caught herself at the last moment, before falling on her side. Gahneo, who had not said much since he had been awakened, rushed to her side and grabbed her in his long arms, just before she passed out. Jorh was right next to them, and it was clear the two males were exchanging words telepathically, but none of the five adult humans could hear what was being said.
The larger alien finally turned to Dedrick and his crew, while Gahneo carried the inert female alien back to her pod.
“My sister, Mahhzee, is still very weak from her long sleep. She needs to rest and so do we. We will have to continue this conversation later. There is so much more to tell you… We will contact you again soon,” he finished, as he raised his two hands in front of his chest and interlaced his twelve fingers. And for a short instant, the lights and colors that flew through his hands dazzled them. He then turned away and walked a few large steps to his pod and climbed in. Within seconds, the colored gases began refilling the containers, and the three aliens quickly disappeared in their enclosing cocoons. Everyone was quiet for a moment, until François broke the silence.
“That’s it? Just like that?” he exclaimed.
“Well, you heard him. They are exhausted,” replied Dedrick.
“At a time like this?”
“Jorh said they were in those things for millions of years, right? You can’t expect them to jump out and go run a marathon now, can you?” remarked Ladli.
“Millions of years… That’s insane…” said Vera out loud.
“Or just another perfectly uneventful day on Mars, I guess,” replied François sarcastically.
“Personally, I feel better knowing they’re back inside those things,” volunteered Sabrina almost too quietly.
“Why are you still whispering?” asked Vera, also whispering.
“I… I don’t know…”
“Well, that was quite something, wouldn’t you agree?” said the Russian commander.
François just looked at him with a clueless expression, shrugged his shoulders, and glided out into the corridor.
“Unbelievable,” commented Dedrick, looking at the Frenchman disappear.
Back at the base, the long discussions over the amazing events of the day had finally died out, everyone pretty much exhausted, and the eight colonists had, by now, retreated in their individual sleeping quarters. Outside, the Martian night looked as dark as empty space itself. The world around the lonely outpost was utterly silent and still, if not for a few dust clouds occasionally rising along the nearby cliffs, invisible in the pitch-black night. A few scattered reflections on the low hills beyond the station, caused by the base’s own lights, were the only shapes breaking the monotony of the impenetrable scene.
Dedrick, staring quietly at them through the small round window of his pod, was lost in deep thoughts, still wide awake. His eyes gazed up at the darkness of space above and focused unconsciously their attention on a particularly brilliant star sparkling in shades of white and blue; Earth. As they had countless times before, thoughts of the dangers their small oasis sheltered them from in the immensity of the inhospitable desert beyond, came back to haunt him, stronger than ever.
“I hope we did the right thing, waking up these aliens.”