Contact
Intrigue
We all rushed to unfasten our harnesses to help him. Mikhail was first, but by the time he reached the captain and the alien, it was over. The alien and captain both opened their eyes, the captain sweating profusely, and the alien withdrew its arms.
After a while, Mikhail prompted, “Captain?”
“They were created at the beginning…” trailed the captain, staring off into space, then he turned his head and looked Mikhail right in the eyes. “The beginning…of the universe. The beginning of time. They’ve always been here, watching, working, waiting.”
As Mikhail was about to question him, the captain beat him to it. “They aren’t these aliens,” said the captain, looking at them now, “they are their consciousnesses. They just inhabit bodies. They are completely non-corporeal, but they can possess any empty body they want, even design and build their own. These bodies are grown in vats, by the hundreds, as are many other designs. They can make their own…custom fit.”
He turned now to James, and said, “that’s what their computer meant when it said it wasn’t a computer. It’s one of them, just inhabiting circuitry rather than an organic body.”
“Normally, I do inhabit an organic body. The ship,” said the alien speakervoice, “is an organic body. It just has a neural net similar enough to your electronics and computer to allow cross-compatibility.”
“Well,” said James, “That’s good. Otherwise I’d need to report this mission a total failure.”
We looked over at him, to find that he had a gun pointed at one of the aliens, and another trained solidly on the captain. “James, what are you doing?” asked Luis, but the only reply was the movement of the gun aimed at the captain to point at him instead.
After a while, Mikhail prompted, “Captain?”
“They were created at the beginning…” trailed the captain, staring off into space, then he turned his head and looked Mikhail right in the eyes. “The beginning…of the universe. The beginning of time. They’ve always been here, watching, working, waiting.”
As Mikhail was about to question him, the captain beat him to it. “They aren’t these aliens,” said the captain, looking at them now, “they are their consciousnesses. They just inhabit bodies. They are completely non-corporeal, but they can possess any empty body they want, even design and build their own. These bodies are grown in vats, by the hundreds, as are many other designs. They can make their own…custom fit.”
He turned now to James, and said, “that’s what their computer meant when it said it wasn’t a computer. It’s one of them, just inhabiting circuitry rather than an organic body.”
“Normally, I do inhabit an organic body. The ship,” said the alien speakervoice, “is an organic body. It just has a neural net similar enough to your electronics and computer to allow cross-compatibility.”
“Well,” said James, “That’s good. Otherwise I’d need to report this mission a total failure.”
We looked over at him, to find that he had a gun pointed at one of the aliens, and another trained solidly on the captain. “James, what are you doing?” asked Luis, but the only reply was the movement of the gun aimed at the captain to point at him instead.