A collection of science fiction tales

Alien Friend

The bubbling brook just outside Aurelia's cavern woke her up with gurgles that were more obnoxious than normal. Try as she might to ignore it, the gurgling persisted with a vengeance, however this time it was joined by delightfully wet stomping sounds.

The perfect fog of sleep having been whooshed away by the noise she gave a loud groan. She turned over and lay on her back, wide awake now, and listened for the noise.

It seemed to have stopped however, just as her brain crossed the threshold into Definitely-Awake-Land. Stretching out she decided to get up and investigate the noise, maybe it was a plumbing problem she joked.

As she stepped outside she passed the mouth of her cavern which was covered in a shimmery veil of vines  she wondered what had made the noise. This place was not like any of the places she'd visited before, she hadn't come across a single creature since she'd crashed here which was in stark contrast to the rest of her travels. 

She was almost fully convinced that she had concocted the entire symphony of noises that had awoken her. When she looked down and saw unmistakable muddy footprints that were scattered across the bank.

The first thing she felt was sense of unease and then anxiety came in with a fell swoop. This was all followed by a thready sense of excitement.

What kind of creature had entered into her forgotten valley?

Trying to figure out what story the muddied footprints told, she saw that they lead into the only wooded area in the valley. Great. Back home she came from a long line of trackers and whilst she had never taken a liking to it, favouring the whim of being an explorer, it was now something that would come into good use.

Carefully treading on bare feet, she made her way towards the woods and closed her eyes to listen. "You must feel your surroundings Auri, feel every life and every soul that is around you. Use your ears, nose and mind to pick out the one you're looking for then let your instinct guide you, tracking is in your blood."

Suddenly she heard rustling in the bushes to her left. Got you. Feigning right she disappeared into the darkness of the woods before creeping up behind and grab It.

After carrying it to the clearing, she looked at it properly and was taken aback. It was the oddest thing she had ever laid eyes on and someone seemed to have put the poor creature in a comical outfit, perhaps it was a pet. A large glass mask and some sort of uncomfortable primitive latex looking material.

As it made futile attempts to escape from her firm grip, she tried desperately to convey that she meant no harm. Looking into its terrified eyes though, she saw a face that looked much like earlier images of her people before their evolution.

Was there a hint of knowing behind those eyes, perhaps even intelligence?

"I won't hurt you." she whispered.

Suddenly she remembered what this costume reminded her of; she'd seen it in a museum and it was from thousands of years ago. Something her ancestors had used to help them breath in foreign atmospheres before they perfected gene therapy. But why would this creature need that, unless...

Was it possible that it wasn't from here, was it as alien to this land as she was?

Aurelia wondered where it had come from, whatever it was it must be some sort of intelligent being because space travel wasn't for the simple-minded. The fact that she didn't recognize it however meant that it was highly likely that this was an entirely new species that had only recently begun space travel.

She suddenly felt the once familiar quivers of excitement much like when she first joined The Explorers. Wherever this creature came from, it must also have a way of travelling to and fro which meant she may finally be able to escape. As she carried the creature the rest of the way to her cavern and gently placed it on her makeshift bed, she allowed herself the luxury of hope.

"Hello, where do you come from?" Aurelia didn't think that she'd get an answer but on the off chance that she did, she hoped that it would reply in one of the multitude of languages she did speak.

All she got back was a garbled mess and so she decided to use her knowledge in approaching foreign species. The first step was always to establish a base of vocabulary and understanding, so she set off with pointing at her possessions and saying the word for them slowly, then waiting for It to repeat.

After initial befuddlement, she saw a spark of understanding in its tiny eyes and she immediately tried to repeat the word. She moved around the cavern naming things and was filled with growing excitement when the creature made good attempts each time.

Finally, she came back and sat next to It and pointed to herself, "Aurelia."

They had formed an uneasy acquaintance and it couldn't be denied that the creature was far more comfortable around her now. This could be the budding of a tenuous friendship rooted in what she suspected was a mutual need to leave this foreign land.

When it pointed to itself, she could hardly hear what it was saying, there were no consonants in its language and she struggled to understand it.

"Oogan?" she tried.

The creature seemed frustrated and tried again, this time in a louder voice. Aurelia thought she'd finally gotten it, so she gave it a whirl.

"Yooman!" she exclaimed excitedly, an odd name for any creature undoubtedly. The creature, filled with excitement at a shared understanding barrelled towards her and wrapped its arms around her neck and after initial surprise, she scooped her little alien friend into her comparably large embrace and spun it around.

"Nice to meet you Yooman."