Universal Language
Kevin Gong
Sanja licked his furry hand. It didn't satisfy his hunger. He sighed and began to
crawl down the small hill, stopping only to watch a stroongel - which looks very
much like a wimpy lizard - race after a small insect. It was feeding time for just
about everyone on the planet.
The bright yellow sun filtered through the reddish-orange atmosphere, shining majesticaly
across the entire valley. Sanja reached the base of the hill and began to chew at
the nourishing plant-life strewn across the field - it stretched out all the way
to the horizon. He had never ventured far enough to see the end of the plant-life.
Another stroongel swept past Sanja, this one running from a wide-eyed predator, a
creature five times the size of the stroongel and almost twice as fast. Crunch.
Sanja, being a polite jantia, turned while the froom feasted on the stroongel.
Suddenly, the froom sprinted past Sanja toward a crevice under a rock and shot into it. He hadn't
even finished his stroongel. Then Sanja noticed why. A huge metallic creature was
descending toward the valley at an alarming speed. Smoke and fire bristled from
the creature's tail as it flailed downward. Sanja, fearing his life, quickly crawled
back into his cave on the hill.
A shrill whine pierced Sanja's ears as the creature continued its descent. Finally,
with an ear-splitting racket, it landed in a heap just on the other side of the valley,
directly in the line of Sanja's cringing eyes, peeking out from his cave. By then, all of his family - his mate and their two little jantias - had joined him to find
out what all the fuss was about. As soon as the thing hit the surface, they all
fled towards the depths of the cave.
"Mmmmm. Uhhh..." Shelly groaned as she began to gain consciousness. The last thing
she had remembered was frantically trying to repair the emergency brakes, then hastily
jumping into crash seats. The first thing that came to her mind as she woke up was "I've got a terrible headache".
The others on the bridge were still unconscious. Smoke spewed from every corner of
the wreckage. Shelly raised herself up gingerly, dislodging the rubble that had
landed on top of her during the crash. As she dusted off her slightly torn shock-suit,
the others in the ship began to awaken, moaning and groaning as they realized what had
happened.
Shelly picked her way over the mess to help the captain up to his feet. He had a
cut across his forehead; blood was spilling over his eyes. Shelly tore a piece off
of the captain's shirt and wiped the blood off of his eyes. Slowly, he opened his
eyes to see his navigator sitting over him. He smiled. "Are we dead?"
"Not yet." Shelly responded softly, returning his smile.
The captain closed his eyes. "Well, I feel dead. I don't see how we survived that
crash." Opening his eyes again, he said "Help me up."
He watched as his navigator cleared a mound of rubble from his legs. He grabbed her
outstretched hand and she pulled him up to his feet. "All right, let's help the
others."
They went through the rubble, helping the rest of the crew on the bridge. Soon the
entire crew was conscious - the captain, Shelly, and three others in charge of cargo,
passengers, and scanning. None of the eleven passengers had survived.
Four little jantias stuck their heads out of their cave. Across the valley, they
saw the mass of a smoking, crushed, metallic creature. Sanja cautiously began to
again descend the hill, motioning his family to follow. They cringed. "Come on"
Sanja stated in the musical tongue of the jantia. His children hovered around their mother;
she just silently shook her head defiantly.
Sanja turned away from his family and continued downward by himself. As he made his
descent, he noticed several other jantias peering out at the metal monster from the
depths of their caves. He saw no stroongels or frooms this time. All seemed to
be waiting for him to approach the monster.
As he approached, he realized that the seething metallic monster was dead. He let
out a sigh of relief. Noticing a two-legged creature standing inside of it, however,
he quickly hid behind a boulder. Peering around the rock, he watched as the creature
angrily ripped a fragment of some furry-like substance from the monster. Then Sanja
realized the creature was cleaning another creature; he remember brushing his baby
jantias' foreheads with his small hand. He looked closely at the creature, noticing
a concentration of fur on only one side of the head. It was bushy and very concentrated,
not like real fur. The creature looked very gentle. Suddenly, another, similar
creature grabbed the upright creature and pulled himself up. His fur was splattered
with blood. Sanja, terrified, raced across the field and back up the hill to his family.
The sun was directly overhead as the crew of The Glowing Heart
began to bury the dead passengers. Smoke and sparks still enveloped the ship.
All was silent as they dug a large hole with shovels they had salvaged from the wreckage.
The automated equipment had been destroyed by the crash.
The planet's sun had nearly slipped below the horizon by the time they had finished
digging the hole. Nearing exhaustion, they performed the unfortunate task of gathering
up the remains of the dead passengers. As the last pieces were dropped into the
hole, the planet's two moons shone brightly overhead.
The captain looked around at his crew. "Let us take a moment to reflect upon the
unfortunate death of of those who lie before us now."
Everyone lowered their heads toward the ground. Only the occasional rustle of a small
unseen animal could be heard. "While we do not know them personally, we know they
did not deserve such a fate as this. Let their souls rest in peace."
Each crew member thought through the day's events and remembered how he had served
these people a drink, or talked to them about the ship, or just smiled at them passing
through a hall. And all of them now saw the remains of these people - spread around
a crudely-dug pit on an alien planet.
Jantias are usually curious creatures. Now they only speculated about the intentions
of the creatures spewed forth from the monster. Just as the sun was setting, the
whole village of jantias met in the village cave to discuss what to do. Sanja, even
though he was the only one who had actually seen them close up, was out-talked by several
old jantias who ventured many a wild speculation.
"I tell you they're the creation of one of our cruel predators. I can tell a Swazka
creation when I see one."
"Oh, don't be a fool. They're a sign from the heavens; we are doomed."
"That's ridiculous. They're no sign from the heavens. Why, they're probably just
a bunch of mutant birds."
"We should do something about them."
The cave suddenly turned silent. Each jantia looked at the cave floor, as if not
daring to speak.
Sanja looked around at the cowardly faces. "Oh, don't be cowards. We should take
a closer look at them. I'm sure they mean no harm. Maybe they need our help. Or
maybe we could use their help." Grumbling sounds filtered around the cave. "You
know as much as I do that we're running out of caves for everyone."
Everyone had to agree that it was true. Soon, if nothing was done, the jantias could
be packed into their caves so tight there would be no more space to sleep. But still
there was apprehension in their faces.
Finally, Sanja pushed himself up and walked out of the cave. The meeting soon broke
up indecisively, and Sanja could hear dozens of jantias shuffling off towards their
caves as he did the same.
The navigator of The Glowing Heart
awoke as the warm rays of the rising sun played over her face. At first, she thought
she was back home, waking up one morning of a camping trip she had taken while still
planet-bound. She was snugly fit into a sleeping bag inside of a canvas tent. She kicked the pole in the center of the tent, as she had done so many times on those
trips, toppling the tent on top of her sleeping bag. Then she realized the reality
of the situation. She was not back home. She was not on a camping trip. In front
of her was the still-smoldering wreckage of the ship she had navigated half of her life.
Feeling a little depressed, she rolled over, resting her chin on the back of her hands,
which lay flat against the cold, hard ground. She looked closely at the vegetation
directly in front of her hands; it almost looked like grass, she thought. But she
knew it was not.
Looking across the valley, she noticed for the first time a series of caves inset
into the small, rocky hills. She made a mental note to investigate them, then turned
her attention to getting up. By the time she had gotten out of her sleeping bag,
rolled it up, and folded the tent, the rest of the crew members were either up or getting
up.
Soon everyone was wide awake.
"All right. I know you all realize there are several possible things that can happen.
Our distress signal may be picked up and we could be rescued. Until that happens,
however - if ever, we should try to do our best to survive as well as we can. I
don't want anyone going off alone without my permission. We work as a team. Understood?"
They all instinctively nodded their heads in agreement.
"All right. First, we search Glo' for anything we might find useful. Let's go."
The entire crew weaved in and out of the remains of the ship, occasionally tossing
aside useless pieces of scrap metal. When they were finished, almost an hour later,
the ship was only a skeleton. All that could be salvaged was placed in the large
tent, which had also been salvaged. There were a few food rations, a medical kit, laser
guns, and a few other odds and ends like blankets, rope, and cooking utensils.
Hunger began to pound at Shelly's stomach, so she suggested to the captain "We should
find a use for those pots and pans."
The captain laughed. "I guess so." The captain turned to the rest of his crew.
"All right, crew. Let's search for food."
Sanja woke at the first sign of light. His family was still fast asleep as he left
the cave in search of breakfast.
Climbing through the hill in search of some fruit, Sanja sensed something strange.
Suddenly, he heard noises. Ducking behind a clump of vegetation, he watched as
the same creatures he had seen in the monster walked past him, apparently also looking
for breakfast. Sanja followed.
The creatures soon found a sleeping lanhz. Its calm look concealed its piercing teeth
and vicious growl. Sanja watched from a boulder as one of the creatures started
cautiously toward it, waking it. As soon as the lanhz saw the creatures surrounding
him, he leapt, jaws exposing a set of gleaming white fangs.
One of the creatures - the one that had been covered with blood - whipped his right
hand around his waist and shot forth a great lightening bolt, killing the lanhz.
Sanja was so shocked, he fell off of his perch, landing roughly at Shelly's feet.
Shelly, startled, muffled a scream. The captain almost shot her legs off, but restrained
himself; he kept his laser aimed at Sanja.
Sanja, once he shook off the effects of the fall, found himself being threatened with
the lightening machine. He hid behind Shelly. His head barely reached past her
knees. The captain, realizing this alien creature apparently meant no harm, lowered
his laser. "Well, let's take a look at this thing." He moved toward the alien. Sanja
wrapped his furry arms around Shelly's legs tightly, further shielding himself.
"Well, why don't you look at him; he seems to like you." The captain failed to point
out the fact that the alien also appeared to be terrified by him.
Shelly turned around and, staring into Sanja's eyes the whole time, slowly bent down.
"What kind of creature are you?" she asked in a soft, gentle voice.
Sanja looked inquisitively at her, shaking his head at the jumble of sounds he had
just heard. "What are you doing here?" he asked. He was greeted with a blank stare.
One of the crew suggested "I wish our translator hadn't broken in the crash. It
sure might have come in useful."
"We don't need it. We may not be able to understand what he says, but there are other
forms of communication that are universal." Shelly smiled at Sanja. He almost looked
like a teddy bear, she thought. She stroked his nervous forehead and, motioning
her head toward the captain, said "Don't worry, he won't hurt you."
Sanja began to calm down until, suddenly, a growling sound erupted from the depths
of the creature that was holding him. He leapt back and watched her cautiously.
She was holding her stomach. Sanja felt embarrassed - he realized she was obviously
hungry. He waved his arms happily above his head, leading the crew of The Golden Heart
towards their first breakfast on the planet.
The captain rested comfortably on the soft grassy surface of the planet, taking in
the warm rays of the bright sun. "Mmm. That was good. I haven't had fresh fruit
- at home or on any other planet - since I started out into space. And I can't even
remember when that was."
Shelly turned to him from her place on a boulder. "Sure you have - remember that
time on Floogel. The natives gave us tons of fresh fruit."
The captain chuckled. "Yeah, well, they were probably trying to get rid of it so
they wouldn't have to eat it. That stuff was awful."
"That's probably just because you weren't used to it."
"Well, I'm not used to this and I like it. Oh, I guess I should try to thank that
creature for leading us here. Where is he?" The captain looked around the area.
He saw his navigator sitting on a rock, his scanning officer lying flat on his back
on the ground, and the other two crew members playing tick-tack-toe in the dirt. Sanja
was nowhere to be found.
"I don't know. Do you think we should look for him?"
"Not now. We still have things to do. All right, crew. Attention. We're going
to go search for water now. And keep your eyes open for any more of those things
that attacked Officer Randle."
The crew got up lazily and began to hike a straight line away from their camp.
"Where have you been?"
Sanja lowered the fruit he had brought and stared at his family. "Just out to find
breakfast."
They seemed to accept this and subsequently tore into the fresh fruit. Sanja watched
them eat.
"Aren't you going to eat anything, Sanja?"
Sanja replied "I already ate.", which was a lie. He just had other things on his
mind.
"I think I'll go looking for some caves. I won't be back until dark."
"Oh, don't be silly. You've searched for caves so many times. There isn't anything
else to be found. If there were caves, they've probably already been taken."
"Well, there's still a chance. And if we don't find caves soon, we may have to share
this cave with another family." He paused, as if wondering how that would be like.
"Well, I'll see you tonight."
Sanja descended the hills once again. This time, he knew exactly where he was going.
The crew hiked for miles and miles. Soon the sun was directly overhead, and they
had not seen any sign of water.
"Maybe we're not doing this right. Let's go back to the ship."
The captain placed a stern glare on the face of the resigned crewman. "Look, if you
want to give up now, go ahead. The rest of us will continue the search. You're
free to go back to the shipwreck and wither whenever you like." As the crewman lowered
his head, the captain ordered "All right. Let's move."
They continued to hike for several more miles. As the sun began to cast longer and
longer shadows behind them, however, the captain began to realize they would have
to try again tomorrow. "All right. Time to turn back, now. We can try another
direction tomorrow. In any case, the fruit has a lot of liquid in it. We shouldn't die of
thurst yet." He sniffed his clothes. "We may die of our own smell, though." The
crew chuckled only slightly.
By the time they got back to the wreckage, the sun had already set below the horizon.
"Well, I guess I'll turn in now. That hike almost exhausted me - and that thing almost
killed me." Officer Randle, once in charge of cargo on a interstellar spacecraft,
now stretched his arms and yawned on the surface of an alien planet.
Shelly felt a familiar tug at her leg. She lowered her head to find Sanja looking
up at her. She bent down and, trying to express her words by her facial expressions
as best she could, said "Where were you? I was beginning to think we wouldn't get
a chance to thank you for the fruit." She made the appropriate gestures with her hands,
pointing toward Sanja, herself, and her mouth.
Sanja seemed to understand the general meaning of it. He pointed towards the caves,
then moved his arm, drawing a line from the caves to where he now stood. Shelly
patted his head as a sign of thanks.
Everyone else just watched in silence.
Remembering his family, Sanja started motioning again. He pointed to himself and
drew a line to the caves. Then he waved a half-circle in the direction of the sun
as it would rise in the morning and drew a line from the caves to the spaceship.
Shelly patted him on the head again and watched as Sanja walked off towards the caves.
The next morning Shelly was awakened by a tug on her hair. She opened her eyes and
was greeted with the inquisitive face of Sanja. Shelly laughed. Then she kicked
the pole that was holding up her tent. Sanja scattered six feet back as the tent
fell on Shelly. She smiled at the frightened jantia and quickly got out of her sleeping
bag. Everyone else was still fast asleep.
It was fairly easy for Shelly to get Sanja to help her fold the tent. After she had
rolled up the sleeping bag, she turned her full attention to Sanja.
Sanja pointed to the caves once again. He grabbed Shelly's left leg, and tried to
get her to follow him. She nodded her head. Then, as if remembering something,
she grabbed Sanja's hand and placed it back at his side. She left a note for the
captain and then followed Sanja to the caves.
As Sanja and Shelly approached the entrance to a large cave, Shelly began to hear
a low murmur of strange sounds. They were the same type of sounds Sanja had first
emitted. As soon as Shelly entered the cave, everything turned silent. The faces
of dozens of fearful jantias stared expectanly at the creature that had risen from the depths
of the metallic monster.
"The creature is friendly." pleaded Sanja. Still the jantias waited apprehensively.
Sanja prodded Shelly forward. The jantias closest to the cave entrance drew back,
forcing the others against the back of the cave.
Sanja looked helplessly at his newly-found friend. She tossed her hands indecisively
into the air. "Now what?" she said aloud. This sent the meeting into an uproar.
The crowd of jantias chilled at the sound of the alien voice, scrunching even further
back into the cave. Finally, Sanja raised his hands and began to speak to his fellow
jantias.
"Stop this nonsense. This creature is my friend. The creatures mean no harm. I
have been with them. They are simply trying to survive; yet, they possess great
power. I have seen one aim a lightening bolt." With that, the crowd shivered.
"But they mean no harm. I think they can help us. Everyone here knows we are running out of
caves. Perhaps they can help us somehow. Surely one who can hurl lightening can
mold a cave." The jantias began to calm down and listen to Sanja's reasoning. "What
do you say? Should we ask for help?"
"All right."
"I see no harm in it."
"Go ahead, do it."
Still they appeared frightened by the alien's presence. But they had allowed Sanja
to go ahead with his idea.
It didn't take long to find a mother jantia about to give birth. It didn't take much
longer after that for Sanja to explain the problem to Shelly. It was nearly mid-day
by this time, so Shelly motioned to Sanja that she had to return. Sanja followed.
The captain was furious. "How could you leave like that? You know we should stick
together. This place could be dangerous. And we need to go find water!"
"Sorry, captain. It's just that I think these creatures can help us. And they need
our help. We could help each other."
Before the captain could reply, Shelly began to motion to Sanja. After a few exchanges,
Shelly turned back to the captain and said triumphantly "We don't need to look for
water. It's just on the other side of Glo'."
The captain sighed. "Well why didn't the lil' bugger tell us that before
we hiked a marathon?" He laughed, not expecting a response. "All right, crew,
you heard her. Go get some water and clean yourselves. God, you smell."
The following weeks the crew began to build a shack out of the available plantlife.
Sanja showed them to the strongest plants. Some of them were almost as strong as
wood. Sometimes they needed to use an ax they had salvaged from the ship. They
cleared the mess of the ship; they even banged out a roof from some of the wreckage.
After many weeks of watching from the caves, the jantias finally accepted these alien
creatures and began to help. They would gather materials, bring food, and a few
brave ones would even help draw up crude plans for more shacks.
Still, the best way the crew and the jantias could communicate were through Shelly
and Sanja. The others could communicate a little, but those two had practically
developed a new language consisting largely of arm waves, pointing, kicking, stomping,
and eye movements.
Soon the crew had a place to sleep under a roof. This was good, for the rains would
be coming very soon. Also, the jantias got a few more places to live in. Some jantias
wouldn't go near the shacks, though. Others, still only comfortable in a cave setting, would insist on placing rocks and dirt on the shack walls and ceiling. Still,
the jantia problem of over-crowding was over.
"Hey, captain. Whatever happened to that little distress signal box?" Officer Panzer
said. She had once been in charge of taking care of the passengers of The Glowing Heart
, but that had been almost a year ago now.
"I've still got it. Right here in my pocket." He brought it out to show to her.
"Still going strong. If any ship comes into this system, they'll hear this thing."
"You know, I wonder about that. I wonder what it would be like if we ever did get
rescued. I wonder if any of us would leave."
"Of course we would. Come on, Gloria, don't you miss home?"
"Why should I? We were never there - we were always moving from one alien system
to another."
"Well, still, there are a lot of things i
miss. Think of what it would be like to see other people again. Think what it
would be like to roam around the galaxy in a spaceship again. Think how it would
be like..."
"No. I don't know. Look at Shelly." Shelly was talking with Sanja. "That's probably
the best friend she's ever had. She wouldn't leave without him, and he seems to
be married. I don't think it would be fair to separate them from the rest of the
village, and I don't think we'll take the whole village if we leave.
Look at Randall. He's been hiking around the whole planet, I think. He really enjoys
this place. Back on that ship, he was a nobody, moving around stale fruit, unloading
spare parts,... He wouldn't want to leave.
Would you really want to leave all of this?"
The captain thoughtfully turned the question over in his mind. "I don't know. But
I'm not getting rid of this thing." He weighed the distress signaller in the palm
of his right hand. "Not yet."
Copyright 1987 by Kevin Gong. Unauthorized duplication,
posting, or publication is strictly prohibited.
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