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Authors: Jennifer Foehner Wells
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rapidly, the clipped, forceful consonants were all Darcy could hear.
It was embarrassing that they spoke far slower when speaking to her, just so she could comprehend them. She’d overheard them joking about it, which she was certain was their intent.
They thought she was stupid.
The mean one turned his back and walked away.
The one remaining ducked his head in a gesture of acknowledgement and gently put his foreleg around Darcy, ushering her into a darkened, closet-sized room where just a few dim lights glowed in relief. The door closed behind them.
As soon as they were alone, Darcy appealed to him. Maybe a different tactic would work? So far she’d been unable to get them to tell her why she was there or what they were planning to do with her.
“Please, help me. I just want to survive. I want to know more about your species—how I can tell you apart, what your names are. Please—tell me something about you. Isn’t it possible that we could be friends?”
He didn’t answer. He didn’t move or look at her. He seemed to be deciding. Finally, he gestured at the room. “There is no need for decontamination. You have already undergone the procedure.” He paused, and when he spoke again, his clicks came out slow and soft. “No one answered your questions because someone could have been listening.”
She held her breath and waited, searching his alien features.
He turned his unblinking, multifaceted eyes to her again, briefly. “My brothers and I are a species called the hymenoptera. We are from a world ten times the size of your world, far distant from here.”
She wrinkled her brow. “You’re all male?” She had surmised that, but never been certain.
“Yes. Hain is our queen. Her consort, the Lovek, rarely leaves his quarters. He does all his dealings through Hain. I’m told he is like you. An anthropoid species. Apparently he doesn’t like us either, because none of us ever sees him.”
“Oh.” She felt mortified. She wanted to protest, but everything she thought to say sounded crude and insincere.
How could she be blamed for disliking her captors? That only highlighted how alien they really were. There had to be something more to that, a reason why they were so hypersensitive. The whole situation and their reaction to her seemed bizarre. There were so many things she didn’t understand.
“We are a hive species. We commonly work interstellar jobs like this. It is work others prefer not to do, but for which we are well suited.” He turned away and reached out to the computer interface near the door, pressing a few keys. “Blame is laid at our feet for the wrongdoings of others. These are things you cannot possibly understand.”
“But I might—I want to understand.”
“You have species like us on your world?”
“Yes.” She hesitated. “Similar. But they are smaller. Much…smaller.” She was afraid to say anything else, for fear of offending him.
“Ah. Yes. Oxygen is the limiting factor for species like ours. Your world’s atmosphere must contain a lower oxygen content. I am called Tesserae71. I am distinguished by the downy black fur around my ocelli.”
“I don’t know that term…”
“Ocelli? Simple eyes.” He tapped a pincer next to the dark spots above his large, compound eyes.
She stared at that part of him, committing his anatomy to memory.
He shifted. “In future, you may not want to stare with such frequency. It may be acceptable within your culture. We find it offensive. It will behoove you to be very cautious once you are inside here.”
She looked down at her hands. “Of course. I apologize. I just want to remember you.”
“It is unlikely you will see me again.”
“What? Why?”
Her stomach flipped over. She’d finally broken through to someone and now she’d never see him again? At least she’d gained some information from him. That was something. Now she knew that Hain pulled the strings for someone else and these guys, the hymenoptera, were
It was embarrassing that they spoke far slower when speaking to her, just so she could comprehend them. She’d overheard them joking about it, which she was certain was their intent.
They thought she was stupid.
The mean one turned his back and walked away.
The one remaining ducked his head in a gesture of acknowledgement and gently put his foreleg around Darcy, ushering her into a darkened, closet-sized room where just a few dim lights glowed in relief. The door closed behind them.
As soon as they were alone, Darcy appealed to him. Maybe a different tactic would work? So far she’d been unable to get them to tell her why she was there or what they were planning to do with her.
“Please, help me. I just want to survive. I want to know more about your species—how I can tell you apart, what your names are. Please—tell me something about you. Isn’t it possible that we could be friends?”
He didn’t answer. He didn’t move or look at her. He seemed to be deciding. Finally, he gestured at the room. “There is no need for decontamination. You have already undergone the procedure.” He paused, and when he spoke again, his clicks came out slow and soft. “No one answered your questions because someone could have been listening.”
She held her breath and waited, searching his alien features.
He turned his unblinking, multifaceted eyes to her again, briefly. “My brothers and I are a species called the hymenoptera. We are from a world ten times the size of your world, far distant from here.”
She wrinkled her brow. “You’re all male?” She had surmised that, but never been certain.
“Yes. Hain is our queen. Her consort, the Lovek, rarely leaves his quarters. He does all his dealings through Hain. I’m told he is like you. An anthropoid species. Apparently he doesn’t like us either, because none of us ever sees him.”
“Oh.” She felt mortified. She wanted to protest, but everything she thought to say sounded crude and insincere.
How could she be blamed for disliking her captors? That only highlighted how alien they really were. There had to be something more to that, a reason why they were so hypersensitive. The whole situation and their reaction to her seemed bizarre. There were so many things she didn’t understand.
“We are a hive species. We commonly work interstellar jobs like this. It is work others prefer not to do, but for which we are well suited.” He turned away and reached out to the computer interface near the door, pressing a few keys. “Blame is laid at our feet for the wrongdoings of others. These are things you cannot possibly understand.”
“But I might—I want to understand.”
“You have species like us on your world?”
“Yes.” She hesitated. “Similar. But they are smaller. Much…smaller.” She was afraid to say anything else, for fear of offending him.
“Ah. Yes. Oxygen is the limiting factor for species like ours. Your world’s atmosphere must contain a lower oxygen content. I am called Tesserae71. I am distinguished by the downy black fur around my ocelli.”
“I don’t know that term…”
“Ocelli? Simple eyes.” He tapped a pincer next to the dark spots above his large, compound eyes.
She stared at that part of him, committing his anatomy to memory.
He shifted. “In future, you may not want to stare with such frequency. It may be acceptable within your culture. We find it offensive. It will behoove you to be very cautious once you are inside here.”
She looked down at her hands. “Of course. I apologize. I just want to remember you.”
“It is unlikely you will see me again.”
“What? Why?”
Her stomach flipped over. She’d finally broken through to someone and now she’d never see him again? At least she’d gained some information from him. That was something. Now she knew that Hain pulled the strings for someone else and these guys, the hymenoptera, were
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