The Amity Incident by C M Weller

Author:C M Weller
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: adventure, science fiction, discovery, exploration, female protagonist, alien viewpoint, amalgam universe
Publisher: C M Weller

94.

T'reka froze when she realised she was being watched. It was the young human. A sibling of Su-syn's.

"Hello, pretty birdie," cooed the young human. It had one of the cleared human foods in their hands. Moving very carefully. Or, more accurately, a child's version of very carefully. Bringing the little cake forwards. "Hello, Trekker. Pretty birdie."

This human, who had never seen her before this day, knew her name. The approximation of her name that the humans she knew who knew her named her.

The young human was smaller than Trekker. But probably massed more. This was a mammal never evolved for flight. They were made for - according to her observations - running and brachiating. This child was a dense mass of muscle and bone that could plausibly cause T'reka grievous injury if it so chose.

And it was offering her a snack.

Su-syn must have been training her family members on how to approach and talk to her friend the alien bird.

T'reka crept carefully down from her allegedly hidden perch to where the child was waiting with its treat. She tapped her sternum when she was in full view and said, "T'reka."

"Trekker," said the little human. Then a surprisingly accurate, "T'reka."

T'reka carefully took the cake from the small human's outstretched arms. Pointed to the younger human and made an inquisitive noise.

The small human grinned, showing off many small teeth and pounded its own chest. "Wila. Wila."

T'reka tried, but these humans had some awfully difficult names. "Wee-yah?"

"Wila."

"Wee-hya?"

The child demonstrated how to make the 'la' sound, moving with exaggerated slowness and its mouth wide open.

T'reka shook her head. Her mouth was not that flexible, but she tried. "Wee-zha."

"Wee-ya," said the child with a roll of its deep brown eyes. Diplomacy was obviously not one of the topics on the human curriculum. "Trekker come follow? More eats."

Su-syn appeared and offered her own little cake. "Trekker come follow. Su-syn is show tell important."

"Many see T'reka," she said. "Many go afraid."

"All us know T'reka. Come see. Come hear. Us feeding you good. Many good."

Wee-ya, trailing behind them, imitated T'reka's cautious walk. Repeating, "Chicken walk, chicken walk," as they did so.

Su-syn made an expression that spoke volumes. It said, Ignore the brat, we have yet to teach them manners. It also said, I have to put up with stuff like this every day.

T'reka remembered younger nest-mates, and the problems they could cause on the long and laborious path to proper socialisation. And some, like her, never made it all the way and chose the dangerous path of science.

The humans who saw T'reka froze briefly and then got out of their way. The halls were made for the upright human bodies, not the wide and tilted Numidid kind. She had had five days to adapt her modes of travel according to the tight spaces of this bizarre metal boat. And though she got around when the humans were not in them, she preferred to stay in the larger spaces of the hold.

Up a flight of stairs. Two. Three, and they were on the salt-washed deck and the depressingly grey sky.

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