A Brave New World

"My god, there have been others?" I was shocked. All of our reconnaissance missions had shown no signs of any life. The planet was completely barren, or at least that's what we thought. I needed more information.

"What happened to the other aliens?"

"We fought and destroyed them." Again, the shudder, this time the ground beneath me vibrated violently. These memories were clearly agitating Arkloss.

"I'm sorry, Arkloss. We are here, but we don't want to fight. We are a peaceful people. All we want is to live quietly."

"Yes, we have been monitoring your progress."

I realised my hand was still underground slowly stroking Arkloss, it felt pleasant, like comforting an old friend. "How are we able to communicate, Arkloss?"

"We have monitored you since you arrived. The planet did not allow for us to contact you; we had to stay buried deep within our planet. Now we are able to get closer to the surface, we can communicate, we have learned your language."

"So we are communicating in my language?"

"Yes, Maher."

What worried me was they seemed to be reading my thoughts, they were answering questions I had only thought.

"That is how our communication works, Maher."

"Holy shit..."

"I'll need to send in a report to my superiors. Inform them of your presence."

"Of course, we will need formal protocols, we can help with the dam construction."

"You can... How?"

"We can manipulate large boulders, much larger than the ones you have been utilising."

"The planet, before the asteroid. Were you the only inhabitants?"

"No, there were others, our atmosphere was very different back then. We were the only life force able to adapt quickly enough to survive. The others all perished."

"How will I get in touch with you?" I asked, confused. "How will I know I am talking to you?"

"I am we. There is only one."

"What about at the head of the lake, are you able to get close to the surface there?"

"Not yet, but we consider another three of your weeks and the water level will be high enough."

"Will we be able to communicate there."

"Yes, we have already been monitoring your conversations."

"You can hear everything?"

"Yes, we are aware of everything. We have been encouraged as you seem peaceful. You though, appear very unpopular amongst your peers. We were concerned in the growing levels of animosity."

"Yes, well I supposed I have rebelled, and turned aside a tradition dating back to the birth of our colony."

"Why have you chosen to rebel?"

"I do not agree with the tradition. In our society, we pair off into couples. We call this marriage. It is a sacred pledge when a couple elects to marry, and the laws of our colony protect the marriages." I said.

"We have heard of such things. You are not the first to colonise this planet. We do not follow those principles, we are a farm, all beings are welcomed by others."

"We are different then. We believe in monogamy, between married couples."

"You did not like the idea of sharing your wife?"

Surprised, I asked, "How did you know?"

"We have been monitoring your conversations. We are fully aware of your growth since your arrival."

"The animosity your decision created caused us to consider your ability to share our planet. We are peaceful, we do not like conflict."

It was actually getting dark. "I need to return to the base. I will inform my superiors of your presence. Perhaps schedule a meeting of our Elite?"

"Yes, we expected once contact was made, this would happen.

The walk back to the dam site camp was difficult. I tried to keep my mind clear; I was concerned that now I was aware of how their communications went, whether they would continue to track my thoughts.

It would make keeping secrets an impossibility.

Back at camp I went straight to the commanders office and knocked on his door. When he yelled "Enter," and saw it was me, I watched as his face dropped. "What do you want, Maher?"

"Sir, I have encountered an alien life force exists here on the planet."

Now I had his attention. "Preposterous, we have seen no signs of other beings."

"They live subterraneously. I have conversed with them."

"This is ridiculous, why would they choose you to talk to?"

"I encountered them while I was in the field taking readings. The lake level has allowed them to return to the surface."

"You have proof?" he demanded in disbelief.

"Not of our conversations, but there is data that shows how the atmosphere has been changing. The aliens exchange food, nutrients extracted from the soil, for gasses in the form of O2 and nitrogen."

"At this stage, we will keep this to ourselves. I do not want to create concern among the team."

"Sir, they are peaceful. Thy mean us no harm." I wanted to add that they were probably monitoring our conversation at that this very moment.

"How did they communicate? Do they speak our language?"

"They communicate mentally, telepathically. There are no words spoken. Sir, they can read our minds."

I watched on as his demeanour changed. His face took on a very serious expression. "They read our minds?"

"Yes sir. I cannot explain it."

He glanced around, and rather than speaking wrote on scrap of paper. 'How far can they reach?'

I smiled, he wasn't listening to me. I wrote of the paper. "They don't listen, they read our minds."

"Read..."

The realisation seeped into his expression, and he looked around. "Do you think they can reach this far?"

"They have been monitoring us from base at the Geo Domes, so yes. I believe so."

He glanced around the room, "Hello... Are you there?" There was nothing, silence prevailed.

"Sir, I think perhaps if we were to go up to the ravine where I made contact, maybe that would kickstart proceedings."

He nodded. "Very well. Let's keep this to ourselves for the moment. I don't want to incite fear."

"All right, Bairstow, send me everything you've got. I want data, and lots of it. Especially site locations. Where the samples were taken from."

"Yes sir." I left the project module feeling very uneasy. I wasn't sure how far the alien minds could reach. Perhaps they could only track voices, conversations this far away. Away from what, though? Was there a nerve centre, a hub I had no data on anything. One conversation, that's all I had.

I put together all the data and forwarded it to Stephens, our manager. I had my own data, which I kept for myself. My computer buzzed; there was a new message from Janna. 'CAN WE TALK?'

I called her directly, using the microphone. "Hello, Janna?"

"Hello, Maher. How was your day, any new interesting finds?"

"No, all very boring. What about your day, Janna?"

"The same, people are starting to include me in discussions. I stopped in to see my parents, and they were much warmer."

"You see, I think you were worried about nothing. Things will calm down once people realise they can push back. We don't have to blindly follow. We are allowed to ask questions."

"I'm not sure you are correct, but at least the outright hostility has gone."

"I'm sure other members of the colony will understand. I hope more people refuse."

"Oh good heavens. I hope not. This has been way too stressful."

The conversation slipped into the banal day-to-day stuff. I wanted to tell her about my discovery, but thought better of it.

The next day, Stephens and his deputy engineer met me after breakfast. After collecting my instruments, we headed out. On the walk up the shores of the new lake, Stephens and Ranui posed simple questions.

As we neared the sites where I had been gathering most of my data, I plugged in the atmospheric measuring sensors, and ran the charts. Both were surprised at the results. They wanted verification of the equipments calibration. Lucky I had been so sceptical of my results. I had run calibration tests only three days prior.

As the charts ran, Stephens asked, "Can we communicate with the beings?"

I shrugged. "I didn't contact them, they contacted me. Not sure I can make it happen."

"All right then, show me, where you were when thy contacted you."

We walked up the ravine, stopped where I had scrapped away the loose shale and reached in to touch the being.

Kneeling down, I scrapped away, the trench quickly filling with water. Reaching in, I felt the tentacle, the shudder running through me as I felt it tremble.

"Hello, Maher."

"Hello, Arkloss. I have brought along my superintendent, and senior engineer. They would like to meet and converse with you."

"Very well, hello Stephens and Ranui."

I glanced around at the pair to see if they were communicating. I had no idea, until I saw the look of astonishment on Ranui's face. They were apparently carrying on a dialogue, which I was not privy to.

"Arkloss, is there a way that we can all converse together, so we can all hear?"

"Yes, I can transmit all conversation."

"Thank you," I replied. This just seemed so weird. He could converse with us individually, where he could hear everybody, but it was private to the rest of us.

This was going to make it very difficult to manage. He hears everything, we only heard what he wanted. If indeed it was a he.

The conversation was rapid, with questions flying from Stephens and Ranui. I just took notes. I could see the consternation on their faces. I guess that was me yesterday. Now we were much deeper.

I did have one question. "Arkloss, how can we start communications with you?"

"Say my name, and I will respond."

"Do you monitor all our conversations, or just random snippets?"

"We monitor all signals. We are aware of everything."

"Even away from the lake?"

"We used to inhabit the whole planet, but due to the asteroid collision and war with aliens, we have been reduced to living here, close to the water source. There are other underground water sources and storage areas. We do, however, monitor all communications."

"You do this via telepathy, you can understand what we are thinking?"

"Yes, telepathy as you call it, is our means of communication. We absorb everything."

"That doesn't seem very fair. You have an extreme advantage over us."

"Yes, it is how we defeated our enemies. Rest assured, we do not use this unethically."

"But there are three thousand people living in our colony. How can you monitor all of those conversations, thoughts, ideas?"

"You use the word we," Stephens said. "How many is we?"

"We have evolved over the millennia. Our civilisation stretches beyond the millions."

"Wow, millions, the planet is able to sustain that many... what should we call you? Beings, do you have a definition?"

"We are, that is the closest human name I can equate. We are one civilisation. We do not separate into tribes, or colonies."

"Assominites, is that what you call the planet?"

"We have always known it as Asso. These names are as close as I can give in translation."

We communicated for what felt like a long time, but in essence was nothing.

"We must return to the project site, "Stephens said. It has been a pleasure to meet you, Arkloss. Can we return and continue to build our relationship?"

"Yes, I think that is wise. We must find ways to live together."

Stephens waited until we were almost back to the project site, before he said, "I think Arkloss is exaggerating. There is no physical way they could monitor so much information." He glanced at me speculatively. "Have you ever communicated with him away from the area where we met today?"

"No, that is only the second time we have actually communicated."

"Yes, I think we need to start thinking about defences against them. If what he said is true. They have destroyed two other colonies. We need to find a way to maintain a separation."

"Perhaps trenches?" Ranui said. "If we dig deep trenches around the colony biospheres, and even around our site here at the lakes project, we can stop their tentacles from reaching inside or under our community."

Stephens nodded. "Yes, a great idea. It appears to me that they are only capable of receiving data in very localised areas. Trenches might limit their spread. We must also consider, that the information he gave us might not be correct. I think we should investigate other defences. Pesticides, or similar agents. They are more plant life than actual life."

"Sir, that seems risky to me," I interjected. "At the moment we know very little about the Assominites. Arkloss has been nothing but forthcoming. We do not know there strengths. If we anger them, we may have to live with very severe consequences. They have repelled aliens before."

He gave me a strange glare. "We are not aliens."

"To Arkloss and the Assominites we are. This is their planet. We are the interlopers."

"No, this is our home now. We need to find ways to limit their ability to monitor our information."

I sighed quietly, as we walked into the project office. 'This is lunacy' I thought to myself.

"Mayer, your superior is wrong. We reach much further than he thinks. I have not lied to you."

"I never doubted that, Arkloss. I'm not sure I can make him see sense. Perhaps you should be having this conversation with him, not me."

"We do not want to start a confrontation. Please talk to him, explain."

"Certainly. I can try."

Knocking on Stephens' door, I could hear him discussing our meeting with Arkloss with the High Council. It seemed to be tense.

When I entered, he asked, "What do you want Maher?"

"Sir, you asked me if Arkloss or the Assominites had contacted me?"

"Yes." He scowled.

"Arkloss just spoke to me as I was dropping of my instrumentation. He said he was unhappy with your plans to dig trenches."

"Are you sure about this, Maher? Why didn't he speak to me directly?"

"He said he didn't want to start a confrontation."

As we stood face to face, he suddenly dropped to his knees, both hands coming up to cover his ears, and he screamed in great pain. "Make it stop."

Looking around the room, I could see nothing, feel nothing. His pain was clearly visible, but I could see no reason for it.

Just as quickly as it started, he fell forward, his arms stretching out to soften his fall. "Stephens, that is a tiny sample of our power. Do you understand now?" It was Arkloss, and he had included me on his communication.

"Yes, I understand," Stephens replied.

"What happened, sir?" I asked, as I helped him to his feet.

"It was like a loud piercing sound wave. I could feel it crushing my head. These... Assominites are very powerful."

He sat in his chair, his hands rubbing his ears. "I think we underestimated them. We are going to have to reconsider our interactions. We need to find out a way to communicate without their interference."

"Perhaps an agreement, or a convention, or treaty would be a better method. They appear friendly."

"Are you mad, Maher? Did you not see what he did to me. That is not friendly."

"Sir, if I may. You were discussing using pesticides and digging trenches. I think that is far more antagonistic."

"Maher, we need to be able to defend ourselves against them."

"Why? They do us no harm. They have been monitoring us ever since we arrived, and they have done us no harm. If we are able to maintain a friendly relationship, I think we have nothing to fear."

"The problem is, they are getting stronger. It is related to the lake. Perhaps we should stop building the dam and let the water go."

"Sir, in all fairness, we don't know they are getting stronger. Just because we have found a means to communicate doesn't mean they are stronger today than they were yesterday."

"Put it all in a report Maher. I need all the data you have."

"Yes sir."

I couldn't understand Stephens attitude; he was taking the wrong approach. Alone in my room, as I prepared my report. I called softly. "Arkloss."

"Yes, Maher."

"I apologise for Stephens. He doesn't understand."

"We do not seek out confrontation or conflict. We want to live in harmony. Believe me when I say. If we wanted to harm you, your colony would no longer exist. Our civilisation extends back eons. We have fought far more advanced alien life forces than yours."

"I believe you. The other immigrants to Asso, did you live in harmony with them?"

"We tried, but they refused our attempts at a conciliatory existence. We were forced into war to defend ourselves. I fear now that your race has become aware of us, you will force us to defend ourselves again."

"The one thing I don't understand is, there are no signs of other life forces ever having lived here. We have surveyed the whole planet's surface."

"The ravages of time have removed their history. The last war was over five thousand of your annual measurements."

"Will you move back to the planets surface now there is a water supply?"

"Our existence is not determinate on water. We chose to live and adapt to a subterranean life for reasons other than atmospheric conditions. We have adapted dependent on circumstance."

"Is there something we should know? Is our colony in some danger?"

"The planet has a history of asteroid collisions."

"We track asteroids, there have been only minor impacts, according to our records."

"Maher, you have been living on Asso for nothing more than a speck of time. We adapted to live as we do for our protection. We may not utilise technology to monitor our universe, but we are aware of all movements within our system."

"Wow, you do that telepathically?"

"We use our collective mind. Your intelligence has not evolved, you rely on what you see. Our intellect goes far past your current development..."

Just then, my computer screen lit up and the flashing light in the corner indicated Janna was calling. "Hello, Maher," she said as her face filled my screen.

"Hello, Janna."

"You are the talk of the colony. You discovered an alien life form?"

"More they discovered me. They are the original inhabitants of the planet."

"There is a small group of botanists being dispatched to assist you in studying them. I have been selected, but there is a restriction. I have to get your approval before they will allow me to travel. They do not want any conflict at the site."

When I didn't answer, she asked, "Will you agree?"

"Yes, I see no reason why we cannot work together. We are adults, Janna."

"Maher, we are still man and wife. One of the reasons they are sending me is to save resources. We would be expected to share your accommodation."

"Ah, I see. Be honest with me, Janna, did they ask you. Or did you ask them?"

"What are you implying? Are you suggesting I am using this as a chance to try and repair our marriage?"

"Yes, I suppose I am. Before you answer, Janna, let me say. I will know if you are lying."

There was a short pause before she sighed in defeat. "Yes, all right. I admit I volunteered. Maher, I miss you. I love you and I want our marriage back the way it used to be before that stupid 'Fostering enhancement' tradition interfered."

"Can I call you back in ten minutes, Janna?"

Her scowl said differently, but she replied. "Very well."

As the screen went blank, I called Arkloss. "Yes, Maher."

"You say you monitor all communications within our community?"

"Yes."

"You would be aware of why I am somewhat of an outcast."

"Yes."

"I need to know something."

"The answer to your question is yes. She was looking forward to the 'Fostering enhancement' tradition.

"You knew I was going to ask that?"

"Yes."

"Have I no secrets?"

"Not from me."

"So she was lying to me when she said she didn't want to participate?"

"Maher, this is not what I would describe as ethical. Do you agree?"

"Yes, I am stretching the bounds of what should be honourable. But I am asking none the less.

There was a brief pause, before Arkloss returned. "I am allowing this conversation because we are what you call friends. Under normal circumstances, we will not become involved in revealing personal information."