Praying for Mantis

Kurt walked through the bazaar at the edge of the spaceport, taking in the sights. Around him, galactic commerce ground forward and he found that his sense of wonder had been rubbed dry. After a couple weeks, it seemed completely normal to see four armed merchants selling unrecognizable electronics and machinery to walking plant people, three meter tall creatures from a nightmare strolling through a crowd eating something that looked like candy, and beings walking _over_ the crowd with long, skinny legs while talking on devices that looked like old Earth portable phones. The diversity of intelligent species able to either breath the same air or cohabit the same spaces had originally boggled his mind, but with that special human ability to become accustomed to even the most wondrous sights, it was now just normal.

Until just a few years earlier, humanity had (as far as it knew) lived in an amazing universe empty of intelligence other than its own. Space probes had launched in all directions, telescopes had peered deeply into the cosmos, giant antenna had collected uncountable terabytes of thoroughly analyzed radio and laser telemetry...

...And it had all been a sham.

He passed a group of alien adolescents being led through the crowd by a patient looking adult of the species. They were all chattering at each other and he stepped off to the side a little to let them pass when he noticed the big mouths full of sharp teeth that flashed when they spoke. They were all linked together wrist to wrist in a line and as he watched, there was a scuffle near the end of the line. Turning, he saw the surrounding crowd had spaced out too and just in time as he caught the tail end of some kind of violence. Moving faster than he could follow, two of the youths tore at each other and then suddenly were still, one of them on the ground. One of the fallen creature's arms dragged along behind the group by the rope linking them, ripped free in the fight. The winner started taking giant bites out of its former classmate and before Kurt could figure out what to do, he saw another flash of motion as the rope, now minus the arm, flew through the air and snapped to the winner's wrist alongside where it had been connected to its dead classmate moments before. Grudgingly (the body language seemed almost universal) the youth allowed itself to be pulled free of the corpse and back towards the group which had continued ahead.

Moments later, the last of the students had passed and only a few small pieces of the body remained. Whatever those creatures were, they were fairly opportunistic eaters based on the bites each of the others had taken from it as they passed. Some sort of scavenger or something dropped out of the air above him to grab the little that remained and flew off . The crowd organically reformed as if nothing strange had happened in the preceding 30 seconds.

Kurt disagreed. The galaxy, he had decided, was very, very strange.

There had been a moment when the whole sky had come alive to radio astronomers. Countless overlapping signals washed in from all directions, as if the galaxy had suddenly filled with species. Later, Earth had learned that the sudden inwash of signals had coincided with the arrival of Earth's first starship at a Society outpost which was apparently the only criteria needed for filters to be automatically turned off at the solar system's edge. Kurt had finished college with just enough (now wildly outdated) astronomical education to know how mind-bogglingly advanced that technology must be, but apparently that was just part of how primitive races were protected from contamination.

The moment that legal barrier was gone, however, the economic contamination had begun and Earth's economy was reeling.

Huge chunks of Earth industry were in flux as the cheap, massively capable alien technology flooded its markets. Without anything worthwhile to trade or the education to work among the stars, humanity's future looked bleak. He knew his only chance to really get ahead would be out among the stars and try to find something, anything that could make him a living and allow him to do something with the knowledge and money to help back home.

The ship from Earth that had dropped him off a few weeks earlier was long gone. After weeks of fruitlessly searching for work, he was already broke.

The alien-funded travel ads and emigration campaigns had, he decided, upsold the glamour of galactic life but hadn't really done a good job setting expectations about the cost of living. In just a few short weeks, he'd blasted through the stash of credits he'd converted from his savings and he figured he'd hit bedrock in a few days. He'd been stretching his budget by making use of the social services here on Feiden, the planet he'd chosen at random off the list, but he knew he had to get some kind of employment situation going or else he'd be going nowhere fast.

"Keep your appendages close, huh?" a voice said in his ear. Specifically, the voice came from the little translator buds he'd picked up at the airport back home on his way here. He turned towards the sound. The galaxy must just be absolutely swimming in cultures and species because it seemed like every time he met someone, they were a creature type he'd never seen before and this was no exception. The red skinned, worm-bodied being next to him gestured over towards where the brief fight had broken out with his... with its tentacles. He thought they were tentacles.

"I mean," it said, one of its eyestalks looking at the scene and the other at Kurt, "keep 'em close when those guys are around, am I right?" It started shaking in what Kurt decided must be laughter.

"That was wild, right?" Kurt shook his head and look away from calm crowd that walked through what has been a murder scene moments earlier. "I've never seen anything like that before."

"Me neither, but I guess this isn't the kind of place to go if you're looking for the same old thing." The creature extended an appendage towards him. Quickly thinking, Kurt made a fist and gently bumped it. Apparently, that was correct because the creature withdrew and continued.

"I've never seen one of you before. I hope that's not impolite to say?" Not waiting for Kurt to respond, it went on. "I mean outside of the natives," he pointed at one of the ubiquitous monkey-like Hazen that you could find almost everywhere on this planet, it being their home world. "This place is like the kind of place novelty comes for fun," the red creature continued. Kurt blinked at that, he'd never heard a saying like and figured it must have been a direct translation. Once in a while between words, he could hear its actual voice, a grunting and clicking cadence and mentally thanked his fortunes again for the cheap, ever-present translation buds.

"Yeah, I didn't see many others get off when we got here so I have no idea how many humans are here." He hadn't seen any others since arriving, and he was always looking. It would be nice to catch up with someone to whom he could relate.

"Humans?" The creature seemed to taste the word. Kurt wondered what it sounded like in its native language. "Oh interesting, my guide says you're a new contact?" Now both eye stalks were aimed directly at him.

"Yeah," Kurt admitted. Being a new contact meant you probably didn't have much, it usually took a while for new species to insert themselves into the bustling galactic economy and, sadly, he now knew it was common for their own planetary economies to crash into the ground while it happened with the influx of cheap, ultra-high technology goods.

"How are you doing for funds? Do you have a business or employment yet?" The creature reached into a pouch and grabbed some kind of cracker or something and threw it into its mouth, chewing loudly and swallowing in the space of a few seconds, then added again: "I do not intend to be impolite with my question, of course."

Kurt thought about it. He'd been looking, but figuring out where to even start had been a challenge and so far the jobs he'd looked into had been ones for which he was dramatically underqualified.

"I'm still looking. I'm coming in pretty cold, my education back on Earth didn't really do a lot to prepare me for the job market out here. I can't even find good manual labor, there are stronger species out there who ALSO have marketable skills so..." He shrugged helplessly. The stranger must have gotten the gist of the expression because it waved its eyestalks sympathetically.

"I am familiar with this situation, but for me it's through our history. We also went through much the same after one of our jumpers encountered Society. But if you're interested, I might have a prospect for you." The creature popped another one of the things into its mouth and chewed lightning fast. This time, Kurt thought he saw the thing move when it was mid-air and he wondered if it was alive. Society was definitely very, very strange.

"Sure," he said cautiously, "I'm not turning my nose up at anything, not really in a place for it."

The other creature paused, apparently thinking. Kurt wondered if he had said something offensive, then suddenly it spoke again. "Your nose. Ok, turning your nose up, I understand now! Sorry about that, it took me a minute to understand. My translator allows me to perceive literal translations too, it is useful in negotiations of course, and while it had given me the meaning, I was lost for a moment examining this phrase. I love it. So yes, I may have something, but it's..." The being hesitated.

Kurt raised his eyebrows, curious. "What?"

"Well, it's unskilled labor, truly unskilled for one." The creature's eyestalks bobbed around a little. "They're basically just looking for warm bodies. Did that come through clearly?"

He nodded back, then remembered body gestures might not translate cleanly. "Yes, I think I understand what you're saying. They just need someone there?"

The other creature hesitated, then bobbed sideways. "Yes, that's mostly correct too, but what I'm saying is that they need warm bodies." The translator emphasized the last part and Kurt frowned, then shrugged. He could figure that out later, he needed income now.

"Sounds good, where do I go?"

A half hour later, Azarac (as the buds had translated its name) waved its tentacles goodbye and left Kurt at the counter inside the building they'd entered together after speaking with the clerk. His translator buds had overlayed the text 'Lower Feiden Extraplanetary Fertility Clinic' on the sign outside and he wondered what kind of labor someone like him could do at a place like that. The person helping him now was one of the native simian-like creatures that ran the place, and after scanning his identity chit, was asking him questions.

"Do you understand the nature of the work?" it asked as it variously typed and scribbled things on the terminal in front of it. Trying not to be distracted by watching its tail bob up and down as it spoke, Kurt focused on the asker.

"I, well, not exactly. Azarac told me you had opportunities for unskilled labor and basically just needed warm bodies." At this, the monkey-like creature screeched and after a moment, he got the impression it was laughing.

"Yes," it finally responded, "that is quite correct. From context, I think perhaps maybe the literal meaning of the phrase is not being translated correctly. We need _warm bodies_, specifically ones that can maintain a steady temperature within a certain range." It did something on its control and then looked back at him. "Does your species self-regulate body temperature or is it variable? We can often work with the latter; we would just need to know."

Kurt held up his hands. "Hang on, I think I need to know more about this job. What do you need me to do?"

The being cocked its head. "My apologies, I should have clarified. This is a reproductive assistance center; the position would be to assist one of our oviparous clients. Now my question, does your species self-regulate body heat?"

Kurt frowned, confused, but answered. "Yeah, uh, we maintain a 37 degree Celsius body temperature unless ill." He trusted the pods would translate the units appropriately, but then his mind went back to the answer the creature had given. What did it mean to 'assist' their clients, and what did that word it had said mean? Something Paris? He must not have heard correctly, but his buds knew the word well enough to translate it. He realized belatedly he really should have spent more time learning the controls, he knew there were extra features like playback and definitions and even visible captions he could turn on, but it had worked so well out of the box back at the LAX concourse that he'd just left them on the default settings.

"Good, that's in a popular range. Does your species have an L5 or greater level of antibody?"

"A what?"

It pointed at a device on the counter impatiently. "Just place a body part on that, please."

He did, and then jerked it back when he felt a slight zap. It didn't hurt, it just startled him. "What was that?" he asked.

The creature ignored him, apparently scrolling through the results for a few moments before mumbling to itself. "L3 antibodies, good, no problems there. Looks like a pretty normal body chemistry, good ph, good circulation..." It typed and tapped some more. Kurt started to get impatient.

"Look, I need to know what's going on here. What kind of-" The creature looked up at him.

"You've got the job, I can have you a client immediately," it interrupted, almost as if he hadn't even been speaking.

"But I don't even know what-" he began, and it spoke over him.

"The pay would be 1,500 credits for a three week contract. Your species type is... there is an immediate demand for your abilities!" The tail no longer bobbed up and down but instead reached behind the creature and came back into sight holding a mug of something from which the clerk took a drink without looking away from him.

1,500 credits. That was several times what he'd arrived with originally after converting all of his savings at that kiosk at the airport in Los Angeles. That would cover a few months' rent.

"That's... ok, well, I mean..." he stuttered, thinking. The clerk looked back to its terminal, tapped some keys.

"Please pardon my abruptness, but this is quite exciting. We have a pair of Praden who have been quite anxiously looking for someone with your body chemistry. Unless..." It paused, looked up at him suspiciously, "this is some kind of negotiation? Our rates are extremely generous for this contract, I hope you aren't-"

"No," he interrupted quickly, then took a breath and lowered his voice. "Sorry, I just, yes, I'm interested. The work, it's not... it's not high risk or cause injury?"

If an alien monkey thing could look offended in a way that transcended species barriers, then the one in front of him was definitely doing that now.

"Absolutely not. We pride ourselves with providing safe services for both our clients and contractors." The tail, with the mug safely back wherever it had come from, was now arched like a cat facing a dangerous dog, and Kurt realized he'd said the wrong thing. He held up his hands placatingly, hoping the gesture translated.

"I'm sorry, this is just... I'm new here, my species is new to Society and I didn't mean to suggest... look, sign me up. I'll figure it out, the pay sounds good and again, I apologize."

The clerk's tail slowly relaxed and after taking a breath, it dipped back to its terminal and did some things on it before turning it back to Kurt. The alien characters swam in his vision for a moment before appearing like English. After wearing them for a few weeks, he'd grown used to things like this from the translation buds. He skimmed over the paragraphs and then touched the consent field at the bottom. It was a straightforward temporary employment contract with some easy-to-understand guarantees about physical well-being and a statement about medical benefits that seemed unusually thorough. For 1,500 credits, this seemed better than any opportunity he'd imagined when he woke up in one of the temporary sleep pods available for itinerants this morning.

It turned the terminal back to itself and pointed over at a door off to the side. "Please wait in there, the couple that's employing you will arrive in a few minutes."

Kurt felt like a heel. "I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to suggest-"

The quasi-simian looked up and waved its... paws. "Don't worry about it, I sometimes forget that new species needs a little time to keep their tails out of closing doors." Whatever the metaphor had been originally, Kurt doubted the translation was perfect, but thought he got the gist of it. "You'll be credited for your work via your ID chit, dependent on successful completion of the job of course. Your physical examination," it pointed at the things on the desk that had zapped him, that was a physical? "-it indicated you're an Indigo Five! When you're done with this contract, be sure to come back, we'll have plenty of work for you, I can promise that."

Having lots of questions but feeling awkward for causing such offense, he decided to play it by ear. He entered the waiting area and found a chair. There were a couple other creatures already waiting, both ones he'd never seen before. They were each reading some kind of device and looked up to wave as he sat.

"Greetings," squawked the one that looked like a giant beetle. He got the feeling it was looking him over, but he couldn't tell for sure. "I don't think I've ever seen your species, are you new to this work?"

Kurt nodded. "To be honest, I'm still not exactly sure what the job is."

At this the other creature, it looked almost like some kind of giant squirrel, looked up suddenly.

"You're not WHAT?"

Kurt shrugged, feeling embarrassed. "The pay sounds good, and they promised it wasn't dangerous," at this, the two creatures glanced at each other then back, "and they said I was something called an Indigo Five so-"

The squirrel creature held up its hands. "Wait, seriously? YOU'RE an Indigo Five?" The beetle thing clicked something that didn't translate.

"Is that... good?"

"Not for us!" said the big insect-like creature. "You're definitely going to be in demand."

"Yeah," the furry one said, "that's a minimal intervention profile. It's like your body's built for this work! There are lots of people who'll pay extra for someone who doesn't need to take medication to maintain viability. Congratulations!" The buds translated that last part straight across, but for some reason Kurt got the impression it hadn't been entirely positive.

If anything, Kurt felt like he knew even less about what was going on than when he'd walked in the room. Viability? Medication? What the hell were they talking about? As he opened his mouth to ask, the door opened again with almost sitcom-like timing and a pair of tall, insect-like creatures swarmed in excitedly, their legs tapping with restrained energy as they came to a stop in front of him.

"Are you our host?" the smaller one asked.

Kurt frowned, not understanding. "No, I'm just here for a contract, I don't-"

"Are you the human Kurt Sanderson from the planet... Earth?" Through the buds, he could hear the large creature enunciating the name of his planet carefully.

"Yes, that's me. Are you my employers?" He looked back and forth at the pair. They reminded him of giant Praying Mantises more than anything else, but the resemblance broke down pretty quickly the more you looked. Their arms ended in hands of a sort and the antenna on their heads, if that's what they were, were much stubbier proportionately speaking. Also, they were about two meters tall and he felt that was a pretty big difference on its own. For that matter... he remembered from his biology classes that there were limits to how large insects could get. Looking closer, he realized there were more differences yet and their bodies were segmented instead of being a single-