Starship Traveler Ch. 04

Revekah cringed and threw her hands over her ears as her head was filled with a distressing combination of static and feedback. "Holy shit! Okay, stop already. I get it. Not only is it incomprehensible but it's fucking painful to hear."

"I am sorry."

"Let's stick to Xeno. That is Latin or is it Greek for alien, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"It works for me. What is he pointing at?"

"A piece of art collected from another intelligent species."

"I thought it did not look organic. How did they get it past the ship's recycling systems?"

"Itis organic. It is a crystalline life form shaped by the species to be pleasing to the eye."

"Okay, like a potted plant, I guess that goes to show that you cannot make assumptions from just looking at pictures."

"It has been my experience that it is wise to not make assumptions without in-depth study."

"Humor?"

"Yes, pretty mind, humor."

"What did you call me?"

Xeno's voice seemed a little unsure, "I am sorry, Revekah. I was attempting to engage in the human custom of calling you by a nickname. I meant it to be complimentary. Would you prefer I use your name?"

"No, it's all right. It just sort of took me by surprise." This time Revekah's voice was unsure as well.

They looked at what seemed like dozens of pictures, pictures of more round building cities, pictures of surprisingly normal looking mountains and rivers, pictures of animals that looked like orchids and flowers that looked like crabs. The sky was the same unnamable color that the air in the ship was and everything else seemed to be a clashing mix of color mostly blues and purples, but with yellows and reds. Revekah realized that there was very little that was green. "You know, I just realized, that I don't see the particles in the pictures."

"The light source for my planet is not visible to your eyes. If you were there it would seem as black as when I turn off the lights. There are very few outdoor light sources on my planet adapted for human vision. There is a kind of visual enhancement mechanism, which has been developed for humans, which can translate the vista before you into one that can be seen by your eyes. It is large and cumbersome though. It is an inorganic construct built by one of the humans who live on my planet."

Tired of looking at confusing images, Revekah leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes. "Do Travelers have families? Do you have a mother and a father, brothers and sisters?"

"Remember that Travelers do not have male and female genders. We do exchange genetic materials to create new offspring. But we do not allow the genetic materials to mix randomly. We are very careful to make sure each offspring has optimum inherent abilities. I do have progenitors and I am sure if I wished, I could find out their identities in the genetic records, but my species does not have genetic allegiances. All newly formed Travelers are raised in what you would best regard as a school. We are very close with the other members of our class. They are our family."

Xeno continued, "Because Travelers are for the most part immortal, very few offspring are required to repopulate the species. There were only twelve in my class. Only once a generation is there a class of new Travelers brought forth."

"Generation, how long is that?"

"I am sorry, that is a Traveler time reference. A generation is the general term for the amount of time it takes for a Traveler to mature into adulthood; it translates to 48.7 human years."

"Only twelve children in almost fifty years, is that enough to keep your population stable?"

"We are a very careful species. Caution is favored by evolution. Risk taking is a trait not looked well upon. When we select genetic qualities for our offspring, risk taking is seen as an undesirable characteristic. The nano bots do a good job of healing any accidental injuries. Travelers rarely die. If there is need, the class is larger. Mine was of average size."

"How do Travelers 'bring forth' offspring?"

"Now, it is done in a medical facility. The necessary genetic components are assembled and the offspring is grown to a viable juvenile stage and then moves to the school."

"How did they do it before nano bots, before doctors?"

"The Traveler species evolved along with another non-sentient species. This non-sentient species was and still is completely dependent upon the Travelers, a symbiot. During a specific season in the weather cycles of our planet, all Travelers would experience the compulsion to reproduce. It took two Travelers to contribute the necessary genetic materials. During that 'mating' season the Travelers would experience many significant changes in their psychology, physiology, and anatomy. They would develop genetic packets of material that would grow inside their mouths. The two Travelers would both contribute genetic packets and insert them into the symbiot to germinate. The offspring would be smaller, but fully formed and while uneducated and vulnerable to many predators, they would be released to fend for themselves. A large number would die, but the few that survived would have superior survival characteristics."

Revekah sat and thought about that. "Sounds complicated, you said once that it was painful?"

"The psychological changes included a compulsion to fight for territory. If a Traveler was able to control a larger area of territory so that he could control a large number of symbiots, then he would have more offspring. There was a great deal of fighting involved. The battles were both physical and telepathic. Even the act of exchanging genetic materials was often more of a battle than a cooperative effort. There would be a fight and the loser would have his genetic packets taken, not infrequently from his dead body."

Revekah blinked, "Yes, I can see how that would hurt."

"It was necessary for the advancement of our civilization for this mating frenzy to be controlled. All Travelers voluntarily have their reproductive systems deactivated. In fact, nano bots automatically deactivate the reproductive systems of all their hosts. Before we started doing this we could not live socially. Travelers are still more comfortable with other species than their own."

"It seems like everything you have is a living thing."

"We developed a very powerful telepathic ability early in our species' evolution. We use that telepathy to interact with and control the living things around us. Another name our race is 'Herders' because we always have been involved in keeping and crafting living things to meet our needs. As our civilization advanced we shaped the living things around us to more complex and specific functions."

Revekah yawned, "Can we go back to my room? I am feeling tired again. It seems like I am sleeping all the time."

As they carefully walked back to her room, Xeno explained, "You are still healing much of the damage that age has done to your body. Almost nothing you are experiencing is familiar. It is stressful. Sleeping is your species way of healing and it has been my observation that it is also a time for you to process and calm."

"Am I sleeping more than usual? I have no idea about the passage of time. How long have I been gone from Earth now?"

"Not long, only about thirty of your Earth days. I kept your body sedated for the first twenty days to facilitate the introduction of the nano bots and to give your body a chance to heal."

"So I have been awake for almost ten days?"

"You have been unsedated for that long, but you have been sleeping a great deal of that time. You have been awake for only about twenty-four hours total since I first woke you up."

"Will I always sleep this much?"

"No, once your body and mind becomes adjusted, you will begin to find a normal sleeping and waking cycle. It seems that without external cues, you will naturally fall into a slightly longer than twenty-four hour cycle, but it varies between individuals."

Revekah decided to be ambitious and thought carefully about shrimp scampi, over fresh pasta and hot fragrant garlic bread. As he brought it in the smell of garlic made her mouth water and her stomach rumble. "Oh my god, that smells delicious. Can you smell it?"

"I have no sense of smell, but I can 'taste it' with the chemical sensors in my fingers. To tell you the truth it 'tastes' vile. But when you smell it and eat it, it becomes transformed. It is delicious and I enjoy it very much. I can feel your whole body responding to the pleasurable experience. I feel your joy."

"If you want to feel real joy, bring me some of this." Revekah carefully imagined a big slice of chocolate cheese cake with fresh raspberries on the top and a cup of coffee with a shot of rum in it.

As she slowly, sensually took small bites and rolled them around in her mouth, savoring them and then washing them down with the sweet pungent coffee, she watched Xeno sitting, watching her from the foot of the bed. "Do you like that?"

"I can tell you like that. Your happiness is my goal, Revekah. I want you to feel like this, happy, satisfied, openly sharing all the things that make you feel wonderful."

Revekah turned around and lay with her head toward the foot of her bed, where Xeno was sitting. "You really watched me grow up, live out my life?"

"Yes, I did not watch you every single minute of the day, but when I could not personally monitor you, I had recording devices observing you."

"Then you saw me with Geoff."

"Geoff, that is the name of the second male that you were mated with?"

"Yes, I loved him very, very much. Just being around him made me happy. His happiness was important to me too. I would have done anything to make him happy even for just an instant. It nearly destroyed me when I had to watch him suffer those last years of our marriage. And then he died."

Xeno's voice was soft, "I have never had someone I cared about die. Death is rare among Travelers and always traumatic for all involved. The few Travelers who have shared death have experienced..." Xeno did not finish the sentence.

Revekah waited and then finally asked, "Experienced what?"

"I am trying to find the best corresponding concept in your language. I want to say heartbreak, but it is more profound and permanently life altering. They seem almost permanently sad. I mentioned once that your thinking has patterns and tones that are almost like music. It seems like the music changes, or more accurately there is something added, a minor tone or an added melody. I spoke to you once about a small sect of Travelers who refuse to use the nano bots, the ones that believe in a spirit. Many of the members of that sect have shared death. It is a part of their rituals. They say they do not fear death because they believe in a spirit that transcends their physical existence."

"When Geoff died, I thought I would never ever be able to feel joy again. In many ways I have never been the same. Geoff never believed in the existence of a spirit within him. I know for a long time I tried to believe there was one, so I would have some hope of being together with him again. After a while I realized that if there was this thing, this spirit, it was larger and more important than me and my love. Then I just gave up thinking about it."

"Do not discount love, Revekah. Love is the most powerful emotion of all."

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Thank you for taking the time to read my story. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

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xantu