The Siren of Cassiopeia

It was high tide when he opened the hatch for the first time, and the waves crashing against the side of the ship were sending a foamy spray up into the air. The first thing he noticed was the familiar briny scent of the ocean. Then the wind was whipping rain into his face, but he was too excited to care, and he even forgot about his sadness and grief for a while. He was the first human to lay eyes upon this world in person! Looking around, he lost himself in the energetic swirling of the thunderous storm clouds, the pale violet color of the weak daylight that filtered through, and the vast purple darkness where the stormy sky met the ocean. It was raining hard, soaking through his clothes, but he just wanted to be a part of it all. There was a chaotic and immense beauty to this ocean planet that seemed to hold its own profound mysteries. He could appreciate its allure, even though he knew it would more than likely turn out to be his grave.

After the crash, he had mourned for his fellow crewmembers for several days. Then a week later he had gotten into a routine. Every morning, he would get up from the cot he had set up in the lab and check the status of the ship’s power core. Then he would freshen up at a sink and read a few pages of a book. He would check if it was raining, and it always was. Then he would leave the lab through a hatch and go outside to get to the temperature-controlled cargo hold that contained his remaining rations. He had to go outside because the giant starship was badly broken and waterlogged, most areas automatically sealed off after the crash. Along the way, he would note how much farther the ship had sunk into the ocean shore. In the cargo hold, he would tally up the rations and discard those that had spoiled due to the pervasive salty humidity. Then he would take his food for the day, and head back to the lab area where he spent most of his time.

The planet Cassiopeia IV was an earthlike planet with a breathable atmosphere and two moons. It was a vast watery world, with a few smaller continents and many island chains. With so much water, they had thought it would be easy to create good crop plants. That was his job. He was already a distinguished botany field researcher at the age of thirty-two, and he specialized in this sort of thing. That was what kept him busy and sane now that he was stranded on this world alone. But his plants did not do well. There was just too much of this accursed rain! And so far, the local plant life was full of tough cellulose and not edible. Furthermore, he had no illusions of another ship coming in time to save him, so he was fully expecting to die alone on this rainy hellhole. Still, he would keep working and broadcast back his results.

What was even worse was that every time he went outside, he had to carry a weapon, and he always felt a background level of fear. In his sleep or even when he closed his eyes, he could see their eyes glowing like amber-colored slits in the darkness. They were active mostly in the evening and at night. But when he was outside, he felt that they were always watching from every direction. Recently he had felt their eyes on him from even closer, perhaps from the nearby dunes. Their presence didn’t seem threatening that time, rather it was more inquisitive, but he had quickly retreated to the ship anyway.

Then one day he heard a knock against the hatch of the ship, presumably with a rock.

He dared not go outside afterward.

Still, after two days without food, he was beset by hunger pangs and couldn’t wait any longer. He came out during the daytime, weapon drawn, and that was when he saw her standing in the rain. Even from afar, he could tell that although she looked alien, she was certainly quite beautiful.

He was struck not only by the translucence of her pale, greenish-tinted skin but also by how charming her tentative smile was. He hadn’t expected to see a woman’s smile ever again. She was shaped like a human but also seemed part sea creature. Her richly flowing hair was like the iridescent tentacles of sea anemones, and it framed a delicate heart-shaped face. They looked into each other’s eyes, and he saw that her delightfully expressive eyes had thin cat-like pupils. She wore primitive clothing that concealed her body, but her figure was clearly feminine if a bit slender and elf-like. As he was taking in the sight of her, her eyes flashed a defiant look at him. Despite this show of bravery, he saw that she was trembling in fear. Then he realized that he still had his weapon trained on her and he quickly lowered it, gesturing apologetically.

Her expression softened at once. She smiled warmly at him and held out what looked like a red fruit about the size of a large apple. As she did so, he noticed that unlike on a human hand, there was thin webbing up to the middle joint of her fingers. Then she put the fruit down on the ground and left, glancing back at him as she did. Even these furtive glances were charming, and he wished he could ease her remaining fears.

The fruit was red and fleshy, and he decided to study it in the lab. It turned out to be packed with vitamins, carbohydrates, and even protein. All his tests said that it was perfectly safe: it contained no detectable toxins and no dangerous micro-organisms. He still felt it was probably a bad idea to eat it, but after a few hours, he decided to do it anyway. His rations were running low, and he figured he was going to die in all cases. He told himself that it had nothing to do with her beauty, and he almost believed it.

What the heck, let’s do it for science, he thought.

It tasted more bitter than sweet, and faintly salty, but he felt that it was a taste he could get used to.

The next day, as he was working, he heard a gentle knock on the hatch. Coming out, he saw her standing in the rain, a bit closer to the ship than the previous time. Again, she left the same fruit on the shore and smiled at him shyly as she left.

“Wait!” he said moving towards her, but in a flash she dove into the waves, and swam away with the easy and powerful strokes of a creature at home in the water.

He thought of her wistfully that day as he worked on further analyzing a small sample of the red fruit, while slowly nibbling on the rest. He wondered if he had scared her off for good and he felt upset about possibly losing contact with her. Well, he hadn’t expected to meet anyone on this planet anyway, he thought.

Around the same time the next day, he found himself sitting on the side of the ship, waiting for her in the driving rain despite his better judgment. Even before he saw her, he felt something in the air like a big jump of happiness that lifted his mood. He was so glad she had come back, but it was more than that. He felt like he could sense her happiness at seeing him waiting for her. She was still hesitant, but she carefully walked up to him, and their fingers brushed as she handed him the fruit.

“I wish you would stay longer,” he said.

She walked away slowly this time, glancing back at him with a regretful smile. He waved goodbye to her, and she waved back hesitatingly, unfamiliar with the gesture.

Later that day, he found himself forgetting the name of one of the fertilizer compounds he worked with. It was strange because it was an important one that he used often. He was also craving the bitter taste of the red fruit more than he thought he should. He liked her, but he decided he should probably stop eating the fruit.

Still, the next day he was again awaiting her return in the rain. When she appeared, they locked eyes and she immediately walked up to him, without any trace of fear. Then she sat next to him on the side of the ship, exactly as though they were going out together. Maybe they were, he thought. Seeing her face more closely now, she seemed even more enchanting than he remembered, and not quite so alien anymore.

“Feeling… connection…?” he heard a gentle whisper in his mind, as she looked at him hopefully. He was sure that he was hearing her voice.

Getting over his excitement, he tried to respond. “Yes, feeling connection,” he thought simply, and she closed her eyes for a moment, looking relieved.

“Good,” he heard her say in his mind, and he could hardly believe that they were communicating telepathically like this.

She touched his hand with hers as she gave him another red fruit. He could feel the webbing, but her hand also felt soft and warm.

“Call me… Maya,” she said in his mind.

“I’m Leonard,” he thought, and she nodded happily. “I want to spend more time with you Maya, can’t you stay?” he added.

“I can feel you’re… a good man… Leonard, and I…” she was searching for her words, “be with you… tomorrow.”

Then she was leaving and waving goodbye to him again.

“See you tomorrow, Maya. I’ll miss you,” he thought as she left.

Forgetting his doubts, he quickly ate the red fruit. He found himself thinking about her constantly while he worked on his plants during the rest of the day, making almost no progress. That night he could hardly sleep, wondering what she had planned for the next day. The next morning found him pacing outside in the rain, awaiting her return. When she finally appeared, he wanted to run to her, but he made himself stay in place, afraid of scaring her again.

“I’m… not scared,” he heard her voice in his mind. “Please… come to me.”

When he came closer, she seemed even more beautiful and vivacious than before. His heart was longing to spend time with her, and sensing his thoughts, she seemed only too happy to oblige. She was grinning widely as he walked towards her. When he drew near, she took his hand in hers and gently pulled him towards the water.

“Swim... with me,” he heard her voice in his mind.

“I’m not a good swimmer,” he thought.

“No… you do it…” he heard her voice in his mind, searching for her words, “…better now.”

She looked at him encouragingly as he took off most of his clothes and started gingerly entering the water. Then, diving into the foamy waves, he was surprised that swimming came so naturally to him now. There was so much breath in his lungs that he felt he was swimming in currents of oxygen. Oh, and it was so glorious swimming with her! It was like dancing together in the water. She showed him around the dark underwater caves teeming with mysterious life, the calm forested coves, and the colorful coral reefs. She taught him what areas to avoid and what underwater plants to eat and not eat. He made a mental note to investigate these for his research later. As they swam underwater, he could see the raindrops fall on the surface of the water above them, but now seeing them felt different… more peaceful. He lost track of the hours. They had gone so far, but he didn’t feel lost when he was with her. Finally, she sensed that he was growing tired, and she led him back to his ship.

As they were walking onto the shore, she embraced him from behind and placed a red fruit in each of his hands this time.

“These fruits you’re giving me, they’re doing something to me aren’t they?” he thought.

She nodded. “If you want… can stop now,” she said in his mind.

“I understand… and I’m not going to stop. I trust you,” he thought.

 “Leonard… I want… be with you too… forever…” he heard her voice in his mind, and she was hugging him so tightly from behind.

They embraced, and she was crying happy tears in his arms. Then at length, they let go and she left, waving, and smiling at him as she did.

As he entered the ship, he held up the two red fruits that she had given him, and he felt sure that eating these was the step that would tip his fate in a different direction. He hesitated for only a moment, then thinking of her, he bit into the first one hungrily. For the rest of that evening, he could hardly focus on his work, and it seemed pointless anyway. Also, there was something that she had shown him today which had seemed important for his research at the time, but he couldn’t remember what it was. He barely tweaked a few experiments and lay down to think. Thoughts of her crowded out everything, but still, he tried to reason about his situation. What was happening to him? Was this preferable to just finishing his research and dying here? Of course it was… wasn’t it? Then he held up his hand and, for just a moment, he thought that it was looking faintly greenish, just like the color of her skin. No, it must have been the light, he thought. He decided to take anxiety and sleeping medicine to help him go to sleep early that night.

She came to him in a dream, and just like in an old memory, he couldn’t see her very well. But he could clearly hear her humming a gentle melody, and the sound of her voice felt so soothing to his soul. He felt he had come home to the one who cared about him. Then he saw them cooking fish together in a cave, and their children were playing by their side.

When he woke up, he could hear the nighttime sounds outside and the ship’s clock told him that it was two in the morning. Looking at his arm again, he realized that it was without a doubt turning the same greenish hue as her skin. It was even faintly translucent, and his fingers were becoming slightly webbed. But he wasn’t shocked or scared, just disappointed that he had to wait until the next day to see her again. Then he heard her familiar gentle knock, and he felt glad. It was raining harder than ever when he opened the hatch. She was beckoning to him, standing near the shore, waves lapping at her ankles. He ran to her without hesitation.

As he drew near her, the glowing eyes of dozens of others of her kind appeared all around, closing in on them. He fell back into the water in sheer defenseless terror. The saltwater in his mouth tasted like blood, and feverish images ran through his mind, images of the pain of live flesh being torn apart, and the cruel agony that could course through nerves.

“Am I going to die, betrayed like this?” He thought.

Desperately, he drew his weapon and pointed it at her, his hand shaking. He felt like he was pointing it straight at his own heart.

“No! Don’t!” he heard her voice say pleadingly in his mind.

“Maya, why?” he thought, a lump of hard anguish in his throat.

“Please… don’t be scared… Leonard… be happy,” she said soothingly, looking at him with so much tenderness that he started feeling deeply ashamed.

“Why… why are they here?” he asked, lowering his weapon partway.

“They want… accept you… I… accept you. This is… this is… marriage,” she said. He could see tears of joy streaming down her face, and she had to pause a moment.

“Maya says yes. Do you… say yes… Leonard?”

Leonard was floored. He dropped his weapon into the water. He realized he didn’t know their customs at all, such as how long courtship should last. And of course, they didn’t have anything like diamond rings and wedding invitations on this world. He closed his eyes for a moment, and Maya waited patiently for his answer. He thought about how the expedition would now be considered a total loss. He thought about how he was turning into one of them, and he wondered if he would forget all about his memory of Earth when it was done. He thought about the love that he shared with an alien woman he knew as Maya. He thought about how he had been prepared to die, but would now instead live a different life, and he considered how strange his fate had turned out to be. But in that moment, he decided to embrace it completely.

“I do,” he answered.

“I love you, Leonard!” he heard her voice say clearly in his mind, and he felt a thrill as she leaped up at him, hugging him fiercely.

“I love you too Maya,” Leonard thought, looking into her beautiful eyes.

They kissed and it was unlike any other kiss he had ever experienced. He felt he had lived for this moment. Her lips were like soft butter against his, and they tasted like the bitter fruit that he had come to grow used to, and even love. Then he felt such overflowing joy as he danced together with her in the pouring rain, her whole tribe celebrating with them.