The First Mission

They looked strange to me, I was told to expect that, but I guess I wasn’t quite ready for it when I actually saw them up close. They had microscopic eyes that I imagined were good for nothing and stuff, they had so many things in their little private boxes they kept themselves in. The town was small, we liked to keep it that way, safety protocol and all. I could smell the scent of their soil and the other animals nearby; dogs, cats, cows and a few chickens. This was my first rotation near their sun as I had just finished my training and the mission was simple, the higher ups made it that way on purpose so new recruits didn’t scrub a mission.

I was to pull a sample, not a full body, just a sample of the dominant species on this planet. They practiced activities in the daytime here, which was good because we were always better equipped at night. We had also learned in the training that some of them were afraid of the dark, although I couldn’t imagine why any creatures would be afraid of that. We operated completely away from the sun, it was a necessity of our livelihood as we were not able to see well in daylight. We had superior eyesight at night though, most definitely better than these potentials I stood looking at as they slept.

I was nervous, I had hoped to impress my lead with displays of confidence, but he saw through everything.

We stood inside the bedroom of our subject. It was quiet and smelled of a substance they called Lavender. I didn’t like it. She was alone, breathing calmly, no doubt in REM by now. Most of them were in REM by this time, 3:00 am by their measurements.

Our species didn’t use voice as often as these creatures, we had already perfected communication with our other sensors. They still talked, I hadn’t yet heard one talk and was half tempted to wake her from her slumber and then use my own will to put her back to sleep. It would be risky as that would mean that all her faculties would be engaged and I could risk losing the subject. I decided against it, didn’t want to foul up my first mission. Besides, I knew if I did well they would surely send me back and then I could really explore.

              “What do you think Pip? Will this subject do?” My lead stood over here, his long fingers pointed at her waiting for my response.

 “I think this one will be fine Sir.”

Sir was my lead, I didn’t know his name. Names were important where we came from and leads never gave their names freely unless we earned that honor.

Sir leaned in towards me, handing me the extractor device as I calmly and quietly took it.

I wondered what she was dreaming about, thinking about. Did they think whilst they slept this way? We were unsure of that part. Our species had been examining their species for years but we still had so many unanswered questions.

It felt silly but the whole of the reason that brought me to her was the result of a series of tiny things. I liked the foliage while in the sky and then was attracted to the colder, wetter parts of the area and then found the name of her town to be quite pleasing. Lastly I stumbled upon her garden as we perused the area. Her home was small but her garden was extravagant, self sufficient and so colorful. I was pretty sure that we could sample the vegetation here but was told not to. And I was hungry, it had been a long tour to this planet and I was nervous in the beginning and didn’t sufficiently nourish. I knew that Sir was not going to let me eat a thing though. He was so strict, not like the other Sir’s that let their new recruits explore and taste things, touch things, even take things home.

Sir was by the book.

'You grab a sample and then we leave,' he would say.

I suppose there was a purpose for that sort of order. These creatures, they had the same curiosity that we did but they were delicate, so much more delicate than us.  We had learned early on in training that just allowing ourselves to be seen by these creatures could cause a negative chemical reaction in their brains from which they would forever be altered. Their world, it was so fragile.

I walked towards her slowly and placed the device gently on her leg to obtain my sample. She did not move at all and I thought to myself how wonderful it must be to have that kind of calm.

I inserted the device and pulled out my sample, placing it gently in my side storage. She slept soundly.

              “Don’t even think of waking it Pip.”

Sir could always see through my thoughts no matter how I blocked them, I hated that about him.

I leaned in closer and looked at her face with childlike curiosity.

 “It’s, she’s sort of beautiful, isn’t she? The way her body takes in the Oxygen and has those slight movements in the chest. I wonder if they could see us, if we could ever become friends.”

 Sir grabbed my arm, “friends? You listen to me Recruit. If they saw us, they would do to us worse that we have ever done to them. They would cage us, inspect us, dissect us, hurt us.”

I stepped away from her somberly in the knowledge that Sir was probably right.

I knew their history, I was versed in the wars they created against each other and the petty lies they created even amongst their small tribes and families. I knew Sir was right, they would hurt us.

I stepped away from the subject and took in one last embrace of the surrounding area, the smells, the sounds….the garden.

We left the area as it was before we arrived. A successful mission. I had several missions there after with several different subjects, plants and animals.

Nothing ever stood stronger in my mind than the first mission though, the lady with the garden, the one I wanted to wake, the human I could never befriend.