Black Hole 1-4-15

Black Hole 1-4-15

It was a dewy morning with a hazy glow about it. The space port entrance opened at sunrise. Yazer stepped out of the public transport. He was a handsome male. His antlers branch out nicely; not too tall or wide. He put down his carry case, stretched and fluffed out his fuzz and let it settle back in place. He lightly rubbed his sensitive muzzle. It had no mouth or nose.

He hated public transportation. He picked up his satchel and joined the line. There was no help for it. His wife of many years needed their personal electric transport. She was tending their just sprouted seedlings. It was their third set of children. Their first set would graduate this year and go on to university. He mused on about this topic.

A man with very stunted antlers came up to him and sent him a telepathic thought. “Are you Yazer.”

“Yes.”

“You are proud of your youngsters.”

“You know I am.”

“Just making small thoughts. Here is your entry number. You can go to the head of the line and enter with it.”

“Of course I can. It is not my first time.” He hated wumps with limited telepathy.

The man shot back, “Keep your arrogance to yourself.”

Yazer strides to the glass doors and admires his log and branch like reflection. The doors slide open and he enters. His name enters his head. He turns to see a female. Again, in his head, “I am Miraira.”

Her horns were small but nicely shaped. He preferred larger shapely horns on woman, like his wife. “I am glad you are enamored with you wife. We will work together nicely.”

She fell in beside him and started to bring him up to date on what had happened. They kept a distance from others like they were a couple. They weren’t. They shared what they knew of their assignment.

Miraira had got the message that a space craft had come out of the nearest black hole. They had been monitoring it for a decade or more. A sentient being had been extracted alive from the craft. It was in the interrogation room. She was summoned because she was good at reading the minds of mammals. She had several pets and worked as a veterinarian.

Yazer had been summoned for his studies of alien beings and there diversified attributes. He had made contact with a reptilian race on a planet within their solar system. For lack of a better description, it was a very small dragon. It had good cognitive and telepathic powers but lacked dexterity to acquire higher learning. It trained easily and was willing to please. The wumps found it traveled well on space crafts as a refrigerated egg. It hatched quickly once warmed up. Its larval stage also developed quickly.

All this information was shared as they walked down the long underground hallway to the space station. Light emanated from a stripe of glowing glass at the top of the walls. Only the slight patter of feet could be heard and the soft whir of carts delivering luggage and packages. It branched every so often with an LED light under bright colored glass. The color symbolized which path they were on, the glyph in the middle told them what the nearest terminus was and what was beyond if anything.

They come to a lite gray glass with the glyph for interrogation. They could see the sentry station at the end of the hall. They were stopped and mind probed. The door to the left of them opened.

On entering a short-horned woman handed them a clipboard. She informed them the retrieval report was attached and paper for notes. They took opposite sides of the room as she left, to be with their thoughts and read the report in peace.

Twenty-two minutes went by. The door on the back wall slid open. They were to enter a short hall with two doors on each side. They took the first door on the right as had been instructed.

On entering there was a window on the left and a door. There stood a human man, naked in a small room. He kept repeating DS R17 C57. He was about Yazer’s height. He had dark brown wavy not too long hair on his head. His shaggy beard and body hair were brown. His hazel green eyes were tired and scared.

Across the room were two chairs. Miraira got an idea and picked up one of the chairs and started for the door. Yazer understood what she was up to and took the other one up. They entered with the chairs out in front of them as protection. The man stepped back repeating DS R17 C57.

He stared at the two strangers. Almost screaming his dog tag number. He was slowly backing up into a corner. Miraira set her chair down and ever so slowly sat in it. Yazer lowered his chair behind Miraira but was ready to defend her at a moments notice. The three of them stared at each other for minutes.

In a flash Miraira got an idea. Yazer was instructed to give the man his chair. Quickly he obeyed Miraira. The human leaped back into the corner with a thud. Miraira screamed in Yazer’s mind. “I didn’t mean you should scare it.”

Yazer quickly stepped back behind her chair. She shot back to him, “you’re an oof.”

His response was “be clear.”

She flooded the human’s mind with sit down. He had straightened up and stepped out of the corner. He came no further. Miraira pointed to his genitals and then Yazer’s horns. Your both males. Russell put his hands over his genitals.

Miraira’s response was, “Would you like your cloth coverings back?”

He answered with a shake of his head, Yes. Miraira went to the door on the side wall and pressed a message on a button panel next to the door. The top half opened and Russell’s cloths were handed to her. She set them down in what was supposed to be his chair. She sat down in hers. He came over and got dressed with his back facing her.

Between them the bogwumps discussed how the human was uncomfortable about not having his coverings on. They would never think of covering themselves up. They also marveled at the fact they were telepathic and he was not. Yet it was easy for them to inter his mind but hard if he was scared.

Russell sat down on the chair that was for him. With his clothes on he started to feel safer.

Miraira asked him what his DS meant. His response, deep space. She queried R and 17. She learned it was for his regiment 17. Russell offered verbally, “the C is for Captain and he was the 57^th one in his regiment. The regiment has been around for a century. We become captains before twenty-five and keep the title into our eighties or nineties when most of us retire.”

Yazer asked if he had a name other than his dog tag number. Russell was tired and let his guard down. “Russell James Ruben Jr. I am not supposed to tell you anything till you contact my superiors.”

Miraira and Yazer looked at each other. Yazer informed him he had come through a black hole his people had been observing for the past ten years. He was sure the scientists had no idea where he had come from, much less being able to contact them.

Russell looked at them. They had hooded doe-like eyes that reflected a calm intelligence. “Where are the rest of my people?”

Yazer informed him, “He was the only one found alive.”

The enormity of this settled on Russell. He was in a place where the sentient beings were nothing like him and they didn’t know where he was from.

He sat staring into the space between the two creatures in front of him. The tears started to form. He gave a big reverberating sob and put his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands and cried tell there were no tears left. He found the handkerchief he always kept in his pocket. He wiped his face and blow his nose and stuffed his hanky back in his pocket.

Yazer had a package in one hand. He put the other on Russell’s arm as Miraira took the other. They both told him they were taking him away from this sterile place and to a lovely food garden. In a confused state they lead him out the way they had come in.

The sentries had their backs to them on their way out. They were there to keep their kind from coming in, not leaving. By the time the three of them were at the cross hall the sentries started broadcasting. “come back.”

Yazer and Miraira tighten the grip on Russell’s arms. They started to run down the hall. Shortly they came to a hallway on the left and ran down it dragging Russell with them.

This hall opened up into a large garden area with trees stretching up past the walls. The blue sky had cleared as seen between the tree tops. The air smelled fresh. Russell again was yanked off his feet as he was dragged to a bench going around a tree. Yazer told him to swing his feet over it and put them in the mud. Miraira confirmed this with a mental, “feet in the mud, slow your breathing down, and relax. We are safe and won’t be interrogated in a harassing way. The gardens at all times must remain peaceful. I am a veterinarian and would like you to come home with me. I have two mammal friends Tio and Mooch.” She pulled a disk off her clipboard. She had carried it with her on their escape. She had half a dozen pictures of her pets. “Would you like to stay with me and my pets.”

“As a pet.”

“No, as a sentient person from afar. I hope we can become friends.”

Russell sighed, “I need a friend in this strange world. I’m awfully tired can we go to your place now.”

A large intimidating bogwump had come up behind them. “Keep me informed.” He broadcast to Yazer and Miraira. He turned and left.

Yazer showed Russell were to wash his feet and get a towel to dry them. Russell had to wash the bottoms of his pants for he had gotten mud on them.

Yazer handed Russell a box. “This is your food. I retrieved it while you were being emotional. Shall we go.”

They walked leisurely along the gleaming hall three abreast. Russell left a trail of wet footprints behind him from his dipping pant legs. He would never wear shoes again.