Envoy

Despite stereotypes to the contrary, many small towns remained cold and unfriendly, wildly suspicious of strangers. Doubly so for those outside that town’s main demographic. Skin color, dress, hairstyle, even accent were all excuses to ignore or outright shun strangers. How much more so when the stranger is not even the same species?

The envoy landed quietly in the forest, far away from human eyes. This was her first assignment; assessment of humans to determine readiness to join The Community. They’d started exploring their own star system, sent noisy inquiries into the stellar void, and even sent scout drones beyond their heliopause. Depending on assessment, humans would either be allowed to communicate and trade with their neighbors or would continue to be cloaked in the no-contact order that had been in place since life first arose on the planet.

“Hello. I am Kay. Nice to meet you,” she said, practicing the local language. Her species was chosen as the closest available bipedal, laterally symmetrical, four-limbed envoy of roughly equivalent size and form as humans. She checked her flex armor and the attached recording devices. It wouldn’t do her any good if they attacked her face, but the job came with risks.

The sounds of their languages were strange, and the surgery to her vocal tract and tongue to speak them left her unable to speak her own language, or even say her own name. Still, she hoped they could bring the humans into The Community. They made a staggering amount of raw, primitive art; the kind most species had forgotten how to make, and she had studied it in-depth for many cycles now.

She knew from their moving-story-arts that walking on the road was unwise, so she kept to the shoulder. The town was a collection of small buildings, each a different style, and all built by hands and labor, not the automated printing used by much of The Community. As she walked further into town, she attracted stares.

These humans were shorter and stockier than she, their skin color dependent on the red of their blood and the amount of brown melanin they carried within. Her own skin was blue-green, shifting to purple under white light, and highly UV reactive. Their eyes were small in proportion compared to hers, while their noses were large. They had five fingers on each hand, like her, but only one opposable thumb, while she had one on each side of her hand.

Feeling that this was as good a place as any to begin, she tried talking to passersby. “Hello. I am Kay. Nice to meet you.”

Her attempts were met with stares, people crossing the street to avoid her, and rude comments. It was after one of those rude comments that a human finally stopped to talk with her.

He stopped his vehicle on the road next to her, red and blue lights flashing on top of it. The brown and tan uniform, the weapon at the waist, and the badge told her that this was an official. If the moving-story-arts were right, this person’s job was to protect people and catch lawbreakers.

“Can I help you?”

“Hello. I am Kay. Nice to meet you.”

“Hi Kay. I’m Sheriff’s Deputy Andy Berg.” His hand rested casually on his pistol, while he peered closely at her face. “That’s a neat costume and all, but this probably ain’t the town to do that in. You’re scarin’ folks.”

“It is not my intent to scare any of you. I am here as an envoy, to determine the readiness of your kind to join The Community.” As she spoke, she gestured, her odd hands catching the eyes of the deputy.

“Y—you got some sort of deformity thing?”

“No. I am not deformed, but I am also not human.”

“Do you have any ID?” he asked.

“Standard genetic ident,” she said, holding a finger out to swipe.

He pulled out a card with his picture and writing on it. “An ID, like this?”

“No, I am not in possession of such a document.”

“Let’s go to the station and get this figured out. Turn around and put your hands behind your back.”

She did as he commanded, and felt metal restraints placed on her wrists. He opened the back door of his vehicle to put her in, and she swung her arms over her head, rotating them into a more comfortable position in front of her.

“Ho—how did you do that?”

“Do your arms not move like this?” she asked.

“No, they don’t. Just...don’t do anything stupid.”

“I will not. My intelligence was a deciding factor in becoming an envoy.”

Once they arrived at the station, she allowed herself to be led in to where he pointed at a chair for her to sit in. She sat and slipped her hands out of the cuffs and handed them back to him.

“What the…?”

“Was I wrong in doing this? I apologize. I am not familiar with all of your customs.”

“Why don’t we start from the beginning? Where are you from?”

“I was raised on station 875-439, just over nine light years from here, and trained there to become an envoy. My species comes from a planet around the star you know as Gliese 876.”

Andy wrote in his notebook without looking up. “Uh-huh, I see. And what’s the name of your planet?”

“I cannot say it.” She stuck her tongue out to its full fourteen inches to point out the scars along the sides and top. He stared, surprise evident on his face. “The surgery I underwent to speak your languages has left me unable to speak my own.” She grabbed his pen and scribbled marks on the sheet he’d been writing on. “This is how the name of my planet is written. And it is also my name.”

“Lucky for me you speak English, I guess?”

“I speak about half of all human languages; 3,224 to be precise.”

“Wow, okay.” Andy studied the odd creature. “I’m really not sure what I’m supposed to do here. I should call the Feds, but they’d probably dissect you or something. I don’t think you’re a threat, though, so I won’t do that yet.”

“I thank you for not having me dissected. It would not be the first time it happened to an envoy, but I do not desire such a fate.”

Andy laughed. “I don’t think any of us want that.” He leaned closer, staring into her large eyes. “Why did you come here, rather than go to the President or the UN or somethin’?”

“My mission is not to create the trade and communication agreements. Instead, my mission is to see if humans are ready for such things.”

“I’ll be honest, I’m still kind of creeped out by you, but I’m tryin’ my best to be a good host.” He leaned back and sighed. “I’d guess, though, that based on how everybody treated you in town, your assessment is no.”

“I am but one of 300,000 envoys assessing your people over the next seven rotations of your planet. I have not amassed enough data to make a determination on my own, but the recordings made by my armor will be collated with that of my peers to make a final decision.”

“You ain’t worried some of ‘em might be killed?”

“It is likely that many will. But duty requires that I do my job to the best of my abilities.”

Andy stood. “I’m gonna grab a coffee. Want anything?”

“That is a hot drink made from a seed containing a stimulant, correct?”

“I guess that’s one way to put it.”

“I would like to try this drink.”

Andy returned with two cups of coffee and offered one to Kay. “Why didn’t they send someone that looks more...human?”

“Our species is the closest in terms of size, shape, motation, and limb number and placement. We have also determined that your foodstuffs are compatible with our species.” She sipped the drink, holding it in her mouth long enough to get a complete sense of its flavor.

“What do you think of the coffee?”

“It is bitter, but not unpleasant.” She attempted a smile, knowing it was appropriate to the situation. Due to her overly wide mouth, it merely made her even more disturbing.

In spite of his smile, his unease showed, and he quickly looked down at his coffee. “What kind of trade would we be talkin’, if we pass muster?”

Kay sniffed at the coffee. Even with her limited olfactory sense, it was a strong scent. “Rare foodstuffs like this, information, minerals, technology, labor, and art. Your first and second planets are prime candidates for material mining rights. The possibilities are limitless.”

“What happens when ya’ll decide we ain’t worthy, though?”

“Do you think that is likely?”

Andy scowled into his coffee. “Afraid so. ‘Course, I see the worst of people, because of my job.”

“If that determination is made, your scout drones currently outside your own star system will be disabled. The blockade on communication with your system will remain in place. Nothing else will change.”

“Ain’t that just how it goes? You want somethin’ to change it don’t; want it to stay the same, it changes. But at least now we know we ain’t alone.”

“Indeed. That is an unfortunate side-effect of the envoy mission. Given enough time, however, your kind will forget us, except as myths.”

“Have you...your people...been here before?”

“We are the first envoys to your world.”

“And you’re here for seven days?”

“That is correct.”

“Where you stayin’?”

“The pilot’s chair in my ship is adequate.”

“Nope. That won’t do.” Andy finished his coffee and crossed his arms. “I’ll put you up for the week. Ain’t no one else in this town going to.”

“I can tell I make you uncomfortable,” she said, “and do not wish to intrude on your space. Your offer is very kind, though.”

“You know what would make me even more uncomfortable? Knowin’ you travelled all this way to end up here and didn’t no one put you up for a few days.”

She studied his face, trying to correlate his expression with the human expressions she’d been taught. He seemed to be holding two contradicting feelings at the same time. Kay found that interesting. “I will accept your offer, if only to enjoy more of this beverage.”

He laughed. “Who knew coffee would be the thing that gets us talkin’ to aliens?” Andy raised a finger, as if to make a point. “I have an idea. We’re goin’ to the diner for breakfast. My treat, seeing how you probably don’t have any money.”

“I do not. Will there be more coffee?”

“Absolutely.” He smiled and she found it both welcoming, and somewhat threatening, as his teeth showed. “I can introduce you around to some folks, let ‘em know you ain’t dangerous. They see you havin’ eggs and grits with coffee, they’ll be more likely to talk.”

“Then I shall be glad to accompany you. Thank you.”