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  At the other end the dump part would also leave traces. We could do the drop at another isolated outpost, but our ship would have been seen by two groups of Bears. We decided that a scoop and dump would be the easiest and fastest of our two options while leaving the smallest footprint.

  Like casual neighbors dropping in for a cup of sugar, we landed thirty meters from their hab unit. Martin volunteered to be the one to knock on their door. First, we would broadcast a message in their language, telling them that we were a rescue party. Then, suited up, Martin would go over to make contact. Hopefully not scaring the bejesus out of them in the process.

  We sent our rescue team message. We were betting that their exposure suits could still receive short-range transmissions. After an apparently joyful exclamation, one replied that they were coming right over to our ship. We had used Sojourner’s chameleon abilities to take on the generic coloring and identification markings of their ships. To them we were fellow Bears.

  We opened the outer airlock door and extended the ramp to the cargo bay facing their hab. It was just a little less full of the artifact crates than the starboard one. We hoped we could keep them in the bay for the very short run portion of our plan. Of course, that short, less than a minute trip to a faraway outpost would clue them in that we had made the delivery on a very non-Bear-like ship.

  As the lock door opened, they approached. One was walking and the other lay prone on what looked like a sled. They had some luggage loaded. The one walking controlled the sled from behind.

  On reaching the cargo ramp, the Bear moved the sled up the ramp and into the lock. We had learned enough Bear physiology to know that they could easily tolerate the slightly lower oxygen levels and pressures of our ship's normal atmosphere. As for virus and bacteria problems, the Surrons had conquered that small challenge over three-billion years ago. Their Auto-Docs were amazing.

  We closed the outer door and cycled the lock. Opening the inner door, the ambulatory Bear pushed the sled into the bay. The Bear stopped and looked around, checked a display on the arm of its suit, then checked the suit display on the reclining Bear. By simple body language we could see that the standing bear was showing great concern about the unconscious one on the sled. Using a suit radio, the Bear com’d us. Translated, we understood that her husband was in serious condition and needed help immediately, like NOW.

  Martin, the oldest and most non-threatening looking one of us, moved through the double hatches into Sojourner’s cargo bay. For a moment he stood on the bay walkway above the Bears. Martin, used his Q-Com and Sojourner as a translator. He gave her a short story of us being humble scientific voyagers, who had been in the area when we detected the power surge that resulted in their system failures. He really played the emotional strings, telling her that in our culture, sentient life was so precious that we could simply not stand by and let them succumb to a lonely cold death. At least that last part was true. The humble part, well I’m not too sure about that. I guess Martin was speaking for himself.

  Sojourner told her that our medical facilities could safely treat her husband and bring him back to good health. The female Bear removed her helmet and did the same for her husband. She agreed to let us help, pleading with us to hurry. It was an any port in a storm for her.

  As soon as we had them aboard, Sojourner popped into Traveler’s flight bay. Two of our med-bots used a gurney to gently transport the unconscious Bear off Sojourner and directly to Traveler's medical section. The female Bear stayed at the gurneys side. Abby and I met her at the top of the ramp leading from the flight bay, hoping we were showing body language that communicated sympathy and reassurance. We led her further into Traveler. Along the way Abby took the female's hand in a gentle clasp. Touching like that seems to be a universal sign of comfort in situations like this. All lower animals with even a smidgen of self-awareness do it. Higher order social animals even mourn their dead.

  She watched as her husband was laid on the bed of the Auto-Doc. Traveler did a full body scan with the lid open. We knew that the Bears had similar medical equipment. Traveler had already scanned him on the way, so this was just a performance that would seem familiar to the female Bear. Actions we hoped would allay some of her natural fears and concerns. The lid closed. Abby and I both spoke at once, knowing that Traveler would translate. He did but then said in both languages, that translator hardware was on their way to allow better face to face communication. A bot soon delivered five arm bands. The three orange ones were for Abby, Martin and me. The two green ones were for the female Bear and for her husband.

  Seeing that two green ones were delivered, she understood the implication. It was a reassuring sign to the female that we thought that her husband would make it.

  I stayed with her in the Med-bay. Martin and Abby, having extended their assurances, respectfully withdrew. We had a nice chat, her and I.

  Using the translators, I told her my name was Sandy. I wondered how that translated into her language. I hope it didn't come out as dirt. Pointing at herself, she smiled at me and made a gravel-crunching sound of a few syllables. Lots of what sounded like rolling Rs and deep-toned trills. Translated, her name was Fount. I pointed at her and said her name to see how my translator would, well, translate. I was looking for a reaction. When she heard her name translated from my language to hers, she nodded, I guess in the affirmative, and her smile grew slightly bigger.

  In the animal kingdom, a display of teeth can be seen as a hostile or defensive action. It says I'll bite you. But, in our limited experience, apes and chimpanzees grin at not only each other but at humans with whom they are familiar.

  I guess that she and I are both apes that just came down from different trees. Hell, I've even seen dogs give a happy smile to people they viewed as part of their pack. Of course, dogs also had a tail wag that confirmed their intent. Neither of us felt the need to wiggle our butts.

  I asked Sojourner to make some ear pieces for us. He said he would make them for the Bears, but that the translator could interface with our cranial inserts so we could hear the translations as if they were coming into our ears. I told him to enable that. Sojourner also lowered the apparent volume of their speech reaching our auditory centers so we could hear instantaneous translation without double cross-talk.

  I told Fount what was being done on that front, but she said that she'd heard Traveler’s explanations to me. We humans would have to remember to speak softly in her presence so it would be easier for her to follow her translator.

  She asked me if Sojourner was our Ship's AI and then asked to be introduced. I made the introductions. For Bears, formal introductions are a seriously respectful social nicety that was rarely pushed aside. In her culture, failing to extend a formal greeting was the same as a big SCREW YOU, would be to us.

  Fount asked if she could remove the rest of her suit. She had helped peel her husband out of his after he was stretched out on the Auto-Doc.

  I said, sure, no problem. She stood and I gave her some small help in getting her suit removed. Having the chance to feel the fabric of her underlying blue-gray jump suit, I was surprised at the silkiness.

  Her fur was just as silky. She was covered in a light brown fur. Her husband fur was slightly darker. As she removed her suit, she retrieved a mid-size tan utility bag and hung it from her shoulder by its wide strap.

  After her suit was completely removed, I showed her the adjoining sanitary facilities, activating and explaining the various controls. She thanked me, and I left it to her to take care of any immediate needs.

  I said that the aliens reminded me of bears, and that's true. But they did lack the large protruding snouts, as well as the clawed paws of bears. What we saw from our recon was upright beings with thick muscled thighs, and except on their hands and feet, what looked like a two-inch length of fur all over their bodies.

  On closer inspection, Fount’s fur was very fine and almost downy. The fur lay as a soft, well-groomed carpet over her skin. Quiet pleasing to see act
ually. And also, to smell. It reminded me of a cool sunny day. To her, I probably stank like a backed up sanitary tank.

  We continued talking as we sat next to the Auto-Doc. Her husband's name translated as Forest. Our quick scoop and dump plan was not going to happen. Oh, I forgot to mention. One of their pieces of luggage held five pet snakes. Big Snakes.

  23 Neighbors

  Fount's husband, Forest, began to stir in the open Auto-Doc. He was being brought around slowly so he could ease into his new environment. Fount was by his side, bent over holding his hand whispering, her face close to his. The exposed fur on her head, waved and rippled slowly, as if affected by a slight breeze. A show of Bear body language, it conveyed, even to us humans, a worried concern.

  She was the only one in the Med-bay with him. No need to unnecessarily shock him upon awakening. Martin and I were standing outside watching the reunion on our HUDs and getting translations through our Q-Coms.

  We watched and listened as she gently welcomed him back. After five minutes he was fully awake, sitting up, and looking around the Med-bay. She soothed him by saying that they were safely aboard a ship with friends, relating the story of how he came to be here. She didn’t mention that her new friends were aliens from another galaxy. Martin and I retreated to the commissary area.

  As Fount helped her husband out of the Auto-Doc, he was a bit unsteady for a few seconds. He put on his jump suit and boots. They left the Med-bay and headed to the commissary to meet Martin and me.

  Walking down the corridors, Forest looked about but didn't seem to see anything that screamed Aliens. Traveler's corridors are fairly nondescript. No exposed wire runs, piping, equipment or controls. Traveler had even temporarily blanked out all the labels and other visual clues she had applied for her human crew.

  Fount paused at the closed hatch to the Commissary. She turned to Forest and told him that the crew of the ship was not who he was expecting, but they were friendly and had been the ones who saved them and brought him back to health. She wanted him to meet two of the crew. Her new friends.

  Martin and I were at the far end of the room from the hatch. I was standing, Martin was seated. We felt that would be the best configuration for Forest's initial view of us. We even ditched our ship jumpsuits for more casual street clothes so it wouldn't look like we were in uniform. The hatch opened and Fount stepped through, followed by Forest.

  As Fount moved a bit further into the room, Forest stopped when his eyes swept over us. It didn't take a scientist, to see that we weren't Bears but that we were an intelligent, organic species built along the same general pattern as them. “These are the people who rescued us?”

  “Yes, cherished husband. This is Martin and Sandy. They are of a species known as humans.” I wondered if the cherished husband part was a literal translation or just a close approximation. I also wondered if the word humans translated into their language as people or mostly hairless and smelly mammals.

  I gave Forest a slight tentative hand wave as he continued to follow Fount to our table. In front of me was the translator made for him. She pulled hers from a pocket, explaining its use. He slipped his on his arm. Fount then made the formal introductions.

  They sat down with us at our small, round table. The seats were comfortable enough for them. While they were shorter than us, their legs were such that their feet easily touched the deck. It was their upper torsos that were proportionally shorter. The top of their heads came up to my nose level. I was really going to have to prepare them before they met, or even saw, Roger and Dodger.

  The first words he spoke to us were humble thanks for rescuing them. I can't say that he didn't even blink an eye. He blinked plenty, tilting his head, side to side to get the best views of us he could without moving around to better examine us. That would have been a very impolite action for a Bear. The Bears were all about being polite.

  He asked us if we were from his galaxy. We told him that we were a civilian expedition on a voyage of discovery and that this was our first visit to his galaxy. I didn't say scientific voyage. There was really nothing scientific about it. We were robbing vaults with the owner’s permission.

  I didn't want to lie to them any more than I had to. We gave him the same story about having detected a power surge anomaly that led us to their location. A thin explanation, but actually quite true. Telling them that we had been on their planet just 120-klicks away would lead to questions about what exactly we had been doing planet-side. At least, that would have been my follow-on question if the roles had been reversed. Like I said, humans are a suspicious breed.

  They seemed like a very pleasant couple. I showed them their quarters. I asked Fount to not unpack their pet snakes just yet.

  Hornblower had authorized a tour of the ship and they both accepted. I got the impression that they rarely left each other’s side. Martin led the tour. He was much more knowledgeable in the finer details of Traveler. I left them in his capable hands.

  I went to the bridge area conference room to talk with Hornblower and the rest of the crew. Martin would be listening in via his Q-Com. We needed a plan on how to dump the Bears without creating a stir. I said that I thought that Forest and Fount would cooperate fully in being deposited on a Bear occupied planet.

  After the scoop part of our plan, it became apparent, with Forest being injured and needing immediate medical attention, our cover would be partially blown. We hadn't lingered in the Bear galaxy. We were back home, moving in-system to our shipyard.

  Forest asked hundreds of technical questions of Martin during the ship tour. Martin answered all his questions, only evading the answers that would lead to knowledge of the Zees, the Surrons, and the unique source of the bodies that Martin and the Zees inhabited. He didn’t mention the retrieval of the contents of the time-capsule crypt. Forest didn't seem too surprised at most of the answers.

  Given time, anywhere in our universe, science always leads to similar understanding, technologies and constructs. Form really does follow function;, some ancient had said that. A screwdriver is a screwdriver, even if the handle is a bit different. And a neutrino welder is a neutrino welder. Just kidding, no such thing as a neutrino welder. But I did once convince a newbie spacer kid in a bar that I had one that could stitch them together. I asked him if he wanted a neutrino necklace for his girl back home.

  Fount was also a highly knowledgeable scientist. She asked us about our cultures and social protocols. Me, personally? I don't have many social protocols beyond not running down the street naked. Well, there was that one time in college with some other students, but that was a one-off. That rule and don't aggressively invade my personal space uninvited unless you wanted to get your lights put out. Hey, I'm just a simple spacer gal.

  While planning our dump run, we hit a small snag. The Bears wanted to accompany us for a while longer. I must admit that Forest gave Hornblower fifteen very solid, concise, well formed, and completely logical reasons, also explaining the mutual benefits of an extended ride-along. I suspect that Forest was a champion on his college debate team. Hornblower said he would consider their request. I knew he would agree to an extension.

  ✽✽✽

  I wanted to see the big snake reveal … from a distance. Fount had told me that they were completely domesticated and that our outward appearance was so similar to theirs that the snakes would assume we were just different versions of Bears, even given the marked difference in odors and absence of all-over body hair. I wasn't going to ask any questions about that. I had started taking two showers a day, anyway. Any more than that and I'd be a wrinkled prune.

  The snakes and the Bears had a relationship similar to that of ours with dogs but stronger. They had evolved on the Bear's home world, side by side. Apparently, their culture never developed the serpent and scaled dragon stories that our very ancient history had. I hoped that their snakes didn't share very many of the characteristics of our snakes. You know, the cold, scaly, darting forked tongue, crush and inject you with venom,
creepy stuff.

  Other than the tubular shape, there were obvious differences. Theirs didn't use a winding body motion to move about. They had two rows of small pseudo-pods along their bellies. They moved in straight-line fashion. They were fruit eaters with blunt teeth and a light blue-gray tongue. Their heads had two eyes that were like a gecko’s, they could look in two different directions at once. No binocular depth perception.

  They had a sphincter-controlled nose hole in the top of their head and a fleshy lipped mouth they used for not only eating, but also for communicating. So far so good. Fount told me that they were great around children and acted as guards when unknown things entered their self-defined range around their owner's property. They would emit a series of shrill, trilling squeaks as an alert signal. They wouldn't attack, but the racket they made would wake the dead.

  I watched as Fount allowed them to physically engage with her. They climbed up her legs and clung to her clothes, draping themselves over her arms and leaning out, looking for her attention. She petted and stroked each one. They seemed to swoon at her touch.

  After a few minutes she snapped her fingers and they moved down and across the deck to their open pen. Fount told me that they would respond to a snap from anyone they had been introduced to. I sucked it up and moved in to be introduced. Fount picked one up, stroked it a bit and then laid it across my arm. It snuggled in close and licked my skin making a small sound.

  Fount told me that sound meant the snake liked the taste of my skin. Lucky me. Then the damn thing started purring like a cat. I could not only hear it but also felt the gentle, deep vibrations of its entire body as it got cozy.

  Its body was slightly warm and it had a very light odor of coffee. So, what's not to like? They reminded me of sock puppets I'd played with as a child.

  I asked her if we should be concerned about them breeding and creating hundreds of baby snakes. She told me they were all females and had been neutered. I was glad to hear that. I didn't want to bump into a ball of sexed up snakes in a corridor at night or in a smaller space like my cabin.