“Janitor: a person employed as a caretaker of a building; a custodian. I do not understand. What is an employee?”
“Someone who works for another person for money.”
“What is money?”
Goodness, was this what it was like being a new parent? I was already feeling exhausted and we’d been talking for less than ten minutes. “In my culture, people don’t exchange items for other items anymore. Instead, we work for promissory notes that we can then trade in for the things we need.”
“That… doesn’t make sense.”
“I suppose to you, it wouldn’t. Asteroid life is probably a lot different from Earth’s.”
“Earth? Is that your home?”
“Yes.”
“And it is mined as well for the resources?”
“Yeah, actually. Only the richest of the rich live there now on carefully maintained oases. The rest of us live on colonies of varying levels of squalor or space-bound vessels doing work for the government.”
“I see.” She murmured slowly. “I believe I read about this. It is called distribution of wealth, yes?”
“Yeah, actually! Very good.”
“I couldn’t comprehend it as I was reading. It seemed so strange that some of you would be allowed to have whatever they needed to survive while others could not have enough. But now that I know your people do not even care for its own, it is easy to understand how they could so readily destroy others.”
“I’d like to contest that opinion, but given our history, I can’t really. But I am serious that I want to help. I feel absolutely terrible for what happened to you, and it’s my responsibility to get you back to your people safely.”
“How can we do that?”
“I, uh… I’m not exactly sure. I’ll have to ask around without arousing suspicion.”
“And you can do that?”
I shrugged, giving her my best ‘I-can-do-it’ grin that I could muster. “I guess we won’t know until I try.”
“I see. Thank you…” she paused again, her face going blank. “You asked me a question when you first entered the room. I did not understand it, but now I do, and I will ask it of you. What are you called?”
“Oh! You can call me Higgens! And what about you? Do you have a name?” That was a stupid question! This girl was a sentient being who had a family and home, and definite concept of what life and death was. Of course, she had a name.
“Yes,” she answered with a nod. “It is-” A sound came out of her mouth that was nowhere near human. It was somewhere between one of her adorable trills that she had made when I first found her, a bleet, and a high pitched static that made me want to kick myself in the teeth if I were that flexible.
“I uh, I don’t think I can pronounce that.”
She nodded. “Yes, human noise-fronds are much different from my own species. But you have been using a specific chirp at me since we met. I suppose that will do as well as any other.”
“What, you mean Mimic?”
“Mimic: A person skilled in imitating the voice, mannerism or movements of others in an entertaining way.” Now her face split into a beautiful, genuine grin. ‘You find me entertaining?”
“Y-yeah, of course. You’re a fun little bean.”
“Bean? That is a-”
“Nickname!” I quickly interrupted. “And that’s exactly what you need. Your name is Mimic, but how about I call you… Mimi. It’s a bit more personal.”
“Myself-myself. Mimi. Yes, it is always good for a shapeshifter to remind themselves that no matter their form, they are always themselves. Thank you, Higgens, you are truly a good…” she paused, no doubt searching for the correct word again. “alien friend.”
“We’re called humans, actually.”
“Ah, yes. I remember that. Human.” She offered her hand and another beaming smile. “I saw this on the net of which you speak. This is how two allies agree upon a course of action, correct?”
“Correct,” I answered with a smile. “Here’s to getting you home.”
5
Scan This
I groaned as my alarm went off. Despite having a full night’s sleep, my dreams had been a wild ride, leaving me feeling exhausted before the day even started. Sitting up, I rubbed my eyes to see a large, black puddle on my floor.
“Mimi?” I questioned.
The onyx pool began to bubble, then solidified until her female form was laying on the ground, looking perfectly groomed, rested and ready to go.
“Greetings, Higgens. Are you ready to begin the operation to return me to my home?”
“Yes indeed,” I said, forcing myself to my feet. It also probably didn’t help that I had slept in my uniform. Perhaps a hot shower would do me some good.
But that could wait until after I made all of this right. We had hurt someone, whether intentionally or not, and I needed to make up for it.
“Alright, can you tell me what today’s part of the plan is?” I quizzed her.
“Yes. I will stay here and learn more of your culture while you go and question members of the crew on how one might be able to find my kin.”
“Very good, and what are we not going to do?”
Her eyes flicked to me from where she had seated herself at my desk. “I am unsure, but I believe this is an example of something called ‘patronizing’. I am not an idiot, Higgens. I know that revealing myself to the species who destroyed my home without a second thought and has no prior track record with dealing with alien life—as well as a terrible history of how they treat their own people—Is a terrible idea.”
“Oh. Right, sorry. I just worry, ya know. Especially with the whole dampening chamber thing you pulled.”
“I was starving, and knew I needed enough energy to be able to expand my form into one similar to your species. Communication was worth the risk.”
“Of course. And obviously it worked out for you. I’m going to go ahead and step out before I put my foot any further in my mouth.”
“Is that something humans can do?” Her hands went to her hips. “These seem much too solidly connected for that.”
“It’s an expression. Why don’t you look up what those are? Alright, awesome, I’ll see you later now. Bye!”
I rushed out, cheeks flushing a bit pink. Gosh, I was awkward with conversation. It figured that Mimi was going to learn her first impressions of human interaction from someone who barely understood it. I hope I didn’t socially cripple her for life.
Then again, if I was returning her to her own people, that wouldn’t matter much. It would have been nice to daydream about how whatever I taught her would affect her species’ view of us, but I didn’t have the time. I was on a mission, after all.
I could hear the tell-tale hum of the drills through the wall. It was the sound of active mining, which meant that the coin twins weren’t going to be in the engine bay, instead they would most likely be at the bridge or the engineering center where they would monitor the ship’s readings.
I headed to the lift, rehearsing lines in my head. I had to play this smooth. Anything too weird and I might arouse suspicion.
Too bad acting subtly was not one of my strong suits.
I chewed on my lip as I left the elevator and walked out onto the engineering center. I had to hope they would be there because there was no chance I was going up onto the bridge. The only times I went there was once a month or so when some sort of mess needed to be cleaned.
“Oh, Higgens, what brings you here?” Gonzales said, standing up from the console they had been leaning on.
“Uh, nothing.” I blurted nervously. “I just wanted to talk. I get lonely from time to time, ya know.”
“Really, you’re capable of human emotion?” she joked… I think. “What a surprise.”
“Be nice to him.” I looked over to see Ciangi come around from a machine, her data-log in hand as she recorded the dozens of readings around her. “He’s the one that makes sure we’re not submerged in three tons of organic waste.”