A First Look At “First Impressions” (A ‘Slipgates’ Novel)

Due to friendly public demand of some fans, I am creating a sample chunk of my upcoming novel for you all to enjoy for free. This is the first… oh, 10–20%, depending on which later bits get trimmed or fleshed out in the final draft. I hope you enjoy it! Please, feel free to spread it around. :) That is the point of this document, after all!

Final note, this story takes place within my ‘Slipgates’ IP, as do most of my fictional stories. Something to bear in mind when reading all the other Slipgates stories. As in, there’s lots more to see, and I hope you have fun exploring my fictional universe with me. (There are a lot! And I’m excited to keep bringing you more!)

Enjoy! Story begins below the line. Thanks for reading.

“First Impressions”

Calisto, 2134

“Alya!” Her older sister yelled at her. The girl in question, Alya, jumped at the sudden sound and banged her head on the engine she was repairing. Swearing expertly under her breath and rubbing her head she crawled out from underneath the machine. “What?!” She demanded, glowering at her annoying sibling and brandishing a wrench.

Her sister, Tey, stood in the doorway leaning on the frame. She had obviously snuck in and deliberately startled her. Tey smirked at her little sister and said, “Hey runt. Mom wants you. Besides, lunchtime.” She pushed herself off the frame with smooth grace, her long silvery hair and beautiful sheer dress flowing behind her with the movement. Being the older sister she got to work with customers and keep herself pretty for them, while Alya got to get covered in engine grease in the back. Lucky her.

Alya grumbled internally at the insult, but obeyed. “Coming.” She said flatly. She stood up and walked over to the sink to wash herself off. She glanced at herself in the mirror. A very pretty Telha girl gazed back at her, her beauty rather hidden behind smears of grease and sweat. She used the scrubbing soaps for a minute and then looked again. Better! She smiled at her reflection, then her face fell when she remembered the insult. “I am not a runt.” She muttered to herself quietly, adjusting her long white ponytail that kept her hair out of the way while she was working. “I’m just… below average height. And what’s so great about average?” She asked her reflection.

No one replied. She sighed and checked herself once more in the mirror. Her mother got incredibly angry if she didn’t look “presentable” when customers might see her. She adjusted the simple tube top and shorts she wore while working in the stuffy back room, checking them for missed bits of dirt. Satisfied she was ‘presentable’ to her mother’s standards, she left the workshop, the lights automatically clicking off as she left. She walked down the marble hallway into the main shop area, its softly swirling patterns of rock reminding her of the gentle tides of the beach outside. She bowed politely at a customer in the shop, who in turn ignored her completely. Sighing under her breath she went back behind the counter to the rest of the building which served as her family’s home and into the kitchen. Her house, like almost all architecture on this planet was done in a traditional Telha style: all smooth marble and other beautiful stones, mixed with the glass and steel of modern times. The stone was cool and refreshing under her bare feet and she stood for a moment in the hall collecting herself before going in to see her family.

Her other sister, Nara, was busy setting down bowls of food around the cushins on the floor. Her mother was reading something and glanced up when Alya walked in. Alya stood silently, waiting to be acknoweldged. Her mother looked her over critically, checking her as always for dirt. Satisfied, she grunted and went back to her reading. Alya bowed briefly and then sat down at her place around the food in silence. Nara handed her a bowl and sat as well, and they all began to eat in silence. After a minute or so of eating their fish in silence, her mother sighed and put down the device she was reading from. “Well. It went through officially.” She said to no one in particular.

Her daughters all glanced at each other and then at their mother, frozen with bits of fish half way to their mouths. Eventually Tey, the oldest, asked hesitantly, “What did, mother?”

Their mother waved a hand holding a bit of fish. “The Empire has decided to use our world as the first in their new integration experiment. We ‘won’ the bid for it.”

Her daughters glanced at each other again in silence, unsure how to interpret her tone. Tey opened her mouth to speak, closed it again, then finally spoke. “Are… you not pleased, mother? I thought you supported the alliance with the Terrans and their integration idea.”

Her mother gave her a sharp look and Tey quailed, “I do support the alliance, and the idea. I just… Didn’t want it to start here.” She said, skewering another piece of fish with the little metal meal-spike with surprising vehemence. Her daughters stared at their mother and then quickly gazed at the floor as she continued. “Of course it is a good idea. The Terrans have been letting aliens on their worlds for years, and look how their economy boomed. It is a good idea to try the same.” She stared at the impaled bit of fish on the end of her spike, and then gulped it down suddenly. “It’s just,” She chewed, “I didn’t think it would happen so fast. I’ve never even seen an alien and now we’re going to be living with them by the end of the day.”

Nara laughed nervously. “Oh, come on mother. It’s not like they’re going to invade our actual home. They’ll just be nearby.”

“That’s right,” Tey interjected enthusiastically, “And just think, mother, new customers!” Her eyes widening with forced enthusiasm.

Their mother looked around at her children and employees. “Hmmph.” She grumbled, and stabbed another piece of fish. “I just worry about them corrupting or harming you girls.”

“Oh come now mother. They’re not that bad. I met a few Terrans when you sent me off to that Expo last year, and they were nice!” Tey said enthusiastically.

Nara frowned. “I don’t know, sister. They started the war.”

“By accident!” Tey snapped back. “And it was all over by the end of a day! And remember what the Empress said, it was just as much our fault as theirs.”

Their mother snorted derisively. “Typical diplomatic talk. Tell me, what were these Terrans like?”

Alya listened in polite silence to her family arguing about the aliens. She had never met an alien, though she knew about them from school, of course. The Terrans seemed strangely eager to make new friends, and had even allowed her people on their homeworld within a few weeks of the disastrous first contact. To many of her kind, this was an amazing opportunity, but to the more… hardlined citizens like her mother and apparently one of her sisters, this was extremely suspicious. If Alya were being honest, though no one ever really let her speak her mind or would listen if she did anyway, she thought the only way to find out if this would work was to try it. After all, they would be on our soil, and the vast military of the Empire could protect them from anything. What was the worst that could happen? ‘Corrupted Ideals’ was the phrase spread around by the more xenophobic of her people, but privately Alya was looking forward to a little corruption, a little more color in her life might be fun. And besides, she was quite confident her people were smart enough not to be ‘corrupted by alien ideas’ and all that crap. She looked at her food for a moment and smiled slightly. Just like cooking a fish, you take out the gross bits and consume the good. No reason you couldn’t apply the same principle to ideas, right?

“ALYA.” Her mother snapped, and she jumped, realizing she had been lost in thought. She bowed her head quickly and said, “Sorry, mother, what do you want?”

Her mother gazed coolly at her youngest daughter, sizing her up. “I said, the first ship is coming in this afternoon. Tey will be going to meet with a Guild member, but I want you to go along.”

Alya glanced up at her mother. “To meet with the Guild?” She asked curiously. She was never allowed to have that honor, always shuffled into the back of the shop to do the grunt work.

“No, of course not. You will go and find a Terran, and if you can, bring her back here. Let’s see what kind of customers they make.” Her mother said flatly.

Alya bowed her head again slightly. “If you wish, mother.” she said meekly. But inside she wanted to dance. She got the best assignment! She was going to meet an alien! “I will not disappoint you.”

“See that you don’t.” Her mother said, looking at her carefully. “And calm down.”

Alya flushed with embarrassment. Apparently she was not as good at hiding her thoughts as she suspected. “Yes, mother.”

“You may leave when you have finished eating.” Her mother’s stern expression softened somewhat, and she added, “And… have fun.”

“Thank you mother.” Alya tried to remain calm, but ended up forgetting the facade and gulping down the rest of her meal, bowing so fast she banged her head on the hard stone floor, and scurried out of the shop.

Her family watched her go. “Eager, isn’t she?” Tey commented mildly, flicking a stray bit of hair out of her face.

“Hmm. Well, perhaps the Terrans will like her enthusiasm. You said they were a talkative people, didn’t you? And she never shuts up. I’ve heard her with her friends.” Her mother mused, leaning back and looking out the big glass doors to the patio outside and the beach beyond it. The soft blue oceans lapped at the sandy shore lazily in the afternoon sun. Today was going to be a big day. She made a mental note to check her accent with the language database before any alien customers arrived.

Out on the street, Alya tried to calm down, but was too excited. She was going to meet an alien! She looked around the street, trying to find an available public car. The street was filled with the bustle of activity of a typical work day, thousands of her people going about their business, but she sensed an extra bit of energy in the air. Surely everyone was anticipating the arrival of the aliens, and she saw many groups of people loudly debating the impact this change would have. She looked at the street itself for a moment. It too was marble, a pinkish-red swirling hue stretching down the blocks, contrasted beautifully with the other colors of polished stones the buildings were constructed from. She saw the indented tracks along the sides of the walk ways, meant to divert the planet’s very frequent rain and keep the walking paths clear. She saw all of the places and objects she had grown up with, how familiar they were to her, and had a very funny feeling in her gut when she considered that very soon, she would see aliens walking up and down the roads of her home, eating in her favorite restaurant, even buying from her shop. She stopped for a moment to consider how they must feel, going to a whole new planet with a whole new culture… and wondered if she could ever be so brave as to leave her home one day like these immigrants. After a moment she shook her head. That wasn’t important right now. She had to get to the space port. She didn’t dare think how furious her mother would get with her if she missed the first ship entirely.

She eventually found an unused public car and told it to take her to the port, settling back into the soft seats and watching her city go by. She saw glimpses of the nearby oceans and lagoons between buildings, and if she strained in her seat she could see some of the tops of underwater buildings out at sea and ships cruising around on the waves. After a few minutes the car eventually slowed to a halt in front of the vast space port, which was out on a peninsula into the sea. She glanced up at the huge arrival building, a dozen storeys tall and thousands of meters wide, mostly meant for trade goods and vast shipping or the occasional troop deployment. New colonists were rare, and certainly alien colonists were a first. She was surprised at first by the crowd of gawkers milling around the building, but then realized if she hadn’t been sent her by her mother, she probably would have snuck out herself to get a look at the aliens. It was an opportunity too good to miss. She got out of the car, pressing her hand to it and telling it to lock and wait for her return. She then stood up and checked herself automatically for dirt, realizing to her mild horror she was still in her work clothes, and not some fancy diplomatic dress. She groaned, dreading the wrath of her mother if she failed because she was too stupid to change into a better outfit. Gritting her teeth slightly she clenched her fists and strode up to the guards in front of the building.

Before she managed to get to them however, a small group peeled off from the mob surrounding the building and intercept her route. She groaned internally, immediately recognizing the haughty smirk of the girl in the lead. Alya averted her gaze and tried to step around them without comment, but the group reshaped itself to cut off her escape. “Oh look, the wrench got out of its toolbox.” Said the girl in the lead, her tone grating on Alya’s every nerve.

Alya gritted her teeth and looked at her aggressor. “Tili.” she said flatly. “I have business inside. Please, move aside.”

Tili’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Watch your tone, wrench.” The gang of other girls from her school behind her closed ranks, forming a tighter circle. “How dare you speak to me that way? And you even dare to look at me?” She grinned like a shark at her friends, who grinned evilly back. “Perhaps you need another lesson, the last one doesn’t seem to have taken hold.” The gang closed in around her even tighter.

But Alya refused to back down. She did, however, drop her gaze to the street, taking in the other girl’s magnificent outfit and jewels and getting angry at herself for not changing her clothes all over again. However, she felt she had an ace up her sleeve this time. “I wouldn’t recommend such a lesson here, Madam.” She said, her words polite but her tone all too obviously defiant.

Tili smirked arrogantly down at her victim. “Oh really, wrench? Think you can take us all on this time?” Some of the bigger girls behind her stretched their necks and cracked their knuckles in anticipation. These were the sort of kids who always grew up dreaming of the glories of Imperial military service. Or, in their words, dreaming of a job where they get paid to be violent. What more could they want out of life?

Alya glanced up to her minor noble nemesis. “Because you may have your ‘honor guard’ with you, madam, but nobility or not I don’t think they,” she nodded past the group to the large contingent of Imperial soldiers guarding the space port, “would approve of anyone causing a scene on a day like today. And just think of what your family would say of you having an arrest on your record, hmm?” In spite of knowing she would pay for this doubly at some other date, she smirked up at the girl, whose fists were now shaking in suppressed anger.

Tili seemed to consider the situation for a moment. “Very well, wrench. You may pass.” And she stepped slightly to one side, head still held high despite this defeat. But her eyes were glowing with hate like some mythical demon’s.

Alya bowed, a tad melodramatically. “Thank you for your kindness, Madam Countess.” She said, sarcasm dripping off her every syllable like a leaky gutter after a storm. And with a final smirk, she pressed on through the gang, pleased with her victory but rushing slightly in case they decided an arrest would be worth ‘teaching her another lesson’.

Alya hurried her pace to cross the crowd and approach the building. There was a unit of Imperial soldiers mixed in with the usual police outside the building, as she had pointed out to save herself from her bullies. Like the crowd, or rather, the mob, gathered outside, this would have surprised her, but it was a rather major event. The soldiers eyed her suspiciously as she strode up to the pair of police in front and bowed low. “I am here to greet the visitors.” She said plainly, and held out her hand.

The police officer on her right looked her up and down. “You don’t look like a diplomat.” She said flatly. Her partner used a scanner on her arm to verify Alya’s ID from her hand. The two police gazed at the information displayed on the inside of their tinted glasses, and Alya patiently remained still and nonthreatening, not wanting to provoke anyone. She waited in silence, a model citizen, straining to hear the quiet discussion between the police blocking her path. Eventually one of them said, “It would seem you have been given clearance by your boss for an economic access.” The soldiers moved in perfect unison to clear her way, regaining their thousand-yard stare. “Have a nice day.”

“Thank you, Officers.” Alya straightened up and strode as confidently as she could manage into the reception building, pausing for just a second to throw a smirk back over her shoulder at the bullying Countess, who returned her look with a seething glare. She then made her way through the building out the back to the actual landing pad and arrivals area. The area was little more than a massive metal platform constructed on the beach, with some generic fences on the sides to limit access but allow for a nice view of the ocean. There were maybe a hundred people milling around waiting for the ship to land, some in small groups and muttering in quiet conversation. She saw various Guilds and soldiers and diplomats, and realized how… odd she must look amongst them. Just a simple girl from a simple shop, and still in her stupid work outfit. She tried very hard to not be self conscious, and instead watched the sky, waiting for the little flash of light that would indicate an atmosphere breach. The aliens were coming, and she could barely contain her excitement.

The huge Telha Imperial Courier ship made its final slip into the Calisto system and began its descent into orbit. The massive ship was shaped vaguely like a lumpy egg, thousands of meters long and hundreds wide, glistening white against the black void of space. It would be quite a sight to see, but unfortunately James was inside, and his view was simply that of what his people would call a ‘coffin cabin’. A simple, mass-produced area about three meters long and two wide and tall, with a mattress in place of the ‘floor’ and screens on the walls, screens which were currently scrolling banal information about trade routes and other such dull news. James was laying down, staring at the ceiling, hands behind his head as a surrogate pillow, just biding his time and letting his mind wander. He had been surprised and very annoyed that the aliens didn’t seem to use pillows. he had attempted to get one from some crew member, but his wild gestures and complaints didn’t get him a pillow. He found this oddly more frustrating than it ought to be. All he wanted was a goddamn pillow! He sighed and adjusted his hands behind his head for better comfort and resigned himself to the fact that this was one of the things he would just have to get used to while living amongst these aliens. James was a Terran, already an oddity on a Telha ship, and he was one of the first wave of alien colonists allowed to settle on a Telha world. A young man in his mid 20s, with medium length brown hair and a sharp striped suit, he looked completely normal by his people’s standards. But he was not amongst his people anymore, and wouldn’t be for a long time. He wondered again about his rather reckless decision to go galavanting across the galaxy to an alien world on a whim, but he just shook his head and told himself again, as he had told himself a thousand times already on this journey, that he was here, this was happening, he had made his choice, it was time to live with it. Or, har har, live with them.

James scratched his nose. That was a point he was trying not to think about too much right now. He was very much looking forward to the adventure of living on an alien world, and had leapt at the chance. He had packed what few things he thought he really needed, checked with a medical center for his vaccines, and bought some language programs for the trip. …He had then rushed out of his apartment so fast that he left his headphones on his desk. So, he was proud to be able to say he had learned to read Telha in just a few days to a proficient level of fluency… but couldn’t speak or understand spoken a damn word. He kicked himself again for the incredibly stupid mistake, but consoled himself that at least he would be able to read signs and point to things for a few weeks until he picked up the spoken part of the language. He hoped they would be accommodating.

He sat up suddenly when the displays on the walls around him changed. He struggled to read them, and managed to decipher the message that they had arrived in the destination system. The screens showed their destination planet, Calisto, a beautiful blue orb glittering with a million flecks of green and white of island chains and clouds, looking rather beautifully like a chip of polished opal against the black velvet of space. He tried to read the messages on the screen below the majestic view. The last slip had occurred, and passengers were being told to be ready to disembark. He blinked in surprise. He knew that Telha ships tended to sacrifice speed for size, and didn’t believe the aliens insisting their ships were as fast as Terran Explorers. Technically, they weren’t, but this was still almost a full day sooner than he had expected. He grunted to himself. Huh. Halfway around the galaxy in half a week. Not bad.

He glanced around his little cabin, stuffing computers and other devices back into his main pack, and taking a few minutes to gently fold his clothes back into their carrier. His father had always told him to remember three things. First? Healthy body, healthy mind. Second, always keep trying, whether that means giving other people a chance or yourself another one. And finally, snappy dresser, savvy customer. He thought of his father briefly again, feeling a slight pang of regret at leaving in such a rush. He hoped his father didn’t feel abandoned. He shrugged, and slapped the side of his own face lightly, feeling the stubble there (he had also neglected to bring a shaver) and tried to get a hold on himself. His father would be fine, and was always too busy for his son in any case. His father was a great entrepreneur, and now James felt it was his turn. He, like his father, saw alien contact as an excellent new market, but unlike his father he didn’t want to wait for the aliens to come to him.

The message on the walls changed again, and he struggled to read the new message. Prepare for landing bump. Bump? What could that mean? Surely he must have gotten that word wrong. He glanced around for his phone to find the dictionary program, and realized straps had unfolded from hidden compartments in the walls. They dangled uselessly like vines and he stared at them for a moment, unsure what they could be for.

Realization hit him too late, as he scrambled to grab a hold of one and the ship struck the atmosphere, slamming his head into the ceiling and tossing his luggage around him. After a few seconds of incredible turbulence, everything settled down, and he lay spread-eagled on his back gasping. Well. It had indeed said ‘bump’ or something similar. Oh well, now he knew for next time.

He shook his head and chuckled softly, getting his bags in order again and then sitting cross-legged on the floor, gazing at the wall which was also a hatch. After another minute or so, it slid open with a hiss and he clambered out. Out in the corridor he saw other people getting out of their coffin cabins, thousands of them. Most of them were Telha, the aliens he was coming to live with, but he knew there were a few thousand Terrans and assorted other aliens who were allowed to live here too. Telha soldiers appeared at the end of the corridor and began moving down the aisles, checking the cabins and people’s passports. James decided to simply wait for them to come to him, and leaned casually against the bulkhead, looking around. The ship, like the aliens’ uniforms and in fact the aliens themselves was a smooth white, cleaned to a gleaming finish. He took a moment to size up the soldiers, all female of course, as are the vast majority of their species. Their white as sugar skin mostly hidden behind polished white armor, segmented reinforced plates overlapping a tough bodysuit like layers of ice. They carried, to his and most Terrans continual surprise, swords and spears, though these were clearly not mere pointy sticks. Millennia of technological refinement had turned their seemingly primitive weapons into a marvel of innovation. He noticed to his mild surprise that even the soldiers had the incredibly long hair he was used to seeing from the Telha visitors on earth, he had always assumed that was a civilian affectation. “Hmm.” He said quietly to himself. It was then that he realized soldiers had been coming from both ends of the corridor, and there was a detachment standing right behind him, watching him gaze at their peers. He jumped slightly, and then turned around to face them properly. “Sorry, sorry. Didn’t see you there.” He smiled at them, as warm and friendly a smile as he could manage.

They did not smile back. The six alien soldiers gazed at him impassively, though he noticed their larger-than-normal grey eyes narrow slightly as they looked him up and down. They remained motionless, but seemed to be waiting for him to do something. After a pause, he let his smile drop and fished in his jacket for his passport. As he moved, he saw the four behind the two in front of him drop into a ready stance, and realized he must look like he was drawing a weapon. Not wanting to get his head cut off on his first day away from home, he made a point of moving very, very slowly and very, very politely. He handed over his passport and held out his hand for the DNA scan, just as he had done when he first boarded. The two soldiers nearest him seemed to relax, though their backup did not, remaining ready to strike at a moment’s notice. One took his documentation and looked it over while the other scanned his hand with a device built into her armor. After a moment in silence, they bowed to him and handed his documents back, then without a word walked past him down the corridor.

James watched them go by. Huh. Not as friendly as all of the Telha he was used to on earth, but, then again, in his experience, soldiers of any group from any species were never the friendliest bunch. He shrugged and tucked his passport back into his jacket, grabbed his bags, picked a tiny bit of lint off his otherwise impeccable suit, and merged into the crowd to follow the slow tide of people leaving the ship. After a couple minutes he reached the main airlock and stepped in. After a moment it had cycled, and the outer door opened and James took his first breath of air on an alien planet.

Salt. The air tasted distinctly salty. He gazed around, blinded by the sunlight after nearly four days in a dark little cabin, holding his hand over his eyes to try and see better. He was on some sort of island outcropping, and a few hundred meters in the air. there was a surprisingly huge angled walkway leading down to a beach and a bunch of people in front of a big building. There were tubes and wires and other walkways going from the ship to the building, and he saw various soldiers and crates and things moving about them. He noticed a guard at the hatch giving him an impatient look and hurried down the plank a little ways, ending up back in the ebbing tide of people dispersing onto the beach.

James got to the bottom and then stepped off to one side, leaning against a crate for a minute to collect his thoughts. Well, he was here. On another planet. An alien planet. And he couldn’t speak the damn language. He decided his first priority was to get some food, but then to buy some damn headphones and find a hotel and not come out until he was fluent enough not to make an ass of himself. He also took a moment to rip off the nicotine patch he had been wearing for the flight and pull out a cigarette. He lit it and took a refreshing long draw, his first in too long. He decided to wait for a bit, after all, he was here, and he was in no hurry to go anywhere. He decided to take a few minutes to gaze around at the crowd, taking in the various species of aliens, some of which he had never even heard of, all of the bizarre outfits and strange bits of conversation he couldn’t understand. Another Terran walked past him and grinned at his cigarette. “Three days is three too many, right?” She said, holding out two fingers. He grinned at her around the cigarette and slipped one into her hand. “I just hope I can import some here,” he chuckled, and she laughed with him. She thanked him for the smoke and walked off to join some aliens and go about her business.

James sighed, blowing a long stream of smoke out into the air and watching it waft over the crowd and dissipate over the waves. He went back to watching the crowd again, and realized someone was looking at him. Not just looking at him, really staring. A Telha girl, maybe a bit younger than him at a guess, was standing near the back of the crowd all alone and staring over their heads directly at him. He stared back at her, and gave her a small smile and wave of his hand. He had to guess they were just as curious about him as he had been the first time he had seen aliens as a little boy. He bent down to check on his baggage and see what he could look up about finding a hotel. After a moment, a shadow moved across his bag and he looked up. The girl who had been staring at him was standing in front of him, hands behind her back, politely waiting in silence. He straightened up and looked down at her, as she was at least a head shorter than he. She was… cute, in an alien sort of way. Like most of her people she was fit and lithe, toned slim muscle indicated under her mostly exposed paper-white skin. She had big grey eyes that gazed up into his green ones with a fierce curiosity burning within. Her long silvery hair was pulled back into a ponytail that went all the way to the small of her back. She wore a simple wrap around her chest and rather short shorts, a look he had seen often enough on Earth on Telha girls who worked in messy jobs. Apparently they felt it was better to get themselves dirty rather than clothes, so wore minimal, functional clothing rather than the overalls or jumpsuits Terran blue-collar types tended to wear. He smiled at her and she grinned nervously back at him.

The girl said something to him in her language, a bright smile on her face, her eyes eager and beaming at him. He forced his face into an apologetic smile, then held up one finger, hoping she would recognize the request for time. Then he scrabbled in his bag for his phone. After a moment of using his fingertip as a pen he held up a message for the girl to see.

Alya watched curiously as the alien boy held up something for her to see. She politely leaned in to see it, and then frowned slightly. He had written a message in her language… barely. It seemed to say “I am sorry, but I have not finished learning your language yet.” And was followed by what she realized was a little drawing of an apologetic face. She grinned up at him, and said, “It’s alright, I can speak yours.”

James sighed with relief and let his shoulders slump. “Phew. Good.” He hesitated, then frowned and continued slowly, “wait…How? Why?”

Alya tilted her head curiously at him, her ponytail flopping slightly with the movement. “Why can I speak English? Because I am in the Guild of merchants.” This answer did not seem to satisfy the alien boy so she added, “All members of the Guild of merchants are required to know the languages and economic systems of our major trading partners. Such as you. I can also speak Common Drail.”

James raised an eyebrow curiously. “But not Niyaro? I thought they traded with everybody.”

She smiled politely, but felt a little insulted. “Unfortunately our tongues are not that capable.”

James smirked at her slightly. “Oh I don’t know about that. I’ve heard your tongues are quite talented.”

The alien girl stared at him for a moment with a vacant look on her pale face, and then something seemed to click. She giggled and looked away, glancing back and giving him a coy smile. “Well, Terran. If my tongue is talented yours seems to be silver.”

Alya watched as the alien smiled at her and then glanced around the port. He seemed to be looking for something, but she continued to stare at him, unable to resist the impulse to drink it all in. She looked most curiously at his clothes, the black and grey stripes were a rather sharp contrast to the constant white hues she was used to. She gazed too at his dark hair, and pinkish-yellow skin. Terrans looked pretty much like her people, like she had been told, they were just funny colored and a bit differently proportioned. Broader shoulders, smaller eyes, wider waists, most of them were taller than her… though she annoyingly had to admit that just about everyone but children and the diminutive Niyaro was taller than her. Suddenly he spoke and her eyes zoomed from his pants and shoes back to his face. “Huh?” she asked. “Sorry, I was thinking about something else.” She admitted sheepishly. He smiled again, and repeated, “I said, is there something I can help you with? You came over to me, I assume you want something.”

Alya gazed at him, unsure how to respond. “Well, I, je,” She stammered, and he waited patiently, looking down at her and smoking his… stick… thing. She collected herself and tried again, “I just wanted to welcome you to our world. Welcome to the Telha Imperial Colony of Calisto.” She bowed low, now staring at his shoes again. The black leather had already gotten a bit of sand in the seams. She waited for his reply, remaining bowed.

James looked at the girl bowed almost to a right angle in front of him, unsure what to say. He decided generic friendliness never hurt on the Telha back on earth, so, he’d try that here too. “Thank you, miss…. Miss, uh,” He faltered, realizing he didn’t know her name.

“Alya, sir.” She said to his shoes, still not getting up.

“I’m James.” He said above her, and a hand appeared in front of her vision. She looked up into his face, and saw a warm smile. She remembered this greeting from her cultural classes at the Guild, and straightened up and grasped his hand with hers. “Other hand.” he said, trying not to laugh.

“Tiss!” She snapped at herself, then realized she had said that out loud. She glanced up to see his face and he had arched one eyebrow.

“Now that word I do know. I heard that one a lot. But usually only when one of your kind got their hair caught in the door or something.” He grinned at her, and she smiled sheepishly, her face flushing. She switched hands and shook his properly, and he smiled at her. “See, you’re doing fine.” He let out a stream of smoke and she watched this action curiously. “Let me guess…” he said slowly, “Your boss sent you here to wrangle up some customers? Right?”

She stared at him in silent amazement. “How… did you know that?” She said finally.

He grinned. “Well, we don’t have a Guild of merchants, but we do have a rather strong emphasis on capitalism. Gotta know your customers in order to optimize them, right? I’ve seen people like you before, on Earth.”

She gazed at him. “What are they like?”

He hesitated. “Huh. Interesting question. I suppose they’re… like you. And… I… suppose I’ll find out?” He said haltingly.

She tilted her head at him again, and stared him down for a minute. He gazed calmly back at her, letting out another stream of smoke, seemingly in no hurry whatsoever. His hair fluttered across his face in a breeze and he used his free hand to brush it back, still silent. He merely watched her think, as she sized him up. Eventually she said. “Well, since you know why I’m here, would you like to come with me to see our shop?” Alya figured a direct approach at this point was the only real option.

James considered this. “Well… sure, why not. I don’t have anywhere else to go. Might as well make a new friend today.” He smiled at her and patted her on the back, and she beamed up at him. Friend? Her?

“E-Excellent!” She stammered, “Follow me then.” She saw his bags and then her face fell slightly. “I regret I did not bring anyone to carry your bags for you. I… did not anticipate luggage.”

He waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got it.” He hefted the bags and smiled. “Besides,” he lifted the bags a couple times, like doing reps with weights, and jumped slightly in the air, a huge childish grin on his face the entire time. She watched this silently, very confused. “The gravity is a bit less than I’m used to. …Honestly it’s a little disorienting but hey, it makes carrying luggage easier at least!” He winked at her and she stared back, mouth slightly agape, unsure what to say. After a mildly awkward pause he inclined his head towards the arrivals building. “Lead the way?”

Alya nodded hurriedly and stepped quickly to walk in front of him and lead him into the building, moving through the crowd of mingling aliens, getting a few curious looks from her own people, which she tried to ignore. She glanced behind her when she heard him stumble, and smiled as he laughed and picked himself up off the beach, grumbling cheerfully about the strange gravity. She had never considered such a minor detail could be so disorienting to an alien, but, she had never met an alien, not to mention walked on another world. She had to assume it was just as difficult as he said. But he seemed to be doing pretty well. Privately she wondered if she would fall flat on her face if she ever went to Earth, and sincerely hoped not. She wasn’t sure she could survive the embarrassment. She shook her head to clear it of the image of her sisters laughing at her falling over on the Terran’s homeworld, trying to focus on the task at hand: she had snagged an alien, and he was nice! Mother would be so proud!

James followed the alien girl out through the crowd and through most of the building, gazing around curiously at everyone and everything they passed, but they were suddenly stopped by another Telha girl who ran up to Alya and seemed to be quietly whisper-yelling at her. The aliens exchanged heated words back and forth for a moment, and since he didn’t have a clue what they were saying James took the time to size up this new girl. She was taller than the new friend he had made, and her overall appearance was much more ornate. She had a lot of jewelry, her hair was beautifully styled, and she had a fabulous sheer dress that rippled slightly in the breeze. Alya seemed to have lost some sort of argument, and the other alien stepped forward then. He looked at her curiously as she smiled and held out her hand. “Hello! On behalf of the Guild of Merchants of the Telha Empire, I would like to welcome you to Calisto. I am Tey. My… sister tells me you have been accosted by her.”

James chuckled and shifted the weight of his bags to shake her hand. “Hardly. She was very friendly. A lovely girl is a lovely way to be greeted upon my arrival. I’m James, by the way.” He said, with as much charm as he could squeeze in.

The older sister stared at him for a moment, this seemed to have derailed her line of thought. “Really?” She said after a moment, and turned back to her sister who was quietly fuming behind her.

“Yes, sister.” Alya snapped, but just submissively enough. “I was very nice. Just like I said.”

Tey glanced curiously between the two of them. “Well!” She said suddenly. “Then I won’t interfere! I hope you enjoy your stay. I look forward to meeting you again later, and I hope we can do good business.” she bowed low, and James inclined his head.

“Thank you for the formal greeting. I’m looking forward to seeing all there is to see. And, yes,” He grinned at her, “Making good business too.”

Tey straightened up and beamed at him. “Excellent! I look forward to working with you. Good-bye.” And she hurried off to talk to some other people.

James glanced down at Alya, who was staring at her sandals. “I… take it you were just supposed to scout me, and then big sister gets to catch the big fish, right?” He saw her puzzled look and added, “Metaphor, honey.”

“Oh. Yes, well, not explicitly…” she trailed off, not looking at him.

He grinned at her. “So you hoped if you got to me first and whisked me away before big sis could swoop down and catch me, you’d get the prize of the day, hmm?” She stared at him, her mouth slightly open in shock. He waved a hand. “Oh come on. I may not be a Telha, but I know how hierarchy works. And I know what it’s like to use the letter of the law over the spirit of the law.” he winked at her and she blushed. “Your secret is safe with me.” He reached out and gave her a brief one-armed hug. “What are friends for, right?”

He could feel her almost hyperventilating under his grip. Being hugged by an alien must be a bit much for one day. She broke away from him, then looked back at him as they started to walk out towards the car lot again. She started to say something, then stopped herself, started again, and stopped again. He watched her curiously, trying to imagine what was going on in her head. Eventually she said quietly. “Thank you.”

James smiled at her kindly. “For what, hon?”

She waved her arms exasperatedly, and he laughed. She couldn’t find the words, eventually she just blurted out, “Everything? I guess?” He laughed again, and followed her out to the car park.

He patted the top of her head gently and said, “You’re very welcome. And thank you, too. My father always says the most valuable commodity is friendship.”

Alya didn’t know what to say to this, so she said nothing. She concentrated on the guards, talking her way past them again and having James show them his passport. They passed without incident, but the crowd outside was a great hubbub of activity, and she saw many other Terran aliens being besieged by others of her race. She tried to hurry him to the waiting car to avoid an incident, but felt a cold fist of dread in her stomach as a familiar voice called out to her over the crowd. “Hey, wrench!”

Alya struggled to maintain her happy appearance, lest her new friend be turned away. Tili and her gang of followers were cutting a path through the crowd toward her, and Alya found to her dismay that there seemed to be no way out. She glanced back at her alien companion, who merely raised an eyebrow at her, observing her closely.

Tili came up to her then, and Alya politely didn’t meet her gaze, but didn’t lower her head probably as much as she should have. Tili smirked at her, putting her hands on her hips. “Well well, the wrench is back. Trying to run back to your box?”

Alya gritted her teeth. “No, madam. I am in fact bringing one of our visitors back with me. Guild business.” She said, allowing herself a small smile when she saw her adversary recoil slightly in surprise.

“You?” She said, shocked. “You were doing guild business?” She glanced at the Terran boy, and her eyes widened in shock. “And… he …is with you?!” She said, unable to believe what she was seeing.

Alya looked up now and smirked. “Why, yes. I was very nice, we had a lovely talk. He’s quite interesting, isn’t he? A Terran. You should talk to him!” Alya then put on a look of over-exaggerated fake shock. “Oh, thats right! You never bothered to learn another language! That’s a shame. I bet you would have loved to talk to him, maybe invite him to your House for the royal welcome?”

One of Tili’s gang grabbed Alya by the neck, but didn’t squeeze. Tili’s eyes narrowed fiercely. “Invite him to our House, wrench. Now.”

James for his part merely watched, bemused, as these aliens talked. He had no idea what was being said, so he tried to pay attention to the body language to get some clues. They were… bickering, he could guess. And the one in front seemed to be some sort of… boss. But probably not his new friend’s actual boss, if he had to guess. Though if he had been impressed by Tey’s gorgeous outfit, this new girl made Tey look like a disheveled hobo. The girl bickering with Alya was dazzling, covered in jewelry and in a sultry dress of finest silks, even her face had glittering make-up, he hazarded a guess that she was some sort of upper-class rich girl. He jumped slightly when one of the big girls grabbed Alya, but the violence didn’t seem to escalate so he tried to relax and merely observe. After all, he was a visitor here, he didn’t want to misinterpret something and cause an incident.

Just then, Alya was spun around by the big girl holding her to face him. He arched an eyebrow at her curiously. “Is… something wrong, Alya?” he said slowly, glancing between her, the big girl holding her, and the expensive looking one who seemed to be the leader.

“Not exactly,” said Alya brightly, but her smile was a bit stretched. “Can I ask a small favor, please sir?” She said, her eyes wide.

James frowned slightly, glancing around at the group. “Do you need me to intervene? Or get police?”

Alya, still gripped around the neck by the big girl, waved a hand dismissively. “Oh, no no. We’re fine. I just need you to play along, please?” She said, her eyes now even wider. She gazed at him hopefully, and he wasn’t sure what else to do. So he shrugged. “I’ll try.” He said plainly.

Alya’s forced smile was back now. “The… girl behind me,” she began.

“The… angry, shiny, sparkly one?”

Alya suppressed a chuckle. She would have to remember that comment for later use. “Yes, that one. She is a noble. And she requests the honor of your presence at her Great House.”

James frowned slightly. “I see.” He paused. “And?”

“And I would consider it a great favor if you seemed dismissive and disinterested.” Alya said simply. Then she lowered her gaze. “Unless, of course, you actually would prefer her company over mine.” She said, her voice small.

James’ frown deepened. “Alya, this isn’t my culture, and really isn’t any of my business.” He told her honestly. Her face fell sharply. “However…” She glanced back up at him, and saw him frowning at the group around her. “I don’t like bullies, of any sort. And… I could be misreading the situation, but, you seem to be a victim here. And I have no interest in being with anyone who preys on others like the shiny girl seems to be doing here.”

Alya beamed at him. “Thank you, so much!” She said eagerly. Then she smiled impishly. “Could you… help me sell it, as you Terrans say?”

James suppressed a grin, but winked at her, hoping she knew what the gesture meant. “Sure.” Then he stamped his foot, and shouted angrily, pointing an accusatory finger at Alya and then at the shiny girl. He had to suppress another grin as he saw the shocked look on the noble bully girl’s face. “ALYA! No I will NOT go with that creature! How dare you interrupt my business?! I am James, great explorer and entrepreneur, and I don’t have time for this foolishness! I demand to be brought to your business at once! No more delays!”

Alya rotated in the big girl’s grip to face Tili, who was looking absolutely mortified. “What did you say to him?!” Tili demanded, balling her fists and glancing over at the alien boy, who glared back at her haughtily.

Alya grinned, but only slightly. “Why, simply what you told me. I told him you are a noble, who wanted his presence at her house. He was deeply insulted that you refused to even speak his language, it was a grave dishonor.” Her grin widened as Tili’s look of horror grew with her every word.

“I… I…” Tili stammered, “I did not expect I would have to learn their language!” She finally managed. “Do something!” She demanded, her fury slowly being tinged with fear.

Alya tried to look sympathetic. “Oh, that’s a shame, madam. I bet your House demanded you get a Terran to come and visit, to try and make a personal alliance, right?” She then smirked. “It’s a shame you weren’t up to the task. Madam Countess.”

Tili’s eyes narrowed, and she took several shallow breaths. She snapped a finger and the big girl released her grip on Alya’s neck. “Wrench — Je, Alya…” She said, her voice now covered with honey. “I know we haven’t always gotten along, but you know we are friends, right? I’m sure you appreciate the business my House has provided to your company. Now, you wouldn’t want that to stop, would you? So, how about you try again.” She said sweetly, but her eyes still flashed with fury.

Alya was unmoved. “I am sorry, Madam countess. He has no interest in being with you or your house. His own words. And besides,” She said, grinning. “With the great business an Alien company can provide, if this unfortunate incident does cause a rift between your house and our company, I’m sure we will do just fine. Even better than before, actually. But thank you for saying we are friends, Countess.” She bowed, and then stepped back towards James, just in case the big girl was tempted to grab her again.

“Shall we go?” Alya said to James, sweeping an arm in front of him to guide his path, and although he didn’t understand her language, he got the message. He began to brush past the group, not looking at any of them directly.

Tili was fuming. “WAIT!” She shouted, and grabbed the alien’s jacket sleeve. He turned to look at her coldly, jerking his arm out of her grip with surprising force. “Please, sir, my house would be greatly honored by your presence, sir, we — ”

“It’s no use.” Alya interjected. “He can’t understand you. And please excuse us, we have pressing business to attend to.”

James walked along with Alya in silence for a dozen meters, then glanced back at the noble girl who looked like she might burst into flames any second if she got any angrier. He leaned in to Alya, “Well, I’m still not really clear on what that was all about, but, I think that went well. I think.”

Alya beamed up at him. Whereas the noble girl was bursting with anger, his new friend looked like she might explode from joy. “That was AMAZING!” she said. She paused, muttering in her own language for a moment before slapping the side of her own head to get her attention back on point. “I… I don’t suppose you have issues like that where you come from. I have been told you do not… have the same understanding of rank as we do.”

James shrugged slightly as they continued towards the parking lot. “No nobility anymore, no, but there’s always somebody who picks on ‘the little guy’ …and I don’t like it. Competitiveness is all well and good, but I don’t like when people try to make other people a target.” He smiled down at her, the alien girl positively radiating happiness. “I’m glad I could help.”

“You did! So much! I… I cannot thank you enough.” She bowed low, and James was mildly impressed she could bow and walk at the same time. Practice, he assumed.

He waved a hand dismissively again. “Don’t mention it. Although… no, nevermind.”

“What? Please, tell me?” Alya asked, curious and hopeful at the same time.

He scratched his nose and shrugged. “Well, as I said, I don’t fully understand your culture, your system, or even what was said, but… Where I come from, generally… I think were I you I would have just punched the smug off her face when she had the other one grab you. Dad always said you should never be the attacker, but, if they push first, don’t be a victim either.” He paused as they both considered this. “But as I said, who am I to judge how you people live? I’m here to learn. So, I’ll assume you did what was best.”

Alya stammered for a moment, eventually saying, “well, I’m sure I’ll pay for my impudence eventually, honestly. But it doesn’t matter. I’m just glad I got to win for once without needing the police. And… Thank you, again, really, I can’t thank you enough.”

“And really, it was nothing. And I’m genuinely glad to help.” James said warmly. He smiled at her, “I don’t know how things are done here, but where I come from, friends back each other up.”

Alya was too shocked to reply. Friends. She, the nobody girl with the nobody job and few friends… was being called a friend by an alien. And a male, no less. This day had barley begun and it was already making her head spin. She remained silent as they went out to the car she had kept waiting for them. It was a small automatically controlled car, rolling on four textured spheres. In general shape it was reminiscent of their space ships, looking vaguely like an egg. She pressed her hand to it which unlocked it and popped the door open, and gestured for him to get inside with a small bow.

James tossed his bags in and then himself, watching her as she climbed in after him and set the car to take them back to her home. She heard him stifle a laugh and turned to look at him. “What?”

“Oh, nothing. I was just thinking of a comment my father made when we first did business with your people years ago. You must have a Guild of chiropractors, given how much you bow.” The alien boy was grinning at her.

Alya grinned back. “It is… strange to be able to talk to you, but not really understand your body language.”

“I know right?” James said, and stuck a new cigarette in his mouth. “Oh, do you mind?”

“Hmm? No, go ahead. The car has air filters. There is a trash receptor, as well. You’ll see them all over.” she pointed to a little hatch on the floor of the car that was painted a soft red. She watched him curiously as he plopped the unused part of the previous one into the trash and lit the new one. There was a long moment of silence between them as she took a moment to look him over again, taking in his strange clothes, strange skin, strange hair… “Aren’t you uncomfortable?” she blurted out suddenly.

James glanced at her curiously. “No, should I be?”

Alya gestured at his clothing. “But you’re wearing black, from head to toes, and I’m told we tend to inhabit much warmer climates than Terrans. Shouldn’t you be… melting?”

James chuckled. “I could ask the same of you, though I suppose in reverse. I always wonder if your people are cold on my world, you… don’t wear much, by our standards.”

Alya shrugged, her slender toned muscles easy to see making the gesture with her — compared to what he was used to — rather revealing clothing. “Well, from what I’m told we don’t notice temperature as much as other species, something about our circulatory system, and besides our fabrics are actually quite advanced, able to redistribute heat, moisture, all that.”

James nodded and returned to looking out the window. “Same sort of thing. I can be in this outfit in a pretty wide range of weather. I’m fine, but thank you for your concern.”

“You’re welcome.” Alya said softly, resuming her rather blatant staring at him when he looked away.

James pretended not to notice the girl eyeing him again. He took the moment to gaze out the window at the beautiful city rolling by, all polished stone and steel and glass, gleaming from recent rain by the look of it, watching flashes of ocean between buildings and seeing ships out on the waves. “Do I see underwater buildings out there?” He asked her suddenly.

Alya jumped slightly, “What? Oh, yes. There are many underwater and inter-water buildings. There’s a really nice room in my house you should see if you find that interesting. It is only about my height below the waves, right on the beach-cliff. Lots of pretty fish and things. The whole room is made of glass, and there is a hole in the floor so you can go swimming.”

The Terran boy raised his eyebrows at her, very surprised. “Really? That sounds amazing!” he said with genuine enthusiasm. She was still looking at him closely, drinking in every detail she could see. She was most curious about his strange appearance, how it was so like hers but… not quite. “Is this what most of your cities look like?”

Alya considered this. “Yes, more or less. Our homeworld is very much like this one, and we tend to prefer to colonize worlds like it. lots of volcanic island chains and similar. We use lots of stone for beauty, and lots of inter and under water structures. The main difference I suppose is scale. The homeworld is… massive.”

“Have you ever seen what most Terran cities look like?” He asked her curiously.

“Hmm? Well, I’ve seen some educational pictures from school, but no, not really.” She said, still looking him over, now not even trying to hide her staring. She couldn’t get enough of him, somehow even more so now that she had him to herself in this car.

“Mostly it is vast… forests of towers. Hundreds, some even thousands of storeys tall, in large clumps. then there tends to be large chunks of unused land, or land just used for farming. Pretty much everybody lives up in the towers and various artificial levels.” he paused. “Well, there are also smaller towns in the real forests and things too, but, most of us are in the mega-cities.” He told her.

“Cool!” Alya said enthusiastically. She hesitated. “do… you have pictures?” she asked, trying not to let her eagerness show too much in her voice.

He laughed. “Sure, look,” He gazed at her for a second, then seemed to remember something and muttered quietly to himself. He then pulled out a small computer screen to show her some pictures of home. The device seemed to know what he wanted without prompting, and brought up the appropriate folder for her to see.

She almost pressed her face into the glass to stare at the pictures, enthralled. Somehow, seeing pictures just… taken by a person, rather than the official and perfectly framed images she had been shown by the Guild made it seem more real. After a moment of flicking through pictures of his home, his cat, his parents, she suddenly stopped. “That’s an Imperial soldier!” She said, and pointed.

James peered at the picture to where she was pointing. In the far back corner of a picture of he and some friends on an upper-level street he could just make out the white skin and armor of a Telha soldier. “Huh. Yeah it is. You see them around.” He shrugged. She stared in amazement at him. “What? Mostly you see Telha civilians. Lots of those. look,” He showed her some other pictures of himself with Telha friends on earth. Alya gazed silently, seeing her fellow Telha on Earth seemed somehow even more strange than having an alien in the car with her now.

She stared at the pictures, and then at her guest. “But… you don’t mind having alien soldiers on your planet?”

James looked at her curiously. “Nnno.” He said slowly, “Not really. They’re not trying to kill me, so, whatever. And everyone has weapons in the Terran territories. You have weapons, they have weapons, everybody has weapons. But its actually quite safe, don’t get me wrong. People just… have them. It’s pretty normal.” He looked at her, puzzled. “Are you more shocked by the weapons, or the aliens? I can’t tell.”

Alya considered this. “I suppose either, or both. Civilians generally don’t have weapons in the Empire. Though it is not illegal. Just… unusual. And… people would riot if Terran soldiers were walking our streets, I suspect.”

James arched an eyebrow at her. “Really? Even if they were just… walking. Not invading?”

“Yes.” She gazed at him, also puzzled. After a moment she said, “I can see we have a lot to learn about each other.”

James smiled at her. “I look forward to it.”

Moments later they arrived back at Alya’s home and work. “We’re here.” She said, and helped him out of the car. James couldn’t help but ogle slightly as her body twisted lithely right in front of him. He was starting to rather enjoy Telha clothing… or lack thereof. “Welcome to my home.” She bowed, and while he couldn’t see her face she allowed herself and indulgent smirk. She had noticed him looking at her figure, and was trying not to jump to conclusions but he seemed pleased with her appearance. She couldn’t wait to rub that knowledge in Tili’s face once she could confirm it for sure. She’d be furious with jealousy for weeks! She giggled impishly to herself, and then returned to the task at hand. “Come inside, I’ll show you around?” she offered.

James followed her into the home and store, gazing appreciatively around at the architecture. It wasn’t what he was used to, he had to admit, for one thing it was a lot brighter. Terran western architecture tended to reflect a modern noir-deco approach, with dark woods, dark leather, black metals and so on, all in rather ostentatious patterns that were reminiscent of the great Jazz age. But he could appreciate the simple beautiful geometry and polished stone and steel of her home, even though it was mostly white and very… shiny. He glanced around and saw some Telha patrons of the shop giving him curious looks, muttering to one another, presumably about him. James decided to do nothing but smile politely and ignore them, not wanting to accidentally offend or scare anyone off. Alya meanwhile wandered into the back and shouted some things, and a moment later two more aliens came out to greet him.

The alien in front was clearly the boss, he could see it written across her face and stance without her having to say a word. The way she walked demanded respect, and with Alya and the other girl trailing behind her she clearly got it. Her face was surprisingly stern when he first glanced up to see her, but within a fraction of a second she was beaming at him, sparkling white smile an amusing accent to her sparkling white… everything. James internally smirked again at the monochromatic obsession of these aliens. The woman strode up to him confidently, holding out a hand to shake his. “Welcome, welcome, Terran. Welcome to Calisto, and welcome to my store.” She bowed slightly, and James shook her hand and inclined his head. He realized the customers were all staring at this exchange and wondered what they must be thinking. As he straightened up the woman continued, “I am Elris, owner of the Elris Mechanical Design And Manufacture Company. Welcome.” She repeated this so often, James was now certain Alya had been a customer scout as he suspected.

James smiled at her. “Thank you.” He glanced around the shop briefly, taking in the various machines on shelves. “Mechanical designs hmm? As you may or may not know, we Terrans have a great interest in machines. I would be very interested to hear more about what you have created!” He said cheerfully, watching her reactions carefully.

There was the tinniest flicker of something… something he couldn’t put his finger on. “I have heard about the Terran interest in mechanical technologies, yes. Especially robotics.” There was that strange flicker again.

James raised an eyebrow slightly as he stopped shaking her hand and broke eye contact to return to gazing about the room. “Yes? I assume you have some robotic technologies yourself, even if just for things like that car I was just in.” He glanced back at her. “Correct?” he prompted.

She nodded. “We do have some robots in our technology, yes.” She gazed at him rather intensely, watching him look around her store. Finally she asked the question that had been burning a hole in her mind. “Are you?”

The alien man glanced back at her sharply, frowning slightly. “Pardon?” He said, confused.

“Are you a robot?” Elris asked bluntly, abandoning pretense altogether now. The alien blinked slowly at her, seeming to consider his response. she noticed all of her customers surreptitiously leaning in to hear this discussion better during the pregnant pause.

James considered his answer carefully, not wanting to cause an incident, as offended as he may be. They most likely were not aware of the offense of the question. “We generally refer to non-sentient machines as robots. Sentients, artificial or organic, are all called Terrans. Perhaps you were unaware.”

Elris felt her face flush slightly, realizing her brash words may have just lost her a potentially valuable customer, not to mention damning her name amongst his connections. She rallied quickly to do damage control. “No, I was not aware. I meant no offense, of course. I am… merely curious.”

James shrugged and nodded, an odd gesture that made his luggage slip off one shoulder. He pulled it back up, saying, “Understandable, and thank you for the apology. No offense taken. But to answer your question, no, I am not an Android.” He gave her a bit of a smirking smile this time, “Though, a polite suggestion? Never ask a Terran that. Unless you need to know for medical reasons or something. It’s a bit of… a faux pas.”

Elris bowed low. “Please forgive my dishonor. I meant no disrespect.” Behind her, Alya and the other girl also bowed low.

James waved a hand casually. “It’s fine! I’m sure I’ll do something stupid and offensive by accident while I’m here too!” He grinned at her, and in spite of herself Elris grinned back, a bit sheepish now, earlier bravado fading. “I hope you’ll be as understanding when I make an ass of myself too.” He gave her a big smile. Behind her mother, Alya sniggered but was cut off when the other girl elbowed her to shut up. James noticed this exchange and shifted the weight of his bags slightly. “Madam Elris, please, relax. Your employee… or daughter?” He hesitantly trailed off, unsure of her status.

Elris arched an eyebrow of her own. “Does the distinction matter?” She asked, curious.

James considered this. “I… suppose it doesn’t matter to me if it doesn’t matter to any of you. I was just wondering.”

“She is both.” Elris said, flatly.

James shrugged again. “Fair enough. Anyway, Alya was very sweet and friendly, and brought me here to meet you and look around. I’d be happy to do so, if you would like me to.”

Elris turned to look back at Alya, surprised. They spoke in their language briefly again, James patiently waiting and taking a few drags on his cigarette. He smiled at some of the customers who were really staring now, and wondered how many of them understood the conversation, or even the situation. Come to think of it, he wasn’t entirely sure he understood it himself. But he figured he might as well just play along for now and see what happened. He came back to reality when Elris began speaking English again.

“James, is it, sir?” He nodded and she continued, “I would be delighted to discuss our business and people with you as an honored guest.”

James decided to take a guess that this was meant to be a big deal, so he bowed like they did and said politely, “Thank you, Madam.” He then straightened up, because he was frankly out of ideas and out of his depth at this point. The Telha he had met on Earth had been more… casual. A state he was now coming to realize must have been from some cultural contamination of the relatively laid back Terran culture compared to the incredible rigidity of Telha society. So he wasn’t really clear on how to behave, but considered the old mantra of ‘just smile and nod until something makes sense’ was pretty applicable here. So he smiled and nodded.

“Have you eaten yet?” Elris asked suddenly, as inspiration struck her. She had remembered a Guild memo explaining Terrans tended to like talking over meals.

James gave her a curious smile, and tilted his head slightly. “Not since reaching this planet, no, but I did just get here,” he chuckled. No one laughed with him, so he stopped.

Elris smiled. “Well, then, how would you like some… dinner?” she said, unsure if that was the right word.

James glanced at his watch. “Oh man, that reminds me. I have no idea what time it is here. Or even how long your day is…” He tapped a few buttons on the watch screen as the aliens watched him silently. After a moment he looked up at them, smiling. “Well, it would seem to be dinner time here. More or less. Right?”

They nodded, and Elris stepped sideways and gestured for him to go into the back of the store. “Join us?”

James walked where she pointed, and noted curiously that the as yet unnamed third… employee or daughter or both or whatever, took a subtle step away from him as he passed. He wondered why, but decided not to comment. He followed Elris into the back, shooting Alya a wink and grin as he passed her and she blushed and returned her gaze to the floor, but was smiling. James was lead into the kitchen and dining area, and watched as the unnamed sister arranged cushions on the floor and bowls around them. He waited for Elris to sit first, vaguely remembering that was considered polite, and waited for her to gesture him into a seat across from hers. The two daughters took up the cushions on either side, remaining silent as food was passed around.

Elris was suddenly slightly worried, concerned this weird looking alien might not even know how to eat her native food, and cursing herself for not thinking to get some Terran food ahead of time. Well. If this went well maybe she could surprise him with alien food later, and hopefully impress him. She frowned internally, careful to not change her outward expression. Him. She was surprised the alien was male. She realized she really shouldn’t be surprised, as she knew most of the other alien races had the truly bizarre roughly even gender ratio, but still, she hadn’t expected a male. She didn’t deal with them very often. But he seemed… like a typical Terran, as far as she knew from Guild meetings and stories, male or not. And… he claimed he wasn’t a robot, or, ‘android’ as the aliens preferred to call them, so, … that wasn’t so bad. Her internal musings were interrupted by her daughter serving the food hesitantly to their guest. She snapped at her to hurry up and serve him, which she did, not meeting his gaze.

James arched an eyebrow at the mother and daughter. “I’m sorry, did I do something wrong?”

Elris gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “No, no. My daughter is just… nervous around you. She has never seen an alien.” She hesitated, and then picked up her meal-spike. “Feel free to start.” she told him.

To all of the Telhas surprise, James nimbly spun the meal spike in front of him around his fingers, stabbed a piece of fish expertly, and popped it in his mouth. “Mmm! Good Keeko.” He looked up from his bowl to see them all staring at him. “What?” he said, muffled slightly around the mouthful of fish.

“I… we, well, je, we frankly didn’t expect you to know what our food is called, not to mention how to eat it.” The alien family all stared at him in amazement as he chewed and stared back.

James swallowed, and crooked his head curiously. “Sure, there are plenty of your people on my world. I’ve been to some of your clubs, amazing dancers by the way, hot damn, and eaten at your restaurants.” He popped another piece of fish into his mouth as they continued to stare wide-eyed at him (no small statement for a species with considerably larger eyes than human ones) and he chewed happily. “Even had a couple Telha girlfriends over the years.”

His alien host family looked at each other, and resumed eating as they glanced between each other and their guest, back and forth. “Why do you make the distinction?” Alya blurted out suddenly. she quailed at her mother’s glare, but James merely paused his eating, staring at her in confusion. After a moment’s silence he said, “…sorry, what?”

“You said you had ‘a couple Telha girl-friends.’ Well, surely they were all female. Males rarely travel.” Alya clarified, and the alien family looked curiously to see his response.

James faltered. “No, girlfriends, like…” he trailed off, remembering his school lessons about Telha concepts of breeding and friendship. “Uh… I’m really not sure how to explain that one. …Romantic friends? Mates?”

They stared at him blankly. “But… surely, Terrans can’t breed with us. We’re different species.” Alya said, her tone flat and confused.

James was starting to feel supremely uncomfortable under their gaze, and laughed nervously, adjusting the sleeves of his suit jacket. “Well, no. But… we were good friends who… had physical fun?” He gazed at his food, feeling his face redden slightly. “You know, enjoying each other. But also affectionate. Devoted. Romantic relationships?”

“Oh, for sex.” Alya blurted out. Her family all nodded, finally understanding.

James frowned. “well… yes, but, in Terran culture it’s more than that. You really care about the person. You’re… loyal to them. Care for them. And they care for you. its… The next level of friendship?” he tried to explain, and then laughed. “But… yes, sex is a part of it, when it works out well.”

His alien host family exchanged glances stoically for a moment, and then they all laughed heartily. James jumped slightly at the sudden outburst. “What?” he asked.

“Je, ah, Nothing, exactly. It’s just… amusing. That is very rare here. And… I assume not in the same way.” Elris explained.

“Friends might love each other very much, sure.” The unnamed other daughter finally spoke up, looking at him curiously.

“And friends have sex, sure.” Alya added, with a coy smirk at him that made him blush even harder.

“But both at the same time is… sort of strange.” Elris finished for them. They smiled at him, and he grinned back, blushing fairly hard now. “Are you alright? Your skin pigmentation changed.” Elris said suddenly, concerned.

James waved a hand dismissively. “Autonomic response. Ignore it.” He was surprised they could even tell he was blushing, but pleased they didn’t know what it meant. Just then the tall sister he had encountered at the port stepped in and looked around the room.

“Oh, you’ve met our family, James.” Tey said, and bowed low in the doorway. she pulled a spare cushion from a cupboard and sat down next to her mother. Then she looked around at them all, most of them chuckling uncomfortably under their breaths. “Is something wrong?”

“Just a case of really, really odd cross-cultural misunderstanding.” James said, and handed her a bowl. She took it, and watched in surprise as he continued to eat.

“He even knows what he’s eating.” the unnamed sister told Tey, looking between Tey’s surprised face and their guest with a small smile.

James grinned at her around the meal-spike. “Excuse me, I don’t think I caught your name.”

The girl blanched slightly, but then looked at the floor. “Nara, sir.” She said quietly.

James looked around the family, unsure if he had said something wrong. But Tey interjected. “She’s a bit xenophobic, you’ll have to forgive her.”

James shrugged gently. “no offense taken…” he looked around at the family once more, taking in the shocking reality that he was on an alien planet, eating alien food in an alien house with an alien family. It was quite exciting. “So…” He said, casting his mind about for a new topic.

“I am curious.” Elris interjected, and he snapped his gaze to meet her large grey piercing eyes. “Alya tells me you wrote a message in our language, but cannot speak it. …How can that be?”

James laughed. “Ugh. Because I was an idiot. I was so excited to come here, I forgot a device I needed to learn the phonic portion of your language. So I only learned visual. I figured I would just be able to get by reading and writing for a few weeks until I picked up the spoken language in time. Luckily, most of you seem to speak English so far, and pretty well, might I add. Good job. It’s a tough language.”

“Yes, it is. Surprisingly… complicated.” Elris said slowly, and her daughter Tey interjected, “But, you Terrans have all of that… je, sai-baa technology? You know, computers, in your flesh, even in your brains. Couldn’t you just… download our language?” Her family all shot her angry looks and she added, flustered, “What?! What did I say?”

James waved a hand. “It’s fine. I think you mean ‘cyber’ technology, and yes, we do, but, well, it’s not that simple? We’ve experimented with it before. The information tends to get… jumbled.”

They all gazed at him curiously. “Forgive our prying into a topic you said is rude, but, I for one am very curious.” Elris began. “…Jumbled how?”

James hesitated, and looked around for inspiration. Then he held up the meal-spike. “This is a ‘meal-spike’ in English, yes? But in your language it is… a ‘tek’, if I remember right? I did pick up a few words over the years.” They nodded, and with amusement he noted they nodded almost in perfect unison. “Okay, well, when we experimented with downloading language algorithms, I would… know the word tek, and I would be able to think of what it looks like, but it wouldn’t… connect. I’d have both pieces of information but I couldn’t put them together. We’re not sure why. So for now, we still have to learn languages normally. But there are ways to speed up the process, like I did on my trip here.” He shrugged. “So, I did what I could. Thank you for accommodating my language.” He inclined his head politely.

They bowed slightly back to him, again in unison. They appeared to be lost in thought, so he went back to eating, deciding to let one of them break the silence first. Eventually Tey said, “so, James, what do you think of Calisto so far?”

James chewed another piece of fish and considered his answer. “Hmm. Beautiful scenery, lovely architecture, attractive and friendly locals, other than that one… group,” Alya shot him a quick look and he caught her gaze, waving his hand with the tek. “Anyway, um, good food, nice weather …yeah, so far, pretty great!” He smiled at them, and all but Nara laughed. “And the lower gravity is… a little weird, I have to say, but it’s also kinda… relaxing. I suppose I’ll have to exercise more though, to avoid circulation problems.” He added, mostly to himself.

Elris raised an eyebrow, and Nara gave him a very strange look he wasn’t sure how to interpret. “The gravity is low to your perception?” Elris asked, curiously. Her face seemed oddly serious, but Tey was smirking mischievously.

“You know, they say Terrans are physiologically a lot tougher than we are. It must be the gravity. High gravity world means sturdier life-forms, right?” Tey said, her grin truly impish now as she looked at her sister Nara who was staring resolutely at her meal.

James smiled politely. “So I’ve been told.”

Tey grinned like a shark at her sister now, who quailed under her gaze. “You know who would love to see that? Nara! Pick her up!”

Nara started to stammer something in her native language but her mother was stifling laughter and waved. “Please! Go on, James, show us the low gravity at work!” Alya too was giggling madly as Nara began to inch away from their guest.

James hesitated, not wanting to be cruel, but they seemed to be teasing their sibling, not actually being mean, so he decided to play along. Playfully he pounced from his cushion to squat behind her, and she squealed, the squeal turning into a shriek as he picked her up, and, after realizing she wasn’t much heavier than a sack of rice on this planet, tossed her, gently, into the air. Her family howled with laughter as she flailed back down into his arms and he gently put her back on the floor. Tey was gasping for breath, Alya was on her back kicking and clutching her stomach, and Elris was slapping the floor, all laughing their heads off. Nara for her part was not amused. she curled up into a little ball on her cushion, and James tried to heal the situation somewhat by giving her a gentle hug and cooing reassuringly, petting her hair. Nara was grumbling under her breath in her own language, but seemed to be calming down quickly.

After a few more moments of laughter, the family calmed down and went back to their meal. “thank you for that.” Tey said, grinning hugely at him. Nara grumbled more in her language, and James hazarded a guess he was glad he couldn’t understand what she said.

James smiled back sheepishly. “I feel a bit silly, but I’m glad you were amused. I feel like there is a story to that, though. Is she… afraid of males or something?”

Tey snorted. “Not males. Aliens. No offense, of course.” She smiled rather coyly at him, “I happen to rather like the Terrans I have met.”

Suddenly Alya shifted her weight to be leaning against James. He looked down at her curiously, but again got the feeling he was just supposed to… play along, smile and nod, until something made sense. He saw Tey give her sister a very odd look, and looked down to see if Alya responded but he was too slow. Alya merely continued eating her fish as she was propped up against him. “I see.” he said, though he was mostly lying. “Well, Nara, was it? You have nothing to fear from me.” he smiled warmly at her, and she glanced at him briefly. He wondered what she might be thinking, and why she would be afraid of aliens. After all, the Telha had made alien contact with other species something like a thousand years ago, and Terrans had been their allies for over a generation at this point…

James cast his mind about for a change in topic. “So… I am not very familiar with your technology, on the whole, but I saw some things I recognized when I looked around your shop. You mostly make what looks like electric engines and related computer controls, am I right?”

Elris looked impressed. “Good eye, Terran. Yes, we do, but we have been branching out into other computer technologies. This store is merely where my family and I live and work, but my company has several dozen branches around the planet and even a few on other colonies. We’re hoping to expand all the way back to homeworld someday.”

“What is it you actually, do, James?” Tey interjected suddenly. “Might it have to do with computer or engine technologies?”

James considered his reply for a good minute while they ate in silence. Eventually he said, “Well, you have to understand that I, and my father, whom I largely take after, do not operate as a typical corporation. We’re entrepreneurs. We… like to look for new challenges, new opportunities, and exploit or expand upon them as we can. Though,” he skewered another piece of fish and looked at it for a moment, “on the whole, we deal with computer systems, yes.” he ate the bit of fish and looked at Tey. He was getting the impression that while Mother Elris may own the business, Tey was the go-getter.

“Interesting.” Tey said, and smiled sweetly at him. She brushed a long strand of hair out of her face, jeweled wrist and hand glimmering in the setting sun with the movement. “Perhaps we can do business after all.”

“I think so. I’ve been thinking actually. About your world, your people, your culture… and what I and my people could offer. Originally I was going to suggest some sort of importing VR entertainment, that’s huge in the Terran Territories. But, I know you people don’t approve of cybernetics. So… that got me thinking. And then I saw your equipment out in the store… what if we could simulate it? make some sort of non-invasive system, like… a little pod for you to stand in, and you could be fed very convincing feedback. You could use it for entertainment, or for learning a dangerous skill without actually being exposed to danger, or even for living vicariously.”

“Living vicariously?” Tey repeated, unsure what he meant.

James waved the meal-spike in the air. “You know, like, you would see and feel and smell and such just like another person. A poor person could pretend to be rich for a few hours. You could role-play an Imperial soldier, or a soldier could pretend to be a merchant. Or you could even pretend to be an alien, or whatever. Like… playing pretend, surely you did that as children, right? but… it would feel real.”

His alien hosts all exchanged strange looks. Then Elris held up a finger. “A moment, please.” James nodded, and went back to eating as all four of them began hotly debating… something. He decided since they were choosing to use a language he didn’t understand, it was meant to be none of his business, so he tried to let it not be. He just focused on chewing his fish, and took a moment to gaze appreciatively out at the beautiful ocean, gentle blue lapping against the golden sand shores. He never got views like this back home. He briefly chuckled to himself, realizing how odd it was that here, being on the ground floor seemed to be somewhat special, when back home the rule of thumb was that the closer to the clouds, the better off you were. He considered, however, that if the ground level of his home cities were beaches rather than …well, mostly sewers, opinion might change.

Eventually Elris drew the discussion to a close, and addressed him in English. “James.” She said, her voice surprisingly stern. He turned to look at her curiously. They were all watching him. “I… think it is an interesting proposal. One that will have to be handled carefully. I am not sure you realize how… controversial your idea is.”

James was surprised. “Really? VR is… all over the ATT. And I’ve never heard your people complain about it back home.”

“That… may be true, Terran. But you are not home. You are here, our home. And things work rather differently here.” She said flatly. James merely nodded, and let her continue. “however… I must confess the idea is… intriguing. So… we will consider it, make some tests, see if it is even possible to build at all. Perhaps you should look over our equipment first.”

Tey interjected now. “And, if this idea doesn’t work, well, you’re clearly an… inventive man, we would be excited to see what else we could accomplish by working together. If you would be open to that?” They all gazed at him expectantly.

“I think I’d like that!” James said enthusiastically. “I’d like to see your equipment, maybe see what I can resell back on earth, or even work with you to contribute my own designs for a percentage.”

“I CAN SHOW YOU.” Alya blurted loudly and suddenly, making them all jump, including herself. She coughed nervously, and looked up at him, still leaning against him. He was surprised how light she felt, low gravity or no. She really was a little waif of a creature.

James smiled down at her, “Uh, thanks, hon, I’d like that too. How about after dinner?”

Alya beamed at him. “Sounds great!” she said eagerly. Then she turned to her boss, as did Tey. “Mother?”

Elris gave James a shrewd look for a moment, sizing him up. James simply sat and let himself be examined without comment. Eventually she said, “in the interest of honesty, Terran, I feel I should say I have my doubts about… all this.” He nodded silently, letting her speak her mind. “However… you may represent an amazing opportunity, one I would be a fool to not at least attempt. So, certainly. Go with my daughters, see what we can accomplish together. Alya can show you the technology shortly, and Tey and I can talk business with you in the morning.”

James raised an eyebrow. “And… the night?”

Suddenly Alya and Tey started shouting at their mother simultaneously, seeming to bicker back and forth, Nara eventually joining in. Since he couldn’t understand a word of it, James merely continued to sit silently, bewildered, unclear what was going on. Eventually some sort of consensus was reached, and Elris addressed him again. “Well. It would seem you have advocates for staying here with us, if you would not mind the imposition.” She said carefully.

James raised an eyebrow. “Imposing on me? I was afraid that I’d be imposing on you.” Elris shook her head, looking mildly confused. James was confused too, but, continued, “Well, I’d be honored, thank you. …Again, as long as I’m not a problem?”

Elris shook her head again. “Certainly not. We’d be …glad… to have you. If you do not mind, you may choose a room to sleep in. I… Do not know much about how humans live, but, I hope you will find us accommodating.” She inclined her head, and James reciprocated.

“Thank you, truly, for this incredible hospitality.” Then he smirked, “I hope you’re not just trying to woo me over to steal Terran technological secrets?” When he saw the mildly horrified look on their faces he quickly added, “Joking, it was a joke, a joke.”

Elris snorted. “Despite being technically fluent in your language, I think it will take a while for us to really understand you.” Then she smiled warmly. “Well, I welcome you as my guest, and future partner, hopefully. And, if not, you are still welcome to stay for a while if you wish.” She stuck out her hand to shake across the dining area.

James shook her hand and smiled warmly, humbled. “I am honored by your kindness. I hope I can bring us all great fun and profit.”

Tey tilted her head. “Is that some sort of Terran blessing?”

James burst out laughing. “HA! No, but maybe it should be.” He picked up the glass of alien wine in front of him and raised it with a smile. “You are familiar with a toast, right?”

Elris shrugged. “More or less. It is a symbol or gesture to honor a person or idea, am I correct?” He nodded, and she raised her glass as well, and her daughters quickly followed suit, looking a bit bemused but curious.

“Then here is a more formal ‘blessing’, as it were. To you, Madam, to your business, your people, your hospitality, our alliance, and to the many great possible futures.” He then glanced down at Alya and added with a grin, “And here’s looking at you, kid.”

There was a politely confused silence, most of all from Alya, who gave him a very puzzled look, her large eyes now huge with a burning curiosity, but the family all followed his lead and drank, setting the glasses back down. James privately tried to hide smacking his lips a bit, the alien wine was… strange. Rather tart. He wasn’t sure what the drink was made from, but he did know it certainly wasn’t grapes. He really was a very, very long way from home. And yet…

He gazed at his glass, and then around at his hosts, and finally out the window to the sea. It was all so strange, and yet, somehow, these little similarities here and there made him feel curiously comfortable. It felt like home. Not his home, but… a home.

There was a pensive silence around the room, each person lost in their own thoughts, variously looking at each other or deliberately not meeting the other’s gaze. James could feel Alya shifting restlessly next to him, rubbing against him gently in her agitation. “Eager to show me around, are you?” He smirked at her.

She beamed eagerly up at him. “Very!” She said, directly.

Tey snorted. “You’ll have to forgive her, James. I’m sure she’ll be the ‘coolest’ one of her friends, as you would say, for having an alien friend. She’s just excited.”

Alya started to object, but then grinned sheepishly. “It’s true.” she admitted. Then she looked mildly afraid. “Am I?”

James blinked. “Are you… a friend? Sure! You all are, I hope. You sure as hell seem to be treating me nicely. Thanks again.” He then put the meal-spike in the bowl and bowed low. “Thank you, for the food and generosity.”

They seemed impressed, which privately pleased him. He was learning to play their game. Or so he hoped.

Elris waved a hand casually. “well, when you are ready, Alya will take it from here. And we will see you tomorrow. Goodnight, James. Our alien guest.”

“I’ll go now, thank you. Alya?”

“YES.” She barked, bowed low and bolted to her feet. She grabbed his hand and led him out of the room, beaming.

The rest of the family watched them go, and there was a quiet pause. Eventually Nara spoke, “…’living with us by the end of the day,’ mother.” she said sarcastically.

Tey rolled her eyes. “But not invading. Tiss, would you relax? Or maybe I should get him to come back and throw you again?” Nara backed up into the glass patio door, shaking her head vigorously as her sister and mother chuckled.

And there you have it, the first piece of First Impressions. I hope you liked it, and are looking forward to the rest! It should be out soon.