Eis, Wo and Nerg
by C. Meton
Eis watched the monitor with great anticipation. The small, blue planet was growing in the field of view and white areas were becoming visible. Eis knew already that the planet provided a breathable atmosphere and was covered in water so the white areas were likely to be clouds or ice. Eis and his traveling companions, Wo and Nerg, had traveled nearly fifty-five light years to make first contact with the inhabitants of this world.
Over fifty years ago, a gamma ray burst left this planet and its rays traveled trough the universe until they reached a space station on which Eis and Wo were working. The gamma burst was interpreted to be a communication from an intelligent species because of the fact that it had originated from a planet and not from a star.
Actually, the gamma burst was the result of an atomic bomb test that had been conducted in Nevada, USA, but the people conducting the test were completely oblivious to the fact that Eis, Wo, and their people even existed. So it was, in fact, not an attempt to communicate, but Eis’s people did not know that. So now Eis, Wo and Nerg were nearing Earth for the purpose of establishing first contact.
“Any contact yet?” Eis asked.
“None yet,” Wo responded. I am monitoring several channels, but I am receiving only normal space noise.
“Perhaps they have not noticed our arrival,” Nerg said. “Their communication by gamma rays is limited to speed of light, so they may not be expecting us for a long time.”
“Indeed,” Eis said, “if they do not have faster than light communication, it is reasonable to assume that they are also not aware of faster than light travel.”
“Yes,” Wo and Nerg chimed.
A few moments passed, then Wo announced, “Prepare for atmospheric insertion.”
Eis and Wo strapped themselves into their cushioned seats. Their long, green fur flowed in the air currents and their little hearts beat rapidly with anticipation.
“Still no communication,” Wo said.
“If there is no communication, we will have to seek our own landing location,” Nerg said.
“Lots of modulated signals on lower frequencies, but none are coherent beams directed at us,” Wo said. “I don’t think they know we are here. It all seems like random noise except that it is modulated. There are so many signals I can’t sort them out.”
Smoke started seeping from one of the consoles. An alarm sounded.
“Computer failure!” Eis shouted.
“Switching to manual,” Nerg stated. “This may be a little rough.”
The space craft became stiff and hard to control, but Nerg fought valiantly and brought the ship to a bouncy, but safe landing under some very large plants. They had not succeeded in getting the landing legs extended, so the silvery disk which was their ship had bounced and skidded across the grass of someone’s yard and came to a stop under their bushes next to a fence. They had landed without being noticed by the inhabitants of this planet.
“Computer is burned. I will have to install backup circuitry before communications and navigation will again be possible,” Eis said.
“I need to inspect the ship,” Nerg said. “We may need other repairs besides just the computer.”
“Yes, I will accompany you,” Wo said.
Wo and Nerg took communicators from a stowage locker and handed one to Eis. “We can keep in contact with these,” Wo said.
Eis took the communicator and powered it on. “I will remain here and attempt to repair the computer. The monitor appears functional. I can watch around the ship with that and I will tell you if I see anyone approaching.”
Nerg and Wo cranked open the hatch and were thankful that the ship had landed on some foliage which supported it high enough for them to crawl out without the landing legs extended. Nerg exited first, followed by Wo.
“No damage to the ship so far,” Nerg said. “Some slight scratches, but nothing that should affect function. I’ll circle the entire ship.”
“The plant life here is enormous! I’m going to explore a little,” Wo said, and he turned and walked toward a large plant a few feet away.
“Ship looks good on this side too,” Nerg said. “I think we will be ok once we get the computer working and can power up again.”
“I’m working on that,” Eis said. “I have the panels off and one of the circuit boards is burned really badly. I think it may have been overloaded by the high number of signals Wo was receiving. When I get it repaired, I’ll change the algorithm to limit the number of signals processed at any one time so that it does not overheat again.” He looked at the monitor to see if he could see Nerg or Wo while he was talking to them.
Just then, a large, white-furred creature lept from somewhere unknown and landed directly on Wo. “Look out!” Eis shouted, but the creature had Wo in its mouth and ran off with him.
“Emergency, emergency!” Eis shouted. “Return to the ship! Hostile!”
Nerg immediately started to run around the ship, but the creature was back and it was faster than Nerg could run. It caught him too. It flipped him into the air repeatedly as if it were playing a game of some kind. With each flip, Nerg was injured more until he was so beaten that he could only lie where he landed. Finally, the creature put one large paw on Nerg and then started biting him and gnawing on him, and... eating him!
Eis was unable to speak. Unable to move. Unable to think. Tears welled in his eyes and matted the soft, green fur on his face, running down, under the fur, wetting his neck. Not a sound came from his throat. Not a movement from his hands. His breathing was shallow and quick. He could only watch as the creature continued to eat Nerg.
Copyright © 2006 by C. Meton
