Short Story: First Encounter

31 stories in 31 days challenge... #7

First Encounter

The saucer headed towards the large blue and white planet, it was just a routine scouting mission for the Fird. On this mission there were five crew members, each had their own topic to research down below.

“Just remember, this is a quick look-see. Nothing fancy” Ravi told the others, as he piloted the ship himself.

“This might be fun!” said Cole “It's a big planet, got room to dance!”

“We have serious missions, this is work” said Serge, who part of the Fird Military branch.

Tang rolled his eyes “I just hope its profitable”, the greedy mineralogist said.

As the ship approached they saw just how big the world was. It was much larger than Fird and then they began to pass through clouds.

“The clouds are nice. We should get pictures” Cole said.

“Isn't that your job?” Ravi asked him, eyes wide with worry.

“Oh, right. I forgot” Cole said and checked some readouts at his station “All cameras are recording!”

“The cities are far too large” Serge told them “We have to use stealth”

Ravi flipped a switch “Stealth mode..on” but the light stayed off, so he flipped it again “Stealth mode...” it was still not lighting up. He slapped it hard and the light appeared “Stealth mode is active”

“Good. No let us find an out of the way area to get a glimpse of what we can expect here” Serge said as if he were in charge.

Ravi flew in close and found a cluster of dwellings away from the larger cities. “This seems to be what they live inside of” Cole stated the obvious.

“It's so big” Tang said “This world must be wealthy indeed!”

The ship flew around the house, hovering in a nearby clearing. “The creatures who live here must be very large” Ravi said “That looks like a door to me”

Serge wasn't happy to hear that. “This building is only one-story tall. Astounding, it'd contain all of a small town back on Fird”.

The four aliens watched the house from the safety of a clearing, still in stealth mode. This would make their missions a bit more complicated. The whole planet was huge, covered with vast cities of apparently full of giants. It could be a real threat, or a world to stay far away from.

As they watched the house and considered their options the door opened a bit for a moment and one of the creatures exited. Cole moved the camera image closer for a better look.

“Smaller than I would have expected from the size of the door” Serge said

“I thought I saw another creature for a moment, I don't think this one can reach the door controls, you think they have servants?” Ravi asked.

Tango rubbed his hands together. “This whole planet is probably full of riches”

The creature went behind a tree and after a moment came back into view and then jumped onto an object and then to the top of the object. The small furry creature then laid down.

“Is it sleeping there? Outside?” Cole asked “It has such a big house”

“Maybe they enjoy resting outdoors, besides I am sure like on Fird that they sleep at night” Ravi said “Should I fly closer for a better look?”

“As long as the stealth is still working” Serge said. They all looked and saw the light was still there.

So the invisible hovering saucer moved closer to the “small” furry creature. It was still bigger than their whole ship!

“I'm starting to get nervous” Serge said “We can't afford to fight billions of these creatures, they're simply too big”

They had gotten too close. The creature could sense their presence because it was now sitting up and looking right in their direction. It opened its mouth and started making a quick succession of loud noises that caused vibrations all over the ship.

“It's attacking us!” Serge said trying to grab something as the ship shook.

“Fascinating” Tango said, lying on the floor holding onto the base of a seat. “It's wearing jewelry around its neck. Do you think it's valuable?”

“Does anyone care what the creature is saying?” Cole asked “Can someone turn on the translation system?”

Ravi was able to reach over with some effort and engage the translation device.

“Who? Who? What? What? Mine! Go Away!” the creature was saying.

Ravi eased the ship away and the vibrations settled down. Then the four of them looked at each other.

“The language seems quite primitive” Ravi noted

“How did they build such massive cities?” Tango asked.

Cole crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. “I guess nobody cares what I think”

“If you have something to say, then say it” Serge told him

Cole put his hands in the air. “Isn't it obvious? They didn't build the cities. That creature doesn't even have opposable thumbs, it has paws. It cannot grasp things.”

“What does all this mean?” Ravi asked.

Cole sat down “The servants. Their servants do all the work. The servants evolved to become bigger, stronger and make good builders. While the masters became smaller, weaker and furrier. It makes sense doesn't it?”

Serge nodded “Without their servants they are no threat to us. I'll have to tell central command about this, we will contingency plans”

“All of this vast wealth and giant servants too” Tango said, dreamily. “We must build larger ships, large enough to take some of these servants to our world!”

Ravi laughed at Tango “You would bankrupt our whole planet for cheap labor. Insane”

They moved back toward the creature. “It has reddish fur. A small sharp snout...” Cole was describing for notes. Suddenly the creature stood up and looked at them again.

“The stealth is out!” Ravi said, the creatures noises started up again the vibrations made the ship uncontrollable “It can see us now!”

Cole had an idea. He opened the bottom hatch and threw a rope down and he climbed down, hanging below the saucer.

“We are your friends! We mean no harm!”

The creature wagged its tail and it tongue lolled out and it moved back and forth. The whole demeanor was different, Cole didn't know what it meant but it scared him. Serge and Tango pulled him back into the saucer as the creature began jumping up and lunging at it.

“Get us out of here!” Serge said “This planet is far too dangerous!”

The saucer moved away and then vanished. It hurtled back into space and towards its own solar system, the crew hoped the Fird never ever came this way again.

The door opened and a woman came out “Cheeto! Come on Cheeto, good boy”

The miniature Pomeranian ran to his “momma” and inside the house where he belonged.

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