8. Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Bazium
Bazium was in the middle of verifying that all the orders he’d placed that day would arrive early the next day when Hesarium and Danisal walked into the compound office. He almost remained sitting but remembered his manners. Standing, he struck his chest, “Greetings, my friends.”
They both struck their chests, Hesarium out of habit but Danisal because the polite protocols were important to her. After returning to Talarian with Hesarium and the Omanal humans, she’d resigned her position on Falsof Station and begged to be accepted as permanent staff by Bazium. He’d accepted her without hesitation.
The former head of station security had proved to be indispensable and she often got them items for low or no cost. Some of the devices they now relied on to keep the perimeter of the property secure weren’t even on the open market yet.
“I have the vids you’ve requested,” Danisal explained. “All the storage crystals the humans brought with them were badly degraded, but I was able to request expedited data recovery from an old colleague. If you’ll give me permission, I’ll send the information to your display so we can all view it together.”
Bazium sounded a rattle of agreement and used his Ident to give Danisal access to the display on the wall behind him. She unclipped her Ident, tapped out a command. The display lit up with a bright, static image.
“Before I let this run, please remember this is what he’s been able to recover so far,” she reminded them. “There are only bits and pieces from much larger files. We might need to bring in a human for interpretation.”
Sounding a negative rattle, Bazium kept his focus on the display. “They can’t know about the celebration tomorrow. Humans aren’t good at keeping secrets from each other, and I want everything to remain hidden from Ari. My human needs to experience as much joy as I can provide and that includes surprising her.”
“Bazium?” Tarrian stepped into the room. “You haven’t answered my missive yet, and I need to verify your agreement for my trip with Aubrey.”
Impatient to see what Danisal brought, Bazium sounded an irritated rattle. “Can it wait until I’m finished with this meeting?”
“We’re about to view some vids and images from Old Earth,” Hesarium explained.
Tarrian sounded a rumble of agreement. “I’d like to view them also.”
Bazium looked to Danisal who sounded another rumble of agreement, and the image started to move.
It was of poor quality, but Bazium could still make out several young humans gathered around a table. On the table was a box with human words written on it and holes near where the peaked top of the box formed a handle. As the vid continued, there was an automatic translation of the written words overlayed by the program.
“Pet rock?” Hesarium murmured, reading the translation. “Do you think the program mistranslated? Humans had many different spoken and written languages, and we don’t have perfect records of all of them.”
“It might have,” Danisal agreed. “This is—”
She stopped talking as the cubs opened the box and pulled out a nest with a smooth rock sitting in the middle of it.
“It appears the translation is correct,” Tarrian said with an amused rumble. “Humans are so quick to give affection, they adopted inanimate minerals as pets!”
The vid degraded badly after the cubs pulled the rock out, so they didn’t get a chance to see how the young took care of their pet, but what could a rock need?
“Is that all?” Bazium asked, feeling disappointed. “They don’t specify what kind of rock they liked to befriend or other details?”
“There’s nothing more on the pet rock, but there are several more vids,” Danisal said, and the next vid began. This one pictured cubs opening up items wrapped in some kind of colorful material that was easily ripped apart. The sound was mostly static so all they could hear was the occasional excited exclamation.
“We’ve determined that these are presents,” Danisal explained. “There are several vids of humans ripping open an outer layer to reveal the gift inside. We can’t make out what the gifts were, but they’re all wrapped in this same easily manipulated material.”
Bazium tapped the display to replay the last few submarks of vid. “Do we know what the layer is made of?”
“Reconstituted tree fiber,” Danisal said. “I’ve checked, and we don’t have any products like the ones they referred to as paper.”
“Paper,” Hesarium repeated, struggling with the foreign word.
“What about foil insulation?” Tarrian said.
“What’s foil insulation?” Bazium asked, and by the sound of the questioning rumbles from Danisal and Hesarium, he wasn’t the only one who didn’t know.
“It’s a thin insulation we use as shielding around delicate electronics in ships and space stations. It comes in different colors for different levels of thickness, but all of it is highly malleable, like that paper, and the colors are bright. Green, red, gold, and silver.”
“Excellent,” Bazium said as he pulled up his Ident. It only took him a few submarks to locate and order a roll in each color. With that done, he looked up at Danisal.
“The next one is…” she hesitated as if searching for the appropriate words. “Interesting.”
Curious at what would cause that reaction, Bazium watched the display. It was a vid of a human opening a present and drawing out an item of clothing. It looked to be a short coat, but the fabric of the coat was irregularly lumpy and there were tendrils hanging off all over it.
“That’s made of a plant!” Hesarium announced with an amused rumble.
“We found a static advertisement for it,” Danisal said as the vid finished and the advertisement displayed. “It seems wearing living plants as garments was popular. I’m not entirely sure of the process, but I thought it would be easy enough to make short cloaks from a domeki plant.”
Bazium noticed a number on a display in the background of the vid, 2150. Was that the human year? He didn’t know enough about human dating methods to know how long ago this was recorded, so the number gave him no insight.
“Humans like novelty,” Tarrian murmured. “This might have only been a passing fad.”
“Or it could’ve been something only the very wealthy could afford,” Bazium argued. “If it wasn’t expensive, why bother advertising it?”
“Good point,” Danisal said as the next vid played. This one was of humans sitting around a table burdened with food, eating and laughing. That was no surprise, everyone knew humans loved communal eating and used it as a time to visit and talk with each other. That’s why he planned his celebration during the evening meal.
The next one after that was of a large, rotund man dressed in a red outfit trimmed in white. He must be elderly because he had a long white beard to match his white hair. He was pulling presents out of a sack and handing them to people.
“This is one of their deities,” Danisal explained. “He visited once a year to give gifts to those who lived honorable lives. It’s also interesting to note that to those who did bad deeds, he gave coal. Coal was a naturally occurring mineral they could burn to cook and keep warm. I believe he was seen as a benevolent god who cared for even the worst among them.”
“Fascinating,” Bazium said. “We will give each human presents for pleasure, so they know everyone is valued and lived honorable lives.”
Everyone rumbled out a sound of agreement as the next vid played. This one showed several cubs jumping up and down on a round, spring-loaded surface. Each jump sent them higher into the sky as they laughed and almost crashed into each other.
“Absolutely not!” Bazium said with a decisive clap of his backplates. “Much too dangerous.”
“I agree,” Hesarium said while Danisal and Tarrian sounded rattles of affirmation.
“It seems humans are inventive in everything, including finding ways to injure themselves,” Danisal pointed out dryly, making them all rumble out sounds of amusement.
The last two things recovered were a vid of a strange looking terrestrial transport that made a horrifically loud noise and only fit one person inside and a short audio of two people talking about something called Comicon.
“I can’t find any conclusive evidence of what Comicon was,” Danisal explained. “It’s all conflicting because some sources say it was a place to buy and trade stories and art. Other sources stated it was a place people went to show off their most expensive outfits. It was also described as a large gathering place for people to meet and talk to each other.”
Bazium gave Danisal an approving rumble. “You’ve done well to get this much out of storage crystals in such poor condition.”
“Thank you, Bazium. They’re still being worked on so more might be recovered, but it will be a while.”
“I welcome more information on Old Earth human culture as it becomes available, but this has given us excellent insight into humans,” Bazium said. “I have some information to share also. Apparently during this Christmas celebration, humans would pluck trees from the ground and decorate them for indoor display.”
“They must have been small trees,” Hesarium commented.
“Or trees with weak root systems,” Tarrian pointed out.
“Was it a single communal tree or did each human require a separate tree?” Danisal asked.
“It’s unclear from what I overheard, but the tree should be dripping with color,” he said.
“Dripping with color?” Tarrian echoed with a curious rumble. “I suppose we could use the spray bulbs that integrity inspectors use to mark damaged sections of ships and stations.”
“That’s an excellent idea,” Hesarium praised. “They come in different colors to indicate which bot should be used for assessment and repair.”
As they talked, Bazium was busy ordering all the colors offered in the inspector’s spray bulbs. The moment he finished that task, he checked on the progress of the gastronomic expert he’d hired to recreate Old Earth flavors. There was a progress report: he had something called cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes and was still working on the rest.
“I’m determined this will be perfect,” Bazium murmured before looking to Tarrian. “What was it you needed to tell me?”
Ari
Holding a steaming cup with both hands, Ari sat on a stone bench outside the cottage and watched a havanak look for the exact perfect leaf. The bird was searching through the brush at the base of the only tall tree nearby and had picked up and discarded several already. When she finally found the right one, she stretched her neck up high to show to her mate in the tree above her.
These colorful birds couldn’t fly, but they fluttered well enough to get into tall-ish trees. Her mate jumped from the half-finished nest, collected the leaf, and jump/fluttered back up to incorporate the new material into the nest.
They’d been at this for a while, and Ari thought she could sit there for the rest of the day, content to watch them. It felt nice to be interested in something. Ari couldn’t remember the last time she’d wanted to do something other than sleep. Observing the havanak couple build their nest was fascinating, and if she was lucky, she might even get to see some chicks in the future.
“Human Ari?”
Startled, Ari spilled some of the tea; thankfully the hot liquid hit the ground and not her. Looking to her left, she found Rossimun standing a respectful distance away.
Smiling, she stood up. “I didn’t think I’d see you again today.”
“Why are you sitting out here by yourself?” Rossimun asked with a concerned rumble.
Ari pointed to the havanak on the ground, searching for another perfect leaf. “They’re building a nest. I didn’t think birds that big could build nests, but I guess they do.”
Rossimun sounded a rumble of agreement as she turned her attention to the havanak in the tree. “They’re an interesting species. I can show you where to find more information on them on the Unibase if you’d like. In the south, where they’re rarer, some households even feed them to keep them close.”
“Can I feed these ones?” Ari asked.
“I’ll send a request for the feed they consume,” Rossimun said with a soothing rumble. “I’m happy to see you interested in something. You spoke of so much numbness earlier, I was concerned. I wanted to see if the medication I compounded is affecting you.”
“It must be,” Ari said, dropping back down on the bench.
Rossimun remained standing a respectful distance away. “Does that mean you’re feeling better?”
Ari nodded her head. She didn’t feel back to her old self yet, but she didn’t feel like she was drowning in gray anymore. “Back on Old Earth, it took them almost six months to get Aubrey’s medication situated. They kept having to try things, see how she felt, then change it a little until she was doing better consistently. I feel better, and it’s only been about four or five marks since you gave me that first dose. I didn’t think it could work that fast.”
Rossimun let out a rattle of pride. “Your medical staff couldn’t possibly have had access to the technology we do.”
Ari frowned. “We didn’t have a lot that other species were interested in, so it was hard to trade for tech or knowledge. When we did get tech, it was usually for industrial processes, not medical advancement.”
“That’s a poor choice. If a people are not healthy, how can a species become successful?”
Ari shrugged. “Who knows? It wasn’t like I was in charge. Anyway, thanks for checking on me. I’m feeling better.”
Rossimun looked around, sounding a curious rumble. “Where is Bazium?”
That single question managed to undo a lot of the contented happiness Ari had started to feel after visiting Rossimun.
Ari determinedly stared at the birds. “I don’t know. I’m sure he’s doing something important.”
Was that bitterness in her voice? Maybe a hint of anger?
It felt good to feel, even if it was a negative mix!
“I can speak to Bazium after he’s done with his current project,” Rossimun offered, her rumble of concern getting louder. Only then did she step a little closer and place a comforting hand on Ari’s shoulder. “From what I gathered during our meeting earlier, the two of you haven’t been communicating. I checked the logs, and you’ve been in the infirmary many times, but Kasium didn’t notice your issue. I might have missed it also if Human Daniella hadn’t brought my attention to it. Something to note is that all those visits were because Bazium cared about you. His busy schedule doesn’t reflect on his dedication to you.”
Guilt made Ari wince. “I guess I should’ve told Kasium more about what was going on in my head. I don’t know why I didn’t.”
“We all become trapped in ourselves occasionally,” Rossimun said. “That’s why—”
A war rattle made both of them startle. Looking up, Ari saw Baz sprinting up the path to the cottage. His quills were up and claws exposed, the picture of an enraged Talin.
“Remove your hand from my Ari!” he roared, lips pulled back in a snarl.
“Calm down!” Ari shouted. Tossing aside her tea, she jumped in front of Rossimun to keep Baz from attacking her. The healer took several steps away and rumbled out a loud, soothing purr.
“Be at ease, Bazium. Ari was distressed, and I was trying to comfort her,” Rossimun explained. “She had no one else to turn to since you weren’t available.”
Sliding to a stop, Bazium flinched back as if Rossimun had struck him. He rumbled out a mournful sound that Ari had only heard once before. It made her think of mournful wail from far away. It was one of the saddest sounds she’d ever heard, and she lunged to embrace Bazium.
His gaze dropped to her. “You were distressed and didn’t contact me?”
“Please stop making that sound,” she begged, feeling tears gathering in her eyes. “If you keep making that rumble, I’m going to start crying, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop for a long time.”
Her anger at Bazium was the first strong emotion she’d felt for months, and it was causing the dam to crack. It felt like massive amounts of emotions, good and bad, were suddenly pushing to get out.
“She started a new medication today,” Rossimun explained with a concerned rumble.
“New medication?” Bazium questioned, enveloping Ari in a hug. The strong smell of hazelnut helped hold back the tears and calm the maelstrom of feelings.
“Daniella convinced her to talk to us, and once she was honest about what she was feeling and thinking, we were able to run the correct tests and create appropriate medication.”
Bazium made the desolate rumble again. “This is my fault. I should’ve made you talk to Kasium or Rossimun sooner.”
“No, I had to hear it from Daniella,” Ari argued. “I was in denial too, but Daniella bossed me around so much when we were children that it was easier for her to make me talk. Sometimes things have to get pretty bad before you realize there's something wrong.”
“I’ll leave the two of you to talk,” Rossimun said, walking away. “I’ll see you at the infirmary tomorrow, Ari.”
“We’ll be there,” Bazium promised, then he drew away far enough to meet her gaze. “If you talked to Rossimun earlier, does that mean you can talk to me now?”
Blinking back tears, Ari nodded her head. “I think I’m ready. Let’s go inside and get comfortable first. This might be a long conversation.”