... and the interstellar spaceship entered the real universe after travelling from far away in hyperspace.
Captain Doyle secured the ship and told his aide, Liz, to prepare the landing.
They both were explorers hired by the Confederation to find places where humankind could expand and give relief to other overcrowded planets in several galaxies.
Some hours later, both Earthlings were flying over a very green planet. According to the computer aboard, this planet, classified as M302, was a jungle covered globe with atmosphere and humidity in the range looked for by the travellers.
After several observation orbits around the planet, they decided to land in a small clearing near a lake, where it seemed the provision of water could be at hand.
When everything was taken care of, they decided to walk around and make a preliminary survey. There were many trees, small and large, and a predominance of a plant composed by a long white tube with a cup like flowers adhered to the tube. There were also many animals, these creatures looking tamed and quiet.
They walked some meters when from no source at all a wonderful scent started to envelope them. They stopped delighted by the experience and tried to get most of the beautiful fragrance.
A fascinating dream where they felt as if they were living a wonderful vision shared by all living beings, took them. After some minutes things seemed to come back to normal, leaving a strange sense of dereliction in their bodies.
The captain and his aide looked at each other nonplussed. What was this feeling? they know all about it without talking, as if they have lived the experience with only one mind!Fully tired by the effort they lived through, they came back to the ship and fell asleep immediately.
A few hours later, they awakened, and with amazement, they talked about a different dream they had shared while asleep, this time it was a wonderful treat of the best choice foods, where their palate was gratified with the most incredible tastes they ever had.
They were exchanging these feelings, when an irrepressible urge grab them and before they could recognize it, they were embracing and kissing passionately, and sensing as if all these things were shared by many beings.
Astounded by the events, knowing they had been working together for many years and never felt these emotions, they decided to investigate further.
Captian Doyle asked his aide to induce him into a trance that let him study his reactions without the interference of his mind.
He found himself into a nebulous world where he was just a speck of life probing into the unknown, in a moment the clouds opened and in the clear space he could see movable things of intertwined tendrils trying to flee from his contact. He moved quickly and could surround one of them which stood trembling at his mercy.
Our hero reached out with his mind and asked: "Who, er...what are you?".
The thing started to change hues as if different thoughts were colliding in its mind, then a clear thought reached the captain: "You are intelligent? How amazing!"
After a while it was clear that these things were those white tubes they had found and also, they were the dominant species on this planet, they were sharp and intelligent but for a freak of nature they could not experience any emotion, this lacking, they had found, could destroy their sentience, so they have developed a kind of telepathic tool to induce emotions into living animals and share, in a parasitic way, those feelings.
The captain awoke to see the perplex face of his aide, she has lived his dream as if she were abiding in his mind. They had a short conference and decided not to stay on the planet until some professional people had studied this situation and looked to find a way to interact with these new aliens. Their idea seemed to be seconded by all beings around them, but they could not be sure.
They prepared the ship and flew out the planet with a feeling of relief, and a dry farewell, friendly but unemotional followed them until they entered hyperspace.
The music is Angel's Voice by Enio Morricone.
© 2013 Od Liam.
I love this Sci-Fi. You know, the music and the story itself make my mind wander far - as if I'm floating somewhere in space! Your writing amazes me so much. Brilliant ideas! You have loads of them, Od. Keep sharing. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, BB!
DeleteI understand what you say, also I was wandering between suns and stars while I was writing this tale.
I'll try! It is not easy! :))
Beautiful story, very nice fiction , keep up the good work dear Od :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Auntie!
DeleteI am glad you like the tale.
I'll try to keep going, but as I wrote before, it is not easy! :)
I would love to be able to study my reactions without the interference of my mind. I'm sure it would shock me to no end, and I'd wake up thinking of ways how to make changes.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad they decided not to stay without first seeking more professional help. That wonderful experience they shared, but for a moment could have serious side effects in the long run, or will it Od Liam? Some things are too good to be true, and I wonder what the twist could be. Fascinating story, leaving me hanging and wanting more.
This is one of those much desired possibilities for beings who mind; to be mindless! Easy said... :))
DeleteAnother idea... How is it to share feelings! Could it be noxious?
Thank you! I am so glad you feel like that!
The idea in this Sci-Fi tale is incredibly original. Creatures without feelings that live them through other creatures, as ¡parasites! Makes you think on how deep and valuable emotions are for us. As important as being able to imagine that a being that can't feel anything would have the need to experience them somehow...
ReplyDeleteI felt impressed. And I believe that it could be used as the main argument for a suspence movie
Thank you, Pris!
DeleteThe idea started to grow in my mind pushed by the desire of getting transmuted into a being with no emotions. How wonderful it would be, I thought, to be in a blank stated and do not let the exterior world invade you.
Notwithstanding, after writing the first galley-proof, I realized how poor and lonely would be the life of such a person... hence the parasite idea!! :)
Thank you, for your kind words!
When I wanted to describe the need of not feeling anything, to stop the pain and prevent the mind from thinking, I didn't figured a creature, but something - Something that could seem alive, although it isn't. A river, or simple water. An undergroud river, blind and ignored.
ReplyDelete"En realidad, no quiero sentir nada... quisiera poder desaparecer, desvanecerme, que la realidad y la conciencia se olvidaran de mi, que mi tiempo se agotara y no me repitiera en el infinito, deshecho, roto, irreparable....Quisiera ser amorfo, frío, y fluir sin sentir, como el agua, que corre y arrastra todo a su paso, y limpia, y desintegra. Porque así quiero deshacerme de lo que hay en mí, así deseo barrerlo y finalmente, no sentir nada. Quisiera correr como un río subterráneo, ciego, aislado, ignorado, sin percibir los días, los años, las penas intrínsecas, las fachadas alegres... "
Nevertheless, your idea created something awesome, and mine is just a painful cry,..
Again, I felt unable to write such a beautiful thing, after reading your paragraph I kept silent for a while trying to internalize all the soft and rich innuendos in your text.
DeleteI know about painful, silent cries, hollows coming from the infinite vacuum that pain create inside us.
Thank you, Pris, I really appreciate your support!