Carl Sagan’s Hunt for Intelligent Life in the Universe (6 page)

BOOK: Carl Sagan’s Hunt for Intelligent Life in the Universe

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“What are you still doing here?” Noa said. For a moment Hsissh thought she was talking to him, but then she resumed the argument she’d been having with the man. After a few minutes Noa said, “Fine, let’s go,” and started walking in the direction of the aunt’s house.

In her arms, Hsissh trembled. Could he really help Noa? He had poison fangs and a worn out body. She was sick. The other human was prone to arguing. Hsissh blinked at the other human; his slightly mollified hunger had cleared his eyes a bit. The other human looked a lot like Tim, taller though, more muscular, but did not radiate happiness in Noa’s presence. He did have a neural interface for the ethernet, unlike the two boys in the alley. Hsissh sniffed the air. The other human didn’t smell like Tim … he smelled, oddly, opposite of Noa. Hsissh couldn’t quite explain it, but as the two of them continued to converse, the fur on his back rose.

Perhaps sensing his tension, Noa ran a finger over Hsissh’s belly. Despite his hunger, and all his apprehensions, he purred.

“I think I’ll name him Fluffy,” Noa said, and Hsissh whispered into her mind, “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

“He isn’t fluffy, his fur is short. That name doesn’t even make sense,” the man said. Hsissh went stiff in Noa’s arms. He felt a trembling in the waves, as though someone were using it for communication.

“They are fluffy when they’re kits,” Noa said. “We named our werfles Fluffy back on our farm.”

“You named more than one werfle Fluffy? How is that even practical? They wouldn’t know which one you were calling,” the man said.

“Not at the same time!” Noa replied. “After the first died, we named the second werfle Fluffy. That way we didn’t slip up and call werfle number two Fluffy, when his name was actually Rex, or Spot or something. Calling him by a dead werfle’s name would have been rude and weird.” And in the wave Hsissh felt her think,
And they were so similar … I felt like they were the same being.

“But technically, you were calling him by the dead werfle’s name,” the maybe-human protested. “Fluffy was the dead werfle’s name even if it was also werfle number two’s name.”

Noa huffed. “Fine, if you don’t like Fluffy, choose another name.”

The man looked down at Hsissh, and Hsissh felt it again, a tiny disruption in the waves that came with communication across time and space. “I wouldn’t even think you’d like werfles. They look like rats,” the man said.

Hsissh’s ears flattened like a cat’s. He tried to send disapproval into the man’s mind, but … the wave felt different in the other human.

Noa’s eyes went wide and she gasped. “They look nothing like rats. Their noses aren’t long and pointy, their eyes aren’t small and beady, they’re clean—well, when they have access to clean water, they’re clean. Their tails aren’t naked, and they don’t eat people.” She lifted Hsissh to her nose. “They eat rats. They’re cute, they’re friendly, and they’re intelligent—smartest creature on Luddeccea—at least as smart as ravens as far as anyone can tell.”

Hsissh could see the irritation flaring in the other human as Noa touched her nose to his. Hsissh purred with the new beginnings of familial love …

… but then a rush of
alien
waves sparked through his mind. “Fine, call it Carl Sagan if it’s so smart,” the man snapped.

Hsissh’s whiskers trembled, and it all came together. He understood. The other human was extremely augmented, not just in his body, but in his brain—like Kenji! Hsissh hadn’t been able to touch Kenji mentally either, not effectively anyway. The different “augmentation” in the man’s brain allowed him to use the waves. Humans had achieved wave manipulation through their technology! If he’d had more energy, he might have wiggled out of Noa’s grasp in excitement. Ish had been wrong thinking humans would achieve oneness through their prayers—maybe that had shown them the way—but they were inadequate creatures in fur, claw, and mind. Like every other inadequacy, they’d made up for their weakness with their machines. He took a deep breath … would the other werfles accept it? He exhaled. Not fast enough. They still had to leave before the next plague—but maybe someday …

“Carl Sagan?” said Noa.

“Twentieth-century scientist,” the man muttered, looking away from Hsissh. “He theorized that there was intelligent life in the universe, just that it hadn’t visited us.”

Hsissh purred. The One had neglected the quadrant of the galaxy that was home to humans—it had been a complete fluke that the humans had found The One’s home planet first and not the other way around. To think a human named Carl Sagan had theorized that was possible … His purr halted. The One thought that there was no other intelligence in the universe but their own, and so had humans, though they’d been under one another’s noses for a few centuries now. Their concepts of “intelligence” were just too different to allow them to see one another. A purr rose in his chest again. But their sense of love, it was the same. Hsissh tried to send a rush of admiration and validation to the other human. The man didn’t respond. Hsissh almost got mad, but then realized that maybe the human hadn’t felt it. What had Dad said? “New technology, always buggy”?

“Carl Sagan,” said Noa. “I like it.”

Hsissh purred. He liked it, too.

I
f you enjoyed
this story and would enjoy reading another story in this universe, check out
Archangel Down
.

Or check out my urban fantasy / sci-fi series about Loki, the Norse God of Mischief, Chaos, and Lies. It's called
I Bring the Fire,
and the first book,
Wolves
,
is free just about everywhere.

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Carl Sagan’s Hunt for Intelligent Life in the Universe
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