Part 11 (2/2)

”Maybe he's preparing a math lesson,” Joe guessed. ”That might help us understand his language.”

The creature before them put down a small pile of stones. It set one of them forward on the ground between them. It was a tall intricate shape made of red cubes. s.h.i.+ny touched the cl.u.s.ter once and then walked over to the center stack of cubes behind it. He touched it once in the same manner.

The humans just watched. No one said anything.

Once again, s.h.i.+ny touched the small cube on the floor and then the large stack of equipment in the center of the room.

Then the alien put down several other small rock shapes. He placed one in front of himself and one in front of each of the humans. s.h.i.+ny touched the rock in front of Telisa and then reached out and touched her lightly on the forehead. It was the first time he had made contact with her, and it shocked her.

”That scared me. I wasn't expecting him to touch me,” Telisa said.

s.h.i.+ny repeated the motion for Magnus and then Joe. Joe pointed his pistol at the alien but allowed it to touch him. A small gray sphere darted out from around s.h.i.+ny's trunk and hovered directly between the alien and the barrel of Joe's weapon.

”Unreal!” Joe exclaimed. He pointed the weapon away.

The sphere moved away so quickly that Telisa couldn't follow where it went. Telisa realized that it was the same size and shape as many of the tiny b.a.l.l.s of metal attached along s.h.i.+ny's back.

”That was wild,” Telisa said. ”A defense system, I bet!”

”Impressive,” Magnus murmured.

s.h.i.+ny touched the stone in front of him, and then touched the smooth round part of himself that resembled a faceless head.

”These may be us,” Magnus said, looking at his stone. ”The shapes in front of us have four extensions like limbs, and his has lots of tiny ridges on it like a miniature of himself.”

Joe nodded. ”I think you're right. And I think the big red thing represents the stack of cubes in the center of the room.” Joe reached out and collected his figure and placed it next to the red cube that s.h.i.+ny had first placed out.

s.h.i.+ny moved directly between Joe and the cache in the center of the room. Then the alien put its own facsimile between the miniature cube stack and Joe's shape.

”Yes, that's exactly what he's up to,” Telisa said. She placed her own miniature on the ground indicating her position, and Magnus followed suit.

s.h.i.+ny raised his first right arm.

”Yes!” Telisa translated.

s.h.i.+ny took one of the cubic devices off the stack behind him. He set it on the ground next to him. Reaching into some of the silver covering near his trunk, the alien produced several small blue stones. He touched a blue stone with a pincer-like. three-fingered hand and then touched the thing beside him.

”Those stones represent the device beside him,” Joe guessed. Telisa and Magnus nodded.

s.h.i.+ny reached out and moved his marker to the side. He moved Joe's and Magnus's stones with him. Telisa's marker remained next to the main cache. s.h.i.+ny placed a very small chip of blue stone at the other spot, next to his marker. Then he moved his marker again, still bringing the other two markers with him. He repeated this until eight of the small blue stones were placed.

”He's going to move around and place those things at different spots,” Joe continued.

Then s.h.i.+ny took Magnus's and Joe's markers. Joe's marker moved to one side and sat by itself. Magnus's marker moved back to the center where Telisa's marker had sat untouched. Then s.h.i.+ny moved Telisa's marker in the other direction from where s.h.i.+ny's and Joe's markers had circled. Magnus's marker was moved first to Telisa's stone and then beyond it. The final result was a wide dispersion of all the stones. No single stone remained next to any other.

”Weird,” Magnus said.

”That about sums it up,” Telisa agreed. ”We think we understand what he's saying, but why does he want us to do this?”

”And what do these stone liquefaction tools have to do with it?” asked Joe.

s.h.i.+ny retrieved all the stones and set them back to their original positions. Then he began again. He went through the same sequence, moving the stones exactly as he had before.

”I think a key clue is the way that Telisa is supposed to stay here until Magnus comes back through to get her,” Joe said. ”s.h.i.+ny wants you here until the devices are all spread out.”

”For what purpose? To keep the cache from disappearing, perhaps?”

”That's all I can think of. But then why won't it go away when you leave?” asked Magnus.

”Maybe he won't need it anymore, if whatever this is works. I'm wondering about those devices. What will keep them from disappearing?”

”Maybe he can sense them,” Telisa said. ”Maybe they emit something he can feel like when he sees through walls.”

”Are we going to go through with this?” Magnus said.

”What choice do we have?” Telisa asked.

Joe nodded. ”I think we should. He seems to understand this place better than we do.”

The conversation lulled. s.h.i.+ny collected the stones and moved through the sequence again.

”He really wants to make sure we know it,” Magnus said wryly.

”Well, he has no way to verify that we are paying attention or to know how smart we are.”

”We could help him out,” Joe said. ”When he finishes, I'll duplicate the movements of the stones myself to show him that we understand.”

Telisa nodded. She thought that was a great idea. She found herself wis.h.i.+ng that Joe was her real friend instead of a UNSF officer. She snuck a peek at him and saw that he kept his hand near the b.u.t.t of his pistol, but he stood in a relaxed manner and seemed to pay more attention to s.h.i.+ny than to Magnus and her.

When s.h.i.+ny finished the next demonstration, Joe stepped forward and crouched down to replace the stones. Then he duplicated the moves. s.h.i.+ny stood back and watched. Telisa noticed that the alien twitched slightly from time to time as if extremely impatient. Joe finished the sequence and returned to a standing position.

s.h.i.+ny turned back to the pile behind him and started gathering together the devices. Telisa marveled at the odd way in which the alien seemed to flicker back and forth between inactivity and fervent motion. It was as if the creature stood in place to think and plan and then, like the flip of a switch, executed the plan without further hesitation.

”Just like that? We're going to do what he's demonstrated?” Telisa asked.

Magnus answered first. ”I think he knows a way out. Since we don't have a plan of our own, I'm content to spend a day trying out what he wants.”

”I agree,” said Joe.

Telisa and Magnus went back to retrieve their packs at the edge of the room. As they walked back to rejoin Joe, s.h.i.+ny finished his preparations and moved to one of the exits, waving his arm to encourage the others to follow.

”Here we go. I'll be back by to pick you up,” Magnus said. He walked away to follow s.h.i.+ny.

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