Work Text:
"Awed by her splendor
stars near the lovely
moon cover their own
bright faces
when she
is roundest and lights
earth with her silver"
"Awed by her Splendor" - Sappho
Tessa remembered that day in almost perfect clarity. There was not a day she remembered more, Tessa thought, than the day that he arrived. When Tessa woke up on that temperate and sunny July day, it was just like any other day. She moved to Washington D.C. initially as a graduate student, because Gallaudet was the only university offering a degree in signed language linguistics. Now, years later, she taught in the linguistics department.
That day, she was moving to her own office. Finally, she didn't have to share a room of cubicle offices with other adjunct staff. When she graduated, Gallaudet was one of the only universities offering a track to tenure and plenty of resources for her research. Tessa couldn't have said no if she tried, and though it had taken a few years, she finally had her own office. She remembered clearly how it felt to sit in her chair, look out her window, and see all the work pay off at last. She started unpacking, looking up when there came a knock at her door. An unfamiliar man stood in the door, he had darker skin and salt and pepper hair.
"Can I help you?" She asked.
"Dr. Shepard," he said, nodding to her as he entered her office. "There was an incident three days ago, as I'm sure you've heard already."
"Incident?" Tessa said, wracking her brain for anything she might have heard about. Who was this guy anyway?
"We did not meet in person, but you have my gratitude for your work on the translations at the artifact sites on Mars." He said. Tessa finally understood who this man was.
"Ambassador Udina," she smiled, standing and sticking her hand out for him to shake. He accepted her hand, and responded with the slightest uptick of the corners of his lips.
"You still have security clearance with the Alliance for that work, and I have been cleared to give you top secret information." He stepped back to close the door, and then started fiddling with his omni-tool. "As I'm sure you've heard, a mysterious unidentified craft was seen crashing into the Appalachian mountains in Virginia. The Alliance stepped in immediately, bringing the craft and an unknown species back to a military base in Virginia. You're at the top of our list, so I thought you could help us translate this." He said, then hit a key on his omni-tool.
Tessa almost recoiled at the sound that poured from his omni-tool. There was some sort of guttural grunting noise, deeper than Tessa had ever heard, and then a shrill scream. It almost sounded like whoever, or whatever, it was may have been in pain. The scream subsided, followed by a soft clicking noise. Then the recording abruptly stopped.
"Was that?" She asked, and Udina nodded. "Oh my god," she said as she almost collapsed into her chair. She steepled her fingers, resting her chin on top of them. It was unlike anything she had ever heard, even different from any animals she had ever heard before. There was nothing like it in her memory, and the scream echoed in her brain.
"Dr. Shepard?" Udina asked, taking a step towards her desk. "What can you tell me?"
"That is unlike anything I've ever heard in my life." She said, meeting his eyes.
"That doesn't sound good for us." Udina said with a dry chuckle.
"Can I talk to it?" She asked. Udina raised a brow before letting out a sharp peal of laughter.
"Dr. Shepard, this is not a zoo or tourist attraction."
"I know that, but I can evaluate this... creature better if I were to interact with it." She said, and Udina shook his head.
"You didn't need to interact with anyone to translate some of the text from the Mars artifacts." He said. Tessa pursed her lips, staring down Udina.
"It's not like there was anyone to interact with, I didn't have a choice. When I worked on those translations, I had a wealth of written language to find patterns in. I had a team with different perspectives and language specializations. Besides, we can't learn language by listening to a TV show. All language is learned through interaction, we have seen this through multiple studies in language acquisition in children."
"This thing isn't human, how do you know it will respond the same way?" Udina said.
"I don't, but it is the first and most tested approach we have." She said. Her statement was met with silence, as Udina's brow furrowed and he sighed.
"If I leave this room, you'll lose your chance." He said, and Tessa lifted her chin, her eyes flinty.
"I'm just telling you what I need in order to do my job." She said, and Udina nodded once before leaving the room. He shut the door behind him, and Tessa sunk into her chair, her whole body shaking. The memory of that scream wouldn't leave her brain, and she felt... Whatever it was, it sounded like it was in pain. She wondered how it was being treated, and what would happen to it.
It wasn't her concern, she tried to tell herself. Udina said it himself: she missed her chance. When the ruins on Mars were discovered two years ago, she went through a rollercoaster of emotions in finding out that there was intelligent alien life in the galaxy. She felt like she was getting strapped into that rollercoaster once again, and she couldn't get off the ride. Finding artifacts was one thing, but to encounter a living breathing alien was another thing entirely. It wasn't her concern, no matter how curious she was.
Tessa finished unpacking boxes, trying to settle in to her new office while listening to news reports. People were accusing the Alliance of trying to cover up a UFO, making comparisons to Roswell. A few days ago, Tessa wouldn't have believed the sensationalist reports. Now, she was one of the only people on earth who knew that there was an alien hidden in Virginia. Damn. That wasn't a thought she would quickly get used to. When she left, Tessa turned off her computer and locked the door behind her.
Tessa walked down the street aimlessly, mind trying to digest and process the information about the alien. In Virginia. She could probably drive to the base in a few hours if she wanted to, but that would be stupid. She tried to go about her day as normal, and every now and then she would be successful in not thinking about it. Then, she would hear someone talking about it and she'd start spiraling again.
When she arrived home, Tessa sat down on her couch and turned the TV on to a news channel. She sat in silence, eventually grabbing a glass of wine before sitting down again. She laid down hours later, telling herself she'd only close her eyes for a moment, but slipped into sleep much quicker than she intended to.
***
Tessa's eyes snapped open at the sound of loud ringing coming through her apartment. She groaned and sat up, looking at her clock to see that it was just past midnight. Who the hell would be calling her at such a late hour? She got up and went to her desk, where a video phone was installed into the wall.
"Hello?" She asked as she accepted the call. Sitting in what looked to be an office, David Anderson greeted her with a tired smile.
"Admiral, it's nice to see you." She said.
"Please, Tessa, you don't have to be so formal." He said. Tessa sighed, rubbing her eyes.
"So, what's up?" She asked, covering her mouth to try and stifle a yawn.
"Udina said you wanted to be onsite to translate." He said. Tessa nodded, and he sat back in his chair and sighed while shaking his head. "Tessa, this thing is dangerous, it's already attacked some of my men."
"Well it's probably scared, it doesn't know where it is or understand what's happening to it. For all it knows, you're all just waiting to kill it." She said. David nodded at that, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "I don't have to be in the same room, we could have some sort of divider if that made you feel better. David, you're not going to help anyone by just giving them sound recordings and expecting them to know how to translate it. This isn't a human language, there are likely no patterns similar to our own languages."
"Tessa, if any word of this alien gets out, we'll have a media circus on our hands."
"Do you really think I'm going to blab to the nearest reporter I see? Come on, out of everyone you'd be the one to think better of me." She leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms and scowling. David shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I don't think that you will, but you have to understand why everyone is so reluctant to let anyone on base. We're keeping it a secret from most of our own men. I know we can trust you." He sighed, and there was a long silence. Finally, he leaned in to the camera, meeting her eyes. "If we let you on base, let you interact with it, is that enough? Can you do it?" David asked. Tessa sighed, rubbing her temple with one hand.
"With all due respect, this isn't like translating ancient Latin or something. At least we all have common ground, but translating an alien language? David, that's asking a lot." She said. David went silent, and caught her eye over the video feed.
"You're the only person I trust with this. Will you at least try?" Tessa met his eye, biting her lip. A thousand possibilities swept through her mind at the prospect of meeting an alien. She sighed, and then nodded.
"I will."
"Great, thank you Tessa. We'll send a car to pick you up in the morning, so try and get some rest."
"What time?"
"Around six, so be ready to go by then." He said. Tessa looked at the clock, knowing she'd have to wake up by five if she wanted to get all her stuff together in time. Shit. "I'll see you soon."
"Okay, good night David." She said, waving as she disconnected the call. Tessa stretched before getting up and walking down the hall to her room. Just what the hell was she getting herself into? According to David, she was dealing with a dangerous alien. She was expected to figure out an entire alien language, and Udina would probably be none too pleased to see her. She couldn't say no to David, that was the problem.
The last time she'd seen him in person, it was two years ago while studying the ruins on Mars. They driven her to a base in Houston where they were communicating directly with the scientists on Mars, working together to decode the ancient language. Before that, well, he'd been at all her graduations of course. He may not have been her father, but he was assigned as a mentor to her. She was a troubled youth, and he was in a mentorship program.
At first she hated him, resenting that they sent some uptight military guy to keep her out of trouble. Eventually, he grew on her, and now she was getting ready to go to a top secret base in Virginia to interact with a hostile alien. Tessa couldn't decide if she had the best luck in the world, or the worst. Tessa laid down in her bed, setting an alarm for five before pulling the covers over herself.
Maybe the reality of her situation hadn't really hit her yet, because almost as soon as her head hit the pillow Tessa fell asleep.
***
Tessa groaned, motioning blindly for her alarm clock. She lay in bed in the dark when the alarm went off, slowly realizing why she was up so early. Oh shit. She had officially left the point where she could say no, that window of opportunity passed the moment she hung up on David. Oh no, she was such an idiot. What kind of arrogant asshole assumes they can decode an alien language?
Tessa felt like she was going to throw up, pass out, or start hyperventilating. Possibly all three at once. She sat up, forcing herself to stand up and turn the light on. Instead of focusing on what was most likely her impending doom, Tessa focused on her mental list of everything she needed to take with her to Virginia. She got a suitcase out of her closet and filled it with necessities.
As she packed, Tessa started to feel calm for the first time since Udina entered her office yesterday. At six, when headlights shone through the front windows of her house, Tessa went outside with her suitcase and backpack. Someone got out of the driver's side dressed in military fatigues as Tessa locked her door, and approached her.
"Hello Dr. Shepard, I'm Gunnery Chief June Williams. I'll be escorting you to the site." She said, sticking out her hand for her to shake. Tessa accepted it, nodding to her. She let go of her hand and opened the door to the backseat. She put down her suitcase, and she took it from her to put in the trunk. The truth was, concentrating on packing was the only thing keeping Tessa's mind from dwelling on the reality of where she was going and what she was expected to do once she got there. Now she had about a three to four hour drive to dwell on all of it.
She took out her omni-tool, browsing through social media as June drove them down the road south to Virginia. It didn't take her long to come across a post from her friend reposting an article talking about the recent crash. With a frustrated sigh, Tessa shut off her omni-tool and put her head on the window. They drove in silence, the scenery passing them by as June drove out of the city and onto the highway.
"So, Dr. Shepard, if you don't mind me asking, how long have you known Admiral Anderson?" June asked as she fiddled with the radio stations.
"Well, we actually go way back." Tessa said, still looking out the window. "He used to be in a mentorship program. I was a rebellious teenager, I think the term the school counselor used was troubled youth." She said, putting air quotes around the last two words. June chuckled at that.
"That's interesting, ma'am." She said. Tessa lifted her head off the window, looking up front towards June.
"How long have you been with the Alliance?" She asked.
"I was in the army before the Alliance formed, so when that happened two years ago we were offered a choice to take an honorable discharge or join the Alliance military. I chose to serve." She said.
"Wow, now that's dedication." Tessa said, and June shrugged.
"I'm from a military family, I always knew I was going to be a soldier too." She said, catching Tessa's eye in the mirror. "What about you? I bet you weren't allowed to tell your family anything about this. It drives my mom crazy that everything is classified."
"I was abandoned when I was very young, left at a fire station in fact." Tessa said quietly, looking down at her hands. "They passed me around through a lot of different foster homes, but nothing ever stuck." She said.
"I'm sorry ma'am, I didn't mean to pry." June said. Tessa shrugged, wringing her hands.
"It's alright, you didn't know." She said. The car went silent after that, and June turned up the music a little bit to fill the quiet. Tessa opened her backpack, searching for something to do. After a few moments of rustling around, she found a large book of crossword puzzles. She knew she could get them on her omni-tool, but she liked real books. It was what some people considered a flaw of hers, that she was probably one of the only people in the year 2150 who still had a collection of books. She attributed her love of paper books to the orphanage she grew up in, they were a non-profit and didn't have money to invest in a bunch of cutting edge tech for the kids. Years later, and she still preferred a book she could hold in her hands over reading on an omni-tool.
She managed to keep herself distracted long enough to make it to Virginia, and June pulled them up to a compound guarded by a high fence and a gate guard. June gave the guard her badge, and he let them in.
"Welcome to Langley." June said as she drove them up to one of the buildings and parked. They seemed to be on a peninsula, and the base had a number of buildings and what looked like hangars spread across the campus and surrounded by close cut green grass. Tessa opened the car door and got out, going around back to get her luggage. June handed her the suitcase, then motioned for Tessa to follow her. As they approached the building, David made his way out to greet them.
"Tessa, long time no see." He said as he walked towards her, opening his arms for a hug. Tessa hugged him, and smiled. Even given the circumstances, she was happy to see him. "Chief, I trust you'll see her to her room?" He said as he let go of her. June nodded. "Chief Williams here has been given orders to accompany you while you're working."
"Really?" Tessa said, side eyeing June. She hadn't mentioned that during the drive, and she wondered if that was on purpose.
"Like I said, this thing has attacked a few of our men already, we can't take any risks." He said, nodding to June, who nodded back. "Udina is already throwing a fit that I'm allowing you to be here, so I have to go put out some fires. I'll talk to you soon." He said, squeezing Tessa's arm before leaving. June saluted him, then motioned to the door.
"So you're my body guard, then?" Tessa said as she entered the building.
"If that's how you want to think about it, ma'am." June said as she walked purposefully down the hall. Tessa followed, looking around as they went. It was mostly pretty generic, there were some landscape paintings and commendations on the walls. The walls were painted beige, and they were in what seemed to be a mostly residential building. Some of the open doors revealed barracks, but there were some offices as well from what she could tell.
"Why did it attack those men?" Tessa asked as they made their way through the building. June faltered, but didn't stop walking.
"From what I understand, when our forces arrived at the crash site it came out swinging." She said. Tessa nodded, her brow furrowed.
"Well if you were pointing weapons at it, that would explain it." She said as June came to a stop in front of a closed door.
"How would it even know about guns?" June asked as she unlocked the door, then handed a keycard attacked to a lanyard to Tessa. Tessa took it, and put it around her neck.
"Just because it's an alien doesn't mean its species doesn't use something similar. Besides, if you woke up in a strange place with a bunch of people you couldn't understand, I don't think you'd be feeling too friendly either." Tessa said. June raised a brow at that, but said nothing.
"That key card is paired with your room and other areas of the base you have clearance to access. Wear it at all times, as it also functions as your ID." She said. Tessa looked down at the card, and saw the picture she had taken two years ago when she first started working with the Alliance. It was her with longer hair, tied up in a bun and a pair of glasses she'd long gotten rid of.
"Understood," Tessa said.
"Alright, well after you put your luggage down let's get you in to see Dr. Chakwas, and I'll show you around the base." June said. Tessa nodded before opening the door and putting her luggage on the bed. It was a small and simple room, with a single twin bed, a night stand with a small lamp on it, and a dresser on the other side of the room. A set of sheets and blankets was folded on the bed, and light poured in through a small window above the bed.
Tessa exited the room, jiggling the handle to make sure it was locked before nodding to June. Without a word, June turned on her heel and led Tessa on a tour of the base.
***
When Tessa woke on the second day, she was torn between dread and curiosity. After breakfast, she was to report to her duty and meet the alien. She went through the motions of getting dressed and getting her materials ready. Yesterday she spent most of the day creating a document to track the alien's progress and list of vocabulary she would be covering. She wasn't sure she would be able to speak to it, or it to her. Perhaps their anatomies were too different to mimic the sounds required for their languages.
She was going to start with spoken English accompanied with written English, and if she didn't make progress she would start a curriculum of American Sign Language. She knew a colleague at Gallaudet who would make an excellent partner in that endeavor, but she knew it would be a pain in the ass to convince anyone to let her bring in another linguist expert.
There was a team of linguists helping her, but none who specialized in signed languages. Tessa herself wasn't a native signer, but her colleague, Dr. Larissa Brown, was Deaf and a native signer. Well, Tessa thought, she'd cross that bridge when she came to it. When she had all her materials together, she took them and went to the mess hall.
June waved at her as she entered, and Tessa got a tray before sitting down next to her. She tried to make polite conversation, but her stomach was doing flip flops all throughout breakfast. Mostly, she pushed her food around and mumbled replies to the soldiers she sat with. When she was done, she discarded her tray. When she left, June left with her.
"I still don't think this is entirely necessary." Tessa said as they rounded a corner.
"With all due respect, ma'am, you haven't seen it yet." June said. They left the residential building, walking across the campus to another building. When they entered, Tessa immediately noticed the difference. This was obviously where they did their research, there were glass windows into different rooms showing different equipment in different labs. The walls were painted white, and they were void of decoration. They came upon a locked door with a guard, and both June and Tessa flashed their IDs at him. Upon checking them, he entered a code and let them through.
They entered a long hallway with a door at the end. June and Tessa walked down the hall, and Tessa had to swipe her card to gain access to the door on the other side of the long hallway. There were security cameras in the hallway, and in the room she entered. The room they came into was set up like a control station, there were speakers on either side of the room, and a panel of different buttons on the far side of the room.
The far side of the room was almost entirely glass, and beyond the glass was a small area with hazmat suits and showers. On the other side of that area, to the right was a tiled room. Tessa spotted areas on the white tile that had what looked to be dried blood, and there was a drain in the middle of the room. The room was entirely devoid of decoration, and there was a cot on the ground and a small area with a toilet and sink. It was a prison cell, essentially.
In the observation room was a woman with pale skin and dark hair. A man with graying black hair and brown eyes was sitting next to her. Upon seeing them, she stood up and crossed the room. She stuck out her hand for Tessa to shake, and flashed her a small smile.
"Hello, you must be Dr. Shepard." She said. Tessa accepted her hand, shaking it and returning her smile.
"This is Dr. Olivia Zamora, she's a biology expert." June said. Tessa nodded. The man got up and crossed the room.
"And I'm a doctor, general practice." Olivia said, holding two fingers up in the air. "Two whole degrees, and apparently that makes me a qualified xenobiologist." She said with a shrug, and Tessa laughed at that.
"Lieutenant Xavier Lang, a pleasure to meet you." He said as he came to a stop in front of Tessa, and they shook hands. "I supervise Dr. Zamora while she works to make sure everything runs smoothly."
"I'm here now, get some rest." June said, putting a hand on his arm. They clearly knew each other, Tessa noted, and wondered how long they had been serving together.
"It was nice meeting you." Tessa said as Xavier left the room.
"It truly is a pleasure, I read your book." Olivia said.
"You did? What did you think of it?" Tessa asked.
"It's an interesting premise, that language is the foundation of a civilization, even if it is wrong." Olivia said with a smirk. Tessa chuckled at that.
"Then what is the foundation of a civilization?"
"Science, of course." She said.
"If we didn't have language, how would the scientists make hypotheses or tell others about their findings?" Tessa said. Olivia furrowed her brow, then laughed.
"Touché, Dr. Shepard."
"Please, if we're going to be working together call me Tessa."
"Only if you return the favor." Olivia said. Tessa nodded, and then her eyes flickered towards the glass. "I've been observing it for the past few days. Nobody can get near it to take a look at its anatomy, or near enough to tranquilize it either."
"Don't we have tranquilizer darts for that?" Tessa asked.
"Technically yes, but I'm afraid of injuring it further or overdosing in some way." She said, taking a seat and turning on her omni-tool.
"It's injured?"
"Yes, in the crash. It won't let us treat its wounds, and we don't know what to do about it." Olivia said as she typed up some new notes. Tessa nodded, then went closer to the glass. She looked around, and gasped when she finally saw it. The alien was hunched under the sink, almost as if it was trying to hide from view with whatever cover it could get. Its skin was green, and it had black eyes. There were red frills on either side of its neck, and ridges on its head. It was dressed in tattered black clothing with a high collar that exposed part of its chest. It met Tessa's gaze, and neither of them looked away.
Tessa was surprised by how... human it looked. It was presumably an anthropoid, and it had a nose and lips. The features of its face were approximately in the same configuration of a human face. The way everyone described it, Tessa was expecting some sort of hideous of ferocious monster. This was what everyone was so afraid of? It tilted its head, perhaps curious at the sight of a new person.
She wondered how her features looked to it. Was it evaluating how similar her features were to its? Did it have the same questions about her biology, her thoughts, her use of language?
"Hello," she said.
"It can't hear you, you have to use the microphone." Olivia said, motioning to a microphone on the desk. Tessa broke eye contact with the alien to pull a chair over to where she had been standing. She pulled the microphone over, and the took the whiteboard out of her backpack. She wrote her name on the board, but didn't hold it up. She pushed the button on the microphone, and a small red light at the base turned on.
"Is anything recording these sessions?" She asked Olivia, who nodded. "Do you understand me?" She asked, and when she got no sign of recognition she held the whiteboard up with her name written on it. "Tessa," she said and pointed to herself. "Tessa," she said again. Then she pointed to it, "Who are you?" She got no response, but the alien started to inch its way closer. She could clearly see that it was in pain, as it hunched over when it walked. There was a grimace on its lips, but it walked ever closer to her. "Tessa," she said and pointed to herself.
She waited for it to get closer before speaking again. It crossed the room halfway before sitting down again, looking at her with curiosity.
"Tessa," she pointed at herself again. Then she pointed at it once more, "Who are you?" It opened its mouth, and Tessa tensed as she recalled the horrible shriek from the recording. A low chattering sound left its mouth, and it pointed to itself. Tessa smiled, nodding her head enthusiastically. "Who are you?" She asked again, and it repeated the noise while pointing at itself. Then it pointed at her. "Tessa," she said again. Tessa opened her omni-tool and made a note, then smiled wide at the alien.
"It's taken a liking to you already." Olivia said. Tessa looked at her, and raised a brow. "The first time I came in here it crawled under the bed and wouldn't come out all day."
"I think it wants to communicate. I don't think it's inherently violent, maybe it's just frustrated because nobody can understand it." Tessa said. She looked back at the alien, then erased the board and wrote Olivia. "Come over here, so it can see you."
"What?" She asked.
"Maybe if you can communicate it'll let you examine it." She said, and Olivia scooted her chair over so she was sitting next to Tessa. Tessa handed her the board. "Just do what I did." She said. Olivia shot her a skeptical look and sighed, then looked at the alien.
"Olivia," she said as she pointed to herself. "Olivia," she said and pointed again. She pointed to it and said, "Who are you?" It repeated what it did before, and Tessa smiled as she made a note in her omni-tool.
"Thanks," she said as Olivia handed her the board. She wrote her name back on the board, then held it up and pointed to the word. "Tessa, that's my name. Can you say that?" She asked. She pointed to her lips, and said her name again. The alien made a chattering noise, and a low clicking noise that sounded nothing like her name. Tessa thought her previous inclination that it didn't have the right vocal cords was probably right. She shook her head, then pointed at him again. "Who are you?" It pointed to itself and made the same noise it had made the first time, then Tessa pursed her lips and tried to mimic it. What came out sounded like her impression of a dying mouse, and she laughed at herself.
"Okay, so we can't talk the old fashioned way, that's okay." Tessa said as she leaned back in her chair. "I'll figure it out." She laughed again, shaking her head. At that moment, a man with greying hair and blue eyes entered the room. The alien immediately recoiled, and limped as fast as it could back to its cot. Once it got to the cot, it slid under it.
"Captain Harper," June said as she saluted him. "Sir, this is Dr. Shepard, she's the linguistic expert."
"I know who she is, stand down Chief." He said, then crossed the room to stick out his hand for her to shake. She regarded it with narrowed eyes, thinking of how quickly the alien wanted to hide from him. What the hell did this guy do to get it so scared? She thought of its wounds, and wondered if the story that it received them in the crash was just another Alliance cover up. After a moment, she took his hand and shook. "Captain Jack Harper, it's nice to meet you." He said, and Tessa nodded in return. "How's it going so far?"
Fine before you showed up, Tessa thought, but bit her tongue on that.
"Quite promising, actually." She said. He nodded to her, then looked in through the glass, smirking when he saw the alien hiding under the cot. "If you don't mind me asking, what's your role in this operation?"
"I was the lead on the team who brought it in. I'm supervising the soldiers assigned to the two of you." He said, motioning to Olivia and Tessa. "I guess you could say I head up the security on this operation."
"I see," Tessa said. Then she thought of her findings today, and with a sense of dread knew he was the one to ask. "If you're head of security, then I guess you can answer this question for me. I don't think its vocal chords are compatible with ours, and I certainly can't mimic the sounds it makes. I want to teach it to read and write, but if I want any sort of response it needs something to write on." She rustled through her backpack, then pulled out another whiteboard. "I'd like to give this to it, so it can answer me." She said, watching Jack. He frowned, his brow furrowed.
"Do you know how easily something like this could be made into a shiv?" He said. Tessa's eyes widened at the assertion, and she scowled back at him. "I can't allow that, it could use this as a weapon very easily."
"How do you suggest we communicate if it can't answer me? Conversation demands a partner, without a way for it to write a reply back I'll just be talking to myself." Tessa said, voice growing louder the longer she spoke. Was there no sense here? Did everyone look at this alien and see danger? If that was the case, why didn't Tessa see it the same way?
"I'll take it into consideration." Jack said after a long pause. "I'll have to bring it to my superiors, so no guarantees they'll agree." He said, and Tessa sighed but nodded. "By the way, just what words are you teaching it?"
"I taught it my name, and Olivia's name as well. I'm planning on teaching it basic vocabulary words that are easily connected to concrete concepts, such as walking or eating." She said, pulling up the document she spent yesterday crafting to show him. He looked at it, fingers tapping his chin in thought.
"I thought you were supposed to be asking it why it's here, not asking what it had for lunch." He said, and Tessa rubbed her temple, trying not to lash out in pure annoyance. She took a deep breath, then wrote the question on the board: why are you here?
"First we have to know if this alien understands the nature of a question, a request for information if you will." Tessa said as she circled the question mark. "It has to be distinct from it understanding that I'm saying: you are here. Well, we know it's here, we want to know why. Next, we need to know that it understands what here means." She said as she circled the word 'here' on the board. "Then we have to know that this species has a concept of an individual you versus a collective you. Finally, we need to have enough vocabulary for us to understand its answer." She said, underlining the whole sentence. She looked at Jack, whose frown grew deeper the longer she talked.
"Fine, just submit your vocabulary lists before your next session." He said.
"Understood," she said. They looked at each other for a moment before Tessa's eyes flickered back to the alien. It was still under the bed, but watching Tessa and Jack carefully. She wondered if her talking to Jack would compromise its trust, she wondered just what Jack did to inspire this level of fear.
"If there's nothing else, I'll be taking my leave." Jack said. Tessa shook her head no, eyes still glued to the alien. With that, Jack left the room and they were left with the alien once more. Tessa turned the microphone back on, but didn't know what to say. Clearly it was afraid of Jack, and it had only just learned her name. They didn't have enough shared vocabulary for her to reassure it, and for it to understand her reassurance. Maybe if she spoke in a soothing tone, it would understand that.
"It's okay," she said softly. The alien blinked, but didn't move. "I won't hurt you, if you come out we can talk some more." She said in a quiet voice, then she was silent. It didn't do anything, just stared at her. She turned the microphone off, and sat back in her chair. She waited for another hour, busying herself preparing lists to send to Jack. In the span of that hour, there was precious little change. "Well," Tessa said as she put her stuff back in her backpack. "I don't anticipate it coming out, but if it does let me know." Tessa said as she stood up and made her way to the door.
"I'll stay with Dr. Zamora." June said, opening the door for her.
"Alright, I'll see both of you later." Tessa said as she exited the room. She walked down the hall and out of the building, not particularly thinking about anything. She knew she needed to request the recording from today so she could analyze its vocal sounds for patterns, but the encounter with Jack left a bad taste in her mouth. He seemed so pleased when the alien hid under the bed, almost as if he was satisfied with the alien being terrified of him. What kind of man would think like that? Tessa walked the grounds, taking in the sunshine as she walked. If Tessa couldn't get a whiteboard in for it to use, then she'd move on to teaching it ASL. However, that would require her asking Jack to let her bring someone else on board.
Although, maybe David could help her with that. She asked a nearby soldier where to find his office, and thanked him for the directions. She made a beeline for his office. When she got there, the door was open, though she knocked on the wall anyways. He looked up, smiling when he saw her.
"Come in," he said. Tessa walked in and sat in one chair opposite his desk, putting her backpack in the other. "What can I help you with?"
"I thought you might be able to convince Captain Harper of something on my behalf, since he won't listen to me." She said, and he motioned for her to go on. "That alien, it understood me today. It can't make sounds like we do, and neither can I. I need it to be able to write down a response to me when I speak to it, or we're never going to make progress."
"How do you know it understood you?" David asked, leaning back in his chair.
"I asked it a question, and it responded. It understood the nature of my request, that's something we can't discount." She said, and David nodded thoughtfully. "Captain Harper thinks giving it a whiteboard is dangerous, that it'll use it as a weapon." She said.
"He's not exactly wrong, Tessa, as much as I hate to say it." He said, and Tessa groaned. "Now, I know that's not what you want to hear-"
"Why would you even bring me here if I can't even be given tools to do my job?" Tessa said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Interaction is how we acquire language, without a way to interact the conversation is one sided. The alien will never learn effectively that way." She said, meeting David's eyes and lifting her chin stubbornly.
"Is there any other way?" David asked, and Tessa bit her lip.
"A colleague of mine, Dr. Larissa Brown, is an expert on sign language acquisition in children. She would be an optimal choice to work with me." She said, and David rubbed his temples and sighed. "I know you didn't even want me on site, but if you won't allow it to have anything then we can teach it through a different method."
"Tessa, no, that's simply not possible." He said, and Tessa's nostrils flared in annoyance.
"Why not? You made an exception for me, why can't you just let me do my job?" Tessa said, voice growing louder as she talked more. "You're only shooting yourself in the foot by denying me any resource I ask for!"
"It only takes one mistake for that thing to get out, or for the media to get ahold of it!" David yelled, fists clenched on top of the desk. "Why can't you just teach it to sign, you know how!"
"I'm not a native signer, and I'm not a language acquisition expert!"
"Then what the hell can you do?" David asked, and Tessa recoiled as though she'd been slapped. His eyes widened, and Tessa got her backpack and stood up wordlessly. "Tessa, wait," he said right before she crossed the threshold.
"If you want me to actually help, you need to work with me." She said, not looking back before walking out of the room. David let her go, silence meeting her words. She stormed out of the building and walked back to her room, slamming the door behind her when she got there. What the hell could she do? Nothing, if nobody would give her any resources. It was like they enjoyed being stymied at every turn, and not making any progress at all.
Tessa dropped her backpack on the ground, and practically threw herself on the bed. She should have been in the lab with her team, analyzing the audio files for patterns. She didn't want to get up, she was still fuming after her conversation with David. He was supposed to help her, supposed to actually listen to her. Tessa thought he was different, but maybe she was wrong. Damn, what had she gotten herself into? She analyzed the interaction, wondering what she could have done differently. It was those cyclical thoughts that eventually put her to sleep.
***
The next day found Tessa sitting in the observation room with Olivia once more. The alien had come out from where it was sitting on the bed when Tessa arrived, walking to the halfway point it had been at yesterday.
"Hi," she said as she waved at it. "I've got some new words for you today." She said, looking at the approved list on her omni-tool. "Eat," she said as she grabbed a carrot off the plate she had brought with her. She held up the white board with the word on it. She ate the carrot, and then took a grape off the plate and held it up. "Eat," she said and then ate it. She repeated it with a few of the other things on the plate. Then she made a shape with her hand, so that all her fingers were touch each other in a flat o shape. She put the hand up to her mouth. "Eat," she said.
She waited a few moments, and then repeated the process again. After she made the sign for eat again, the alien repeated it. Tessa smiled, and made a note on her document. As she made a note, she didn't notice it getting closer. When she looked up again, it was probably only ten to fifteen feet away from the glass. It pointed to the plate, and furrowed its brow. Tessa realized it wanted to know what kind of food it was, and held up another grape from the plate.
"Grape," she said and then made the sign for grape. The alien copied her clumsily as she did the same thing with the other foods on the plate.
"Poor thing, it must be hungry." Olivia said, and Tessa raised a brow at that, looking at her. Olivia shook her head, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "It has refused to eat since we captured it."
"I see," Tessa said. "Does anyone know why?"
"Well, we put a medicine in the food that would act as a tranquilizer. It can't possibly know about that, it didn't see it get put in the food." Olivia said, and Tessa nodded her head thoughtfully.
"Maybe its sense of smell is more advanced than ours." She said, and Olivia hummed in reply.
"It trusts you," she said, her brow furrowed. "I have an idea." She said before standing up and leaving the room. Tessa watched her go, shrugging when June shot her a questioning look. When she looked back at the alien, it was sitting down, eyeing her plate of food. It made the sign for eat, then pointed at the food. "You want to eat it?" She said, signing is she spoke. She repeated the sign for want, then pointed at the food again.
The alien tilted its head, and Tessa realized it may have been too early to introduce the abstract concept of want this early. She signed want again, and then ate a carrot, then repeated the sign for want. It looked at her for a long minute, then at her plate of food. Then it nodded, and Tessa made a note in her document. A few minutes later, Olivia entered the room with a tray. The tray had an assortment of food on it, and Olivia came over and put some of the food on her plate.
"Eat it, so it knows it's safe." Olivia said, and Tessa nodded. She ate the chicken and rice, making eye contact with the alien as she did. As she ate, she taught it new signs for the food on her plate. As she was eating, Olivia went into the room with hazmat suits that led into the room. She opened a small slot near the bottom of the door, then put the tray of food through. The alien looked at it, then back at her.
Tessa stopped eating, and watched as it crossed the room. It crouched down, sniffing the food cautiously before taking the tray and going back to where it was before. It sat down, and sniffed the food once more before looking at Tessa. She nodded, then signed eat again. She picked up her fork and began eating once more. It picked up a green bean, and looked at Tessa. She showed it the sign for green bean, and it copied her.
"It trusts you." Olivia said as she watched the exchange, with a note of awe in her voice.
"I think I'm the only person in this compound that looks at it, and doesn't see a threat." Tessa said softly, reaching out to touch the glass without thinking. The alien looked up at the sound of her bracelet clinking against the glass. It moved closer, and then put its hand on the glass where hers was. Tessa gasped, meeting its intense gaze without flinching away.
At that moment, the door opened and Tessa didn't even notice. Then the alien tensed, and its gaze flickered behind Tessa. She turned around, and saw David watching her. She frowned, and turned back around. The alien held her gaze for a moment before going back to its plate of food and sitting down.
"I can't believe how close it got to you, that's amazing Tessa." He said, and she turned around to look at him. She didn't reply, still sore from their conversation yesterday. He sighed, wringing his hands. "I owe you an apology. You were right."
"Thank you for apologizing. I appreciate it, David." She said, and he nodded at her.
"We've decided to start with the board. If that doesn't work well, we can explore other options." He said. "Keep up the good work, Tessa." He said before leaving the room. June stopped saluting as he left the room.
"You're on first name basis with Admiral Anderson?" Olivia asked after he left. Tessa shrugged, digging through her pack for the extra whiteboard. "I didn't know you two were close."
"He's like a father to me." Tessa said, although wasn't it ironic for someone who never had a father to say that? What would she know? She chuckled quietly as she pulled out the board and extra pen. "I want to give this to it." She said to June, pointing to the white board.
"Just put it through the slot, or get suited up." June said, inclining her head towards the hazmat suits. "I'll go with you if you're planning on the latter." She said. Tessa stood up with the board and made her way to the decontamination room. She looked at the suits, and wondered what contact it had with people wearing these. Did they come in to try and tranquilize it? Did they hurt it? Tessa didn't want it to associate her with fear, but she didn't want to just shove the whiteboard through the slot and leave.
She came to her decision, and moved toward the door to lock it from the inside.
"Dr. Shepard?" June asked, moving towards the door.
"It needs to see me, it needs to know who I am." She said as she swiped her keycard through the slot. The door unlocked with a soft pop, and her heart was pounding so hard it threatened to beat through her chest.
"Dr. Shepard, I can't let you do that." June said as she moved to the door, trying to swipe her keycard through. She cursed under her breath when it didn't work. Tessa didn't have long until June called the cavalry, she knew that. She opened the door as she tried to gather her courage. The alien stood up at her arrival, and she put her hands up in the air to try and show it that she didn't have a weapon.
She held the board up, then walked into the room slowly. She didn't break contact with the alien, who stood stock still as she entered. Tessa put the board on the ground slowly, then uncapped the pen and wrote the word 'yours' on it. She held up a flat palm and extended her arm out towards it. "Yours," she said as she pushed the board on the floor towards it. When she stood up, the alien still hadn't made a move towards her. Tessa couldn't decide if she was relieved about that or not.
She turned around, and started to walk slowly away with her hands still in the way. Tessa started when she felt warm breath on her neck, and froze.
"Dr. Shepard!" June shouted, pounding on the glass. "Someone get Captain Harper in here!" She practically yelled into her comm. Tessa slowly turned around, gasping when she realized how close it was. It was so close, she could count the frills on its neck. Then, the alien reached for her right hand with its own. With a surprising gentleness, it took her hand in its own and lowered it. Its skin was slightly rough and dry as it turned her hand over.
Was it inspecting her? Trying to figure out what she was made of? She didn't dare speak, she barely dared to breathe. Tessa lowered her other hand, and reached out for its empty hand. It allowed her to inspect its hand the same way it inspected hers. It lifted one hand to her cheek, touching the dark skin there, and then touched a strand of her wavy black hair. Her hair was cut into a long bob ending at her shoulders, and parted down the middle. Tessa mirrored its actions, and lifted a hand to touch the ridges on the top of its head.
She smiled at it, her heart beating an unsteady rhythm in her chest. Then the door behind them opened, and Tessa looked back to see Jack enter the room alongside June and Xavier. They all had guns that were trained on the alien, and Tessa turned around. She put her arms out, trying to protect the alien.
"Don't hurt it, it didn't do anything wrong." She said, trying to keep her voice even.
"Dr. Shepard, step away from the alien." Jack said, his finger hovering in front of the trigger.
"No, not until you put down your weapons." She said. "I'm the one at fault here, I chose to go into the room. It didn't hurt me." Tessa said. Jack locked eyes with her, scowling. Tessa tried to take a deep breath to keep calm. Finally, Jack lowered his gun and holstered it. June and Xavier followed suit, and Tessa lowered her arms.
"Come with us, Doctor." Jack said, and Tessa stepped forward to follow them. Right before she left the room, she turned and gave the alien a small wave. Once they were back in the observation room, Jack whirled on her, getting in her personal space and looming above her. "I don't know who the hell you think you are, but that was a hell of stunt you just pulled. If I was in charge I'd have you kicked off the base so fast your head would spin. I'm sure Admiral Anderson will find an excuse for you, it seems like he's a fan of that." He spat, his fists clenched. Tessa crossed her arms over her chest.
"It needed to know who I was. I can only imagine the fear it would feel if it associated me with the people who have likely tried to experiment on it. I made a decision, and given its response I would say it was the right one." She said, trying to keep her cool. The temptation to yell back in his face was strong, but she didn't want to piss off a man with a gun more than she already had. Jack huffed, his nostrils flaring.
"Don't ever pull that shit again, do you understand me Shepard?" He asked, and Tessa narrowed his eyes at him.
"Crystal clear," she said. Jack glared at her for a long moment before turning on his heel and leaving the room. He slammed the door behind him, and Tessa rolled her eyes. June said nothing to her, just gave her a long evaluating look.
"That was ballsy as hell, ma'am." She said. Tessa huffed out a laugh at that, then took a deep breath. Her heart had been going crazy ever since she locked the door.
"I can't tell if that's a compliment or not." She said, and June raised a brow and shrugged. Tessa sighed, and brushed her pants off absentmindedly. "That was intense, I'm going to take a nap or something. I'll be back in an hour or so." She said, then left the room. Tessa planned to walk back to her room, but was interrupted by running into David in the hall.
"Tessa, I was just coming to check on you." He said, putting a hand on her shoulder and squeezing. "Are you okay? Have you seen Dr. Chakwas yet?"
"I'm fine, what do I need to see Dr. Chakwas for?"
"It touched you, right? We don't know what kind of diseases this thing might be carrying." He said, and Tessa shrugged.
"I feel fine." He said, and he shot her a stern look. She sighed, and put her hands up in surrender. "I'll go see her today." She said, and his brow relaxed. "You didn't come to lecture me, did you?"
"I heard Captain Harper already gave you a dressing down, so no. Though I don't need to remind you how dangerous that was, do I?" He said, and Tessa shook her head no. "Why did you do it?"
"I examined my options, and decided it was the best course. I wanted to give the board to it, so it would associate it with me and what I've been using it for. To do that, I needed to enter the room. However, I thought about how people in hazmat suits have probably either hurt or scared it, and I need it to trust me in order to do my job." She said, pausing for a second to take a breath. "I made a split second decision, and I don't regret it."
"I heard it let you touch it." He said, and she nodded. "That's amazing, Tessa." He let out a shaky breath, and pulled her into a hug. "I just want you to be safe. You know that, right?"
"I know," she whispered as she wrapped her arms around him. They stood like that in the hall for a few moments before David pulled back. "David, that alien in there, it's not a monster. It had all the opportunity in the world to attack me, to take my keycard and escape, but it didn't."
"We don't know its motivations, Tessa. That could've been a ruse to get you to trust it." He said, frowning at her.
"I know you don't trust it, but I know it doesn't mean me harm." She said, more insistently that time. Whatever happened, she didn't want it to be hurt because of her actions. "Don't let Captain Harper hurt it, please." She said, and David's eyes widened slightly at that.
"What are you saying?" He said, his voice dropping to a hushed tone.
"It was terrified of him, David. You should've seen his face when he realized that, it was like he was gloating or something." She lowered her voice too, and David sighed at her response.
"Unfortunately, we don't have any regulations covering treatment of aliens. It's not like I can punish him for his behavior." He said, putting up a hand to stop Tessa from interrupting. "But I will have Chief Williams and Lieutenant Lang keep an eye on him."
"They're under his command, what makes you think they won't tell him you're watching him?" Tessa said, putting one hand on her hip.
"They may be under his command, but from what I understand they have little love for him. Lang thinks he's a loose canon, and Williams has only known him since she was selected to be involved in this mission." He said, looking around for any eavesdroppers. "Tessa, be careful with Harper."
"I will be," she promised.
"Go see Dr. Chakwas." He said, patting her once on the back before taking his leave. Tessa groaned, but went through the building until she came to Dr. Chakwas' office.
"Hey doc, you busy?" Tessa said as she knocked on the open door. Dr. Chakwas was sitting at her desk, going through a stack of files. She looked up at her arrival, and gestured for her to come in.
"How can I help you?" She asked as Tessa sat down on her examination table.
"You haven't heard? I had contact with the alien." She said, and Dr. Chakwas stopped scrolling through documents on her omni-tool.
"Pardon me?"
"I touched the alien." She said, shrugging it off as if it was no big deal. She relayed the story to Dr. Chakwas, who had pulled a chair up to the examination table.
"I'm sure I'm not the only one to tell you how dangerous that was, from a medical standpoint. We haven't even had a chance to examine this alien, we have no idea what diseases it could be carrying." She said, frowning at Tessa. "However, that is an extraordinary experience." She said, making a note on Tessa's file. "I'll do an examination, probably give you some boosters. Hopefully the cocktail of medicine will help your body be prepared for anything." She said.
Dr. Chakwas scanned her with some sort of device, and made notes in Tessa's file as she did so. She felt her lymph nodes, and looked in her eyes and ears.
"There doesn't seem to be any obvious signs of illness or irritation yet." She said, and then got out a few vials and a syringe. "I'll run a full panel just to be sure, and then I'll get you on some boosters as well." Dr. Chakwas said, and then drew a few vials of blood. Next, she loaded up some more syringes and injected Tessa with a variety of vaccines. "I'm forwarding a document explaining the vaccines you received today along with possible side effects. If you have any serious side effects from the vaccines, or anything out of the ordinary, come see me right away. My office is always open." She said. Tessa thanked her, then left.
She checked the time, disappointed to see she didn't have long until she was supposed to be back. Well, Tessa thought, if she hurried she could at least pass out for fifteen minutes before she had to be back. With that thought in mind, Tessa almost ran to her room to take a breather before facing the rest of her day.
***
A week passed, and Tessa was starting to get into a routine. They learned that the alien would only eat if it saw Tessa eat the same food first. For every meal, Tessa got two trays from the mess and gave one to the alien to eat after she sampled everything on its tray. After those meals, she would build its vocabulary. She found that it was responding better to sign language, which was promising. It also meant she needed to make a request that nobody was going to like. That was how she found herself in David's office once again.
"Dr. Brown is an expert in language acquisition. She has two degrees, a masters in child development and a doctorate in linguistics. She has published many studies relating to the subject of signed language acquisition, and her body of work speaks for itself." Tessa said, barely daring to take a breath before she finished laying out Larissa's qualifications. "I know that having a peer to debrief with would be invaluable. Any other linguist of a spoken language would be given the same advantage. You guys provided me with a whole team of them, but they're essentially useless to me."
"It's a big ask, Tessa." David said, leaning back in his chair with his head resting on his hands.
"I know it is, but I'm only asking for what I would be getting if the alien was responding to spoken language. The board is okay, but when it can, the alien prefers to use signs. Clearly, we would both benefit from the presence of a true expert." She said.
"You said Dr. Brown is Deaf, wouldn't we have to hire interpreters for her? That's adding more people who could blab to the press." He said, and Tessa nodded. At least they were in agreement on one thing.
"If we could work something out, if she came by herself, would you consider it?" She asked, and he furrowed his brow. Tessa looked at him, giving him her best puppy dog eyes. "Please," she said.
"You can talk to her, but you are not to reveal the existence of the alien. In fact, you should probably let me sit in."
"You wouldn't understand what we're saying anyways." She pointed out, and David sighed at that fact. He rubbed the back of his neck, looking sheepish.
"I suppose you're right. Well, it is what it is. I trust you." He said, and she grinned at that.
"Thanks David, I'll call her and get back to you." She said, and then got up and left the room. She checked her watch, and then headed to a room in the residential building that had video phones she could use. When Tessa entered, there were a few soldiers using the phones to talk to their families. She went to one on the other side of the room in a corner, and called Larissa.
"Hey," she signed when Larissa picked up.
"Hey, good to see you." Larissa replied, and raised a brow when she took in Tessa's surroundings. "Are you taking a vacation or something?"
"No, actually I'm working. I want you to work with me, it's really important." Tessa said, and Larissa looked at her questioningly. "It's classified information, but I can tell you that I need your expertise on language acquisition." She said.
"How classified are we talking?" Larissa said, and Tessa rubbed the back of her neck and leaned back in her chair.
"Officially, I'm not allowed to tell you. It's big, it might be one of the most important things I've done in my life."
"Really?" Larissa said, nodding and pursing her lips. "Why do I feel like there are conditions for this?"
"My superior wants me to get you to come alone, no interpreters." She said, sighing when Larissa rolled her eyes.
"You know that's shitty, and there's no way I'd agree." She said, and Tessa nods. "You already knew that, didn't you?"
"I knew," Tessa said, and they made eye contact. "I just needed proof to show them. What do you say, if I can convince them, do you want in?"
"You've piqued my curiosity, I'm in." Larissa said, and Tessa smiled.
"I'll let you know how it goes. It was good to see you." She said, and then they said their goodbyes before Tessa hung up. Tessa squared her shoulders, and got up to tell David the news.
***
David could only hold out for so long until Tessa got her way, in the end. The next day, Larissa arrived at the base along with an interpreter who had worked with the government on classified assignments before. When Larissa's car pulled up, Tessa opened the door to the residential building and came out to greet her. When Larissa opened the door, her face lit up when she saw Tessa and hugged her. Tessa chuckled, rubbing her back.
"Good to see you," Larissa said, and Tessa nodded. "I'm excited to start, when do I get to meet it?" She said, and Tessa motioned for her to enter the building. Larissa held up a finger as she got her luggage out the back, and Tessa shot Xavier a grin as he locked the car.
"You should put your luggage away, I'll go get some breakfast. We can meet at the observation room." She said, and they waved as they went their separate ways. Tessa went to the mess hall and grabbed two trays before heading back to the observation room. Olivia was already there, as usual, and Tessa waved as she sat down.
"Morning," Olivia said as Tessa got the alien's attention.
"Morning," Tessa said. The alien approached the glass, and watched as Tessa sampled everything off its plate. When she had tasted everything, she went into the decontamination room and put the tray through the slot. Then she went back outside so they could eat breakfast together. A few minutes into their daily ritual, Larissa entered the room. Olivia stood when she arrived with the interpreter, and greeted her.
A moment later, Larissa was pulling up a chair and intently looking at the alien. She stared as it went through the ritual of asking what kind of food it was, and Tessa teaching it new words.
"I get the feeling you do this often." Larissa said.
"Three times a day, for every meal. It's the only way it will eat. I take it as an opportunity to teach it a few new vocabulary words." She said, and Larissa nodded. She went to the document on her omni-tool she'd been using to track its progress, and sent it to Larissa. Larissa looked at her omni-tool, and then read the document. She leaned back, putting one hand on her chin as she read. Tessa looked at her, raising a brow.
"You have some good ideas, but I worry about its understanding of abstract concepts. You haven't talked about questions, for example."
"This is why I need you here, I don't even know where to start." Tessa said, and Larissa grinned. "Take it away, you're the expert here. Oh, you should introduce yourself first." Tessa said, then wrote Larissa's name on the board. Larissa scooted her chair over, and the alien regarded her with curiosity. Tessa showed it the board, and Larissa made her name sign, which was an L in a spiral on the right side of her head. The alien copied the sign. Larissa repeated herself several times, pointing to herself to make sure the alien understood who she was.
"Alright," Larissa said before cracking her knuckles. "Let's get to work."
***
Two weeks passed, and the alien was getting more and more adept at communicating with Larissa and Tessa. They learned its name was Thane, that it identified as a male, and after that they drank until they couldn't see straight. It was around midnight, and Tessa was still tossing and turning. With a sigh, she threw her covers off and slipped on some flip flops. She put on her badge, and went out of her room. She expected to wander aimlessly, but her feet carried her to the observation room. As she entered, she furrowed her brow at the sound of groaning coming from inside.
When she entered, she put a hand over her mouth at the sight in front of her. Thane was chained to the ground, and Captain Harper stood over it with a stun baton.
"Why are you here?!" He yelled, and when the alien didn't reply, Jack thrust the stun baton into an open wound on its neck. It groaned in pain, and Tessa gasped. She didn't know what to do. Why did Jack have it chained to the floor? What did he hope to gain from this sick display? Then Thane saw her, and reached out. Jack turned, and grimaced when he saw her. Tessa went up to the microphone, and turned it on.
"Enough, Captain Harper. Leave it alone." She said, locking eyes with Jack. Her heart was pounding in her chest. "You know it can't respond to you, and even if it did you wouldn't understand. Leave it alone." She said again, and Jack wiped sweat from his brow. He scowled at her, but left the room with the stun baton in hand.
"You're too soft for this," he sneered at her, and she clenched her fists.
"Give me the keys." She said, holding out a hand.
"You wanna go in there?" He said, inclining his head to the room. Tessa nodded, and he shrugged before giving her a key. "Knock yourself out, sweetheart." He said. Tessa bristled, but said nothing as he left the room. She rushed over to the decontamination room, swiping her keycard before doing it again to enter the room. Thane was breathing hard, and it looked up when she entered. She hurried over to it, kneeling on the ground as she unlocked the chain with shaking hands.
"I'm sorry," she said and signed at the same time. It reached up, and cupped her cheek.
"Why did he hurt me?" It asked, and Tessa shrugged while shaking her head.
"He's mean, he wants to control people." She said, her lip trembling. "You're hurt. Let Olivia help you."
"No," it said.
"She only wants to help you. Please, I hate to see you injured like this." She said, and lifted a hand to cup its cheek in return. It looked at her for a long moment, and then sighed. Finally, it nodded. "I'll get her." She said before standing up and leaving the room. She made her way to Olivia's room, and knocked until Olivia opened the door.
"Do you have any idea what time it is?"
"Thane is hurt, it needs your help." Tessa said, and Olivia stood there with her mouth slightly agape. "Please, Olivia, you're the only person I trust to actually help it." She said. Olivia stood in silence for a long moment, and then nodded.
"I'll go get my bag, and meet you there." She said. Tessa hurried back to the room, and helped the alien get to its bed. She sat there with it, holding its hand until Olivia came in. She had a doctor's bag in her hand, and she went over to Thane and kneeled down in front of it.
"You remember Olivia?" She said and signed at the same time, and it nodded. It gritted its teeth, tightening its grip on her hand as Olivia started to examine it. She worked in silence, patching up its wounds and apologizing when it flinched. It held Tessa's hand the whole time as Olivia worked. When she was done, it nodded to her and she smiled.
"I'm sorry." She said and signed it at the same time. "Tessa, a word please." She said, and left the room. Tessa followed, cupping Thane's cheek one more time before she left. Olivia put her bag down on the table, and caught Tessa's eye with a scowl. "What happened?"
"Captain Harper was using a stun baton on it, asking it questions he knew it couldn't answer. Even if it responded, he wouldn't have understood it."
"There's something wrong with that man." Olivia said, her fists clenched. "He's sick." She said, and Tessa walked over and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Olivia, thank you for this."
"Of course, Tessa. Hey," she said with a tired smile. "I got to examine the alien, so that's an upside."
"Does that brain of yours ever stop working?" Tessa asked, raising a brow. Olivia shook her head no, and Tessa managed a chuckle at that.
***
Family. That was the word Larissa wrote on the board. Their purpose was to find out about their family structure, and if they had one. This alien seemed fairly athletic, and everyone said it fought tooth and nail when the Alliance first found it. It could be a soldier, back on its home planet. Tessa suggested earlier that there could be a crèche system where they were raised away from their parents. It was all pure speculation, of course. Larissa showed it the sign, and it copied it with a perplexed look.
"It means a group of people you love, people you are related to." Larissa said, and the alien furrowed its brow. "You know, where did you come from? Which person took care of you?" She asked, expanding on the concept. "Typically with humans it's two people: mom and dad." She said, showing Thane the signs for mom and dad. "Mom is a woman, who takes care of their child. Dad is a man, who also takes care of their child."
"Oh, I think I understand." Thane replied. "So like, someone who..." He paused in thought. Tessa leaned forward, hanging on every word of his response. "I don't know the sign. My mom, she had me."
"Gave birth?" Larissa said, explaining what the sign meant when Thane asked. They went back and forth, Larissa and Tessa answering questions and demonstrating different signs related to family. Jack had been livid when they submitted the list, saying it was a trivial thing to teach it. Tessa and Larissa had to explain, for the thousandth time, that you never knew when basic vocabulary could come in handy.
"Do you two have a family?" Thane asked, and Larissa and Tessa looked at each other. "Mom, dad, children?"
"I have a mom and dad, and two sisters. I have no children, but I do have a partner." Larissa said, and then had to explain partner. After she explained, Thane nodded and looked at Tessa.
"I don't have any." She said, and it looked at her in surprise. "They gave me up for adoption shortly after I was born."
"What does that mean?" It asked as it copied her unfamiliar signs. Tessa sighed, rolling her neck out to release tension. Jesus, she hated talking about her shitty childhood, but she was sure it wasn't intending to be mean.
"Well, typically parents raise their children. Mine chose not to, they couldn't take care of me, so they gave me to different people to find a family for me." She said, and its brow furrowed in thought.
"Your mom, who had you, she didn't take care of you?" It said, and she nodded. It nodded as it thought, and then finally made eye contact with her. "Did those people find a family for you?"
"No, they tried very hard. I was angry a lot, as a child." Tessa said, suddenly very glad that they already discussed emotions. This talk would make absolutely no sense if they hadn't.
"Why? Because you had no family?"
"Partly that, but there was a lot of other things that happened during my childhood. The families they tried to find for me were..." She paused, searching for an accurate sign. Tessa knew what she would normally sign, that she was abused. They hadn't covered those kinds of topics, of abuse and violence. She didn't want to talk about it with Thane. Tessa didn't want to talk about that with anyone. Her and Larissa talked about it years ago, and Larissa shot her an understanding look.
"What were they like? If you don't want to, you don't have to talk about it." It said, and Tessa smiled at that. Everyone looked at the alien and saw a monster, but here it was, showing her such consideration and sympathy.
"It's difficult to discuss. They were not nice people, they were mean to me." She said, simplifying the concept of abuse. The alien's jaw tightened at that, and Tessa shrugged. All that was years ago, she went through a lot of therapy to get over it. "I visited a lot of different families, but nothing was ever right. So, I don't have a family."
"Friends?" It asked, and then motioned between Tessa and Larissa.
"Yes," Tessa said with a smile. "We are friends. We both have many different friends." Larissa nodded at that.
"Partner? Do you have one?" It asked, and Tessa shook her head, blushing slightly. It had been a while since she broke things off with her ex girlfriend. Samantha was great, but she was from England, and even with all the work the Alliance was doing to unify earth, the distance was hard. Tessa was anchored to Washington D.C. and Samantha was anchored to Oxford. "Why?"
"My last partner and I broke up. She lives far away." She explained, and it nodded. "It's hard to have a partner and live far away from each other." They all sat in silence for a few long minutes, the alien seemingly thinking to itself.
"Sometimes..." It's hands slightly lowered as it paused, as if it was trying to find the words to express itself. "What we choose, that is more important than family. Who we are friends with, that can be family." It said haltingly, and Tessa smiled at the sentiment.
"I agree. We have families of choice. There is a human idiom that agrees with us, maybe one day I can translate it properly for you." Tessa said, and the alien nodded. Their eyes met, and Tessa was again taken aback by the sheer emotion in its eyes. It was an alien, but it was so human at the same time. This alien, that everyone was so afraid of, showed more emotion than a lot of humans Tessa knew.
"We'll see." It said finally, and Tessa looked down at the whiteboard and then at their vocabulary list. It tapped on the glass to get her attention, and she looked up. "I hope I'll get to see it." Thane said. Tessa nodded, taking it for the challenge it was. They hadn't even started to deliberate on idioms, but she knew the one was thinking of would be on the list. Tessa had something to prove, after all.
***
"I need you to ask the question." David said three days later, and Tessa nodded. "Tessa, we need an answer. The brass is coming down hard, asking why it's taking so long."
"I'll ask, David." Tessa said. He nodded, and she left his office to go to the observation room. Larissa was already inside, and she waved when Tessa came in.
"David wants us to ask the question." She said, and Larissa nodded. Tessa tapped on the glass, getting the attention of the alien. It came over to the glass, and put its hand on the glass. "Why are you here?" She asked, showing it the question on the board, and the alien tilted its head. "How did you come here? What happened?"
"What is the purpose of the question?" It asked, and Tessa furrowed her brow.
"What do you mean?" Larissa asked, leaning forward to get a better look at it. "Here, earth, remember we told you about earth last week. You came by accident. Why?" Larissa explained further, and the alien sat in silence with its arms crossed. Its eyes narrowed, looking between Tessa and Larissa with suspicion. Tessa's heart skipped a beat, what had they done wrong? A point of pride for her, so far, was being one of the only people the alien trusted.
"When I answer that question, do I still have..." It trailed off, making a sound of what Tessa only assumed was frustration. Clearly, it was frustrated by a lack of vocabulary. "Use? Purpose? What happens to me?" It said, making heavy eye contact with Tessa. She leaned back in her chair, and shrugged.
"I don't know. I wish I could tell you." She said, and it nodded at that. Larissa looked at Tessa, and then at Thane. It crossed its arms again, and shook its head. Tessa sighed, dreading what she had to tell David. The alien didn't want to answer, but it's not a big deal right David? Ugh. There was only so much they could do, since she thought it grasped the question well enough. Thane just didn't want to answer, not that she could blame it.
Christ. She still had to report to David, that was going to be a fun conversation. She typed a few notes into her omni-tool document, and shot a grim look at Larissa. She looked back, scowling. Tessa thought of how Jack would react, a chill shooting down her spine. She wouldn't be like him, could never resort to his methods. She prayed Jack wouldn't take out his anger on the alien, and continued to write her note. It would be okay, she thought. Tessa didn't quite trust that was true, but she had to hope.
***
"What do you mean it didn't answer?" David asked, frowning at Tessa.
"It didn't want to answer." She said, shrugging. "I think it's afraid of what you people will do to it once it answers the big question." She said, and David sighed. "If you could just guarantee its safety, I'm sure it would answer."
"I can't do that." He said, and Tessa's heart dropped.
"David, what do you mean?"
"The brass wants to understand it, to use it." He said, and Tessa tried to swallow past the lump in its throat.
"It's not a tool, it's a living thing with feelings and thoughts. You can't use it." She said, and David looked down at his desk, not meeting her eyes. "David?"
"It's not up to me." He said, and Tessa stood up suddenly, starting to leave the room. "Tessa!" David called after her, but she walked through the halls, ignoring him. Her head was spinning, she could barely breathe. What the hell did he mean? How exactly did the brass plan on using it? She went to her room, and practically threw herself on the bed. She had to do something, convince it to talk somehow. She didn't know what else to do.
***
It was another late night, and Tessa couldn't sleep. She went to the observation room, and knocked on the glass. It looked up, and she picked up her whiteboard. Thane picked up its whiteboard, and she scooted her chair closer to the glass.
"Do you have a family?" She asked, and it nodded. Suddenly, it looked sad and she furrowed her brow.
"My son, he's only five. My wife... She..." Its lip trembled, and Tessa put her hand on the glass. A tear slipped down its cheek as it put its hand on the glass where hers was. In that moment, she realized something she had never realized before. This thing, this alien in front of her, was more than an it. He was... He was her friend. "She died two years ago." He said. Tessa stood up, and slid her key card to open the door to the decontamination room. David would kill her if he knew what she was doing, but nobody was around to tattle on her this time. She opened the door to his cell.
He was still sitting in front of the glass, hands covering his face. Tessa came to sit next to him, and put a hand on his shoulder. At first he flinched, and she withdrew her hand. He took his hands off his face, and when he saw her he threw his arms around her. Tessa tensed a bit, then wrapped her arms around Thane. He cried, and she made shushing noises and rubbed his back.
He was shaking in her arms, and her heart was breaking. He had a son, somewhere out there, and the brass was planning to use him. Tessa continued to rub his back until his tears stopped. Thane leaned away from her, and wiped his face.
"Listen to me, very carefully. We don't have much time. If you don't give them an answer, they are going to do something to you. I don't know what they'll do, but I don't think either of us will like it. Please, say something, for your son." She said, and he looked at her with a blank expression on his face.
"I do not know what answer they are looking for. Besides, how do we know they won't do whatever it is they're going to do anyways?"
"We don't, we don't know that." She said, and Thane said nothing in response. Tessa sighed. They sat in silence for a few tense moments. "If you're not going to tell them why you're here, can you at least tell me? I won't tell them."
"I..." He began, then sighed. "I am, I don't know the sign. My job is to kill people." He said, and Tessa's eyes widened. "I was trained from a child to do this."
"Like an assassin?" She said, fingerspelling the word assassin. He tilted his head slightly. "It's a person whose job is to kill people, they get paid for a living."
"Yes."
"Wow," she said, shooting him an evaluating look. "I wasn't expecting that." He shrugged at that.
"One of my enemies, they killed my wife. So I hunted him down, and killed him. It took me two years, but when I was escaping my ship got shot at. We were near here, earth." He paused in thought, and then shook his head. "This area, I don't know what the sign is for it. Anyway, you know what happens next." He said. Tessa sat, nodding, trying to take it all in. So, this alien, her friend, was an assassin. Okay. Okay, she could totally handle that. She was handling it. There was a lot to unpack there, but she was totally handling it.
"So, like, is being an assassin a thing in space? Is that something I should worry about?" She asked, and he laughed. Okay, so maybe she wasn't handling it as well as she thought. Humor as a coping mechanism, Tessa thought to herself, really? Her therapist would love this.
"No, no, it's quite rare to be trained like I was. It is complicated to explain, but my people owe a great debt to another. We view it as a great honor to be chosen to serve them in this way."
"I see." She said, and they sat in silence once more. "Your son, what is his name?"
"Kolyat," he said with a slight smile on his face. "He is with his grandparents now. After my wife died I... I don't know. I couldn't handle it."
"I'm sorry, I can't imagine what that's like." She said, and then realized what she had to do. If he wasn't going to talk, she was going to get him out of here, for the sake of his son. "I'll get you home to your son, I promise."
"Don't make any promises you can't keep." He said, a sad smile on his face. Tessa put her hand on his shoulder, and squeezed.
"I promise."
***
"You're not gonna like it." Olivia said softly, looking at the ground with her hands in her pockets. It was three days after Tessa asked the question. They were standing in the observation room together. David had been none too pleased with its answer, or lack of answer for that matter.
"Just tell me." Tessa said, putting a hand on Olivia's shoulder.
"They want me to dissect it, take it apart, see how it works." She said, and Tessa's blood ran cold. She took a step back, covering her mouth with her hand.
"It was only a matter of time till the brass would do something like that." June said. Tessa was shaking, struggling to breathe.
"You can't," she said, and Olivia met her eyes with a frown. "He is not a thing, you can't just kill him and take him apart like he's a fucking frog or something."
"He?" June said, raising a brow. "When the hell did that thing become he?"
"He has feelings, emotions, complex thoughts. Please, Olivia, don't do this."
"I don't have a choice." She said, fixing her gaze on the floor.
"Yes, you do." Tessa said. When Olivia didn't respond, Tessa sighed and left the room. Her heart was pounding, her palms were sweating. She couldn't let them do this to him, to Thane. She went to Larissa's room, and opened the door. Larissa was sitting on the bed, reading something on her omni-tool, but looked up when the door opened.
"What's up?"
"They're gonna kill Thane. You have to help me save him." Tessa said after she closed and locked the door behind her. "Please, I can't let him die."
"What do you need me to do?"
***
Late that night, when everyone else was in bed, Tessa made her way to the observation room. She slid her keycard and got into the decontamination room, then into the cell Thane was being held in. He sat up at her arrival, and she made her way over to him, sitting next to him on the bed.
"I have to tell you something." She said, and he nodded. "In just over a week, they're going to kill you. I'm going to do all I can to stop them, okay?" She said, and Thane's eyes widened at that. On an impulse, she grabbed his hand and held it.
"What are you going to do?" He asked, and she shrugged.
"I'm going to figure it out, I promise you." She said, and he cupped her cheek with his free hand. She leaned into his touch, and closed her eyes. He rested his forehead against hers, and they sat in silence. She pulled away, and put her hand on his cheek, blushing when he met her eyes. "I'm going to get you out of here."
***
"Okay," Tessa said, looking at the whiteboard they were using to brainstorm. "We have a week. Let's get down to business, and get Thane out of here." She said, and Larissa handed her a cup of coffee. She took a sip and looked at the clock, it was just after eight in the evening. Larissa studied to whiteboard, and then wrote a few suggestions on it.
"We need to figure out a way to get Thane out without everyone seeing him. Some kind of disguise." She said, and Tessa took a sip of her coffee. "Those biohazard suits in the decontamination room could do the trick. Some of them have tinted visors for outside work."
"That's good, that's good." Tessa said, and then wrote that under the category Larissa had started for disguise. "But the whole cell's rigged with cameras. We have to get him into a suit before alarms go off." She said, and tapped her chin in thought.
"Then there's the guards outside the hall." Larissa said, writing that under the category of complications. Tessa had a feeling that category was going to be a mile long.
"Olivia had tranquilizers she put in Thane's food at the start, we could steal those and put them in tea or something. I'm on good terms with those guys, I'm sure if I gave them a drink it wouldn't be suspicious." She said, and Larissa grinned. "We just have to get them from Olivia without her knowing."
"Do you think Olivia could be on our side?" Larissa asked, and Tessa shook her head. Larissa raised a brow at that answer, gesturing for Tessa to elaborate.
"She's the one scheduled to dissect him. She didn't say no to her superiors, how can we trust her?"
"Perhaps she doesn't want it to happen, but it's hard to talk back to your superiors." She said, and Tessa shrugged. "Just, think on it." She said, and Tessa nodded. "Alright, let's get this done." Larissa said before cracking her knuckles. They spent the next few hours brainstorming and debating on the best course of action. Tessa was right, their complications section was getting to be horrendously crowded. They were taking a break, sipping on new cups of coffee.
"I'm so nervous." Tessa said, and Larissa nodded. Then, she pinned Tessa with an a hard look. "What?"
"I'm just wondering, you and Thane are close. I know you've gone to see it when nobody else is in there. Is there... Something between you?" She said, and Tessa's eyes widened. She thought about their late night discussions, which were strictly off the record. She remembered the first time they were face to face, and how terrified she had been. A night ago, she was holding him in her arms. He was her friend, but did she feel anything else?
"I don't know." Tessa said, shrugging. Every time they were close, she had this feeling like she was standing on the edge of a cliff. One push, and she would be falling into something she didn't know how to control. She was saving him, but that was because he didn't deserve to die. He was a living, feeling, intelligent creature and he had a right to live. That was all, right? Suddenly, she wasn't so sure. "He's my friend."
"You call Thane a he, not an it." Larissa said, and Tessa's eyes widened. How did she know that? In ASL, you could be gender neutral when referring to someone just by pointing. "The interpreter told me. She thought it was interesting, and so do I. When did the alien become more than just a creature to you?"
"I realized, recently, that he is my friend. I can talk to him, discuss abstract concepts. I can't do that with an animal, and I wouldn't call a fellow human an it." She said, and Larissa nodded along.
"It's funny, to me, that after dating you in college I'm now helping you escape earth with your crush." She said, and then her lip was wobbling. Tessa got up and crossed the room, putting her hand on Larissa's shoulder. "Sorry, I just realized that after this I'll probably never see you again. You'll be in space, with Thane, and I'll be stuck on earth." She said, and Tessa's heart sank. In all the stress and planning, the fact that she was leaving earth hadn't really sunk in yet.
"Come with us, if you want." She said, squeezing Larissa's shoulder with one hand and signing with the other. Larissa looked at her sadly, her eyes glassy.
"I can't. I have too much here on earth, I can't just leave my partner and my work."
"I..." Tessa paused, and then hugged Larissa tightly. They dated during Tessa's freshman year at Gallaudet, and although they had broken up, it was amicable afterwards. They just didn't fit quite right, and they both agreed they were better off as friends. Tessa would miss her fiercely when she left. There were only a few things Tessa was truly leaving behind: her work and her friends. It was actually kind of lucky, Tessa thought, that she didn't have family to leave behind. Except... She thought of David, who was pretty much her surrogate father. Her heart ached, her throat tightened at the thought of leaving him without so much as a clue to what had happened to her. She couldn't tell him, couldn't take the risk that he would shut the whole thing down.
Would she become a missing person, or would the government cover up everything about her? She already informed Gallaudet she would be working on a project with the government for a while, but if she just never showed up again, would anyone look into it? She had friends among the teaching staff, sure, but would they ever think it was strange when everyone knew she worked with the government from time to time? Tessa envisioned a 60 minutes episode about her mysterious disappearance. When Larissa pulled back, she wiped at her tears.
"Oh, Tessa, you're going to do some amazing things out there. I can feel it."
"I'll miss you." She said, and Larissa smiled slightly before patting her arm lightly.
"I'll miss you too." Larissa said. "Okay, let's get back to work before we get even more hopelessly sentimental."Tessa laughed, before Larissa walked over to the whiteboard once more.
***
Tessa found herself in Olivia's lab a day later, looking around as she used her keycard to open the door. Thank god her security clearance was so high. She had David to thank for that, Tessa thought almost bitterly as she entered the lab. She used her omni-tool as a flashlight, not wanting to turn on the lights. Tessa searched through cabinets and drawers, looking for the tranquilizers Olivia had mentioned. She found bottles of pills in one cabinet, finally, and looked through them until she finally found the right bottle. She got a few of the pills out, and put them in her pocket. She didn't need to take the whole bottle, that would look suspicious, but she highly doubted they would miss just a few pills.
Tessa used her omni-tool's light to leave the lab, breathing a sigh of relief as she closed the door softly behind her.
"What are you doing?" Olivia said, and Tessa jumped. She whirled around, and Olivia was standing behind her with her arms crossed. "Kind of weird to be poking around my lab in the middle of the night."
"Oh, Olivia, I left my notebook in there the other day. What are you doing here?"
"Uh huh," Olivia said. "I can't sleep, same as you I guess. Why didn't you just turn on the lights? Why fumble around in the dark for your notebook?" She said, and Tessa's heart was pounding. Shit, Olivia so did not believe her.
"Listen, Olivia, it's not a big deal." She said, trying to back away.
"Just tell me what this is all about, and I promise I won't tell anyone."
"It's not that simple." Tessa said, ready to run if she had to. Olivia sighed, shaking her head.
"It's got something to do with Thane, doesn't it?" She said, and Tessa paused. "You were really upset, and I know you've been pulling a lot of late nights. I walked past your room the other day at midnight and the lights were still on."
"Okay, well, what if it is? What are you gonna do, tattle on me to Captain Harper or David?" Tessa said, staring down Olivia. Olivia smiled slightly, and Tessa had no idea how to interpret that.
"No, idiot, I want to help." She said, and Tessa's jaw practically fell open. What? Her brain completely short circuited. "Listen, I know I'm just going along with the brass, but that doesn't mean I like it. You're right, Thane is an intelligent being, and it would be a shame to destroy it."
"Okay," Tessa said. "Okay," she said again, mind still not completely comprehending what was going on. "Are you being on the level with me?" She asked, and Olivia nodded. Over the weeks, they had become friends. Olivia had started to learn basic sign language to try and communicate not just with Thane, but with Larissa. She trusted Olivia, against her better judgment. "Okay, if you want to join us, follow me."
***
She spent three days staying up almost all night with Larissa and Olivia. They were going to use the biohazard suits in the decontamination room to hide Thane. Then they were going to make their way to the hanger, where Thane's ship was. He wasn't sure if it would still be working, but it was the only option they had. If that didn't work, Larissa would be waiting with a vehicle to make their getaway. Over the week, Olivia had doctored security footage and was working on hacking the system so that it would look like nothing was out of the ordinary. Olivia was also trying to extend the deadline with no luck.
Over the week, Tessa worked on getting everything ready. The night before the week was up, Tessa came to the hall with guards. She brought with her two to go cups of coffee, and smiled as she approached Private Amanda Hill.
"Hey Amanda, I thought we could both use a boost tonight." She said, and Amanda took the cup from her.
"You working another late night?" She asked, and Tessa nodded. "Wow, doc, that's some serious dedication."
"What can I say, this is the biggest scientific breakthrough of our generation." She said, and Amanda nodded thoughtfully. "Cheers," she said as she took a long drink of her own coffee. Amanda did the same, and Tessa hoped she couldn't taste the medicine. She had loaded up Amanda's coffee with plenty of sugar and cream, to try and disguise any weird taste.
"Thanks for the coffee, doc, I'll be out here if you need anything." She said, and Tessa grinned and nodded before entering the hall. Tessa made her way into the decontamination room, knowing that the tranquilizers would start to take effect within the next five minutes. Olivia had helped her calculate the dosage on it for the most effective dose, while trying not to harm Amanda. She was just a kid, fresh out of boot camp, she didn't deserve to get hurt in the crossfire.
She got two of the biohazard suits, and then opened the door to Thane's cell. He entered the cell, and she helped him get into one of the biohazard suits. They went into the hall, and Tessa's heart was pounding as she cracked open the door as quietly as she could. Amanda was sound asleep, the coffee cup had been dropped onto the ground and rolled a few inches away from Amanda. Tessa sighed in relief, and motioned for Thane to follow her through the halls of the base. They made their way out of the base, avoiding soldiers patrolling.
When they got to the hanger, they made their way till they got to the back, where Thane's ship was. They went into the ship, which Thane managed to unlock. Tessa breathed a sigh of relief, that his ship still had power at least. As they went in, Tessa took off the helmet of her biohazard suit. Thane went around, messing with various button panels. The lights were coming on, and Tessa took that as a good sign.
"Shit," she signed, and groaned in frustration. "I forgot my bag." She said when Thane looked. "I'll be right back, okay?" She said, and he nodded. She took off her biohazard suit, and looked around before getting out of Thane's ship. Tessa walked back to her room, and grabbed the bag sitting on her bed. She walked back to the hangar bay, her heart pounding. Almost there, she thought, just a little farther.
"Where are you going?" June said, and Tessa stopped in her tracks. Heart pounding, she turned on her heel. "Tessa?"
"Nowhere, I'm just moving rooms. My AC broke down." She said, trying to smile.
"Uh huh, they got rooms in the hangar bay?" She said, her hand on her gun.
"Please, June." She said, and June narrowed her eyes before drawing her side arm.
"This has something to do with that alien, doesn't it?" She said, and Tessa met her gaze. "I knew you were too upset about the whole dissection thing. Dr. Shepard, I'm going to have to ask you to come with me." She said, and Tessa shook her head.
"June, I can't do that. I know it sounds crazy, but I'm in love with him." She said, and June laughed derisively.
"You can't be in love with it, it's not human." She said, and Tessa lifted her chin defiantly. She caught Olivia's eye, who was going to meet Larissa to prepare the vehicle. Olivia stopped, her eyes wide when she saw June with her gun drawn on Tessa. Tessa shook her head at Olivia, but she ran over to them anyways.
"June, please lower the gun." Olivia said, coming to stand with Tessa. June looked between them, her jaw tightening.
"Are you in on this too?" She said, disgusted. "Dr. Zamora, surely you must know how outrageous this is. She claims she's in love with it." She said, motioning to Tessa. Olivia let out a gasp at that, and looked at Tessa with an evaluating look.
"We all knew that was coming, didn't we?" She said with a slight smirk, and Tessa elbowed her. Now was so not the time for that. "June, think this through. Thane is a living being with thoughts, emotions, and what I believe is love for Tessa too. You can't possibly condone killing him." She said, and Tessa was shocked that she was referring to Thane as a him too.
"I'm not coming with you." She said. In the next moment, Thane came up behind her, not in his biohazard suit disguise. Tessa's eyes widened as he stood in front of her.
"If you're going to hurt her, you'll have to kill me first." He said. June looked at him, grip tightening on her gun.
"What did it say?" She asked, and when Tessa didn't answer she groaned in frustration. "What did it say?" She said again, her voice rising. Shit, she was going to attract attention if she started yelling. Tessa interpreted what he said, and June's lip set in a hard line.
"June, please, just let us go." She said, grabbing Thane's hand. June looked between the two of them, eyes fixing on their entwined hands. They all stood in silence for a long moment, as Olivia took Tessa's other hand. Tessa's eyes widened as June looked her in the eye once more. She shook her head at June. "Please," she said, voice nearly a whisper. June's gaze shot between their hands and Tessa's face before she sighed, and holstered her gun.
"Go, before anyone notices it's gone." She said. Tessa nodded at her.
"Thank you, thank you so much." She said, and then turned to Olivia and hugged her. "Thank you for everything you've done, I'll miss you. Tell Larissa, tell her we're going to be okay, and that I'll miss her." She said.
"Get going, girl, you're going to be a legend." She said, a sad smile on her face. Tessa returned her smile, and then turned to Thane. They went back to Thane's ship together. They ran into the ship, and Tessa threw her bag down on the floor. "Is it going to work?" She asked, and Thane shrugged as he continued to push different buttons.
"It wasn't badly damaged in the crash, so I think it should still work." He said, and Tessa nodded before taking a seat. He got a strange looking box out of a cabinet, and used what Tessa could only presume were tools on parts of the ship. Every moment that went by was another moment they risked discovery, or June changing her mind and raising the alarm.
Tessa sat, her heart pounding, as she wrung her hands. She was listening closely for the sound of an alarm, or shouting. She heard nothing, the base was cloaked in darkness and silence. It was just like they planned, but Tessa knew there was potential for anything to happen. After all, she ran into June accidentally. No more mishaps, she promised herself. If Thane couldn't fix the ship, they would meet Larissa as a contingency. Tessa didn't want that, didn't want to be hunted by the Alliance for treason.
That was when it sunk in that what she was doing was treason. Sure, she didn't want to get caught, and knew she would be punished. However, what she was doing was going directly against orders. Worse, she was aiding what the Alliance considered to be a hostile alien in escape. It was one thing to protest orders, but another thing to conspire to jail break an alien. Jesus, she was going to be sick.
Finally, the interface lit up and Thane smiled. Tessa held on as he guided the ship out of the hangar, her knuckles going white. He guided the ship upwards, and then they were flying through earth's atmosphere. The ship rattled around, and Tessa's heart pounded. Then, finally, the ship steadied out. Thane grinned, and gestured towards a window.
Tessa stood up on shaky legs, and went over to the window. She gasped when she saw earth receding into the distance. It was at that moment it really hit her that she was leaving earth, possibly forever.
"Where are we going?" She asked.
"I don't know the sign for it. It's this massive... City in outer space. Many different kinds of people live there."Thane said, struggling to find the vocabulary to describe it. "I can't wait for you to see it." He said as he walked over to her. He cupped her cheek, and fingerspelled a word with his free hand. "Siha."
"What does that mean?"
"In my language, it means you are my beloved, the one I care for the most. It has more meanings too, I will explain later." He said, and Tessa blushed. She leaned in, capturing his lips with hers. He kissed her like he was drowning, and she was the last source of air in the world. She put her hands on his chest, hands knotting in the fabric of his shirt. When she pulled back, she smiled.
"I love you." She said, and he kissed her again. "Do you think we'll make it?"
"I know we will." He said, and she smiled at him before turning back to see earth fade from view completely.
"We're going to be amazing." She said, and they stood there together in the safety of each other. There was nowhere better or warmer than right up against him, this man she had fallen in love with despite the odds. Even on the brink of the unknown, she had never felt safer in her entire life. On this final frontier, she was not alone. No matter what came, she knew they could handle it together. She was leaving earth for this man, hurtling through the unknown with this man. There was no one Tessa would rather explore the universe with, she thought. This love would carry her through the stars and back.