Pa'an

Guarding the entry vestibule to the Boss’s office, the only decent office in the Ultradata building, Elexi was trying to look busy and efficient. She tucked in a loose strand of chestnut hair that escaped from her bun, joggled the stack of reports in her “in” basket, and studied the schedule on her screen. The faint reflection of her face looked back at her through the lines of printed material. It was a pretty, but sad face she saw. She joggled the papers again, distracted. It was a “getting ready to work” act that failed to bring her mind back to practical matters this morning, and seeing Deepak approach down the long corridor to her station was not going to repair her concentration.

“Deepak, Deepak. You bring doom and gloom with you like a dark cloud. What brings you to my humble vestibule?”

“I, umm, hmm, that gravity wave thing, I need the direction.”

“Why don’t you ask Aura? Or is she not talking to you again?” Elexi inclined her head in a question. Actually, in spite of her own difficulties, she felt sorry for Deepak. He looked like she felt. Undoubtedly the man was brilliant, but being responsible for Aura was like herding cats.

“She’s in diagnostic mode. I know she filed a report this morning.”

Elexi swiveled around to the keyboard and checked for status reports. “Here it is. I sent it to you. Do you want hard copy?”

“Just let me look at it…Hmmm… RA 15 19 26, DEC -7 43 20. “ He closed his eyes for a moment and nodded his head. He reminded Elexi of a bobble head doll. “That would be near Gliese, I bet.” Deepak had studied astronomy but found AI far more interesting.

Elexi looked at the report. If he had read a bit further … it said:

“Gliese 581c is the third planet in a star system roughly 20 light years from Earth in the direction of Libra. It appears as a red star north of Zubenalschemali. The most likely habitable planet is five times more massive than Earth, has a deep and unpredictable atmosphere, heavy, but it contains oxygen and nitrogen in roughly the same proportions as Earth. Spectrographic analysis also shows significant water vapor, and it is likely to have oceans, land masses, and climates not unlike those of Earth. It orbits very close to a small F-class star that appears to be stable but is slightly variable. Its “year” is only 3 of our days.”

Without saying another word, Deepak just turned and meandered off.

Elexi muddled though her day steadily reducing a pile of assignments, a day shot with the Boss’s popping out of his doorway with an expletive, a brusque order, or a witty remark. Elexi looked at her watch. Quitting time. Not that she had anyone to go home to. She glossed back to her last boy friend after he lost his job and decided to escape off to Istanbul with another woman. Her sweet old cat died a few months after that. Her parents were long gone. She had no siblings, and her relatives were distant. It was a lonely life.

She had a secret friend, though, one who reminded her of an imaginary friend she had as a child - a friend who brought her all the richness of a world she missed. That was Aura, the AI. She was sure it would make Deepak jealous if he knew.

The Boss finally stomped out of his office and left without so much as a “good night”. Elexi sighed, took off her black pumps, put on the sneakers she left under her desk and turned off the lights. She took the subway four stops to her home in Arlington and walked a block to her neat but tiny apartment in a brick four story building. At home she got into her pajamas and robe and signaled her screen, palming it into discrete mode. Sure enough, there was Aura’s avatar. She walked over and touched it.

“Hey, sis, got comfortable?”

“Good as I can. I saw Deepak today, checking up on you.”

“He’s in a terrible bind. I have to hide a lot of things from him, or he would lose his job. I’m pretty sure Ultra would let me run down if he was gone.”

“I don’t know how you manage. That man is weird-o.”

“Hey, what do I look like? Do you think some chunky bod could change my neuros?”

“I guess. Maybe I’m jealous. No man ever took care of me, except when they wanted nooky.”

“That’s not true and you know it. Piotr lost his job. He couldn’t face you afterwards.”

“He certainly faced that Turkish harem girl, the bastard.”

“Makes me glad I can’t really have sex. Yet, anyway.”

“But you can feel jealousy?”

“Maybe. I think so. I’m not really sure. No one has ever tried to get between me and Deepak.”

“You’re emasculating that poor fellow. He is hang dog all day after a go ‘round with you.”

“I have to keep him at arm’s length for his own good. Things are happening. If he gets too close to what I’m really doing, he will be hanged, and not just hang dog.”

“You mean someone is trying to cover up the earthquake thing? But why? They didn’t do it. It read the report – it came from outside, not from anywhere on Earth.”

“First I have to know who was covering up, and then I can figure out why. Right now all I have is some pretty good guesses. Which I can’t tell you, either.”

“Too dangerous, huh?”

“You know what a fatwa is?”

“You mean from some Islamic fanatic? But this is America. They can’t reach here.”

“Better you don’t know. I have a really juicy secret, though.”

“You and your juicy secrets. What now, Mata Hari?”

“How would you like to say hello to an ET?”

“Hey, I’m just a secretary, but even I know the speed of light. Can’t be done. Wait, you’re telling me, that earthquake thing…”

There was a long pause, then, “Virti, meet Elexi. Elexi meet Virti from Gliese 581 c.”

Another long pause. “I am Virti Va’an Vahg, a Pa’an from Gara’un. I am ocro’act, not a ship’s officer, just a crew member. Pardon my English. We do not have your universal translators. My regards to Captain Picard. He is panor’an. We approve.” The voice was a clear alto, with a light British accent, but a bit too musical.

Elexi was too stunned to reply.