The Last Starry Night

At first Azzie was sure that she was going to be sick. The harness swung her back and forth and round and round, face down, arms and legs dangling high over the treetops. The cool night air whistled around her, buffeting her and twisting her. In the dim light she could not really tell how high up she was, which was some comfort. She had no breath for screaming, but she could hear Srini yelling incoherently, and Gwen whooping with delight. The propeller was still thumping along steadily. She wished that she could look up and see the machine and the Warriors carrying her along, but there was no way she’d be able to turn her head that far.

After a few minutes the harness settled down into a gentle swinging motion, and her stomach began to feel better. She tried to make out features of the ground underneath her. Occasionally she could see a river below as a light charcoal-gray curving line, but otherwise everything was black. The swirling galaxies were very dim and faint.

The Warriors had said her family was ok, and brought her a lotus flower from Mama. For now, at least, she would trust them. If it later turned out they were lying, -- she couldn’t bear to think about that. But why would they lie? What possible reason could they have for searching her out and giving her this message if it weren’t true? Of course, she couldn’t think of any reason for four Warriors to seek her out and give her the message in any case; but something told her these weren’t normal Warriors.

A lot of time passed. Srini and Gwen quieted down. The vines began to get uncomfortable. She tried to wiggle to a better position, but nothing really helped.

At last she saw something different: a light, away in the direction of travel. The sky over there was not so dark; the dim galaxies were faded, and there seemed to be a line of light over there at the horizon. Dawn? She tried to twist around to look at the sun, but couldn’t. As she watched, the line of light grew brighter, glowing blue and green. The sky above it took on a sapphire tint. Now the light had become so bright that it hurt her eyes to look at it.

Suddenly the line of light was growing, widening, and she saw that it was indeed the dawn, rushing toward her like a brush fire racing across the sky sheet. A blaze of greens and blues and whites charged at her, consuming the night jungle and replacing it with a glittering sea of tossing branches. The line of morning swept past her and off into the distance, until the night was only a darkness at the edge of vision. All around her, in all directions, the jungle extended, a sea of pea-green roiling in the morning breeze. She could now see that they were no more than fifty feet above the tops of the trees. Despite the roaring wind in her ears, she could hear the buzzing and chirping jungle sounds below.

And then she saw something that sent a chill through her.

Six silver arcs glittered in the sunlight. They rose from one spot on the ground directly ahead -- it was impossible to tell the distance, but it did not look very far away -- and reached away into the sky. Other arcs were dimly visible in the distance. Azzie knew what those were. She turned her head to look behind them. Sure enough, very far away now, she saw the silver arc that had carried their own ship down from the sky.

The Warriors had come for them.

Surely the others saw it. She tried to shout, to make them hear her, but the noise of the wind and the propeller drowned out her words. Distantly she heard the others shouting as well. What would the four Warriors do? They continued to fly closer and closer to the junction of the rails. Azzie tried tugging on the harness. She had no idea how this flying machine changed direction, but there must be some steering mechanism.

Then, slowly, they started to turn, edging to the left. As they did so, Azzie saw that they were now heading for a vast ocean that spread out far into the azure distance. Azzie had never seen an ocean before. It was so huge, flashing in the sunlight like an endless expanse of polished turquoise. Of all the amazing things that Azzie had seen in the day since she’d left Alabama, the ocean was by far the most beautiful.

She thought she heard someone shouting, screaming in the rush of wind. Srini? Azzie desperately fought her harness to roll over and look up, or at least spin around to see the other girls, but she simply could not. There was no way to talk to anyone else and try to work out a plan; they would simply have to hope that the four Warriors had something in mind.

Within a few minutes they were over the ocean. Everything below was a featureless blue, with the occasional white specks of breaking waves. Azzie wondered what sorts of strange creatures lived in this alien ocean. She remembered the football-shaped fish with too many eyes, and shuddered.

What would the Warriors do to them if they were caught? Put them in prison? Put them on trial? Was there any chance they’d be taken back to Earth?

A silver cylindrical flying ship came into Azzie’s view, flying up from behind them. Azzie screamed, but she didn’t know if anyone heard her, or if anyone else saw the ship. She couldn’t tell how big it was at first, but as it came closer and closer it got bigger and bigger, until it looked like a huge silver skyscraper flying alongside them. Was it a Warrior ship?

A huge hatch opened in the side of the ship, big enough to swallow a house. For a moment nothing happened, and then Azzie felt her stomach churning. She grew dizzy. It felt as though the world was turning sideways -- the ocean below was tipping up on its side, and the silver ship was moving to be under her. The harness tilted so that now she seemed to be hanging directly over the great black hatch. The ocean was a huge wall of water on her left, and the harness pressed into her powerfully. And now she saw that she was sinking slowly towards the ship. She cried out, but the hatch only came up faster. There was a strange smell...

***

“I understand,” said a soft voice, “that your species speaks.”

Azzie opened her eyes. She was on a cot, covered with a blanket. She was in a room whose walls seemed to be covered with coral of brilliant pastel colors. Gwen, Srini, and the four Warriors were there as well, on cots of their own. The soft voice had come from a gigantic worm, at least ten feet long and a foot thick, pale yellow, with a cluster of tentacles around the mouth. There was no sign of eyes. It smelled unpleasantly of fish, and it was dripping, as if it had just crawled out of the sea.

“We do,” said Gwen. “Who are you?”

“Excellent,” said the worm. “I am a Shaman. I am called Two-Tail.” As the worm spoke, its mouth tentacles wiggled and writhed. “It is my pleasant task to welcome you to the star ship Awe. I am here to answer any questions you may have.”

“Why are you called ‘Two-Tail’?” asked Srini. “You don’t look like you have two tails.”

“Shaman names are chosen to represent the personality of the individual,” said Two-Tail. “I am gregarious and sociable, so my Naming Council chose the name of a sociable animal for me.”

“‘Two-Tail’ is the name of a social animal?” asked Srini.

“Srini, um, I’m all for learning everything we can, but, you know, there are probably more important questions we should be asking,” said Gwen.

“Oh, we have plenty of time,” said the Shaman. “It is an excellent question. Two-Tails, on our planet, are highly intelligent creatures, very playful. They are about six inches in length and have colorful shells, two heads, and tails which they use to wrestle each other. All clear?”

Srini nodded wordlessly.

“Why did you capture us?” asked Gwen.

“Capture?” said Two-Tail. He turned to the Warriors. “I would have thought ‘rescue’ would be a better word.”

“We had no time to explain anything,” said a Warrior.

“Ah,” said Two-Tail. “Well, we have rescued you from the Warriors, who have been operating outside their jurisdiction. They may be heavily fined if the Beast rules in your favor.”

“Where are we being taken?” asked Srini.

“To a special session of the Interspecies Council. You are to be judged by the Beast.”

“That doesn’t sound very pleasant,” said Gwen. “We don’t care about any Intro-Special Council. We want to go home. Can’t you take us to Earth?”

“I am afraid not,” said Two-Tail. “The Warriors have claimed you to be members of a non-sentient, child species under their guardianship.”

“But we’re not a non-sentient species,” said Srini. “We are sentient. We’re talking to you, aren’t we?”

“To be sure,” said Two-Tail, “but being able to talk, and being sentient, are two different things. Some machines can talk. Some animals can mimic words. And some species are on the path to sentience, but are not yet fully sentient. The Warriors have declared you to be members of such a species. A non-sentient, child species.”

“Well, we’re not under their ‘guardianship’,” said Azzie. “They’re invading our planet!”

“Guardian species do have the right to develop the resources of child species under their care,” said Two-Tail. “For the benefit of the child species, of course. Most likely they have decided to move your species to another world for the time being, to more easily guide your development into full sentience.”

“But we are sentient!” cried Srini.

“Indeed?” said Two-Tail. “Can you prove it?”

None of them said anything.

After a moment, Two-Tail continued, “The other humans on this ship say the same things that you do. But only the Beast can determine if you are fully sentient. That is why you must be brought before the Beast and judged.”

“Before the what?” asked Gwen.

“Other humans on this ship?” asked Azzie. “Do you mean --”

“The humans accompanying the Warrior Ambassadors to Earth.”

“My mother?” asked Azzie. “My brother?”

“Who are they?” asked Gwen. “Can we see them? Do they know we’re here?”

“Yes, you may see them. And of course they know you’re here; they were on this ship when you were brought aboard. They are quite eager to see you, as well. Please wait one moment while I bring them. --Oh, before I go, may I bring you something to eat? Or would you prefer a liquid of some sort? The Warriors have given us food from Earth to provide sustenance for you.”

Azzie was suddenly ravenous. It had been a long time since she’d stuffed herself with quarry fruit. “What kind of food?” she asked.

“I cannot say,” said the worm, “because I do not know the words you use for them. I will bring a sample.” The worm inclined its head and slithered out a door that opened behind it.

“I can’t believe that the Warriors would just go ahead and invade Earth without bothering to see if we were sentient or not,” said Gwen.

“Believe it,” said one of the Warriors. “We do it all the time.”

Then the door opened again, and in came Mama and Johnny. Azzie gasped and jumped up, ran to them, and Mama grabbed her and held her desperately. Azzie couldn’t speak. “Azalea,” she said softly. “Oh, Azalea.”

Azzie blinked away tears and looked into her eyes. “Mama,” she said, “I’m so sorry I ran away, Mama.”

Mama said something fast in Vietnamese that Azzie couldn’t understand, and then said, “You’re safe, you’re safe,” and hugged her again.

She was wearing the same simple black dress she’d been wearing the night the stars went out. Johnny was in shorts and a bright red T-shirt, holding the burgundy bear, jumping up and down. The four Warriors got up from their cots, came over to Mama, and bowed to her.

“Mama,” said Azzie, “what’s going on? What are you and Johnny doing here? Did you come to find me? Where’s Grandma?”

Mama shook her head. “It is a long story...”

Two-Tail (or perhaps a different Shaman who looked just like Two-Tail) entered, carrying a tray with its mouth tentacles. The tray was piled with food from Earth: fruit, breads and cheeses, even bags of potato chips and cola. Another Shaman came behind with a tray of food for the Warriors – slabs of meat, quarry fruit, and other things Azzie did not recognize. The five humans and four Warriors sat down together to eat; and one of the Warriors began to explain, in excellent English, how they and Mama and Johnny came to be on a Shaman ship umpteen gazillion light years from Earth.