CHAPTER SIX

Ryol

 

The harsh light burned Ryol’s sensitive eyes. She restructured her mind to cope with the new stimuli. Ryol reduced her photosensitivity and the world dimmed. The searing pain behind her optic nerve ebbed. Then, she applied a portion of focus to restructuring parts of her chemical makeup to reduce the toxicity of the air.

From the analysis she’d done prior to arrival, she knew there would not be many changes in that regard. Lenora and this planet were similar in the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the air. The main adjustment she made was to accommodate the higher levels of nitrogen now entering her body.

With that complete she directed the remainder of her attention towards language acquisition. Ryol had spent significant portions of energy studying what she’d seen of the planet during temporal viewing, but sound could not be transmitted through the viewer, and so she’d arrived without a clue as to this people’s language. Now, with eighty percent of her brain, and Aurora, now concentrated on communication, it wouldn’t take more than a few hours until she could speak with this new species.

The creature across from her lifted its arms and grunted. Ryol had made first contact with hundreds of alien worlds, and the odd noises some species made upon meeting no longer surprised her. She assumed the noise blurted by the creature was gibberish born out of his surprise, but not wanting to appear rude, or possibly hostile, Ryol raised a hand in a similar fashion to the motionless individual across the room, and replied, “Gaeurgh?”

The creature diverted its attention to a larger individual pressing itself flat against the wall. They shared a look that Ryol could not interpret. She suspected it was an expression of bewilderment, as was often the case during these sorts of encounters.

The aliens spoke to one another. Ryol traced a finger in the air to make a recording. The portion of her brain concerned with language tore into the file, learning everything possible from the phrase, “Is she mocking me?”