Day 93

The Habitat Mate became, this weekend, my Exploratory Vehicle Mate, steering the crawler by turns, or navigating, on expeditions to the east and the south. We discovered fascinating geology in those places, and wild fauna, which has been so badly missed. It was such an adventure to travel through zones far from our accustomed boundaries. But the headline from those excursions, and in fact the point of them, was a nearly unthinkable purpose: Person-to-person contact with humanoid lifeforms.

We took the precautions you’d expect for a close encounter. We stayed well back from these unfamiliar beings, giving them and their habitations as wide a berth as could be afforded. We kept our protective garb on or at the ready. We set down ritual offerings for one another, then backed away while those offerings were inspected and accepted.

The beings were wary of us, and we of them. Such encounters have been unknown in recent memory. None knew how to proceed—we had to make it up as we went. Awkwardly, skittishly, we exchanged words of peace and welcome. As best we could, we communicated our acceptance, understanding, even affection. Though hesitant, the communion was profound. None who observed the moment could have been unmoved.

When one has not seen Others before—has known only pictures on screens, or tales from the distant past when such encounters were said to be common—the emotion at seeing them in person, mere feet away, in poses of rest or tending to their young, is inexpressible. Such beautiful creatures! Such depth of feeling in their eyes. Mysterious though they are, their handsomeness makes them magnetic. One feels an urge to run to them and throw one’s arms around them, to prostrate one’s self at their feet and make promises of love and service.

But one resists. We and these beings are vulnerable to each other. The smallest microbe spread from us to the Others, or from them to us, could wreak havoc and misery. Safety is paramount. We performed the rituals we came to observe. We made our offerings. We said our words. We established these tenuous bonds of contact. We retreated to the crawler. We returned again to our own habitat and sealed the hatch.

Oh, my journal, if you could have seen them! So elegant in their ways. So sweet in their words. How much I would love to see Others again.

How much I fear it. So safe, we felt with them, yet the danger we pose to them and they to us is invisible. To harm such noble creatures could not be borne. Patience is needed. But the knowledge that these beings share our planet makes the isolation from them that much keener.