Copyright 2006, Steven M. Moore

***5th place in The Write Helper's Amazing Story Fiction Contest, July, 2007***

Ardus of the Oprazni Hive belched with contentment. His guest, a Human scientist, stopped a moment in her note taking, quite pleased with her new-found ability to calm her queasy stomach. She had just watched the Arlamati dine on what the latter considered an exquisitely prepared reef polyp, a foul-smelling live meal that he normally couldn't afford, even if he was Skel's most famous physicist. Moreover, from her point of view, his contented demeanor was decidedly in contradiction with what it should be, considering the fate that awaited him.
'You say your engineers are well along the way of incorporating my ideas to improve your own FTL drives?'? asked Ardus. 'That indeed is good news. I'm very pleased. In the long run, as our culture teaches yours the marvels of our scientific and technological achievements, perhaps we will grow closer. You seem very strange to us, you know, so it has been difficult.'?
Silvia Kensington-Suarez duly recorded the comment. Note taking for her was a subvocalized command to her ship's intranet interface implanted behind her ear. In the command she told the main computer aboard her ship to store the last comment of Ardus of the Oprazni Hive, both in the original Arlamati language as well as in the translation to Standard that she had heard from the computer.
Humans had established an Arlamati stereotype during the very first encounters. From the start they were considered egotistical and xenophobic. Silvia had worked five hard years to pierce through that xenophobia to become the first Human to visit the home planet Skel and actually study their culture in detail. She had found that in many ways the stereotype rang true but was somewhat mitigated if one factored in the personal distastes and cultural biases of the first explorers and observers. The individual Arlamati were as different as individual Humans, of course, yet the collective culture did have some well-defined characteristics. Beyond that, she had also found that in many ways the Arlamati culture was beyond Human comprehension, so she had often taken the easy way out by just recording the facts, hoping to make sense of things later. Soon, on her return to her university on Sanctuary, she would have to do just that if she wanted a thesis out of the work.
Still, she was now presented with one instance where she understood what was happening, if not the why, thought it deplorable, and was determined to argue with the physicist about it.
'You're intentionally ignoring my question.'?
Ardus belched again. Some of the odor molecules managed to pass through her nose filters. In spite of her new self-control, she was glad her own lunch had been delayed by the interview. The alien flatulence and belches often reminded her of her parents' dairy barn back on New Haven, not a fond memory. She had gone into science partly as an escape from that life.
The Arlamati was like a large, ten-legged version of a blue crab with a baboon head and face. It was covered with a downy blue-gray fur except for the leathery face and three-fingered hands and arms that the front two legs had evolved into. The other legs were long and raised the crab-like body high off the ground, so high that the baboon face was at her shoulder level. This was the alien male. The sex organ on the forehead was bright red and retracted back into the skull. Kensington-Suarez had never seen a female, although she was about to.
'Not ignoring, just considering how to answer.'? Ardus waved his right hand in a slow circular motion, as if to stir a pot of thoughts. 'From times long forgotten the Oprazni Hive has brought forth the greatest of the Arlamati -- great warriors, great leaders, great inventors, great historians, and great scientists. I am but one in this long lineage. It must continue. I have won this honor because of what I have done for Skel and for my Hive. It is my duty to contribute my seed to perpetuate the lineage. You say I have many years left and could contribute even more wondrous and marvelous things to our scientific understanding of the universe around us. But what is more wondrous and marvelous than knowing that your progeny will carry on your family's tradition? Besides, I'm at my prime. It is time for me to mate.'?
'It's a death sentence. A murder on your future mate's part, a suicide on your part. Can't you see that?'?
A red dot now appeared on a tiny, clear plastic-like rectangle jutted out from a harness on her forehead. It was another ship's intranet interface that hung in front of her left eye which at times would fill with an image, a chemical formula, a temperature or pressure reading, and so on, especially if the device behind her ear was already busy. The red dot signified an interrupt from her ship's computer. 'Translation of that last is not complete,'? it whispered in her ear. 'The Arlamati have no word for either murder or suicide.'?
'I beg your pardon?'? said Ardus.
'You are voluntarily ending your life and your mate will be the cause.'?
'The first statement is correct; the second is not. The force of tradition is the cause. Your reaction to what will happen is tainted by your own cultural prejudices. As improbable as it might seem, I have come to admire you, Human Kensington-Suarez, as I know you have come to admire me. I do have the advantage over you, since I can understand your strange ways better than you can mine. As a physicist, I can become completely objective and detach myself from my own cultural prejudices. You must really try to understand my situation, my young friend. This is not a tragedy for me. On the contrary, it will be the happiest day of my life. I ask you to enjoy it with me.'?
'I don't know if I can.'?
'You will bring much honor to me and my mate if you do. I'm sure it will help break down the cultural barriers between our peoples. Perhaps one of my own sons will go to New Haven or Sanctuary to study the mating practices of your own people.'?
'They may find it boring,'? she observed with a smile.
'In any case, I am ready, you see. The time has come. I have had my pre-nuptial meal. Will you come along with me?'?
Reluctantly, Silvia nodded. She followed behind the Arlamati. They stepped into an elevator that took them thirty stories up in the Oprazni tower, one of the many conical family buildings scattered throughout the biggest city on Skel.
'I'm afraid you must wait here.'? Ardus gestured towards a darkened window set in a long wall. 'I have had this especially made for you. It is a one-way glass. I don't want to embarrass my mate. She may be a little nervous so I must do everything to calm her.'? He touched her good-naturedly on the shoulder. She showed great fortitude in not flinching. His touch was wet and redolent. 'I beg of you to be patient. We males only do this once, so from personal experience I can't really say how long it takes. Promise me you will be a friend to my progeny as much as you have befriended me.'?
'I can do that,'? she said. Her voice was a whisper, muted by her anguish. She felt helpless. She couldn't change what eons of evolution had wrought, but she was also certain that the universe was about to lose an amazing mind.
Ardus of the Oprazni Hive left her. She next saw him through the glass as he approached the bloated shape of the Oprazni queen mother. She was a giant, many times the size of Ardus. He nimbly scrambled onto her head and inserted the sex organ on his head into hers. Silvia watched the scene, her face contorted into a silent scream, as the alien physicist swung himself around, dangling his body directly in reach of those massive mandibles. The Oprazni queen mother began to eat her mate slowly even as the seed for another generation of Opraznis flowed into her body.

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