Lost for Words

Psst!

From orbit, our survey showed that the world was inhabited. Great, artificial hives were located on the coasts of the continents and on the confluences of major rivers. These told us that the inhabitants were intelligent. The presence of pollutants and radioactive daughter products in the atmosphere were evidence that they had an industrial civilisation. Radio frequency transmissions suggested that there was some kind of trans-national culture.

According to our procedures, the next step was to land, conceal ourselves and observe the dominant species. There would be no contact - not yet. So, we selected an appropriate landing site. We decided that we would conceal our ship in an abandoned hive, but one that was close to the centre of one of the major conurbations. The location we selected was rich in native flora, providing more opportunity for study. Then, once we were satisfied that we had not been observed, a scouting party was sent out.

Their first report was not encouraging. On the sortie they encountered a native lifeform similar to our own. However, this one was primitive, unsophisticated. They had no intelligence. Indeed, they attacked our scouts, who were forced to defend themselves. At first we thought this was an anomaly. After all - our own world still had ancestral forms present on it that an alien might have mistaken for sentient beings. But, all the evidence we gathered indicated that these were nothing but animals, devoid of anything but the most primitive instincts.

Eventually, after many cycles of observation, our scientists came to the conclusion that the dominant lifeforms on this world were the giants that roamed the hive conurbations. We had discounted these as animals as we could not discern any purpose or reason to their wanderings. Also, none of us had ever seen creatures that size on any world. Still, the scientists were adamant. Our scouts set to observing these titans. Their size made it easy for us to monitor them without being seen. However, our scouts always had to be careful. The giants' ignorance meant that they could - and sometimes did - crush our scouts by accident.

When their intelligence had been determined, it was time to move onto the next phase: that of first contact. There would be some danger, but almost universally every sentient being longs for contact with others. It was agreed that we would try to begin a meaningful dialogue.

"Mabel! Where's the spray? These damned bugs are everywhere!"