Page 75 of Malliko
“But then why are you here?” My head was so confused.
“As I said, we’re interested in understanding humanity and the way your cultural norms develop. I’m what you would call an anthropologist on Earth. Except, my studies are broader and include many different species.”
My face was scrunched up as I tried to prioritize the million questions in my head. “How…. How… How many alien species are there?”
Malliko leaned back a little. “That’s impossible to answer. We keep finding new ones, and each planet might have millions if you count every living thing on the planet. Do you know how many species inhabit the Earth?”
“No.”
“Currently there are an estimated number of one point seven million species living on Earth. On Eidrona we have double that amount, and then there are all the other inhabited planets. You could ask me how many planets there are with life, but that would be equally hard to answer. First you would have to define what constitutes life. I can tell you that the Federation wasfounded by members from twenty-two different planets. That was back when humans were still hunters and gatherers and no one counted them as influential enough to participate. Now there are more than seventeen hundred planets represented by the Federation. Earth isn’t a member, but it’s under the protection of the Federation because you are classified as a vulnerable species.”
I wrinkled my nose and didn’t like being called vulnerable. “Why?”
“Because you’re unable to defend yourself from outside attacks. If you weren’t under Federal protection, it would be easy to cloud the mind of your leaders and make you all slaves.”
“Are you sure that hasn’t happened already?” I joked. “If you told me our leaders are aliens, it would explain a lot.”
“If that’s the case, it’s not registered in the data that I have access to,” Malliko said with a straight face.
“You said that we have the same ancestors?”
Malliko nodded. “Yes. In the Federation, we humanoid species are referred to as the descendants of doom. The story goes that the people of a dying planet evacuated to other planets such as Eidrona and Earth.”
With a sigh, I decided to entertain him for a second and went along. “What was the name of these doomed people who immigrated to Earth?”
“Mulkas, which means the doomed ones in the ancient Caldonian language.”
“Alright, so besides humans and Eidrons, how many humanoid species are there in the Universe?”
“Nine. It’s presumed that there were a lot more, but many have died out. There are differences in age span, body sizes and some have developed specific features that make them easily recognizable such as the Ugons, who all have bigger ears than we do. The Tuncallons are childlike in size. They are slenderpeople who have a light purple skin tone. Then there are the Thaddoinians, who have pronounced jawlines and a yellow ring around their irises. Their hearing is also superior, and I believe it’s all because of the prolonged periods of darkness on their planet.
At first glance, the Glorzians appear much different from Eidrons or humans because they have larger eyes, elongated heads, pale skin that’s almost greenish and they are completely hairless. They also have thicker skin to protect them against radiation. For the other species, the thing that sets them apart isn’t so much the physical appearance, but the mental part of their development. The Noxins are rude and selfish, but nothing compared to the Malbreeans, who are a warmongering people that we all try to avoid. Unfortunately, the Malbreeans have a physical advantage because out of all us descendants, the gravity of their planet has made their muscles stronger and their bones denser than the rest of us. They are also taller than the rest of us. Personally I think it’s part of what gives them their superiority complex.
“The last species are the Scilms, who are the opposite of the Malbreeans. They are all about peace and love, and their planet is a very popular destination for anyone looking to have a good time. The Scilms are known to have an amazing metabolism because of the food sources available on their planet. They are also known to be naturally beautiful people.”
“And how did you get here, Malliko? Did you beam down to earth from a spaceship?”
“No. I came with a shuttle. They are smaller units that are designed to fly in and out without being detected.”
“So where is that shuttle now? Can you show it to me?”
“No, I can’t show you because it’s not my personal shuttle. The pilot dropped me off and went back to the research ship again. I’m far from the only researcher working on Earth rightnow. There are always representatives from the Federation here to observe.”
“Malliko, I…” Closing my eyes, I shook my head again and pulled the sleeves of my white shirt over my hands as if that would shield me from getting involved.
“I know it’s a lot to take in, Clara. But I didn’t want you to think that I wasn’t genuine in my compliments to you. Everything I said was true. I do find you extremely attractive. The reason I told you Tania was my fiancée was to make sure you wouldn’t have hopes of anything serious between us. I’m not staying forever. Soon I’ll be done here in Los Angeles and then I’m moving on to do research on a different continent on Earth. We know from previous studies that cultural norms play a large part when it comes to the dating culture of humans. That’s why I have to visit other places.”
Triggered that everyone was talking about traveling and leaving me behind, I said resolutely, “I’m traveling as well. Jeremy is taking my boys to Hong Kong and so there’s no reason for me to stay here any longer when they’re gone.”
Leaning back a little, Malliko frowned. “When did this happen?”
I sighed. “Jeremy told me the day before yesterday. I’ve been crying a lot, but Keith and Jamison are excited to go and who am I to stop them when I’ve always dreamed of seeing the world myself?” Picking up a decorative pillow, I brushed my fingers over the pattern while pondering out loud. “I’ve been thinking about a childhood friend I had. We were so close and dreamed about traveling the world together in the summer before starting college. I got pregnant and so I couldn’t go, but she ended up traveling to all the places we had planned to visit together. I’ve always been envious, and you know what the worst part is?”
“No.”
Just saying it made me feel bad. “When my friend came back and wanted to show me pictures of all the places she had visited, I made excuses. I blamed our drifting apart on my being a busy mom, but the truth is that I was jealous of her. I was sleep deprived and working to support my twins while Jeremy and most of my friends from school had moved away to go to college. Everyone was pursuing their dreams while I was… stuck.”
“I’m sure you were a great mom, Clara.”
