Page 36 of Ahelno
“Yeah, but it probably explains why you were taken. You’re really lucky you ended up here.”
I shuddered to think about that. The way that insect alien had touched me and ogled me in the cell and on his ship, I had no doubt what his intentions were. Leo was right. Despite the incident with Dakleth, the Ptexari had largely treated me well. I could have ended up in a really bad place. I shook the thought away and turned my attention back to Leo.
“I didn’t know it at the time, but they discussed killing me outright,” he said. “They don’t return humans once they’ve been taken offplanet because they don’t want their secrets to get out. I think they used to, but there are too many rumors about them now that we’re able to share UFO sightings and stories through modern technology, so they’re more careful about keeping us in the dark. Fortunately, one of them knew he could sell me to Fintak, who collects exotic animals.
Fintak is a Charonu. They’re a little taller than us, and they kindof look like Godzilla. At first, he was excited to study me, but after some investigation, he put together that I was a human, which is a Tier 4 intelligent species. He was beyond pissed. But sympathetic to me, at least. He reported my abduction, but I don’t think anything came of it, and there was nowhere for me to go. The Grays or a higher tier are the only ones who could return me to Earth, and they won’t. The other species, like the Ptexari and Charonu, are Tier 6. They have the ability to travel outside their galaxy, but not far enough to reach Earth. And without the ability to teleport,thousands of years would pass on Earth before we got home. Something about the relativity of time and distance. That’s a science lesson I forgot a long time ago.”
My mind was reeling as I tried to process all this new information. Grays and Charonu…tiers of intelligence, different galaxies. It was a lot to take in.
“Anyway, Fintak let me stay with him and taught me about the Charonu and other planets and species in the universe. He helped me fit into Charonu society. Honestly, I was out of my mind for the first few months. Legit crazytown - I waffled between crying, throwing shit, and just staring off into space. I found some peace working with the animals, though. Once I adjusted to my new reality, the Charonu let me train with a local veterinarian. Now, I work for Fintak as a caretaker for the animals at his research lab, and on the side, I work as a vet that makes housecalls for pets and livestock. It’s a good gig.”
“How long have you been there?” I asked.
“I was seventeen when I was taken,” he said gravely. “I think Coromonn’s year is a little shorter than Earth’s, although I’m not entirely sure. I’m guessing I’ve been gone nine or ten years now.”
“And King Akapa just found you and asked if you knew anything about pianos?”
“Yeah, it was pretty random. A few months ago, the King reached out to the Prime Minister and asked if there was a human on his planet and explained he had adopted a human daughter. At first, it seemed he was just looking for human companionship, and we’d already made arrangements for me to come visit you. But a few weeks ago, he said he wanted to commission a gift. He put me in touch with an instrumentmaker who asked me everything I knew about how to build a piano. Size, shape, how it worked, how it was played. I’m not sure we got the dimensions exactly right, but he did a damn good job building it. I knew more about it than I realized, since my mom made me take lessons for so long.”
“It’s amazing, I can’t even believe it’s real! Was your mom Catholic? You said your Grandmother’s favorite song was Ave Maria.”
“Yeah, my family’s Dominican, so we’re all Catholic. We came to the U.S. when I was 4. My dad got a job as a professor at Duke, so I grew up in Durham. He’s got a Ph.D. in Plant and Soil Sciences with a concentration in Agronomy.”
“Sounds fancy.”
“Yeah, he does a lot of research on the sustainability of food systems. His focus for a long time was improving the agricultural systems in the Caribbean islands to help reduce food insecurity. The job at Duke allowed him more time for research that could benefit a lot of communities globally. That’s what I remember him saying, anyway. My Abuelita on my mom’s side came to live with us when I was eleven. She developed Alzheimer’s. She was still with it for the first few years, but started to decline pretty rapidly about the time I turned fifteen. By then, she sometimes couldn’t remember us and got pretty confused. No matter what kind of day she was having, Ave Maria calmed her down and made her happy. I used to play it for her on the piano all the time, even after I stopped taking lessons.”
“So is Leo short for something?” I asked.
“Leandro José Polanco Gutierrez at your service.” He gave a half bow from his seat.
“Whoa, that’s a mouthful.”
“For ahueralike you, it is. That’s why I go by Leo.” He grinned at me, and I grinned back.
“So how long are you here for?” I asked.
“Forty of your Ptekennan days. Well, 38 now.”
“Are you staying at the Palace?”
“Yes, they’ve given me a very nice guest room. Why, do you wanna see it?” he waggled his eyebrows at me ridiculously.
“No,” I laughed. “But I’d love to invite you to my cottage tomorrow and show you the village where I live. I can stay at the Palace tonight - they keep a guest room for me. And then tomorrow, after breakfast we could head out there. What do you think?”
“I think I’ll follow you wherever you want,” he said, smiling warmly at me. I smiled back, a little unsure. It seemed like he was flirting with me, but I caught the boyfriend comment earlier, so I wasn’t sure.
“Ok, I’m going to head to my room. Do you need help finding yours?” I asked.
“If you can walk me to the guest wing, I know where it is from there,” he said.
“Great. Let’s meet here for breakfast at eighth hour,” I suggested.
“It’s a date,” he said. We walked toward the guest wing, chatting the whole way. Leo seemed like a naturally flirtatious person, so maybe it wasn’t personal. I couldn’t tell, but I was charmed by his friendly, easygoing manner, and it was so relaxing to talk to a human. I hadn’t realized how stilted communication was with the translation device. It did its best, but there were often English words and phrases that it didn’t know. I couldn’t use any slang, because it was almost always misinterpreted. I had to talk to the Ptexari as if I were talkingto my teacher or an employer - professional level English. With Leo, I could talk like I did with my friends. There was no lag in the conversation. It was just so…easy. The conversation just flowed.
When we split ways, he opened his arms again, offering a hug, and I greedily took it.
“Thank you for everything,” I said.
