Fear God and Dread Naught Read Online Free PDF Page B

about Unknown #1.”
     
    She tapped a switch.  A holographic image - the internal structure of the fox-like aliens - appeared in front of them.  Henry felt a flicker of disquiet, knowing - at some level - that the aliens were far from human.  The similarities - the newcomers were more like humanity than either the Tadpoles or the Vesy - made it harder to accept the differences.  This, he was certain, was genuine competition.  Humanity could co-exist with the Tadpoles, but these aliens?
     
    The galaxy might not be big enough for the two of us , he thought.  And isn't that worrying ?
     
    “Until we get a live specimen to examine,” Doctor Song informed him, “all of our conclusions are tentative.  However, we can say certain things with a great deal of certainty.”
     
    She paused.  “The oddest aspect of these aliens,” she added, “is that they are functional hermaphrodites.  We’ve identified both penis-analogues and womb-analogues in some of the more intact alien bodies.  Unlike every other known race, there is no separation into male and female; there is only one sex, which combines the two.”
     
    Henry frowned.  “Are you sure?”
     
    “As sure as we can be,” Doctor Song said.  “As you can see” - she zoomed in on the alien pelvis - “this particular specimen has both a penis and a vagina-analogue.   My best guess is that they copulate doggy-style, perhaps taking turns to bend over.  I assume that pregnancy does something to their hormones, perhaps rendering sex impossible, but - again - there’s no way to be sure without a live specimen.  It's also possible that pregnancy doesn’t keep them from performing their jobs.”
     
    “Odd,” Henry said.  He leaned forward, studying the display.  “What does this do to their society?”
     
    “Impossible to say,” Doctor Song told him, gently.  “One of my researchers wrote up a detailed list of possibilities, which you are welcome to read, but they are rough guesses at best.  The aliens may alternate between siring or bearing children or they may determine who serves as the mother and who serves at the father when they mate.  We have no way to be sure.”
     
    “I see,” Henry mused.  Would he have birthed one of his children, if he’d had a womb?  The whole concept felt profoundly unnatural.  Medical science had yet to find a way to give a man a proper womb.  “We’ll have to ask them, if we convince them to talk to us.”
     
    Doctor Song nodded.  “Their hearing is markedly better than an unenhanced human’s,” she noted.  “I’d go so far as to say that a loud noise would hurt them more than it hurts us.  But they shouldn't have any problems communicating with us.  I think they will have problems speaking our languages - their mouths aren't designed to pronounce most of our words - yet they shouldn't have any problems understanding us, once we build up a working database of their tongue.  There’s no obvious reason why they shouldn't be able to communicate with us.”
     
    She sighed.  “Particularly as they clearly do communicate with another intelligent race.”
     
    Henry nodded.  “They’re both intelligent?”
     
    “It would seem so,” Doctor Song said.  “And they’re clearly not related to each other.  You have more in common with a chimpanzee than our two unknowns have with one another.  I am ninety percent sure they’re from different star systems.”
     
    “But you’re not certain,” Doctor Murray said.
     
    “No, director,” Doctor Song agreed.  “But we’ve only encountered four other forms of intelligent life.  The odds against even one race reaching intelligence are staggering; the odds against two doing it in the same star system are beyond calculation.  I would bet half my salary that one race travelled to the other’s star system and made a conquest.”
     
    “I wouldn't bet against you,” Henry said.  “I assume you don’t know which race is in