rix_scaedu

I wrote this to lilfluff's first prompt.  It follows on from Aftermath.

The Achuan were collected by their parents.  In their culture their age gave them considerable latitude, apparently.  However, contacting an intelligent species by accidently dropping radioactive debris on them and then trying to clean up the damage without anyone finding out had crossed the line that activated parental intervention.

The human Terrani found the reactions of their erstwhile invaders’ parents easy to categorize.  Some grabbed their offspring by a protuberance or limb and dragged them onto the parental vessel, to the accompaniment of either continuous speech or deadly silence.  Several sets of parents wanted their children’s possessions, currently scattered as debris across three continents, returned to them – these demands ceased when they were offered what the humans understood to be the planetary cleanup bill.  Two sets of parents offered their children up for punishment ‘under the Accords’ – offers their species’ mentor turned down with, “It was a genuine accident and they displayed no ill intent, the Accords were not broached.”  Three sets of parents provided ‘an apology display.’  The Terrani could categorize these reactions if not understand them.

One parent, arriving on its own in a sharp-edged vessel and with a glowing white globe orbiting its head, loomed over its equal height offspring and said clearly, in translation, “Interesting.  You may be worth my time after all.  We will discuss your further education on the way home.  In.”  The parent did not seem to care that everyone within a three hundred metre radius heard every word.

“That family,” commented the mentor, “has always been a problem.  I’m glad they left before we had the stardrive discussion.”

“The stardrive discussion?”  His human audience weren’t sure they wanted that discussion.

“Oh, its having been done isn’t a problem,” the genial being assured him, “reverse engineering from unintentional debris is completely within the Accords.  It’s what your collaboration of,” it consulted something, “the University of Kinshasa, the Sorbonne, NASA and a man in a backyard shed in Leumeah have actually done.”

“Oh?”

“You’ve skipped the Achuan’s stardrive and made the type my people employ.”  The Achuan’s mentor looked directly at the human.  “Mentor race selection for your species should be very interesting indeed.”

I wrote this to ysabetwordsmith's third prompt.

When the Achuan invaded, they apologised.

At its most basic level, what they said translated into English as, “Uh, we didn’t mean to nuke your planet with our war debris.  Sorry.”

The vast swathes of three continents that had been peppered with ‘hot’ technology falling from the sky were not impressed with their apology or the invasion.  Until the aliens said they could fix it.

There was a white powder that they sprinkled on everything that was overly radioactive – even things that weren’t the result of falling, shot up star ships.  The radioactivity stopped.

Then the Achuan began trying to collect the broken pieces of starship.  Trouble was, once the debris was no longer radioactive, the human Terrani swarmed all over it.  Bits were gone, disappeared into workshops, laboratories and backyard sheds all over the planet.  When they realised that the Achuan got upset, stamped their feet and yelled.

Someone human, in authority, observing this behaviour thought to ask, very cautiously, “Are you an adult?”  Into the silence the human suggested, “Perhaps we should speak to your responsible adult?”

The Achuan produced a member of their species’ mentoring species.

“I’ve heard the Achuans’ explanation of the situation,” the newcomer said, its sounds being translated into Achuan and the particular Terrani language the human spoke by glowing orbs that circled its head, “and now I want to hear your view of it.”  It turned to the suddenly protesting Achuan and told them, “Go and wait over there!”  The Achuan crossed the valley and waited while the newcomer listened.

When the human finished the newcomer spoke again.  “What you’ve told me matches what my systems tell me.  These striplings think I’m a nice old man who’ll be easier on them than their parents.  I’m about to disabuse them.  They meant well but that white power is for small scale industrial use and should’ve been cleaned up straight away.”  It sighed.  “Rehabilitating this mess will take time.  Would any of your people consider emigration to your own colony worlds in the meantime?”

And then a human demonstrated that you could reverse engineer a stardrive.