Commander Truces

Commander Truces was a command officer on a starship. One that could traverse our multiverse. The position had some serious perks, among them the ability to pass through customs without so much as a glance. The consequences of that loophole, had led to the current imbroglio.

Three months earlier Truces passed through the checkpoint with two expensive and exotic iGlass carafes in his carry-on. The carafes held a murky swirling mixture, volatile in its movements. He went home and set them on his mantle. Alien decor he told his friends.

There was a modicum of truth concerning the contraband, for in each beautifully crafted iGlass carafe resided an alien, in a singular chemical concoction. For a large fee he had promised to bring these to earth. He’d done this before. What could possibly go wrong.

Commander Truces was about to find out, when his granddaughter came to visit. She was a precocious eleven year old and into everything. Of course she’d find the bottles. At first she smelled the contents, and because it was slightly sweet, and since her grandpa usually kept interesting liquors around that she snuck samples of from time to time, she tried a sip. Shortly after ingesting the liquid she became mildly nauseated, then seriously so, puking her guts out, while turning an interesting shade of green. Of course she didn’t tell anyone.

After the initial shock, she began to feel different. At first she thought it was the buzz you got from drinking grandpa’s liquors, but it didn’t go away. The hum ebbed and flowed making her more acutely aware of her surroundings.

In academy the next day she found that her attention span was remarkably focused. Every time the instructor asked a question, she could conjure the answer. Looking across the desks at other students she found that she could guess, with a fair amount of accuracy, what they were thinking, just by their bodily movements, and facial expressions. She got into a bit of trouble for a snide remark when answering a question, “Who was the first person in OurStory, who landed on the moon?”

She answered before anyone could reply, “Duh, Neal Strong-arm” and cackled like an enchantress, scrunching up her nose. That earned her detention.

After academy was over she found herself in the Detencione-Centrum, and while reading her assignment for tomorrow, she found that she could speed read it, retaining every word and nuance. This was jamais vu. Everything was enhanced. Everything she read she understood. To test this notion further, she stopped at the library, headed down the first isle dedicated to Mathematicc. Calculus: Early Transcendental Functions caught her eye, and she grabbed it, set the tome on the table, and had a premonition that almost stopped her from opening it. She had recognized some of the symbols on the cover. Curiosity got the better of her though and she opened it to a random page. What she’d normally see would be squiggles making absolutely no sense, but today, she knew exactly what they meant. She skimmed to the back. Same story.

Moving to another aisle, science, she found a physics book on the quantum enigma. Sure enough, she not only understood it, but was mesmerized by the concepts, and stayed to finish the book in half an hour.

There wasn’t any reason to go further here, so she decided to test her idea elsewhere. On the stock market. Her dad had given her a teen account at their local bank, and she knew her dad’s password for his market-gaming app. She studied the market for an hour or two before she tied it to her account, and began to gamble. By the end of the evening she had amassed a small fortune, raising red flags all over the bank and elsewhere. By the time she got home her grandpa had been contacted by an accountant and was wondering what was happening.

There was no way to hide from her granddad. Their relationship was one of mutual respect, and they knew each other to a T. She opted for honesty, “Grampy, I took a sip of your new liquor, the one on the mantel.”

At this revelation, Truces eyes widened, and his jaw actually dropped several inches before he uttered a primal, “OOOhhhh” followed by “Shit” pausing, then, “How are you feeling?” He asked, genuine concern in his tone and features.

“Different” she replied, even as she watched him subvocalizing his cel.

Before he made the call he asked, “Like how dear. Have you been sick?”

“Well, in the beginning, but now something else has taken place.”

His eyes widened, nodding for her to continue. The liquid in the flasks was supposed to maintain the suspended animation of the aliens. Would it do that to his granddaughter? He had to call a medic, but who? His thoughts turned to the conundrum she’d created, correction, he’d created. She was just a curious child. Not her fault.

She interrupted his reverie with, “Today at school, I knew all the answers.”

He frowned.

“I mean, I really knew all the answers and got suspension and had to stay after school for a bit.” When he simply sat staring at her she continued, “I was supposed to do my homework. I read it all within a few minutes. Then I continued reading the entire book. In a half an hour.” Both sat there in silence for a moment. “And, I stopped after school at the library to test my new abilities. I read a calculus book.” She paused for effect, “I understood it all, as if I already knew it. And, then I decided to test things further, so I studied the stock market for a bit, and….”

Truces interrupted her now, “You obviously played it well. How?”

“I don’t know. I study, and I remember, and I just knew how.”

“How do you feel now though, dear? Any nausea? Any pains? Headaches?”

“No. Actually, I’ve never felt better. Why grampy?” She could feel his worry.

Should I tell her passed through his mind? They’d always been completely honest with each other. She’d figure it out anyway. He replied, “Inside of those bottles is not liquor. It is a liquid, designed by an alien race, to keep them alive in a suspended animation for traveling.”

She looked at him askance, clearly putting two and two together, and asked, “Are there aliens here?” She quickly realized that they were small, and in the bottles.

He sighed, and a sad but impish smirk crossed his face, “They’re in the bottles.”

She gasped, and licked her lips, remembering the strange sweet flavor the liquor evoked. “Am I in danger?”

“Let’s hope not dear. I’m going to call a medic; friend of mine to check you over. Off the record.”

“Why?” she queried, genuine concern in her voice now too.

“It’s a precaution Filia” thinking, “What have I done?” Then his mind turned to, “Should I keep this quiet?” He commanded Siri, “Wake Medicus. Tell her it’s urgent.”