Inner Light

by R. A. Conti

Art by Scott Kersey

The ship didn’t warn Clelanda before it suddenly dropped itself out of slipspace.

A quick diagnostic revealed the problem. The navigation system had suddenly gone offline. Further inspection revealed that most of it was gone. 

A deeper diagnostic showed worse news. A virus had attacked the ship while it was in slipspace. The virus had corrupted the entire nav system. She would have to restore it from backup. 

But she couldn't risk doing so until she could be certain the virus had been neutralized. That would require re booting all the systems on the ship. Not something that she could do while in space. She would have to land somewhere and shut the ship down while the virus killer cleaned everything. She needed a planet where she could stay awhile, while the ship took care of its problems.

Fortunately, sensors had detected a hospitable planet nearby, and she was able to fly the ship there manually. When she got closer, she discovered that it was not only hospitable, it was inhabited. 

She carefully avoided detection and landed in a field next to thick woods. 

As soon as the propulsion system shut down, she started the virus purge process, then went out of the hatch and looked around outside the ship. The air was okay. Fresh. Since the diagnostic purge would likely run for a long time, she decided to get some sleep. She went back into the ship and took a nap.        

By the time that she awoke, the diag/purge was completed. But it had worsened the problem. The virus had been able to use the diag/purge to spread itself throughout the ship. Now, all of the ship’s systems were corrupted. Including the backups.

Clelanda was stranded. 

She sat down and did something she rarely ever did: she cried. Cut off from her people, she would never see the homeworld again. She cried until the shock and sadness had passed and she could concentrate her effort on making a plan for surviving. 

None of the portable analyzers had been corrupted. Clelanda was able to use them to find food and water nearby. She also decided to investigate the inhabitants, since she would probably be spending the rest of her life living with them. 

Or, trying to hide from them. 

After sunset, she tried to use the analyzers to get a fix on her location. But the stars in this sky were unfamiliar. She hadn’t really expected it would be otherwise. She foraged for food and was able to accumulate enough for a surprisingly satisfying meal. After she ate, she slept again. As she fell asleep, she couldn’t avoid hoping that this was a dream and she would soon awaken safely in her homeworld space. 

But it wasn’t a dream.

She awoke after dawn and foraged for breakfast. Then she decided to further explore the surroundings. She walked into the woods and found a path. She followed it for a little while and then suddenly emerged from the woods and found herself at the back of a stone structure.

She walked along the back wall and peeked around the side. She could hear activity but could not see what was happening, so she stole along the sidewall until she could see around the front.

A small group of bipeds was gathered in front of the building. She was relieved that they sort of looked like she did. Clelanda could hear sounds that she thought were speech, but could not discern a language. She was hoping she could find a way to communicate with them, since she would be here for the rest of her life. 

They were proceeding to enter the structure, using two separate doors at opposite ends. Suddenly, there was a tug on her sleeve. Startled, she looked around and saw a smaller version of the aliens. Before she could react, she heard it speak. 

“Good morning, Friend. Thee is welcome to worship with us today.” 

As it spoke, one of the bigger ones turned and noticed her. It walked over. 

“Welcome, Friend. Please come in,” it said. Of course, Clelanda could not understand the speech but sensed the gentleness and kindness coming from the speakers. 

She felt at ease.

When Clelanda hesitated, the smaller one extended its arm and took her hand, then started walking toward one of the doorways. Clelanda should have felt wary, but remained calm as she walked behind her new little friend, right into the structure.

If it was plain on the outside, it was even plainer inside. Bare walls, large curtainless windows, no ornament of any kind. All the creatures were seated on long, hard benches. The little one took her to one of the benches and motioned for her to sit down. She did, startled by her own cooperativeness. 

It felt right to sit with these beings. 

After a few moments of murmurs and whispers, the beings became quiet. Soon the room became still. Clelanda was aware of a subtle new energy that slowly increased in intensity. She realized that these beings were linking their minds. Well, some of them were. A couple knew how to do it right. The rest were trying but weren’t very good at it. 

This gave her an idea. Her race was telepathic. If she tried by herself to communicate with the homeworld, it would likely be futile. Her mind simply wasn’t powerful enough. But if her mind could be linked to these alien minds, there might be enough power to amplify her telepathic signal. 

Suddenly, Clelanda had hope of being rescued. First, she would have to link all their minds together. But how safe was it to interface her mind with theirs? What if they sensed her? What if she scared them? 

She had to risk it. 

She began slowly helping the aliens along. She herded them like sheep, moving them toward unity. Opening up each mind to its own depth, one by one, each joined the whole. In a few minutes, the mental energy in the room was almost palpable.

Clelanda began to settle her thoughts and clear her mind. She slowly felt calmness centering her in this quiet place. She thought she might have to make some effort to link up with these creatures’ minds, but it was easy. Her mind just started expanding, and, in a second, she felt the pull of all the other minds, and then a cosmic clarity that manifested to her as stars and galaxies. It happened so suddenly that she could not control her own emotions. Suddenly, her mind was filled with a powerful yearning. She was afraid the others might sense this, but everyone remained quiet and calm.

Then Clelanda called out to her families on the homeworld. 

“I. Am. Here.” 

She felt the power of the call surging through the room, then leaping beyond this planet and hurtling through space. She waited, and in a moment or two, felt enormous peace. Was it coming from these alien minds, or had someone on the homeworld heard her call? Clelanda fervently hoped so. 

Then she was flooded with brilliant light and love. They filled her mind and quickly overflowed into the other minds to which she was connected. She assumed that her message had been received.

While the alien minds remained merged, Clelanda silently rose from her bench and crept softly out the door. 

There was no way of determining how long it would take a rescue team to arrive. Might be hours, might be years. Certain she would eventually go home, she was content to wait.

As she moved away from the alien beings, she slowly detached her mind. She wanted to be as far away as she could before their mind link was ended. Hopefully, all the way back to the ship. The disconnect was gentle and easy. She was happy for these aliens, although she didn’t know why.

Even after the Clerk signaled the end of worship, many of the Friends remained quietly in their benches. They began to look at each other, as if they were seeing each other for the first time. Then one of the elders rose and cleared his throat to speak. 

“Friends, what we have shared here today is the most awe-inspiring worship I have ever experienced. I had a powerful sense of God’s presence. I will never forget it.”

“So did I,” another elder said. “I could feel God here and heard him speak.”

“What did he say to you?” interrupted another worshiper.

The elder bowed his head reverently, then raised his head and looked around the room. “He said ‘Here I am!’ That’s all I heard.”

“I also heard these words,” another said.

“And I!”

The congregation began nodding and looking at each other. It was not unusual, during a worship service, for one or two worshipers to be filled with God and deliver powerful messages. It was quite unusual for an entire meeting to experience God all at once.

“Friends, we have been blessed here today with God’s very presence,” the Clerk said. “I suggest we all go home and spend the rest of this incredible day reflecting on what we have shared. Go in peace.” As they slowly filed out, there was almost no talking. It seemed their Meeting had been irrevocably changed. Several prayed silently that all would benefit from this extraordinary experience.

Clelanda’s rescue team contacted her several hours later. They had already entered the solar system and were heading toward the planet where she was stranded. When they arrived, they were able to fix her ship and bring most of its systems back online. Since the nav system was seriously damaged, one of the team engineers decided to pilot her ship and follow the rescue vessel. 

Clelanda was relieved, but wasn’t certain she would ever want to go into space again. She needed time to acknowledge her fears and sort out her thoughts. The team understood and gave her a cabin where she could recover undisturbed. As the ships left the atmosphere, she realized she had interacted with the aliens, but had not recorded anything she had seen or learned. Others should come here and study these creatures. 

Clelanda began composing a report.

A few hours later, as the ships were leaving the solar system on their way to a slipspace portal, Clelanda paused work on her report. For a few seconds, she felt reconnected to the strange aliens and was flooded with a sense of universal peace and sisterhood. Then the feeling was gone.

She wondered what the aliens had done after she left. Hopefully, her presence had not adversely affected their gathering. Little did she suspect the profound effect that her simple message had on the Quakers. Little did they suspect the real reason for their rapturous experience.

Would that all first contacts went so beautifically.