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“Okay- okay, okay, look,” I say, trying to hold back my laughter while Rocky grows increasingly frustrated with my inability to explain what I’m seeing on the screen. At this point, it’s Rocky’s reaction that’s making me laugh, not the birds. I grab the four nearest plastic animal figurines and turn to face Rocky, placing them in front of us. “I’ll demonstrate. Pretend these are the four male blue manakins, okay? And this,” I drag a finger in a line across the floor in front of us, “is the branch. They’re all sitting in a line, right? Then the one at the end hops across to be at the front, and they all shuffle down. Then the next one hops.” I use the figurines to mimic the mating dance. “Each one does a little flourish when it’s his turn closest to the female. You have to keep in mind that these are birds, okay, they’re tiny and bouncy and very cute.”
Rocky does not seem to find this as amusing as I did. I have to admit, the documentary’s camera crew and editors did a better job capturing this than I can, jaunty music for comedic effect and all. We’ve spent most of the past two years trying to learn about each other’s cultures and planets, sometimes using nature documentaries and 3D-printed animal statues to help. It’s a bit of a rollercoaster of emotions for me. I’ve always been struck by the beauty and diversity of Earth’s life, it’s why I became a biologist, but seeing it through the ears of a total outsider makes it seem all the more awe-inspiring, almost like seeing it through my kids’ eyes was. It’s also nice to be teaching again with such a captive audience; I’ve even gone out of my way to create lesson plans to try to give Rocky a more organized overview than our initial question-and-answer-sections.
But seeing the beauty of Earth, and hearing David Attenborough warn about the effects of climate change, only brings me back to the harsh reality that a good number of these animals are probably already extinct. Even humans have probably faced severe losses. Leclerc estimated fifty percent in twenty years, but that was before we nuked Antarctica, and I have no idea what other measures humanity took after the Hail Mary left Earth. Still, even for all my efforts, in the absolute best-case-scenario, the Earth that Rocky and I saved already looks nothing like the Earth we’re discussing now. But then Rocky draws a comparison between an Earth animal and something on Erid, and I’m hit with the fact that I’m on my way to an alien planet filled with intelligent alien people and all sorts of alien life, and I’m going to get to talk to Eridian scientists and learn all about it. I’m the luckiest biologist alive.
“Birds jump over each other to attract a mate, question? Erid animals demonstrate valuable traits to attract mates, but not jumping.”
Right. I have a student. “I guess if you’re a bird, jumping is a valuable trait. The dance requires some precise flying. Also, if you have the time to spend hours with other birds practicing, that means you can afford to spend those hours not finding food, which means you’re good at surviving. But that’s technically conjecture, evolution works on a combination of complicated factors and doesn’t always make sense to people. Birds in particular tend to have a wide variety of complicated mating rituals.”
“Understand,” he pauses, “birds dance to attract a mate. How do humans attract a mate, question?”
From his tone, I can tell he’s messing with me, but the question still surprises me and leaves me sputtering. “Well, I’m uh, not exactly an expert. Not done a lot of that myself.”
Rocky is still in his polite-paying-attention posture, with his carapace tilted slightly in what I know is a sly grin, waiting for me to continue.
“Look, we’ve been over human reproduction before. We don’t mate for life like Eridians; most humans have multiple mates while they’re young until they eventually pick one they like enough to commit to for the long-term, but even those relationships don’t necessarily last until death. I saw a few different people when I was younger, but none of that worked out, and I’ve never had much interest in continuing. Not something I care much about.
“As for humans in general, I guess there are certain traits that make someone valuable from a reproductive standpoint. Physical indicators of health, intelligence and other skills, good socialization- Ugh, this feels gross. We’re not animals just driven by our reproductive urges, or at least we aren’t most of the time. We’re an intelligent species with civilization, and many humans will get together with no interest of actually having offspring. Being able to enjoy time together is probably the most important factor, so what’s considered ‘desirable’ can vary wildly between individuals and cultures. People tend to look for things like shared values and interests. Not dissimilar from the things you look for in a friend. How do Eridians attract mates?” I turn the question back on him. “You actually have experience.”
“Similar to humans. Some characteristics are more desirable- dexterity, intelligence, diligence- but most important factor is shared values. We mate for much longer than humans, and children are raised by the community, not the parents. Focus is on the pair’s relationship, not their potential as parents. We commit to each other for hundreds of years. ‘Enjoying time together’ is most important, like humans.”
His voice lowers. Not sad, but something close to it. “Adrian and I were friends first, for 48 years before we became mates. We worked together on probes to study Eridani.”
This is the most he’s told me about Adrian, beyond that they exist. I know he must love them, he named the one source of hope for both our planets after them, but he rarely speaks about them. I don’t know if Eridians are private about this stuff, or if Rocky in particular is private, or if the separation makes thinking about his life on Erid painful. I don’t know if asking questions would cross some line, but I want to know more about my friend and about his life before the astrophage. “So, that means Adrian is an engineer, like you?”
“Was an engineer then, but not now. Eridians sometimes change professions after many years in one area.” I suppose variety is nice if you live for centuries, and I guess I also switched careers twice now.
“I never changed. Probably never will. I like my work. But Adrian chose to start over as a scientist. They study cells, like you. Participated in many thrums about astrophage. We were both very successful when we were young engineers. Attracted to each other’s intelligence and skill. We often disagreed, and thrummed, and found better solutions together than we could have alone. We were attracted to each other, but we both wanted to focus on our work. But focusing on our work meant spending more time together, and more time realizing our shared values and skill as a team. More time arguing, and more time learning about each other. When Adrian chose to restart their education, they wanted to remain in contact with me. Then we became mates.”
“When our sun dimmed, Adrian was one of many scientists who studied the astrophage and thrummed for a solution. But of those many scientists, only Adrian had experience as an engineer working on equipment to study stars. Adrian was chosen for the Blip-A, along with me and twenty-two others. We were going to see the stars and save our home together. But Adrian was injured before launch. Serious enough to disqualify them from the mission, but not deadly. Not serious enough for me to stay behind with them. So I left without them. I was sad then, but now… If Adrian had come, they would have died. I watched twenty-two of my friends die. I could not watch my mate die.”
The homesickness is obvious in how low Rocky’s carapace rests, nearly touching the ground. Part of me feels bad for broaching the subject, but part of me suspects that talking about this sort of thing is just as cathartic for Eridians as it is for humans. “I can’t imagine being with someone for over a hundred years, or being alone for over forty. I can’t even imagine living for over a hundred years. But you’re not alone now, and you’re nearly home. Just less than three years left and we’ll be on Erid. We’ll drop the taumoeba off on Threeworld, and then you can see Adrian and tell them how you saved the world.”
“Yes. I will be home soon. But I was gone for many years. Adrian must think I died, might have found a new mate.”
“Maybe. But Adrian loves you, right? You obviously love them. If you love someone, and you think they died, and you find out they’re alive, that has to make you happy. Even if Adrian has a new mate, even if things are weird and complicated and awkward, surely they’ll still be glad to see you again. You’re both alive and safe, that’s the most important thing.”
“Yes. I am alive, and Adrian is alive, and Erid will find a way to keep you alive, and we’ll save Erid, and we already saved Earth. Even if Adrian found a new mate… we were friends for forty-eight years. We can be friends again. And I can introduce you! Adrian would want to meet an alien; they will have many science questions. And they can answer your science questions better than me. You can be science friends.”
I grin at his enthusiasm. “Yeah, buddy, that sounds great. I can’t wait to meet them.”