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My first birthday on Erid was nothing to write home about. It was within the first few months of our arrival, so I was too busy lying in a hospital bed starving to do anything fun. Rocky gave me the very last ration pack from the ship, so just for my birthday I got to taste real food again. That was as good a present as I could have asked for, but he apologized profusely for not being able to give me anything more exciting.
My second birthday on Erid, I got to see the biodome for the first time in all its glory. I had been staying in a temporary one-room habitat that I tried very hard not to think of as a cell. Seeing that ocean, feeling like I was outside again and had space to do anything I wanted…I cried so much that even Rocky was concerned. I had to assure him that they were happy tears.
I woke up the morning of my third birthday on Erid with no real expectations. Nothing Rocky got me would come close to last year’s gift, and that was fine. My plan was to laze around the house enjoying my day off work. I wandered downstairs, fried up some mebacon for breakfast and took my daily vitamins. I was thinking about what show I wanted to watch when I heard frantic knocking at my door. Rocky, of course. I smiled indulgently and opened it.
“HAPPY DAY OF HATCHING!” He told me enthusiastically, making jazz hands. He was wearing his celebration outfit. “Come come come I have a gift come on come on” He was dancing around, too excited to keep still.
“A gift?” I asked, pretending to be shocked just to wind him up a little. “For me?”
Rocky stamped his foot impatiently. “Yes yes yes gift is for Grace, Rocky always gets a gift for Grace’s day of hatching. Come come follow follow follow. Bring the keyboard.”
“Bossy,” I said, grinning. I grabbed my portable Eridian keytar and followed him out of the house and down the path to the airlock. I really didn't know what he had gotten me this time. I already had the biodome, and that was the gift of a lifetime–sure, I felt a little cooped up when my students would talk about their vacations and trips and the things they did in the city, but that was a stupid human brain problem. Even on alien planets, FOMO will creep up on you. I was grateful for what I already had.
“Tada,” He said, which in Eridian sounded like a triumphant trumpeting noise. He gestured to the airlock. I peered inside curiously.
“... what is that?” I asked, not sure what I was looking at. It was a wheeled platform with a clear dome over it and some buttons and levers inside. It was almost like a golf cart mixed with a fish tank.
“It's a car!” Rocky told me, as though it was obvious and I was being an idiot.
“A car,” I repeated, not quite understanding. The paths around the biodome weren't made for a vehicle. Too many stairs, too many narrow paths, too much sandy ground. What would I use a car for?
“For you! You said you wished you could see the real Erid, not just the inside of the biodome. A suit would not work because the atmosphere is too dense for weak human muscles, you could not move. But the car bubble is filled with your atmosphere while the motor is strong enough for moving through Erid’s atmosphere. Rocky has tested it hundreds of times to make sure it’s safe enough. Ready for a real test with you inside now.”
“Where can I go?” I asked, starting to get excited.
Rocky waved his hands. “All over the city! Not outside of the city yet. Anywhere in city limits is safe to travel. It has headlights to see where you are going. You can stop and talk to Eridians on the way, the walls are clear and not soundproof so you can see them and they can hear you. You want to test it now?”
“Yes, of course!” I told him. “Can we?”
“I will run ahead, lead you to cool things,” Rocky said happily.
I entered the airlock and got a better look at the car. A car needs a good name, in my opinion. If it were built by NASA, this would probably be called something fancy like Enclosed Erid Surface Rover. That was too wordy. It looked a lot like the popemobile, so maybe it could be the Gracemobile. It had a chair inside but also enough room to stand comfortably. I imagined having a parade through the streets, giving a royal wave to a crowd of Eridians. I hoped they weren't expecting me to do that. I was nervous around crowds.
I clambered into the car, made sure it was firmly sealed and then waited impatiently for the airlock to cycle and fill with ammonia. I could barely contain my excitement. I got to see Erid! Real Erid! Sure, I wouldn’t be able to see much, even with headlights, but I got to go somewhere! I got to take a trip!
Rocky gave me a brief rundown of the simple steering system and we got going.
The tunnel leading up to the airlock had lights, so that I could see who was coming to visit me. It led up and out on a gentle incline. I figured that I’d turn on the headlights once we reached the dark part. But as we trundled slowly forwards–I quickly learned that it had a top speed of about 10 mph–I noticed that there was a faint glow coming from the end of the tunnel. I frowned, confused. What was that?
And then we came to the top of the tunnel and I stopped and stood and stared with my jaw hanging open.
“Does Grace like it?” Rocky asked.
“It’s–how did you–” I couldn’t form the words. The world in front of me was lit up with strings of fairy lights, lining the tall buildings and the streets and outlining everything in a beautiful warm golden glow. I could see dozens, no, hundreds of Eridians going about their business, walking and running around on the roads, some even climbing up the sides of buildings with purposefully built climbing holds. I could see all of it.
“I told the City Leader you wanted to see more of the city,” Rocky said, sounding very proud of himself. “City Leader was excite excite excite at the idea of Savior Grace going around like a regular citizen of the city and mingling with fellow citizens. City Leader agreed to install lights on the whole section of the city near biodome. They may add lights to other sections later but Rocky was impatient to show Grace now on Hatching anniversary.”
“You convinced them to light up this whole section for me?” I asked, touched. “Rocky, you didn't have to do that…”
Rocky shook his carapace side to side as if to shake the sentiment off of him. “Grace saved all of Erid,” Rocky said firmly. “Erid loves Grace. Erid loves seeing Grace, meeting Grace. City Leader is honored to have you as a citizen. No one involved thought it was a hardship. All of them were excited to get more Grace interaction.”
That’s the one that gets me. I sniffle and wipe my eyes as discreetly as I can. “It’s beautiful, Rocky,” I tell him. “All the lights have this, this golden halo around them–oh my gosh, Ammonia gas is yellow, I never thought about how that would affect the quality of the light–it’s so warm and cozy and–gosh. Wow.”
I could read Rocky well enough now to know that he was very very pleased and proud of himself. He squirmed with joy. “Yes yes yes. You have not even seen the best part yet.”
“What’s the best part?” I asked.
“Local park,” he said, and it took a moment for the implications to hit me.
Oh my god. I got to see Eridian nature. I got to see their natural ecosystem. I got to see their version of plants and animals and everything. I got to be the first human to ever encounter them. Any biologist on Earth would sell their soul to be in my position.
Rocky ran ahead, and I slowly, impatiently trundled after him. As we got onto a proper street, I saw Eridians nearby start to stop and turn their attention towards me. Not every day the alien goes on a field trip, I supposed. It was natural to be curious, even if it did make me feel a little more like a zoo animal getting enrichment.
All of my self-conscious anxiety melted away when I saw the park.
It was teeming with life. The ground was covered in large soft patches of what looked like thick moss, but blue, and there were Eridians all over the place just lazing around sitting on it. There were these big spiral things that sort of looked like pine trees if I squinted. As I got closer, I saw an Eridian walking around with some kind of animal–”Animal”, I can guarantee it’s not related to anything in the kingdom Animalia–on top of their carapace. It was roughly the size and shape of an iguana but it had porcupine-like spines. It was making a noise like a geiger counter. I pulled up alongside them.
“Savior Grace!” They exclaimed, excited. “Honor honor honor to meet you.”
I used my Eridian keytar to return their greeting and ask their name, which they happily gave. “What is that?” I asked. I gestured to the animal.
They said the name, and I played it back to them to make sure I got it right. “Yes! It is my companion creature. Its name is Fragile Thing Destroyer. It enjoys making a mess in my home, breaking things. I love it anyway.”
I laughed, delighted. I saw Rocky impatiently gesturing me down a path that seemed just big enough for my car. I said goodbye to the stranger and followed him.
“What is that?” I demanded suddenly, pointing.
Rocky tilted his carapace to observe. He gave me the name in Eridian, and I played it back. I mentally dubbed it a Glow Bat. It was like a starfish mixed with a bat, and it was in one of the spiral not-trees glowing on and off like a firefly.
“It’s glowing,” I told Rocky.
“Glowing, question? Like lights, question?” Rocky asked, confused.
“Yes! Bioluminescence! There are a handful of animals on Earth that can produce light using chemical reactions, that’s just what it looks like!”
“I had no idea that was possible,” Rocky admitted. “I’m not sure if that is even understood by Eridian biologists. Maybe we should go talk to one later, see if you just solved a millenia old mystery.”
“I should have brought a notebook,” I said, my mouth dry. “O-or a laptop, I need to take notes, I want to know everything about everything.”
Hovering over a small group of Eridians playing a board game were small insect-sized creatures that spun like those helicopter seeds that maple trees drop. Something that was very much not a bird flew through the sky overhead. A little tripedal creature the size of a squirrel hopped around like a kangaroo in a field of alien flowers. A creature the size of a deer but with metallic scales and 6 legs crouched down at the corner of one of the blue moss patches to eat it with the mouth on its undercarriage. The path was lit by the glow of fairy lights made warm and golden by ammonia gas, and it suddenly hit me harder than it ever had that I was on an alien planet. I had been on it for 2 years and a few months by now, but I’d never actually gotten to see it before.
“I’ve got more to show you. This way,” Rocky insisted, tearing me out of my reverie. I followed him, but I didn't know what else he could possibly have to shooooh my god that was a statue of me. Me and Rocky, in a triumphant pose, with a plaque of Eridian writing beneath it.
“They modelled Grace's internal organs too.” Rocky said. “So Eridians can sense them through the outer layer, like they could if they saw real Grace.”
I pulled up close so I could read the plaque. My written Eridian was getting pretty good.
Saviors of Erid, StubbornGiftedEngineerfromWestMinesLand and GracefulGiftedScientistfromSolSystem. They risked everything to save Erid from astrophage. Erid is forever in their debt.
“Wow,” I said, touched. My eyes were welling up with tears, but I tried to hold them back. I didn't want to leak in front of so many strangers.
“One last thing to show you.” Rocky said. “Hurry hurry hurry do not want to be late.”
“Late for what?” I asked, but he ran ahead without answering me. I drove after him.
He led me around a blind corner to the top of a huge bowl that had been carved out of the ground. It had ridges where many Eridians stood in lines around the side, and in the center were three Eridians wearing strange clothing. The ridges were darkened, but there was a ring of fairy lights around the central platform, softly illuminating the…stage?
“Is this an amphitheatre?” I asked in amazement. It was like a stadium if it had been carved out instead of built up.
“It is space for watching plays,” Rocky said. “Hush. Play start very soon.”
I got to see my first real Eridian play. I had heard some soundtracks recorded for listening devices, but nothing compared to the real experience. I sat fully entranced as the 3 actors played their parts. Each actor played a variety of different people, differentiated by costume changes. It was a musical retelling of the founding of the city. It’s reductive, but it seemed like the Eridian version of Hamilton. There was dramatic betrayal, ambition, and a story of forbidden love, interspersed with real historical and political details. Whenever something really interesting happened, the crowd began stomping their feet–the Eridian equivalent of applause.
The play lasted around an hour. Instead of bowing at the end, the 3 actors bellowed “PLAY FINISHED!” and whooped and cheered as they scrambled off stage. I laughed, delighted. I stomped my feet along with the crowd.
Rocky hurried me home afterwards, against my protests. He said he needed to inspect the car to make sure it hadn’t taken more than the expected amount of wear. But I still felt incredible. I spent a few hours recording all of my scattered observations in my journal before Rocky and I settled down to watch TV.
I got to see Erid. I got to see my city. I got to…feel like a real Eridian. I got to be part of this wonderful place that was taking such good care of me. It was like a dream come true.
It was a damn good birthday.