{"id":2506,"date":"2023-05-13T12:05:11","date_gmt":"2023-05-13T19:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/?p=2506"},"modified":"2023-05-13T12:05:11","modified_gmt":"2023-05-13T19:05:11","slug":"glyphs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/2023\/05\/13\/glyphs\/","title":{"rendered":"Glyphs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

prompt: Write about a school trip that takes a turn for the unexpected.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

available at Reedsy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The small craft set down in a field, silent as an owl. Three young women filed out into the moonless night, turning on night-vision goggles. One of them lugged a device on her back and twelve drones flew behind them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre you sure about this?\u201d Astrid asked. In the NVGs everything looked green, including her friends. \u201cI don\u2019t want to get in trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be fine,\u201d Dani said. \u201cWe\u2019re grad students on break, we\u2019re expected to have some fun.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a school trip,\u201d Gwen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Astrid grabbed Gwen\u2019s arm and stopped. \u201cHow do you figure that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re exoanthropology students, and we\u2019re meant to be studying the goats\u2019 culture. How they handle the unexpected is part of that.\u201d Gwen freed herself from Astrid\u2019s grasp and urged the other two to follow. \u201cLet\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI hope we don\u2019t run across any of the caprids<\/em> while we\u2019re here.\u201d Astrid emphasized the proper name for their body type \u2014 calling them goats was like calling hominids monkeys \u2014 but she was still unsure about the enterprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gwen laughed. \u201cThat\u2019s why we only come down on moonless nights. Their night vision is worse than ours, and we can only see with NVGs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow do you think we get all the spy cameras down here?\u201d Dani asked. \u201cI was with the team that planted the cameras by the well. We were almost<\/em> spotted by the caprids but were far enough away that they could only hear us running away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOkay, that\u2019s legitimate, though. This is\u2026I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dani put a hand on Astrid\u2019s shoulder. \u201cIt\u2019s no different than what the Correlanians did to us. Lights in the sky, holograms of the so-called \u2018greys,\u2019 the original Nazca lines\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Astrid interrupted. \u201cThose were made by first the Paracas, and later the Nazca cultures\u2026humans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gwen said, \u201cThe ones that are there now, yes. The original<\/em> lines were smaller, made by the Correlanians to see how the indigenous humans would react. They reacted by filling them in and making even bigger ones. Didn\u2019t you study the Correlanian texts in exo-anthro 201?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, we studied the Harveran texts about their studies on ZQ497-32.1.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShit, isn\u2019t that the one where they messed up and the xenos started worshipping them and got into a huge religious war and wiped themselves out?\u201d Dani asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d Astrid said, \u201cso, I\u2019m sure you can understand my concern.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gwen stopped and pointed at the flat plateau in front of them. \u201cThere\u2019s our canvas, let\u2019s go to work.\u201d She unstrapped the vibra-trencher from her back. \u201cDani, fire up the drones.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The drones lit up, flying in odd formations, but one stayed directly in front of the vibra-trencher, showing where to dig in order to make the design Gwen had come up with. \u201cLet\u2019s make some art!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A stylized drawing of a caprid, three-hundred meters tall, was dug from the topsoil; the vibra-trencher throwing the dirt clear to each side of the even, forty-centimeter-wide, fifteen-centimeter-deep trench. The design was drawn out in one, continuous line, as fast as Gwen could run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The caprid drawing complete, a circle was drawn around it from the same line, ending with letters that left Astrid confused and Dani laughing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUm, why did you put that<\/em>?\u201d Astrid asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause we weren\u2019t here,\u201d Dani said, helping Gwen strap the vibra-trencher on her back. \u201cStart drone program three, Astrid.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Astrid nodded, and keyed in the command for the drones on the remote that Dani had previously held. They extinguished their lights and three of them overflew the lines, close to the ground, roiling up dust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other nine followed the women on their return trek to the ship, blowing away all footprints as they did. The three that had cleared the footprints from the lines flew back to the ship and were waiting when the others arrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once back aboard, Dani said, \u201cI hate this part.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ship lifted off the ground and began lurching side to side, turning and tilting, blowing the ground into something that might have been caused by nothing more than the wind\u2026erasing the traces of their landing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Astrid looked at her in the light of the ship. \u201cYou almost look as green as you did in the NVGs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShut up,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a moment, the ship settled and lifted back to orbit where they docked with the research station. Most of the other student shuttles were still gone, so the women decided to hit the bar and get plastered. Some time during the evening, the bar filled with their fellow grad students, along with a group from their rival university.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Astrid felt as bad as Dani had looked the previous night. A massive hangover was not the best way to sit through a lecture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Arkan stepped into the lecture hall and let the door slam behind him. He was not in a good mood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, shit,\u201d Dani whispered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Arkan sat as his desk, rather than standing behind his podium. He sipped his coffee loudly while he waited for the room to quiet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, double-shit,\u201d Gwen whispered back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow many of you,\u201d he asked, \u201cdid your undergraduate here? Not, here<\/em>, here, but with Terra Galactic University?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About half the hands in the room were raised. \u201cHow many of you studied the Harveran texts in EO 201?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Astrid\u2019s hand went up, along with four others, joining the raised hand of the other TGU students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Arkan heaved a heavy sigh and took another loud sip of his coffee. \u201cYou can put your hands down now. Everyone who raised their hand will understand why\u2026I\u2026am\u2026PISSED!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The display screen behind him showed the women\u2019s artwork; a stylized caprid surrounded by a circle, with the conjoined U-T logo for the University of Terra at the bottom. A picture-in-picture popped up in the corner of the display, showing a conversation happening at the well. Another popped up in the opposite corner showing a group of caprids heading toward the bluff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor those of you who can\u2019t follow the dialect of this group when they talk fast like this, the conversation is about strange lights over the bluff. There are questions of whether it was gods or fires of their enemies or some strange weather.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He slammed his palm down on the table. \u201cThe FIRST DAY that University of Terra students are allowed on this site, and they do this. Those assholes<\/em> have CONTAMINATED our study! No trace means NO TRACE!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Astrid took a breath to speak, but Dani punched her in the leg to shut her up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know which of those Terrors did this, but when we find out, they\u2026will\u2026feel\u2026my\u2026wrath.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several of the class fought to hold in giggles at hearing the professor refer to the UT students as Terrors, the bastardization of their mascot: Terriers. UT did the same with the TGU mascot, calling the Pilots the Pyros.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose of you who studied the Correlanian or Vistuvan texts in EO 201 might wonder what the big deal is. Yes, we hope<\/em> that this will go at least as well as it did for the Correlanians. We fear<\/em> what happened with the Harverans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Arkan sipped at his coffee again. \u201cNo lecture today. I\u2019ll be spending the next few hours welcoming<\/em> the Terrors to our study. In the meantime, I want a ten-page essay on what impact this may have on the caprids at site 14-G, and the surrounding locations, with a compare and contrast of the Correlanian and Harveran results.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The class sat stunned, most of all Astrid who felt guilt gnawing at her bones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Arkan set his coffee down and turned off the corner pictures. \u201cOne thing, though\u2026whoever did this has studied the artwork from 14-G and done it true to style. Part of me wants to say, \u2018Well done,\u2019 but I\u2019m still pissed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow get out of here!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone rose and gathered their tablets, but Dr. Arkan raised a hand. \u201cGwen, Dani, Astrid\u2026hang on a minute.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Astrid\u2019s hangover fought with the guilt to make her sicker than she\u2019d ever felt. Gwen\u2019s face was unreadable, but Dani had the kid caught with a hand in the cookie jar look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the room was empty of everyone else, Dr. Arkin looked at the trio. \u201cI know it was you, and I honestly believe that this will turn out at least<\/em> as fine as the Correlanian experiment, if not better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Astrid opened her mouth to say something, but he stopped her. \u201cThis is not<\/em> the official policy of TGU, and if anyone asks, I never<\/em> said this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI did my doctoral thesis on what went wrong with ZQ497-32.1 and it is nothing<\/em> like this. One of researchers decided it was taking the indigenous population too long to invent writing. Without approval, he showed himself to what the Harverans called the \u2018prinikal\u2019 which means four-footeds in their language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnyway, he showed himself to them, and using a laser, engraved pictographs of the stories they told as they were telling them<\/em>! He did this in full view of ten or more prinikal \u2014 sources differ on that from ten to over a hundred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRegardless, they saw this as proof that he was a god and began to worship him. He was sent away immediately, but the prinikal began preparing for his return. The disagreement was in how<\/em> they should prepare, and how they should worship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Astrid felt a mix of relief and shame and hangover pain. \u201cBut you were so mad\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Arkan smiled. \u201cIt was all a show. I need everyone convinced that I\u2019m<\/em> convinced some of the new UT students did this. It wouldn\u2019t do to have to boot my best and brightest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He pointed to Dani. \u201cYou programmed the drones?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dani nodded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd Gwen ran the trencher.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, sir,\u201d Gwen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat was your part, Astrid?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI drew the glyph that Dani programmed into the drones and Gwen carved.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIncluding the UT logo at the bottom?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Astrid shook her head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gwen said, \u201cThe circle and logo was all me, sir. I was\u2026hoping to throw the trail somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Arkan laughed. \u201cWell, as far as anyone knows, you\u2019ve done just that. I\u2026may<\/em>\u2026have messed up when reading the logs from your shuttle and accidentally erased them,\u201d he said. \u201cOf course, that menu is fiddly, and I think I might have erased four or five shuttle logs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTh\u2014thank you Dr. Arkan,\u201d Astrid said. \u201cWe won\u2019t ever do anything like this again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, you\u2019ll do something similar, soon.\u201d He smiled at her. \u201cYou\u2019re going down with the next group to add cameras around the bluff. I have a feeling it\u2019s about to be important to the caprids\u2026at least those in 14-G. Also, if you could draw up a few similar glyphs in the same style, it would be interesting to see how close you get to what they follow up with.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Astrid nodded. \u201cSure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Arkan rose. \u201cAll right, now get out of here. I\u2019ve got to get my ire up again before I go talk to the UT group. Damn Terrors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGo Pilots!\u201d Gwen said, getting a harsh look from Dr. Arkan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The three of them hurried out of the lecture hall. \u201cI think you got him started again, Gwen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat can I say, Dani? I\u2019ve got spirit!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd I\u2019ve had too many spirits,\u201d Astrid said. \u201cI\u2019m going back to my dorm and sleeping for a week.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t forget the paper,\u201d Gwen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a riff on a paper I did for EA-451 at CalTech,\u201d Astrid said. \u201cOne day touch-up, tops.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou think we can use the stuff he told us about the laser and stuff?\u201d Dani asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot unless you can find his doctoral thesis in the library,\u201d Astrid said. \u201cIf you want, I still have my old 201 textbook somewhere if you want to borrow it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnly if I can\u2019t find enough sources in the library,\u201d Gwen said. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of a bummer to know that it\u2019s not the whole story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have a feeling that a lot of textbooks are that way,\u201d Astrid said. \u201cSomebody did something, and someone else tried to condense it into a few glyphs and that\u2019s all we get.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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