A Cardassian Tale for children
The Benevolent Alien
It is common sense, tahkmar, that aliens can be quite odd. Some are funny, some are angry. Some are greedy, some are shady.
Manilan knew this when he first encountered aliens. His ship was beautiful and sturdy, but space is a dangerous place, nildasi, too dangerous for your soft little scales. The likes of a storm had whirled the beautiful ship to uncharted space, at the confines of known world. Engines disabled, hull breached in places… Oh, my most beloved, it was a sad sight.
Near to the golden ship appeared a silver ship, and like two souanja fishes, they looked at each other with fascination and distrust. Manilan was bold and made contact first, for one must never silence out of fear in the face of an enemy.
The silver fish had a Federation alien for captain. It had noticed the gold fish’s distress, and came to offer help.
“What will it cost us?” asked Manilan.
“Nothing; our help is free,” the alien answered.
Manilan didn’t believe it, but he was in no position to refuse help. And so for days, the aliens helped to repair his beautiful ship. They brought coils and matter, men wearing gold and interphasic spanners. They fixed and mended, jolted and wielded.
“What shall we repay you with?” asked Manilan.
“Nothing, I insist; helping others is its own reward for us,” the alien answered.
Manilan believed it this time.
“Yes, I understand now. Your help was appreciated,” he ended the communication and relaxed in his seat.
As the silver fish prepared to warp away, the beautiful golden fish took a distance to observe how the other ship exploded. Plasma disruptions, warp core breach… Oh, my most beloved, it was a glorious sight.
It is common sense, tahkmar, that it takes balance to walk, and balance to speak. To give and to get is still to have, and nothing is ever free.
Questions for the children:
■ Why didn’t Manilan believe the alien the first time?
> It offered help for free, and nothing is ever free.
■ Why did Manilan believe the alien the second time?
> It said helping others was its own reward; for the given help, the alien was taking something in return, but without disclosing what it was.
■ Why was the silver ship blown up?
> By helping repair Manilan’s ship, the aliens were learning more about Cardassian technology and couldn’t be allowed to leave with that knowledge.
■ What is it that we learned from this story?
Words:
Tahkmar – n.「tender moment」Beloved, darling, calling to the dear
Nildasi – n.「sweet scale」A tender calling to the dear, children and youth especially
Souanja – n. A species of non-food fish
Sahu – tr. v.「to have – i: to give – si: to get」1.(sahu) Sahu rhe, I have. 2.(isahu) Sahu irhe, I give. 3.(si’sahu) Sahu si’rhe, I receive.
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