Away Team

“Ah! You really have to see this, sir” Said the Alien Technologies officer… he led the Captain over to an unprepossessing heap of rags, which the Captain realised was a native of the planet only when her AT officer made some guttural noises and exchanged some small pieces of metal. The heap of rags moved towards a bench on which was a device of some kind, made out of metal and plant materials, and lowered itself onto some kind of support in front of it… various nasty-looking limbs emerged from the rags and started operating the device. Parts moved cyclically, bits moved up and down repeatedly, the effect was mesmerising, but inexplicable.

“What is it doing? Praying? Is this that religion thing you lot keep banging on about?” asked the Captain.

“It’s called s-e-w-i-ng,” explained the AT officer. “I want you to look at the machinery — it’s called a sewing machine — but look at the complexity! We thought they were, well, animals, but look inside the thing! It’s hard to believe there isn’t some kind of intelligence at work”

The AT officer waved at the native and made more noises. The native made various movements and then part of the machine lifted to reveal completely unexpected marvels, a glittering maze of highly polished metal parts… The captain looked at the machinery… for a backward race it was stunning. As the native slowly turned a handle, pieces of metal moved and meshed and parted, repeatedly in an intricate symphony of mechanical perfection.

The Captain was fascinated by the machine’s insides, but still didn’t understand what it was all for. She wanted to see the process again… “Tell that thing to put it back together again,” said the Captain. “Make it sew!”