Planet that was accidentally stepped on

Totab Gund shifted his cells to warp around the lever, pausing for a moment as longer cells high in fibrous collagen extend through his mass to solidify his hand. Attaining the proper rigidity, he pulled the lever down very slowly so as not to jar the other crew members with the deceleration. At the same time he solidified his other hand, pressing the eccotransmiter button in order to gather everyone to the control room.

Gathered around a small cube, thirty or so amorphous humanoid shapes gathered. To a human the room would seem completely silent, but to them the space was saturated with waves of multiple frequencies. A human would also not hear the supersonic buzz that allowed them to sense their surroundings by echolocation, or comprehend the positrons they shot at each other from a small supercharged mass of pseudocells in their central nervous area, compromising what we would compare to speech.

Over the cube small round shapes shifted in the air. First the entire solar system, then just a single ball; Earth. Existing as a small amount of metal ions suspended by a magnetic field, the shape provided a detailed and precise topographical representation of the planet. Despite looking to be a sphere of about 5 inches in diameter, the beings could sense Earth's every fissure and crevice; even the numerous life forms which roamed its surface. One of these organisms in particular caused the beings to buzz such that the waves were beginning to collide with each other and become unintelligible. After a particularly strong remark from the CO constructively interfered with an objection from a lesser captain, Gund was forced to jump out of the way in order to avoid the potentially harmful incident ray. Rather cross, he immediately silenced the room by throwing his hand on the floor; to which the rest of the room quitted down as a sign of respect.

If the conversation from this point could be translated into language that humans could understand, it would proceed thus:

"Totab Coutar you fool, your unawareness of your surroundings is going to kill someone. And Totab Duran, know your place! From this point forward, only I will talk unless I address you directly. I know most of you are not used to being in a room with so many others so we will let this mishap pass, but be warry in future meetings. I apologize to the Cortin for not forewarning you of this, I know your species is most sensitive to large frequencies; however, this urgent gathering was necessary as you can plainly see we have discovered an intelligent life form. Yes CO?"

"What leads you to believe that they are intelligent your excellence Totab Gund?"

"I think it is fairly obvious, but in order to clarify for everyone, Cortin Touhinti please present the evidence."

"Thank you Totab Gund. Let me preface by indicating the morphology of the life on this planet. It seems that most of the organisms have a relatively rigid cell structure. By their movements I can deduce that their bodies comprise of a solid support with more flexible tissue surrounding it. They cannot shift individual cells as we do, but only move certain parts of their body, similar to a hinge."

"There are many lifeforms on the planet, however only two or three that are of immediate interest. The first is, of course, these bipedal organisms you see spread across the world. It is evident that they have advanced society by the way they are interacting with each other. At first glance, you can tell that there are centralized areas of culture in each topographical area, these large rectangular structures you see are not part of the natural landscape. Based on these constructs I sense, I can tell that these flying objects and also these few orbiting the planet are also of this species making. They have effectively completed niche construction of the entire planet. Although it is not likely that they possess the same intelligence we do, since they have not effectively colonized any of these other planets, I would be wary of their technology which may be different and even exceed ours in some ways. Though there is a large amount of frequencies being emitted from the planet, I do not believe they communicate the same way we do. As far as I can hypothesize, their manner of speech comprises of three modes: Gesturing with their arm-like appendages, touching each other in certain ways, and giving each other objects of specific shapes which carry complex meanings. I cannot make anything more of it, so we will likely be unable to speak to them in non-physical presence. Lastly, it seems that this is the only intelligent species on the planet. If this is so I would recommend caution in contact so as not to frighten them."

"What About the other species you mentioned?" asked Gund

"They are less consequential but still interesting. There are a few aquatic animals that may communicate in a manner similar to us, however only one seems particularly intelligent, and even so does not seem to have the capacity for conversation. The third species I mentioned is only for precaution. They too use echolocation, and based on their morphology I believe the frequencies emitted by the Cortin would greatly irritate them, likely causing them to attack. These animals only live in remote caves, however, so if we do land they are easily avoidable."

Silence predominated the room for a moment.

"That is all. thank you", finished Touhinti , somewhat awkwardly.

"So, what is our plan of action?" asked the CO

"Dammit Totab Coutar, the speaking rule!"

"Apologies, your excellence Totab."

"Don't respond, just silence your emitter."

Silence again held for a moment.

"Good... oh." Gund paused at the sudden disturbance.

The room stared at the hovering globe as small mushroom shapes spread across the surface, expanding the sphere's diameter slightly before imploding, leaving scattered clouds of dust and bits of rock.

"What. Just. Happened." Remarked Gund.

"I think the radiation from our positrons set of some kind of chemical reaction.." Touhinti began.

"Did I address you?"

"You asked a question"

"Yes, but it wasn't addressed to you."

Touhinti did not respond.

"Good, you're catching on. Well... back to your stations everyone. The next galaxy is a few hours away."

And so the ship full of Totab and Cortin continued in search of other intelligent life, that through the perspective of other conscious organisms they might gain a deeper understanding of the universe.