Singh and Sullivan beamed back in agreement. The three of them could barely contain their excitement as they stood in the Xanti Great Hall awaiting the commencement of the ceremony.

And they had valid reason to be excited. Just that morning, Missionary Command on Earth had commended Captain Yu for the remarkable progress his expedition was making with the Xanti. Most missions to other worlds had failed, at least initially, with many of them involving violent confrontations. Those missions that were successful usually took many agonizing years to establish. Yet here on Xant, after only a few months since first contact, Yu and two of his senior officers were standing in the Great Hall about to take a monumental step in their mission. The Xanti were about to bestow upon them the greatest honor they knew ; the rite of Pashu.

The term "great" referred to the Hall’s importance, not to its size. Roughly round in shape, the chamber was only about 10 meters in diameter. Leading into the chamber was a tunnel, just barely large enough to allow a man to walk through. The chamber lay somewhere in the middle of one the Xanti’s mounds. These mounds were the only "buildings" that the Xanti had. They were constructed by simply piling earth into massive mounds. The Xanti then burrowed through these mounds like gophers, creating networks of tunnels and chambers.

But, to the Xanti, the Great Hall was no ordinary hole in the ground. Whenever the Xanti referred to it they spoke in awe and with great reverence. As the three humans waited they looked around at the brightly colored cloths that decorated the walls and ceiling. This was exceptional, as the Xanti were a utilitarian race who had little time for adornment or decoration. Even the burning torches on the walls had elaborately carved holders. In the flickering light the three humans could also see a pile of large pillows to one side of the chamber opposite the entrance. Sullivan surmised that these were intended for the comfort of the human visitors; to sit or lie on.

As the senior xenologist, Sullivan was arguably the most important member of the missionary expedition to this world. It was his job to study the Xanti culture, learn how to communicate with them and establish contact. This was no small feat. The Xanti were not even vaguely anthropoid. They were misshapen blobs resembling lumps of gray clay. When they were stationary there were no discernable external features. Lacking any true appendages, they moved by rippling their outer skin with internal fluid movement. The outer skin could also form tentacle-like pseudo-appendages from virtually anywhere on the skin surface, as required. At the end of these tentacles the Xanti could form highly dexterous pseudo-fingers for detailed work. Food could be ingested and waste excreted at any point on the skin surface.

As far as Hatani, the expedition’s senior xeno-biologist, could determine, the Xanti had no sensory organs, as such, nor did they even have specific areas on their bodies where sensory receptors were organized. Rather, receptors for all the Xanti’s senses were evenly distributed over the entire body surface. Aside from being tactual, the Xanti skin could sense sight, sound and taste/smell. Although probably not as keen as human sight, the Xanti’s sense of sight was highly developed permitting the creatures to form a complex image of its entire surroundings at any given time.

It took Sullivan weeks to figure out that the Xanti communicate using a complex combination of visual images and sounds. Sullivan had been able to observe the visual communications, which consisted of series of ripplings on the surface of the Xanti’s skin. Fortunately, this seemed to be the dominant form of communication, therefore Sullivan was able to decipher much of the Xanti’s basic language. The Xanti’s auditory capacity was difficult for Sullivan and Hatani to fathom, so much of the subtleties and nuances of Xanti speech were beyond human comprehension at this point.

"So, have you been able to figure out any more about this Pashu business?" Captain Yu asked Sullivan.

"I’m afraid not," answered Sullivan. Whenever this ceremony was discussed, the expedition members needed a term to refer to, and so Sullivan had invented the word "Pashu".

"I do know that it is the greatest honor. Only the most revered amongst them are selected to be so honored. Whenever they mention someone who has received the rite of Pashu, they speak of them with great respect and awe."

"Well whatever Pashu entails, it’s good news for us," spoke up Officer Singh. "This means that we will be far ahead of schedule in our mission."

As chief religion officer, Singh was naturally more concerned than anyone in the progress of their mission. Ultimately it was she who would have to answer to Missionary Command as to the success of the mission. She was therefore relieved that they had reached this all-important turning point of having gained acceptance in Xanti society. Now her work as the expedition’s chief missionary could truly begin.

In Earth’s crusade to convert all alien innocents, the steps that every mission took were essentially the same. First there was contact, followed by a prolonged period of establishing communications. For successful missions the next step was to gain the alien’s acceptance. Once this was established, the expedition’s missionaries could then start educating the aliens in the ways of the One God, which would eventually lead to conversion.

Normally a mission would take at least a year to reach the point Of acceptance but Yu’s Expedition #512 had accomplished it in only five months. Singh was even more thrilled that they were not only being accepted as peers but were being held in the highest regard in Xanti society. This would make the process of conversion all the easier.

If we were Christian missionaries of a few centuries ago, thought Singh wryly, we would be slaughtering these poor beings right now, just to establish our superiority. Such barbarism was, of course, inconceivable to Singh. Missionaries today would only resort to violence in self-defense. In fact, the primary goal of Earth’s interplanetary missions was to spread peace throughout the universe and to instill non-violence as a central value in developing species on other planets. By following the ways of the One God, alien civilizations could avoid the history that humankind had suffered; thousands of years of war and senseless blood-shed.

Singh often wondered why humankind had taken so long to find the One God. Ironically, the event that was ultimately the catalyst for the Holy Revolution it was, in fact, a war - the Great Jihad of the twenty-first century. The first half of that century witnessed a world-wide resurgence in religious fundamentalism. The rise of Islam was probably the most notable example of this, but fundamentalism also took hold in Sikhism, Hinduism and several Christian denominations, to name just a few. The world Became divided more along religious lines than political ones. When the rise of Islam culminated in the Great Jihad it triggered a global religious war. So devastating was that war, that people from every corner of the world were understandably disillusioned with the many organized religions of the time. The time was ripe, therefore, for the emergence of the One True Church whose adherents professed that it was the divisive nature of traditional organized religions that was the root cause of many of the world’s woes. This new religion contained elements of virtually every major religion of the time; Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, etc.

However, its proponents taught that the only way to achieve peace on Earth was For humanity to cease dividing into religious camps and to come together under the One God.

This was a simple message, but a very compelling one. So compelling in fact that the Holy Revolution quickly took the world by storm. Within fifty years following the end of the Great Jihad, all religions except the One True Church were eradicated. Secular governments remained but they were all answerable to the Church, which united and controlled the world.

With world peace attained, the Church set its sights on the stars. If intelligent species could be converted to the One God early in the development of their civilizations, the Church leaders maintained, then they could avoid the horrors of wars caused by religious divisiveness.Ultimately, the whole universe could be united in harmony under the One God.

Small interplanetary ships known as "scouts" would search for and Identify planets that had intelligent species that were in the early stages of their development. Then missionary expeditions, such as Captain Yu’s, would be dispatched. Through reconnaissance work prior to contact, the expedition’s xenologist, who was like an anthropologists for alien civilizations, would determine whether communications could be established. If so, then the expedition’s crew made contact and went to work.

Singh wondered what would happen if humankind were to encounter a Species that was more advanced than itself. (What if they had not found the One God? Could there be an interplanetary jihad?) So far, however, that had not happened. The most advanced alien races that had been discovered, which included the Xanti, were in their equivalent of the Stone Age.

Yu looked the room and gave an involuntary shiver. Despite his enthusiasm he could help feeling somewhat disconcerted. He was slightly claustrophobic and these underground chambers quite frankly gave him the creeps.

"How long do you think they'll keep us waiting?" he asked. Unlike Sullivan and Singh who spent much of their day off-ship doing field work, Yu was not used to spending prolonged periods of time in his spacesuit. He hoped this ceremony would be brief so that he could get back to the comfort and "freedom" of his ship.

"I don't really know," answered Sullivan. "Time-related concepts have been difficult to decipher. I'm still working on it. But I'm sure they won't be long. I know they consider it impolite to keep someone waiting."

Sullivan then turned to Singh and asked her for an opinion on the Religious significance of the Pashu rite. The conversation became too technical for Yu's liking so he turned away and started to walk towards the nearest wall. Slightly bored, he examined the wall for any details that could prove interesting.

The surface of the smoke-blackened wall was very rough. Being utilitarian in nature, the Xanti would have simply carved out the chamber to the desired size and then simply left the walls as they were. This "no-frills" approach to construction and design gave the appearance that the Xanti were more primitive than they really were. Captain Yu himself had had doubts when they first arrived.

"They seem no more than overgrown gophers," he once remarked to Sullivan after viewing a series of mounds that comprised a Xanti "village".

"Don't let looks fool you, Captain," Sullivan replied. "They have discovered fire and they cultivate crops. This is clearly an early stage in the development of a civilized race."

"But they don't even acknowledge our presence," grumbled Yu.

Yu was right. When the expedition first attempted contact, the Xanti just acted as if the humans were not there. The Xanti would walk around the humans if they happened to be in their way but otherwise seemed completely oblivious to the fact that there were foreign beings in their village. Speaking and making other sounds in an attempt to communicate also elicited no response.

"They must communicate in some other way," concluded Sullivan, who then set about experimenting with several forms of sensory stimuli. It was a major breakthrough when he discovered the Xanti "body language". By recording Xanti bodies in "action", and through the use of computer simulations, Sullivan was eventually able to piece together the rudiments of the Xanti's language. Sullivan then designed himself a simple hand-held communicator. It was a small monitor, not much larger than the palm of his hand. On the reverse side Sullivan could key the message which he wished to convey. On the monitor was displayed a computer-generated image of a Xanti body. The communicator would translate Sullivan's message and display the appropriate body language using the monitor's Xanti image. It was crude but it worked.

The Xanti suddenly took notice of the human's presence as soon as Sullivan was able to "speak" to them using the communicator. The floodgates were opened and the humans and the Xanti quickly learned a great deal about each other in short period of time.

"They love to talk," laughed Sullivan. "In fact, I'm convinced that they literally never stop talking. It is hard for us to understand but the surface of their bodies are constantly in motion, which means that they are constantly communicating. And they can simultaneously carry on several conversations at once. If one Xanti is in the presence of, let's say six other Xanti, then he can engage in six conversations at once. An of course, each of the other Xanti can also speak with several other Xanti at that the same time, and so on and so on. It's just.,." Sullivan searched for the words, "hell I don't know, it's Just incredible."

Sullivan, soon discovered that, despite outward appearances, the Xanti were socially quite advanced and formed complex social structures. Not only was there an established society in each Xanti village but there was also a form of social network which linked all of the Xanti village, which numbered in the dozens.

The one thing that the Xanti did not do was fight. They had no weapons and there was no evidence of there having been any wars. Sullivan found it extremely difficult to communicate with the Xanti on this topic and he concluded that violence was simply an unknown concept them.

As Yu listened to Sullivan and Singh chattering excitedly away in the middle of the Great Hall about the meaning of Pashu, he smiled to himself. Sullivan was thrilled about what they were discovering here on Xant and his enthusiasm was contagious. Even Missionary Command on Earth was excited about the flourishing relationship that was developing between the Xanti and the member of Expedition #512.

There were patches of orange that covered some parts of the wall in front of Yu. As he peered closer he could make out that the orange patches were some form of growth (like fungus, perhaps?). He noticed that there were tiny insect-like creatures crawling amongst the orange growths. This reminded him that the flora and fauna of this planet still held many mysteries, which was particularly frustrating for Hatani.

"There are many unique features here that I've never seen," the xeno-biologist had once reported to Yu in the early days of the expedition.

"For one thing there seems to be no predation anywhere on this planet. In other words, all of the animal species are herbivorous. That probably explains why the Xanti are so passive and fearless. They have no fear because there is nothing in this world for them to fear.

"But, that isn't the most baffling part, Captain. It's their reproduction that I don't get. The Xanti are genderless; there are no sexes. Furthermore, they have no external genitalia or any internal sexual organs ; at least none that I can find. So how do they reproduce? Even if they are hermaphroditic they should have some form of sexual organs. And it's not just the Anti ; none of the animal species we have examined have sexual organs.

"And how is genetic material exchanged? There has to be an interchange of genetic material ; how does it happen? There's no sexual intercourse so how does a transfer of materials take place? It's such a frustrating mystery. This is the strangest alien fauna I've encountered.

"But, on the other hand, it's these strange circumstances that account for the Xanti's gentleness and docility. Without sex or genders there is no need to compete with each other for mates. Therefore, the Xanti are not prone to competitiveness and aggression the way that terrestrial male animals are. Combine that with the fact that the Xanti are neither hunters nor hunted, and you have the makings of a completely violence-free society."

And isn't that what we're all striving for, mused Captain Yu, still examining the tiny, scurrying creatures in the orange growth. Maybe there are things that we could learn from the Xanti, instead of vice versa.

Yu quickly dismissed the notion as being heretical, and silently prayed to the One God for forgiveness. The goal of Missionary Command was to fulfill the Church's edict that the light of the One God should shine in all corners of the universe. No matter how fascinating the Xanti's culture was, the members of the expedition must never lose sight of the fact that their ultimate goal was to convert the Xanti.

But to hear Sullivan speak of them, the Xanti were fascinating. They lacked any physical documents or records but their oral history was incredibly rich (although the term "oral" was a misnomer given the Xanti form of communication). A Xanti could recount the exploits of an ancestor, even one from many, many generations ago, as vividly as if they were the speaker's own memories. The Xanti culture was also steeped in mythology. The Xanti believed in deities and in realms beyond the physical. They did not seem to engage in religious rituals, however.

Except, that is, for the rite of Pashu.

Somewhere behind him Yu could hear Sullivan and Singh continuing their discussion on that very topic.

"So you don't believe that we are deities to them?" Singh was asking.

"No, absolutely not," replied Sullivan. "For one thing, to them deities are not of the physical realm, and we clearly are. But also, they've clearly accepted us a being one of them. I don't mean like them – I mean they consider us Xanti. I know it sounds crazy given our appearance, but you've got to understand that for them communication is everything. If you can communicate with them, then you are them."

"So how do you think Pashu fits in?" queried Singh.

"Well it's certainly consistent with the fact that they consider us Xanti. It is only those in Xanti society that are held in the highest esteem that are selected. I've asked what qualities a Xanti should exhibit to be selected, and the reply I got was vague. Well, you know that our comprehension of their language is, at best, very basic. But anyway, as far as I could tell there's a variety of reasons why a Xanti would be held in such high esteem as to be honored with Pashu. You may be the strongest person in the Village, or be an accomplished farmer, or have a strong ability to contact the spiritual world. For us, it seems to be our knowledge and our stories of far-off places. Oh, but they love our stories."

"Okay, but what does the ceremony entail?" asked Singh.

"That I just cannot figure that out," admitted Sullivan. "I do know that it's a formal recognition of our stature in their society. And, I think there will be other Xanti being honored at the same time."

As Sullivan and Singh continued to speculate, Yu found himself again losing interest. Scanning the wall again, he noticed some small holes down low where the wall became the floor. As he looked around, Yu realized that the lower part of the wall was pock-marked with these holes all around the chamber. As Yu crouched down to take a closer look, he noticed that there were all roughly the same size - about 5 centimeters in diameter.

He also noticed that there were small, lime-green creatures popping in and out of these holes.

Yu peered closely at one creature that was close to his feet. It had just emerged from a hole and was now lying stationary about 30 centimeters from the hole entrance. About 10 centimeters long, the creature had slimy green skin and was shaped like a cucumber. It had no external features at all, but given the way it had scurried out of the hole Yu figured it probably had some form of small legs on its underside.

As he examined the first green creature, another one emerged from the same hole. It stopped just outside the hole entrance. For a few seconds there was no movement from either creature. Then Yu gasped as a startling transformation took place at the front end of the second creature. A hole appeared in its skin and rapidly grew wider until the whole front end was opened up into a huge gaping hole. The opening was much wider than the circumference of the creatures and the inner edge of it was lined with small, pointed protrusions (teeth?). Then the creature moved with amazing speed, pounced on the first creature and gobbled it up whole.

"In His holy name!" muttered Yu, flinching backwards.

The second creature had completely consumed the first, the way a Terrestrial snake would consume a whole animal.

But no snake could do that, thought Yu. Snakes don't gobble down whole animals with lightning speed like that. And besides, that first creature was the same size as him.

Sure enough, the second creature, which now sat motionless, was bloated up to twice its original size.

Ugh, thought Yu, what's it doing now?

The creature was going through a series of convulsions that shook its entire body. At the same time its skin started to look glossy as it become covered in a wet-looking, clear coating.

"Sullivan, Singh, come here. You've got to see this."

The two officers quickly marched over.

"What is that?" asked Singh with disgust.

The Captain related the events that he had just witnessed. By the time he had finished explaining, the coating on the creatures skin, which was now much thicker than before, started to turn milky and opaque.

"I think it's undergoing some kind of metamorphosis," commented Sullivan. "You'd better let Hatani know about this."

"Yes, you're right," said Yu, standing up. He chinned his in-helmet controls to hail the ship.

"What's it doing now?" asked Hatani over the radio after Yu had explained the situation.

"I don't know," replied Yu. "It's just a pure white blob now. We can't see what's going on inside."

"Okay, well let me know if there any changes," said Hatani. "Hmm, this really gives me an idea. I want to cross-reference some other data we have here in the lab. I'll get right back to you."

"What do you think he means?" asked Yu.

"I'm not sure" answered Sullivan, hesitantly. "It may have to do with…"

Sullivan was interrupted by a Xanti entering the chamber. It always amazed Yu how the Xanti glided effortlessly as they moved as if they were hovering a few centimeters above the ground. The Xanti slid over towards the three expedition members and stopped in the middle of the room. As usual, its skin was rippling with activity. Yu knew that it was just "talking" but the image was always disconcerting.

("It's like a thousand rats writhing in a gray bag," one crew member once quipped.)

Sullivan was staring at their host intently.

How does Sullivan do it? wondered Yu. How can anyone make sense of that?

As Sullivan watched, the Xanti also made gentle swishing sounds on the ground below him. These were part of the message being conveyed, but they were subtleties that were beyond Sullivan's comprehension.

After a while Sullivan communicated back to their host using his communicator.

The Xanti and Sullivan communicated back and forth for a few minutes. The Xanti then glided towards the tunnel and left.

"Well, Sullivan?" asked Yu.

"Um, well I was right. There are other Xanti going to be honored today. I think he said they'll be here soon."

Yu could see that Sullivan was knitting his brow in consternation.

"What is it? What's bothering you?" demanded the Captain.

"It's something else that he said," continued Sullivan. "I was asking for more details about what happens during Pashu. I couldn't follow what he was saying but it was something about children; something about the making of children."

"But that doesn't make sense," interjected Singh. "What do we have to do with the making of children?"

Singh was interrupted by Hatani’s voice over their radios.

"Captain, I've got it!" Hatani blurted out excitedly.

"Got what?" demanded Yu, irritably. He did not feel like talking to Hatani just at that moment.

"Well, when you told me about that creature eating another, it made no sense to me at first. There are no carnivorous animals on Xant, let alone cannibals. Then I thought, What if it wasn't to do with eating but to do with reproduction? I've checked all the other data we've compiled and it makes sense."

"What makes sense? What are you talking about?" asked a bewildered Yu.

"What you witnessed, Captain, was a mating. Once a creature is ready to reproduce they select a mate and swallow it. That triggers a reproductive stage in which the two bodies are completely broken down. The genetic material from the two bodies are then combined. The former two bodies cease to exist and a new creature, or I would venture to guess several new creatures, can then be created. I'm so glad we've finally solved the mystery, now we can help."

"Wait, wait," Sullivan cut in, "what about the Xanti. Is this how they reproduce?"

"I would guess that any animal species more complex than a microbe would engage in this in one form or another. So, yes, I imagine that Xanti reproduction is very similar."

"So they aren't as gentle as we thought," muttered Yu.

"Oh, I think they are, Captain," said Sullivan. "Don't forget that this is reproduction. It is not an act of violence. The two mates are probably both willing and happy to engage in it. In fact, help?"

Sullivan trailed off as both he and you stared at Singh who had suddenly gone very pale.

"Listen," said Singh hoarsely. "What if only the finest among them are permitted to mate? What better way to ensure the survival of your race than to only allow the finest qualities to be passed down? And what if they ritualized the whole thing in a ceremony?"

"Pashu," whispered Sullivan. Then, more loudly, he said, "Captain, we've got to get out of here, fast."

"But why? I still don't see…" stammered Yu.

"Don't you remember?" Sullivan was now shouting. "They think we're one of them. They think we're Xanti!"

"Oh, Holy One God!" blurted out the Captain. His heart was pounding in his chest and panic was rising up inside him. The walls felt as if they were moving, closing in on him. With great difficulty, he could only breathe in short gasps. "Quick," he managed to croak, "Let's move out..."

The three members of Expedition #512 froze in horror at the sight of what they saw entering the chamber. It was like looking into the gaping mouth of a great white shark. But it was bigger, much bigger. And it moved so fast...

As Yu started to scream he could hear Singh saying, "Oh Holy God, I am not worthy, I am not worthy."

The Xanti, apparently, did not agree.

About the author, Mark Brennan:

Mark Brennan tells us he was born in England but moved to Canada as a child. He has lived most of his life in the Vancouver area. After attending university and receiving degrees in business and law, he embarked on a career in municipal administration. However, his first love has always been writing - especially science fiction. He only recently decided to try getting his work published. Anotherealm was his first sale. He has another story appearing in Jackhammer E-zine in the near future. He currently lives in the tiny village of Harrison Hot Springs (Sasquatch country!) with his wife and three kids.