Humans are Weird: Color Vision
So, I am learning about color perception in one of my classes, and it turns out the ability to see and understand color is more complex than we often think despite the limited range on the electromagnetic spectrum between 400-700 nanometers. So, I thought I would write a little story about how human color vision is weird.
The war with the Gnar’lack had reached a critical turning point. The Finnerian council was at its wits end. They were losing the war, and badly. The Unified Galactic Assembly had sent aid in the form of additional troops to supplement their own, but all efforts had been for not, and the assisting soldiers had been withdrawn home at the order of their home worlds.
The Finneri were on their own with no chance of aid left in the galaxy and their spirits broken. Soon the last transport ship would be sent off world with their children in an attempt to preserve their species.
The likelihood of which seemed slim.
General Lin-Ar was camped with what was left of his men along the southern polar border waiting for, what was likely to be, their last and final battle.
If this last ditch plan didn’t work, they were doomed to extinction at the hand of their greatest enemy. The world would be overrun by the Gnar’lak and they would become only a memory in distant histories.
“General?” The radio signal intercepted him on his posterior receptors, and he turned to face the speaker. Infrared and thermal sensors within his eyes picked up the spot as a glowing radiant beacon of heat.
“Commander.”
“Are we ready?”
“We have to be.”
The two turned themselves to the command’s last interstellar communication tower and began the process.
“What happens if none answer?”
“Then we give up our last hope.” There was a long silence as the two contemplated those words before
“How do we know the stories are even true?”
General Lin-Ar paused to think about that for a moment. Truth be told he wasn’t really sure if the stories were true. This far out on the border of the galaxy, stories of humans were still more myth than fact, but what other choice did he have. It he had to choose between a long shot and giving up, there was only one option.
“Send the transmission.”
The commander gave a nod stepping up to the tower to input the message, and there they waited with bated breath. The infrared monitor on the far wall remained silent for a horrible moment before bursting into an array of blinding intensity.
The shape sitting there was so blinding, the cameras were having trouble adjusting to the signal.
“This is Captain Vir of the USS Stabby responding to an urgent SOS from the planet…. Uh…. Gnf…. I can’t pronounce that.”
Relief washed over the general as he moved to the screen. The translator was working.
“So the stories are true.” Came the static response.
“True and serious as a heart attack, General…. Anyway what can I do you for?”
The human spoke oddly. From what he heard they were supposed to be a barbaric and warlike race, but as far as he could tell the human was on the far side of nonthreatening even a little spacey. His hopes began to dwindle.
“We are the Finneri, and we are close to extinction. For over millions of years we have been at war with the Gnar’lak. Despite all of our efforts, we have failed to hold them back. I represent what is left of my race begging you for assistance. You are our last hope.”
“Well S***, that does sound bad. I warn you, General. I represent only one ship. I don’t know if there is much we can do.”
“If all the stories I have heard are correct, than I would rather take that chance.”
“Hm…. Well, how could I say no to that? Give us a day.” The com went dead
General Lin-ar paused in confusion, “He had expected a measure of resistance. Any race would have. To help a people on the brink of destruction against overwhelming odds was reason for concern, but the human had agreed almost out of hand recklessly agreeing to a suicide mission without knowing anything about the situation.
Why would anyone do that?
What had they gotten themselves into?
Perhaps the quick agreement had just been a cultural construct. Maybe the humans would never show up, but personal discussion required that they agree in order to avoid offending. Only time would tell.
***
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