Marko and the Dali'i: A Cosmic Test of Faith

The Dali'i.

A race that left their home planet in search of a new world to inhabit. By the time they reach Earth, it is no longer inhabitable. The Dali'i can live on any type of oxygenated world, but humans cannot. They knew this. But they did not care.

The Dali'i are a strange species. They are a diminutive people- perhaps two feet tall and no more than forty pounds- with long, delicate fingers and large bulbous eyes that see in all directions at once. Their bodies are soft and moist, their hair frayed like cotton candy, and so are their minds. To be around them is to be filled with wonder and joy, but also fear- for the Dali'i have a deep appreciation for death and pain as art forms. It's why they came to Earth in the first place.

It was some kind of twisted fad among the Dali'i to hunt great beasts and fight wars- or 'piete rituals', as they called them- on other planets, where they could experience something new and different and most importantly dangerous every few years. The Dali'i were never good at being adventurous alone; so before long they would organize into packs of thousands or even tens of thousands, fleeing the boredom of their homeworlds to seek out worlds in which to engage in mass slaughter amongst the stars.

They had heard there were great beasts on Earth, so they came through our solar system on their way to Jupiter or Saturn or wherever else they were headed, only to find that all of the great beasts were gone from our planet after we killed them all off when we grew too advanced for such things. So instead of piete rituals, they just lived here for a while instead. And then... well... some events transpired that caused them to leave again rather suddenly several decades ago, leaving us to ponder why they abandoned Earth and returned to their own worn-out planet without considering the future of humanity on a potentially uninhabitable world.

Anyway, now I'm stranded on one of their ships because apparently my only hope of survival is whatever these creatures want me to do next!

"Wait, wait, wait," I said, "Can we talk about this?"

The ship much resembled other planet-based vessels I'd seen in my travels around Earth with my old brigade before the invasion took place: massive and flat-bottomed with rounded edges everywhere like an upside-down bowl; thrusters along the bottom edge at regular intervals; two landing pads jutting out from the sides to hold shuttles during launch or retrieval operations; docking ports lining both walls; tiny windows running all along the outside edges so that people inside could look out into space without having to use any kind of airlock or vacuum suit; and a big open cargo bay door across the front that could be closed if necessary but was normally kept open when traveling between systems so that extra supplies could be brought aboard without having to detach from the ship itself (although this particular ship had no docking ports lining its walls because it was not designed for interplanetary travel). The most significant difference between this ship and others I'd seen before was that there was no crew aboard it: just me, standing in the middle of an empty cargo bay facing down three Dali'i who surrounded me dressed in uniforms emblazoned with gold braid and blue sashes.

The leader was a short male by the name of Ullu'hue (or some variation thereof), distinguished by his red sash indicating he had already completed at least one piete ritual in his lifetime (there were four levels of accomplishment among ascetic warriors such as Ullu'hue: white sash for those who had not yet taken part in a piete ritual; yellow sash for those who participated in minor rituals, such as hunting polar bears on Mars; orange sash for those who fought tribal wars against computer simulations; red sash for those who engaged in major biomechanical battles against competing sects on alien worlds). He stood as tall as he possibly could while speaking through an interpreter device built into his throat, made from a series of artificial muscles (think C-3PO from Star Wars), "I am Ullu'hue," he said, "Son of Ullu'huem." Then he paused for dramatic effect before continuing, "And I am your guide!"

"Oh boy!" exclaimed another female Dali'i woman, covered head to toe in ropes and powders and metals adorning her body (as befits an acolyte awaiting her rite of passage into adulthood) by the name of Zukyctzan (or some variation thereof). "You're gonna love this, Marko! It's gonna be awesome!" she said enthusiastically while bouncing up and down with excitement (as befits someone who has yet to learn how mundane life can be when you spend most days working towards something that doesn't exist). "Everything's gonna change now! You'll