Lost in Translation
Posted on January 11th, 2011 by Kathryn Harper

They left, but not by spaceflight. That had to be a mistranslation, but she had checked it repeatedly.

Kate Harper paused a moment in her translation of the stone pillar to stare up at Xothos, the gas giant that dominated Gencodia’s dim violet sky, as if the answer could be read in its swirling cloudtops. She had initially read the word as ‘ascended,’ but after a few moments of thought, the notion that it could also mean ‘transcended’ came to mind. Transcended what, though?

Part of the difficulty in deciphering the Gencodian language came from how figurative it seemed to be, with even the simplest, most mundane concepts expressed in the equivalent of flowery poetry. Some degree of that would be expected in what appeared to be a commemoration of the civilization’s great accomplishments, she imagined, but this seemed excessive, and it certainly didn’t make translating from scratch any easier. Still, this was the most beautiful language Kate had ever encountered and her appreciation for its creators grew the longer she read.

Her studious gaze returned to the pillar’s inscription and Kate resumed her work, determined to discover the ultimate fate of the Gencodians.