Summary: The Alien Ship
Kin and Tesa, along with a team of explorers, arrive on a new planet in a
spaceship called Voyager to search for new forms of life. An alien creature,
who was locked up by the explorers, captures Kin when he goes close to it.
The story begins with Tesa, Captain Tesjak and Group Commander Jad Ur
having just seen Kin being captured through monitors in the control room.
Captain Tesjak immediately asks Commander Jad Ur to take charge and look
into the matter. However, he does not want Captain Tesjak to go near the alien
but she should send the robots. Tesa is appalled to hear that her father was
willing to destroy Kin if it was required. Captain Tesjak, however, feels that
Kin might have to be sacrificed in order to save the lives of the three thousand
people onboard the spaceship. Suddenly, there is a tremor and an object
appears on the monitor screens. It seems to be a spaceship. Soon, one monitor
shows creatures floating around and Tesa realises that those creatures had
come to rescue the alien creature, which had been captured by the explorers.
In the next part, we see Kin, who has been taken away by the creature.
Initially, Kin is very confused but he gradually understands that the creature is
trying to communicate with him through his tentacle, using pictures. When
Kin wants to know what had happened to the creature, he gets the answer in
the form of pictures. Slowly, Kin gets to know what had happened to the alien
as well as his feelings. It is a great learning experience for Kin as he realises
that people need to be ready to accept new things and that if their minds are
closed and are unwilling to accept new ideas, they will get hurt.
In this science fiction text, humans are initially shown as being harsh to the
alien creature and then they are shown (in the form of Kin) to be accepting of
the alien. This is a departure from the usual hostile relationship between
humans and aliens.
UNIT 9: THE ALIEN SHIP
Embedded Questions
1. No, Captain Tesjak does not want Jad Ur to go into the zoo to save Kin.
2. Kin would have to be destroyed if Jad Ur could not get him out of the way while trying to deal
with the alien creature.
3. A spaceship was partly blocking Aldebaran.
4. Kin has been taken by the alien creature.
5. Kin realised that the creature meant no harm. It was only trying to communicate with them.
6. Kin can see and feel exactly like the creature as the creature is communicating its thoughts
through its tentacle.
7. Being open and ready to accept others’ ideas is essential for understanding others.
Comprehension
A. 1. When Kin was carried into the shadows, Captain Tesjak, Tesa’s father, immediately hit the
emergency button. He turned to Group Commander Jad Ur and said that he wanted someone to
quickly go to the place from where Kin had been captured to tell the robots what to do.
2. The “force-field” was an invisible shield for protection. It needed to be up so that neither could
people go too close to the creature nor could the creature get out of there and harm the people.
3. The robots were supposed to be in the zoo
4. The officer was not happy to see the dark object. He felt apprehensive of what that might lead to.
The dark object was a spaceship.
5. Tesa felt that the creatures had come to get the alien creature they had captured from
Aldebaran 4.
6. Kin realised that to communicate people’s minds need to be open, ready to accept new and
strange things. If not—if they closed their minds to outside thoughts—then they could be hurt.
B. 1. a. Tesa said these words to her father, Captain Tesjak.
b. Captain Tesjak had just given permission to destroy Kin. Captain Tesjak had just spoken to
Group Commander Jad Ur.
c. Captain Tesjak took such a decision because the whole ship, which was carrying more than
three thousand people, could not be endangered to save Kin.
2. a. Kin thought these words.
b. Kin could communicate this to the ‘listener’ simply by thinking about it. His thoughts were
getting communicated to the creature through the creature’s tentacle that was touching him.
c. The answer to Kin’s question came in pictures. He could now see what had happened to the
creature and even feel how the creature had felt.
C. 1. After the ship shook violently, a flight officer showed Captain Tesjak that the star, Aldebaran was
partly blocked out by a dark object—the size of a small moon. The object seemed to have come
out of nowhere and had just appeared on the screen. Tesa stood near her father as the crew called
out readings from the different instruments. Though the shaking had reduced to mere trembling,
8the object was getting closer and closer. The chief flight officer said that it was a spaceship and
that there was nothing that they could do to escape it.
2. Initially, Kin could not understand the pictures that danced in his mind. It was as if he was on some
alien planet, deep beneath the ocean. Strange creatures swam all around him. Some were like
the thing from Aldebaran 4, others far different. Suddenly, he realised that he was one of them.
Everywhere he saw strange creatures diving, floating, and moving to a strange rhythm. He could
see things far beyond anything his eyes could see and hear sounds that were far beyond anything
his ears could hear. Finally, Kin understood that he could actually communicate directly with the
creature.
3. The creature touched Kin with the tentacle to directly send its thoughts to him. When Kin
wanted to ask the creature something, it was a thought and not expressed in words. The answer
came in pictures. He could now see what had happened to the creature and even feel how the
creature had felt.
4. After there was an explosion and the spaceship sunk deep into a crater, the creature began
to feel lonely. In fact, when it realised that its parents were aboard the spaceship, the feeling
of loneliness changed to one of being lost. The creature had wandered near the forest. Soon
unknown creatures flew out of the sky to attack him. He caught them for food, sucked out their
insides although he hated the taste. Then he found a cave and hid inside it, as the darkness
inside made him feel safe. He was there for a long time though the hot air and the falling ash
were difficult to bear. The feeling of loneliness, however, was the worst and he just wanted to
go home. He called and called for help, sent out signals, hoping the other creatures aboard his
spaceship would come. Then the robots entered his cave. He tried hard to communicate with
them, but they did not understand as they were machines. Instead, they shot things that caused
pain, so he destroyed them. The creature could sense the thoughts of the astronomers though
he could not understand their thoughts. He picked up one of them, wanting to communicate
with it. He only wanted them to take him home. However, the thing screamed at his touch and
its thoughts froze in fear. Then the creature spotted Kin. He decided to communicate with Kin as
he seemed young like him.
5. Kin got to know what had happened to the creature after the spaceship had crashed and how the
creature had felt. Kin also realised that the creature did not mean to harm them but wanted to
communicate with them.
D. Suggested answer: Yes. The human explorers were also aliens in this new planet and yet they attacked
without any consideration.
Grammar
A. 2. angry monkey (P) 3. Sam (A) 4. The man (A) 5. The typhoon (A)
6. Vinay (P)
B. 2. The report was sent to Ms Sarkar last night by us.
3. A lot of oil was spilt by an overturned tanker on the highway.
4. Jeena asked me to meet the class teacher.
5. The electric bulb was invented by Thomas Edison in the nineteenth century.
6. My father built this bridge when he was my age.
82Vocabulary
A. 1. hard 2. heavy 3. strong 4. gentle 5. smooth
B. 1. deeply 2. profusely 3. eagerly 4. highly 5. flatly
Pronunciation
1. Ravi likes Navya’s pencil-box.
2. Ravi likes Navya’s pencil-box.
3. Ravi likes Navya’s pencil-box.
4. Ravi likes Navya’s pencil-box.
Listening
Listening Text
Listen to a news report about an unidentified flying object being spotted. As you listen, tick ()
the correct sentences.
Good evening, this is Alok Sharma with the local news bulletin. Mr Vikas Deshpande, a resident of
Chiplun in Maharashtra, claims to have spotted a UFO (an unidentified flying object) this afternoon.
He heard piercing hums around 2 p.m., which was followed by a loud rumbling noise at intervals.
When he went out to see where the noise was coming from, initially he could not see anything. Then,
as the humming sound continued, he suddenly spotted an object shining above the trees. He quickly
went to a nearby hillock for a clearer view and saw an oblong object hovering in the sky. He says it did
not look either like an aeroplane or a drone. It was there for more than an hour. After staying in the
same spot for about an hour or so, the object moved up and down for some time and shot off to the
west and disappeared within a minute. Though Mr Deshpande tried to capture the unidentified flying
object on his camera, he could not get a clear shot as it was shining brightly. Unfortunately, none of
the other residents saw that UFO though many of them heard the rumbling sound. This is all in this
news bulletin. Stay tuned for the national news.
Answers: 2. right 3.right 6. right
Writing
A trip to the planetarium. (date)
The school is organising an educational trip to the planetarium for class VIII. The trip is on (date).
We will leave at 9 a.m. and return to school by 3 p.m.
Possession of mobile phones or cameras is strictly prohibited and will be confiscated. Students
who are interested in the trip please bring `20 and a written permission from your parents in a
sealed envelope along with the name, class and section.
The last day to submit your names and pay for the trip is this Friday.
Principal,
xxx
THE ALIEN SHIP
A. Answer in brief.
1. What decision of Tesjak shocked Tesa?
Ans: The captured alien in the spaceship Voyager had captured Kin when he went too close to the
creature. Captain Tesjak wanted the Group Commander Jad Ur to destroy the creature as it had
already caused damage to many people. He gave permission to destroy Kin too if required. That
decision shocked Tesa.
2. Why did the ship shake violently?
Ans: The officers were planning a strategy to attack the alien when the ship suddenly began to
shake violently. The flight officer pointed on the screen that the star Aldeberan which was partly
blocked out by a dark object. The sudden appearance of the object caused the shake and the
object was advancing towards them.
B. Answer in detail.
1. What happened when the alien ship came towards them? Why did it come there?
Ans: The crew found that it was a spaceship and they felt that there was nothing they could do
to escape from the attack of the spaceship as Captain Tesjak said that their science was far more
advanced. The change that came in the Voyager petrified everyone. The creatures that came out
of the spaceship looked similar to the alien captured in the Voyager. Tesa could guess that the
reason for their attack was to release the alien they had captured. Soon, she along with others fell
down screaming, hit by a terrible wave of sickness.
C. Read the lines and answer the questions.
1. “But I know that Kin would understand.” He nodded to Jad Ur, who ran out to carry out his commands.
a. Who is the speaker?
b. What would Kin understand?
c. Was Jad Ur successful in his mission?
Ans: a. The speaker is Tesjak, the captain of the spaceship.
b. Kin would understand if he too was attacked during the operation of destroying the
alien.
c. No. Before he could carry out the command, a dark object was seen almost colliding with
the Voyager. This brought about a change in plan.
2. The answer came in pictures. He could now see what had happened to the creature and even feel how
the creature had felt.
a. Who is ‘He’ in the above lines?
b. Who did he get the answer from?
c. What did he understand from the answer?
Ans: a. ‘He’ in the above lines refers to Kin.
b. He communicated with the creature that had been kept prisoner.
c. He understood the feelings of the alien they had captured and caged in their spaceship.
D. Answer in brief. (Think and answer)
1. When did Kin understand that the creature actually wanted to communicate with him and not
harm him?
Ans: Kin suddenly realised that everything was happening in his mind. He saw things far beyond
his eyes could see and heard sounds far beyond his ears could hear. Soon he understood that the
creature was only trying to communicate as when it touched him with the tentacle he could read
its thoughts and understand that it was scared.
2. What were the metal things that arrived in the cave? Why did the creature destroy them?
Ans: The metal things were probably robots. The creature tried to communicate with them with
thoughts but could not reach them as they had metal brains and his thoughts did not penetrate
there. They attacked him instead and so the creature had to destroy them.
E. Answer in detail. (Think and answer)
The interaction with the creature made Kin get a better insight into human relationships. Elaborate.
(Free response) Suggested Ans: It was a strange feeling for Kin to communicate through thoughts.
He could relate to their feelings and their difficulties. He understood that they too had feelings like
humans and wanted help as he saw himself through the creature’s eyes. Effective communication
through thoughts would happen only if people’s minds are open and ready to accept new and
strange things. One should allow outside thoughts to flow freely. Only then would one be able to
understand others and better relationship could prevail. Kin was saved only because he understood
the creature through thoughts and sympathised with it. The creature too did not harm him. Instead it
conveyed to Kin that things were going to be fine.
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