Enemy Mine (novella)

"Enemy Mine" was adapted into the 1985 film of the same name, directed by Wolfgang Petersen, starring Dennis Quaid and Louis Gossett Jr., and produced by 20th Century Fox.

Davidge goads Jeriba by cursing a revered Drac philosopher, with the alien insulting Mickey Mouse in return, but they quickly realize they must cooperate rather than fight in order to survive the hostile environment.

Jeriba reveals it[note 1] is pregnant and that Dracs, who reproduce asexually and thus descend in a single line, recall their ancestors' history through hundreds of generations.

Davidge is ashamed that he barely knows his own grandparents and resolves to memorize the Jeriba line, which takes 3 hours to recite and cycles between 5 given names, Zammis following Shigan.

Davidge recites their history to convince them of his sincerity, and they then track Zammis down to a psychiatric institute where the government intends to forcibly re-educate him out of his love of humans.