by P P Corcoran
“Okay,” Humm mumbled quietly, straightening his uniform before moving to the door.
Waves of heat rolled up the ramp as it lowered to the dusty surface. Humm reflected that the Saurgs may have enjoyed the heat however, they likely would have complained about having to wear respirators. Humm could tolerate almost any atmosphere if it had enough oxygen content. The Saurgs, on the other hand, for all their size, were more susceptible to atmospheric variances.
Carrying a bag containing the requisite equipment, Humm set out walking for the small building in the distance. During lulls in the hot wind, he could hear water running off to his left, where, according to the maps, a river ran through a shallow gully.
As he walked, Humm looked around him at the vicious spikes and spines of the local vegetation and concentrated hard on where he stepped. At one point he veered wide around a long slender creature that coiled itself and made a menacing rattling noise.
“Humm,” Rilga's voice in his implant startled him.
“Yes Captain?” he sub-vocalized.
“Your target is inside the fenced area to the right of the structure.”
Humm was now close enough to see the area Rilga indicated but was shocked to see two humans standing inside the fenced area.
“There are humans here!” he said with as much emphasis as sub-vocalization allowed.
“It's okay, the computer will translate for you,” Rilga replied with an odd tone in his voice.
Humm followed the fence around to where a gate opened into the area. The two humans watched him with deep curiosity as he approached. The gate latch took a few seconds to negotiate. When he stepped inside, the larger of the two humans spoke, the alien sounds meant nothing to him.
“This one is a male. He is greeting you, respond with ‘Good day',” supplied Rilga.
Humm cleared his throat and attempted to repeat the words. The humans looked at him suspiciously, then the smaller of the two spoke.
“The smaller one is female. She asks where you came from. Answer 'walking'.”
When Humm repeated Rilga’s suggestion, the humans’ expressions became even more puzzled. After a tense silence, Rilga said, “Say this to them, 'Where is the grave of William H. Bonny?'”
Humm didn't think his attempt to enunciate the question was anywhere close to correct, but the human male pointed to the stone marker in front of him. “Say, 'Thank you',” Rilga's voice said in his ear.
When Humm had complied, Rilga said, “Now move around like you're interested in everything but that stone until they depart.”
The two humans watched warily as Humm ambled around examining the various stones.
“Humans bury their dead in the ground and commemorate them with these carved stones,” Rilga said after a few minutes had passed.
Humm took in all the stones around him. The heat was intense, and a wave of disgust washed over him as he realized he was standing upon the decomposing corpses of dozens of humans.
When the couple left by the same gate through which Humm had entered, Rilga said, “Now move it! Let's not push our luck!”
Humm wasted no time in making his way over to the stone indicated by the human male. Letters cut into the stone matched the ones he had seen on the ship. From his bag he extracted a device. When it had booted up, Humm pointed it at the ground in front of the stone.
“Balls of shit!” he exclaimed after a few seconds.
“What?” demanded Rilga in his ear.
“There are DNA strands for at least eighteen humans here!”
“Calm down, Humm. Broaden your parameters.”
Humm complied. The results seemed odd, so he ran the scan again.
“What have you come up with, Humm?”
“Eighteen humans and - one Olek male.”
“That's our boy,” said Rilga triumphantly. “Get him and let's get off this rock.”
“Anything you'd like to explain, Captain?”
“It's better if you don't know.”
Humm blew out a long breath, extracted a burrower and dropped it to the ground. As it disappeared into the loose, sandy soil, Humm monitored its progress on the other device. When it had acquired the appropriate DNA, he recalled it, collecting it as it emerged from the ground. Pleased with himself, he replaced the equipment into his bag. Turning to the gate, he stopped dead in his tracks as he faced a small crowd gathered in front of the gate. A human male in a uniform spoke forcefully to him.
“Uh oh,” said Rilga in his ear.
“What do I do?”
“Run.”
“Huh?” Humm said aloud as the uniformed male walked through the gate toward him.
“RUN!!” Rilga shouted in his ear.
Humm turned and ran toward the rickety fence standing between him and the ship. The human male yelled at his back, but Humm vaulted the fence and kept on running. The shouting behind him stopped, but he kept up his pace. Keeping the river on his right, he dodged the dangerous looking plants, keeping a wary eye out for animals.
As Humm approached the spot where he hoped the ship lay cloaked, he became aware of another noise. Off to his left a wheeled vehicle with a big red flashing light on top sped down what appeared to be a paved surface. As it got even with Humm, it left the pavement and bounced across the dusty ground toward him.
“Do something!” pleaded Humm aloud.
“On it,” Rilga's voice said calmly.
The ship blinked into view for a fraction of a second and then the human vehicle's engine died, rolling to a stop amidst a cloud of billowing dust.
Now sure of his ship’s location, Humm made a minor adjustment in his course. Through heaving breaths, he said aloud, “Please tell me you didn't just fire off a pulse.”
“The machine used rudimentary electronics, the pulse has rendered them inactive,” said Rilga dismissively.
“And fried all the equipment in my bag!” cried Humm.
“The DNA is still viable.”
Humm wasn't sure if it was a question or a statement, but he answered as if it were a question. “It should be. But of course, we have no way to know until we reach a civilized port and spend a small fortune to purchase new equipment!”
His legs were getting fatigued. Just when he wondered if it was safe to slow to a walk, the male in the uniform emerged from the dust raised by the vehicle pointing what seemed to be a weapon.
“He is pointing a weapon at me!” Humm wheezed.
“He won't fire. And even if he does, that primitive thing can't be very accurate.”
The ramp of the ship blinked out of cloak as it opened a short distance away. Humm called up his last reserves of energy and sprinted for it. As his feet pounded on the metal ramp, a projectile pinged off the side of the cloaked ship inches from Humm's head, followed immediately by a report from the human's weapon.
Armed Saurg guards hauled him inside as the ramp began to rise. Before it closed into position, Humm caught sight of another vehicle approaching at speed along the paved road.
“Get to your station, Humm!” Rilga shouted over the ship comm.
Humm gulped air and leaned on the bulkhead as he pushed himself toward the bridge. The captain was beginning pre-flight by the time he strapped into his station. Shortly thereafter, the ship lifted off more steeply and faster than usual, pushing Humm and the rest of the crew back into their seats.
Humm's breathing had almost returned to normal, when an angry red light began flashing on his panel accompanied by a blaring alarm.
“What is that?” demanded Rilga.
“Remember those nuclear detonations I told you about? We just flew over one!” Humm answered.
“I'm losing visuals and the cloak, Captain,” said Gosz impassively, as if commenting on the paint.
“Dammit to Hell!” seethed Rilga.
“I would advise gaining altitude quickly, Captain,” offered Humm.
“You think?” retorted Rilga.
“It's not like they have anything in orbit for us to hit
,” replied Humm, ignoring the captain's sarcasm.
Suddenly the ship shuddered lightly as if it had impacted something small. A second alarm joined the first.
“The engine intake is blocked! We're losing altitude! Brace for impact!” Rilga shouted.
Humm relayed the message on the ship comm. The ship's atmospheric maneuvering system screamed in protest. Without the ship's gravity to compensate, the free fall churned Humm's guts. Gosz vomited into his chute once again.
“Fire the main thruster, Captain,” Humm yelled to be heard over the screaming engine.
Rilga turned, his eyes wide. “We'll be visible to the whole hemisphere and we'll scorch everything below us. Then we'll be firmly in violation of the protocols. I've still got some stick, I think we can land.”
Humm kept his thoughts to himself. The ship and the captain were one and the same. Rilga would destroy the ship and kill all of them, before he would risk having it taken from him for violating contact protocols. With his knees pulled up to his chin, seat restraints so tight they cut into his flesh beneath his clothing, Humm waited for fate to take its course.
Rilga vectored the ship tangent to the planet's terrain. After one jarring impact, the ship slid to a rough and noisy, but survivable stop. Almost before the momentum ceased, Rilga had unstrapped. “The cloak is out, we're vulnerable here. Let's get moving!”
Humm remained strapped in but began issuing orders. “Maintenance team one, get outside and see what damage we've incurred!”
When he had received confirmation on that order, Humm turned to Gosz. “Monitor local radio waves and see what the computer can translate.”
Turning his attention to the interior of the ship, Humm called, “Maintenance team two, damage report!”
“Stand by,” came the lackadaisical reply.
“Holding, how is our cargo?”
“Everyone lives. One of the Voots' cranial membranes popped, but its mate is secreting a new one for it,” answered the guard, his voice full of disgust.
Humm wondered where Rilga had gone. “Captain?” he ventured over the ship comm.
“I’m outside. We hit what appears to be a balloon.”
“A . . . balloon?” asked Humm, incredulous.
“It's packed with instrumentation, but it's still a balloon. Likely used for some type of monitoring,” came Rilga’s voice over sounds of the Saurg technicians grunting as they removed debris from the blocked intake.
“Is the damage repairable?” asked Humm.
“Some broken and bent fins. Maybe a few hours will do it. What about interior damage?”
Humm depressed the comm. “Team two, status?”
“Structural supports have ripped loose and caused a minor hull breach on deck alpha. We can affect repairs here, but more extensive repairs will be required when we next make port.”
Gosz cut in on the ship comm, “Captain, we were seen by the human military. They are dispatching units to our location.”
“What kind of units?” demanded Humm over the ship comm, even though Gosz was a scant few feet away.
“Ground only, so far.”
“How long until they arrive?” asked Rilga apprehensively.
Gosz checked his display before answering. “A couple of hours, maybe longer.”
Rilga began issuing orders. “Priority one, get that cloak up! Humm, meet me in the cargo bay.”
Humm unstrapped and sprinted to the bay, skidding to a halt as he met the captain racing up the ramp.
“Get the Pleems,” ordered Rilga as he ran past.
“What?”
Without stopping or turning, Rilga repeated, “Get the Pleems!”
Humm was barely bigger than any one of the Pleems, he couldn't hope to carry them all in any kind of hurry. Over the ship-wide comm, he ordered, “Team two! Two members, meet me in the infirmary!” Not waiting for a reply, Humm set off for the ship’s infirmary.
The two Saurg crewmen were waiting for him when he reached the infirmary. “Bring the Pleems to the cargo bay,” he wasted no time in ordering.
If the crewmen thought the command was as odd as Humm did, they didn't react. One crewman carried the two dead Pleems under his thickly muscled arms, while the other carried the still living one cradled in both arms.
When they arrived back at the cargo bay Rilga was hauling pieces of metal and useless scrap out of storage compartments and loading them onto a hover sled already loaded with the remains of the balloon recovered from the intake. Humm and the Saurg crewmen stood by and watched until the captain stepped back, assessed his collection and the Pleems, then nodded in satisfaction. “All right, let's go.”
“Go where?”
“To throw the human military units off our trail,” Rilga called over his shoulder as he began moving the sled down the ramp.
Humm glanced at the Suargs who appeared as confused as he was. Shrugging his diminutive shoulders, he set off after Rilga with the two Suargs in tow, pausing at the bay doors to allow Rilga and the Suargs to don small breathers. Rilga nodded to each member of the hastily assembled team before pushing the hover sled out into the desert-like landscape.
The ship had cut a wide gouge across the ground, skipped a short distance, then come to a landing. Rilga moved toward the first gouge. When he reached the torn-up ground, he stopped and surveyed the area.
“All right spread everything around randomly,” he commanded.
“And the Pleems?” asked Humm.
“Them too,” said Rilga as he began slinging the metal and scrap as far as he could across the hill side.
Humm took the living Pleem from the Suarg, surprised at how light the small being was. It remained unconscious as Humm gently laid it upon the ground. He didn’t often let himself feel empathy for the slaves they gathered, but he found it oddly disquieting to walk away from the Pleem. Words of apology threatened to spill from his mouth. Shaking them off, he quickly joined the others in littering the hillside with miscellaneous junk and one mangled human balloon.
When Rilga was satisfied with the scene, they moved to the second gouge caused by the ship's landing. “Cover this up as much as possible before the military get here,” he ordered as he headed back to the ship.
Humm and the Saurgs spread the sandy soil around and replaced shredded plants with others collected from nearby. The Suargs cursed vehemently each time they got wicked little spines stuck in their thick fingers.
When the sun was touching the horizon, Humm decided to call a halt, “That's as good as we can make it. Back to the ship.”
Rilga was at Humm's station on the bridge when he returned. “What is our status, Captain?”
Rilga did not turn from the station, fingers continuing to work furiously, as he answered. “Repairs are under way. The cloak should be up soon, but the military vehicles are approaching rapidly. The light from the star will be gone momentarily. I hope darkness will cover us until the cloak comes up.” He turned abruptly to Humm. “Did we bring the hover sled back from the first site?”
“I'll send a crew member to see.”
Rilga turned back to Humm's console. “Everyone's busy making repairs. You go.”
A few minutes later, Humm stood on the open cargo bay ramp, eyes searching the barren landscape beyond for the hover sled by the waning evening light, reflecting on the universal beauty of sunsets across the galaxy. The dim blue glow of the sled's energy field stood out starkly in the fading light.
“Shit!” he hissed to himself as he set out at a run, hoping the light held long enough for him to make his way back.
Reaching the hill top they had littered with junk, he caught sight of the dust plumes of several approaching vehicles in the distance. Wheeling the sled around Humm stopped dead in his tracks. The ship was gone! The cloak must have come up while he was out. The ramp rising automatically as the cloak came back on line.
Desperately, he ran behind the sled to the area where he had left the ship, disappointed his cover up didn't seem to be as good
as he had at first thought.
“Captain?”
He received no response. That was odd. Captain Rilga was the only one with access to Humm's implant through his own implant. It was impossible for him to not hear his call. A wave of panic washed over him as the details of his conundrum became clear.
Even if he could see the ship's hull, the ramp could only be lowered from the inside. Furthermore, touching the cloak field would most likely kill him or stun him unconscious at the very least. On a whim, he backed up the hover sled and shoved it as hard as he could at the ship. It merely bounced off after making a slight ripple in the cloak field. Contact with the field shorted out the sled's energy and it dropped to the ground.
Through a break in the wind, came the sound of multiple engines approaching.
“Captain!” Humm called urgently. “I am trapped outside the ship! The humans are almost here!”
No answer came over his implants. Plumes of dust raised by the approaching vehicles were back lit as they topped the last ridge before the improvised vignette of Pleems and debris.
“Captain, let me in! Please!”
Rilga’s answer startled Humm. “Sorry Humm. You've become a liability.”
Humm was stunned. When he found his voice he asked, “Because of the DNA?”
“No one can know about that.”
“I won't tell anyone!” Humm pleaded.
When Rilga didn't respond, Humm asked, “What am I supposed to do?”
“Look human and try to blend in.”
Humm brought his hands up to touch his face. “But I don't know their language.”
“I've downloaded it into your implant chip.”
“When?”
After a few seconds with no answer, realization slowly dawned on Humm. “You planned to leave me here all along! You fired the pulse intentionally to fry the instruments.”
“I needed that DNA. And like I said, you've become a liability. I had planned to space you along with the Pleems. But the opportunity arose . . . and I felt like I owed you a chance . . . at least, to survive.”
Shouting voices caused Humm to turn back to where the vehicles had stopped and were disgorging armed human soldiers. Activating his translation files he found one called “English”.