Starborn Odyssey: Voyage of the Lost (The Starborn Odyssey Trilogy Book 3)

by Haines Sigurdsson

  “You’re right,” Shana said. “Let’s try some gestures of communication.”

  She walked forward slowly. “Hi,” she said in a soft voice. The cave-squirrel in front stood up on his hind legs, swiveled, and sprinted into the forest, much to Shana’s dismay. The other two didn’t run away, though; they stood their ground. The closest one moved out from behind the bush and leaned forward, as if to get a better look at Shana. It opened its mouth, showing blunt vegetarian teeth, sort of a brownish green color. There was no telling whether those were from not being cleaned or if that was the actual color. The creature made a high pitched squeak, a short sound. It wasn’t a squeal of fear, she didn’t think. More like a chirp of curiosity at the alien encounter—Shana being the alien!

  “It’s okay,” she said softly. “I won’t hurt you.” She knew, of course that the creature wouldn’t understand her words, but hoped that vocal tones would be soothing—assuming the same things that soothed Earth creatures would soothe these.

  The closest one seemed really interested in her and the second remaining creature actually took a step forward. Shana was trying to think what she could coax them closer with when she realized that Elton had slowly slipped up beside her.

  “I have a couple of pieces of candy in my pocket; actually, sugar coated nuts. Do you want to set them on the ground and step back to see what they do?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” she answered. “I think it’s a great idea.” She took the candy from him and set them on the ground, then she and Elton backed away about ten feet and watched, hoping the creatures would be curious enough to come and check it out.

  “I hope it’s not poison to them,” said Elton.

  “It won’t be,” Shana said, hoping she was right. “The planet is so compatible with us; they’ve got to have similar tolerances. Anyway, they surely know what’s edible to them and what isn’t.”

  The lead creature stepped cautiously forward, very haltingly. Shana and Elton backed away a little farther, pulling Pixie with them, hoping to encourage the bizarre little creatures to come and get the offering. It was working.

  The first creature dropped to all fours and sniffed the candy with the vertical nostril slits and then, surprisingly, snatched up the candy and stuffed it into its mouth. It suddenly stood up and made a noise that, for all the world, sounded like glee or joy. The other one ate the second nut and then looked toward the humans expectantly.

  “I think they want more,” said Shana. “Have you got more with you?”

  “No, but I think Zak might,” said Elton. He hailed him on the Link, and the creatures settled in to stare at the humans as they waited for candy reinforcements.

  Zak showed up, creeping slowly, trying not to scare their furry little friends. He dug in his pocket and produced half a dozen peanuts. “These are honey coated,” he said as he handed them directly to Shana. “That’ll probably be better for them anyway.”

  She stepped forward and set them down. The creatures didn’t even wait for her to step back before they came over to gobble the treats.

  “I don’t think they’ve ever had anything so sweet before. Well, at least not that sweet and crunchy,” commented Zak. “Wow! They’ve finished them already.”

  The creatures looked up expectantly, as if to say, “May I have some more?”

  “Now what do we do?” Zak asked.

  “I think we should walk back toward the ship and see what they do,” said Shana. “We don’t want to make them dependent on us and we sure don’t want them to expect something every time they see us. They do remind me of the Dickens character at the orphanage asking for more though,” she added with a giggle.

  They agreed and everyone turned back toward the ship. Pixie squealed with delight when she looked over her shoulder and realized the creatures were following not too far behind. They squealed back, and Zak shot Pixie a look with a raised eyebrow. “So, you communicate with the animals now, Dr. Doolittle, is that it?”

  Pixie laughed. “Well, I believe we’ve made friends,” she acknowledge, ignoring the teasing.

  Shana said, trying to be practical, “We want to make sure they don’t become a nuisance. I have to admit, I didn’t expect them to take to us so quickly!”

  “And we still don’t know what their intelligence level is,” Elton added. “I suspect that they’d eventually become the dominant species on this world if left alone — perhaps after several million years of evolution.”

  Gemma was suddenly beside them. “These creatures do show semi-intelligent patterns of behavior. Whatever their evolutionary path would have been, our presence will either slow them down or speed them up. It likely depends entirely on how we deal with them.”

  By that time they were back at the ship. The little creatures didn’t seem inclined to come any closer than about fifteen feet of the ship. Kelsan looked out and stared at them. “What have we here?”

  “Why, I believe it’s a welcoming committee,” said Tanya coming around by his side.

  Pixie was just watching in wonder. “So are they sentient or can we make pets of them?” she asked, persistently.

  “It’s difficult to tell at this early stage of our contact but I think I’d suggest a test. On Earth, they used to use a device to test animal intelligence—a machine that dispenses nuts if you pull a lever. We’ve got the design pattern for all the parts of a small, simple machine in the data files; I can make one in the Synth within the next hour or so.”

  “Let’s do that right away then,” said Shana. “Get a few more nuts from the ship to pass the time and keep them occupied, and then we’ll put the machine out a little way from the ship. Then we can watch and see if they can figure it out.”

  Cap’s and Gemma’s Striders were already at work on the nut machine when they entered the ship fifteen minutes later. The little creatures had gone back to the bushes but were keeping an eye on the humans, in case they brought out more goodies.

  “It should be finished in about a half an hour,” announced Cap.

  “Meanwhile we can eat something ourselves,” said Shana. “I’m absolutely starving; we’ve been out there for hours and my back’s killing me as well.”

  “Now we all know just how much work there is to farming,” said Zak who was busy rubbing his own back. “Once we have enough of the rocks cleared away we’ll have it a little easier, plus the Striders can start picking up some of the work. Cap and Gemma’s Striders just have to finish assembling the tractor and land vehicles.”

  “Maybe we should swap jobs with them,” said Elton wearily. “The farm work clearing land of bushes and rocks has got to be easier for them. Plus the mining robots could be picking up the rocks for the Synth instead of mining for it.”

  “I thought the physical work would be good for us,” said Shana, “and I still do. We’ve got to adjust to a really different life; we’ve got to toughen up for the survival of our colony. We won’t survive by depending on robots for everything all of the time.”

  “Shana’s a hundred percent right, all the more so as the gravity here is slightly higher than our bodies grew up with; even higher than Earth’s gravity,” supported Elton.

  “Yeah, I’m afraid we all actually know that,” Pixie laughed. “But let’s face it, it’s not as exciting as exploring the galaxy, or for that matter, the planet. We’ve become colonials now, not explorers, so I guess we’d better get used to it.”

  “In the meantime, what do we call those little guys?” Shana asked, looking over at the clumsy-looking triangular furballs.

  “Well, let’s see; they grub for food, they live in caves or as far as we’ve seen, in holes in the ground maybe,” said Pixie. “What about Grubs, or Headers; because of the hands and arms on their heads.”

  “How about Koalas?” Elton asked. Gemma’s analysis of the strange powder their excrement turned into suggested that it had a chemical that was also in the leaves of one of the bushes, a little like eucalyptus with a higher-flammable quality to it. It didn’t seem
to have much use to them; just another interesting oddity on their new world.

  “Or Teddies, like in Teddy bears,” suggested Zak.

  “Oh, I like that,” said Shana to general consent.

  “That’s one item named,” said Tanya. “And while we’re at it, it’s about time that we named the planet. I still think Hope is a perfect name.”

  “Yeah, me too,” said Shana; there was general consent to that one also. “I don’t see any need to rush the rest; I mean, we have a whole solar system to name so I think we can take our time.”

  Tanya had food ready in the Synth so they all sat down to eat, thus ending their current discussion while they stuffed food into their mouths. The work had made them hungrier than they were used to, so conversation was minimal. By the time they were done eating, Cap had the nut machine ready to fill and try out. They stocked it with small nut bars with a minimum of honey, so as not to give the Teddies too much new sugar in their diets, though there were berries and such so sweets probably weren’t too far outside their fare.

  They took the machine out about twenty feet from the ship and anchored it to the ground so the Teddies couldn’t pick it up and carry it away, though it was probably too heavy anyway. Shana pulled the lever so that one small nut bars fell into the tray. She walked away to see what they’d do. She could see the Teddies at the edge of the clearing sniffing the air, so she was sure they knew there were nuts there. The crew waited and watched with interest.

  The two Teddies walked up to the machine. One reached in with a paw and pulled the bar out the tray, immediately eating it. The other one made a grumpy noise, and then the two started trying to get to what was in the clear window of the thing. They didn’t seem to want to break it; they simply felt around on the edges of the window, looking for a point of entry. Finally the first one pulled the lever and another bar dropped down. The second Teddy grabbed and ate it happily. Seconds later Teddy pulled the lever again and got a bar for itself.

  Kelsan whistled. “That was fast. They reasoned it out on their own, too.”

  “So they’re probably trainable, to at least some degree,” Elton added. He glanced at Pixie. “Like pets,” he grinned.

  It was the first step in learning about these little natives. The crew would learn more about their abilities and personalities as time went along —as a matter of fact, they would become a bit pesky as a result of their actions that day. Feed them and they’re yours—just like cats. Although they never made a mess in the house—that activity, thankfully, seemed relegated to their caves. It would be interesting to see how cats and Teddies would react to each other when at last they had some of those brought from storage and raised. They’d have to be exposed to each other early in their cats’ development; not to mention dogs.

  Mysteries

  The next morning the crew began the process of bringing the human embryos out of suspension. It would take eight months for the first of the children to be born, or rather ready for exposure to the outside world. The plants, (including a variety of grasses for hay) and fauna, (including livestock, cats, and dogs) were also taken out of suspension. By the time the livestock and the children were ready, the colony would be pretty well prepared and the pastures and vegetables would be ready for harvest and preserving, if all went as planned. Anything that wasn’t quite ready could be supplemented by the Synth but they preferred to be as complete as was humanly possible.

  As the months passed, they settled into a comfortable routine, working well together. Tanya had primary gestation-monitoring duties of babies and animals, and she seemed very happy, often even humming to herself. Shana kept busy with the vegetable gardens, irrigation, and coordination of living spaces. She was outside a great deal, and the sun had turned her pale skin a soft brown, with little pink freckles across her nose. The rest of the crew grew darker as well, except for Zak, whose skin appeared to be impervious to tan, and of course Gemma and Cap.

  Elton kept up the study of the little Teddies. The handle on the nut machine was set with sensors and picked up DNA samples, which was how they learned that Teddies were not very different from humans, with the exception of their sexuality which, as far as their observations could tell, was unisex, very much like the Fenninz. The Fenninz were the first alien species the Earth asteroid ship Prometheus (although then it had been called Astro II) had ever encountered. The Teddies appeared from scans to carry their eggs from birth, and laid them at some specific time in their lives. As yet, the crew had no idea when that time would be so they’d have to wait and see. Ever increasing numbers of Teddies seemed to move into the area, attracted by the humans.

  Zak was in charge of seeding trees, but had to synthesize the fertilizers in the absence of cattle to produce it for them; he was also seeding various grasses for the cattle to feed on as the need approached. The native grasses, though abundant, did not appear to have quite the same nutrients as that from Earth or Reesh, so a mix of the various greenery seemed wise. The excrement powder from the Teddies was too acid to be any good a fertilizer but since they didn’t leave it in large deposits anywhere, it wouldn’t have been practical anyway. The protocol to ensure the non-natives didn’t destroy the native wild life was always carefully followed, and the area around the ship and quickly growing village complex was soon brimming with greenery of all kinds.

  In the middle of the greenery was a single main street. At one end was the central hall, which backed up against the Wanderer’s landing area. This is where the crew met for strategy meetings and general discussions, and (for now at least) ate their meals. On each side of the hall was a long building. To the left was the “barracks” — the main sleeping hall for the children, which was divided internally into small units for about six children each, all interconnected. To the right was the “mess hall” where they would all eventually eat their communal meals. After that on the left side were three small homes, one for each couple, and on the right a slightly larger building intended for the Striders, when they were ready. The row ended with a large warehouse and Synth on one side, and several classrooms on the other. Many of the buildings were not completely finished yet, and the classrooms and barracks were still just frames. They were works in progress. Beyond the buildings on both sides were the fields in which they worked, and further out, the forest. Several small out buildings were planned for construction farther away from the center road, for use in experiments, and for storage of items they needed easier access to when out in the field. It wasn’t much, yet, but it was home. Shana loved to step out of her little house, often playing with the asteroid necklace that she still wore every day, and survey their progress. She felt immense pride in their village, and a growing fondness for the wildlife in their new home.

  The crew woke one morning to see some of the small deer-like grazers in their “yard,” but the delicate creatures dashed away as soon as someone stepped outside. The deer weren’t in abundance in the area where they were living, but Shana felt that at some point they’d have to capture a pair to see if they could be domesticated. It would be best to get them while they were young.

  Only the two of the Teddies frequented the nut machine, though every now and again another one would come. Apparently only the two most curious had figured out how it worked, interestingly enough. They nick-named those two Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. The first and more assertive of the pair was of course Tweedle Dee. As they saw them more often they began being able to tell them apart. Tweedle Dee’s tail was almost square on the end, and Tweedle Dum had a dark stripe between its nostrils. After a while, they became just Dee and Dum. Their fellows peeked in from time to time as well and never turned down a treat, but Dee and Dum had a special place in the colony.

  One night as the crew were shutting things down for the night, a bright meteor shot across the sky. Pixie, who saw it first, gasped and pointed. Everyone caught sight of the brilliant light for the briefest of moments before it streaked out of existence. A moment later a sonic boom shook the air around them
.

  “Wow! That looked like it was going to come down not too far away! I think we should try to find it tomorrow,” said Shana. “I hope that’s a rare occurrence; that thing looked huge.”

  “I don’t think it could be too common,” said Elton. “We didn’t see many impact craters when we scanned prior to settling here.”

  “It did look pretty big though,” said Kelsan. “It was larger than Wanderer, I’m sure of it. It should be easy to find even from high altitude.”

  “Well, we didn’t hear the impact so it can’t have hit that close,” put in Pixie. “Maybe it burned up before it hit.”

  “It didn’t register on our seismometer,” informed Gemma. “All the same, we should see if we can find out what it was and if it was just too far away to register.”

  Shana thought that it was odd, that a crashing meteor of that size didn’t get picked up by at least one of their sensor arrays. She kept that thought to herself, but she didn’t sleep well that night. There was something odd about the meteor but she couldn’t quite say what it was. It was more something she thought she’d heard as it crossed the sky, something . . . she didn’t know what. And that was part of what bothered her.

  In the morning they sent one of the robots in search of it. Gemma chose to make the trip in her Strider, since she had a fair idea how far it should have gone, but after an hour she came back having found nothing.

  “In all likelihood it did, as Pixie said, burn up completely,” she said.

  Shana shivered. She didn’t think so—it was too big—but there was not much she could do about it, and there was more than enough work to keep her mind off it.