Kitty pointed to a pile of smaller objects on the floor that looked identical to the translating devices worn by the strangers. Kitty whispered into her device, “We allow you to use translators. You may choose to use them, or you may choose to not use them.”
Tigger stepped forward and held out a fistful of what appeared to be thin, three-inch-long wires. He spoke through his translator. “We will put these in you. These devices allow Kitty to observe what you do. You will show us that we should give you consequences. Or you will show us that we should not give you consequences.”
“What the hell are those things?” Infinity asked.
Tigger plucked one of the wires from his hand and held it up. “Device for Kitty to observe. I will put device in your head. Kitty will bridge with you and will be inside that machine.” He gestured toward the spherical vehicle. “Kitty will observe what you do. Device in your head will allow Kitty to see what you see, hear what you hear, watch what you do.”
“Like a camera and microphone?” Harrington asked.
“Camera and microphone,” Tigger replied through his translator.
Desmond decided to try one more time to get some guidance. “We would still like to know what we are supposed to do to convince you not to destroy this world. We understand that you have rules, but we can’t follow those rules if we don’t know what they are.”
Tigger’s device translated, and he whispered back into it. “We cannot observe what you do if we tell you what to do. We must observe what you choose to do.” He handed most of the wires to Teddy but kept one. He then stepped forward and placed one hand firmly on Desmond’s scalp. With his other hand he held the three-inch wire near Desmond's forehead as if preparing to push the end of it directly into his skin.
Desmond considered pulling back and refusing, but what good would that do? Instead, he gritted his teeth and waited, concentrating on the man’s strangely pleasant smell to distract himself.
Tigger pushed the wire in, puncturing the skin above Desmond’s right eye. He then angled the wire toward Desmond’s temple and threaded it in farther. Desmond winced as he felt the wire working its way under his skin around the side of his skull. Tigger then pressed on the protruding end with his thumb, forcing it in until it was flush with the skin’s surface. He wiped at it once, stepped back, and spoke rapidly for a few seconds without bothering to translate for the humans’ benefit.
Kitty quickly replied, also without translating, and Desmond realized she had opened a hatch on the side of the capsule and was now sitting in the cockpit. Tigger gave Desmond a quick smile, plucked another of the wires from Teddy’s palm, and moved next to Gideon.
Desmond touched his forehead gingerly. It was a bit sore, and he could feel a slight bump where the camera was, but his fingers came away with no blood. With nothing else to do but wait for Tigger to finish inserting the rest of the cameras, Desmond gathered up a few of the translators and started handing them out. One of the Marines grabbed the rest and began helping.
Once the translators had been distributed, Desmond inspected his more closely. It looked like a lumpy wrist brace, with one large hole for his fingers and a smaller hole for his thumb. He slipped his left hand into it and was surprised to find that it was comfortable and snug.
He stepped over to Teddy and held up the device. “How do we use these?” The translator almost immediately emitted a rapid sequence of foreign words.
Teddy replied, and Desmond’s translator said, “You are using it now.”
Desmond gazed down at the device. He then realized his translator and the others given to the humans were slightly smaller than those worn by the three strangers. “I guess we get the basic model, translator for dummies,” he muttered. The device didn’t translate this, perhaps because it didn’t hear him, or perhaps because it was smart enough to know he wasn’t really talking to anyone in particular. The second possibility seemed more likely, although it made Desmond feel uneasy.
When Tigger had finished inserting the last body camera, Kitty pulled the capsule hatch closed, sealing herself inside.
Tigger and Teddy moved closer together until they were shoulder to shoulder. “You bridge now,” Tigger said through his translator. “We observe what you do.” Without another word, the two strangers vanished.
Desmond wondered how they were able to bridge out at will like that. Apparently they had transcended the restrictions on bridging technology he was used to, including the need to administer a radioisotope marker.
Kitty remained seated in the capsule, gazing out calmly at the confused humans.
Sergeant Harrington turned to Fornas and Armando. “Unless you’re coming with us, you might want to exit the chamber.”
“Yes, of course,” Fornas said, scurrying toward the door. “Good luck to you all.”
Armando hesitated. “It's only half an hour until sunset," he said, addressing the entire group but making a point of leveling his gaze at Desmond and Infinity. “You should probably find a sheltered place to rest until morning.” He paused. “It’s unfortunate that we don’t know what behaviors these beings are hoping to observe, but if you follow your own hearts, I’m sure you will adequately impress them. You are the best that humanity has to offer. I’m proud to be represented by you.” With that, he turned and exited the bridging chamber.
Suddenly the sound of knocking resonated through the bridging chamber. Desmond and the others turned to see Kitty rapping her knuckles on the inside of one of the capsule’s windows. She flicked her wrist rapidly, waving for them to come closer. They all gathered around the pod.
Kitty inspected the group around her, apparently making sure they were near enough, and then she turned her attention to the controls.
Desmond felt a wet prickling on his skin, and then the bridging chamber disappeared.
Desmond teetered for a moment, experiencing only a brief moment of nausea. Still on his feet, he scanned his surroundings. The first thing that hit him was the smell—like a mixture of rotting garbage and animal feces. He threw a hand over his nose and mouth and looked toward the west. The sun was a faint, orange ball hanging above the horizon, nearly obscured by a haze that permeated the sky. To the north, several miles away, he saw dozens of glistening buildings, some of them as tall as skyscrapers. Much closer, scrubby, pale-green plants were growing haphazardly between crudely-constructed shacks and piles of trash. People were emerging from some of the shacks and approaching Desmond and the others. Looking closer, he realized they weren’t people at all. The creatures were walking on two legs, but their heads were too large to be human, and their torsos were wide and squat, making their arms and legs look strikingly long by comparison. Even stranger, each of them had a bushy tail at least three feet long that bobbed up and down as they walked.
“Do not do anything threatening!” Sergeant Harrington ordered. “We’re here to prove we deserve to exist, and I’m pretty damn sure starting trouble with the locals won’t earn us any points.”
Desmond turned to Infinity. She frowned and shook her head. He knew exactly what she was thinking—that if they wanted to avoid trouble, they shouldn’t have come armed to the teeth. Infinity wouldn’t hesitate to finish a fight that had already started, but she preferred to avoid conflict altogether.
At least twenty of the creatures were cautiously approaching now, and Desmond could see numerous others in the distance staring toward the bridge-in site. Every creature in sight was dressed in a pale-tan, tightly-fitting bodysuit—even the children. As the onlookers drew nearer, Desmond was able to see their facial features in more detail. Two enormous eyes, almost perfectly round and easily two inches in diameter, dominated each creature’s face. A small, pointed snout was positioned below the eyes, and below that was an expressive, flexible mouth. Their ears, perhaps twice the size of human ears, protruded near the top of the head on each side, and were so thin that the setting sun illuminated them from behind. Their faces reminded Desmond vaguely of some of the primitive primates that
had lived on his own version of Earth, such as tarsiers and lemurs.
As the creatures drew nearer, they began speaking to each other, in a language completely unfamiliar to Desmond. The sounds mostly consisted of whistles, growls, and chittering clicks.
A crowd began gathering, and Desmond noticed that some of their bodysuits were filthy and torn in places. He also noticed something else—every one of these creatures was lean and fit. There wasn’t an obese or gaunt individual among them, although he did spot a female that was clearly pregnant. She was with a group of four others who were all slightly smaller than most of the adults, perhaps the equivalent of teenagers. This group was particularly vocal, jabbering loudly and pointing at the humans. Perhaps they were asking questions. They seemed to be growing increasingly frustrated that Desmond and his companions weren't responding.
Soon the crowd surrounding the humans had grown to at least thirty. They were understandably curious, but their increasing level of agitation suggested they were suspicious and might soon become threatening.
None of the Marines were making any attempt to communicate, so Desmond raised both his hands in a placating gesture and said, “Hello! I know you can’t understand us yet, but we’d like to communicate with you.” He pointed to the translator on his arm. “All you have to do is continue talking, and this—”
Suddenly, the creatures before Desmond shifted their attention to something behind him, pointing and chattering excitedly. He turned to look. Kitty’s capsule was now standing up, supported by dozens of short, robotic legs. The capsule started making a hissing sound that was subtle at first but quickly increased in volume, and then a small explosion on the capsule’s nose expelled a blast of smoke or water vapor.
Cries of surprise or anger erupted from the surrounding crowd. Desmond spun around. The pregnant female was sprawled on the ground, blood spewing from a massive wound in her abdomen. Her companions were staring down at her in shock, and some of the larger adults were beginning to gather around. A few of them kneeled to examine her. But Desmond could tell by the severity of the wound that she was dead.
Desmond heard a mechanical chittering behind him, and he spun around again. The legs beneath Kitty’s capsule were now a blur of motion, throwing dirt out in every direction. The capsule was dropping quickly downward into the hole that it was excavating. Seconds later, the entire thing was below the surface, and the tips of numerous robotic arms were scooping dirt from the hole’s perimeter and flipping it on top of the capsule. The arms continued working until the hole was filled and nothing remained in its place but a slight mound of disturbed soil. Kitty and the capsule were gone, completely buried.
7
Negotiation
April 10 - 7:08 PM
“Well, shit!” Sergeant Harrington said.
Infinity assessed the creatures gathered around the dead female. None of the beings appeared to be carrying weapons, but something about their muscular build and the way they carried themselves told her they probably weren’t harmless pacifists. Which meant that, within seconds, the situation was probably going to escalate into further violence. Kitty had obviously put the humans in this situation on purpose, to watch how they handled the situation. Unfortunately, Infinity had no idea what Kitty considered a good versus a bad response.
“Chamber your projectiles,” Harrington ordered, his voice nearly drowned out by the agitated squeaks and barks from the surrounding creatures.
The Marines complied. Gideon glanced at Infinity and then readied his own weapon.
Desmond turned to face Harrington. “We need to give our translators a chance to learn their language. We have to explain to them that we aren’t looking for trouble!” Desmond held his wrist device to his mouth and spoke into it, but the translator remained silent.
Infinity could see there wasn’t going to be time to wait for the translators. Several of the creatures were already moving toward the humans. Their eyes were still perfectly round, making it difficult to discern any kind of facial expression, but their frantic, guttural cries made it clear they were pissed off.
In an attempt to prevent the Marines from opening fire, Infinity stepped in front of the nearest approaching creature and held up her hands, palms out, signaling it to stop.
The creature didn’t even hesitate. It lunged forward and tried to grab Infinity’s wrist. She pulled back out of its reach and shouted, “Stop!”
The creature paused and blinked its enormous eyes. The others to its left and right also stopped advancing and stared. Then the nearest creature crouched low, bending at the knees and waist. It positioned its arms in a pronounced pose, touching the ground with the fingertips of its left hand and clenching its right hand into a fist near its cheek, elbow held horizontally to the side. The pose was distinctively nonhuman, but Infinity’s gut told her it was a fighting stance. The other creatures took a few steps back and began rattling off loud, agitated barks, clicks, and whistles.
The translator on Infinity’s wrist spoke up for the first time. “Kill. Violence. Encouragement.” That didn’t sound good.
The crouching creature began flicking its bushy tail up and down, the way an angry squirrel would. Infinity instinctively took up a defensive stance, spacing her feet apart and tensing her muscles.
Gideon positioned himself beside her and aiming his weapon at the creature. “Get behind me,” he said.
She stepped in front of him instead. “No, you stay behind me. Let’s see how this plays out before you start shooting.”
Most of the creatures had now gathered around the humans, leaving the female Kitty had killed lying in the dirt. Infinity suspected that they were more interested in the possibility of a fight than in the slain woman.
Infinity’s translator spoke again, interpreting the mood of the noisy crowd. “Kill. Violence. Encouragement.” Perhaps if Infinity fought the creature that was preparing to attack her, she might foster some mutual respect between the two species. This was a big if, but it was worth a try.
She sighed and took a step toward the creature. She hated fighting nonhuman animals—they were too unpredictable. She waved her fingers for the creature to come at her, hoping it would understand the gesture. It immediately leapt into the air, reaching a surprising height before coming down at a 45-degree angle, its arms and legs spread wide, exposing its vulnerable torso and groin. Infinity had never seen an attack like this, but the creature’s obvious vulnerability tipped her off that the move had to be a feint—a distraction.
Instead of dodging to the side, she threw a hard right and slammed the base of her palm into her attacker’s face.
Infinity's brute-force response took the creature by surprise, stopping whatever maneuver it had been planning. She was tempted to take the creature to the ground immediately and immobilize it, but she decided to see how it reacted to her punch first. It landed on its feet and took a step back, managing to stay upright. It blinked its round eyes and gazed at her, but she had no idea how to interpret its nonhuman expression.
“I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if you force me to,” Infinity said. The device on her wrist translated, emitting a series of animal-like sounds.
The creature flicked its eyes toward the device but otherwise didn’t respond. She doubted that the translator was working very effectively, having heard so little of the animals’ language. A poor translation might make things even worse.
Sergeant Harrington’s voice rose above the noise of the crowd. “Infinity, picking a fight isn’t exactly a peace-making gesture. What do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m negotiating,” she said.
Her attacker advanced again before she could elaborate on her answer. This time the creature came in slow, circling to her right, inching closer, flicking its tail rapidly. She watched it carefully, waiting to see what it would try next.
The creature feinted back to the left slightly and then rushed forward, grabbing Infinity around her waist and taking her down before she could move o
ut of the way. She curled her back just before hitting the ground and rolled her attacker over her head. For a moment she was on top of the creature, but it somehow continued the roll’s momentum, forcing her all the way over and to the ground again. Before she could get her bearings, the creature was on top of her and had landed two brain-jarring punches to her forehead. Before she knew what was happening, it had locked its long fingers around her throat. Infinity threw her forearms between the thing’s wrists and thrust outward, breaking free from its grip. She immediately threw a jab below its chin, connecting with its throat.
The creature choked and coughed, its eyes wide. Its face suddenly disintegrated. Blood, bone, and soft tissue showered onto Infinity, and the creature’s body collapsed to the side.
She rolled onto her stomach and jumped to her feet in time to see several of the Marines lowering their weapons. “What the hell?” she cried. “I told you I was negotiating!”
Screams and growls erupted from the crowd of creatures as they realized what had just happened. Several of them moved forward aggressively. This emboldened the others to move closer, and soon the entire crowd was rushing in to attack.
Infinity thrust her palm into the chest of the nearest creature, knocking it to the side. Another moved in and took its place, leaping up with its arms raised, ready to slam its fists down onto her skull. A projectile hit the creature’s neck, and it went limp. Infinity tried to dodge the falling body, but it struck her arm as it collapsed into a heap on the ground. Another creature was quickly approaching when a projectile knocked it off its feet and sent gore flying from the back of its head.
The Trial of Extinction Page 7