Fractured Alliance

by Robert Stadnik

  As soon as the alien was gone, Esther rushed to the front doors and locked them. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves, telling herself she was now safe. She was glad she smuggled her gun on the ship. She returned to the bar and finished her champagne as she looked through the wall mirror to check her face. There was already a bruise on the right side. A little make-up would easily hide it.

  Well, if nothing else, this was certainly an eventful night. Instead of heading to her apartment, Esther decided it was best to stay in one of the empty rooms on the second level. She grabbed an ice pack from behind the bar before heading up to bed.

  ********

  Mu and Vun were big hits at the celebration. They walked hand in tentacle together and people noticed. What really made them popular was when they hit the dance floor. Dancing was something foreign to Vun, and Mu’s people had a more subdued form of dancing in their culture. Both learned all about human dancing and showcased their skills in the square. Vun found its ability to stretch and contort its gelatinous form served it well. Several Senfo, who were already intoxicated from the sounds of music they enjoyed so much, repeatedly tried to join the pair in their dances. One of them even managed to jump into Vun. After a few seconds of floating around, the Gercol expelled the diminutive alien from its body.

  Long after the music reverted to a more subdued set of melodies in the later hours, Mu and Vun enjoyed the company of many of the crew. They confirmed they were indeed dating, eliciting congratulations from everyone. Both felt comfortable being together out in public. Vun freely admitted its own kind would have never accepted a relationship between a Gercol and humanoid. Mu expressed similar sentiments. Although Rifva were open-minded, he wasn’t sure any on his world could accept a relationship between such different beings.

  Around 0400 hours, when the bots came into Central to begin the massive clean-up, Mu and Vun decided to head out of the city. They went to Mu’s quarters. Vun’s quarters lack any furniture or decorations, except for a single couch he bought for Mu to sit on when he visited, as Gercols did not need such things.

  “Salca,” Mu said as they entered his quarters.

  “What does that mean?” Vun asked as it looked around Mu’s quarters. This was the first time it had visited here. It was odd to see the area decorated with furniture and art pieces. For Vun, it was almost distracting. How could it focus on its host when everywhere it looked there was something new to examine?

  “It is a proper greeting from my world,” Mu explained. “It is customary to say it when a visitor enters your home.”

  “Is this typical of what one sees in a Rifva habitat?” Vun asked.

  “No. I brought very little with me when I moved to this ship. This home was already furnished. The art pieces here are gifts from people as a thank you for the services I offer.”

  “My kind creates caves which we live in,” Vun explained. “However, we do not alter the appearance of the interior with objects. It is more freeing to be able to move about unencumbered.” Vun slid closer to Mu. “You are most generous to allow me in your habitat.”

  “It pleases me to have you here,” Mu smiled. “The celebration was enhanced by your company.”

  Vun’s body vibrated hearing those words. “Each time I am with you, the sensations within me grow stronger. You have become an integral part of my daily existence.”

  “I have also developed strong feelings for you,” Mu admitted. “I wish to become closer with you.”

  Vun felt joy hearing that Mu was feeling close to it. “How do Rifva become intimate?”

  “It starts with this.” Mu extended his three hands out. “We hold hands and feel the pulsations of one another.”

  Vun extended three appendages from its body, enveloping Mu’s hands. “Is this acceptable?”

  “It is.” Mu’s hands felt so warm being covered by Vun’s gelatinous appendages. It was relaxing. “We then close our eyes and enjoy the touch.”

  Vun had no eyes to close, so it watched as Mu closed his three eyes and tilted his head back. His smile was endearing to the Gercol. He admired how peaceful Mu appeared. They swayed back and forth in this stance for a long time, enjoying how the world around them seemed to melt away.

  Vun slowly wrapped itself around Mu’s body and began vibrating itself. The sensations made Mu so relaxed that every muscle in his body loosened. Soon he was floating within Vun, only his head sticking out. The Gercol rippled its body, slowly swaying Mu back and forth. Vun continued to do this, even after Mu drifted off into sleep.

  ********

  Andre never went to sleep. He wound up spending the night going through his family pictures like he did with X the other night. This time, it was heart-wrenching going through them alone, remembering the life he built with Adriana that was now gone. They were so happy together, but that was all in the past. She was gone, and all he had left of her were memories and photos. As the night slowly approached morning, something changed in him. The sorrow and anguish he suffered ever since Adriana died suddenly vanished. Now, there was nothing but contentment. He had resolved the conflicts about losing Adriana, having no relationship with his son, struggling with life on PHOENIX. It no longer mattered. He had finally found the peace he had been seeking…

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  A large contingent of shuttles and support craft flew out of PHOENIX’s hangar. It had been two days since the celebration in Central. John wanted to give the crew sufficient time to recover from the party before starting the planetary survey. He and Julie laughed as they read some of the incident reports. It seemed there was quite a bit of overindulgence, but no violent disturbances (although what happened with Korifluxinina at The Lounge did raise their eyebrows). Most importantly, there were no reports of problems with the Cresorians. It seemed they were true to their word and behaved the entire evening.

  With everyone recovered from the festivities, it was now time to get back to work. The preliminary orbital surveys indicated the planet could be an ideal place for a Cresorian colony. This could solve a lot of problems. Having the Cresorians settle here would give them a home and a refuge from their homeworld. It would also get PHOENIX off the hook for harboring them. John elected not to send their findings to TERRA. He couldn’t risk the information being intercepted.

  To further facilitate good relations with the Cresorians on board, John authorized a few of them to accompany the planetary survey teams. He invited Limex to the command deck to observe the coordination of the survey operations. She was more than happy to accept the invitation. Ben also accompanied her.

  When Limex and Ben arrived on the command deck, John pulled the attorney aside to express his appreciation for all the work he had done with the Cresorians. For Ben, it meant a lot to be recognized by the captain.

  Limex reviewed the information at the operations table. “The data looks promising. This planet could be an ideal home for my people.”

  “We still haven’t picked up any signs of organic life on the planet, except for the plant life,” Shelly explained. “We’re still working on adjusting the sensors to the planet’s atmosphere.”

  “My people sustained ourselves on plant-based food,” Limex explained. “It is not necessary for any lower life forms to be on the planet for us to thrive. As long as we can ingest the indigenous plant life.”

  John joined the group at the operations table. “Our science teams should easily determine if your people can live off the resources on the planet. My only concern is that we’re not too far out from alliance space. We should assume that all the alliance races, including the Cresorians, will eventually expand their territories. If your people find you here…”

  “They may not come here for years,” Ben interrupted. “It sounds like they’re too busy rebuilding their world. Hopefully, their society will be stable by the time they get around to finding this place.”

  Limex appreciated Ben’s optimism. “John Captain, making a home here is preferable than continuing to live our lives out
in space, even on this ship. We are willing to take the risk.”

  As they talked, X emerged onto the command deck, looking for its master. It proceeded down into the pit. “John, this unit needs to speak to you.”

  “We’re getting ready to open a channel to the planetary teams,” Bret reported.

  “Go ahead,” John instructed as he looked down at his bot. “We’re in the middle of an important survey.”

  “It is about Andre,” X said. “This unit went to his quarters, and he did not answer. I attempted to contact him, but he did not respond.”

  John was unconcerned. “He’s tired from the party. I checked on him yesterday, and he was fine. He’s probably just taking a nap.”

  “Do you not think…” X started, but John returned his attention to the mission. It had to adhere to its master and conclude Andre was all right. It was unusual for Andre not to answer his door. The bot found this deviation from his normal pattern odd. Then again, people tended to be unpredictable.

  An image of Captain Olson and Commander Richardson appeared over the operations table. “Olson to PHOENIX. Are you receiving us?”

  “We’re receiving you loud and clear,” John replied. “What’s your status?”

  “All teams have successfully landed on the planet. We’re unloading our supplies and getting organized. Commander Richardson’s going to remain at this site while I take a group to the second largest continent. We saw groups of small creatures running around during our descent. We’ll try to capture some for analysis. Could be a potential food source, even though Cresorians aren’t used to eating meat.”

  “Sounds good,” John said. “We’ll continue to monitor your progress. Keep in mind the planet’s atmosphere is still messing with our sensors.”

  “Understood. Olson out.”

  John looked over to Shelly. “Send a request to the farming deck to determine how much plant-based food stock would be needed to sustain the Cresorians on this world.” He then looked at Limex. “If everything looks good, we’ll need to start training your people how to grow food on the planet. The food synthesizers on your ships won’t be enough.”

  “Captain,” Bret called from the communication station. “Could you come over here?”

  “Sure,” John said as he made his way over to his communications officer. “What’s up?”

  “For the last twenty minutes, I’ve been picking up a minor anomaly. It’s brief, appearing less than a second each time, but it’s occurred enough that it’s caught my attention. I can’t pinpoint what it is.”

  John reviewed the data on Bret’s screen. Sure enough, it didn’t yield any clue as to what it could be. “Do we know where it’s coming from?”

  “I was able to triangulate a general area.” Bret pulled up an image of the planet and pointed. “It’s occurring somewhere on the other side.”

  “Launch a probe bot to investigate,” John ordered. “I want to know what’s causing this anomaly before our survey teams hit the other side of the planet tomorrow.”

  “The atmosphere will interfere with our communication with the bot. It will be on autonomous functions when on the other side,” Rudov explained.

  “Program it for a pass around the planet, and we’ll see what it picks up when it comes back,” John recommended.

  Bret nodded as he began programming a bot for the reconnaissance mission as John returned to the operations table.

  ********

  It had been seven hours since the teams descended onto the purplish planet. Julie’s team had established their post on the second continent. She couldn’t help but marvel at the beauty surrounding them. The plants and trees were a variety of vibrant colors. What was striking was that the trees were each their own unique color, with the trunks and branches the same colors as the leaves growing from them.

  During the fly over to the second continent, some of the team members captured photos of the land creatures they saw during their descent. The creatures seemed to be small rodents, with long hairless tails and hind legs, like a kangaroo. Julie had a couple of her people set up traps to try and capture one for analysis.

  She left all the Cresorians who joined the planetary survey with Tim’s team. She wanted to keep them together in case they decided to get out of line.

  The captain was in the main tent, reviewing the list of duties her team was already working on. “Julie,” one of the scientists said as he came in. “Take a look at this.” He activated his holographic DAT. “We’ve picked up a network of tunnels underneath the ground.”

  Julie reviewed the images. She was simply amazed. “I can’t believe how intricate they are. Is this natural?”

  “We won’t know until we collect more data. “I doubt it’s a natural occurrence. Maybe these wheel rats made them.”

  Julie chuckled. “Wheel rats? Is that what we’re calling them?”

  “Well, not officially. Given how their rear legs seem to spin when they run, the name stuck. It’ll change once we come up with an officially scientific designation.”

  “I kind of like wheel rat,” Julie admitted. “The tunnels look too small for any human or alien to explore.”

  “We have a couple of small bots on the ship that could traverse the tunnels.”

  “Check with PHOENIX to see what they can send us,” Julie requested.

  As they continued to talk, neither noticed a small insect-like creature flying into the tent. It looked like a dragonfly found on Earth, just a little bigger. The creature had been observing these large humanoid creatures from afar since they arrived. It was fascinated by them. Although it couldn’t understand anything they were saying, they did not appear to be any sort of threat. But it had to be cautious. It had never seen such creatures before.

  The creature looked around and found an active computer terminal unattended. Making sure it had not been spotted, it flew over and landed on the terminal. The symbols on the screen were foreign to the creature, yet it was somehow able to understand them. How was this possible? It realized the terminal responded to touch when it moved around on the input screen. It accessed the general information screen, which brought up an image of the PHOENIX. This was a prime opportunity to learn about these massive creatures that had arrived on the planet. The sentient insect began reading all about the starship and its inhabitants as quickly as its eyes could move.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  It was nearing 1745 hours. John was in his office with Sally going over some reports. Since she assumed her role as administrator, John was free to focus on daily ship operations. It was a relief not having to be bogged down by mundane reports.

  “Okay, I think that’s everything,” John concluded as he reclined back in his seat.

  “I’ll notify these department heads and get their revised estimates,” Sally said. She deactivated her holographic DAT. “How are things going on the planet?”

  “So far, so good. It looks promising as a place for the Cresorians to make a home. A couple more days and we’ll know for sure.”

  “Glad to hear it,” as Sally got up. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Good night,” John said as she left. He spun his chair around and looked out the window. He was optimistic that the Cresorians would want to stay on the planet. It would give them a fresh start, an opportunity to rebuild their culture on a new world.

  “Captain Roberts,” came the voice of Vish. “You have a message waiting for you, time stamped to be delivered at this time.”

  “From who?”

  “Andre Paris.”

  That was odd to get a message from him in this manner. “Play the message,” John ordered.

  “Playing message, audio only.”

  “Captain Roberts, by the time you read this I’ll be gone. I tried to make a go of it here, but I couldn’t do it. I had a wonderful life with Adriana and nothing here can capture the years of happiness I had with her.

  “Please don’t feel like you failed me. You did everything you could to keep me going.
You were so kind and went out of your way to make me feel welcome here. The time we had was my one highlight here. It meant so much to me that you felt comfortable opening up to me about what you’ve gone through. You’re fortunate to be the leader of a community. Everywhere I went people spoke highly of you.

  “In my quarters you’ll find a handwritten journal I kept. Maybe it’ll give you a little more insight about the person I was. I don’t want any funeral services.

  “Please don’t be sad. I had a wonderful life, and my time has come to an end. I’m finally at peace. Keep living your life to the fullest. Take care. – Andre.”

  John’s entire body went numb. This couldn’t be. He’d just spoken to Andre yesterday.

  “Vish, replay the message.”

  John sat motionless in his chair as his mind processed Andre’s words. He instinctively wanted to call him but knew it would be pointless. There would be no answer. He didn’t want to face it, but Andre confided in him. The captain knew he had things to take care of for his friend.

  “Vish, direct all inquiries for me to Sally. Notify her I’ll be unavailable for the rest of the day.”

  “Acknowledged.”

  John slowly got up from his seat. He didn’t want to walk out of his office and face what was coming. He vacated all thoughts from his mind as he headed out. He didn’t want anyone to know something was wrong.

  ********

  The walk to Andre’s quarters was one of the most difficult treks for the captain. It was even worse than when he walked from the command deck to the hangar after the Screen’s assault at the Ni star system. Back then, they had just survived being defeated in battle, and John walked past the dead and injured as he proceeded through the corridors. But now, everyone was going about their business happy and content, while John walked in absolute misery. He could barely say hello or crack a smile at the crewmembers who acknowledged him.