Alien People

by John Coon

  Xttra devolved into an arrogant brat whenever he assumed someone wanted to usurp leadership of this expedition. It grated on him. Jbali spent 41 years serving in the Stellar Guard and accomplished things Xttra could only dream of doing. It made him burn hot under his uniform collar for this reckless novice to continually denigrate his extensive experience and knowledge. Jbali now wondered what drove him to agree to resume active duty within the Stellar Guard and join this expedition in the first place.

  “Exactly how many search and rescue missions have you mounted?”

  Xttra bristled at his rhetorical question.

  “You're kidding, right? I'm not some junior officer fresh out of the Academy.”

  Jbali leaned back against the seat and folded his arms. He drummed his fingers on his left elbow.

  “I led the expedition when we made first contact with Peleus Prime. Look how that turned out. I laid the groundwork for building a peaceful and fruitful relationship with the Peleusians.”

  “I don't need a history lesson.”

  “Apparently, you do. I'm more qualified to deal with hostile aliens than you are. As a former Serbius refugee, I understand how things work beyond Lathos much better than you do.”

  “Is that a fact?”

  “When it boils down to tracking down Atch, I’m the best choice for getting the job done.”

  Xttra lowered his head and rubbed his hand down the bridge of his nose and over his mouth. He met Jbali's eyes again and sighed.

  “Fine. Go get him.” Xttra jabbed a finger straight at him. “But stay in close contact. I don't want this situation to spiral further out of control.”

  Jbali raised the window again and powered the engine. He extended the wings and the aerorover ascended above the treetops. Soon, Jbali took up a new position above the backside of the mountain range. He circled over jagged tree-lined slopes.

  No trace of alien ships appeared on the vehicle's sensors. Jbali spotted no visual evidence of Earthians below him on the mountain slopes. He also detected no sign of Atch. His eyes darted back to the sensor screen. Based on coordinates Doni gave him earlier, he arrived at the correct spot.

  Atch had to be somewhere close.

  Jbali saw no other choice except to land. His thermal tracker could detect Atch's body heat pattern once on the ground. Heat exhaust from the aerorover rendered it useless while he remained airborne. Jbali wanted this rescue mission done fast and done right. Xttra needed to see why giving him a bigger voice in leading their expedition mattered.

  He swooped down toward a mountain lake. It rested inside a depression carved out by an ancient glacier. Surrounding terrain sloped down to water on all sides, making the entire area a giant natural bowl. Trees of all shapes and sizes clustered the slopes. The lake itself resembled a modest teardrop-shaped pond. It offered a flat open shoreline where he could park without worrying about clipping tree branches and keep the aerorover concealed from hostile eyes.

  Jbali landed on a narrow strip of sand bordering the lake's shoreline. A small plume of dust flew up when magnetic wheels touched ground. He stepped out and activated his thermal tracker. Jbali traced the shoreline at a deliberate pace. Two random animals popped up. One nestled in a tree branch. The other scurried across the ground. Neither heat pattern matched Atch in size. A deep frown washed over his lips while Jbali stared at the tracker screen.

  “This would go a lot faster and easier, Atch, if you activated your arca vox,” he mumbled.

  Jbali already tried reaching him on his personal communicator before leaving the scout ship. He picked up no image or audio from Atch at the time. The same thing also happened when Lance and Doni each tried to contact him. As it stood now, Jbali felt blind scanning an endless ribbon of alien forest to find their navigator.

  Trees cast brooding shadows over his chosen path as Jbali climbed a nearby slope. Warm air took on a new crispness as the sun dipped behind the western mountain peaks. Jbali dared not imagine what fate awaited Atch if he spent a night alone stranded in a cold, dark alien forest without shelter. They had no clue how many dangerous animal species called these mountains home. Seeing Bo'un put into medical hibernation convinced Jbali that Doni's instincts were right from the start. Perhaps they uncovered a dangerous planet not worth exploring.

  More animal patterns popped up on the thermal tracker as he reached the top of the bowl. With twilight approaching, nocturnal creatures were arising from their daylight slumber. Still, no heat pattern corresponded with Atch or any Earthians. Jbali could spend countless hours combing trails in every direction and never find him at this rate.

  Did Atch vanish from these mountains without a trace? No other explanation sprang into his mind.

  "Curse that fool. Where did he go?"

  Jbali glanced down at the aerorover. He needed to scrounge up some night vision glasses if he wanted to continue this search past sunset. But Jbali also did not want to traipse down unfamiliar trails once darkness fell. He stood still and stared out at the lake while pondering what he should do.

  A series of high-pitched yips and howls chased away a stillness permeating the mountain forest. Jbali flinched. These new noises came from trees directly behind him. He turned in the same direction. His eyes scanned those trees, searching for whatever animal or animals made those sounds.

  Jbali glanced down at his tracker again. Three new four-footed animals clustered together beyond the visible trees. They roamed deeper in the forest but were still within walking distance. Their patterns revealed larger creatures roughly equal in size to an adolescent sapinoa. He hoped they did not decide to travel in his direction. If these animals bore other similarities to sapinoas, Jbali wanted to avoid meeting one at all costs. Sapinoas possessed an unpredictable temper matched only by incredible strength in their stout arms.

  His arca vox beeped. Jbali set his tracker on an adjacent rock, extracted the communicator from his chest pouch, and pressed an activation button. Atch's image appeared on the holoscreen. Relief surged through his entire frame upon seeing their missing crew member.

  “Atch! Where in Ahm's name are you? How come you haven't been answering your arca vox?”

  Raw panic gripped Atch. His eyes darted to some unseen point off-screen.

  “Where are you?”

  “I asked first.”

  “I don't dare move from this spot.” Fear choked Atch's voice. “Earthians are combing this part of the forest. I saw their attack vessel. One Earthian inside it sat behind a large mounted weapon.”

  Jbali frowned. Encountering wild alien animals were not the only danger he faced within this forest. Atch being scared out of his skin only made a tense situation worse.

  “Hold tight. I'll send you my coordinates.”

  “What about those aliens?”

  “We'll escape this mountain and make it back to the scout ship. I promise.”

  Atch closed his eyes and nodded. His image vanished from the arca vox a second later. Jbali transmitted the aerorover's landing coordinates to the navigator. He placed the arca vox back in his chest pouch and scooped up the tracker again. Jbali watched and waited, his eyes glued to the screen.

  He lost track of how much time passed before a heat pattern matching a human appeared on his tracker screen. It moved toward him from the east. Jbali released a deep sigh. Atch and Doni both deserved a good, hard lecture for putting everyone through this nonsense.

  A second pattern popped up. A third one followed. His whole body turned numb and his blood froze inside his veins.

  These ones matched the first heat pattern.

  Jbali set the tracker on the same rock as before and retrieved his arca vox again. He connected with Atch a second time. The navigator's image flickered when it resurfaced on the holoscreen.

  “Where are you?” His voice did not climb above a whisper. “You need to pick up the pace.”

  Before Atch could answer, Jbali heard a forceful pop. The holoscreen vanished with a violent flicker. His arca vox dropped from his left
hand and splintered as it struck the ground. Smoke rose from a fresh hole. A burnt odor wafted past his face.

  Jbali gasped and stumbled backward. He clutched his shoulder. Pain clawed through muscle, nerve, and bone. When Jbali pulled his hand away again, fresh blood coated his palm. His flex armor malfunctioned. Now he had a hole in his shoulder, matching the one in his broken arca vox.

  Jbali cast his eyes toward the tracker now at his feet. It showed five heat patterns matching humans in shape and size moving toward him. One traveled at a faster pace than the others.

  It had to be Atch.

  Jbali tried to convince himself that was the case. He had no way to confirm his suspicion. His fresh shoulder wound told him one important fact. Unseen aliens in the forest wanted them dead. He needed to figure out how to warn Atch while he still had a chance.

  Grinding pain shot through his shoulder as Jbali crawled to the edge of the bowl. He grimaced and bared his teeth. Even incremental movements produced the sensation of a hidden blade digging into every bone in his left arm. Jbali pushed himself to keep moving. The aerorover had a long-range communicator. If he could stay low and reach the vehicle undetected, Jbali would be able to warn Atch to find cover and then alert Xttra to the situation at hand. The entire crew needed to know the danger they faced.

  They had to flee Earth.

  “Jbali? Where are you?”

  Jbali cranked his head toward his injured shoulder and stared down the slope. Atch emerged from a patch of trees on the other side of the aerorover. His eyes darted everywhere as he neared the lake shore. Jbali sped his crawl as much as his shoulder allowed. He had only covered half of the distance separating him from the vehicle. A trail of dark blood extending beyond his feet marked his progress.

  “Climb in the aerorover!” His voice had grown strained. He gritted his teeth and let out a small grunt. “Lock yourself inside.”

  Atch hurried around the rear of the vehicle. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open when he observed Jbali crawling past trees toward him.

  “What happened to you?”

  “Get down on the ground! Get down now!”

  They both froze at the same time. Fear flooded Atch's eyes as he stared up the slope behind Jbali. Those words came from a brand-new voice. Every single word dripped with hostility.

  “Put your hands behind your head and get down now,” the new voice ordered.

  Atch bolted toward the aerorover door. Jbali shook his head and stretched out his arm.

  “Stop!”

  Atch ignored his protest and kept running. Another forceful pop followed. He stumbled and lurched forward. Atch thrust out a hand against the vehicle, trying to keep his balance.

  The navigator turned and extended his other arm. A razor disc ejected from his armored sleeve. It sliced through the air. Sounds of a violent groan and a body dropping to the ground a short distance behind him entered Jbali's ears. A third pop followed soon after. His eyes stayed fixed on the scene ahead.

  Atch let out a slight moan and toppled to the ground. He lay motionless between the aerorover and the lake. Blood pooled out from under his neck and soaked into the mountain soil.

  Leaves crunch behind Jbali. He snapped his head toward the source of the sound. Two aliens emerged from the woods. Each one wore a green helmet, matching green clothing covering their bodies. Shaded glasses wrapped around their eyes. Both brandished weapons with long barrels.

  No doubt about their identities existed in his mind now. Even on an alien planet, Jbali recognized a soldier when he saw one.

  “Aliens are contained.” The first soldier said. He spoke into a tiny communication device suspended over the corner of his mouth. “We bagged a pair near Desolation Lake.”

  The second soldier peered down at Jbali.

  “What should we do with this one?”

  “Take him back to the bird before night falls.”

  Every instinct inside Jbali told him to fight the alien soldiers and not allow them to take him as a prisoner. He spent considerable time holed up in a Confederation prison camp during the final days of the Separatist War and had no desire to relive such an experience.

  Jbali tried to raise his right arm. He panted and clenched his teeth as new pain surged through cracked bone and torn flesh. Efforts to crawl down to the aerorover robbed what little strength he had left.

  One soldier grabbed his arms. The other grabbed his feet. They hoisted Jbali off the ground. It became the last thing he remembered before his vision turned grainy and he blacked out.

  21

  Paige understood the reasons behind sending her to Utah all too well. It did not make the assignment from General Daly any easier to swallow. She did not crave a reminder of what she lost so long ago. Avoiding those reminders felt impossible out here.

  Being in this part of Utah put Paige too close to Wyoming for her comfort. She had not set foot inside that state since going with Jason during a semester break at McNeese State. He built Wyoming up as a larger-than-life outdoor paradise from their first date. They hooked a fishing boat to a pickup truck and spent an entire week hitting his favorite lakes and rivers during their excursion.

  Paige smiled for a moment when she recalled how much she teased him about one specific cutthroat trout he caught during their final stop on the Green River. Jason grinned the whole time while he reeled it in and pounded his chest after scooping the trout into the net. She started laughing after seeing his reaction. If Paige did not know any better, she would have thought he bagged himself a record trout suitable for mounting on a slab of wood and displaying on his mantle.

  This trout did not qualify for catch-of-the-day status. She let him know it after snapping an obligatory photo on her smartphone while he posed with his fish.

  “That's barely bigger than a little ol' minnow,” Paige scoffed. “We'd use it for bait out in the Gulf.”

  Jason kept grinning and shook his head.

  "Eighteen inches is still a decent-sized cutthroat."

  Paige laughed even harder.

  "I've seen speckled trout that would eat this little thing for lunch."

  That happy scene soon dissolved to Jason resting against a stone wall and clutching his shoulder. His face contorted in pain from a laser bolt wound. An eerie red light bathed their bodies while they hunkered down behind the wall.

  A loud knock tore Paige from her thoughts. She glanced up from the sapphire ring Jason once gave her and saw Sam standing at her open office door.

  “Thought you should know the first ranger team returned with a pair of aliens. Spotted them on an aerial survey and nabbed both.”

  Sam furrowed his brow when he saw her face.

  “Is something wrong?”

  She hurried and brushed away lingering tears from her cheeks. Paige had no desire to discuss Jason or anything else kicking around in her head.

  “I'm good. Where are the rangers now?”

  “Capt. Pollard told me the ranger team just landed on the helicopter pad. He sounded like he couldn't wait to get a look at those aliens himself.”

  Paige rose stiffly from her chair.

  “Lead the way.”

  The helicopter engine had shut down and rotor blades were on their final spins when they arrived from the main bureau office. Bright floodlights illuminated the pad. Two rangers brought out an alien with a wounded shoulder on a stretcher. Both eyes were shut, but the alien showed light chest movement indicating breathing. Paige noted it had silver and black hair, a brow ridge, and a flat nose. The alien's facial construction reminded her of a Neanderthal in subtle ways.

  A small gadget fell out of the alien's right ear and dropped on the ground. Paige scooped it up and examined the gadget. It resembled a wireless earbud with two open ends instead of one,

  “That's an unusual looking device,” Sam said. “What do you suppose it does?”

  He reached out to snatch it from her hand. Paige quickly pulled it away and shook her head.

  “I'll ask one of ou
r aliens when they are awake.”

  Rangers brought out a second alien on a stretcher. This one had no brow ridge, but it sported shaggy brown hair and a long scar ran from ear to jawbone on one side of its head. The alien appeared limp and lifeless. Paige stopped the stretcher and pried open an eyelid. One glimpse at the empty brown eye confirmed the alien had died before reaching the base.

  She marched over to the nearest ranger.

  “Who's the team leader here?”

  “I'm the team leader, ma'am.”

  A tall ranger on the opposite end of the stretcher signaled for the other ranger to set it down. He stepped forward and snapped a salute.

  “What's your name and rank, soldier?”

  Sergeant Kevin Riley, ma'am.”

  She scowled at him and pointed to the dead alien.

  “What is the meaning of this?”

  The sergeant removed his sunglasses, revealing medium brown eyes matching his skin.

  “We had a complication.”

  “Your orders were to bring all aliens back alive.” Paige did not blink as she dressed the ranger down. “Why do I have one dead alien and another unconscious one?”

  Kevin stared straight ahead. He looked past Paige's shoulder rather than at her face while trying to avoid her intense gaze.

  “My team had no choice, ma'am. They attacked us first. We were forced to respond in kind.”

  “Did the aliens kill one of your men?”

  “One wounded Private Lloyd, ma'am. Almost took his arm off with a flying disc-shaped blade.”

  “Almost took his arm off?” Sam repeated.

  “I wouldn't lie about something like this.”

  Paige felt troubled by this turn of events. These actions smacked of hostile scouts arriving ahead of a larger invasion force. Still, she did not approve of using deadly force to subdue aliens before she could conduct a proper interrogation. Without gathering intelligence, how could they expect to defend Earth from a forthcoming alien onslaught?

  Sam kept his eyes glued to the dead alien. His expression grew more troubled the longer he stared at the corpse.

  “That alien appears quite human to me.”