On Mars Pathfinder (The Mike Lane Stories Book 1)

by Jim Melanson

  “Something is up with the humans. Does anyone think this is so?”

  Startled, but pleased with the opening, Kam asked, “Why say you this young friend?”

  “Well,” he started, “Last cycle, when we were delivering the homeworld foods, the store rooms at the Mars base were not as roomy as they usually are. There was a lot of supplies from the human world there, but most of them were long-term provisions, not much in the way of perishables. We also saw many boxes of what the humans call “Meals Ready to Eat”, quite similar to our battle rations. We could see many of them.”

  “You are getting startled by the sudden appearance of food?” Piv rubbed his slightly paunch belly. Never one to say no to a second helping, he asked, “Are you getting skittish over preserves? I could most surely help with their overabundance problems!” The others chuckled, his gastronomic proclivities were well known.

  “No friend, of course not. They did not appear all at once either. However, friend, I’ve been on this Mars run for almost forty cycles. It’s only in the last five that I’ve noticed they are stocking up reserves. It’s like they are expecting to go a long time without resupply. Even our own shipments have been increasing slightly for the last five cycles, more preserves and dried foods than perishables. Your own Adla provided dozens of pots of preserves in the last shipment.”

  The Eben liked fresh food. They would eat preserves and dried foods on campaign, on long interstellar or intergalactic voyages, and during droughts. When there was a source of fresh food, however, fresh food always won. With over seventy True-Blood Eben on the humans’ second world, what Oboo had seen was odd and worth noting, though not overly worrying about on its own.

  Saklt cleared his throat and spoke quietly, “My sister has reported to me that many of us, on their base, are growing more unhappy about the humans’ shipments of live organic tissues to the ‘dani base.”

  “Ahhhh,” Piv threw his hands in the air and stood quickly, starting to pace. “They should obliterate that base of Tantaloids, and the one on the humans’ moon as well.”

  Kam spoke up, “The humans don’t have the power to take out the ‘dani Piv, you know that.”

  Piv spun on his heels, the old argument coming back for another incarnation, “WE DO! It would take only one of the battle cruisers to eliminate the Eridani base on the humans’ second planet. Then it could quickly make the jump to Earth and destroy the base on their moon! It would only take one battle cruiser and we have two stationed there! Why not just get rid of the bastards!”

  “We all remember the stories of the Great War, that is why! Do we want to go to war with the Eridani? Do we know for sure the Lectra and the Ousoons will not join with them? The Trigla homeworld is bursting with too many idle hands!” Kam had made this argument more than once as well.

  “The Trigla homeworld will never join in a war with the Voiya against us!” Piv was almost yelling.

  “The Trigla are their slaves Piv!” jumped in Oboo, “They will do what they are told!”

  “Ahhcchh, I disagree with you ‘boo, the Trigla are slaves because it suits them to be so. It SUITS THEM. If the Voiya pushed them too far, the Trigla outnumber them ten thousand to one! The Voiya wouldn’t stand a chance!”

  Saklt quietly chimed in, sitting behind where Piv stood, “You keep forgetting the Vesna.”

  “Vesna, ahhcchhh! No better than the Voiya!” Piv spun around.

  “You keep forgetting the drones too,” added Saklt.

  Piv didn’t say anything but the frustration was evident on his brow. “Those drones are an abomination,” he retorted sulkily.

  “Yes they are,” agreed Kam, “but at last estimate, there are almost 30,000,000 of those abominations in this galaxy alone.”

  This seemed to take the wind out of Piv’s rant, as it usually did. He tossed his long arms in the air in surrender. Picking up his mug of spiced tea from the rock he had been sitting on, he drank deeply of it, “Forsake the one who created the drones” he muttered the time old curse. The others mumbled in agreement, and drank from their tall mugs of spiced tea as well.

  “I agree with Oboo though,” continued Kam, “there is something going on with the humans. I’ve noticed an increase in political communiqués with the central council and the industrial districts. The Protective Services division in the central city is also … a bit different. Security seems tighter. Their training regimens of those at the academy are increasing in duration and intensity. Kala, my wife’s brother’s wife’s sister told me that they have been conducting a lot of weightless combat training, and a lot of low atmosphere combat training.”

  The others looked at him, and murmured interrogatory sounds of concern.

  “I’ve also heard,” continued Kam, “that the Shin Rol, the Shin Pey, and the Shin Moff have been ordered into the yards for refit,” he paused, “all at the same time. They are sitting in the orbital docks right now.”

  This startled the others. He now had their full attention. The Eben, individually and as a race, are known as the fiercest and greatest warriors in the galaxy. While the Eben were victorious in the Great War, it almost eradicated their entire race; just as the Eben had entirely eradicated the Kuabatay during that war. Once a population of nine billion, there were now only about seven hundred thousand Eben on the homeworld, and another twenty thousand spread around the three galaxies. Some were on exploration missions, some were traders, and some were staffing remote outposts. Still, the Eben had never lost a skirmish or battle when forced into one, but they were also reluctant about going to war without far superior numbers on their side. Just because they were very good, didn’t mean they didn’t die.

  The Shin Rol, Shin Pey and the Shin Moff were heavy battle cruisers. They were ancient, but fully functional and fully capable ships of war. In the last few centuries their business had been mostly commerce, and while heavily armed, they were old style arms and defenses. The newer and smaller battle cruisers like the Lo Pal, Lo Long, and Lo Tow were a bit more agile and packed as much punch with a lower overhead. Refitting the already impressive Shin class of battle cruiser with the modern armaments and defensive technology would make them the most fearsome and deadly ships of war in the three (known) occupied galaxies. This new fact gave the Eben men pause, as they quietly calculated just one of the ships destructive capabilities. Though these men were peace-loving, as all Eben were, it gave them a shiver of both pride and fear.

  Saklt spoke first, “If they are refitting the old Shin cruisers, then that can only be for the awe their presence would inspire amongst our enemies. Perhaps the council is merely making this a demonstration of resolve and intent, to discourage anyone who might get ideas about challenging us.”

  Piv spoke up, with a big smile on his face, “Were that true, friend, why would we be increasing our warriors training in low atmo combat?”

  Another silence settled on the men. After a few moments Piv looked at Kam, holding his gaze for a moment, “Where is Hof?”

  Kam, who had been staring at the babbling brook of water turned and faced Piv, “He should be arriving on the humans’ second planet today.”

  Hof

  Achael was deep in conversation with Colonel Greff KamPen, sitting in his office. There was a sharp knock on the door and KamPen yelled out, “Enter!”

  The door opened and Hlef leaned in, “May I join you?”

  KamPen looked a bit taken aback, but nodded his head. Hlef would typically just barge in like she owned the place. She took a seat beside Achael. Looking at Hlef, Achael said, “I just told him what Mom wants us to do.”

  “I still can’t believe she wants us to do this. It’s ridiculous. Why should we make ourselves known to him? Why should we tell him about us? Why does she want to provoke the Eridani?

  KamPen was fiddling with a pen, “The General has never steered us astray. She has always made decisions that, in the end, proved to be to our benefit and to the humans’ benefit. While I’m not sure what her end game is,” he had his
own thoughts on that matter, “I’m sure that this is for a very good reason.” He didn’t know about any of the preparations on Sapro. He looked up and smiled, “And I can’t think of two better people to do it.”

  The phone rang on his desk. He picked it up, listened then hung it up without saying anything. He stood up, “I have to go to the hangar bay, would you please come with me?” After the nasty surprise of sending Hlef to Earth unbidden, he now had a most pleasant surprise to make up for it.

  They all stood and headed towards the door. Regardless of rank, Greff was a gentleman in both the human and the Eben way of thinking. He opened the door and held it for the ladies. As Hlef passed by him, she stopped and looked at him sweetly, reached out and touched her long fingers to his cheek. With a pert smile she said, “I haven’t forgotten what you did,” and then she slapped his face, playfully. He should have been incensed, but instead he just laughed; Greff had known there would be a reckoning for putting her on the shuttle to Earth, and if this was the piper’s due, then he was getting off very lucky indeed.

  As they walked towards the hangar bay, Achael recounted to him the meeting with Sharon Moesby and the new baby. Greff also knew Sharon from some work he had done down-side. Achael, of course, left out the part about Hlef’s meltdown. She spent the rest of the walk to the hangar bay catching him up on some of the other gossip she had picked up from others she had spoken with. They reached the hangar bay doors, and Col. Greff KamPen pushed them open stepping through with the ladies behind him. He stopped suddenly, and they almost plowed into him. He said, “Keeva Hof!” and stepped aside.

  Both girls screamed and ran forward at the same time, “DADDY!!”

  Hof was standing with a small black duffel over his shoulder. He was talking to Pinpin, but turned quickly at the sound of his daughters’ voices. They both practically plowed him over as they fell to one knee, grabbing him fiercely in their long arms, and hugging him so hard he could barely breathe. He wrapped his long Eben arms around both of them, and smiled despite himself; kissing them both on the forehead, and then touching them both on the head in a uniquely Eben way. He and his wife Pella had the permitted three children on Sapro, but he was also blessed with five more children here on the humans’ second planet. It was something Pella held over his head when she was in one of her moods.

  He could barely croak out in native Eben, “Nao … keeva” (can’t breathe).

  Hlef and Achael both loosened their grip on him, but didn’t let go. They started kissing his hairless head over and over again. It was an Eben familial expression of affection, but Hof always felt like he needed a shower afterwards. He had, after all, just gone through the same thing with Pinpin. The hybrids were almost as sloppy as the humans when it came to saliva and kisses. Finally the kissing stopped, the girls had thick black tears in their eyes at the joy of this surprise visit from their father. Their inner eyelids had slammed shut with the emotional surprise of seeing him and they, for the moment, looked very Eben kneeling next to him. Hof was very pleased as well, and had looked forward to seeing all of his hybrid children. The trip from Zeta Reticuli I Theta (simply known to the Eben and the humans as Sapro) had taken almost one hundred sleeps, about three months in human terms. Sapro was approximately forty light years from Earth, and even the heavy cruiser Lo Pal took time to fold that distance. The recently completed Lo Pal was a new generation battle cruiser, and was to remain on Mars while the Shin Pu returned to Sapro for refit. The Shin Fa would not go for refit until the Shin Pu returned.

  Hof started to pick up his bag again, having dropped it when the girls tackled him. Hlef snatched it from his hand and threw it over her shoulder. The girls took a place on each side of him, each one holding one of his hands as they walked out of the hangar bay.

  “Dinner together?” Hlef tossed over her shoulder to Pinpin. He gave her a thumbs up. This caused Achael to marvel again at the change in her sister. Hlef would never have thought of something so inclusive, or family oriented like that before their trip to Earth, but now, it was like she was becoming, well, normal. Eben normal anyways.

  As they walked down the corridor the girls had to let go of their father and jump out of the way quickly. Ahshuun and Khlam had come around a corner and repeated the screaming tackle so recently enacted by Achael and Hlef. When they heard that Hof had arrived, they had immediately headed towards the hangar bay to greet him as well. While Ahshuun, an Eben dominant hybrid, was the same height as Hof (about four feet tall), Khlam was a human dominant hybrid like the girls. He stood 161 centimetres, so he wound up hugging both father and brother, not even really being aware of it. Again, with the kissing of the head; Hof decided he definitely needed a shower after all this.

  Hot showers were one of the perks of coming to the humans’ second world. On Sapro, the houses only had small shallow baths, showers were seen as wasteful. The Battle Cruiser had showers, but they were low-pressure, lukewarm; and simply weren’t of the same quality as those found in the human facilities. That was why Hof had one secretly built in his workshop behind his small house, although he rarely got to use it. Unbeknownst to him, Pella had discovered the shower and used it from time to time as well, more often than Hof. The luxury of it was mesmerizing to her.

  The Eben father and four hybrid children walked towards the guest quarters. The air was resonant with native Eben dialect, as they all competed to tell him more than the other. Hof tried to get in words of encouragement, wonder, and how pleased he was. Hof wasn’t a spring chicken any more, almost 320 Earth years in age, the wisdom of time finally told him to just let them ramble on and smile appreciatively while grunting in the appropriate places. Greff trailed along behind them, wondering if he would see Kam, his own sperm donor father, anytime in the near future.

  Along the way, many people greeted Hof by word or gesture. He had been coming around the Mars base for about 150 years before the Hybrid program began. He was widely respected. He was both liked and loved by many.

  Reaching his quarters, the children remained outside as Hof thanked them for their welcome, and promised that after freshening up, he would join them for dinner. He did have to meet with Col. KamPen first, he told them, but not until he had a shower and a change of clothes. His daughters told him they had a mission of their own to complete, so they planned on getting together in six hours.

  They all left him to himself and headed towards the cafeteria. The Commander had offered the family his private dining room, and Hlef wanted to speak with the Chef about preparing some Eben dishes for their father. His created children knew that Hof had a fancy for carrots, something that had no corresponding vegetable on Sapro. They made sure that Chef prepared lots of them, oozing in butter and sesame seeds. Butter was something else unheard of on Sapro, and it was something that Hof indulged in when on the human worlds. Being strictly vegetarian, Hof’s body usually had difficulty processing anything with lactose, but he tolerated it.

  Twenty minutes later, Hof presented himself to the Commander, with the central council’s compliments. Col. KamPen ushered Hof to the small conference table in the corner of his large office, and sat down across from him. As soon as they were seated, a human mess steward came in with a pot of hot spiced tea and a chinaware tea service. As this was being served, Hof presented Greff with a small bottle of Molyak wine, a gift sent from Pella, Hof’s wife. Greff had spent some time on Sapro as a child, and for whatever strange reason, Pella had taken a shine to the young child Greff had been. Greff had been the first hybrid Pella had ever met, years before Hof’s own hybrid children had been created.

  Hof had brought several items of business to attend to regarding the operation of an interstellar outpost. It took about an hour to sort them out, including some personnel reassignments. Hof then went over some plans he had for the next generation of hybrids. The new advancements they wanted to incorporate would hopefully allow the next set of hybrids to be fertile, able to conceive and bare children. It was a major milestone they had been working to
wards for almost eighty human years. Greff, now 54 human years old, barely out of adolescence in Eben terms, had been in the third iteration of hybrids. Hof’s children were in the fifth iteration of hybrids. The new batch about to mature would be the ninth iteration of hybrids. Hof’s plans were for the upcoming tenth iteration, not yet started. The oldest hybrids were in their seventies, and showed no signs of slowing down. They didn’t really have any clue yet what their life expectancy would be. Only five hybrids, from all the iterations, had died: three of them in accidents, and two of them in battle.

  Finally, the formal business attended to, Hof stood and walked around the office in silence. His long arms tucked deep in his pants pockets; he was deep in thought as he slowly returned to the table and sat down. Greff had seen Hof like this before, and knew better than to interrupt his thoughtful cogitations.

  As Hof sat down, Greff leaned forward and poured some more Saenggangcha spicy tea in his cup. Hof nodded in appreciation and slowly took a deep draught of the invigorating beverage. This particular blend was from South Korea and was imported quite frequently, via the 88th, by a few specialized merchants on Sapro.

  Finally Hof looked at Greff and set down his cup. As always with Hof, they spoke in Eben, “I have been authorized by the central council and by the 88th to brief you on certain matters.”

  Greff wasn’t totally surprised by this. Hof’s visit had been a last-minute thing, and most of what had been discussed could have been done by communiqué rather than in person.

  “We are finally going to rid Mars of the Eridani.”

  “Just Mars?” asked Greff.

  Hof smiled.

  The Visit

  Khlam did the quick prefight on the Dart as he waited for his sisters. After Achael and Hlef had given marching orders to the cafeteria staff, he had been surprised by them taking him aside. Now he was part of some cloak and dagger bullshit to the human colony site. Before he did the preflight, he had taken three minutes to access and disable the craft’s transponder and IFF beacon. According to Achael, there could be no record of their visit to the human. The ship would still be visible because the Eben had never bothered with cloaking technology like the Eridani and the Ousoon had developed.