Ragnarok: Colonization, intrigue and betrayal.

by Andrew Claymore

  Bill grinned and handed over a skewer.

  Sulak grabbed a chunk of chicken between his teeth and slid it off the skewer. The crowd pressed in as he chewed. They’d completely forgotten to be nervous about the alien as they watched him sample the food.

  “Ah,” he heaved a rumbling sigh of delight. “It is concentrations of the divine such as these...” He waved the skewer in emphasis, “...That balance the scales against long stretches of monotony!”

  There followed a moment of reflection as the colonists digested Sulak’s less-than-clear declaration in Imperial Standard. When they worked out that he was speaking words of high praise for the food, there was a great deal of grinning and gesturing toward the pavilion.

  They led him off to sample the other dishes as Terry and Vikram appeared, edging around the crowd with full plates of their own. Several young women were noticing the two young men but they both seemed oblivious.

  Mal was close behind them, his plate full but with more variety on it.

  “You know there’s more than one thing to eat over there, right?” Frank asked Terry.

  “Yeah.” Terry took a skewer and placed it on Frank’s dish. “We stuffed ourselves already but then we found these. Can you believe it got missed at first?”

  “They only just put it on the table,” Vikram added.

  “And most of the folks here have already loaded up on other stuff,” Terry said, holding up a skewer toward Captain Hennessy who grinned once again and stuck out his plate.

  “I’m not one for fish,” Terry admitted, “but look at that gorgeous color! Try them; they taste even better than they look!”

  Rohan Naidu declined the offered skewer. “Thank you, no,” he said. “I’ve already had some.”

  That seemed odd to Frank. If they were just put out, how did… That was when he noticed the proud smile on his fellow councilor’s face. He had some at home, before his family brought it to the pavilion.

  “Those are good,” Mal said. “This is the first time I’ve had food created by Humans.” He grabbed a passing comrade by her armored elbow and nodded at Terry’s plate.

  She tried a bite, her eyes growing wide.

  “Right?” Mal asked her. “I’d have come here just for the food. We get to live here!”

  “They have something called a korma over at the tables,” she told him. “C’mon. You’ve got to try it!”

  Frank watched the two weave their way through the crowd. “I think they like living among wild Humans,” he said.

  “There will be more of them,” Sushil said. “Father Sulak said we would almost certainly attract pilgrims from the republic – oracles hoping to expand their horizons by exploring new faiths.”

  “And there’s the food,” Frank added.

  Sushil nodded. “That pizza the Harris family brought was delicious.”

  “You ate pepperoni, Sushil?” Frank asked him.

  “Barbecue chicken,” Sushil replied.

  “Just when you think everything is going so well,” Frank said mournfully. “The peaceful start to our new world is shattered in its first day by Mark Harris, inflicting an unholy abomination on us…” He shook his head. “Chicken on pizza.”

  By now, it was understood that he was just joking and the folks around him were beginning to laugh. Trisha approached with Mrs. Naidu, both looking quizzically at Frank who had now raised both his arms dramatically.

  “Send us a sign!” he called up to the heavens. “Or, possibly, some fresh mozza?”

  The laughter was cut off abruptly, along with almost all of the conversations in the square. Everyone froze at the deep airy note that floated down to them from somewhere up in the mountains.

  “What the hell was that?” Frank whispered in English.

  “Some kind of animal,” Sushil replied in the same language but with his own regional accent. His Imperial Standard, like every Human on Ragnarok, came from a training pod so they all spoke it with a Throne World lilt.

  Everyone still had their original accents for languages they already knew.

  “There,” Mr. Naidu pointed up the mountain above the eastern wall. “See those lights?”

  So much for uninhabited, Frank thought. He was already attached to this place. He had a nice house, a beautiful town… He was watching the lights and imagining trouble.

  “Someone already lives here?” a colonist asked behind him in Imperial Standard, voicing a concern that many probably shared.

  Would they demand the Humans leave? Were they coming to attack?

  Mal was directing his garrison troops, getting them up to the walls to mount a defense, if necessary.

  Another call sounded, closer this time. It was deep but thin, somehow, almost reedy, insubstantial.

  One of the soldiers already atop the wall held up a warning hand to the others and waved them into a crouch just as a glow outlined him from behind. The crowd gasped as a large creature undulated into view, gliding gracefully over the barrier.

  It was roughly the size of a whale and it was bio-luminescent, glowing a pale blue. Frank could see the stars through the filmy creature as it swam through the air over the town.

  It inflated a part of its lower body and emitted another call, haunting and beautiful. Frank couldn’t help but feel that there was no danger in the creature.

  Sushil and Mal seemed to agree. Having ordered his troops to the wall, he’d subsequently come to find the chairman and it seemed they’d decided to give these creatures the benefit of the doubt for the moment.

  “They seem peaceful,” Frank suggested.

  “We’re not seeing anything that suggests weapons,” Mal said, staring up at the creature. “Close scans show no claws, no teeth, no evidence of dangerous chemicals.”

  “I wonder why the previous scans didn’t show these creatures?” Sushil said.

  “Their density is too low for the hull-mounted sensors to catch on high-speed passes,” Mal explained. “We’re picking them up now with the suit-mounts because we’re standing still and it’s almost close enough to touch.”

  “How does it float like that?” a colonist asked.

  “It’s mostly empty space,” Mal said, eyes scanning his suit’s holo interface. “It has some gas-bladders along the dorsal surface filled with hydrogen as well.”

  “Hydrogen?” Frank blurted. “Where the hells would they get hydrogen?”

  “Where do we get carbon dioxide or methane?” Mal asked in a way that clearly invited no answer.

  “I think the light is attracting insects.” Sushil pointed. “See the little dark spots between us and the creature?”

  “Some of the spots are inside the creature,” Mal said, frowning at his HUD. “They must come down from the highlands at night to feed. The colder air is denser, so maybe this is the only time they can float.”

  The troops on the wall lowered their weapons and the colonists in the square relaxed. The nervous tension was replaced by fascination.

  They oohed and ahhed as the creatures wafted overhead, calling to one another. Many colonists ran to the walls to watch as they drifted down the valley.

  A little girl came dancing, twirling to a halt in their midst. She looked to be about five years old. She glanced back uncertainly but saw her mother following her and waved excitedly, dislodging one of the flowers in her hair.

  Hennessy crouched to pick it up. “I think you dropped this, young lady.” He held it out.

  She took it from his hand and stepped closer to tuck it over his ear. She flashed him a brilliant smile and scampered off.

  The captain stood again, smiling broadly. He reached up to the flower but he decided to leave it there.

  Frank wasn’t sure when he’d put his arm around Trisha but it was a pleasant surprise to find her there, smiling up at the sky. He lowered his hand to rest on her waist.

  “Well, you asked for a sign,” Sushil said, grinning at Frank. “It’s no mozza but I think we should look on this as a blessing, don’t you think?”


  “What did I miss?” Trisha wrinkled her nose up at her husband.

  “I was being silly,” he explained, “and the Universe must have noticed.”

  A last creature made its way past the town and then there was no further sign of them, except for the quickly fading calls from down the valley.

  Frank leaned down to whisper in Trisha’s ear. “Should I go see if our container has been emptied?”

  “Mmm,” she tilted her head so his lips brushed her ear. “Are you in a rush to get home?”

  “A mad rush,” he assured her.

  “Me too,” she admitted, “but we need to wait until Vikram is settled in his room.” She looked up at him. “I don’t want him walking past our door.”

  She giggled at the look on his face. “Now you know why I was so anxious for him to unpack!”

  Movie Night

  The Mouse, In Path

  “Why is the mighty Hercules wearing a bathmat?” a silhouette at the bottom of the projection asked.

  The crowd in the hangar laughed and, fortunately, they were laughing at the right spots in the movie. Gabriella had been nervous about showing them Earth entertainment.

  She’d seen some of Hack’s favorite holo-dramas and they were mind-blowingly impressive. The crew had been clamoring for a taste of wild entertainment and so she’d figured it would be best to start out with something they were supposed to laugh at.

  One of her favorites involved silhouette characters poking fun at cheesy old movies.

  A character walked into a discussion holding a sheet of paper. “Hey guys, I was just reading the script and I think I’m supposed to be in this scene!”

  Another burst of laughter. She looked over at Hack. He was enjoying himself and he also seemed curious about whether Tien was enjoying it as well. He kept glancing over at her.

  Gabriella smiled. He was being furtive about it, as if he was afraid of being found out and ridiculed. I know that story well enough. Still, it’s cute to watch from this perspective.

  She found him attractive. Hell, pretty much every one of these genetically enhanced males was good looking but she had no interest in him beyond friendship. These people were just so different from everything she knew.

  Tien, however, had a lot more in common with Hack. He seemed to agree because he’d brought her along to help introduce Gabriella to holo entertainment.

  The first holo had, at Hack’s insistence, been one of Tien’s picks. It was a romance involving a strange-looking alien species.

  The Earth movie ended and the lights came back on. She watched Tien get up and move over to a spot near the exit with a group of women, all of them laughing as they discussed the movie.

  And poor Hack sat there, cute as a lost puppy, watching Tien leave. I wonder if someone will ever look at me like that.

  She leaned over and bumped his shoulder with hers. “You gotta do something about that,” she told him.

  “What?” he asked, alarmed. “Do something about what?”

  “Come on,” she chided. “It’s pretty obvious you like her. I thought you guys were a lot more forward about this stuff.”

  “Not all of us. The combat specialists are more like that. They get really…” He darted her a guilty look. “They get a little crazy, after a mission. I’m a support tech.”

  “So you’ve never…” She trailed off significantly.

  “Never…?” He looked at her. “Well, I have. Most of us have. Just not as much as you might have been led to believe.”

  “So, you’ve never just had a random, no-consequence roll in the hay with someone?”

  “Roll in the… Ah. Well, yes, I have but not often and folks are starting to frown on that now. Should we be having this conversation?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Look, in my country, the laws vary by state. I can get in my mom’s car – which I can legally drive, by the way – travel three hundred miles and suddenly the age of consent is only sixteen.”

  She held up her hands. “I happen to think that age is too young, by the way, but that’s what happens when some gross old politician is in charge of picking the number. The point is…”

  She frowned. What is my point here? She shook her head. “We’re talking about you here, not me. You like Tien. Do you have any kind of history with her?”

  “We’ve served together for three…” He stopped abruptly, pulling his face back from her waggling fingers.

  “No, Hack. I mean have you had sex with her?”

  “Oh.” He fidgeted on his seat. “No. I suppose it would have helped, right?”

  “Maybe,” she grimaced. “But I think you like her a little more than that, right?”

  “History wouldn’t help?”

  “Do you remember that first holo you guys had me watch? The one she picked?”

  “Additional Heartrending Tale of Seletica? Sure, why?”

  “Aside from the stupid title, do you recall what happens to the young woman… young female, I suppose?”

  “Yeah, she died.”

  “Ugh! Is that all you remember?”

  “It seemed pretty important.”

  “Really? In the context of our conversation, that’s what you think applies?” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Why was she executed?”

  “She married a commoner and her father, the lord of the system, had to make an example of them both.”

  “Good Lord! No matter where you are in the Universe, it has one truth,” Gabriella said loudly. “Men are dense!”

  “That’s what happened,” Hack protested.

  “She was a noblewoman, kept on her metaphorical pedestal in the palace where everyone could see her but that one commoner noticed her. Do you understand? He couldn’t help himself. That’s what happened in Tien’s favorite holo.”

  “So…” He furrowed his brows.

  Gabriella resisted the urge to shake him. This is new for these people, she reminded herself. “Look, she wants to be noticed. She wants a guy who can’t help but take a second glance when he bumps into her on the ship.

  “But don’t start following her around like a love-sick puppy,” she warned. “Just be yourself. Regular, confident broad-shouldered Hack. If you happen to see her somewhere, maybe do a double-take or something; let her see you noticing her.”

  “Um. Okay,” he said carefully. “So I just look but don’t say anything? I’m just noticing, right?”

  “What? No, you can say ‘hi’ or something. You might even let your voice go up a little in tone. That signals interest, or so my friends tell me.”

  “Where did they learn this stuff?”

  “I’m kind of the odd woman out in my group of friends,” she admitted. “They’ve all had boyfriends, so they’re always trying to ‘coach’ me.”

  “And you’re passing it forward, as they say on Irth?”

  “Paying it forward,” she corrected. “But, yes. Try it out. If you think you’re making progress, ask her if she’d like to see another movie from Earth. I’ve got a ton of them. I’m sure there’s a few good tear-jerkers she’d like.”

  “Tear-jerkers…” He nodded slowly. “What if she wants to bring along her friends?”

  She shrugged. “If you’ve done a good job of noticing her, she’ll understand what you’re getting at. If not, you might have to put your heart on your sleeve.”

  “What?” He recoiled. “I like her but I’m not going to kill myself over her!”

  “That’s good to know,” she said, gently amused. “It’s a figure of speech. If she suggests inviting her pals, you might have to say something like ‘I was thinking just the two of us…”

  “What if she says no?” he asked, smiling at Adelina who was making her way over from the other side of the hangar.

  “Then there’s probably no hope.” She put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry but, if you make it plain that you want to spend time with her and she doesn’t go for it, then you need to move on. Either way, it’s better than gazing at her from a
far and never finding out.”

  “Hack needs a hand,” she said to Adelina as her mother arrived. “Let him practice saying ‘hi’ to a cute girl in a chance encounter? Hack, turn to my mom and say ‘hi’.”

  “Um…” Hack turned to Adelina. “Hi?”

  Adelina couldn’t quite suppress an amused grin. “That’s not very good. Are you greeting a woman you had a wild drunken night with and you’re wondering if she want’s to forget the whole thing?”

  “Try a slightly higher pitch.” Gabriella urged.

  “Hi!” he squeaked, ears red.

  Adelina rolled her eyes. “What the hells was that? You really need to pee and I’m in your way? You bring a lot to the equation, Hack. Half the women I know back home would jump at the chance to spend some time with a guy like you so don’t come at this like you’re nothing.”

  “I think the problem is that you’re trying for a tone that says you really like her,” Gabriella mused. “You don’t want her thinking you’ve already picked out names for the kids. You need to hit a tone that says something more like ‘Oh, cookies! What a nice surprise!’”

  “Oh, we need to get more of those,” Hack said enthusiastically. “Next time we stop at Irth, we need to…”

  “Just say it,” Gabriella cut him off.

  He turned back to Adelina. “Oh, hi!” he said.

  Adelina’s eyes widened a little. “That’ll do the job,” she said, brushing her right hand across her left collarbone.

  “My Lady,” he nodded at Adelina before turning back to Gabriella. “Thank-you for the advice. I think I’ll go try it right now.” He got up and started for the exit.

  “Mom?” Gabriella reached out and poked her mother in the shoulder.

  Adelina was still watching him walk toward the group of young women but she shifted her gaze a little higher. “Just want to see what happens,” she said a little too defensively.

  Hack passed Tien’s group on the way to the door. She smiled in his direction, not unexpected since they did know each other.

  They were too far away to hear whether he said anything but her smile brightened a little and her friends were looking at each other, surprise on their faces.

  “Yeah,” Gabriella said with satisfaction, “he nailed it.”