A second passed. “Got you!” came his sister’s relieved voice. “Yes, I’m seeing and hearing everything. Got twelve image icons up on the front screen. Plus the ship is on Combat Alert, thanks to Max.” She paused and Jack heard the bonging of a ship alert tone. “Uh, two Nasen ships have moved closer to us. The fleet is gathered in our Pinwheel formation, facing outward with our beam weapons.”
“Good,” Jack said. “We’re ready to meet these folks. But you and Max, stay alert!”
“Will do. Stay safe, brother!”
“Thanks. I will. Off comlink.” He scanned his friends. “Onward.” Jack stepped forward and tapped the Lander’s inner airlock hatch. It opened with a hiss. They entered in two groups, with Ignacio and Kasun carrying the cold locker full of elk and bison steaks. He stepped through the outer hatch.
Below him lay the extruded ramp. At the bottom stood Hilok and ten other Nasen. All of them looked predator alert. He had a feel for what might happen during the upcoming Trade meeting. While First Contact was always dangerous, Hilok seemed in control of his people.
Maureen elbowed him aside. “Me first you young twit!”
Jack watched as his Combat Commander pulled out her sword and her javelin spear, held both in front of her and descended the ramp. She did so leaning forward, as if ready to pounce.
He pulled Old Roy out of his back scabbard and followed her. At the bottom he stood at her left side. Footsteps sounded behind him with the arrival of the rest of his team. Jack fixed on the largest wolf-giraffe.
“Hilok of the Northern Pack, this is your Home Range. We are Trade visitors. We have food, devices and information to share, in return for the same from you. Our comlink devices speak in your tongue of power. Will your Pack accept Trade?”
A few snarls came from the Nasen who stood behind Hilok. “Enough! These Humans show respect to the Home Range! Accept!”
Jack slid his sword into his back scabbard. “Yes! My Pack accepts your Pack. It shares its scent with your scent. Will you lead us to a place where we may discuss Trade?”
“Yes. Follow me to our roof dome. It leads down to our Hall of Reception.” The Nasen turned and cantered to the dome entry, his movements casual even as long sinuous muscles moved under his red and yellow-banded hide.
“Follow me!” Maureen said as she stalked along after their host, her weapons still pointed at the nearby Nasen.
With a nod to Nikola, Jack followed their senior veteran. Their Mars admiral followed him. While Hideyoshi’s years in space might exceed Maureen’s, the admiral had long ago learned not to argue his seniority.
Inside the dome the air was cooler than that outside. A spiral of stairs led downward. Maureen followed the lithe-moving form of Hilok and everyone else followed her. In minutes they reached the next floor and exited into a room three times Jack’s height, a place open and spacious. A line of oval windows split the yellow stone of the room, offering a view of the gorge below and the pine-like trees that covered the opposite cliff face. In front of the windows there stood Nalik, Sator and Vanix, closely watching him and his people. Hilok cantered around a scattering of floor mats and cushions. A clear crystal pitcher occupied the center of the cushion cluster. A stack of drinking bowls lay next to it. The Nasen stopped beside his mate.
“Pack Leader Jack Munroe, you know my children. Beside me is my mate, Vanix. Behind you are members of my compound. Will you and your Pack join us for drink and discussion?”
He grabbed Maureen before she could take the lead. “We will gladly join you.” Jack stepped in front of Maureen’s panoply of weapons. “Beside me is my lifemate Nikola, who is expecting our first cub. Next to her is Blodwen, our ship Sociologist.” Maureen moved up to flank Jack on his right. “This, of course, is our Combat Commander Maureen. She is the . . . the alpha female of our group. As you can see.”
Behind him sounded the thunk of the cold box as Ignacio and Kasun put it down on the stone floor. His fellow captains stood in a crescent behind him. Nalik moved forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with her father. “Pack Leader Jack, have any of your group brought the . . . the scents of mating that your Denise shared during our last visit? My crèche members greatly enjoyed what you brought last time.”
Nikola chuckled. She dug into the carrybag she had slung over her shoulder and pulled out a slim yellow bottle. “Nalik of the Northern Pack, I did bring several such bottles of mating scent. This one is known as Star Ardor. It is most popular at our Ceres Central shopping habitat.” She held out the bottle.
Hilok moved so swiftly it seemed to Jack as if the Nasen flowed through the air. His claw-hand took the bottle, which he raised to his snout. He sniffed it. “Ahhh. A most pleasant scent. My daughter, I claim this for your mother Vanix.” Their host turned in a lithe move and handed the bottle to the slightly smaller wolf-giraffe who had arisen from a red cushion.
The mother of Hilok’s children chuffed low. “My daughter failed to reserve a bottle for me when she met with you and your Pack at Hot Blood,” the Nasen said in a soft snarl. She sniffed the spray tip of the bottle. “I now see why all such scents disappeared before she returned home. This is . . . most evocative. Of many things.” She glanced aside at Hilok, whose short furry ears flared back in a sign of amusement.
Jack sat down on the cushion at his feet. His ladies did the same. Behind him came a rattle of steel on stone as his companions also sat on the stone floor. In front, Hilok, Nalik, Sator and Vanix now settled on cushions with their long legs folded under their lean-muscled bodies. Their host leaned forward.
“How went your encounter with the Arbitor? Did it depart without harm to your system?”
Jack licked dry lips. Things had gone well so far. While the other Nasen had given them a few snarls, none had acted as if they would attack. It seemed their appearance in combat costume with swords and guns had shown them to not be weak. In the eyes of the apex predators of this system. He nodded. “It went as expected. The Arbitor explained how we had violated the Rules of Engagement. We disagreed. We attacked its ship. Which raised a black shield that could not be penetrated. At the end, we humans agreed to make no further contact of juvenile systems.”
“You attacked the Arbitor ship!” called another Nasen from behind Jack.
“Silence!” Hilok snarled at the speaker. “I am Pack Leader. As I showed at the annual Combat Challenge.” Their host fixed yellow eyes on Jack. “It would be of value to our studies of other Hunters to receive your record of this encounter with the Arbitor. Is that possible?”
Jack smiled, showing his teeth. “Pack Leader Hilok, all types of Trade are possible.” He pulled a vidcrystal from his fanny pack and laid it beside the water pitcher. “I give you this record of our encounter in return for some of your water. And for the frequency of the Sentry probe neutrino alert that is sent to all Hunters when a juvenile species reaches its outermost planet.”
Hilok leaned forward, reached out a flexarm and gathered up the vidcrystal. He put it into a pouch that hung from a body strap loop. “Our Trade has begun. The neutrino alert frequency is equal to the atomic weight of hydrogen times three.” The Nasen looked to one side. “Daughter, respond to the inquiries of mother-to-be Nikola.”
Jack’s lifemate had put her sword into her back scabbard when they sat down. She now pulled out a yellow datapad from her carrybag. “Daughter Nalik, astronomer for the Northern Pack, when you and your progenitor spoke with my mate by neutrino comlink, you displayed a holo of an Isolated system. This data was absent from the Hunter star holo you shared with us on Hot Blood. Will you display that system again?”
Nalik touched a round knob hanging from the jeweled strip that ran across her chest. Multiple light beams shot out to form a holo nearly as tall as Jack. In it appeared a yellow star with five tiny white crescents that were planets. “This is the system of the Megurk Hunters. They violated a judgment of the Arbitors. It is now enclosed by an Isolation Globe.” The image switched from the star and planets to a view of black
space sprinkled with red, white, blue and yellow stars. Except the middle of the image was black on black. The star and planets had vanished from view.
“Most interesting,” Nikola said. “My Hunter star research needs additional data. Where is this Isolated system located? Relative to Sol and to Zeta Serpentis.”
Nalik pulled an oblong device from a tool loop on her body strap. She looked at it briefly. Then she touched the knob again. A second holo took form beside the first. It displayed the entire Orion Arm with Hunter stars, subject people stars, juvenile stars and Hunt territory boundaries showing. Fourteen pink spots blinked. She looked to Jack and then to his mate. “Mother-to-be Nikola, these are the locations of the 14 Isolated systems. Their distance from Sol ranges from 4,327 light years to the one shown in the other holo, which is closest to your home star. The Megurk system lies 87 light years from Sol. Relevant to Zeta Serpentis, it is a journey of 110 light years to reach it from our system.”
“Interesting,” murmured Blodwen from Jack’s right. She gestured at the second holo and looked to him. “Captain Jack, see the location of the Megurk system? It lies within the territory of another Hunter species. Though I cannot make out the identity of that Hunter species.”
“Quite true,” Jack said, wondering just what species now controlled the subject people systems formerly controlled by the Megurk Hunters. “Daughter Nalik, can you identify that Hunter Territory boundary? And how many subject people systems did the Megurk control, before being Isolated?”
The smaller Nasen frowned a moment as she looked down at the oblong device and used her mind-link thoughts to change holo inputs. The second holo began enlarging so nearby star systems showed more clearly. “The Megurk Isolated system now lies within the Territory of the Rizen Hunters. The Megurk once controlled twelve subject people systems, the stars of which are indicated here by a blood red slash that is blinking. Of the twelve, the Rizen control six systems closest to the Megurk system. The six other subject systems are controlled by the Yiplak and Gyklang Hunters. As you can now see by the various boundary lines.”
Nikola nodded as she looked at her datapad. “Many thanks! Can you transmit this imagery and all Isolated system data to my datapad? Including the species names, date they were Isolated and their subject people systems before being Isolated?”
The Nasen pointed her device at Nikola’s yellow datapad. Then she looked back to Jack. “All data transmitted. But why is this important to you? The systems cannot be contacted. They are Isolated.”
Jack sat back. “We plan to visit this Isolated system. We will attempt to penetrate the Isolation Globe. We . . . we humans desire first-hand experience with this phenomenon. Just as we needed to see the working of the protection shield of the Arbitor ship. Perhaps our scientists can find a way to penetrate or collapse the globe.”
“Not possible,” Hilok snarl-grunted. The Nasen blinked long black eyelashes. His yellow eyes looked to Nikola then back to him. “Pack Leader Jack Munroe, Isolated systems have existed for more than 2,000 cycles. In all that time, no other Hunter species has ever done what you say you Humans wish to do. What makes you think your species can do what 113 other Hunters have not done?”
Jack leaned forward, grabbed a bowl and, after a nod from Vanix, poured water into it from the crystal pitcher. He took a sip and sat back. “The Arbitor threatened to enclose Sol system in an Isolation Globe if we did not accept its judgment. We are new to the Great Dark. Our fleet will travel to this Megurk system to inspect this phenomenon. Surely you would do the same if your star were threatened?”
From behind came snorts, snarls and whinnies from other members of Hilok’s pack. Their leader’s tufted tail whipped from side to side. “Of course we would! But we Nasen have been Hunters upon the Great Dark for four hundred cycles. We have Traded with other Hunters for the knowledge in these two holos. It is clear the Arbitor threat is real, their ship cannot be harmed and it is wise to comply with their judgments.”
“Maybe,” Maureen said bluntly. “Pack Leader Hilok, what would happen if the Arbitors did not exist?”
The eyes of Hilok, Vanix, Nalik and Sator all showed intense surprise. Vanix whinnied. “You might as well ask what things would be like if our star did not rise each morning. The Hunter system is what it is. We cannot . . . it is a question that has never been asked.”
Sator moved forward. “Your interactive combat games frequently have a . . . a referee involved in them. A person who decides whether a contestant has complied with the rules. That is what Arbitors do.”
Jack gestured for calmness. “We understand. Still, we humans often ask questions that unsettle some of our people. It is in our nature. What would happen?”
Hilok gave a low whistle-snort. “Some Hunters might attack the Home stars of other Hunters. Many might do as you Humans have done. Raid juvenile systems in order to gain more resources and to expand their Hunt Territory. Some Hunter might even . . . might try to dominate all other Hunters.” Their host blinked slowly. “Your Human history is filled with fellow Humans who tried to dominate your entire world. Such domination would be . . . unhealthy for the Hunters of the Great Dark. Entire species might die. The technology exists to cause a normal star to go nova. Some unsane Hunter might cause that to happen to another Hunter’s Home star.” The Alien’s short fur shivered in a series of ripples. “Without the Arbitors, chaos would overtake the Hunters of the Great Dark. Anarchy would be the rule. Do you Humans wish for anarchy among the stars?”
“No!” Jack yelled, then caught himself as he saw claws extend out from the hands and feet of the four Nasen he faced. “Pardon my tone. No, we Humans do not support anarchy. But we do support the freedom of all thinking beings to travel star-to-star. While predators such as ourselves will always dominate any eco-system, still, we have found on Earth that as we allowed people different from ourselves to mix with and trade with us, all benefited. Our science improved. Our health got better. There was less conflict.”
Hilok snorted loudly. “Until you, Pack Leader Jack Munroe, defeated the Unity rulers of Earth. Which is the business of you Humans. But now Humans must cope with an unsettled social system. Is that not uncomfortable?”
“It is,” Maureen grunted. “But we like things unsettled. Leaves each person free to follow their life pathway in the manner they choose, rather than as some human Arbitor says we must behave!”
Hilok tilted his long carnivore head. “So you Humans enjoy a society that is unsettled?”
“No,” Jack said calmly, “we enjoy a society that gives freedom and liberty to each member of humanity to shape their personal life in the way that person chooses. Our experience over centuries has shown this leads to the betterment of all humans. Which is why we contacted several juvenile systems. So they could decide whether to join the human Hunt territory, to be a member of our Freedom Alliance, or to control their home system in the way their culture chooses. Rather than be claimed as subject people by a Hunter of the Great Dark.”
Hilok gripped the jeweled strap that ran across his chest. “That is a matter on which the Arbitor has made a judgment. You Humans have agreed to accept his judgment. You may do as you wish within your home system and among your subject peoples.” The wolf-giraffe scanned past Jack to the captains gathered behind him, Nikola, Blodwen and Maureen. “Do your other Humans wish to Trade with members of the Northern Pack?”
Jack held up one hand. “Before my allies pursue Trade, one more question. Is there any data on the home system of the Arbitors? And what species originated the Hunters system some 3,000 cycles ago?”
Nalik touched her jeweled knob. On the holo of the Orion Arm there blinked a solo star. It lay at the upper end of the arm, near where the arm’s stars faded in the Great Dark that lay between Carina-Sagittarius and Perseus arms. “The Hunter system was begun by the Halicene Hunters. Their star is 5,231 light years distant from Sol. They sent colony ships out to thirty other stars occupied by subject peoples. They still dominate that part of
the Orion Arm.” She paused, then gestured to the holo of the Isolated system. “No one knows the location of the Arbitor home star. What is known is that there are at least 50 Arbitor ships roaming the spaces of this arm at any one time. We know this based on Trade data about Hunter-to-Hunter conflicts that have drawn an Arbitor response. You have already seen an Arbitor ship. And the bioforms of the Arbitors. They are fearful predators. No Hunter of the Great Dark wishes to anger them. It is surprising your attack on their ship did not result in the destruction of the attacking ships. I look forward to reviewing the vidcrystal record of your encounter with the Arbitor.”
“May it be a valuable addition to your Trade records,” Jack said. He pulled out a datadisk from his fanny pack and laid it beside the water pitcher. “Pack Leader Hilok of the Northern Pack, on that disk is the design structure and equations for our Magpulse Bomb. Please accept it as payment for the information shared by your daughter Nalik. And in payment for any discomfort we may have caused.”
Hilok grabbed the disk faster than Jack’s eyes could follow. It went into a pouch hanging from a tool loop on a flank strap. The Nasen whinnied low, a sound of amusement. “Your datadisk is a welcome Trade. Perhaps it is time for my son Sator to negotiate with your people for the five space combat games you mentioned in our last neutrino talk?”
Jack caught Blodwen’s attention. “My ship Sociologist will be happy to Trade these games with your Sator. He already knows the value our females place on precious jewels!”
Nikola laughed softly. Maureen, after a pause, gave a dry chuckle. Jack looked back, catching the attention of his fellow captains. “Hideyoshi, Ignacio, Minna, everyone, feel free to visit with any Nasen in this room. Good luck with your Trades! And may someone find some great booze!” He turned back to Hilok. “Pack Leader, on our flight down to your compound we noticed your plaza that lies at the edge of the gorge cut by your great river. My mate and I relish the opportunity to roam through the trees, plants and lifeforms of a new biome. Will you and your family take us down to this plaza? Perhaps each family can then partake of a meal as we listen to the roar of your great gorge.”
Aliens Vs. Humans (Aliens Series Book 4) Page 10