by Shawn Jones
Cort smiled and clapped Jaif on the back. “Your First Queen is waiting, Jaif. Congratulations.”
“What did that mean, Poppa?” Dalek asked as Jaif and Laypa left the room.
“It means that Jaif has a new job. He’s going to do what H’uum does. Don’t worry, little man. I’m sure you will still see him a lot.”
“What’s H’uum going to do then?”
Cort was still smiling as he looked between the two. “He’s going with me to help some people from Earth.”
--
His family and the new ruler of the Jaifan empire had returned to Ares space, where H’uum was working with the Jaifan Marines to learn their weapons on Heroc’s World. Cort was still in the new system. In his quarters aboard the Kalashnikov, he was talking with Siella. “Governor Siella,” Cort said, “I don’t envy your task. We would normally not occupy a planet that is already in use, but we have no choice this time. Our space stations aren’t advanced enough to support this kind of operation. We need to occupy the planet, at least temporarily. I want you to set up your base on the outskirts of one of the agricultural areas. Do not move into those areas unless it is absolutely necessary. I also want you to keep your impact on the planet to a minimum. If you must use local resources, do so sparingly. We must not strip this planet for our own benefit. As long as we are here, we are its protectors. Am I clear?”
“Yes, General. If your assessment is correct and the planet is either occupied or in use, how do you want me to handle first contact?”
“We don’t have a protocol for that, Siella. It will fall to you to develop a procedure. We will utilize and adapt what works or fails here to meet future requirements. That being said, you have four primary objectives: Number one is to provide any necessary support to the rescue operation on the other side of the wormhole. Number two, you will protect your civilians at all costs. Number three, you will defend this planet. Finally, and most importantly, you will protect the Ares Federation, even at the cost of all other objectives.”
“Yes, sir. May I ask why you stayed? The next abduction event is still over a day away, and you have the invasion of another galaxy to plan.”
“I’m going down to the surface today with a squad of Marines. Once we figure out where they are, I would like to make contact with the planet’s inhabitants and have their blessing to use surface assets while you build an orbital base.”
“Is that a good idea?”
“I don’t know, but it’s how I operate, so I’m doing it. If we can find them and they are friendly, it could be very beneficial to us. They seem to have no protection, and we happen to be god-like when it comes to war. It’s a perfect match.”
Cort thought about the European invasion of North America before the industrial revolution on Earth, and what it did to the continent’s indigenous people. “I want to reiterate, Siella, you must protect this planet as long as we are here. Unless your survival depends on it, you will not force their cooperation or subjugate them.”
“Of course not, sir. My species’ own history, especially under Cupla and his two predecessors, is demonstrative of why that doesn’t work.” After a moment of thought, Siella asked, “Sir, why did you let the Cuplans live?”
Cort regarded the woman and thought about his reply. As was his habit when he needed time to think about an answer, he walked across the room and poured them both a drink. After handing Siella her sweetwater, he sat down and took a sip of his whiskey. “Siella, I don’t like killing. I’m proficient at it. Hell, I kill prolifically. But that doesn’t mean I like it. The Ares Federation is primarily peaceful. I know you find that hard to believe, but Dar…” Cort stopped himself.
After a moment, he said briskly, “Rand will do everything in his power to keep peace and solve problems diplomatically. Personally, I don’t give a shit about politics. I will protect our federation. If I can do that peacefully, I will. If not, I will slaughter my way across the universe. It’s my way or the highway. You need to learn Rand’s way. But be prepared for mine.”
Siella smiled. Cort had no idea how the phrases translated to clicks, but she clearly got the idea. “I understand what you mean.”
“Three hundred years ago I spent my time killing people because it was easier to kill them than to get them to agree with my government. Have you met Bazal, Governor?”
“No, sir. I’ve not had the pleasure. I have read his work on diplomacy though.”
“He might be good in this situation, now that I think about it. He is to peace what I am to war.”
Cort tapped new orders for Bazal into his flexpad. Then he looked up and finished his answer. “The point is, by the time I become aware of a problem, there are no other options, so I go in guns a-blazing. I recognize that my military is our last option, and act accordingly. When it’s time to kill, I kill. If I do find another solution, or if I create one, I back up. When I learned of your species’ customs and military tactics, I found a way to spare them. Once they stopped crystallizing planets, anyway.”
“Yes, there was that,” Siella clicked. “I hope I don’t offend you, sir, but you have to admit, it was an incredible way to terraform.”
“Oh, it was outstanding!” Cort laughed. “No offense whatsoever, Siella. Believe me, if I had been on that side, I would have fought just as hard for the Cuplans as I do for us. The point is… Hell. I don’t know the point anymore. I guess I just had a gut feeling your people would be good allies. Or maybe I just loved Heroc too much to wipe out her people.”
“I was not born during her time, but from what I have studied of our history, your friendship with her changed both our peoples.”
“No. That’s not right, Siella. She alone joined our peoples, and made us one. Heroc’s Law will never be broken. Laypa has already confirmed it, so it is now in effect for hundreds of years, thanks to your new, longer life spans. If her successor confirms it, it will bind our people forever.”
“It is unfortunate we lost the crystal technology,” Siella mused. “It might have served you well on the other side of the wormhole.”
“Perhaps, but it’s better forgotten.” Cort remembered a conversation with Heroc when she told him she had destroyed the technology and that its secrets would die with her. “She knew that, so she made sure it was lost, and the galaxy is a better place because she did.”
“Do you really believe that, General?”
Cort looked up at Siella, then back at the planet below them. “No, but I would be a better person if I did.”
Cort heard a beep and Siella clicked, “Prima... Governor Siella. Go ahead.” After listening for a moment, “Very well, we will join you in a few minutes. When we take your station, you are to assume ours. Siella out.”
“That was my ship, General. There is activity on the dark side of the planet.”
--
The Kalashnikov’s shuttle descended slowly. Cort, Siella, and a mixed squad of security people were on board, along with Cort’s dire wolf, Bane. In the last hour, the Ares ships had watched the land below them come alive. The cities were still empty, but every farm was active. There were low power lights, and hundred of people working every section Cort could see.
“They’ve been hiding,” Cort said to no one.
“Sir?”
“They are hiding from something, Siella. It all makes sense. Their proximity to the black hole. Their abandoned cities. They only come out at night. They shield the planet with magnetics. They are hiding from the black hole.”
“Of course! The black hole targets Earth using a tachyon carrier wave. The magnetic field prevents the wave from forming properly.”
“I don’t know about all that. I’m just beginning to understand basic physics, but you can bet your ass they are hiding from the same people who are taking humans. Send a message to Solitude. Tell them to put up some sort of magnetic field around earth. They can use ships or coil guns. I don’t really care about that. Just tell them to put a magnetic field around Earth at least as powerful
as this one. They can fine tune it later, but I want that field up before the next abduction. And get my invasion force here now.”
“Yes, sir.” Siella moved away from Cort and started rapidly clicking into her comm.
Cort looked at his flex pad. The drones they had deployed since beginning their entry into the planet’s atmosphere picked up enough weak signal radio broadcasts that the language and translation database had enough information for basic communication and its library of the language was growing rapidly. By the time the shuttle landed, they would have the ability to easily speak with the species below them.
Looking at a holotable that was projecting the land below them, Cort ordered the shuttle pilot to set down behind a large abandoned building near a farm that was being heavily worked. As the shuttle touched the ground, he locked his CONDOR helmet in place and spoke to his team.
“This is Ares. We are about to make first contact, folks. And for once it can be peaceful. No weapons unless I say so. Follow my lead, and that of the wolves around you.”
It was a few hundred meters from the building to the farm. The translators weren’t quite ready, so Cort lead the group slowly toward the farm, giving the database a few extra minutes to complete its work. In the meantime, he started looking at the data feed from the drones that were silently operating above the nearest farms.
Everything was being done by hand. Cort thought about the weak signal transmissions again. If you weren’t looking for them, they were so faint that they blended into natural radio noise. They were almost static. They’ve almost abandoned tech completely. At least they are built for farming.
The beings were, on average, about five feet tall and built like tanks. The largest of them were as wide as CONDOR, but without armor. They wore simple woven cloth over their muscular frames. The presumed males had two massive arms and equally muscular legs. The presumed females looked almost as powerful, but were markedly feminine and slightly taller. Male and female were pale skinned, probably mammalian based on the small breasts the females seemed to have and the fact that other than their faces, both sexes were covered with a very light fur. Cort thought the density and texture of the hair matched that of his own chest.
He knew the rest of his team was watching the drone feeds as well, so he said, “At least they are humanoid. I want the Jaifs to fall back to the shuttle, staying on alert. Be ready to swarm if it gets hot.”
Six clicking acknowledgements sounded and the corresponding indicators on his tactical map retreated to the waiting shuttle. The remaining six CONDORS and four wolves moved silently toward the unaware farmers.
A green light blinked twice indicating the language computers were done with their work. Cort’s team spread out and when everyone was in place around a small group of the aliens, he activated his public address system.
“Please do not be alarmed. I am Ares. I am the leader of a species that is here to rescue some of our kind who have been taken from us. We mean you no harm, but need to stay on your planet while we go through the black hole to get them back. Can any of you speak for your people?”
The sound of Cort’s voice didn’t seem to startle the farmers, but they did look toward his voice as one. Two of them, both females, stepped forward. The taller of the two spoke in a voice that belied her size. It sounded almost juvenile to Cort. He waited a moment for the translator in his comm unit to attune itself to her voice and heard, “Please do not take our foods. Our people need them.”
“We do not need your foods. We only need to be able to use a part of your land. It does not need to be arable. What is your name?”
“I am called Llina. You cannot stay on the surface, but if you have your own food, you may stay with us. We reside below, and only grow our foods here. May I see you?”
Cort sent a command to the three units around him and they all shined helmet lights on him and Bane. Llina looked from one to the other.
“Which of you speaks?” the alien asked.
Her question made Cort realize that to a new species, it might well be the wolves that seemed in charge. If an alien could talk to the animals, the outcome of first contact might be entirely different. But if an alien could talk to the wolves, the peoples of the federation might well be able to. Quickly, he made a note to find out if the translating software could be used to more easily train the wolves. Then he raised his hand. “I am Ares. The small one beside me is Bane. He is my companion wolf. Why can’t we stay on the surface?”
“You will be taken. The black star takes those on the surface. You will be safe below with us.” After she spoke, she turned to the other female and told her to return the others to work. “It is harvest, Hhayve, and we are behind schedule. Continue your work and I will speak with the strangers.” Llina turned to Cort. “We must clear the field this night. If you are truly peaceful, I will answer your questions. Will you help us work as we talk?”
Cort turned to his team. “All of you go with Hhayve. I will stay with Llina and gather the information we need.” After he switched off his external speakers, he added, “The wolves are calm. Calmer than I have ever seen them. They feel no threat at all. Stay on your toes, but cooperate fully and report anything you think is strange.”
As silent acknowledgements lit up his HUD, Cort spoke aloud again. “Llina, my people will help your people harvest. Once Hhayve shows them how to collect your crops, they will work quickly. I have another species with me back at our craft. They do not look like us, but the black star does not take them. If you will allow us to stay on your planet, they will work during the light hours and gather your crops for you. We can have all of the crops on this continent gathered for you by tomorrow evening. That is when the next abduction is to take place.”
“Another species? We cannot share our food with you. We are few, but we are too many for our current crops.”
“As I said, we have our own food, so we will not take from you.”
“You will show the others how to collect the crops?”
“Yes. If you tell me where you want the harvest stored, I will tell my people and they will be ready for you tomorrow at dusk. But I would like to talk to you about the black star and how you have hidden from it. You seem to hide behind the planet’s magnetic field.”
“That would be helpful, Ares. We will still be short of food, but we could have our next crops planted sooner. Excuse me just a moment.”
Llina spoke into a small radio. Cort saw a light flash on the unit and she looked up at him. “Our leaders accept your offer of help. But your people should stay below the surface with us. We do not have the power necessary to extend the magnetic field to protect the surface.”
“If you will excuse me a moment, Llina, I think we can help with that.” Cort continued to speak aloud as he hailed Siella’s command ship. “Ares to Governor Siella. As you can see from my feed, I have made contact. How quickly can we set up an orbital field generator?”
“If I activate a few of our printers, I can have one functional in twenty hours. The local day is twenty-six point two hours. Tomorrow’s dusk, local to your position, will occur in seventeen point five hours.”
Cort was impressed. Siella had anticipated his follow-up questions and answered them completely. “Excellent. Begin printing the generators now and disperse from orbital points nearest the black hole. As you are able, begin deploying personnel to the crops that are ready to harvest. It will set your schedule back, but the goodwill will be worth it. Also get a full analysis of the food crops. They are suffering a shortage and I want to help them if we can. Ares out.”
Llina’s question was immediate. “You are in orbit, and you can create a field from there?”
“Yes.” Cort didn’t want to seem to condescending, so he added, “Our technology is advanced from what yours appears to be, but I am sure that is because you have had to deal with the black star. If our peoples become friends, we can help you become more advanced.”
“What is the alternative?”
�
��If you choose not to befriend us, I will order my people to complete your harvest, complete our rescue mission, and leave your planet. Or we could fight you. But I don’t want to do that.” Before the translators activated, a light on Cort’s HUD flashed red. He read the message below it. There was no word in Llina’s language that translated to ‘fight.’ The closest match was ‘struggle.’ What the hell?
Finally he said, “If you choose not to befriend us, I will order my people to complete your harvest, we will complete our rescue mission, and we will leave you alone.”
“Why did you hesitate to answer me, Ares?”
“I used a word that would not translate into your language. A word similar to struggle. When our translators hesitated, I rephrased my answer.”
“I see.”
She spoke into her radio again, the light flashed again, and she said, “I have been asked to bring you below the surface. Will you accompany me?”