by Chris Hechtl
He turned to the Alpha bull. There is something else to consider; something that is exciting yet very confusing. Our species had thoroughly surveyed this area and hadn't found any habitable planets before; yet, there were several occupied by this species. How is that possible? As far back as eight years ago, this very planet had been barren and lifeless according to the last survey report. I know; my ancestor was on the survey crew. They'd thought they'd found a prize, but the air was not right,” he said.
“There was little air at all. I read the report,” the Beta bull stated. “We are herd defenders; such questions are for others,” he pointed out.
“True,” the Alpha bull rumbled. There were no questioners in herd fleet. An oversight he knew now, but one he couldn't remedy.
“What of the alien ship? And the prisoners?” the Gamma bull asked.
“See if our technicians can steer the ship back to orbit. For the time being, keep the aliens incarcerated. The ones in stasis will keep indefinitely, correct?”
“Yes, Herd Leader.”
“Good. We shall have plenty to turn over to the questioners should the need arise,” the Alpha bull rumbled.
“If we do not exterminate them,” the Beta bull stated.
The Alpha bull turned to look at the Beta bull as the Gamma bull froze. “It may not come to that. We will at least drive them back to their homeworld. Such decisions are for the herd of herds,” the Alpha bull stated.
The Beta bull grunted but remained quiet.
~~*^*~~
Sensor techs scouring the star system detected energy signatures and radio transmissions from a nearby star system one eight and one-and-a half-eighth light years away. The Alpha bull ordered them to compare the location to the partially decoded captured navigational database. Within minutes the techs got a match.
The following morning after much contemplation, the Alpha bull decided to send a task force to investigate. One battleship, two cruisers, two dispatch ships, and three support ships were sent to investigate and subdue the colony. The battleship had some ground troops on board but would need to draft personnel if necessary.
The Alpha bull also sent out a dispatch ship to the home herd worlds with a copy of the information they had so far as well as his intentions to run any alien spoor to ground and conquer the worlds before the enemy could react.
Along with that, he requested reinforcements. He pointed out that they would need ground troops to complete each conquest and had a fresh world for the herd with another prize awaiting them to seize for the taking.
“We should run the enemy down to their homeworld. Find them and root them out. Chase them away or conquer them,” the Beta bull said.
“We will, in time. You will have the honor of securing the hyperbridges leading to this sector. Take three task forces and complete that. I will send other task forces to any other colonies that are found in the database … once the technicians have completed decoding it.”
“These are colonies though,” the beta said. “We need to ram home our strength! Break the species on our horns once and for all.”
The Alpha bull snorted. “We will. But, for now, do as you are ordered. You can do that, right?” he demanded.
“Yes, Fleet Herd Leader,” The Beta bull replied with a nod.
“Good.”
~~*^*~~
The Beta bull shook his massive head as he watched his task forces move out. One would be detailed to take the bridge leading into the sector, the other two he reserved for the one going to the enemy's core worlds.
If nothing was to be found at either location, it would be a waste of resources to keep the task forces there indefinitely. There would be little natural resources around to resupply them.
“Make sure our technicians continue to decode the database,” he ordered thoughtfully. That would keep them busy and give him possible options in the future.
“As you command,” the ship's Alpha bull replied with a nod.
The Beta bull tucked his hands behind his back and clenched them. One can easily ignore a transgression if victory resulted from it, he reminded himself.
~~*^*~~
Arjen had the watch when the distant flashes of departing ships could be seen in the night sky. It took a few people a while to understand his report and the possible implications. Debate raged around the caves as to what it might mean. Hope was tentative that the aliens had departed.
The following evening Robin used an old telescope that someone had brought along for some strange reason to scan the evening sky. He couldn't get a perfect view from the caves, but he reported back no sign of the alien ships in the sky.
Cristi refused to take his first report and insisted on a follow-up before she decided to act. Bogi heartily agreed and wished her sons weren't the ones instigating the urge to go out of the caves. She knew they couldn't live there forever, but she didn't like going out so soon.
“I wonder where they are going?” Robin asked as he took a chance to look out from the outer edge of the cave once more.
“Anywhere is better than here,” Rachel said with a shake of her head. Already malnutrition was sinking in with some of the weakest in the survivors. She hated it, but they had to ration their food, especially with the winter coming. They were in for some tough times ahead.
“True,” Bogi murmured, coming up behind them.
“Can we go out? Are they gone?” her teenage son asked, trying to see anything in the sky above.
“I doubt it,” Bogi murmured, looking herself.
“Why not?” Rachel protested coming up beside them, she craned her neck from under the cave ceiling to see the brooding sky outside. “It looks safe enough, right?”
Bogi snorted. “Looks can be deceiving,” she said. Rachel looked at her and pouted a bit. Bogi shook her head. She was justifiably wary of coming out into the open. “That is what they want. We think the coast is clear and come out; they track us and then hit us again and again,” Bogi said with a shake of her head.
“We can't stay here. Not forever,” Rachel protested, indicating the dripping dank caves. “It's cold, and winter is coming. We have little food. Only a couple of blankets …,” she shook her head. They'd already lost a few people. They hadn't so much died from exposure as just shut down. The older and younger folks were the hardest hit.
“I know that. We need to do what dad did during the war. Send out parties to gather things. Things we need.”
“We need medications and anything to help people live here would be nice. Furniture. At least bedding,” Rachel said. Other people behind them began to voice their agreement.
Bogi grimaced. She could tell they were going to chance it. “I'll make a list. Volunteers only. Small groups, no more than two or three people in each. You go outside entrances and keep low,” she warned. “We'll do this tomorrow before dawn,” she said turning away from the cave entrance.
“Why not now?” Rachel protested as Bogi moved the blanket hiding the lights in the interior away so she could get past.
“Because we're going to need all the time we can get. We're only going to look for stuff nearby,” Bogi ordered. “Now get some rest, you'll need it,” she ordered.
~~*^*~~
“What gives?” Cristi asked.
“Pressure,” Bogi murmured as she pulled her sister aside. “I had to agree to let some scouts out to gather supplies.”
Cristi bit her lip. “I think it is too soon. Another week …”
“And people will start to die. Rachel is just the first symptom. We're going to lose positive control unless we let them go out and chance it.”
“Damn it …”
“I told them volunteers only. I said I'd work on a list. Food and water obviously, blankets, wood …” Bogi waved a hand. “Ideas?”
Cristi studied her sister for a long moment before she nodded. “Get ahead of the problem. Don't become a part of it and get run over, eh?” she asked.
Bogi smiled slightly. “Yeah. Dad's advice living
on.”
“Right,” Cristi replied with a nod. She settled herself, inhaled deeply, and then exhaled. “Okay, if we're going to do this, small parties. A couple of people tops. No more than six or eight. Everyone goes out with a buddy,” she ordered.
“My thoughts exactly. We don't want so many rats seen by the aliens in orbit.”
“Exactly. I think we try one or two parties nearby. Have them gather wood—dry wood, anything edible. Maybe two pairs further out scavenging and scouting. Once they are inside, we lock it down and stay down for at least two days.”
“That will create a lot of pressure to go out again,” Bogi warned.
“Tough. We need to keep from setting a pattern,” Cristi said firmly. Bogi grimaced but then nodded. “I've got a rough map in my implants,” Cristi said, using a stick to draw in the dirt. “There are a couple farmsteads here and here,” she said, pointing to locations nearby. “If we give it a day, we can send a team to one of them to gather what they can.”
“Roger that.”
“I'm not sure if they should go out armed,” Cristi said as people gathered around them.
“Hunting would be nice. Having something for self-protection would be good too,” Bogi said.
“If they are armed, someone with a hot head might take a pot shot and draw a heap of trouble on our heads,” Cristi warned. “We're going to need to keep a lid on that,” she said, pitching her voice to the gathering audience around them. A judicious look around out of the corner of her eyes saw a few heads nodding in agreement. “The biggest thing are the keys to survival,” Cristi said, ticking them off as Rachel joined them. “We've got shelter, so water, food, fire and then blankets, weapons, ammunition, tools, and medicines. In that order,” she said firmly. “Any fluff is dead weight. Now …”
~~*^*~~
The Tauren ships watched the planet from polar orbit to see if there were any signs of movement and activity below. Unfortunately, their sensor resolution at that range was poor; only a large group would be spotted. Besides, only a large group of aliens would warrant a kinetic strike.
While sensor crews did their duty, the Alpha bull authorized away teams to go down to the planet to procure water to supply the fleet. He knew many also wished to gather food and intelligence on the enemy. A few, especially the engineers, were curious about the alien technology and wanted samples.
~~*^*~~
After the first successful foray didn't bring anything down on top of them, Cristi authorized a second day of scavenging. Two volunteer parties left the caves to scavenge for what they could at the nearest farms. A third party gathered material from the woods around the caves. They had to be careful with what they burned and how often, but as the temperatures dropped, the urge to have a fire became more and more prominent in the group despite the risks involved.
Bogi's son Arjen and his brother Robin were one of the teams scouting the nearby farms. At the outer edge of the pasture, they found a dead cow. The animal's stomachs had bloated up from gas. The flies were horrible, swarming all over the place. “I'm not sure how long it's been dead …,” Robin said with a shake of his head. But he couldn't help but smack his lips together and begin to salivate. Food had become increasingly scarce and small portions had been the norm. Seeing all that meat just spoiling there was hard.
“At this point I don't care. Food is food,” Arjen said. “Let's take what is salvageable. We'll have to make sure it's well cooked.”
“Definitely that,” Robin muttered as they got down to work butchering the carcass.
~~*^*~~
Bogi and Rachel manage to get to the nearest farm as well. Bogi was a bit nervous about having her two teenage sons out in the opposite direction, but the hilly terrain had forced her to put aside her concerns and focus on the job at hand.
The buildings had been out in the open, and apparently, that had made them too much of a tempting target for the marauding aliens. They had all been flattened. Only a glassed crater and a ring of scorched debris remained to mark where they had been, but there was a small outbuilding that covered the pumping equipment. There they found some equipment and hand tools that they brought back with them.
Rachel complained about being hungry. Bogi did her best to put up with the griping as they returned to the caves. They stopped and picked some fruit that was still on the trees. The pomegranates were most likely bad, but they might be able to salvage something Bogi thought hopefully. Some calories were better than none; they had people digging for worms and trapping bugs for protein!
“I feel like we're cave men,” Rachel said. “This is so … wrong. We shouldn't … why are they doing this? Can't we all just get along?”
“Tell them that,” Bogi muttered as she trudged along, wary of being followed.
Chapter 10
Pyrax
November, 2233
One year and three months after Magellan's departure, their luck ran out. Unknown ships were detected exiting hyperspace by the sky watch program. “Analysis confirms more than one ship. There is something else, they came from Janus,” Jeeves reported as the A.I. showed them the footage with the flashes.
“Are you sure?” Jack asked.
“On that bearing, yes.”
“Damn it,” Elliot muttered.
“Worry about them later,” Jack said firmly. “Jeeves, pass the word to evacuate. Go to evacuation plan Alpha now. Get people moving now.” he said firmly. “Anyone in any city, town, or village is to get out by tomorrow morning. Make sure they understand we've got time. Speaking of which, how long until they get to orbit?”
“Eleven days nineteen hours,” Jeeves reported.
“They aren't in a tearing hurry,” Sheriff Tupper said.
“Which we can be forever grateful. We need all the prep time we can; there are bound to be foot draggers and such. Now that people know that the threat is real …,” he shook his head as the others nodded grimly.
“Push the evac order for three days to give people time to pack. Emphasize they need to bring everything they can. Food, blankets, medicine are a priority. We need to take everything not nailed down if we can,” Jack said. “And get every shipment we can down and hidden.”
“Right. And hide the good silverware,” Paul quipped. Jack shot him a quelling look. “Sorry. We should get the vehicles and machinery under cover soon. Their sensors will be probing us. They could be looking now. They might even pick up the evacuations.”
“Agreed,” Elliot said.
“At this distance, it would be difficult to pick up small groups,” Jeeves said. “And of course, anyone on the other side of the planet are occluded.”
“Point,” the Neochimp general agreed with a nod. “Something we need to be aware of now, they could send rocks ahead,” Elliot mused.
“You are just full of pleasant thoughts,” Alan said.
“I know. It's my job. Old job,” Elliot admitted.
“Same job. You are head of the planetary militia here,” Jack reminded him.
“Gee, thanks,” Elliot said with a half-smile. He turned to the sheriff. “Alan, you've got the evac?”
“Yes, I'll get my people moving. Be back in a minute,” Alan said, touching his hand to his head with his thumb pointed to his ear and his pinky to his mouth, a hand sign that he was using his implants to make calls. “George? Yeah, it's on. They are here. We need to begin the final evac now. Its prudence, George. We don't know, but we don't know they are friendly either! Don't give me any shit; we've drilled for this!” Alan snarled as he stepped out of the conference room.
“Jeeves, pass the evacuation orders to the people upstairs. Get them moving now. We'll need a watch though, any sort of warning of incoming fire will be appreciated,” Jack said.
“Fat lot of good it will do. If it comes in at even 1 percent of light speed, we'd only see it just before it was here,” Elliot warned.
“Anything is better than nothing,” Jack said. “But let's not get totally ahead of ourselves. We've planned for
defeat; let's see if they are willing to talk. Jeeves, run the first contact protocol. Broadcast the signal through a satellite.”
“Hang on, Jeeves,” Elliot interrupted. “Jack, I know you want to talk to them. I agree it's a good thing. I'm thinking we wait at least a couple days. If they know we know they are here, they could act. Speed up, change course, or launch rocks.”
“Give our people lead time you mean?”
“Yes. Just a two-day head start.”
“Okay,” Jack rumbled.
~~*^*~~
Jeeves sent out the usual first contact protocols as well as a series of data signals. Everything from math to chemistry was tried. He varied the frequencies, data rate, and tried other medium of the electromagnetic spectrum such as infrared and microwaves. Lasers were also tried in a variety of known wave lengths.
There was no response.
~~*^*~~
The task force sent to conquer the newly discovered alien colony was led by the Fleet Herd's Gamma bull. The Gamma bull had requested the assignment since it was a potential lucrative holding if the conquest went successfully.
“They know we are here. Unlike the others,” the ship's Alpha bull stated, turning to the gamma on his dais.
“So be it,” the gamma said as he studied the signal from the aliens as well as their other electronic spoor. There were plenty of signs of habitation on the world. This was an older colony he knew, which meant more riches for the conquers. Spoils that would fill his coffers he thought.
“They will have more time to run and hide,” Broken Tooth, leader of the ground forces said.
“They will just die tired on our horns and under our hooves,” the Gamma bull rumbled. “Assemble your warriors. We shall strike and then have need of their services.”
“Understood, Herd Leader,” Broken Tooth rumbled.
~~*^*~~
Jeeves reported that there was no response from the alien vessels. “They may not know our language or use that form to communicate,” the A.I. speculated.