Shima dropped to all fours and turned the trip into a workout. She pushed herself into a sprint, enjoying the bunching and stretching of muscles. Vipers stopped to stare as she flew by. She had run like this a time or two back during the war. Being chased by Merkiaari could be a very strong motivator. Vipers watched her go, but none tried to catch her. They could though. Unlike other Humans, vipers could match Shan speed. She had run beside them a time or two. The run was exhilarating but over quickly. She slowed and arrived walking on two legs, looking for someone to ask about Varya.
Shima stopped before entering any of the buildings. She’d been blind the only time she had been here and didn’t know where to go. None of the buildings had an obvious use except for the tower and maybe the hangars. They looked similar to Shan buildings in form if not in manufacture. She paused to consider if going to the tower would get her into trouble—it would have back home before the war; security wouldn’t have let her enter, but here was very different. She suspected it was because everyone was a viper and had access. She doubted the authorities of other Human planets would let her roam so freely.
Before she could decide, a shuttle coming in for landing distracted her. She stopped to watch it taxi toward the nearest parking area. There were other shuttles and dropships parked there, and this one added itself to them. The screaming engines powered down and the hatch opened. Shima recognised Kate in the opening looking back toward the cockpit and talking to someone. Shima walked that way.
“...promised me goddamnit!” Kate snarled. “I’m not fucking around. You owe me!”
“I don’t owe you shit, bitch girl. See these stripes? They mean I own your arse!”
“Yeah,” Kate sneered. “I see them. You want rank, I’ll give you rank. See these bars on my frigging collar?”
Shima stood there listening in amazement. She knew that Kate was a lieutenant, an officer in the regiment and the stocky bald viper she was arguing with was just a sergeant. He was Master Sergeant Stone, and that was a lesser rank. It confused her. Stone was acting as if he was Kate’s superior. Was he older? He didn’t look old, but Humans lived long and vipers longer still. Besides, Humans were different and didn’t automatically defer to elders the way Shan did.
Kate stalked down the ramp.
“You keep mouthing off,” Stone was saying as he appeared in the hatch opening, “and I’ll have those pretty boys off your collar, and you in the brig!”
“Try it,” Kate sneered. “You promised to help me find my brother.”
Stone sighed and left the shuttle. He turned back for a moment and keyed the hatch shut. The ramp slid back up and stowed itself within the fuselage.
“I always keep my word, Richmond.”
Shima flicked her ears. Of course he did, he was an honourable being. Why Kate thought he was not made her wonder though.
“And as for rank, it don’t mean squat here. You’re mine. The General gave you a choice, and you chose my new section. You’re mine and that’s it.”
“No one owns me,” Kate growled.
“I do, the regiment does, and you can bet your arse the General does. We’ve had this talk. Go off on your own and see what happens. You. Will. Be. Scrapped. We don’t mess around with rogue units, Richmond.”
“My brother—”
“Stow it,” Stone growled and then sighed. “I keep my word. I’ll help you, but I can’t do shit while your systems are busted! What, you think I can assign an operation to an unfit unit and not have the General ask questions? Get real.”
“I don’t need enhancements to do my damn job! I did it fine for years before meeting you!”
Stone shook his head. “Now you’re just being stupid. It doesn’t matter whether I think you can handle an op or not. I could probably find you something to do, but I won’t because he won’t sign off on it! The General will not sign off... got it?”
“Yeah yeah, so you said before.”
The harmonies revealed more to Shima than the angry words, and confused her even more. They argued and sounded angry at each other, but the harmonies showed they were feeling other things. Shima’s ears went hard back and then struggled up in embarrassment. Perhaps this was some Human mating display? Surely not, but Stone was feeling very... ah amorous toward Kate? Was aggression part of a Human male’s courtship like the Shkai’lon males did back home? And Kate! Well, if she had been Shan, Shima would have said Kate had just come into her fertile season and was looking to mate. Right now!
Shima had never experienced this situation amongst Humans before. She didn’t know whether to absent herself or not. She lost the opportunity when Kate finally noticed her. Kate’s face blazed red making the scars very and hideously visible.
“Hey, Shima, looking for me?” Kate said, slurring her words as she always did since being wounded. She crossed the distance between them with a quick jog in her step. She offered her right hand, and Shima placed her palm against it. “Gratz on the new eyes. Wish they could fix mine. It sucks dinosaur balls walking about with only one like this.”
“Hey Kate, may you live in harmony. Why can they not?”
Kate shrugged. “They can, but they want to fix me all at once and that’s harder. They say they’re closer to a fix than they were. We’ll see. At least I have one good peeper. If both were busted like your old ones, I wouldn’t be waiting calmly, I can tell you!”
Shima laughed. “Is that what you’re doing, waiting calmly?”
Kate grimaced, the scars turning her face into a horror. “Not so much.” She hooked a thumb over her shoulder toward Stone. “Ask him.”
Stone came over and offered his hand, the light winked on the gold coloured contacts in his right palm. “I greet you, Shima, may you live in harmony.”
“Sorry to interrupt your argument,” Shima said after returning the greeting. Stone glanced at Kate. The harmonies revealed their auras flaring and touching. Shima blinked rapidly in consternation. If she didn’t know better, she would have sworn they were mated already. “I ah... was hoping to find someone who could take me out to find Gina and Varya.”
“You’ve come to the right place,” Kate said. She turned toward Stone. “You got her location?”
Stone’s face blanked as he up-linked to a satellite, Shima had seen that before. It was as if he was reading something or remembering something no one else could see, which she assumed must be close to the truth. She had never wanted a computer in her head, but Shima imagined it must be handy for research. She would make do with the wristcomp they had given her, and happy to do it.
“We can take you right to them,” Kate said confidently, “but we probably won’t be able to land, Shima. Gina told me the other day they’re surveying the wilds. I can get you down using a line if you’re willing though.”
“That sounds like fun,” Shima said and Kate grinned.
“Got ‘em,” Stone said. “Want me to let them know you’re coming?”
“Please no,” Shima said on a whim. “I think a surprise would be good. Can you put me down far enough away not to be detected?”
Kate shrugged. “Oh sure, easy. Be a bit of a hike for you though. Gina’s sensors will pick up the shuttle otherwise. You know you can’t surprise her, right?”
Shima didn’t know that actually, and it might be fun to find out. She would like to try someday, but it could be dangerous in this situation. Out in the wilds, Gina might shoot her. Better be safe.
“Good point. Can you tell Gina that I’m coming, but tell her not to tell Kazim?”
Kate laughed. “Why not?”
The three of them went back to the shuttle and Stone opened the hatch; he would be their pilot. Kate sat with Shima in the cabin and they chatted while Stone moved the shuttle back to the start of the runway. Kate practised her Shan, while Shima caught up with her Human friend’s life since coming home.
“You’re a lieutenant now, not a captain?” Shima said. “Should I say sorry to hear of your demotion?”
Kate rolled he
r eyes. “Hell no! I never wanted promotion in the first place, let alone to the rarefied heights of the captains. Only took it because Dicky Hames got killed. Shame about that. He was a good guy for an officer.”
“He was a veteran, yes? I have that right, old vipers are veterans?”
“Hmmm kind of. You’re right about him being old. He was one of the original vipers—not many of them left you know? Stone and Hames were recruited at the same time. Yeah, he was old and a veteran, but to be absolutely correct, a veteran is someone with experience.” Kate grimaced as the shuttle accelerated down the runway and leapt aloft. “I’m not explaining this right. I can be a veteran and not one at the same time you see?”
Shima blinked and flicked her ears in confusion. She shook her head as well, in case Kate didn’t understand.
“Sorry, I’ll try again. I’m a veteran at fighting Merkiaari now and so are you, Shima, but I’m still new at being a viper. Stone is a veteran viper and a veteran Merki fighter...” Kate winced. “Is that clearer or am I just making it worse? Lucky you had Canada make first contact and not me, huh?”
Shima laughed. “You have so many interchangeable words that are different but mean the same thing, Kate, but I think I understand. I’m a veteran hunter because I have a lot of experience not because of my age. I’m still young.”
“Exactly right,” Kate said looking relieved. “I took over for Hames, and Gina took over for me, but it was a temporary thing. I’ve never cared about promotion; the mission is more important to me than rank, but Gina isn’t like me. She does care—a lot. Too much sometimes. She’s a worrier you know? She feels responsible for everyone and everything—she cares about her men as well as the mission and tries to balance the two. That makes her a good officer I suppose.”
“Balance is always good, without it there can be no harmony.”
“Don’t start that,” Kate said crossly. “Religion isn’t my thing.”
Shima cocked her head and flicked her ears, but Kate didn’t understand the gesture. It meant she wanted more information.
“I know the word, Kate, but this isn’t about religion. Harmony is not a religion; it’s a way of life. Shan do not believe in a deity or a maker of all things, as I understand some Humans do. My people put no stock in it.”
“But how can you not? You’re always talking about the harmonies.”
“The harmonies are not what you seem to think, Kate,” Shima said. It had always made her sad that Humans could not sense the harmonies. What a horror, to live life oblivious that way. “The harmonies are created by life itself, all life, not a single entity that you might wish to call God. Take me into space and leave me alone up there, and I would be cut off from the harmonies. If you were right, there would be nowhere in the universe that I could not sense them.”
Kate nodded slowly. “I think I see. The trip here must have been horrible for you.”
“At first, yes, but not the way you think. I wasn’t alone and the harmonies were with me, but I couldn’t see, Kate. Back home I spent all my time in the garden because I could use the harmonies to see, at least in a crude way. Aboard ship I was slowly going mad until Stone gave me the simulator helmet.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
Shima flicked her ears acknowledging the sympathy. “I’m not sorry... well, not now anyway. It was a torment, but it was a price worth paying for my new eyes.”
Kate nodded thoughtfully.
The flight lasted about three segs or hours, Shima judged. She didn’t know how far Gina had roamed from her drop off point, except that she had stayed within the general vicinity bounded by the mountains and that of the valley she was exploring. Shima had studied the maps, but Kate had switched on a display in the seatback in front of them to show her the land they flew over. The area was lush and beautiful, the mountains high and snow capped. Shima wondered about the weather and found herself hoping it was not too harsh. A colony here would be a fine thing; at least it would be based upon her scant knowledge.
The valley was heavily forested with gorges and rivers connecting it to the mountains, and was joined by other valleys to the west. Farther south, it widened and formed into a lake before narrowing again. The fast moving water of the river had cut a deep canyon at the southern tip, and would take Shima weeks to navigate should she try. Glaciation in the far past had created the landscape, and it had done a wonderful job. Shima approved, as did all the creatures that called it home she assumed. The entire area must be teeming with life. She could hardly wait to get down there.
“Are the other worlds of the Alliance like this?”
Kate shrugged. “Some are, but others are so different you wouldn’t believe it. Desert worlds, jungle worlds, and even water worlds where nine tenths of the planet is ocean. Then there are planets like Garnet that have crystal forests and metal mountains, and hardly any breathable air. I’ve not been to all of the Alliance worlds, but almost anything you can imagine is out there somewhere, Shima, and don’t forget there are a lot of planets that haven’t joined the Alliance. You can’t be surprised surely. The Shan homeworld is different to Child of Harmony after all.”
“Oh...” Shima dragged her eyes away from the screen to look at Kate. “Yes, you’re right, but Child of Harmony’s differences are quite subtle. The sun in the sky is the same sun, though it looks bigger, and the gravity is different. A tree is a tree, grass is grass there. Different species and varieties, absolutely, but obviously still trees and grass. Here though, the sun itself is a different colour, and the light makes everything look so alien.”
Kate looked at the screen. “I’m trying to see it the way you do, Shima, but I’ve seen so many worlds that they blend together. Snakeholme’s star is main sequence, what we call F-type. It’s hotter than Sol and plants absorb its light differently. I look down there and I still see trees no matter these are orange not green. A tree is a tree. They stick up high out of the ground, taller than a bush, have a trunk and bark... that’s what a tree is to me. It doesn’t matter how weirdly shaped the leaves are, or what colour they turn in winter. It’s a tree!”
Shima laughed and indicated herself and Kate. “And we are people, no matter our shape?”
“Exactly, and no matter our colour,” Kate waved vaguely in Stone’s direction. “Or whether we have fur or not. I guess it’s a mindset. You may not know this, but the people living on Bethany, my homeworld, do not think like me at all. I’m sorry to say, you would not find a welcome there and neither would I now.”
That was interesting. “They don’t like vipers?”
“They don’t like anything different to themselves. When your people send someone to join the Council, I guarantee she will have no welcome from Bethany’s councillor.”
Shima flicked her ears in acknowledgement and nodded in thought. She would ask Varya to add this information to his report. The elders may already have heard, but in case they hadn’t it wouldn’t hurt to tell them. Not that they would be surprised. There were plenty of Shan wary of Humans just because they were alien. Why shouldn’t Humans be wary of Shan in the same manner?
“One minute to drop point,” Stone said over the cabin intercom.
Kate stood and hurried forward to the cockpit, but was back very quickly to open the hatch. She had to by-pass the safety interlocks to open it while in flight. Depressurisation wasn’t a concern at such a low altitude.
Kate waved Shima over to the hatch as the shuttle hovered. “I’m not extending the ramp!” she shouted over the engine noise.
Shima nodded exaggeratedly. She held hard to the opening and leaned out to look down. Stone was holding the shuttle steady just a few tails or metres above the treetops. She could easily climb down... hmmm. What need for a rope then? She turned to find Kate watching her with the rope still coiled. Kate cocked an eyebrow in one of those strange Human face-screwing gestures. This one was a challenge, Shima thought, and laughed.
“I won’t need that at this range. The trees will
be my road!”
“You sure?”
Shima nodded and dropped to all fours. She moved into the hatchway but sideways so that a shuffle to her right would have her falling directly down onto the closest tree. It might look dangerous to Kate, but it wasn’t really. She could jump twice this distance and catch another tree branch if she had to. Dropping straight down like this, she couldn’t miss.
“See you back at the base!” Shima yelled over the noise and stepped sideways into empty air.
Shima fell away from the shuttle and immediately spread all four legs wide as if pouncing upon prey with claws extended. The drop was short and she grabbed the tree at its highest point. It was thin and flexible, but tough, and it held her weight beautifully. It did bend outward, but that was actually helpful. It let her see her next target easier.
Shima looked up to find Kate hanging out of the shuttle yelling at her. Shima waved, but Kate pointed exaggeratedly southward. Shima looked that way and then back, but understood just a moment later. Gina and the others were south of her. Shima nodded and waved again. Kate waved back and disappeared inside. The hatch closed and the shuttle veered away climbing for altitude.
Shima found her target branch on the next tree and leapt. It was like old times, moving this way. She didn’t always hunt from above, but she did it often enough to be practised at it. The foliage was a burnt orange colour, and her pelt would not blend well here, but the difference did not affect locomotion. She moved from tree to tree easily; they were close together but the canopy wasn’t too thick. She had the choice to stay aloft or take to earth again. She decided to go down and try for Gina’s scent.
Shima leapt down and circled with her nose close to the ground. Moving that way was slow, but she didn’t rush. The circles grew in diameter until finally she gave up. Either they had come through here too long ago for scents to linger, or she hadn’t crossed their trail yet. She switched her attention from scent to sight and began looking for tracks. There were many, but they didn’t belong to Humans or Shan. The tracks belonged to native wildlife. Shima took an interest and studied the tracks, taking the time to memorise the scents associated with each of the different types. She dragged air in over her tongue and the scent glands at the back of her throat, but kept the scree scree noise low and quiet as she could. She didn’t allow herself to forget that she was in unfamiliar and wild country.
Merkiaari Wars Series: Books 1-3 Page 97