by John Pearce
The Admiral waved his hand as a signal to start the coffee and fruit juice scrum, he then weaved his way to Denton. ‘Mr Denton, I have an extra interrogation task for you.’
‘You have?’
‘Yes, somebody we sent to the Cyan military base some time ago, we need it confirmed that there were no inappropriate relationships whilst at the base.’
‘When?…Where?’
‘Tonight, at your apartment!’
Denton virtually jumped out of the carrier, ran to his apartment and threw himself on the mercy of his scanner. It buzzed him in where he rushed to his lounge to confront the angel that the gods had created just for him. They stood, staring at each other for several seconds.
‘I’m supposed to interrogate you,’ he said softly.
‘I think the Admiral’s joking at long last,’ she replied just as softly.
‘I think the Admiral can’t stop pulling strings, even heart strings.’
‘Yes, interrogate me all you like.’
He grinned, ‘Did you have any inappropriate relationships whilst on Cyan.’
‘How long have we got.’ There was that sweetest of smiles again, from full lips under light blue eyes set in a healthy face. Her fair hair contrasted with the black well fitting uniform that showed her tall slim figure, but fell short of breaching protocol. ‘There was only one indiscretion, I had a date with a Captain Bronski and a thousand troopers, they had a sick battleship. What about you?’
‘Nothing much, one of my trips was to a planet covered with naked females.’
‘That’s quite a choice.’
‘Don’t worry, Tubs protected me.’
‘I suppose you’ll want to take me out to that nice restaurant again.’
‘Lisa, I want to take you everywhere!’
‘Unexpected concern broke out across her healthy face. ‘Things are hotting up on Cyan…Captain Bronski has given me some feedback for you. There are many armies roaming about all over the planet, not just the one you’re looking for!’
At the gym, Denton was doing what he had to do, grimace included.
‘Put some joy into your labours Dents.’
‘Good morning to you too Tubs.’
‘So, was she or wasn’t she?’
‘Faithful you mean?’
‘Still interested in you…say nothing, your smile says it all. A smile that shows your relationship has been elevated to the fusion of minds as well as bodies.’
‘Your poetic this morning Tubs, it must be Maria’s influence.’
‘That as well Dents, I was out on the town with the warriors last night, whilst you were fusing. Even I found their history fascinating, you would have been floored by what their genes had enabled them to do!’
‘Before we update each other Tubs, get to the most important subject in the Galaxy, what did Mick find out regarding the dating habits of our lady warriors?’
‘Mick asked with great respect what their attitude would be to dating humans, purely academic of course, he is our alien expert after all. In their usual matter of fact way they said they saw no problem at all.’
Denton, his mind now straining at every neuron. ‘So, what next?’
‘They would have to find somebody equal to themselves to enter a lasting relationship, they particularly liked men with your physique Dents!’
‘Really, if only I’d known…before last night,’ Denton stated seriously.
‘But there would have been an intelligence issue, they’d only adopt you as a pet.’
‘Thanks Tubs.’ The tone of Denton’s words revealed his deflation.
‘But if you responded well to training, they’d call you Toby in memory of your favourite dog!’
‘Very funny Tubs.’
PREDATOR AND PREY
‘There it is,’ proclaimed the Professor, ‘the roofs have been singed but no real damage, the usual split, James and his crew go hunting, the rest of us do the real work. This time we can land in the main clearing.’
‘No sign of furious natives down there,’ added Denton, looking up from the sensor.
The Prospector under Tubary’s control sunk into the greenery. Down the ramp and into the sticky heat the search party trod, sweating into their working clothes of khaki and green. Spreading out across the clearing, which had been cleared of bodies by Bronski’s men, they made their way through each building. For the first time they were able to marvel at the latest scientific instruments, the budget for which appeared to have been limitless. They were now drawn to the battle scene where a few spears lay flat, laid down by the troopers as a mark of respect for those who’d died. The Professor felt he needed to say something to the now solemn group, he spoke slowly, ‘Humans Boss, whilst at their clearing we laughed, joked and ate together, shortly afterwards they marched to kill us! Imagine how they treated the Cyanese natives, they brought this on themselves!’
The Professor soaked in the silence for a while.
‘Now, let’s find Boss’s renegades,’ he continued.
The warriors spoke for only seconds before Boss offered their hypothesis. ‘They have evolved in the jungle, they would not live permanently in towns and cities unless they had been mutated to do so. The gods would not have been so unkind. They would hide amongst the native Cyanese and find it easy to use them, as they do humans.’
The Prospector made its second landing, gently touching down on the outskirts of one of the wooden villages, which drew the natives from the shade of their homes and into the hot sun. They recognized the leader as he elbowed his way through the crowd, he seemed to draw them down the ramp towards him. After they had all waded into the throng, a dozen or so natives were offered fruit juice in exchange for some of their time. The others ambled away, light hearted in the knowledge that they’d been spared any more assaults on their bodies or genes. There was the occasional look and pointing to the humans between sips of juice from those who’d stayed and did the talking. They too eventually wandered off to their homes.
‘Good and bad,’ said Mick, ‘they know of strangers who have the warriors body shape, they look like Alan, his body being nearly athletic enough to qualify as a warrior.’
There were forced wry grins to mask their concern for their warrior friends.
‘What clinches it, is that they had six human scientists with them. That’s not all, the natives referred to themselves as slimmer versions of James.’
‘Every species is slimmer than Tubs,’ Denton said, trying to raise spirits.
‘I mention body shapes because these strangers are accepted as natives, who just happen to be less well fed!’ Denton and Tubary couldn’t quite grin at each other.
‘What’s the bad?’ interrupted the Professor.
‘The bad is, even if we could find them amongst the natives, they’re accepted not only by them but also by human Cyanese society, who allow them to have armies at their disposal.’
‘Why do they need armies?’ asked the Professor.
‘To hire them to the Cyanese Government.’
‘What are their total forces?’ asked Tubary.
‘About ten times larger than the one our natives used at the lab.’
‘Two hundred thousand!’ exclaimed Denton.
Mick continued, ‘The aim is to spread them anywhere over the planet when required!’
‘What do they use, spears?’
‘When necessary, many are issued with lightning sticks, laser rifles!’
‘Ironic,’ started Tubary, ‘we’ve been looking for humans that are likely to stir up natives, but it’s the natives who are keeping their own under control, albeit with the help of Boss’s renegades and the Cyan government! The law change should calm those particular stirrings.’
‘Maybe an almighty protection racket,’ said the Professor, ‘but our most pressing problem is to stop what is their most heinous of rackets. Where can they be found?’
‘The nearest army tribe lives four days march into the sunset is how our natives put it,’
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‘Did they ever have any contact with these strangers and any of their armies?’
‘There was always an uneasy truce, they’d no idea of the link between them and the guards. ’
The Professor’s encrypted report was answered promptly. ‘Bronski is on his way,’ stated Tubary, ‘we’re to meet him in space!’
In the midst of the Cyan equatorial jungle, forty seven tribal chiefs representing two hundred thousand warriors met with their ten security leaders along with Elena. A large tree hewn lodge protected them from the worst of the jungle heat. They all availed themselves of the rough tables and chairs placed in a large square formation. Carlton, Elena and the rest of their species sat at the head table. Carlton nodded at the tribal spokesman who sat across the square and opposite him. ‘Further to recent events, we the security leaders advise that there is now no need for you to use force against the Cyanese Government. Therefore we recommend that you use a political approach that is right for your people.’
Contrary to his warrior like appearance, the man clad in his tan coloured hides responded with the aplomb of a statesman. ‘We agree, and are prepared to offer you leadership of our tribes even though we have gained our first step to freedom.’
‘We will not be continuing as your leaders after today.’ Mumbles from around the square followed Carlton’s words.
‘Why shun our offer?’
‘There will be many more steps for you to take, there are many prejudices for you to overcome.’
‘We know, we can vote you into a position where you can continue collecting your platinum.’
The ten and Elena looked at each other, they’d forgotten that the minds of people they’d exploited for so long were set free along with their bodies. ‘You can lead us in politics as well as business,’ the spokesman advised.
Elena was tempted into an indiscretion. ‘I have heard rumours from Earth, Senator Goring will probably be removed from office soon, there is a strong chance you will get a fairer Senator.’
The spokesman’s thoughtful look eased into one of resignation. ‘What will people such as yourselves do to earn more platinum?’
Carlton hesitated. ‘We will be continuing our search for medicines, we will be setting up a new Laboratory here in the jungle. This will help all our people.’
The willowy eleven were alone again, the six bribed Cyan Government scientists had been excluded from their deliberations.
Carlton restarted, ‘Further to the law change we need to thrash out a few details regarding our plans. We are agreed on our objectives, we need to agree on how we attain those objectives. Opinions please.’
One of the ten opened, ‘The options are to complete our research here in the jungle or back on our own planet.
Another added, ‘We would have more protection from a favoured tribe if we stayed here. Our own planet would however take us out of the clutches of the military. They have no jurisdiction there.’
‘For how long?’ asked a third.
Carlton thought out loud, ‘Are the military showing any interest in us?’ He looked at Elena.
‘There’s no evidence they are.’
‘It has to be remembered that we are guilty of nothing, human law says we are an unclassified species, whatever we do is seen as aliens fighting amongst themselves. This will not be the case should our species be classified as people.’
‘What are your suggestions Carlton?’ prodded Elena, ignoring the others who had all started their offerings.
Carlton thought while the others quietened. ‘We will need to vote at this stage by a show of hands, the first proposition needs to be: We will complete our epigenetics research to get the weapon we need, whether our activities eventually become a crime or not.’ They all agreed by raising their hands.
‘By unanimous decision we continue our research. The next vote is: Do we stay here?’ All hands rose again. ‘Carried unanimously.’
‘We need to make a contingency plan should the military ever get too close.!’ suggested one of the ten.
Another continued, ‘We use trusted security guards from the native Cyanese to surround our new lab. Should the military make an approach from the sky we surrender and plead guilty,’ he grinned, ‘to not breaking the law. We then set up again somewhere else.’
Carlton took back the lead, ‘If we hear of any reclassification of our species we still complete our research. In the unlikely event we are caught we would be entitled to a trial, if convicted we would escape from the Penal Colony almost immediately! We then complete any research on our own planet which is beyond the law, then proceed to controlling it.’
Another thought was voiced, ‘What if our planet joins the Federation?’
Carlton thought awhile, and then grinned. ‘Before or after Federation we will have the means to persuade our people independence is best! With epigenetics we will switch our people to our way of thinking when we need to, without them losing intelligence! There’s no antidote for such an ancient and targeted poison!’ As insurance we will build the strongest army in the Galaxy from our own people.
‘When do we part company with the scientists, and how?’ asked Elena.
The ten thought awhile, one offered, ‘We’ve got what we wanted from them so far, we now know epigenetics. They’re useful until we complete our research; we should be able to bribe…or blackmail them into staying while we need them… then!’ he shrugged his shoulders.
Carlton finished, ‘We lose them in space…they’re only humans anyway, a lower form of life!’
As one, the other ten gave an impassive nod!
THE ART OF THE STATE
The speck appearing from over the curved horizon slowly became the giant ship that was Captain Bronski’s charge. Its every detail unfolded in the sunlight as it opened its enormous airlock to engulf the Prospector. Denton thought how much it looked like the open jaws of a shark slowly moving through the ocean of space to devour its prey. He shuddered as the closing doors completed its bite, then felt relief as the scene changed to more like being inside a fish tank.
‘Good afternoon Prospector, please wait a few moments while the air pressure normalizes.’
They all took in the display of multiple blinking lights of all colours, spread around the walls of what was the warship’s docking depot. ‘You may alight from your ship ladies and gentlemen, please ensure your computer database is left active.’
They moved down their ramp into the genial welcome of Captain Bronski and his other black clad personnel. His standard size contrasted with his tall athletic visitors, brown eyes in a round face, under plenty of black hair, sparkled as greetings were exchanged. It was obvious from his initial niceties that he had been kept well informed of the Prospector Sixteen’s progress.
‘We’ll be over the target by the time we get to the bridge.’
‘May I ask why you didn’t eat us down on the planet.’ asked Denton.
‘Eyes are an excellent invention, but such a nuisance when a ship our size is trying to make a stealthier entrance.’
‘I see, I think!’
They seemed to have moved through a labyrinth by the time they’d reached the large control panel on the spacious bridge. The Captain led them all towards two fresh faced young men sitting before an ominous array of icons. The battleship sunk into the atmosphere before hovering, now teasing those below to shun the cover of their dense lush jungle.
‘Now ladies and gentlemen, before we start, I have to make it quite clear that a message from the Admiral says the warriors are not a classified species yet. Therefore, anything they do to their own cannot be considered a crime, we are cleared to help them, but the final decision is theirs.’
The gravity of the statement weighed the sixteen down immediately, the Captain stared hard at them all to ensure they understood. The humans looked at the warriors who reverted to their own language, they spoke for just a few seconds before nodding back.
‘Ready,’ the Captain started, turning to the young m
en sitting with their backs towards the sixteen, ‘set up a cannon.’
Unperturbed by their audience, they started, ‘Link to Prospector’s database.’
‘Check.’
‘Open scan.’
‘Check.’
‘Human and alien DNA detected.’
‘Check.’
‘Genomes identified, six human organisms, eleven alien organisms.
‘Check.’
‘They all appear to be surrendering Captain!’
‘Ignore the humans,’ ordered the Captain.
‘Cannon locked onto alien species.’
‘Check.’
‘What for your people Boss?’ asked the Captain. ‘Stun or kill?’
‘Captain, there’s an emergency flag on the alien file, one is our agent, only ten are criminals.’
‘Kill the ten,’ Boss ordered calmly.
The Prospector humans were jolted, the Captain saw the pain in all the warriors’ eyes. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes, all twelve of us agree.’
‘Wait a moment Captain,’ Denton urged.
A few seconds passed. ‘Captain, emergency confirmation received from our agent.’
‘That’s all,’ Denton stated.
The Captain looked at Boss, who was now impassive, then turned to his young men and sighed. ‘Kill the ten alien criminals…Fire.’
‘Fire.’
‘Check.’
After a few solemn moments, the Captain spoke again, ‘We can go down to the surface now and scare off any native onlookers, then pick up the scientists…and of course the bodies. Then say hello to our agent.’
The four were silenced by the tears in their warrior friends’ eyes. It took a while before Denton dared whisper, ‘Is that it?’
‘It appears to be so Alan, I’d love to know the logic behind the warriors’ decision.’