Log Date: November 4, 2287 CE Earth Years.
Speaker: Eric Duncan.
E. DUNCAN: Another colony that failed to survive was discovered today. This is getting to be a recurring theme. Hope this is the last. Added note: I think the reason this is beginning to affect us so much is the fact that it seems likely that something has happened to our own home world. There still has been no communication in well over twelve years. The situation for the Reesh colonies may be a mirror of our own situation, since we haven’t even heard from any of the other colonial ships to date. I am filled with fear and dread for our species. Are we all that remains? A mere six thousand plus? Oddly, that is about the same number as the Reeshians; almost a poetic cosmic plan. Not a very funny one, either.
End Log.
We continued our southbound flight to see what, if anything, was closer to the polar cap. We saw no more of any Reeshian civilization on that stretch of our flight but there was an area where there was a sizable colony of Fenninz or Drolpeg who had developed a style of living comparable to the Eskimos on Earth. The Drolpeg weren’t typically good at adapting to colder climates anywhere else on the planet, so it was a real surprise. We set down near their community to see what we could of their culture, and find out if they preferred that life or if they wanted to move to the north with the small settlement near the Reeshian colony.
We were almost certain they had been driven south by the same barbarians that had wiped out the Reeshian colony to the north of them. Blurg couldn’t go out where the temperature was that much below freezing; the temperature being only about twenty degrees. His people had that much in common with the reptiles of Earth. They need heat to move around; even in the area where the northern Reeshian colony was they tended to hibernate when the weather turned too cold. They could sleep up to three months if necessary though it wasn’t quite the constant cold where the Reeshians lived.
During our brief visit we learned that the Fenninz had adapted really well to their environment, though they made frequent trips far enough north to gather alcohol from the trees. They also had learned how to distill alcohol from fruits that they gathered from a short distance to the north. I had forgotten that the alcohol level in their bodies meant that they could handle temps of thirty below before the risk of freezing became a hazard. I really hadn’t thought of that at all, though talking with Hero I had thought they didn’t like the cold; I guess that doesn’t apply universally.
We gave them the appropriate gifts for their culture and told them that they would see us again unless they preferred to be left alone. I knew that being that far to the south it would be a long time before they would be bothered if they chose to be left alone. They said they would welcome all who came in peace. With that settled we gave them a few books of pictograms and taught them how to make charcoal and matches, gave them some steel cookware and a few steel tools that would make their lives a little easier. They were as excited as children at Christmas with these new things, and the books they understood immediately. I was glad we’d stopped there after all, and in return they told us of an area where there were glowing rocks that made them sick.
This news was meant as a warning to avoid the rocks; to us it meant uranium for processing and for our medical people. It was still a viable source of energy in areas that didn’t get a lot of sunshine and was the perfect material to feed MCS units to give them maximum yield. We could synthesize it, but even to do that you needed good samples to copy; and that had always been a problem for us.
We were still about five hundred miles from the South Pole, so we decided we might just as well pass over it while this close. When we got there we dropped low and sampled the air; it was cold, about eighty degrees below zero Fahrenheit in the middle of the winter, as it was there in the southern hemisphere. We headed back to the north where it would be summer again. Blurg couldn’t believe that it was winter on one part of the planet when another part was in summer, but once it was explained to him he said it made sense once you realized that the world was round. I told him that Earth people had the same problem understanding before their scientists proved it; and that in fact people had actually been put to death by religious leaders for claiming the planet was round, in those times so long ago.
Blurg found that to be ludicrous, but upon thinking about the mentality of the uneducated, and the brutality of history we’d only so recently witnesses, he laughed and said he could imagine some of his people doing just that to keep control over others. We increased our speed and soon found ourselves in a little milder climate. That made Blurg very happy! We were approaching the area where we had battled the Barbarian Vortlepeg, and were trying to decide the best way to approach them. Blurg thought he would do best to go and see them by himself, but I wasn’t really fond of the idea. He finally agreed to take one of his own people with him; I did however convince him to go no farther than our cannon could cover him.
As we approached the battleground the first thing we noticed was that the remains of our ship had been dragged closer to the forest, and was half disassembled. It didn’t look as though it was being destroyed or even used as scrap, but rather like it was being disassembled and analyzed. The very thought of these barbarians getting this technology scared me to death.
“What do you think they’re doing?” I asked Blurg. “Are they really trying to figure out how it all works?”
“It looks that way to me,” he answered. “Is it possible that they could succeed? I mean; could they solve the way the engines work?”
“I don’t think so,” I said with a degree of uncertainty. “But I do think that they could learn way too much about weapons technology; more than I’m comfortable with.” Then as an afterthought. “Just how advanced are they in mathematics?” I asked.
“I don’t know what matha . . . is,” he said.
“Their ability to analyze things numerically,” I said, hoping to clear it up or give my question meaning.
“They’re pretty smart,” he replied with a little thought. “I’m not sure just how much they can work out with the science at their disposal. But they are clever.”
“Do you think we should land; think you want to try communicating with them?” I asked him.
“In view of the circumstances, I’d say it’s more important than ever,” he said.
“Brad, set us down in the middle of the south end; Mike, get the mobile cannon ready in the airlock; Hester, you and Jerry go up into the upper view port and let us know if any of them try to sneak up on us from behind the ship,” I ordered.
Everyone got straight to their tasks; the rest I told to be sure their weapons were ready and to be near the lock area in case I needed to extract Blurg and his men.
There were half a dozen barbarian Vortlepeg working in and around the wrecked ship. They stopped their work and watched us land, with axes in their hands.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” I double checked with Blurg.
“If it’s a question of now or later,” he responded. “Might just as well get this done now.”
“I want to check and see if we have a tractor available that we can remove the rest of the wreck with. I’d feel a lot better if we could get it out of here.” I told him. “I’ll wait and see how it goes with you first; otherwise I’ll blast it with the cannon until there’s nothing left but some twisted metal.”
Mike shot me a glance at this comment, and I shrugged, trying to suggest that I wasn’t really serious. I could see his concern: if the MCS hadn’t completely dissipated it could blow up like a nuclear bomb, or worse yet suck in a half mile of land before fizzling out of existence. There was still a magnetic field detectable by our sensors so it was anyone’s guess. That was an absolute last resort.
Blurg and his men prepared to exit the ship; Mike had two of the canons in the lock already. I didn’t know we had two with us, but I was glad. We opened the outer lock and Blurg and company stepped out.
The reaction from the Vortlepeg working on the othe
r ship, upon seeing Vortlepeg coming out of our ship, was almost priceless. They didn’t seem to know what to do.
I talked to Blurg on a head set. “Tell them that if they try to open the enclosed chamber just back from where their working, it will kill them all with no warning.” I heard him call the warning, though I couldn’t be sure that it was exactly what he said. I also knew his language wasn’t exactly the same as theirs, but I hoped it would be close enough.
I saw them discussing what he’d said; I knew they were trying to decide if he was telling them the truth. Finally two of them stepped about ten paces closer to our team; Mike readied the cannon nervously.
“How do we know you tell truth?” The nearest one asked.
“We come in peace; we can help you to develop your technology without the risks you are taking now.” Blurg offered.
“Why would you do that?” The leader asked suspiciously.
“We have come to destroy the ship so that it won’t kill you.” Blurg said.
“We won’t let you do that,” the other said threateningly. “You will leave here now,” he demanded, hefting his axe from one hand to the other.
“We can and will if you fail to convince us that you will cease your acts of war toward us. We will not allow you to harm any more of our people as you did the last time we landed. Our weapons are far superior to anything you saw us use the last time we tried coming here in peace.” Blurg bared his teeth threateningly, and although the barbarian leader was larger, he looked vaguely intimidated by this verbal assault.
“Your People shot first when you invaded our land the last time. You killed five of our people for no reason, and we fought back,” the leader said defensively. Blurg translated this to me.
“Tell him that the first ship wasn’t here with our approval. Give him our sincere apology for the invasion of their land,” I said to Blurg.
He did as I asked, and then exchanged more words quickly in an attempt to defuse the situation. I watched and waited as patiently as I could.
“He says that he is not the leader of his tribe and he would go and talk to their Garn; their word for King; and he was sure the Garn would come to negotiate terms of peace with us if we would wait for him to go and get him,” Blurg informed me.
I had Blurg tell him we would wait; but not too long. The Barbarian left quickly and returned in less than twenty minutes with their King and a fairly large troop of his soldiers. Blurg told him to come closer but with just a few of his guards. The king came forward to within ten feet of Blurg with only five of his guards. There were however at least a hundred warriors in the edge of the forest. I did notice that the King was wearing an obsidian blade; and decided that it might be a good idea to wear mine. It was, Blurg had told me, a badge of honor and courage in their warrior society.
Mike looked at me and nodded toward all those warriors at the forest edge.
“Just keep the second cannon aimed toward the main force in the woods and the other at the King and his party.” I instructed him. Our entire force was waiting to charge out with guns blazing if Blurg needed rescue.
I prepared myself to go and join him in conference as soon as it was reasonably certain we weren’t about to be attacked.
Meeza didn’t want me to go out there at all. “I don’t trust them,” she said. “They don’t look like they’re interested in making peace.” I had to agree she was right, but appearances weren’t everything, and this was important.
“I won’t take any more chances than I have to; we’re covered as well as we can be,” I assured her. I just wished I felt as secure as I tried to convince her I was.
I stepped down from the ship and walked the twenty or so feet to where the King and Blurg were facing off. I had brought with me a steel bladed axe, which I knew would be considered a really nice gift to their society. I extended it toward the King, laying it flat along both of my hands so it would be clear I wasn’t threatening. I stepped three steps closer to him and waiting for him to come the remainder of the way. He stood there a moment, and then decided to accept my offer. He appraised the blade with considerable reverence as he took it. He hefted it to see how it was balanced, and looked impressed.
Blurg translated. “This is a fine blade,” said the King, whose name was Eeyok. “It is my understanding that you wish to be friends?”
“We wish to apologize for any misunderstanding that arose from my people’s first visit to your land,” I began. “We were unaware of your great empire when we arrived and it is apparent that you have created a truly admirable society and are formidable enemies to those who do not take heed.” A little flattery never hurts when dealing with egotistical royalty, I thought, while Blurg translated. “I feel that you and your people could gain much technology from us in friendship and that it would be of great benefit to our culture to have the friendship of you and your mighty race.” I knew I was laying it on a little thick, but that was how I read the situation.
I learned that Blurg’s people were a tribe known to Garn Eeyok as the Shabba, and had been respected and left alone for a thousand or more years. The King’s own tribe was the Togii and they did consider themselves to be—not incorrectly, I thought—the mightiest on the planet.
I had Blurg explain to the Garn about the part of the ship that he should tell his people to leave alone for a very long time because it was very dangerous; and that we would remove that part if he wanted us to. I told him that he was welcome to the rest of the ship in payment for the injury that was done to his people as a result of the previous misdealings. That seemed to please him. He said that he would appreciate our removing the hazardous part of the ship so that his men could work in safety while salvaging the material that his people were finding many uses for. I could see that so far, most of that material was being used to make primitive weapons; but that was of no concern to us at the moment. Eeyok went so far as to offer us as many of his men as we needed to remove the MCS box if that would help.
I still didn’t really trust him, but we had to start somewhere, and that seemed a fair beginning. I told him lastly that we would teach them a better way to process the materials they were salvaging; it wouldn’t take much to teach them how to melt down and mold the material into any shape they deemed practical for use in their everyday life.
I considered our meeting a great success; at least for the moment I didn’t think we would be attacked without some warning that things were going amiss. Later, I had Mike install safety locks on the two cannons just in case the Garn decided to steal one of them. I didn’t want him to be able to turn our own weapons against us.
That afternoon we set to work removing the MCS box; the first thing was to rig it with a portable power supply so that it wouldn’t melt down while we were transporting it. Once back at our new home world, we could install it in another new ship. Waste not, want not, after all, was a slogan that was in constant use on the Astro II, our whole lives. Its magnetic field would probably have held up during transport, but there was no need to risk it failing.
While the work was going on, the Togii continued to strip the steel plating and the Poly-Teflon shielding off the ship. They simply forced the shell to pop loose from the inside of the ship. They had yet to figure out how to melt the material down but if they stayed decent to deal with, we would keep our word and teach them how to build a workable foundry where they could melt off the non-metallic coating on the skin of the ships plating. They had the basic idea but needed to learn how to inject more air and other gases, and how to collect the other gases. I was certain they’d be easy to teach; and metallurgy wouldn’t (I hoped) enhance their weapons technology beyond axes and blades, which they already used quite efficiently.
Two of Blurg’s people helped with the building of the foundry, along with three of our Human technicians. Blurg’s men were really there to safeguard my crew, since we still did not completely trust Eeyok’s people to leave them unmolested. I was sure they’d try to pull something after they got what they wan
ted from us. I was just glad to retrieve the MCS unit without mishap. Beyond that; we were watching and waiting for a double cross. The pairs up in the view port above were keeping an eye on all of the area we couldn’t see from the ground without putting people where we couldn’t see them; and that I refused to do.
Well, at least we had the MCS packed away, now we could slowly pack up our gear and be ready for an immediate flight. Our men were just returned from a day of work setting up the foundry when my lookouts reported some sort of activity in the woods behind us where the Togii thought we couldn’t see them.
I called our people in from the grounds around the ship and ordered them to prepare for an immediate lift off. The two on watch said that the Togii were sneaking up in full battle armor.
Mike pulled in the cannons as the foundry crew slipped inside and closed the hatch. We lifted off quickly, leaving the Vortlepeg confused and angry on the ground. I decided not to leave them set up to keep gathering material from the derelict ship. We fired on it and set it to an absolute melt down. We flew over the foundry but there were too many Togii working on it, so I couldn’t bring myself to destroy it; there would have been too many wounded and killed. I realized that they would have done it to us without another thought; but we were supposed to be civilized. We left them far behind with no intentions of ever returning unless they should one day threaten our welfare. We headed home, scanning for anything unusual as we got closer, but saw nothing that seemed significant for the moment.
It was while we were still in transit that we received the report that one of the other asteroid ships from Earth had sent us a response to the message we’d sent out four years ago! They were nearing their destination and hoped to be settling their target world by the time we received their message. They had heard nothing from Earth in almost nine years at the time they sent us their message and wanted to know if we’d heard anything. At least we knew there was another group of Humans still alive as of no more than a few years ago; it felt good just to hear that. Someday we would have to send a group of people to see how their world was doing. I still had hopes that the bug ship might hold the key to faster than light travel.
Starborn Odyssey (The Starborn Odyssey Trilogy Book 1) Page 25