Carbon Life

by HR Ringer

  The captain indicated the bag and the datapad as she said “You should know what humanity is up against out here, Traynor. We found this inside the Mako near the Sergeant’s body. We expect the batarian that used this thought he was heaping the ultimate insult on Tobias personally and Alliance Marines in general. The autopsy findings are summarized on the datapad. There are no words,” here Mosley looked at Xiùlán, “in any language, that are adequate to describe this level of…” Mosley paused to take a deep breath and let it out before continuing, “… this level of total barbaric disregard for the dignity a person, any person, but especially a soldier, is entitled to.”

  She nodded grimly at the… thing… in the clear vinyl bag and added as she returned her gaze to Xiùlán, “This is just one reason I will not let you leave my ship thinking you are in any way… you understand me, Yuán?… any way!… at fault for what happened to Tobias. I assigned him to take you ground side in the M-35. It was his job to keep both of you safe and get you back on this ship. His death is not your fault, nor,” Mosley looked at Traynor, “is it yours, Ms Traynor. Sometimes, bad things happen to good people, things that we cannot predict or prevent.”

  After reading through the brief description of Perkins’ injuries, Samantha could only sit in stunned silence. The animation on the datapad illustrating the use of the garrote, lying on the table in its vinyl container, made her sick to her stomach. She knew the batarian race was savage, cruel to the point of depravity, but she had never heard of anything like this! Their achievements in space flight where totally overshadowed by their… desire, their sick need, to spread their violent ways to other systems.

  Traynor no longer harbored any doubts about the correctness of the Alliance’s military actions on Torfan, on Elysium, or any of the other places batarians had attempted to replace civil society with their own sick vision of brutality and violence. “I don’t believe…,” she whispered as tears slowly trickled down her cheeks, “… the batarian race should be allowed to exist beyond their home system.”

  Xiùlán nodded in agreement as she added, “That would probably be a good thing, Sammy. But think about this – all the batarians we have seen, or heard of, or read about were males. What about the average citizens, the population on Khar’shan?”

  “Forbidden to leave batarian space by their government,” Mosley responded, “which is why you’re unlikely to ever encounter any batarian females outside of the Kite’s Nest.”

  Traynor, needing something to settle her stomach, paused long enough to fix herself another cup of tea. Returning to sit with Captain Mosley and Xiùlán, she listened quietly as her lover continued, “The turians have very few females out here – you and I have encountered only one, Sammy – F’lar’Jid, and she was more soldier than not. I expect there are more like her on the Citadel.”

  Mosley added to Yuán’s thoughts on turians with, “Omega. There are more than a few turian females on Omega; I believe the majority of them are employed as prostitutes, although there are a fair number of mercs as well.”

  Yuán’s smile was grim. “Not the best way to have a presence away from home.”

  Traynor asked, “What about salarians?…or krogan?

  Mosley answered, “Not sure about salarians. As for the krogan, the Genophage makes every fertile female precious beyond belief – males won’t risk allowing them to leave the home world. Asari are mono-gendered, so really cannot be counted in this comparison.”

  Xiùlán took another sip of her tea before observing, “Of all the races out here, Sammy, ours is the only one that has a virtually equal ratio of males and females. Does that make us any better? I don’t know, but maybe it does make us less inclined to instigate violence as a means to an end.”

  Mosley picked up the datapad and evidence bag and rose to leave. Saying, “As you were, Servicemen,” when Xiùlán and Samantha made to stand up, she continued, “I’m going to return this miserable thing to the evidence locker and get back to work. It was nice talking to you… both of you. I’m glad you’re both healing up okay.”

  Finishing her coffee, she picked up the datapad, nodded to each of them and left.

  * * *

  Chapter 14: Lessons From Our Enemies

  Life is full of screwups. You're supposed to fail sometimes. It's a required part of the human existence. – Sarah Dessen, Along for the Ride

  * * *

  NOTES: ADV/CTF: Advanced Combat Training Facility

  IFF: Identify Friend/Foe device - a transponder

  LADaR: Light-Amplified Detection and Ranging

  Parrot: IFF Transponder

  Strangle your parrot: ‘shut off the IFF’

  * * *

  ALLIANCE SECURNETCOMM

  RTE-SOL/TERRA-CHARON-EXODUS-HADES GAMMA/SSV HONG KONG

  FROM: General RaeLee Park, Spec. Weapons Dev. Coordinator, Systems Alliance

  TO: Serviceman First Class Samantha Traynor - SN 8256-DH-7968

  TO: Serviceman First Class Yuán Xiùlán - SN 8257-PVG-09186

  CC: Captain Jaclyn Mosley, SSV Hong Kong

  CC: Colonel James Franklin, Commandant, ADV/CTF, Mars Base

  Ms Traynor; Ms Yuán:

  Having read the reports detailing your inaugural mission in the Dis System, Hades Gamma Cluster, I wish to offer my observations regarding the outcome:

  1] Your recovery of a number of ancient artifacts left behind on planet Dis, despite encounters with Cerberus ground troops, is commendable.

  2] While the death and physical mutilation of Marine Sergeant Tobias Perkins at the hands of batarian slavers on planet Klensal was extremely unfortunate, Captain Jaclyn Mosley has stated her belief (in which I concur) in the success of your mission, due in no small part to your elimination of the batarian slavers attempting to gain a foothold on Klensal after your escape from their captivity.

  My conclusion is this has been an auspicious beginning to your careers in the Alliance Navy. Well done.

  I also wish to take this opportunity to again offer my sympathy regarding the death of Heather Gonzales at the hands of suspected Cerberus agents. I attended her memorial service here in Vancouver; in addition to offering condolences to her mother and father on your behalf, I also explained that your current assignments prevented either of you from attending in person.

  I will talk to both of you soon, once you are safely back at the training base on Mars. Again, my congratulations on the positive outcome of your assignment.

  General RaeLee Park, Spec. Weapons Dev Coordinator, Systems Alliance Command

  * * *

  Xiùlán and Sam each closed their omni-tools after reading General Park’s message. Sam looked at her lover and asked, “What do you think? She sent a copy to Colonel Franklin… is that going to tag us as ‘General’s Pets’. I sure’n’ell don’t want the rest of our class knowing about this… we’d be compared to Joesiar after all the time and effort it cost us to get his miserable ass booted outta the Navy.”

  Xiùlán thought about General Park and the effect her message would have. “I don’t know if it’ll be a burden or not. Just have to wait ‘til we’re back on Mars.” Xiùlán's voice betrayed her melancholy mood. “Still don’t believe I’ll ever stop thinking Sergeant Perkins death is somehow on me, Sammy. I wasn’t in charge of the mission, but… ”

  “… but nothing, Xiùlán! You heard Captain Mosley! Shit happens. Shit happens to good people through no fault of their own, or anyone else’s. You have got to let this go, Xiùlán! You couldn’t have prevented it, couldn’t have stopped the four-eyed bastard that did it.”

  The Hong Kong had reached the relay and was loitering half-a-million klicks away as they waited for the relief crew (needed to take over operations of the captured batarian corvette) to arrive from the Exodus Cluster. The relay had last been utilized for an Alliance Cruiser’s passage to the Voyager Cluster and was about halfway through the process of realigning itself to receive a ship from the opposite direction. While they waited, Xiùlán and Sam continued t
o discuss the message from General Park.

  Traynor felt her good opinion of the General now needed to be tempered by the revelation RaeLee Park was a coordinator for special weapons development, with the term ‘weapons’ being loosely applied to the program in which Xiùlán and herself were enrolled. They were being trained for covert operations; most aspects of that training were designed to create human ‘weapons’ that most of their potential enemies would never see coming until it was too late.

  “We need to treat our experience on Klensal as another lesson, Luv. All the batarians hesitated when they first saw you in that lower chamber,” Traynor slowly said, as if thinking out loud. “They don’t think human females can be effective fighters.”

  Xiùlán’s response was interrupted by a ship wide alarm, followed by a harsh female voice booming from the overhead speakers. ‘This is not a drill! General Quarters… General Quarters… all hands man your battle stations!’ The alarm continued to sound for five seconds before the command was repeated. ‘This is not a drill! General Quarters… General Quarters… all hands man your battle stations!’ The alarm was finally silenced after continuing to sound for another 15 seconds.

  Sam mentally noted that the voice had the metallic flanging of a ship’s VI. As Yuán and Traynor were simply passengers, neither of them were assigned duty stations on board; Traynor wanted to see what was happening, so cautiously poked her head past the bulkhead in which the compartment hatch retracted. Noting no one in the crew quarters, she whispered, “Come on,” to Xiùlán as she walked through the compartment to the exit hatch.

  The hatch was sealed - standard procedure under GQ rules - Traynor released the lock, opened the hatch, waited for Xiùlán and reclosed and sealed the hatch behind her. They were now in the crew’s mess, and the few people that were in this area were on the move; most were entering access tubes to either climb or descend to another level.

  Xiùlán walked up to the Marine controlling access to the CIC elevator and asked, “Any chance we could go topside, Corporal?”

  “Not yet, Serviceman. Boss is still getting a handle on the situation. Shouldn’t be long.”

  Traynor asked, “Do you know why the alarm was sounded?”

  “Haven’t been told… haven’t asked. Best guess? A ship belonging to a possibly hostile race unexpectedly exited the Relay… happens occasionally while we’re waiting for a realignment. This relay is paired with four others besides Exodus.”

  “Thank you, Corporal.” Xiùlán turned to Samantha and said, “Might as well have some tea while we’re here, Sammy.”

  * * *

  Yuán and Traynor were each nursing a second cup of tea when a two-part tone, different from the alarm tone, sounded three times, followed by a VI announcement from the overhead speakers: ‘Secure from General Quarters, Secure from General Quarters! All hands, stand down from General Quarters, return to normal duties or receive your next orders from your Department Heads. Time on deck is oh-nine fifty-eight; Department Heads, muster with the Captain in the conference room at ten fifteen.’

  Traynor looked at Xiùlán. “Don’t imagine we’ll be able to find out what happened for a while. What do we do?… wait here, try’n flag someone down to ask?”

  Yuán shook her head as she replied, “Let’s sit and wait. Maybe have a bit of late breakfast / early lunch.”

  As it happened, they didn’t have long to wait – Corporal Qian Long Xi came around the main elevator supports looking for hot water to make tea. He spotted Yuán instantly and smiled. “How are you doing, Serviceman? Everything healing up okay?”

  Yuán smiled back as she replied, “I’m doing well, Corporal. What’s going on topside?”

  Qian held up a finger, silently requesting a moment as he poured hot water into a clean mug and brought it to the table along with a bit of his private stash of tea. He sat across from the women and began to answer Yuán as he brewed his tea. “Ship arrived at the relay… had to identify it from LADaR, as they were flying without a functioning transponder. Appeared to be a batarian cruiser, possibly heading for Dis. Captain strangled our parrot soon as the relay went active – ship apparently didn’t detect us.”

  “Probably answering distress calls sent by the two corvettes you encountered,” Sam observed. “Bet they’ll be pissed when they find nothing but empty space there.”

  “How about when they drop a landing party to see why that mine on Klensal has gone silent?” Xiùlán snarked. “Suppose they’ll be more pissed at what they find inside?”

  “I expect so,” Qian said in a thoughtful tone. “Thing is, to whom can they complain? It’s not as if what they were doing was legal.” He poured his tea into a mug and took a sip. “s’nice,” he said. He offered some to each of the women before getting up to leave. “Talk to you later. Oh, and Ms Traynor?” Qian looked at her and smiled. “Let me know if you’d like me to trim your hair a bit before we get back to Mars. I have a style in mind for you that’d really bring out your cheekbones – be perfect for your facial features.”

  Sam’s mouth fell open at this, bringing a giggle from Xiùlán. Before Sam could recover her wits enough to respond, Qian was gone. “Looks like I’m not the only woman on this boat Qian finds attractive, Sà mǐ,” Xiùlán snarked. “Should I be jealous?” Xiùlán's answer was a fist applied to her upper arm. “Ow! What was that?” Xiùlán's look of mock injury brought a tiny smile to Sam’s face despite her best effort to look offended.

  “I don’t go out of my way to be attractive to anyone… except you,” was Sam’s indignant response. “Why would I even want to be attractive to anyone else?”

  “So they can be jealous of me,” came the cheeky reply. “You don’t have to make yourself unattractive to other people, Sà mǐ… way I see it, someone hitting on you is a compliment to me. And you’re more than capable of taking care of anyone that persists in being a pest. So, just be yourself. If Qian wants to trim and style your hair, why not let ‘im? We’ll be going into situations where an Alliance regulation cut like yours will be a dead give-away of who you work for… probably not a good thing.”

  Traynor looked at her lover with skepticism. Finally deciding to drop the matter, she said, “I’ll think about it.”

  * * *

  The remainder of their trip back to Mars was uneventful; the pair reported to their section leader immediately after leaving the Hong Kong. Except for the comments each of them received regarding their new hairstyles (particularly Xiùlán!), nothing was said regarding their adventures on Jartar or Klensal… they were simply handed their assignments for the following week and told to get some food, rest and continue healing.

  Xiùlán grabbed her armored chestplate as soon as they reached their quarters. “I’m going to drop this off, get this bullet hole fixed, then send a message. See you in a bit.”

  After Xiùlán dropped her chestplate off at the armory, she walked to the Student Comm Center. It was, as expected, quite busy; deciding not to wait for a QEC connection, she used her omni-tool to generate a text message to Mallene Calis, the asari working with Serrice Council on high-end omni-tools. The wait for a ‘text-only’ message tech was much shorter; when she reached the head of the queue, the tech promised to send Xiùlán’s message before the end of his shift, even offering to send an acknowledgement to Xiùlán when it was sent. She thanked him and left after checking her own ‘inbox’ for messages.

  * * *

  As fate would have it, their first classes after returning from the Hades Gamma system began immediately upon their return, a two-day training session by an ex-military batarian named Dhevile Creg’falak. He presented a very basic course in the mind-set of the Hegemony, telling them it was a government ruled by extreme paranoia, with the majority of its wealth dedicated to increasing their military might, even at the expense of its citizens, who were prohibited from leaving their home world of Khar'shan.

  Out of all the things Creg’falak had told them about batarians, one of the most enlightening concern
ed their upper pair of eyes – they were quite sensitive to infrared emissions. An activated cloaking shield was of no use against a batarian intent on spotting them; their forms would be visible as red/orange/yellow images when their shields were active, even in pitch dark conditions, to any batarian looking in their direction. This became a distinct disadvantage to batarians on a ‘hot’ world such as Aratoht; a human’s heat signature would tend to blend in with the heat waves emanating from the surrounding surfaces, as long as one remained relatively motionless. Creg’falak added, “It’s also worth noting that when a batarian dies, it’s believed that his soul leaves the body through the eyes. Treatment of the corpse is not important, unless the eyes have been removed by an enemy.”

  Creg’falak told them batarians in general strongly believed that species with fewer than four eyes are less intelligent. “We can often gain an advantage during arguments with other species, as they find it difficult to know which pair of eyes to focus on when speaking to us.” Creg’falak chuckled as he told them, “Focus on our lower set of eyes when talking to us. Even glancing up at my other pair tells me you are unsure of your position, and I will most certainly take advantage of you in negotiations.”

  Xiùlán and Sam were amazed at the bad timing of their assignment on Klensal. Sam hissed, “Sure could have put this to good use in that mine!”

  Xiùlán's response was terse. “We’re getting the info now, so listen close.”

  Creg’falak had continued speaking. “Body language among batarians is as important as the spoken word. If I tilt my head to my left while talking with you, it’s a sign of admiration and respect.” Creg’falak next tilted his head to his right as he said, “This is a sign that I consider myself superior to you, or any other person in my line of sight. For a human to use this gesture towards a batarian is very insulting, due to the high value we place on social caste. If you’re not prepared, it could get your throat cut.”