by David Buck
Steve listened and responded with solid observations of his own.
‘When we get to the main ship tomorrow, we need to ask a series of questions Douglas. We need to know the what, when, why and how of their arrival on our planet. Specifically we have to disarm the possible threats of pandemic and a pitched battle for their ship as soon as we can. Also I want to know more of the second race who came with the Traders and if they represent a threat.’
Douglas found he agreed with the observations as he replied.
‘Also Steve we need to know what we can get as a concession from the Traders for letting them keep their ship and assisting them. Basically explain it as being concerned about our lack of technology when compared to the galactic races that we know now exists out in the galaxy.’
The two men then finished their conversation and an exhausted Steve went to bed. As he lay alongside the sleeping form of Samantha, he replayed the conversation with Douglas for several minutes before he fell asleep. In the storage locker, Garendestat slept soundly the sleep of utter exhaustion after his rescue and the long afternoon on the rear deck of the Aurora Discovery.
***
Marenkestat timed the slow flight north east back to the main ship and estimated that if he slowed speed slightly yet again the four ships would arrive on the island just after the local sunrise. The pilot made this choice as well as to limit the use of thrusters, as the lifting operation was burning large amounts of hydrogen and oxygen fuel. The four Trader pilots routinely called their status, mainly fuel and weight loadings, as they steadily flew their inert cargoes to the morning landing. Marenkestat again looked at the relayed mass indicator readings for each of the two damaged sneak ships. He knew that most of the seawater had quickly drained from rents in the hulls, and he also marvelled that the fusion power plants on each ship still functioned.
‘Captain Narindestat was correct about the damaged sneak ships’ he considered, as the two ships were easily twenty percent heavier than he would have expected. The pilot knew that the captain had given direct instructions not to go near the sneak ships’ holds until the sneak ships had landed on the island. So he knew he would have to restrain his curiosity until that moment.
Marenkestat was also concerned about the damage evident about the front of the two sneak ships, and he had earlier focused cameras towards the affected areas of each ship. The cameras showed that the sneak ships enhanced sensor arrays had been sliced out of the ships and then removed. However the pilot knew that this was not the prime cause of damage to both ships. He soon verified that the initial long descent to the sea bed had damaged the ships structurally to the point of them both now being scrap.
‘So what just are you up to Captain Narindestat?’
Marenkestat considered privately to himself as the collection of sneak ships continued the slow flight to the north east.
***
Commander Jane Walker sat quietly in her command chair, and rubbed her eyes, for the day had both been unusual and long. Both Australian frigates were still to the south and south east of the Abrolhos islands, and had made a point of heading east to be further away from the islands at sunset. To possibly avoid alarming the Traders, the two frigates were keeping their patrol circuits and speeds stable. The ships headed in a small patrol loop at ten knots and then reversed course every two hours.
Jane had also spoken to Douglas Stoneham earlier in the evening on the satellite phone, and was now aware of the questions that Steve and Douglas had raised between them earlier.
‘Hopefully tomorrow will bring new answers.’ She thought calmly to herself.
Jane considered writing a few final reports, before she turned in for the night, when the bemused communications officer walked up to her with one of the satellite phones.
‘Captain I have an important call for you and you need to take this privately apparently.’
Jane suppressed a start of annoyance, and slowly took the satellite phone into the rear chart room, usually the province of the now off duty navigation officer, and sat down.
‘Commander Jane Walker, how can I help you?’
‘Commander, I am Ian Ridge and I need your assistance with several matters please.’
Jane was truly impressed and awed, as it was not every day your prime minister rang for an evening chat.
‘Yes sir, how can I help you tonight?’
She listened avidly as Ian Ridge spoke again.
‘Jane, we now have an interesting situation with the aliens and all those ships, and I would like some information from you before I speak with Steve Greene in the morning. You have served with him for several years, so I want you to tell me as much as you can about him please.’
Jane considered that it must now be past midnight in Canberra as she replied to the prime minister.
‘Well sir, he has an excellent service record as you probably know already. He is definitely a leader, is not afraid of justified personal risk, and is a man of honour and integrity on a personal level. To keep it simple sir, I could not think of a better man in this situation.’
The prime minister replied to Jane’s comments with gratitude.
‘Jane, please call me Ian during this call as there is a very personal element to my questions. Now he is not afraid of combat from what I can tell, though I am obviously no expert here. But I have to ask one important question. Do you think he would deal with the aliens, these Traders, if he felt they posed a real risk to humanity?’
Jane instantly replied as she knew the answer already.
‘Ian, he would take the Traders on no matter how bad the odds were. Please be assured that he has our back in that regard.’
Ian Ridge was relieved but not surprised to hear the answer. He continued to talk to Jane for several minutes about his plans for Steve and his crew. He also requested that Jane kept these same plans private for the time being. Ian later issued an invitation for Jane to meet him in Canberra one day, which Jane graciously accepted.
After several minutes, the call was finished and Jane then again checked the standing orders for the patrol circuit. She then asked that the state of the Seahawk be checked again for a possible flight at dawn, before handed over command for the evening to the watch lieutenant. After a quick meal and shower, she rolled into her bed and lay awake for several minutes before sleep.
‘So Steve, just what are you, your crew and the rest of humanity getting ourselves into?’ She thought about this question even as she fell asleep.
***
Five hundred meters from HMAS Sydney, a cloaked Maveen probe, invisible to human observers, passively scanned the human warship and made a threat assessment.
‘Low level and in containment or patrol mode, to keep things out rather than keep things in…’ Probe four evaluated as it patiently observed the human ship.
The probe considered the state of the human interaction it had witnessed so far since they had arrived on this world. The initial attack of the large human surface fleet was confusing in the context of this ship, and another one nearby, now merely patrolling the landward side of the offshore islands.
‘So this protective blockade would support the viewpoint that the lead probe has in regards the humans. They are uniquely vulnerable to interaction with the galactic races, especially the vassal races, due to their weaker technology, lack of unity and social immaturity.’
The Maveen had come to agreement about this viewpoint since the one sided battle with the human fleet. The manner of their forceful response had been settled between them, as they all knew they would have preferred at all costs to avoid the recent conflict. The probe continued to discretely observe the human ship, the mantra of their race was to observe and learn, then observe and learn again. For only then was direct action appropriate and hopefully this would also prevent further conflict.
***
Lieutenant Tom Sawyer stood in the late evening on the rear of the helicopter deck of HMAS Sydney and casually scanned the ocean off to the port side
of the ship. He had a sense that something was watching him, and as he watched the half moonlit ocean, he could see a very diffuse cloud shadow on the ocean pacing the ship. Tom moved closer to the railing and he noted that no cloud existed in the sky above the ship.
The shadow was a smooth cylinder, or oval shape, that was smaller than both the frigate and the other alien ships he had seen during the day. As he watched, the shadow moved ahead of the ship for several seconds, before then moving back down to trail the ship after several more seconds. The sense that he was being watched occurred again for a minute or so, and Tom now kept perfectly still. He soon felt he was no longer being watched, and calmly strode back to the hangar door to make a show of inspecting his helicopter.
Tom then quietly walked further inside the hangar and grabbed a video camera from the Seahawk. After verifying that the light switch was off and that he could capture video in both visible and infrared light, he carefully returned to his previous position by the rear of the Seahawk. Tom then spent the next fifteen minutes observing the anomaly under different recording settings, before he took the camera back inside the hangar to download a backup copy to a waiting workstation. As he briefly checked over the recordings, he was confident that he had enough information to show Commander Walker in the morning.
***
Dan stood on the bridge of the Aurora Discovery in the predawn light and scanned with binoculars the massive alien star ship two kilometres away. The Trader main ship lay just off the beach from a coral strewn sand island, known as Middle Island, which was not much bigger than the ship itself. The large rear ramp of the Trader ship was lowered onto the island, and he noted that two suited Traders stood at guard at the base of the ramp. The guards appeared to be armed with rifle versions of the blaster that Garendestat had used with such proficiency the previous afternoon.
On the island the Traders were clearing space, by launching three smaller ships, and moving equipment around with large cargo walkers controlled by Traders strapped inside them. The Traders all now turned to the south west to look at something approaching their position, even as a bridge lookout called out a warning.
‘Sir, other alien ships are approaching…’
Dan turned and gave a gasp of amazement, for out of the pre dawn gloom to the west, four of the alien ships appeared. Each of the ships was connected in pairs to two large masses, and Dan soon identified that these must be the two ships that had been damaged in the recent encounter with the US 5th fleet. Dan turned to question a crew member standing on the deck with a recharged video camera.
‘Bill, are you getting all this down on the record?’
Bill answered that he was doing this, and Dan had to check himself from waking Steve in his quarters with the news. Dan turned his attention to the island again and noticed three different smaller shapes nestled in the water just off the beach, like sleeping seals almost under the out swept wing of the massive Trader ship.
‘Bill, also make sure that you now get images of those three black ships, they must belong to the second race that did all the damage to the US 5th fleet.’
Again Bill answered in that this was the case, and Dan now turned to study the mass of alien space ships clustered in shallow water just off Middle Island. Within minutes Steve was on the bridge and comparing notes with Dan and the crew. As they continued to look at the impressive star ship Dan voiced a question.
‘What is it with former commanders and ship captains, as they don’t miss much?’
Steve grinned as he replied to his brother in-law.
‘Well I awoke a bit earlier when the engine note changed as we came to the island.’
Now with a more serious tone he asked a question.
‘So have any of those smaller black shapes moved at all since we have arrived.’
With an answer in the negative, Steve quickly left to find Samantha and Rebecca. It was time to go see their new friend and get him ready to go home.
***
Garendestat awoke to the still strange sounds of quiet human voices as they moved around their ship in the early dawn. He was startled for a moment, and he felt real pain as he moved his broken arm and his stiffened shoulder protested. The Trader had taken the precaution of leaving the blaster on the bench with the rest of his equipment the previous night. He now noted that the space suit pants were satisfactorily dry and quickly dressed in them only.
Garendestat turned on the light switch and was stretching again his sore arm and shoulder, when there was a polite knock on the roller door. He replied in Trader and there was a pause so he called out again in the human language. ‘I am well.’ The roller door slowly was raised and Steve stood in the doorway with Samantha and Rebecca.
Steve said ‘Hello’ and then beckoned Garendestat to follow him out the crew locker for a moment. The relief that Garendestat felt at seeing the Trader main ship from close range was obvious and palpable. He certainly seemed healthier and more alert also from a night’s sleep considered Steve. To one side of the now near stationary Aurora Discovery hovered one of the alien smaller ships that Garendestat now waved at with his good arm.
Samantha and Rebecca had managed to gather up several of the food types that Garendestat had sampled last night into a couple of backpacks. They placed the backpacks, together with the medical kit, on one of the benches in the crew locker. The two ladies then followed Steve and Garendestat onto the rear deck, and promptly made a detailed inspection the illnesses and injuries that afflicted Garendestat. Both of them made approving noises and stated ‘Good’ to the slightly bemused Trader as they peered at him.
Samantha was very happy with what she could understand of Garendestat’s recovery and she quietly stated as such to Steve.
‘The Traders must be tough as anything Steve. A human would be laid up with the scale of injuries and illnesses Garendestat recently suffered, if the rest of them are as resilient then they are a tough species.’
Garendestat heard her comments, but he did not understand all of it. He merely pointed at his tattoos, arm and legs and said ‘I am feeling better now’ in reply. Samantha then offered another observation.
‘It appears his language has improved exponentially over night after a good sleep.’
Steve at this point was now reminded of how much about the aliens they did not know. Garendestat looked at the big ship, and then in turn looked at the small ship nearby and the runabout on the rear deck. Steve and Garendestat went over to the runabout and Steve turned on the radio and handed the radio handset to Garendestat.
Garendestat paused and considered what he would say before he started speaking in Trader.
‘Good morning father, I am just in the human ship off the island from the main ship.’
Garendestat felt even more relief as he heard his father on the radio.
‘Yes Garendestat, I hope you are feeling better this morning. I have been watching their ship for awhile. Did you observe much in your evening aboard their ship?’
Garendestat paused to think about his words and then replied.
‘Father I owe the gift of life to these humans and I stated as much after I was rescued.’
A moments’ pause greeted Garendestat as his father worked out a suitable response which then came shortly after.
‘Garendestat, your friends are alive to me and all the other Trader crew. Indeed this is hopefully a good start to a better understanding. Now exactly how are you coming back aboard ship?’
Garendestat then stated exactly how he wanted to handle this situation and the captain responded in agreement.
‘Very well son, it will be as you suggest and I look forward to seeing you shortly.’
Garendestat handed back the handset to Steve and pointed to the main ship as he spoke.
‘Steve, drive the runabout with me, Samantha, Dan and Rebecca to the ship.’
Steve regarded the improved speech of Garendestat for a moment and replied. ‘We can do that Garendestat.’
He then asked a near
by crew member to fetch Dan from the bridge before ordering the crew to launch the runabout. Garendestat watched with interest as the small boat was deftly lowered, for he was reminded yet again of the skill and discipline of the human crew.
The ladies returned to the equipment store to fetch the food and medical kit. Steve now joined them as Garendestat also followed them into the room. Steve soon found what he was seeking in moments, a large canvas cover for a portable petrol generator. The cover even had carrying lugs and Steve quickly shook any dust out of it before giving the canvas cover to Garendestat.
The several pieces of Trader space suit, blaster and view finder were soon in the canvas cover, the flap was tied down, and Steve helped Garendestat lug it all to the side of the ship. Two crew members carefully tied a rope around under Garendestat’s shoulders. Before one pointed to the Trader’s broken arm and then the rope as they both stood ready. Garendestat looked a little nonplussed but made no fuss about the rope. Dan hurriedly arrived as the crew then let down the sturdiest ship ladder they could find to the crewman waiting in the six metre runabout.
‘I remembered the bottle of Malazin.’
Dan stated as he passed the bottle to Rebecca who carefully packed it inside the medical kit. Dan then went first down the ship ladder to show Garendestat how it was done, as he was concerned about his mobility given the broken arm.
Garendestat merely left his packed space suit on the deck, and slowly swarmed down the rope ladder to stand for a few seconds in the runabout. The broken arm only slowed him down, decided Steve as he watched Dan first ensure that Garendestat stayed seated on the runabout floor. Dan then untied the rope around the Traders massive chest. The rope was raised to be used to lower the space suit, food and medical kit in turn to the runabout. In minutes Steve and the two women were also onboard, and Samantha quietly spoke to Steve as the runabout motored away from the side of the ship.