Méridien (The Silver Ships Book 3)
Page 21
Andrea had released her command chair restraints. “Congratulations, Admiral, you were right all along. If I’m not needed now, I’d like to be relieved.”
“Certainly, Captain. Release the crew from emergency conditions and then take a break yourself.”
When Andrea left the bridge, Alex sat in silence with Julien.
“I was just calculating, Admiral,” Julien said to his friend. “From a New Terran’s viewpoint, you have encountered one human civilization and two alien species, and assumed the responsibility for a quarter-million humans and some thousands of Swei Swee … and this in a year and a half. With your cell-gen injections, you should live, barring a misstep from your intrepid decisions, for another one hundred sixty years. That would mean you should accumulate …”
“Stop,” Alex commanded, interrupting Julien. “Your logic is flawed.”
“This should be educational, Admiral. Do enlighten this poor excuse for a thinking machine,” Julien said.
“You forgot to add rest and retirement into your calculations.”
“On the contrary, Admiral, I gave your intention of wanting to retire a near one hundred percent surety, just as I gave the people’s intention a nearly one hundred percent surety of not allowing you to retire. I gather the difference in our calculations is that you think you will have your way, and I believe the people will have their way.”
Alex had wanted to celebrate the moment. Now his playful jousting with Julien had brought him back to reality. The thought of shouldering the responsibilities Julien mentioned soured his stomach, which rumbled in objection over the lack of food.
“Apologies, Admiral,” Julien said, noticing the abrupt change in Alex’s mood. “It was poor timing on my part to bring up the future.” He observed Alex sit heavily back in the command chair. The price of an independent mind, Julien mused, the freedom to speak your thoughts … and the power to hurt others with your words.
“Back to work, Julien,” Alex finally said. “Have all ships rendezvous in a geosynchronous orbit over Libre, the beach where the dark travelers landed. We’ll be landing as well. Alert the crew.”
“Yes, Admiral,” Julien acknowledged, the lesson he had just learned burning brightly through this protocols.
Alex called Captain Manet to relieve him of bridge duty. While Alex waited, he manipulated the holo-vid as Julien tracked the remaining swarm of dark travelers, which were busy pulverizing the massive debris sections of the world traveler, intent on decimating every square meter of their jailer’s ship.
The bridge way doors slid open and Renée came through at a run. She threw herself into Alex’s arms so hard, even he had to step back twice to counter her weight. With her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, her cheek softly rubbed the side of his head. She didn’t say a word.
That’s the proper way to celebrate the moment, Julien thought. I will find a way to apologize, my friend.
Alex let Renée slide gently down to the deck, their arms still about one another. He kissed her warmly and tenderly.
“Your pardon, Admiral,” Julien interrupted. “The silver ships have finished their destruction of the prison ship and have turned our way.”
“Julien, plot it on the holo-vid,” Alex ordered.
Alex and Renée watched as Julien populated the holo-vid with the Rêveur’s position, a bright blue dot, and the positions of the dark travelers, a swarm of yellow dots, all of them converging on the Rêveur.
“Any orders, Admiral?” asked Julien.
“Negative, Julien. Proceed to the position over Libre as requested.”
The yellow dots continued to close. Alex expanded the view until a mere five kilometers separated the two closest yellow dots to the Rêveur. Then they began to circle the blue dot. Alex and Renée stared open-mouthed as more yellow dots approached their position and joined the others. Soon the holo-vid displayed a translucent yellow sphere surrounding a blue dot.
“Julien, since we’re still here,” Alex said. “I would say we’re observing a celebratory moment.”
“It would appear so, Admiral. The dark travelers are circling our position. That this number of ships is doing so at their velocity is quite impressive.”
“They have a great deal to celebrate, Julien. Where is our hitchhiker?”
“Ah,” Julien remarked after searching out the term “hitchhiker.” “Our Swei Swee is holding a position just forward and off our port bow.”
“Alright, Julien, continue as ordered. No quick turns while the Swei Swee are celebrating.”
“Understood, Admiral. A quick turn would decidedly ruin their celebration … and ours,” Julien replied.
* * *
Once Edouard arrived on the bridge, Alex updated him on their destination and his intention to take the Outward Bound planetside to visit the Swei Swee.
“We’re … visiting the Swei Swee, Admiral?” Edouard asked. “Are you sure they want us to visit?”
Renée burst out laughing over Edouard’s concern. She shuffle-danced her way off the bridge, her hands punching the air overhead as she punctuated each word of her chant of “Star Hunter First, Star Hunter First.”
Edouard stared incredulously at his Co-Leader as she danced off the bridge. The changes in his Méridien cohorts continually amazed him, as their behaviors more often mirrored the traits of the New Terrans. He admitted to himself that the New Terrans’ bold behaviors intrigued him, but he hadn’t been able to adopt many of them for himself. In one regard, he wished he had already. His thoughts turned to his copilot, Miko. As the bridge access way slid open and Renée disappeared around the corner, he turned back to his Admiral.
Alex simply pointed at the bridge access way, saying, “What she said,” and disappeared after Renée.
* * *
Alex and Renée entered the meal room to the resounding applause of the crew. Renée stepped aside and joined the applause. Interestingly, not a single Libran bestowed honor on the Admiral. The action didn’t fit what they felt. The gesture was quiet; they felt loud. It was passive; they felt alive. So the Librans whistled, yelled, and applauded alongside their New Terran crewmates.
Alex remained standing at the head table while all took their seats. “Today, you can be very proud of yourself,” Alex began. “You’ve accomplished two wonderful feats in one day. You’ve helped to free an alien race, one enslaved for generations, and you’ve enabled those individuals to eliminate a threat to the entire human race. If it wasn’t observed, it’s important for me to tell you that the Swei Swee lost, in addition to what we destroyed, seven more ships full of their hive members. And before you point it out, yes, we lost crew to them. But didn’t we make the assumption that the silver ships were driven by deadly aliens who were intent on killing all humans? Both sides have taken lives. What we should remember is that the Nua’ll were the enemy here, and they have paid the ultimate price for their crimes against humans and Swei Swee. Enjoy your meal. It’s well earned.”
Alex sat down to another round of applause. He raised his hand in a languid fashion to wave it off, and mealtime got seriously underway. Fear drives the body hard. The appetites were enormous tonight, none more so than that of Alex. Pia and Geneviève grinned at Renée as they made extra trips to the head table. Alex gave them polite nods as they delivered dishes while he continued to tear rolls and sop up the juices before the empty dishes could be removed.
Pia’s private comm to Renée was full of mirth.
-25-
The Outward Bound eased away from the Rêveur. When clear of the liner, Captain Manet ignited its primary engines for the trip planetsi
de to Libre. Aboard for the historic occasion were Alex, Renée, Terese, Étienne, Alain, Tatia with four armed troopers, and the standard Outward Bound crew of Miko, Pia, and the techs, Lyle and Zeke.
Alex relayed the information concerning their escort to Edouard, who confirmed he had the dark traveler on his controller’s telemetry. Alex adjusted his belt harness, which Julien had hurriedly programmed with the basic Swei Swee vocabulary. Under the circumstances, Alex was going to remain linked to Julien via the Outward Bound, and Julien would have Cordelia and Mutter monitor their comm.
The cliff top above the beach where the Swei Swee had disgorged their hive members was littered with dark travelers, and shells were in the process of being dismantled. Edouard searched for a clear place to land the shuttle. The openings were few and far between, and he circled the area looking for a safe spot.
Miko glanced at her Captain’s intent expression, marked with a deep frown. “After all we’ve been through, Captain, it would probably be a bad thing to kill the Admiral in a shuttle landing in perfect weather.”
Edouard glanced at Miko and a small smile erased his frown. He eased his grip on the control stick and relaxed his hunched shoulders. Edouard made one more turn around the landing area and slid the Outward Bound neatly into a clear slot in the field. As they came to rest, Miko reported grass fires and Edouard fired the belly extinguishers, starving the fires of oxygen before they could spread.
Alex led his entourage down the gangway ramp. Tatia’s request to lead with her four troopers was politely denied. “We’re here to establish relationships, not prove our dominance, Commander,” Alex had replied. Still, Tatia had her troopers position themselves on the outskirts of the company as they walked toward the cliff. She was especially grateful for the presence of the twins, who closely shadowed Alex and Renée.
The dark travelers lay nestled in the grass and rocky soil. As Alex’s company wound past them, the humans took note of the large, irregular holes cut in the sides of the hulls near ground level.
As the humans neared the cliffs, a dark traveler gracefully set down barely thirty meters away—no engines flaring, no hot gasses emanating, no noise, and no grass fires.
Julien shot back.
Alex halted his company. They watched as a small hole opened in the side of the recently landed ship. Alex was fascinated as the Swei Swee enlarged the holes. Saliva was applied to the edges of the hole and chips were broken off. The process was methodical.
When the hole was large enough, the blunt-clawed individuals pulled back and a larger, sharp-clawed Swei Swee hurried out of the hole and scurried toward the humans. Its speed over the ground was blinding, and several troopers charged their plasma rifles in response. Even Étienne and Alain un-holstered their stun guns and stood ready.
The Swei Swee individual stopped two meters short of the group, and Alex presumed it was the First with whom they had communicated for many days. His eyestalks roamed briefly over the entire entourage before all four eyes focused on Alex. He raised his pair of edged and pointed claws into the air, reaching Alex’s waist, and then began bobbing up and down excitedly and snapping his claws.
This was humanity’s first face-to-face view of the Swei Swee, and the view was unsettling—three meters long from claw tips to tail, which lay curled over the First’s back; twin pairs of eyestalks; a bright blue-green carapace that sparkled in the sunlight; large, pointed, dangerous claws placed outward of small hands; three pairs of walking legs; and a segmented tail with lateral fins that appeared both insect-like and fish-like at the same time.
The First whistled a phrase over and over. It was a common phrase, which Alex’s translator handled. It was “Star Hunter First.”
Alex regarded the crab/scorpion-like creature in front of him. He was searching for the correct approach when his father’s words about business came to him. “Meet people at their level. Don’t push your agenda. Learn theirs first,” Duggan had said. Alex smiled at the thought that his father probably had never thought his words would apply to these circumstances. Alex sat down on his rear in the grass, crossing his legs, and tucking his feet under the opposite thigh. The claws of the First were now at eye level. Alex raised his arms, touching each thumb to each first finger to imitate claws, and signaled his belt translator which issued “Affirmative. Star Hunter First.”
Renée quietly chuckled to herself. To the rest of the team, she sent,
The Swei Swee lowered his claws below the level of Alex’s hands and carefully closed the distance until the upper part of his alien claws touched the lower part of Alex’s human hands. “Hive First,” he whistled, then lowered his body to the ground, warbling softly.
Mutter replied,
When the First finished and rose back up on his standing legs, Alex whistled, “Swei Swee First.” It was odd to hear the whistles and warbles emanate from his chest, but obviously it was effective. The Hive First whirled with blinding speed and let loose a sharp whistle that was echoed by others. The call was passed over and down the cliffs.
Within moments, a large Swei Swee male emerged from a cut in the cliff and scuttled at high speed over the grass to stop beside the Hive First. Both twins had carefully noted the speed with which the Swei Swee had moved and edged closer to their charges.
The Swei Swee First’s claws were also raised in the air, and the Hive First carefully lowered his just below his leader’s claws. Alex twigged to the indication of dominance that the claw height represented. The Hive First slowly bobbed up and down, attempting to rein in his excitement.
Alex’s translator allowed him to recognize an introduction of the Swei Swee First to him. Alex again extended his hands in a claw-like fashion, deliberately placing his hands several centimeters below that of the Swei Swee First’s claws. As the heavily scarred individual scuttled forth to close the distance, he lowered his claws below that of Alex’s hands, just as the Hive First had done.
Alex grinned to himself at Julien’s twist on his own tease a day ago to his friend.
After the Swei Swee First’s introduction to Alex, Renée sent to the others,
The Swei Swee First whirled to face the People, who had paused in their work to observe the Star Hunters. He whistled and warbled for a few moments. Alex’s translator caught only “Star Hunter First,” mentioned twice during the announcement. Suddenly hundreds of Swei Swee poured from the cliff-top cut and the interiors of
the dark travelers to join the numbers on the grass, and all rushed headlong toward Alex’s company. Human fingers twitched on weapons, arms tensed, and eyes narrowed. Overriding all the angst was Alex’s message:
The Swei Swee packed close to the human party ringing them in a circle. Their legs intersected one another, and Alex could see himself walking across their sea of shells without touching the ground. The thought brought a smile to his face.
Seeing a smile spread over Alex’s face as the mass of scuttling aliens crowded closer, Renée sent privately to him,
The Swei Swee First began bobbing slowly up and down. The assembled mob, with their legs interlinked, imitated the motion. Soon the entire assembly was bobbing in unison, faster and faster, until the Swei Swee First’s whistle froze their motion. Then the Swei Swee First appeared to address Alex, but his support above could not manage the translation. The Hive First conversed with his leader and then whistled briefly to Alex.
Alex motioned to Renée beside him and repeated the Hive First’s whistle, which his translator had recorded as “mate.”
The Swei Swee First scuttled sideways to stop in front of Renée. His blue-green claws, each the size of her head, were lowered to the grass in front of her, and the leader sang a low, rich tune.