by Unknown
Then we should hasten to do so, Noo agreed. It will not do to linger. They are bound to find those we killed and then we might not be able to leave this place. Do not try to verbalize. I tried to verbalize for their machine and it did not understand. It is a machine, though, and it was not alarmed or suspicious. They will be both if we are not able to make ourselves understood.
?
Chapter Three
Nothing that had happened since she'd discovered the project was to be scrubbed and the specimens destroyed had seemed entirely real to Kate. She hadn't, in point of fact, been able to focus on much of anything beyond her discovery and the helpless anger and nausea that washed over her as her imagination supplied her with one nightmarish scenario after another of what was happening in the habitat. She'd demanded, over and over, to speak directly to the commander, General Lawrence Hart, and yet when she was escorted to the command center to speak to him less than an hour after they'd reached the surface, she was so unnerved by the frenetic activity around her in the command center that she had trouble gathering her thoughts.
It seemed to take General Hart a few moments to place her when she'd been introduced to him by the guard that had escorted her. His gaze slowly focused on her face, however, and his expression became even grimmer. "The Sirian beasts have escaped," he said tightly. "If you know something, now's the time to spill it."
Kate felt her jaw slide to half mast in shock. Her thoughts went chaotic. Dominant among her thoughts, however, was the sudden realization that she'd left the containment door unlocked when she'd dashed off to protect her project. She felt her face flash with guilty heat and then all the blood rush away as the enormity of her breech of protocol struck her. "Escaped?" she echoed faintly, visions of long term imprisonment replacing the horrific images of the slaughtered beasts.
The general's lips tightened. "They found the bodies of the security team that was sent in to destroy the animals."
The shock that hit Kate that time almost felt like a physical blow. She reeled, felt as if the room around her did a slow spin. Blindly, she reached out in search of some sort of support as her legs went rubbery. "The Sirians …? How …?" she asked through numb lips.
"Nobody knows what happened-yet!" Hart growled. "I was hoping you could shed some light on it."
Kate blinked at him. It descended upon her abruptly that she was being accused, that the general thought she'd had something to do with the slaughter. Indignation flickered through her-but a sense of caution, as well. "They took me into custody before they even went to my lab. How could I possibly know what happened?"
"The security electronics had been disabled-and your lab system had been wiped clean. You don't know anything about that?"
The coldness Kate had felt when she'd realized the behavior of the Sirian wasn't the acts of 'smart' animals, but intelligent beings, swept through her again. "If you're suggesting I had anything to do with that, you're way off the mark!" she snapped. "Everything was working when I left the lab. Sissy … Dr. Terry Carter, had come to tell me the project was being terminated. We left together to go to speak with Dr. Warner and we were intercepted by the security team."
The general studied her assessingly for several moments, but apparently he decided she wasn't lying. "Just what kind of animals are we dealing with here, Dr. Drexel?"
Kate compressed her lips, wrestling with her theory. Was it really no more than a theory now, though? Hadn't the Sirians proven themselves that they weren't mere animals? "I don't think we're dealing with animals at all," she said. "I think we're dealing with intelligent beings."
That time the general reeled in shock. "And you didn't think to mention this theory of yours to anyone?" he roared when he recovered from his momentary shock.
"I didn't realize it myself until just before Sissy arrived to tell me the security team was on the way!" Kate bellowed back at him furiously. "I tried to tell them! I couldn't get anyone to listen! Instead, they hauled me down to the brig and locked me up!"
Discovering that their heated conversation had the attention of everyone else in the command center, the general dismissed the guard, grasped Kate's upper arm and escorted her to his office adjacent the command room. Urging her toward the chair in front of his desk, he moved to his own chair and dropped heavily into it. "Tell me what you know."
Kate wrestled to bring order to her mind. "In all honesty, we haven't managed to make much progress with them at all. They seemed docile," she added a little defensively. "They haven't shown any signs of aggression. Sissy and I have both interacted with them."
General Hart's face contorted with rage. He pulled up a series of holo images on his computer. "Does that look like the work of docile animals?" he growled.
Bile rose in Kate's throat as she stared at the twisted bodies hidden among the plants she'd so carefully arranged to imitate the Sirian jungle where the eggs had been recovered. She dragged her gaze from the images after a moment. "They went in to kill them," she said shakily, gesturing toward the observation window in the common wall of the command center. "Any animal will attack when they're threatened. If it had been me, or you, or anybody out there, they would've defended their life!"
"Do you see any sign at all that the team attacked? They didn't get off one single shot! They were ambushed. They never knew what hit them!"
As convinced as she'd been that the Sirians were intelligent, that information still sent a jolt through her. Her mouth went dry. "They knew they were coming," she said in a hoarse whisper.
The general stared at her blankly. "How would they know?"
"I don't know how!" Kate said, shooting up from her seat and pacing agitatedly. "They must have heard, or they were intelligent enough to deduce the intent when the team went in. What do you think happened? I rushed in and warned them before I dashed off to try to stop it?"
"Did you?"
"I did not!" Kate snapped. "It didn't occur to me that they could understand that much! We haven't tested their intellect. Everyone assumed they were animals. We haven't had time to observe them enough to collect nearly enough data on their behavior-certainly not enough time to measure their intelligence!"
"Your team has had over a year! I thought the job of a scientist was to make no assumptions?"
"We're still human!" Kate snapped. "We may be trained to collect the data and analyze it before arriving at any conclusions, but we had no reason to suspect that we were dealing with anything but the flora and fauna of Sirius."
"They breached containment before they even arrived. No one considered the possibility, then, that they were a higher intelligence life-form?"
"They hatched. As far as anybody could determine, they hatched from the eggs we'd brought on board and their natural instinct would be to find food. I'll admit there was some speculation to begin with that they were 'smart' animals, but they didn't display any particular aptitude when we ran preliminary tests on their intelligence."
The general looked disgusted. "So, you're saying we don't really know what we're dealing with?"
Kate bit her lip. "If they deliberately sabotaged those specific systems aboard the ship and they've been playing us ever since-I'm guessing highly intelligent-at least on a par with humans and possibly even a higher intelligence."
General Hart studied her for a long moment. "I think that's doubtful," he finally said dismissively. "What made you suspect that they were more intelligent than we'd considered?"
Kate didn't agree with him. It was possible that they were just intelligent enough and intuitive enough to figure out what was going on around them, but she was beginning to think they might have a far larger capacity than humans. After all, they'd been mere babies when they arrived. If they'd figured out how to disable systems aboard the ship to protect themselves, then didn't it follow that they were extremely intelligent? "The data I'd collected," she answered finally. "I'd been going over it, trying to figure out what was bothering me and it suddenly dawned on me that they always seemed to know ri
ght where the cameras were … even though we moved them regularly because they had a way of hiding, making it hard to observe them. When I began searching for the image that had stuck in my mind, I found dozens of them and I realized it wasn't just coincidence that they always managed to have their backs to the cameras any time they were doing anything. I saw something else, too, that I hadn't noticed." She paused, wondering whether to voice that suspicion or not.
The general lifted his brows questioningly.
Kate shrugged. "I could be wrong, but it looked like they were communicating with one another-somehow. The alpha-the one we named Ronan-always had his back to the camera-so I don't know if he used hand signals or not, but there were certainly no sounds that I could detect. They could make sounds that aren't detectable to human ears-they might even be capable of speech, have their own language. All I do know is that he seemed to be directing Dax and Jarek-the other two. He would look at them and then they would go off and perform some task as if they'd been told to do it."
The general considered that thoughtfully for a while and finally shook his head. "That seems a little farfetched. Well!" He got to his feet. "That's for someone else to worry about. My job is to have our teams locate them and eliminate the threat."
Kate gaped at him. "You're still going to destroy them? After all I've told you? If they're intelligent, we need to try to communicate with them!"
General Hart's face contorted. "They killed an entire security team, Dr. Drexel! I'm not interested in anything but finding them and eliminating the threat they represent as quickly as possible!"
"But …! But …! We have colonists who'll be arriving on Sirius any time now! And more due to ship out! They need to know what they're up against! If they are an intelligent species, we need to try to set up some kind of communications with them!"
* * * *
"They seemed so … gentle! I still can't believe they … did that!" Sissy shivered although it was a warm night. "To think I've been going in and out of that habitat for months! They could've …. I need a drink."
Kate was still in a state of shock herself, but Sissy's comments spawned a surge of anger. "Anybody-any animal is capable of killing given the right circumstances and I'd say survival would bring that out. I heard once about this rabbit that killed a rattlesnake. They'd put the rabbit in the cage with it to feed the snake and the snake chased the poor thing around and around until it finally got it cornered and then the rabbit leapt on the snake and killed it."
Sissy stared at her, blinking a little owlishly. "Seriously?"
"The guy that told me said it was true. He'd paid to watch the snake feed and then he started feeling sorry for the rabbit and told the guy he'd pay him more if he'd take the rabbit out, but the guy refused.
"So you're saying maybe we weren't wrong and maybe they are gentle?"
Kate sucked at her lower lip. The truth was they had shaken her up and she didn't know what to think anymore. She struggled with her thoughts for a moment. "I just don't know. All I'm saying is we can't necessarily judge them as violently aggressive by that incident. Clearly they felt threatened and you and I both know that it wasn't their imagination."
Sissy studied her for a long moment. "But you think they're a lot smarter than we gave them credit for-which means they could've been playing us the whole time, just waiting for a chance to escape. I seriously need a drink. I'm going to the Stargate Lounge. Want to come?"
Kate considered it. Ordinarily, she didn't particularly care for the club scene, but it had been a hell of a week. She struggled with the temptation. "I don't know. I was thinking about heading out to my place to think."
"I don't want to think anymore! We've been cooped up in that damned holding cell for damned near a week-and on station for more than a year! I don't know about you, but I've been doing way too much thinking lately. I need some down time. I seriously need to unwind before I lose it. You're sure you don't want to go with me?"
Put that way, Kate decided it might not be such a bad idea after all. She'd been having nightmares ever since the incident and it certainly hadn't helped her stress level to be left kicking her heels in a cell wondering if she was going to be sitting in jail for months-or years. "You have a point," she said wryly. "I could use a little down time to unwind myself. Maybe a couple of drinks would help me sleep."
Sissy managed a smile. "Great! I really hate drinking alone!"
The club Sissy had mentioned wasn't far from the space port. Leaving their cars, they took a shuttle over to the club with the intention of getting soused enough that they wouldn't be in any shape to drive home afterwards.
"Hot damn!" Sissy exclaimed when they climbed from the shuttle and paid the driver. She pointed at the marquee. "It's dance night!"
Kate smiled. "I don't know that I feel like dancing. I might after a couple of drinks …."
Sissy laughed. "I mean male dance night! Strippers!"
Kate's belly knotted. "Are you serious? I didn't know they had strip shows here."
"Boy are you out of the loop! You've been serious way too long. This is really going to be fun!" Grabbing Kate's arm, she hurried toward the entrance.
The music was so loud, it was impossible to talk even at the entrance and the level rose several decibels as they passed through the foyer and into the club. Despite Kate's initial reluctance, she felt a surge of excitement swell inside of her as the sound of women screaming with excitement rolled over them. Sissy, who'd paused near the entrance and rose to her tiptoes to crane for a look, bellowed at her. "Let's grab a drink at the bar first. I think we'll have to stand up. I didn't see any place to sit."
Despite her rising enthusiasm, Kate wasn't convinced that she wanted to get in the middle of the mob of women screaming their heads off, but she didn't object when Sissy tugged her toward the bar to grab a drink. As a distraction, she didn't think they could've stumbled upon anything more guaranteed to divert them from their worries, with or without an alcoholic chaser.
* * * *
Noo settled into the deep shadows at the rear edge of the parking lot, folding his wings. Dae and Rak settled just behind and to either side of him, but he was only peripherally aware of them as he focused on the building Kate had disappeared inside, trying to decide what sort of place it was.
We are liable to be seen here and I have not seen that they have birds as large as we are, Dae pointed out after a moment.
Their eyes are not made for seeing in the dark, Noo said dismissively. Why do you suppose they are screaming? They do not seem to be frightened or in any sort of distress. All I can detect is excitement.
Rak dragged in a deep breath, struggling for a moment to decipher the scents. "They are aroused … this must be a mating place."
Noo and Dae both sent him a sharp look.
Noo's first impulse was to refute the comment, but he had detected the faint scent, as well. Fury welled inside him. For days they had hidden themselves in the Earth forest, taking on the forms of the first beasts they had seen that were large enough to accommodate their mass-some sort of grazing beast-searching for a way back inside so that they might free Kate and take her. And now that she apparently was free, she had immediately headed toward a mating place!
Well if she is ready to mate, all the better, Dae pointed out as if he had been following Noo's thoughts. All we need do now is separate her from the others.
We will have to take a form that appeals to her before that, Rak said.
Dae sent him an irritated look. I did not think she would want us as we look now, he said testily. We could not mate with her in this form if she was interested!
I do not hear anything inside but females, Noo growled. Maybe this is not a mating place?
If that is not a mating frenzy I hear I cannot imagine what it would be! Dae snapped irritably, angry that Noo had dismissed his assessment of the situation, particularly when he was becoming aroused from the faint scents he could detect.
I think we will have to go inside and s
ee what is happening there.
They immediately hit a roadblock when they tried to enter through the same portal that Kate and Sissy had used.
"Women only until the show is over. You guys will have to come back in an hour," the woman at the front yelled at them.
Noo, Dae, and Rak retreated to their observation point once more, more puzzled than they had been.
Clearly you were both wrong and this is not a mating place, Noo said, disgusted.
There are males inside, gods damn it! Dae growled. I caught the scent of many males and beyond that I heard the voice of a male!
Do you think the female realized we were not really human males, Rak asked worriedly?
Noo stared at him blankly for a moment before it sank in what Rak was asking, too wrapped up in his thoughts to assimilate the question at first. He considered it briefly. She did not seem alarmed in any way. I do not think she suspects anything. They do not have a very keen sense of smell either. I think we will have to take the form of females to get inside.
Dae immediately balked at the suggestion. We cannot mate with Kate as females! And I do not want to be a female, if it comes to that!
Noo glared at him. I want to know what is happening inside! I believe they have males inside already and that we have only been excluded … for some reason. I am not going to wait here and discover that Kate has already been bred when she leaves this place!
They have strange mating practices, Rak observed.
Noo shrugged a little uncomfortably. It is not that unusual. The dirg and the mybi gather to mate once a year on Ra.
Yes, but they are solitary creatures most times. If they did not gather during the mating season they would have no one to mate with!
These are alien creatures, Dae pointed out. We cannot expect them to behave as Mother Ra's creatures do!
We are wasting time here, Noo said impatiently. You two stay here. I will make myself appear as a female and discover what I can.
Dae and Rak exchanged a look.