by Chris Hechtl
They tried to use hand signs to communicate, manipulating their tentacles and waving their fins to show that they could communicate. The humans seemed excited as well. They could tell by their sonic profiles, though it was harder to get a good reading since the humans were moving around in the air.
Their curiosity and excitement only started to turn when they realized the water level in the cove was dropping. When they drifted to the low spot and turned, they saw that the entrance was partially blocked.
“Brrfrak, we're trapped!” Sputtersque said, voice rising. She sent out a distress call before he could stop her.
@^&##{==
The community received the distress signal through the network of gathers and shapers outside the caverns going about their daily chores. A hasty sonar conference with far flung people in the area was called since the news was more or less known to all. The Elders were angry that the two had gone off on a fool's errand. Sslisquishapa instantly squalled loudly, dominating the network. “They got what they deserved for leaving as they did without telling anyone. Everyone back to work and ignore their beached songs. If you follow you will surely die as well.”
“That is not true!” Clank replied. “Listen to the calls. They aren't beached; they are trapped within the Western Cove! A rock fall has trapped them. That rock fall has made the cove unusable for us, and it must be repaired anyway,” he implored, sending the plea to the Rock Shapers and Life Keeper. “Please …”
When no one replied, he waffled, surfaced, blew air, then dove head first down again to continue the conversation. “If you do not wish to help, fine. I will go myself and do what I can.”
“Are you … you are one of the few Thing Shapers we have left! You are an Elder! You cannot!” Sslisquishapa said over the link.
“Watch me.”
“If this is a threat,” the elder female pulsed.
“It is no threat. I am going,” Clank replied, moving towards the calls.
“Stay your course, Thing Shaper. We need you to stay on task. Such duties fall to me and my caste,” RaspAlka said heavily. “Hunters in the area, attend to the needs of our trapped people. Others attend to your duties.”
“My thanks,” Clank said humbly.
“And mine to you Shaper for reminding me of my duty,” RaspAlka returned, though he sounded annoyed. “It will take me some time to get to the cove, however.”
“I may be of some help,” Clank said. I could shape tools …”
“Stay clear of the inlet, Shaper,” RaspAlka warned. “The rocks may be unstable.”
“We will attend to that,” a Rock Shaper said simply. Clank noted a sea of his people headed to the call. “We will move the rocks that are safe to move. Hopefully before the cove is drained and they are beached,” another Shaper said.
Sslisquishapa sputtered and squawked in dismay. “Fools all of you! Don't you see it could lead to your doom?!?”
“If we do nothing, we follow the same course,” Clank said, swimming to the callers.
Sslisquishapa wuffled, jerking back and forth in the water in indecision before she too followed. “We are all mad,” she said quietly.
@^&##{==
Captain Bellerose was dubious about the call when it came in and was routed to her room. “If this is some sort of prank, whoever's behind it …,” she growled, trying to rub sleep out of her eyes.
“Ma'am, it's Kelsea.” That made her stop and think hard. Kelsea wasn't one to cry wolf. “Blake initially called it in, but she and Angelo are practically babbling about it in their excitement, so it's got to be something big. They are trying to get pictures now, but they keep insisting it is a pair of Ssilli. They've got them trapped in a cove, but they don't know for how long. Blake patched their radios in, but he's too busy gathering materials to answer questions apparently,” the bosun said, sounding vexed.
“Find out where they are and get me a proper report. We've only got the one damn shuttle so get Angelo to quit dicking around and get back up here to come get me and Cloutier. We need to act fast,” she ordered.
“Aye aye, ma'am.”
“I'll call Cloutier. You get teams together to prep for them,” the captain said, thinking fast.
“Yes, ma'am,” the bosun said dubiously.
“We've got a plan for it; dig it out of the files and follow it,” the captain ordered in exasperation. “That's what it's there for,” she snarled.
“Yes, ma'am. But we're almost out of the fish paste. We used up the extra food and well, had to throw a lot of it out. How are we supposed to, well, feed them? Even if we can get them on board.”
“We'll figure that part out later. We've got to make sure they stay caught and then somehow get them to the shuttle, then to the ship, then to the holding pen or container or aquarium you are going to set up.”
“Aye aye, ma'am,” the bosun said, gulping.
“Don't frack it up or I'll have your ass. Get it done,” she growled.
“Aye aye, ma'am,” the bosun replied as she cut the signal and hurried to dress.
@^&##{==
Sslisquishapa saw the wall of bodies near the cove entrance and sputtered in annoyance. “Let me through,” she berated, pushing her way past the onlookers. “If you do not serve a purpose here, move on to your assigned tasks. The day is wasting,” she clacked in rage.
“We can't get out! The two-legs did this!” Sputtersque said from the other side of the wall.
“Why?” RaspAlka demanded.
“Why indeed,” Clank asked, tentacles touching the wall as his fins waved to keep him balanced. “Already the tide rushes out. Too long and we can beach ourselves here on the lip or outer edge. Only a few can work here at a time. The others must stay clear or risk beaching.”
“We can take turns to dig them out. But it will take time,” a Rock Shaper stated, moving in to study the rock and then begin moving it.
“It is unstable,” Clank warned, getting clear of the Shapers and RaspAlka. Tentacles whipped out of the water to feel the obstruction from above as the Shapers formed a sonar image of the rock pile and then used it to plan a way to remove it.
“Here it is from this side,” Brrfrak stated, sending the image from his side.
“It will take time to get this moved enough for each of them to slip through,” the Shaper said as they continued to work.
“Why did you fools take such risks?” Sslisquishapa berated the two.
“Now is not the time to punish them for their curiosity,” Clank murmured.
“Their stupidity you mean,” the elder female retorted.
“One does not learn if one closes their mind to new things,” Clank reminded her.
Clank rose to breathe, then his eyestalks caught sight of movement on the shore. “I see the two-legs.”
His statement got others who were not helping to dig the dam out to surface to see the alien beings for themselves.
@^&##{==
Mackey was the first one to see the spouts outside the cove. Then the long squid-like tentacles that were bursting out of the water to come down onto the rock pile to dig at it. He immediately called the sighting in and then waved to Kelsea and Blake as they came at a run. He pointed to the cove and the trio made their way along the rocks to where they could get a better view.
They could see dozens of Ssilli on the other side of the blockaded cove inlet. They were rising and blowing spouts of mist, then diving again. Some were feeling out the blockade while others were picking at it.
“See? I told you! I told you! Where there are two there has to be more!” Mackey said excitedly, pointing to the spouts. “We're gonna be so rich!”
“Yeah, but these are on the outside looking in. And they are tearing the wall down. If they get it down, the two we've got will escape,” Kelsea warned.
“Damn it, we've got to stop them,” Blake said, swearing as he realized she was telling the truth. “I wish we had some nets. Harpoons, something!” he said.
“We've got nets but small on
es, not big enough,” Mackey said, shaking his head.
“And these frackers are big. With nasty hooks on their tentacles and stuff,” Blake said dubiously. Tentacles were thrashing on either side of the improvised blockade.
“Yeah,” Mackey said with a frown.
“Look! They are trying to dig the others we trapped out!” Kelsea warned, pointing.
“Can they do that?” Blake asked dubiously.
“Apparently,” Kelsea said, not sure what to do.
“Drive ‘em off,” Blake said reluctantly, pulling out his pistol and checking the safety. She turned to stare at him but he shrugged. “You got a better idea?”
“But the skipper …”
“Isn't here. The shuttle is in blackout. We're it,” he said, indicating she should draw her sidearm.
“Damn it …”
“You want them to get away? We get paid for the whole animal, not the story,” Blake said, taking a firing stance and sighting at one of the spouts instead of their squid-like tentacles digging into the wall. “Aim for near the spouts. It'll wound or kill ‘em.”
“Right,” Mackey said, taking a similar stance beside him.
“And we can collect the bodies if we do,” Kelsea said in reply, nodding.
“Now you're catching on,” Blake said as he squeezed the trigger.
@^&##{==
The unexpected crack and thunder made the Ssilli curious as to what was going on. There were few clouds in the skies above, none were the flat ones that caused such noise and discharges of energy.
But when a round hit near RaspAlka's spout he squalled in pain.
That made the others stop what they were doing to turn to him. The third shot hit a hunter near the spout. The hunter had just breached to get air when the round hit a tentacle width behind the spout, tearing into the Ssilli's spine and severing it.
The Ssilli cried out in pain, as he spasmed, then drifted, listless.
“Dive, get clear. We are under attack!” RaspAlka ordered, wrapping his tentacles around his fallen hunter and then dragging him clear of the rocks. “Breathe deep my friend.”
“I'll try. My tail doesn't work. I can't feel …”
“Breathe, just concentrate on that,” RaskAlka urged, pulling the Ssilli down into the safety of the depths.
Others fled the area with warning to avoid the surface dwellers. “Dive deep and hide.” “Do not lead them back to the caverns!” was called out by RaskAlka over and over as he and another hunter cradled and escorted their injured colleague.
“I told you! I told you!” Sslisquishapa said over and over in near hysteria.
Clank sent out long clicks to study the wounded hunters. RaskAlka was streaming blood, which was attracting predators, but the hunters around him were keeping them at bay. The other hunter was having trouble; he couldn't continue to hold his breath.
“Surface. He needs to breathe or he will die,” Clank ordered.
@^&##{==
Sputtersque saw the attack and felt overwhelming sorrow. What had been a dream was turning into a nightmare for her and Brrfrak. Their last hope of being saved was diving into the depths abandoning them to their fate.
Now they were at the dubious mercy of the two-legs.
“Why? Why did they do it? Why harm … do they think we are but animals?”
“But they trapped us. Do they intend to … to consume us?” Sputtersque asked.
“I don't know,” Brrfrak said, eying the two-legs. The water was continuing to recede out of the cove. The two Ssilli huddled together near the center, as far from the now despised two-legs as they could get. Whenever the two-legs came near the water, they dived to the safety of the sand and gravel covered cove bottom.
But such safety was becoming increasingly rare.
He was tempted to grab the two-legs and drag them to their deaths in the water. To rip and tear them apart with his beak and tentacles. To crush them. But it would not save them.
It might even make the situation worse so he hesitated and continued to console his distressed partner.
@^&##{==
“You did what?” the captain demanded when she got on the scene. Angelo shot the trio a look then put his hands up as if to say he wasn't responsible.
“We had to make the call. The others were trying to free them. We were hoping to wound one or two so we could catch them easier.”
“Obviously it didn't work,” Doctor Cloutier stated, watching as Mackey and Blake continued to move stones into the blockade damn to reinforce it.
“No. Not yet. One might wash up on shore,” Kelsea said. She shrugged. “It was either stop them or watch the ones we had caught escape.”
“The bird in the hand over those in the bush,” the captain murmured. After a long moment she slowly nodded. “Fine then. Best to preserve what we have,” she turned to the captured aliens. “They are ugly, aren't they?”
“Yes, ma'am.”
“In a beautiful expensive way,” the captain finished, grinning at their catch. “Good work the lot of you.”
“Yes, ma'am,” the petty officer replied, sounding relieved.
@^&##{==
“According to the directions, we can rig a tank to transport them, ma'am. But it won't fit on the shuttle. Not properly, not loaded. To do that … it says something about a sling?” the bosun said dubiously. “There are references to stuff that is not in our database,” he admitted.
“Okay, a tank?”
“I'm guessing one of the hot water tanks wouldn't work. Too small?” he asked.
She snorted. “You haven't seen these things. Try about ten meters long.”
“Damn. We'll have to … yeah, we could fit them in the cargo bay of the shuttle I suppose. It'll be a tight fit, maybe one at a time. Stacked? Diagonal? I'm not sure. Mackey's going to have his hands full there,” he said.
“One problem at a time. For the moment we need to contain them. They are running out of water.”
“The tide will come back in, ma'am,” the bosun said.
“The tide will come back in, yes,” the captain said impatiently. “But we want to induce them to get out of the pond before then so we can trap them properly.”
“Oh. In that case we need the tanks. We need the shuttle back here ASAP,” the bosun said.
The captain looked over to the pilots.
Angelo nodded. “On it. We should hold off on the fuel I take it, ma'am?”
“You think right. Get up there, get the tank and gear, and get back here. In no less than three hours,” she ordered.
“Three …”
“Don't dawdle. Move,” she growled. He gulped, nodded and took off at a sprint to his aircraft.
“I think … we've got a supply tank. If we empty it out … it's plastic. We can cut it in half, use a half for each of them. But their weight will mean you won't be able to transport them in the cut halves, not with the water.”
“Damn it,” the captain muttered, running a frustrated hand through her stubble she considered hair.
“And we still need to figure out how to get them from the boat bay to the … wherever we stick them I suppose. According to the directions, we need to rig an entire cargo bay. Line it with plastic, metal, or other materials, make sure it is sealed, then rig the life support. If we have time and materials, it says we can split a large cargo bay in half. I'm um, not sure about that. I'm not sure about getting the weight of water …”
“Frack,” the captain muttered. The project was getting expensive. “Clear cargo two. It's the second smallest and closest to them. It's also rigged for perishables. What about their life support? The water?”
“That's like um, rigging a fish aquarium,” the bosun said. “I'll need Bruno and a few of the engineers to handle that end. We've got the two aquariums on board but this is salt water. It's harsh on equipment. It's also a lot harder to balance.”
“Lovely,” the captain muttered. The credit signs were still there, still dancing in her mind's eye, just out of reach.
“We're cutting the rest of our tour short obviously. Keep what we can for trade for fuel and food. We're going to run for the empire as quickly as we can once we've got our precious cargo on board and ready for travel. That means you better get cracking,” the captain ordered.
“Ma'am, if we turn the cargo bay into an aquarium, we can't use the usual ground side lock,” the bosun said almost desperately. “We won't be able to get in or out. We'd have to cut a port somehow and use that. Rig a log up high? I'm not sure. We're also going to need water up here before the animals get here,” he warned.
“Damn. Get me a list of what you need. I'll work on what I can from this end. I'll have Coultier have a list for you as well. Get that taken care of.”
“Yes, ma'am,” the bosun said, envisioning a floating ball of water. Could they shut the gravity off in the cargo bay? Rig some sort of series of emitters to float a ball of water? Was that possible? But what about the inertial dampeners … he scowled. He was fairly certain it wouldn't work, but he'd talk to the engineers anyway. Maybe they could rig something up.
They definitely had to rig up half the cargo bay. They'd need the extra room for the tank's life support and supplies, he thought. But that meant …
He sighed and called the XO, then filled him in.
“You still there?” the captain demanded.
“Sorry, ma'am, bringing the XO up to speed,” the bosun said. “I've ordered a team to begin clearing the boat bay as well as cargo two. We're going to have to split the bay in half. I think I'm adding our grav loaders to the list to bring down to help you load, that and some poles. You may need strong backs,” he warned.
“We'll get that. What else?”
“Well, I was thinking about cutting the gravity, but I don't think that would work. The inertial dampeners would be a problem.”
“Something like that I think. Check with engineering.”
“Yes, ma'am.” The bosun replied dutifully. “Considering that, I thought we could use antigrav to our advantage to get around some of the problems initially. I'm still parsing out how though. I need to bring in some engineers though.”