by S. H. Jucha
“So the aliens have harnessed these creatures to work for them. Anything else, Commander?”
“Allow me to explain, my queen. I observed the ceena whistling to the aliens, and one of the aliens, the one who came out of the waters, whistled in return.
“A simple exchange … trained creatures begging for attention, and masters giving commands.”
“Forgive me, my queen, but I must disagree. I witnessed the exchange on the shore. I would compare it to a discussion. It was clear to me that the aliens understood the whistles of the ceena … that they were communicating. After we surrounded the aliens and they threw up their arms as I demonstrated, the one at the water whistled, and the ceena dove back into the waters.”
“Idiocy, Pussiro,” Nyslara snarled. “What you’re proposing is that the creatures we’ve hunted and fed on since we arrived on this planet have a language, which would make them an intelligent race. It’ll take more than a few moments, observing an exchange, to convince me of what you’re suggesting. Finish quickly, Commander. I’m becoming annoyed with this report.”
“Yes, my queen,” Pussiro replied, dipping his head. “I’ve already rotated the first two guards in the storeroom because they’re disturbed by the aliens’ quiet, especially one who is utterly still. I believe him to be the group’s commander. According to reports, the alien hasn’t moved a muscle … not shifted his stance, not changed his facial expression, not even blinked. I’ve ensured a senior warrior accompanies a junior one, when a pair is stationed inside the storeroom. The senior’s years and experience should calm the younger warrior.”
Nyslara regarded her wasat, a champion of innumerable battles, always fierce in the face of the enemy. Now, she saw concern, if not fear, and that caused a small element of doubt to befuddle her thoughts. She shook her muzzle, as if the action would clear her mind of the niggling feelings. “What of their appearance, Commander?”
“That’s also disconcerting, my queen. They have four limbs, a head, and a torso, and they walk upright as we do. Except for small amounts on the crown of their heads, the aliens are hairless. But, most important, some aliens differ in skin color from one another.”
“They’re not of the same soma?”
“Not as we understand it, my queen. Even their bodies don’t resemble one another. Some appear to be a match for any two of my warriors, and some are slender. And we believe there are two sexes among the aliens.”
“They brought females? Are you certain?”
“I had them remove their coverings and instruments, until we had time to search those things for weapons and communications devices. Two of the aliens displayed most prominent breasts.” Pussiro held his hands away for his chest to indicate the relative size. “While they do not possess the six nipples of our females, the capacity of the breasts would indicate that they could provide plenty of nourishment for a litter.”
“Most disconcerting, Commander,” Nyslara commented. Her head felt ready to burst with Pussiro’s discoveries, and she felt ill-prepared to deal with the interlopers. Her assumption from the presence of two sexes hinted at the aliens’ intention to colonize. Why else bring females? she thought.
“Come, Commander, I would see these entities for myself,” Nyslara ordered, and she swept past Pussiro.
* * *
Aboard the Sojourn’s bridge, Asu and Lieutenant Marie Soucis examined the weapon in the holo-vid. Rosette manipulated Bethany’s implant view, rotating the weapon and adding the closeup view Smitty provided of the pieces of the explosive slug.
When Asu and Marie, who was also Méridien, looked at Rosette, she sent privately to them,
Bethany added.
* * *
The Sojourn’s captured crew hadn’t traveled far underground before they were directed through an opening in the passageway and found themselves standing in a spacious storeroom. Shelves lined the walls and were stocked with all manner of goods, many of which were stone jars, their lids sealed tight with a waxy substance.
Two guards remained inside the storeroom with them, stationed near the doorway, which was closed off by a drape of fabric. At the present time, the curtain was closed, which Willem assumed was to prevent the curious from eyeing the aliens.
The captured team took wov
en grass mats from the shelves to sit on and protect their bare flanks from the cold floor, since the aliens had yet to return their clothes.
Willem continued to record everything — the surroundings, items on display, actions of the aliens, and the words spoken. Of particular note to the SADE were the furtive eyes of the guards, who chose to look everywhere else but at them, except for occasional glances at the Haraken women.
The Harakens glanced around and saw multiple colors and shapes, flat faces, no claws, and no formidable teeth.
Keira sent to her companions.
Ginny glanced over at Teague, who looked stricken by Willem’s words.
Unfortunately, Ginny’s comments did little to quell Teague’s dark thoughts about the possible fate of his four Swei Swee friends.
After little more than an hour, the two guards on duty inside the storeroom were changed. Once relieved, they fled as if racing for shelter. One of the replacements was the type of individual whom Willem was wishing to meet. The guard’s muzzle was heavily scarred and tinged with gray, while his companion appeared quite young, as the first two warriors had been.
The SADE took a step forward, and the barrels of the guards’ weapons swung toward him. Touching his hand to his chest, he said, “Willem.”
The young warrior looked with surprise at his companion, but the older warrior hissed a dismissal.
Willem repeated his name and pointed at the older warrior, but was taken aback by the response. Both guards were snarling savagely and pointing their weapons directly at his face.
The Harakens’ audible chuckles put the guards on edge, but Willem noticed that, just like the first pair of guards, these two were occasionally glancing toward the women.
“Willem,” the SADE repeated, touching his chest. Then he indicated the team’s female security escort with his head, keeping his hands at his side. “Keira,” he said. That brought the scarred one’s muzzle around to focus on the female, and he nodded deferentially.
Ginny caught on and stood up. The guards’ eyes flicked to her, but no weapons swung her way. Ginny placed a hand on her chest and spoke her name.
This time when the old guard nodded, he said, “Ginny,” but it came out as Zhinni.
Willem took the opportunity to indicate some mats on the shelf and spoke the Haraken word for it. The old warrior shook his head in negation and said, “bessach.” When Willem repeated the word perfectly, the elder guard’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t display any teeth. Willem took the opening and ran with it. He was able to learn nearly thirty words, before the warrior grew bored with the simple process.
Keira stood up and stepped forward. The guards’ weapons, which had been lowered, were now pointed at her. She touched her chest and repeated her name. Both guards nodded their heads and did their best to affirm her name. They were more successful than they had been with Ginny’s name, pronouncing it Hira.
Keira stepped as close as she dared to the guards. Interestingly, they grew wary, but neither snarled or curled a lip at her. Then she stroked her hair, speaking the Haraken word. The elder guard quickly replied with his word. Keira went to her eyes next.
Keira shifted to identifying arms, legs, and breasts.
Ginny edged forward and received a nod from both guards. By now, the barrels of the weapons were pointed overhead. She walked over to a shelf and searched for something to use to draw. An open pot of a dark substance, whose contents had dripped down the outside of the container and smelled of an animal by-product, suited her purpose.
Ginny held the pot up, and the scarred one named it. Then she knelt on the floor in front of the warriors, pulling Keira down beside her. Ginny dipped her finger into the bowl and made a single stroke on the floor. She held a finger close to her chest, careful not to point it at the guards, and spoke the word for one.
The guards exchanged expressions, which resembled rippling lips, and Ginny took that to mean they were confused. So she painted a second stroke next to the first one. Then she pointed at the first line and then herself, repeating the word for one. Next, she pointed at the two lines, then pointed at Keira and herself, and said the word for two.
The young alien twigged to it first, speaking excitedly to his partner, who nodded his agreement. The young warrior sat on his haunches, huge thigh muscles bulging the furred skin. He pointed a hardened, black nail at the first stroke and said, “diss” and then at the two strokes and said, “mess.”
Ginny smiled in reply, and the young guard’s head jerked back as if struck, and he sprung to his feet. Ginny and Keira quickly stood up too, and Ginny covered her mouth and lowered her head. “Zhinni,” she heard the gray-muzzled guard say, and she looked up at him. He curled his upper lip slightly, tapped a sharp canine, and waggled his finger at her before he quickly pulled his hand to his side.
To Ginny and Keira’s surprise, the young guard squatted back down and dipped a dark nail into the pot, adding a third stroke
.
When the women went to kneel on the floor, the scarred guard barked out, “Fellum, bessach, Zhinni, Hira.”
Ginny and Keira could have clapped their hands and danced wildly, overjoyed at their success, but they kept still, with mouths closed and hands by their sides.
Willem nodded his understanding and brought two mats, tucking them under the women’s buttocks for them to sit on.
The old warrior nodded his approval and then tossed his head to warn Willem away.
The young warrior chose to sit cross-legged on the floor, and Ginny and Keira adopted his pose.
Keira, on the other hand, who was raised as a Méridien Independent, when her parents were exiled to Libre, was much more comfortable with nudity than Ginny, a child of Sol.
Ginny repressed the desire to giggle and resorted to covering her mouth with a hand.
Before the young warrior could speak, Ginny motioned to Keira to stand up with her, and the young warrior joined them. She touched herself and repeated her name. Then she nodded respectfully at the old warrior and waited.
“Simlan, Tawas Soma, Sawa Messa,” he said, assuming a proud and erect stance.
Ginny nodded her appreciation of the introduction and looked at the young warrior. He snapped to attention and announced, “Hessan, Tawas Soma, Sawa Messa.”
Willem sent.
Ginny repeated their names, nodding courteously to each. Then Keira and she sat back down, and Hessan joined them on the floor. The youthful warrior joined in the women’s education with abandon. He worked through numbers and walked around the storeroom adding to the names that Willem had first learned. The women were fed questions by the other team members, and the vocabulary building went quickly.