by S. H. Jucha
Suddenly, Sand Flipper was knocked in a somersault clear out of the water. The impact left him lying on his back and struggling to right himself. He could hear the screaming whistles of his companions, but with his eyes closed and stalks pulled into his carapace against irritating sand, he couldn’t see. There was a tumble of feet around him, and he heard Swift Claws whistle, “Why? What have we done to hurt you?”
A sudden stillness descended following Swift Claws’ cry, and Sand Flipper took the opportunity to flip himself upright and blink the sand from his eyes. The giant Swei Swee, who faced Bobs A Lot days ago, was poised over him. The male’s sharp, dagger-like claws were poised high in the air to deliver killing blows. Sand Flipper’s companions ringed him, extended to the full height of their walking legs, with their claws raised in defense. It was a brave but ludicrous demonstration. The undersized Haraken Swei Swee had little to no chance of defeating the enormous male staring down at them.
Sand Flipper warbled a plea to be spared.
That the small Swei Swee were prepared to sacrifice their lives to protect their hive mate caused Wave Skimmer to pause, and in that small moment of time, reason reasserted itself. He dropped his claws, as did the small ones, and all settled lower on their walking legs.
Wave Skimmer couldn’t understand why the small Swei Swee would cheer the return of dark travelers, even though the ones he just saw were no longer dark. The hive’s stories, passed down through the generations, told of the world traveler that had captured them, imprisoned them in the giant sphere, and from which the People escaped when the opportunity presented itself. It was made clear that the dark travelers were constructed by the Nua’ll, except for the hulls, which were Swei Swee built.
It had been Wave Skimmer’s thought that these blue green Swei Swee, who mirrored the colors of the travelers he’d just seen, must still belong to the Nua’ll, and they meant to betray the hives and recapture them.
Wave Skimmer whistled, warbled, and tweeted his confusion and frustration, voicing his desire to understand the circumstances of these four Swei Swee and the appearance of the strangely colored travelers.
What ensued was one of the stranger conversations in the annals of the universe — the same species, generations apart, and from different worlds, with both sides struggling to understand each other.
Most of the conversation took place under a rocky overhang, which pleased both sides for the small amount of protection it offered from the land hunters.
Sand Flipper drew a circle, uttering, “Nua’ll,” which caused Wave Skimmer to rear up.
Bobs A Lot quickly drew an “x” across the sphere and whistled, “Nua’ll travel the endless waters.”
“Entirely?” Wave Skimmer asked, settling back down.
“The sphere and all aboard,” Whistles Keenly replied.
“Swei Swee?” Wave Skimmer asked, retracing the “x” across the sphere with the point of a claw.
Bobs A Lot sent.
“Swei Swee and Star Hunters,” Sand Flipper whistled.
“Star Hunter travelers … blue and green,” Swift Claws whistled, pointing a claw into the air to indicate the ships that Wave Skimmer had seen. “Friends of the People.”
“Star Hunter First and Swei Swee First share greeting ceremony,” Bobs A Lot said excitedly, displaying the characteristic action that gave him his name.
“Star Hunters appear like these land hunters?” Wave Skimmer asked.
“No, Star Hunters are humans … not like these,” Whistles Keenly replied. “Star Hunter First and youngling, Teague, swim with the People in the waters of our home planet, Haraken.”
“Humans swim?” Wave Skimmer asked, incredulous at the news.
“Not good like the People, but they enjoy the waters,” Whistles Keenly tweeted.
Wave Skimmer settled to the sand, tucking his great walking legs under him. The words of the small ones were difficult to absorb. For generations, the People were the only intelligent life in this planet’s waters, save for a small, cunning, furry animal that fished the seas, but the two species left each other alone. Then the land hunters had arrived, and the lives of the People descended into chaos. They were forced to flee the shores and make their way to deep waters and hidden coves. Many People were taken captive before the hives developed a new way of existing.
“Humans are friends of the Swei Swee. Humans are powerful hunters, who have taught us many things,” Sand Flipper said. “Come,” he added, running down the beach.
Wave Skimmer reluctantly followed the small Swei Swee, who waited for him on the other side of a rocky outcropping.
“Warble something quietly to me,” Sand Flipper entreated. When Wave Skimmer complied, the little one scurried back to his companions, and Wave Skimmer followed.
The Celus Swei Swee was standing in front of the foursome when the three, who had been left behind, warbled copies of his words — not just the words, but exact copies of his voice. “How?” Wave Skimmer whistled, stunned by the repetition of his warble.
“We speak our thoughts to one another,” Bobs A Lot explained.
The power of the Star Hunters, who seemed capable of incredible things, even defeating the Nua’ll, according to the little ones, seemed unbelievable to Wave Skimmer. Suddenly a thought occurred to the First, and he excitedly whistled his query. Unfortunately, it was too complex for the foursome to follow. So Wave Skimmer drew a traveler in the sand. “Humans,” he whistled, please to see the foursome bobbing and warbling in agreement.
Wave Skimmer drew another shape. It resembled the head of the creatures that the Haraken Swei Swee saw capture their friends. “Land hunters,” the First emphasized. Next, he drew the outline of a Swei Swee and tapped a claw to his carapace’s underbelly. “Land hunters search the endless waters for the People.”
The statement confused the Haraken Swei Swee. “Why search for the People?” asked Bobs A Lot, who was mixing his human education with the Swei Swee’s words.
“Search, kill, eat,” Wave Skimmer whistled angrily, forgetting that they were all in danger by standing on the shore. That his words caused the foursome to shrink in horror gave Wave Skimmer a bit of comfort, despite his fury. It was another signal that these Swei Swee did not come to the planet to harm his People. Wave Skimmer pointed at the traveler and drew a line in the sand to the image of the land hunter, whistling, “Humans send land hunters to search the endless waters.”
“Star Hunters are powerful. They will ensure the land hunters search for the People no more,” Bobs A Lot whistled to Wave Skimmer. Suddenly, he was bombarded with messages from his companions, wondering how he could promise that.
Wave Skimmer spun about and dove into the waters, spraying sand over the Haraken Swei Swee.
The foursome rinsed off, while they wondered where the giant male had gone. No sooner had they shared the thought, than the Celus Swei Swee emerged from the waters with a small fish pinched in his claw. They watched as he expertly stripped off a filet.
“With a greeting ceremony, we’ll bind your words of promise to protect the People of this world given to me, Wave Skimmer, this day,” Wave Skimmer whistled, asking for their names.
Sand Flipper sent.
Bobs A Lot stood up on his walking legs, sending, “You warble as foolish younglings. Teague has been take
n. The Star Hunter First will have come, and he will not let the land hunters hurt these People.” Lifting his claws into the air, Bobs A Lot introduced himself and heard Wave Skimmer warble in good-natured humor at his name.
The three others quickly introduced themselves, and the fillet was shared among the five.
“A male of my hive will maintain vigilance every day at the break between the deep waters and the shallows. When the humans are ready to fulfill your promise, send word, and the hives will come,” Wave Skimmer whistled. Then he whirled to dive into the waves. His powerful tail was stroked with considerable effort. The First was anxious to reach the safety of the dark waters. The time he’d spent on shore had caused him a great deal of anxiety.
“There are a few problems with your promise,” Sand Flipper warbled sadly, facing Bobs A Lot. “We must be rescued first.”
“Even then, the Star Hunter First must decide whether to fulfill your promise,” Swift Claws added.
“Do you doubt our leader will wish to protect these People?” Bobs A Lot challenged.
“No,” Swift Claws replied. “But it might not be within his capability to come to their aid. What if these land hunters are many in number, formidable, and occupy the entire planet?”
“A telling point,” Whistles Keenly said, joining in the discussion. “If the problem is too great for our ships, what will become of the rescue mission? Our crew members might be rescued, but this planet could quickly be left behind.”
Bobs A Lot settled onto the sand, dejected and warbling a lament.
“Come,” Swift Claws whistled. “We’re too exposed out here. Let’s return to the safety of the cave.” His claw thunked Bobs A Lot’s carapace in passing, hoping to encourage his companion.
-14-
Masquerade
Pussiro reported to Nyslara that the aliens freed their netted ship without firing a shot or allowing an encounter with his warriors.
“How is that possible, Commander?” Nyslara demanded.
“Better you should ask me, my queen, how the aliens can create a windstorm with their ships that threatened to scratch our precious scopes and blind the eyes of our lookouts.”
Nyslara found Pussiro’s words impertinent, but she allowed them to pass. Too much about the aliens was disquieting.
“Come, Commander, we need to speak with our alien captives,” Nyslara ordered.
Willem and the other Harakens were housed not far from the queen’s chamber. Their schoolroom, which is where they were at this time of day, was even closer. When Nyslara swept into the room, the advisors, guards, and Harakens leapt to their feet.
“Fellum, I would speak with you,” Nyslara announced.
“Yes, my queen,” Willem replied in the Dischnya language.
“Your nest mates have arrived,” Nyslara said, pointing a long digit at the room’s ceiling.
“How many more ships have arrived, my queen?” Willem asked.
“Mess,” Pussiro replied.
Two, Willem thought. He didn’t know how to ask about the shapes of the ships, so he picked up the drawing pot, which had replaced the pungent bowl of fossar they first used, and handed it to Pussiro.
Fortunately, Pussiro knew exactly what Willem was asking, and he squatted on his haunches to draw the ships he had studied in the nest’s telescope.
Willem pointed at the elongated, gourd shape of a sting ship and said, “Fighting ship. Nest killer.” His words drew hisses from Nyslara and Pussiro, and the jaws of Simlan and Hessan fell open. Pointing at the other shape, Willem said, “Leader.” Then he pointed at Teague and added, “Progenitor of youth.”
That a male who had produced an offspring the size of Teague was a leader made sense to Nyslara and Pussiro. Strong, large, and cunning were always traits of warrior commanders.
Word of the aliens’ effortless reclamation of their shuttle had spread quickly throughout the nest, and Nyslara was sure the prisoners would have been privy to the whispered words. That she lost a valuable negotiating prize was one thing. That Willem and the other captives knew it was another thing. Nyslara stared at Willem, who held her gaze. You know who has come for you, Fellum, she thought, taking in his confident stance and expression.
A question formed in Nyslara’s mind but was interrupted by the buzz of a receiver, and Simlan leapt for it. He listened for a moment and then gestured with the receiver to Pussiro. Soon after Pussiro communicated with the caller, he hung the comm device up, snarled, and said, “The aliens are landing in force, my queen.” He turned to leave, but a command from Nyslara stopped him.
“I wish to view these aliens for myself, Commander. Have Fellum brought with us. You might have need of him if there are to be words exchanged with them.”
* * *
Five travelers descended on the plains of Celus-5 and settled to the ground in a rough arc, curved toward the greatest density of native hideouts. A group of humans and four SADEs disembarked from the centrally placed traveler and marched forward about 20 meters, then halted. From the other four shuttles, 177 SADEs poured out and formed a broad half-circle behind the central figures.
“This has to be the stupidest thing I’ve ever done,” Reiko remarked, standing near Alex. She couldn’t help fingering her stun gun’s handle, even though Alex made her agree not to pull the weapon unless absolutely necessary.
“You mean more stupid than ramming a battleship with your destroyer,” Franz quipped.
“Remind me to discipline you later, Commander,” Reiko shot back.
Franz would have replied, but thought better of it. The grin on his face, which he was sure Reiko noticed, would have to do.
Étienne and Alain, standing near their principals appeared relaxed, however that was anything but the case. They were practicing breath control techniques to remain calm and keep from touching the butts of their weapons, as their minds screamed at them to do.
The SADEs locked their avatars, not knowing how long it would take to get a reaction out of the ground-dwelling natives. To an entity, you couldn’t say they were disappointed that their clever ruse of snatching the aliens’ weapons wasn’t accepted by Alex. Their analysis revealed that the plan had a high probability of success. But Alex replied that there remained the possibility of injuries or deaths on each side, which was unacceptable, adding, “Yes, the locals have employed force and intimidation, but we’re not going to respond in kind. That only creates a state of escalation, which never leads to peace.”
So instead of the masquerade, employing shifting synth-skin decoys, and the coordinated response to intercept the lookouts, the entire group of SADEs stood patiently waiting to see how Alex Racine’s idea would play out.
* * *
Pussiro led Nyslara and an entourage to the lookout post that would give them the best view of the plains where the alien shuttles had landed. When the commander entered the small room, the warriors jumped aside and saluted him, but then braced to rigid attention when, most unexpectedly, Nyslara, with her long robe, stalked in behind him.
“My queen,” Pussiro said, gesturing to the scope and offering her the first look.
Nyslara’s lips rippled along her muzzle in amusement and anticipation. She hadn’t used a lookout scope since she was young, when her mother was still queen. She took two steps up the ladder, took the viewer in her hands, and brought it to her eyes. The warriors had the scope focused on the central aliens, and Nyslara got a good look at Willem’s would-be rescuers.
“Commander, I believe you understated your point that these aliens were not of the same nest,” Nyslara said. She stepped down and nodded toward the scope.
Pussiro jumped up, adjusted the lens position, and hissed soundly. Not only were there the expected size differences, but arrayed around the central figures was the most bizarre collection of skin and hair colors Pussiro had ever seen.
“Could there be more than one species?” Pussiro asked Nyslara, taking a moment to look her way.
“Does it matter, Commander? Wh
omever or whatever they are, those who surround the leaders, which I take to be the ones in the center, are supporting them.”
Pussiro accepted that with a quick curl of his lip. He wasn’t satisfied with the answer, but this wasn’t the time to debate it, especially not with the queen. Instead, he returned to studying the aliens through the scope.
Nyslara motioned the two guards outside the post to wait with her retinue. “Commander, I note that you’ve yet to call out more warriors to the lookout positions. Why is that?”
“These aliens are capable of expending tremendous power, according to Fellum, and yet they’ve been careful not to use it against the soma. Even our warriors, who were shot in battle, recovered later. Perhaps, they only needed something from this planet … something that they would have gotten and then left, but we interfered.”
“Perhaps, the one thing they wanted was our planet, Commander,” Nyslara replied.
Pussiro turned to regard Nyslara, nodding his acceptance of the different point of view, but his thoughts were headed in an alternate direction. “My queen, if the aliens wanted this planet, couldn’t they just have taken it? The shuttle that guarded the netted one demonstrated its power over both waters and land. It alone could have wreaked havoc on our nest. Now, Fellum says that one of the ships in orbit is mightier than these shuttles.”
This time, Nyslara had to agree with Pussiro’s line of reasoning. The aliens’ actions resembled none of the Dischnya’s internal struggles, which were highlighted by fierce conflicts between nests for greater territory and resources. In Nyslara’s opinion, that confounding unpredictability made them dangerous.
“What is your plan when they attack the nest, Commander?” Nyslara asked.
“You mean if they attack now, my queen?”
“Of course, now, Pussiro. Are you losing your wits?”
“When they attack with what, my queen? Only several aliens wear the tools on their middles, which we take to be their weapons and which don’t kill. The rest appear unarmed.” Pussiro barked a command and the senior warrior, who had been on duty in the lookout, hurried into the room. Pussiro nodded at the scope and stepped aside. The warrior stepped onto the ladder, but he kept his eyes on Pussiro.