by S. H. Jucha
* * *
Franz ordered the ships in his group to halt, and pilots synced their controllers, focusing their telemetry on the broad back of the dark carapace of a Swei Swee, who appeared to be walking on the water, as he raced toward shore, his massive claws raised high in the air.
Orly looked at the wickedly pointed claws and remarked,
Franz offered a quick plea to the stars for their support and ordered the other ships to maintain position, while he dropped his traveler to the deck. The only place to land was a short stretch of sand, bordered on both ends by prominent rock formations. The shoreline was steep, and rather than set down parallel to the waters, which would have lent a 30-degree tilt from side to side to the shuttle, Franz chose to drop the bow into the shallows. Exiting the traveler through the port’s rear hatch would mean that the crew could keep their feet dry.
The traveler had no sooner settled onto the sand than the hatch was triggered. Checking his personnel app, Franz saw that it was Teague exiting the ramp with Ginny right behind him.
Teague was forced to circle the traveler via the bow, since his view of the dark Swei Swee was blocked. Both Ginny and Bethany called out for him to wait, but unfortunately, they were speaking to a male teenage brain, operating on an entirely different wavelength.
Wave Skimmer slowed his rush to the shore when the ship settled to the sands. Suddenly, a creature, which walked on two legs, as the land hunters did, raced around the front of the ship. He stripped off coverings revealing soft, white flesh, so unlike the dark coloring of the land hunters. Nonetheless, Wave Skimmer came to a halt, his claws raised protectively in front of him.
“Wow,” Teague murmured when he got a real-world view of the giant Swei Swee, with its killing claws raised high in the air. The two stared at each other, six eyeballs taking in the differences between what they knew and what they were seeing — for Teague it was a comparison against the Haraken Swei Swee, and for Wave Skimmer it was the land hunters.
Wave Skimmer was debating whether to dive for deep waters or lead the pale one toward the cave. Besides a concern for his own safety, Wave Skimmer didn’t know if the entity in front of him had come to rescue the little ones or not. Hive loyalty won out. Strange as the coloring, size, and build of the foursome appeared, they were still of the People, and Wave Skimmer was a First, dedicated to protecting his hive and the People.
Teague saw the Swei Swee hesitate and then drop its claws. It came wading toward him, growing larger with every meter covered. Unlike the Haraken Swei Swee, who, in a normal stance on even ground, came to Teague’s waist, this male had to bend its eyestalks slightly down to stare Teague in the eyes.
Regarding the huge Swei Swee, Teague belatedly considered his dash from the traveler. He was reminded of his father’s words, repeated so often to him — the less time you give yourself to consider your options, the quicker you will hasten toward an ill-considered decision or action.
Wave Skimmer and Teague were poised only several meters apart, each waiting for some sign from the other, when a sweet clear note of greeting rent the air. Wave Skimmer split his stalks, half on the pale alien and half searching for the source of the whistle. Two more aliens stood beside the ship, neither of them colored as were the land hunters.
Another note of greeting issued from the smaller of the two creatures. It was pure and comforting, and Wave Skimmer couldn’t help but warble in reply. The little alien waded into the water, headed toward the white one in front of him and requesting his name.
“Wave Skimmer,” the First whistled, and then warbled, “Have you a name?”
“The People of my world call me Little Singer,” Ginny whistled in reply.
Wave Skimmer ignored the white one, who was, at the moment, standing still. Little Singer, he thought. The People wouldn’t have named the creature lightly. The little one whistled her delight in meeting him, asking if he was a First, and he acknowledged that he was, rising on his walking legs to his full height.
Ginny momentarily faltered when the giant Swei Swee rose, taking pride in his position as the hive’s leader, but she quickly resumed wading, intent on getting to Teague. She would burn his ears later for his foolish rush from the ship, but, for now, she wanted to be near him, and, if possible, protect him.
“We search for four of the People lost to us,” Ginny whistled.
“Friends, comrades of mine,” Teague added.
The white one’s barely understood comment made sense to Wave Skimmer and explained the creature’s rush into the waters. It ran to search for and protect members of his hive, despite the fact that he carried no means with which to aid them. As a hive member, the alien made no sense to Wave Skimmer. It had neither tail nor multiple legs with which to speed through the water or claws with which to fight.
“Have you seen them?” Teague whistled, but the eyes on the dark, male Swei Swee blinked rapidly, a sign of confusion.
“He can’t understand you, Teague,” Ginny said, reaching Teague’s side and holding on to his arm. She repeated the question.
“Follow me,” Wave Skimmer whistled.
Both Teague and Ginny sent comms — Teague to Franz and Ginny to Bethany — each relayed the conversation and that they were following a hive First, Wave Skimmer, to the Haraken Swei Swee.
Bethany stood on the shore, seriously conflicted. She would give her life to protect the two youngsters, but, if the Swei Swee were to become aggressive, she would need to be close to him for her stun gun to be effective, and, in her estimation, that wasn’t going to happen. The enormous male kept nervous eyes on Teague, yet, in contrast, allowed Ginny to walk beside him. Little Singer, Bethany thought. She slowly waded to the shuttle’s bow to keep the three of them in sight.
As soon as the threesome neared the cave, Teague picked up on his friends’ implants and he raced forward, surprising Wave Skimmer, who had yet to indicate where the little ones hid.
Both Teague and Ginny disappeared into the cave, and Teague rushed back out moments later, able to reach Bethany, who relayed the request to Franz.
Wave Skimmer whirled and dove into the waters, stroking quickly for deeper waters. It didn’t take him long to spot the prey he sought. A flash of his tail drove him forward and a quick thrust of his claw speared the 1-meter long, succulent fish. He hurried back to shore as a group of the aliens came around their ship towing a platform that floated in the air. Wave Skimmer warbled his amazement and hurried forward. He was too large to fit in the small cave, so he whistled to Little Singer for her attention.
Teague sprinted out of the cave, nearly running into Wave Skimmer’s enormous claw, which the Swei Swee extended to block Teague’s rush.
The First held up the wriggling fish, and, this time, he understood the pale alien’s whistle of appreciation. Wave Skimmer expertly stripped the fish of its skin and then pulled off two fillets. He chopped each fillet into several pieces, dropping them into the white one’s outstretched hands, who then ran back into the cave.
Teague fell to his knees in the cave floor’s soft sand. His four friends were weak and feeble. He laid his pile of fish on a rock, and he and Ginny held small pieces against each Swei Swee’s mouth parts. Only Swift Claws and Sand Flipper began
to chew immediately.
Taking a piece of flesh, Teague squeezed the fish with all his might. The succulent flesh gave up its juice, which dribbled onto Teague’s other hand, and he tipped the liquid into Whistles Keenly’s twitching mouth parts. He was rewarded, moments later, by a gentle lapping on his palm.
Ginny tried the same maneuver, but she couldn’t exert enough force to squeeze any liquid out. She smacked Teague on the shoulder and swapped pieces of fish. Crabbing around to Whistles Keenly, Ginny tore Teague’s pulverized piece into tiny chunks to feed him, while Teague dripped juice into Bobs A Lot’s mouth. It took much longer before Teague got a response, and he nearly wept with joy when he did.
The two humans slowly fed the entire fish provided by Wave Skimmer to their friends.
Crew waited outside the cave, at a respectable distance from Wave Skimmer, who split his stalks between eyeing the cave front and watching the groups of aliens and their floating platform.
Finally, Wave Skimmer watched the two individuals exit the cave. Little Singer told him the four would survive, and he raised his claws in celebration. At the same time, the aliens behind him let out strange screeches, and Wave Skimmer spun to take the charge. Little Singer’s whistle for calm stalled him. She explained that her hive mates were celebrating the news that the foursome lived.
The pale one approached Wave Skimmer, and, in a strange gesture, held out his true hands to him, with the tips pinched together and waited.
Ginny whistled to the Celus Swei Swee, “Teague, the youngling of the Star Hunter First, who helped to free the People, held by the world traveler, waits to greet Wave Skimmer in the manner of our world called Haraken.”
Wave Skimmer’s eyestalks extended to their full length to take in the pale one in front of him. Singers, little or otherwise, do not tell untruths. He realized the four young Swei Swee whistled the truth. The world traveler, the giant sphere that the hives had fled, was gone, destroyed by the small, pale hands of those who stood around him. Wave Skimmer warbled in humor at his earlier thought that these creatures had no means by which to stand and fight.
Teague waited patiently for Wave Skimmer to process Ginny’s words. Then the huge Swei Swee held his claws out even with Teague’s pinched fingers. Teague balled up his fists and smacked the top of Wave Skimmer’s claws, but unlike the Haraken Swei Swee’s ceremony, Wave Skimmer returned the greeting and his heavy claws smacked down on Teague’s fists.
It was all Teague could do to keep from crying out, and Ginny didn’t know whether to be alarmed or laugh at Teague’s actions. It was one thing to be Alex Racine in his prime smacking the claws of the Haraken Swei Swee; it was another thing for a youth to attempt the same thing with an alien First, who was an order larger than those he knew on Haraken.
Bethany sent to Franz. She had relayed the entire scene to him.
Franz sent the message to Captain Azasdau, adding the fact that the Swei Swee had been found, alive but barely so.
Wave Skimmer turned to Little Singer and pleaded for her help.
“We know the land hunters are the enemy of the People,” Ginny whistled, using Wave Skimmer’s words for the Dischnya. Despite Alex’s request that the information not be relayed to Teague and Ginny, they were aboard a ship, and gossip had a way of spreading around a ship like air seeking vacuum. “The Star Hunter First resides in a ship above us.” Ginny added. “He won’t let the land hunters hurt the People anymore.”
“Will your leader destroy the land hunters?” Wave Skimmer asked. A pair of eyestalks watched the floating platform carry out one of the little Swei Swee, who warbled softly to him. The aliens’ methods were mystifying, and Wave Skimmer was in awe of what they could do for those who were injured.
“You’re a First,” Ginny said, seeking to prevent Wave Skimmer from putting her into a corner. “You know that no hive mate speaks for a First.”
Wave Skimmer warbled his agreement. The Little Singer spoke true words. “I will greet the Star Hunter First,” he whistled.
“Two days, at day’s first light, here on the sands,” Ginny replied.
Wave Skimmer whistled his agreement and, in one motion, whirled and launched 7 meters out into the waters.
The Harakens watched Wave Skimmer, with his unique characteristic of walking the water, skim across the shallows, and then dive into the deep.
Ginny turned to examine Teague, who held his broken hands at his side. Tears in his eyes began to fall, whether from relief that his friends were safe or pain from his injured hands, she couldn’t tell. Ginny calmly wiped away his tears, as a medical specialist injected a pain killer into the side of Teague’s neck. Then she walked back to the traveler beside Teague, as another Swei Swee was carried from the cave on a second grav pallet.
-17-
Many Nests
It was early morning when Alex checked in with the mission’s Swei Swee medical specialist on the statuses of the recovered foursome.
“Credit must be given to Terese Lechaux, Dassata,” Davi said. “Her instructions for medical emergencies that might befall the Swei Swee were exhaustive. I must admit that I thought many of them unnecessary, but throughout yesterday evening and morning I have been exchanging plasma bags for the four of them. Swei Swee body fluid … who would have thought of that?”
“Terese,” the two men said quietly, laughing together.
“Then they’re stable?” Alex asked.
“They’ll be fine, Dassata. Medically, it was a lack of fluids and food, although Teague has been explaining to me that much of their condition was due to an encroaching malaise. Something about being separated from their community. However, I expect them to make a full recovery within a few days.”
Alex was trying to ignore the use of the Dischnya title by the crew, but he was fighting a losing battle. Harakens had twenty years of history, during which they addressed Alex by an appellation. Offered an opportunity to adopt a new title for him, even an alien one, the crew members had seized on it.
Stepping outside the medical suite, Alex found his son waiting for him. Teague’s hands had undergone hours of work by Pia and her team to restore order to the bones. He was young and carried nanites in his blood since the day he was born. He would be completely healed within another day.
“I’m going with you to meet the queen,” Teague said, his tone demanding.
“That’s not a good idea, son,” Alex replied.
“Yes, it is. I have a few things to say to her.”
“That’s why it’s not a good idea, Teague. You need to stay here.”
“You’re not mission commander. I can ask Captain Shimada,” Teague said, defiantly.
“Shall we go wake the captain, son?” Alex asked mildly. He understood Teague’s anger after learning that the Dischnya were mortal enemies of his beloved Swei Swee, but the last thing Alex needed was to have his temperamental son in a delicate conversation with the queen. He wasn’t even sure what he was going to say.
Teague knew his father had called his bluff. He wouldn’t dare go above him and ask the captain. First and foremost, the captain would defer the decision to his father, and, second, he wouldn’t want it known that he had tried to circumvent his father.
As the son of the famous Alex Racine, Teague felt he lived in a conundrum. No one knows how to treat me, Teague fumed internally. But that wasn’t true either, he admitted. Humans and SADEs close to Alex treated him as a normal teenager. His problem was that their consideration didn’t often match his desires. Sometimes they angered him by not paying him more deference, and then, at other times, they were generous when he felt little need for their attention.
“Son,” Alex said, reaching up to cup his boy’s neck with a warm hand. “Your friends are sleeping and recovering. When they wake, you should be there. It will mean a great deal to them.”
Teague let go of his anger with a sigh. “Who will accompany you planetside?”
Teague asked.
“The smallest number I can get away with,” Alex replied.
“That should be the entire mission’s roll call,” Teague replied with a twist of his lips, attempting to repair the moment with his father.
“Probably what they want,” Alex replied, a small smile on his face. He was inwardly more than pleased that a crisis with Teague was averted. Sometimes I think you’re growing up too fast, my son, Alex thought, and other times I can’t wait until you grow out of this phase.
* * *
Pussiro stood in Nyslara’s front chambers. He was breathing hard, having run at top speed to the queen to deliver the report he’d received from some far hunters, who used mirrors to signal the news back to the nest.
“There can be no mistake,” Pussiro said, working to catch his breath. “The hunters are sure of what they observed, my queen. One shuttle from a flight of four landed on the shore. The hunters were at the green’s edge but could see clearly with hand scopes. Teague, Zhinni, and another exited the ship, as an enormous male ceena came out of the water. The hunters thought the ceena was poised to strike Teague until Zhinni whistled to him.”
“Whistled to him?”
“Yes, my queen, as Teague did on the shore to chase his ceena back into the waters.”
“Go on, commander.”
“According to the hunters, Zhinni and the ceena spoke, and he led Teague and her to a cave. The aliens recovered their four hive members from a small cave. They carried them out one by one on their floating platforms.”
“Remember, Pussiro, the aliens refer to themselves as Harakens. We should too.”
“Yes, my queen. A final note, if you please. The ceena spoke with Teague and Zhinni for considerably longer and Teague conducted some sort of ceremony with the ceena … like this.” Pussiro balled his hands and smacked down on the empty air. “He struck the claws of the ceena, and the creature struck Teague’s hands in return.”
Nyslara considered Pussiro’s report. Despite her desire to refute the concept of ceena as intelligent creatures, the evidence was overwhelming in the contrary. She gazed up at Pussiro, her eyes sad, and asked, “Do you think Dassata knows?”