by Diane Carey
But he couldn’t argue with Hagedorn’s logic. Even in war, one had to seize the bloodless option if it became available.
Stifling a curse, he said, “Agreed. Gibraltar out.”
And with a stab of his finger, he severed the link.
He was about to give Urbina instructions to come about when Darigghi saved him the trouble. As the captain looked on, doing his best to contain his bitterness, he saw the stars swing around on their viewscreen.
One thought kept going through his mind, over and over again: Shumar had damned well better know what he’s talking about.
Hiro Matsura could feel a bead of perspiration trace a stinging path down the side of his face.
“Let me get this straight,” said Stiles, who was studying the amber-colored shell fragment that Matsura had just handed him. “You dug this out of a mound of dirt and decided to call us back from an imminent confrontation with the enemy?”
He didn’t sound impressed. But then, Matsura reflected, Stiles hadn’t heard Shumar’s theory yet. Neither had Hagedorn, Dane, or Cobaryn, who looked a little befuddled themselves as they stood by a gutted mound in the blazing light of Oreias.
“It wasn’t just what we found,” Shumar responded patiently. “It’s what it all represents.”
“And what does it represent?” asked Hagedorn, who seemed inclined to exercise patience as well.
Matsura picked up another of the orange-yellow fragments that he and Shumar had laid on the ground beside the ruined hill. This piece was more rounded than some of the others, more obviously designed to fit the anatomy of a living creature.
“We asked ourselves the same question at first,” he told Hagedorn. “What was it about these shells that compelled someone to bury them? And who did the burying? Then Captain Shumar came up with an explanation.”
Shumar picked up on his cue. “There’s a scientific theory that alien species exhibit remarkably similar behavior, even when they’re separated by many light years.”
“I believe I’ve heard of it,” said Hagedorn. “Underwood’s Theory of Parallel Development, isn’t it?”
“Exactly right,” Shumar confirmed. “And with Underwood’s thinking in mind, I asked myself why I would have buried these shells—why I would have buried anything, for that matter.”
“To honor the dead,” Cobaryn blurted. He looked around at his fellow captains. “I am quite familar with human customs,” he explained.
“Captain Cobaryn is right,” said Shumar, smiling at his colleague’s enthusiasm. “We demonstrate our respect for our deceased friends and relatives by burying them.”
Dane looked perplexed. “But I don’t see any bodies lying here. Just a bunch of shells.”
“True,” Matsura conceded. “But maybe that’s where the resemblance to human customs ends. Maybe this species sheds its shells, like certain insects on Earth—and feels it has to bury them, because their shells were once a living part of their anatomy.”
“And if it’s true,” said Shumar, “that these shells have some spiritual value to this species, is it any wonder that it would object to offworlders intruding on its burial grounds?”
“In other words,” Cobaryn added, following his friend’s logic, “the aliens who attacked Oreias Five and Oreias Seven...did so because we encroached on their sacred property?”
“It looks that way,” said Shumar.
The captains exchanged glances as they mulled what Shumar and Matsura had told them. No one was outwardly incredulous.
“Makes sense, I suppose,” said Dane, speaking for everyone.
“But we’re not certain this is the answer,” Hagedorn reminded them. “We have no conclusive proof.”
“Scientists seldom do,” Shumar pointed out. “Often, they have to go with what their instincts tell them. And right now, my instincts are telling me we’ve hit the mark.”
The sun beat down on the six of them as they absorbed Shumar’s comment. Matsura, of course, had already accepted his colleague’s explanation. He was thinking about the next step.
“So,” he said, “what do we do now?”
Matsura had barely gotten the words out when his communicator started beeping. In fact, all their communicators started beeping.
He took his own device out, flipped it open, and spoke into it. “Matsura here,” he replied.
“Captain,” said Jezzelis, his voice taut with apprehension, “there is an alien armada approaching Oreias Eight.”
Matsura’s mouth went dry. “Exactly what constitutes an armada?” he asked his first officer.
“I count fourteen ships, sir. And according to our sensor readings, their weapons have already been brought to full power.”
Matsura looked at the others, all of whom seemed to have received the same kind of news. Their expressions were grim, to say the least. And it wasn’t difficult to figure out why.
With the Yellowjacket all but useless, they were outnumbered almost three to one. Not promising, Matsura thought.
Not promising at all.
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Mosaic • Jeri Taylor