Theogony 1: Janissaries

by Chris Kennedy

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  Chapter Thirteen

  Bridge, TSS Vella Gulf, Epsilon Eridani ‘a’ Orbit, April 30, 2019

  “The planet is very much like your home planet in temperature and seasons,” said Arges, “as it gets nearly the same amount of radiation from its star and has nearly the same axial tilt. It is different, however, in the amount of land area. This planet does not have as much. In fact, it only has two large land masses, both about the size of your continent of Australia. The two continents are nearly on opposite sides of the planet, although there are a few volcanic islands in between. The atmosphere is also similar to Earth, although there is a slightly higher concentration of sulfur present in the air.”

  “You said it was inhabited,” said Ambassador Flowers. This was the first civilization that they had found; he was happy to finally have something to do. “Can you tell how advanced the society is?”

  “It is impossible to tell exactly from here,” said Arges, “but it appears to be similar to what your planet was like in the year 1775 or so. Also, it looks as if there is not one, but two distinct civilizations on the planet.” He pointed to the continent that was at the planet’s equator. “The civilization that inhabits this continent appears to favor one-story houses that are usually located in the swampier areas of the continent. This civilization is therapod in appearance.”

  The helmsman’s hand went up. Seeing it, Captain Deutch said simply, “They’re lizards.”

  “Thanks skipper,” said the helmsman.

  “Well, the cameras are not quite good enough to ascertain whether they are actually lizards,” corrected Arges, “but they do appear to be analogous to it. As closely as I can tell, they look a lot like smaller versions of your planet’s tyrannosaurus rex.”

  “And the other civilization?” asked the executive officer, Captain Griffin, who hated the way Arges always had to draw everything out.

  “The other civilization inhabits the continent that is in the temperate zone on the other side of the planet,” Arges answered. “The inhabitants of that civilization look very similar to humans.”

  “OK,” decided Ambassador Flowers, “that is where we’ll make our first landing. I’ll want to establish contact with them as soon as possible.”

  “Wait,” said the XO, “if they’re not developed, we can’t contact them, can we? Isn’t there some sort of first directive or something that prohibits it?”

  “What you are thinking of is the Prime Directive that many TV shows and movies used to talk about,” said Captain Deutch. “That directive stated that no primitive culture could be given any information regarding advanced technology or civilizations because it might alter the natural development of the society.” He paused and then said, “It might be nice to have something like that, XO, but our society is in jeopardy. We need help from wherever we can get it, even if they are underdeveloped.”

  “Yeah,” agreed Calvin, who had been at the meeting where this was decided. “If we don’t contact them, we just leave them less prepared for when the Drakuls or some similar race comes. It’s actually in their best interest for us to contact them. Sort of. At least, that’s how we’re rationalizing it. If they end up helping us, so much the better.”

  “Out of curiosity,” Arges asked, “is it ethnocentrism to start with the race that resembles your own?”

  “Actually,” replied Ambassador Flowers, “I do not believe it to be so. I selected them, not because they looked like us, but because I thought that it might be easier on them to interact with us. I don’t know what relations are like between the two races on the planet, but if they are not going well, then going to the therapods first might not be the wisest choice.”

  “That makes sense,” said Captain Deutch. “How big a team to do you want to go down with you?”

  While the ambassador paused to consider, Calvin commed Night, who was standing behind him. “What do you think?” he asked.

  “Either you or me, Top, and six others, minimum,” Night replied.

  “That’s about what I thought, too,” replied Calvin. “Enough to be a presence, but not so many that you make the locals unnecessarily afraid.”

  “With our suits and advanced armaments,” Night said, “we ought to be able to control any situation with the locals without any problems.”

  The ambassador had come to a decision. “I don’t see the need for any more than one or two,” he said. “I don’t want to look too warlike.”

  “Captain, I think that will leave the ambassador a little under-protected,” said Calvin. Deutch looked over and could see Night nodding his head in agreement. “At a minimum,” Calvin continued, “I think that I should go, along with one of my senior enlisted and at least six other troops. Everyone has to sleep at some point, and we need enough folks to stand watch. We don’t know anything about this civilization. I don’t want to get into something that we can’t get back out of.”

  “I agree,” said Captain Deutch. “You need enough troops to provide security and to look like an honor guard, as well. At their stage of development, if you didn’t have retainers or men-at-arms, they might not think you were as powerful a leader, and might not want to meet with you.”

  “That makes sense, I guess,” agreed the ambassador. “I will take down the eight that Lieutenant Commander Hobbs suggests.”

  Epsilon Eridani ‘a’, May 1, 2019

  The shuttle came in and touched down gently. As the boarding ramp came down, Top and six soldiers jumped out into the cool night air and quickly set up a defensive perimeter around the shuttle. Although the shuttle’s sensors hadn’t shown any signs of human-sized life within a mile of the field, it never hurt to be too careful. Seeing no one, Top gave the “all clear.” The ambassador strode purposefully down the ramp, with Calvin at his side. As they moved away from the shuttle, Calvin noticed the rotten egg scent of sulfur in the air. Although the air was breathable, it wouldn’t be pleasant until they got used to it.

  Once the ambassador was clear of the shuttle, its ramp came up, and it launched back into the sky, cloaking as it cleared the tree line.

  Looking around, Calvin couldn’t see much of the field, even with his enhanced night vision. He wished that they had been able to wear their space/combat suits, but the ambassador had not wanted to unnecessarily scare the locals, so the soldiers were dressed in their black battle dress uniforms. Like most of the United States’ militaries, it was a digital camouflage pattern, although it was in various shades of black and gray, rather than predominantly green or blue. Although the society had obviously developed the capability to process metal, the Terrans had surveyed the planet for several days and hadn’t seen any type of weapon more advanced than swords or crossbows, so the ambassador had requested that they not wear the suits or bring their lasers. All of the soldiers wore swords instead, having hastily downloaded and practiced basic sword fighting techniques.

  Calvin continued to survey his surroundings and saw that he was in a large field of the local version of grass. Although it was a light green in color (in the daylight anyway), that is where the resemblance to grass ended. It didn’t have blades; instead, its leaves were tubular and woody, making a soft crackling noise as they marched across it to the road. “It’ll be hard to sneak up on anyone if you’re walking across this stuff,” commented Top, “Even if they can’t see you, they’re going to hear you coming a long way off.”

  The field was roughly square-shaped with each side about a quarter of a mile in length. Some sort of tree analog ringed the field, although Calvin couldn’t see what it looked like very well in the dark. A road ran through the middle of the field, and the eight men and one woman began to follow it in the direction of a small town about ten miles away to the east. The ambassador had decided to start there, so that he could gather information on the civilization’s language and culture before meeting the rulers that he expected to find at the continent’s major city about 55 miles to the north.

  After about an hour on the
road, the planet’s orange star rose above the horizon. It wasn’t as bright as the Earth’s sun, and the color was a little bit off. The strange shadows played tricks on the soldiers’ eyes and kept them from seeing the local who was walking toward them until he was within about 100 yards of them. The man was obviously some kind of farmer or merchant, as he was leading an animal pulling a wagon loaded with some kind of red fruit or vegetable.

  The man appeared very much like a human in form and function, although one that was very robustly built and powerful looking; he was almost as well-muscled as the surgically-enhanced soldiers. His forehead was fairly straight with only slight brow ridges, and he had a prominent chin jutting from a head that was a little larger than normal for the Terrans. The man was about five and a half feet tall with a wide face and prominent nose. He had both dark brown skin and hair, which fell most of the way down his back in a long braid.

  The animal that was pulling the wagon was taller than the man and nearly five feet wide. As the wagon drew near, Calvin decided that the beast looked like a cross between a hippo and an elephant. The creature was hippo-like in appearance, but stood at least seven feet high at the shoulders. The biggest difference was its color; the hippophant was a brilliant cobalt blue.

  The man leading the animal walked along looking at the ground mumbling something. He happened to look up as he approached the group and, seeing the large group of men clad in black, he gave a shout and took off running in the direction from which he had come.

  “Did anyone catch what he said?” asked Ambassador Flowers.

  “I didn’t,” replied Top. “The translation software didn’t have enough to evaluate it...although it did give an 85% chance that what he said was a swear word.” Looking at the hippophant, he asked, “Do you suppose we should bring this along?”

  Calvin looked at the large animal. When the man dropped its reins, the beast had taken a couple of steps off the road to munch on some of the woody grass that was growing there. The hippophant made a loud crunching noise as it chewed with its mouth open.

  “It appears tame,” said Calvin. “Yeah, let’s bring it. Maybe we can get some brownie points for returning it.”

  Top looked around to find the junior man. “Petty Officer Conboy, you’re on animal detail.” Taking a couple of steps closer to where the animal was eating, Top scrunched up his face. “I didn’t think this planet could smell any worse, but that damn thing does. Make sure you stay downwind of us!”

  After another couple of hours, the walls of the town came into view. They hadn’t seen another person along the way, which Calvin found a little troubling. A couple of the houses they passed had smoke coming from their chimneys, but all of them appeared to be boarded up tightly. The man they saw must have alerted the locals to their presence, Calvin decided. The soldiers refrained from approaching the houses, as the ambassador didn’t want to scare the locals into doing something they would all regret later.

  As the group approached the town, they could see that the town’s gates were shut and the walls were manned. Calvin looked closer and saw that almost all of the men on the walls were armed with crossbows. These weapons were different from terrestrial crossbows, in that the Eridanian version had two bows on the end of them, rather than just one. While the soldiers that looked down on them from the walls were not quite pointing their weapons at the Terran delegation, they also weren’t pointing them very far away from them, either.

  “Everyone stay calm and don’t make any sudden movements,” commed Calvin. “We don’t want anyone getting hasty here. Anyone know the max range of a crossbow?”

  “I’ve hunted with one,” replied Top, “and I wouldn’t shoot at anything much beyond about 40 yards. You can hit something with it further than that, but most of the kinetic energy is gone, and you can’t ensure accurate penetration.”

  “Got it,” said Calvin. “Let’s stop about 50 yards out then.”

  Top called a halt when the first rank got to about 50 yards.

  “Let them make the first move,” commed the ambassador. The group waited for the people on the wall to do something.

  And they waited.

  And waited some more. Ten minutes went by without anything happening.

  “Umm...how long would you like to wait?” asked Calvin.

  “I’m surprised that no one has come out to meet with us,” replied the ambassador. “Obviously they don’t have a cultural imperative to welcome foreigners.”

  “Hello in the town!” called Calvin

  “Grteap sgrti whir mungr!” replied the only man not holding a crossbow, pointing to the north.

  “How about you open the gates, and we discuss this over a beer?” asked Calvin in a hopeful tone.

  “Grteap sgrti whir mungr!” replied the same man again, gesturing even more pointedly to the north.

  “So a beer is out of the question?” asked Calvin. The man that had replied moved out of sight.

  “Hey sir,” said Top, “maybe he’s going to get that beer for you after all.”

  A small door at the base of the gate opened, and a man was forcibly pushed through it. He turned around and tried to go back through the door, but it slammed in his face. He turned to face them, looking scared, but moved no further. “That looks like the guy we saw earlier, sir,” commed Cabo Segundo Cristobal Contreras. The Chilean sergeant had been the closest to the man earlier. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s the same guy.” The man, if indeed it was the same one, did not appear to want to get any closer to the Terrans now than he had earlier in the day.

  After a few seconds, the other man appeared back on the wall. Seeing that the man at the door hadn’t moved, the man on the wall yelled something down to him. The door behind him opened and, before he could make a move toward it, the point of some sort of bladed weapon poked at him. Seeing he had no choice, he shuffled resignedly over to Petty Officer Conboy, who was still holding the reins of the hippophant. Taking the reins from him, the man started leading the animal to the north.

  He walked about ten yards and then turned to look at the Terrans. Seeing they hadn’t moved, he gave a very familiar ‘come along’ motion with his hand and began walking again. To emphasize what he wanted, the man on the wall said “Go!” and pointed in their direction of travel.

  “My translation software caught that as ‘go,’” said Calvin to the ambassador.

  “Mine did, as well,” the ambassador replied. “Apparently, all diplomats must check in with the capital first.” He looked at the troops all waiting for his decision. “In that case,” he said, “I guess we’ll just have to follow our guide.”

  The Terrans turned and began following the local. Calvin looked back once to see that all of the people on the wall were still staring at them. The crossbowmen did not seem to have relaxed their postures any. Calvin turned back to follow the group. He resisted the urge to give their leader, who was now smiling broadly, the finger.

  The group walked for about a mile with the man looking back at the town from time to time. Finally, they went around a curve, and the town was lost from sight. Sighing, the man turned to Calvin and said, “Go fheri akdje mene eoosj.”

  Calvin shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry, but I don’t have any idea what you’re saying,” he said.

  The man sighed again and pointed at Calvin. “You.” He pantomimed eating. “Eat.” He pointed at himself. “Me.” He added one more word, but it didn’t get translated.

  Calvin repeated in the man’s language, “Me eat you.”

  He shook his head, “Yes.”

  “Apparently the translation program picked up something we missed,” said Top, “because I know he shook his head ‘no.’”

  “Or shaking his head means ‘yes’ in this culture,” said the ambassador, who had been trained not to apply his own mannerisms to other cultures. He turned to the local. “We are not going to eat you.”

  The man looked confused. “Eat treeji?” he asked, pointing at the hippophant.

  “N
o, we are not going to eat the treeji either,” answered the ambassador. He turned to Calvin. “Why don’t we break here for lunch, and let me talk with this man for a while. That will give the translation software a chance to catch up, and then maybe we can make some sense of what is going on here.”

  Two hours later, the ambassador and the local man rejoined the group. During that time, they had seen five groups of travelers. Four of the groups had gone off the road to avoid the Terrans; the other group had a heavily laden wagon that they turned around instead.

  The man walked up to the wagon where the treeji was happily munching the ‘grass’ on the side of the road. He pulled several of the red items from it. “Would you like a yurg fruit?” he asked.

  “No, thank you,” replied Calvin. Looking at the ambassador he said, “It looks like the translation program has figured out the language.”

  “For most things, yes,” agreed the ambassador. “This is Gurp, a farmer from southwest of here. He is convinced that we are here to eat him and destroy his society.”

  “Well, I got the fact that he thought we were going to eat him,” said Calvin, “although the destroying society part is new. Why does he think we’re going to do those things?”

  “They have a belief that things that look like men, but who are not men, will come from the skies dressed in black clothing and destroy their society. Apparently this happened once before, and the only thing that saved this civilization was the arrival of angels, who came from the skies to drive them off.” He looked at Gurp and then back to Calvin. “We are, quite simply, the bogeymen.”

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  Chapter Fourteen

  Approaching Remurn, Epsilon Eridani ‘a’, May 3, 2019

  The Terrans had spent two nights on the road to the capital city of Remurn. They did not have to fight traffic, even as they approached the capital city. All of the locals avoided the Terrans like they were diseased. As they came around a bend, the city was finally visible about a mile away. It sat on a plateau that rose over 100 feet above the rest of the terrain with a natural ramp 50 feet wide that led up to it.