by S. H. Jucha
“Mickey, are any Omnians in contact with Phette?” Jess asked.
“Yes, he and his mate are with Juliette,” Mickey replied.
“Would you ask them to come here?” Jess requested.
The Pims arrived quickly in the arms of Juliette. They were loath to travel aboveground to reach Mickey’s unfenced work zone.
“Mickey, you know Phette. Have you met Oforum, his mate?” Jess asked.
“We’ve met, Captain,” Oforum replied. Phette and she had jumped to the ground, and she was walking around the shadow or trying to do that. The shadow had focused on her and was turning with her as she walked.
“What does this do?” Oforum asked.
Mickey explained the integration of the sniffer, the shadow, and the lasers. He was proud of what his teams had completed in a relatively short period of time. Unfortunately, Mickey deflated when he saw Jess’s frown. Worse, the Pims displayed flattened whiskers. He’d learned flattened whiskers meant many things, and all of them were negative.
“Captain?” Phette queried.
“I know,” Jess replied. “It occurred to me too. That’s why I sent for you.”
“Well, someone, help me understand,” Mickey complained.
With their excellent auditory sensors, SADEs had overheard the conversation. They signaled Mickey’s human engineers to join them, as they gathered to listen and learn from Jess and the Pims.
“Mickey,” Phette said, “how does your shadow know when it enters a gully that there’ll be an exit out the other end?”
“It won’t,” Mickey said, “unless we work up a comm system that can communicate with a traveler or we download the fleet’s telemetry recordings of the planet. That would require we increase the shadow’s memory. We hadn’t intended to do that. The present solution for the shadow would be to reverse course to exit the gully.”
“But what if it smelled insectoids in the gully?” Oforum asked.
“Then it would proceed into the gully. When it located the insectoids visually, it would fire the lasers at them,” Mickey replied.
“But what if the insectoids weren’t in the gully?” Oforum said.
“You just said —” Mickey began.
“No, Mickey,” Miriam interrupted. “Oforum suggested the insectoids’ biochemical signatures were detected. She didn’t say they were in the gully. They could have been there earlier, or they might be on the ground above the gully.”
“What you’re learning, Mickey,” Jess interjected, “is that the scents will travel, and they’ll linger.”
“Are you saying this idea won’t work?” Mickey asked. “Captain, you could have visited us earlier and saved us a lot of effort.”
“And you could have come to me with your designs,” Jess shot back.
Mickey ducked his head. When he looked up, the anger he’d felt had drained. “My mistake, Captain, we’ll look into other ideas with your cooperation.”
“Mickey, is a shadow strong?” Oforum asked. She leapt on top of the shadow. Its legs momentarily bowed before extending to their normal positions.
“Make it move, Mickey,” Oforum requested.
Miriam signaled the shadow to walk around the worktable.
“Not walk, move,” Oforum objected. Then she bent on all fours and gripped the shadow’s frame with her sharp nails.
Miriam made the shadow run, twist and turn, and climb small obstacles. SADEs and humans jumped out of the path of the shadow that hurried through its paces.
Oforum’s high-pitched shrieks were evident of the joy that she felt.
When Miriam considered that she’d adequately demonstrated the shadow’s capabilities, she returned it to the group.
Oforum dismounted. Her small needle-sharp teeth were bared in enjoyment.
Phette eyed Jess, and said, “It’ll work.”
“Yes, it will,” Jess agreed. “Mickey, to make your invention successful, we need to couple it with biological intelligence.”
“Yes,” Phette exclaimed. “I will need a seat with a safety harness and a means of directing the shadow through the terrain.”
“We will need seats,” Oforum declared, standing atop the shadow.
The onlookers watched Phette’s whiskers flatten tightly against his face.
“How many completed shadows can you build, Mickey?” Jess asked.
Mickey glanced toward Miriam, who said, “We’ve the components to assemble twenty units now.”
“When could we have the first two?” Oforum asked.
“In two days,” Miriam replied.
“I’ll arrange the tests,” Jess said. “Juliette would you provide transport for Phette and Oforum, please?”
Juliette understood the Pim dynamics that Jess was attempting to control. She scooped up the Pims and led Jess out of the engineering structure.
Oforum was in her element, enjoying the moment. In contrast, Phette was fuming and glaring at his mate.
“Phette, I want you to think about what we’re trying to achieve on your planet,” Jess said encouragingly. “Mickey will deliver twenty shadows. Which Pims will ride them?”
“Males should take the risks,” Phette declared stubbornly, to which Oforum issued a deriding sound.
“What will happen, my mate, when the first male dies in an accident or in the pincers of an insectoid?” Oforum challenged.
Juliette found the Pims’ exchange amusing. She was tempted to share it but deemed it private. Nonetheless, the two Pims stood on her forearms near the elbows. They’d braced themselves on her shoulder with one hand so that they could face each other, as they argued.
Phette prepared to retort, but his brain, which had kicked into gear, halted the words before they left his mouth. He knew that recruiting nineteen males would be difficult, and the first death would result in desertions.
“I think recruiting the necessary number will be difficult,” Phette allowed.
“Not so, my mate,” Oforum said gently. “Females have been talking. Our visitors have showed us a new way to exist. It’s time to leave the safety of our abodes, tunnels, and burrows. To achieve that, we intend to fight for it.”
Phette was flabbergasted. He had nothing to say to Oforum’s declaration.
Jess was surprised too. He’d never considered the idea that female Pims would fight. The male Pims were docile enough, and he falsely assumed that the females would be more retiring.
Then Jess recalled Tatia, Deirdre, and Lucia — women who led warships. It seems to be a common male mistake, regardless of race, to underestimate the females, Jess thought.
20: Shadow Tests
On the morning of the shadow tests, Phette tried one more time to convince Oforum to change her mind. She ignored his beseeching and scampered out of the abode.
Mickey requested the SADEs load the two shadows in a cargo shuttle within the fenced area.
When Phette and Oforum boarded the traveler, she immediately chose a shadow and jumped onto the seat. She adjusted the harness to ensure a snug fit. A joystick to guide the shadow was front and center between her short legs.
“How will we know when the shadow has detected insectoid scents?” Phette asked, giving into the inevitability of his mate’s intentions.
Mickey reached in front of Oforum and flicked up a small cover. “This screen will display a green dot,” he said. “That represents your shadow. When a red dot appears, that’s the relative direction of the detected scent. Graduated circles will shrink or grow to indicate the nearness or farness of the contact.”
“Then we should let the shadows head toward the red dots, unless the terrain prevents us,” Phette reasoned.
“Precisely,” Miriam replied.
“Where will we test the shadows?” Oforum asked.
“For these tests, each of you will be dropped in a previously unexplored area of the hunt,” Jess replied. “You’ll proceed
from those separate points. You might not encounter an insectoid. That’s part of the experiment. We need to understand the speed with which the shadows can detect and eliminate insectoids.”
“For today’s runs, the captain has asked that we deactivate three of the laser heads,” Mickey said. “Only the forward unit will fire. This is to prevent inadvertent injuries to your protectors.”
The Crocians rumbled their approval of the precaution. After all, they were the greater targets.
Mickey and his teams were confident of their shadows’ capabilities, but Jess had his doubts about how they would function in Pimbor’s rough terrain and against the devious reds and grays. He’d decided that only three Dischnya and the veterans of the Sylian campaign would accompany the Pims.
Phette beckoned to Jess, who knelt to hear the Pim. The Pim whispered, “You will go with Oforum, Captain? You will protect her for me?”
Jess hadn’t decided whether he would accompany the Pims. He’d considered remaining aboard the traveler and monitoring both ground actions via twin holo-vids, which Mickey and the teams were anxious to observe. But Phette’s earnest supplication decided the matter for him. He nodded, and as he gently patted the Pim’s little shoulder, he said, “I will accompany Oforum for you.”
Phette’s eyes glistened in gratitude, and Jess quickly rose to prevent from being overwhelmed by his own emotions. He was thankful his sister wasn’t aboard.
Jess observed the terrain on a holo-vid and requested Mickey drop Phette near a stream. The Pim’s protectors were Homsaff, Sam, Bortoth, and Tacnock. Jess and Tacnock clasped forearms before they parted.
Bortoth grunted appreciatively, when he saw the friends’ usual gesture. He would have vociferously denied being superstitious to anyone who might have accused him of that characteristic, except maybe in this circumstance. When it came to encountering the Colony, he welcomed any power that might aid the veterans.
Jess chose an area near a landslide of rock and rubble for Oforum.
As the SADEs offloaded Oforum’s shadow, Simlan, Hessan, and Daktora prepared their weapons. When they heard the snick of a breech, they turned and saw Jess checking his launcher.
“You accompany us, Captain?” Hessan asked. When Jess walked past the Dischnya to catch up to Oforum and her shadow, Hessan remarked, “I think that’s a yes.”
Phette was the first to pick up a target, but the graduation lines of his display were compressed. The scent was far in the distance, and the shadow would be required to cross a stream.
Homsaff had detected the scent too, but like all the protectors, she walked slightly behind the shadow, where Phette couldn’t see her.
Having located a target, the shadow moved swiftly toward the stream. Phette tapped the top of the joystick to interrupt its programming, which halted the legs in midstride.
Phette could tell by the tumbling current that the stream was too deep to cross. The shadow and he would be swept away by the water. Phette used the joystick to search downstream for a place to ford. After a quarter hour, he located a place where the stream broadened and was shallower. He drove the shadow across and noted approvingly that it wasn’t bothered by being entirely immersed in water. Although, he wasn’t happy to be riding with a wet bottom.
After crossing the stream, Phette stayed close to the bank and followed the brook upstream toward the original detection point. Then, following his instructions, he tapped the top of the joystick to return control to the shadow’s programming.
Freed of intervention, the shadow oriented toward the scent and set off. It climbed over tree roots, navigated rough animal trails, and skirted large boulders.
Several times, Phette corrected the shadow’s course to prevent riding through thick brush. The closer the dots converged on the display the less inclined Phette was to intervene.
When the dots nearly merged, Phette held up a hand to his protectors, who brought their launchers into firing positions.
The shadow edged toward a fallen tree. Over the annuals, the enormous trunk had settled into the ground, and animals had burrowed under it for refuge.
The shadows’ front legs tattooed the ground, increasing in strength and speed, which confused the team. However, the vibrations, which were transmitted through the ground, caused young insectoids to boil out of the burrow, expecting to find injured prey.
The mounted laser, spun, fired, and spun again. With efficient machine-guided precision, the laser eliminated seven young.
Phette was overjoyed by the shadow’s demonstration.
“Quicker reflexes than Dischnya,” Homsaff commented respectfully.
“And highly accurate against small targets,” Tacnock added. “Seven shots; seven kills.”
Phette’s elation over his early success dampened during the next two hours. He searched the area to find more targets for the shadow but to no avail.
“Patience, Phette,” Homsaff cautioned, when she noticed the Pim’s growing agitation. “Success won’t come in hours or days. It’ll arrive after annuals of scouring your planet to eliminate every insectoid.”
Oforum’s expectations were vastly different from her mate’s. While she was prepared to hunt, she basked in the pleasure of her integration with the shadow. Mickey’s invention offered her an unprecedented level of freedom, and it generated thoughts about the futures that might be available to Pims, especially females.
It was a while before Oforum’s display offered her targets. When it did, she saw two distinct red dots about eighty degrees apart. In one direction was a field of boulders. In the other lay trees and light ground cover. She chose the trees.
Jess, who’d stayed close to Oforum, saw the twin targets, and he used sign language to indicate the multiple targets to his companions and pointed toward the two locations.
As Oforum directed her shadow toward the trees, Daktora and Hessan faced the opposite direction to act as the team’s rear guard.
Oforum watched her dots, green and red, coincide. Her shadow stopped and turned in a circle, which concerned her protectors, especially when the active laser head swept past them.
Jess scanned the area. The shadow’s eccentric movements bothered him, and he surveyed every meter of the surroundings. His eyes settled on a tree that had partially fallen. It was wedged against two other trees, whose intertwined branches had arrested the toppling of the first tree. The intersection of the three trees was thicker than it should have been naturally.
Jess lightly snapped his fingers to attract attention. Then he pointed to the entangled section of limbs high in the air.
The protectors swung their launchers up to target the suspicious area.
Jess noted the shadow’s limited laser movement. It could rotate fully on a horizontal plane, but it tilted only about thirty degrees up and down on the vertical axis. He made a mental note to tell Mickey that the sniffer and the laser required unrestricted motion.
If the circumstances hadn’t called for Jess’s immediate attention, he would have laughed out loud. He’d suddenly recalled that Mickey and his teams were observing every moment of the two ground teams’ actions from the traveler overhead via Omnian implants.
When Jess saw his companions were ready, he whispered, “Three, two, one.”
The protectors fired, and a multitude of darts struck the sloped trunk, the broad branches, and penetrated the enclosure.
The gas darts did little damage to the heavy wood that they struck, but they did frighten the occupants, who were in hiding.
Three adult grays swiftly crawled along the trunk to claw their way down the far sides of the two supporting trees. Tens of small juveniles squirmed out of the nesting space and followed the adults.
Hessan moved to get a better shot at the adults, but Jess called him back.
“Everyone, stay behind the laser,” Jess ordered.
When the adult grays gained the ground, they disappeared into the undergrowth.
The young detected food in the various entities across the
clearing, and they raced to feed on the bounty that was offered.
Most of the juveniles were too small to be effectively targeted by launchers. Despite their small size, they were still deadly and worse, they were numerous.
Jess was about to order a retreat, but he feared Oforum might not be prepared to operate the shadow in a hasty manner.
When the juveniles hit the clearing, the shadow changed everything. Omnian technology operated at surprising speeds. The laser targeted and fired continuously, eliminating the young as they crossed the space from the trees to the protectors. Not a single juvenile came within three meters of the defenders’ line.
Hessan’s implant tallied the dead. “Thirty-four juveniles,” he said.
“Extremely effective against the young,” Daktora said, rumbling in admiration.
“Wait until other females hear about this,” Oforum exclaimed, and she patted the shadow in appreciation of its skills.
“Do we hunt the adults?” Simlan asked.
“Yes,” Jess replied, only to hear Oforum excitedly echo him.
This is going to transform Pim society, Jess thought. I hope they can weather it.
Oforum tapped her display, and Jess leaned over to look. One adult had run about twenty degrees to the left and stopped. The other two had stuck together and were about ten degrees to the right.
Jess touched the single dot on the left.
“Why, Captain?” Oforum inquired. “I could get these two over here,” she added, a dark nail indicating the pair of dots.
“This shadow and you are unproven against adults,” Jess replied. “Now, shall we proceed, or do I call in the shuttle?”
Oforum chastised herself for getting carried away. If she was to lead other females, it would be important for her to learn from experienced fighters, such as the captain. However, she was in no mood to apologize, certainly not to a male. Instead, she tapped the joystick’s top to take control of her shadow and guided it toward the single dot.
Where the brush was thick, Oforum drove around it. She evaded boulders and chose not to enter a gully. Slowly, she closed on the gray.
The shadow’s sniffer and laser pointed at a pile of dead brush, but the laser didn’t fire.