by Ken Pence
Shiv pointed to Rett first and his suit rendered everything but his head invisible since he hadn’t extended his helmet. She then indicated Colonel Darby – he disappeared except for his head. Next she had LeiLei, Xilatoi do the same thing.
“You are not invisible if they can see the head,” Sidra said still fighting her prejudices.
Shiv pointed to two progeny and they disappeared completely. “We use these troops when we board the Allung ships to disable their hidden weapons and take control. Most of our fleet is converted Allung ships. We are totally invisible when we extend helmets and some of our ships can do the same thing.” Shiv continued, “I think we did not bring any more invisible troops with us. Let me know if you find some that get lost.”
Sidra jerked around trying to see invisible boarders and then stopped and started tilting her head back and forth and Shiv did the same – VicVic laughter. “Yes sister. I believe you and your people are welcome to approach. We could not stop you if you came to harm us but I do not believe you or your people are a threat. You mentioned Trade. How long has it been since you have eaten Slesseroth?”
Shiv stopped. “It has been far too long. I also want to recruit more VicVic to join us.”
“That should not be hard sister. The Allung threat has turned us outward again and talk of adventure and massive wealth will convince many. You were not exaggerating were you?”
Shiv detached a small bag from her belt and gave it to Sidra.
“What is this?” she said and opened the bag and nearly fell over when she lost her footing. The bag contained hundreds of lamlee representing unimaginable wealth. “This is too much.”
“Those are yours as a…call it a visitation tariff – some of my crew would like to have shore leave so we can recruit and visit. The Allung had centuries of loot stored at their bases until we…liberated it. Our expedition is going to search the origin of lamlee.”
“Sister, I will distribute these to expedite approval.”
“Thank you,” Shiv said in a human recognizable nod of the head. “I will replace as many as you need.”
“I see the Earth human pattern continues,” Sidra said.
“Yes,” Shiv said. “That is how this race works…humans hate slavery and do not tolerate it. They also build wonderful hotels everywhere they go and have marvelous devices to make life easier and more enjoyable.”
***
Getting the remainder of the expedition close to Theta Arae was easier said than done. The Allung had recently attacked this planet and we were traveling in converted Allung ships so we expected reticence. We finally ferried many VicVic dignitaries and military leaders to tour our expedition ships. They were obviously distressed when they first saw the ships but chilled when they weren’t given views of the ships on approach but only after the tours without seeing one live Allung.
***
From the Journal of John Brattor
The remainder of the expedition moved closer to Theta Arae V so we could shuttle crews and sightseers to the planet. The planet was a lush tropical world with just enough axial tilt to have seasons. The VicVic required we have native guides and I was appreciative our settler tourists would not become lunch for the inhabitants. The émigrés had never been off their ships and this was an alien world that was strange and exhilarating. The bright white light made them wear wide brim hats and sunscreen but it was still beautiful. They walked around goggle-eyed seeing the curved buildings of the VicVic and riding their ‘hang-on’ public transportation – like a theme park but with more sights and smells.
Phillips (good old Eugene) wanted to start another hotel and the VicVic were…intrigued by the concept of commercial lodgings, as it was a foreign concept. The custom was to lodge at anyone’s home when traveling. They agreed to give Phillips a 99-year lease for one lamlee. I guess they thought a continued human presence on the planet would ensure more protection for their planet. He wasted no time and had contracted with the locals to build his hotel with slightly modified plans from Bellatrix. Phillips even added the shield protection technology and the locals (who had taken a pasting from the Allung) built a large trade center adjacent to the hotel in return for the technology we gave them.
Commodore Williams, over the objections of a few of the senior staff, gave them our jump technology, improved laser technology, and the Shuma-developed duplication tech. They were good hosts though they were scary as hell. Several settlers had panic attacks and had to be evacuated rapidly. There was one unfortunate death when a middle-aged had a cerebral hemorrhage when a VicVic snagged a rare, local predator near her. She died on the spot. C’est la vie…or should I say C’est la mort.
We had over a hundred volunteers – even a few of them male. Shiv seemed impressed by the young male, Safak, who had led the attack on our ships on arrival. We ended taking five males and forty of the best-qualified females – young female VicVics but most with serious academic credentials or reputations as fierce fighters. Shiv started them on a rigorous training program in accelerated time pods to get them up-to-speed quickly. They could understand all the languages of the expedition before we left orbit and they delighted they could change the gravity, moisture, color and lighting in their quarters.
We got a line on the Allung by putting together the chaotic information from the recent attack. Our computers are a lot faster than the ones the VicVic possessed and they are better at amalgamated data than any species we’ve encountered so far. We got the general direction they left from a recorded departure signature pulse. There was one battleship class and as many as nineteen others of mixed destroyer and frigate class. The VicVic said five were heavily damaged but we think that is wishful thinking. They could jump anywhere so we would have to be on alert as always.
The VicVic had developed some new methods of scanning. We traded for the tech with more lamlee – we had ships full of the stuff in any case. The VicVic couldn’t detect further distances than we could but got a much finer resolution than we could. We added their refinements to every ship we could before we departed. The VicVic identified several unoccupied worlds that we would check out for the would-be settlers.
We had a big conference and told those now restless settlers that we were going to Epsilon Lupi to meet with the Lemsa. They were angry we weren’t hunting down unoccupied planets but didn’t take our offer of going off on their own – especially after realizing some Allung were still out there. Phillips was overjoyed to get another hotel built. He’s getting those Eugene’s of his, built all over this end of the galaxy and I must say they are swank and luxurious for any species (Luxury for Any Species) is his motto and it’s pretty much true. Gives us a great place to stay in the future because he said the original crew would always be welcome free of charge…I’ll take that type of bribe any day.
An Entertaining Ploy
From the Journal of Commodore Andrew Williams
Epsilon Lupi B is closer to Earth but at 511 light years it's still a long way. It's a B type star that varies about ten times a day. Lupia 6 is the sixth planet away from the star and has almost no axial tilt so no seasons. No life evolved on the planet but it was Lemsa-formed (not Terraformed) when they arrived on the planet about 320 years before according to LeiLei. She described the planet as a paradise but she left it very young and got most of her education through the education center where she was an indentured worker (slave). She had been instrumental in releasing the other workers held captive there and then seemed to have fallen in love with Joel. She knew nothing about the population numbers or defenses so we were going to do a sneak and peak first.
The scout ships arrived at Epsilon Lupi 6 and spend several days orbiting the planet and monitoring electromagnetic communications and trade. They reported back to Commodore Williams.
Captain Ratnaike and Colonel Darby were there as were Shiv, Rett, Xilatoi, Lee and Tod. LeiLei was conspicuously absent.
“Before you ask…she is not here because I did not want her here at this stage. She left
the planet at a very early age, about seven (7) in her years. This is a colony and not an origin planet for her race. She remembers little. Captain Ratnaike, the floor is yours,” Andrew said.
“We were not detected. They have communication and weather satellites in orbit and some low orbital facilities but no sign of monitoring. We detected some trade to and from the planet. The Western main continent had the largest concentration of activity and population. We estimate the population at about 900 million. We got the figure from one of their broadcasts. They are not quite as technologically advanced as the VicVic but have some interstellar trade. We noticed Tros, Toi, and Hllumff.”
Ratnaike paused until he got a nod from Andrew to continue. “All the traffic was conventional and no traffic over 400 lights so they don’t have jump technology and few lamlee. The main spaceport handles all the interstellar traffic. I think LeiLei may come from the large population there – it's the largest concentrated population on the planet. I have had the computers producing maps and plotting named cities and landmarks. There isn’t enough traffic for nav control at the largest spaceport.”
“Okay people. Let’s not underestimate our impact here. We have no idea of the government like we had with the VicVic. LeiLei told Joel she only remembers squads of enforcers collecting taxes and tolls. She didn’t know what her parents did or much about them even though they have a type of evolutionary memory so education is quite different. She did remember that the upper classes lived well and had bells or something like them around their necks. Let’s go to it – most invisible and all in suits.”
***
The team was assembled that would go down in the shuttle. The destroyer would hold position in stealth mode with the second shuttle on standby. The contact team consisted of Tod, Desiree, Rett, LeiLei, Steve and Susan with four progeny in stealth mode. Tod was to be in charge this time and Joel, Shiv in overwatch with the Xilatoi, and Progeny teams. Darby was on standby with the fleet, which had moved to high orbit. All were in the silver suits. They were tense as they entered the shuttle for the descent. The trip down was quiet and they were to land at the spaceport. LeiLei knew she had come from the eastern section of the large city near the spaceport but not much more.
The ship landed a couple of hundred meters from the obvious administrative building. No one came out immediately to meet them and there was not an increase in radio traffic. After a few minutes a lone vehicle trundled over their way and stopped by the shuttle.
A large, obviously male Lemsa got off the vehicle, which looked like a very large golf cart and wandered over to them. They emerged from the shuttle and stood in a formation beside it with a carry bag each. The Lemsa walked down the line like an inspection until he got to LeiLei.
“Hey. A Mrrsha,” he said in Lemsa and reached out to grab her in her crotch.
LeiLei’s suit reacted, being on defensive mode, and struck the official with a lightning strike that knocked him off his feet and several feet down the pavement. He shook his head and sat up groggily on all fours before regaining his feet.
Tod decided to put on a haughty mode. “We are on a trade mission from a confederation of planets. We require accommodations and transportation,” he said in Trade but the official did not respond. He switched to Lemsa and said the same thing. The official rapidly retained his composure where a human would have been critically injured by such a blow. “I did not know with what she was wearing… I assumed. You need to pay the port fee no matter who you are. You owe 100 RWerr.”
Tod held out two small gold coins. The official looked at them and snatched them out of Tod’s hand and bit into them gently with his large teeth. “This is acceptable. I will take you to a tavern…best in Rhermarr. Get in.”
They loaded the cart and headed toward the town.
The cart drove past some dilapidated shanties along the way and LeiLei sat up and grabbed Joel. “I think I recognize some of these places.”
Joel indicated to stay cool and they pulled up to pedestrian looking tavern. At least it looked clean as the driver hopped out and rushed in. Tod caught the driver showing the manager his two coins, which he tucked rapidly into a belt harness that went around his waist.
The manager wore nothing but the same style of harness as the driver but he had a small green garnet stone around his neck…Tod had noticed the driver had a green garnet embedded in the center of his chest. The manager rushed up to them as they came in and motioned for a scraggly looking male to come forward and get their bags.
“We need six of your best rooms. Mine should be large,” Tod said wishing Phillips had already built a Eugene on this world – it could certainly use one, he thought as he looked around. Form follows function he thought, as the room wouldn’t have looked out of place in nineteenth century Europe.
The manager started to comply and then noticed LeiLei. “Hey. Her kind cannot stay here. I run a respectable tavern here.”
“She stays or we leave,” Tod said and motioned everyone to pack up and leave.
The manager was a study in conflict and you could see him calculating how much money he was going to lose if they all left. “She can stay but no business here no matter how much it costs me...none of that stuff here,” he said. “Keep her out of sight dressed like that at least.”
LeiLei seemed very upset but they all settled down a bit as they were ushered up to their rooms in an elevator. It was enough like an Earth elevator except you would have lost an arm if you extended it as it rose. They apparently were going to take all but one room on the top floor. Most of the rooms would have been recognizable in any small town except the bed was a large square pad about 30 centimeters thick with a removable covering and one, something, that passed for a blanket.
There was running water in a deep sink and a toilet of sorts with a small flexible hose off to the left of the…facilities. There was no shower or hot water. Light was provided with a small lever on the wall that released a chemical and a glass-covered strip on the wall got very bright and lit up the room. There was another strip and lever on the other side of the room and a smaller strip in the bathroom.
Tod had them all come to his room after they had gotten settled in. They came to his room and looked around. His room was three times as large as their rooms and had a much larger, thicker pad. The bathroom was similar but his room had a nice balcony overlooking the city. He asked them to sit on the cubicles that served as chairs on this world. He signaled the four progeny that had followed them invisibly into the room to appear.
“I hope your rooms are acceptable. I notice we cannot lock our doors when we leave and there is a simple bolt for when you sleep. We have quite a few puzzles here,” he said and then indicated Rett without saying his name as that implied intimacy to a Tros.
“You find out about the jewelry and clothes from the innkeeper. Desiree and Steve…please do a tourist bit and find out something about this squirrely place. Get us something to eat,” he turned to the progeny. “One here to protect us, one with Rett and you two go with Steve and Desiree. LeiLei. Water?” he asked to distract her. “We will find out why they are treating you like they are. Meet back here in two hours or less. Keep your Dex channels open and recording. Suit fields on as much as you can tolerate. Do not fly or show advanced technology yet. Leilei is so educated that I wonder why these people seem so backward.”
***
Two hours crawled by as LeiLei curled up on Tod’s big bed and looked like a toddler who had been scolded. He felt his heart go out to her. She had been so excited to get back home.
Rett was the first to arrive and Steve and Desiree came in a few minutes later with paper sacks that would have been recognizable if anyone still used them on Earth. They also had fruit and bottles and charred meat on sticks. Steve had a huge bundle of the sticks.
“I do not know what this is but it tastes wonderful. I think they smoke it to preserve it more than for anything else but I got the street vendor to cook it longer. He made me pay for it first because h
e said I was ruining it.” He started passing out the charred skewers of meat and Tod, Desiree, and Steve grabbed some. LeiLei looked crushed but Steve unwrapped several sticks of meat that were only lightly smoked – they were raw and fresh. He gave them to LeiLei. “We did not forget you pretty one.”
LeiLei took the skewers with a smile that would light the room and gave out a little squeal when she ripped off a bit and swallowed. “I remember this – oh yes – I remember this raftee. I love raftee,” she said and quickly devoured the rest.
Desiree turned to Rett without smiling and said, “I found you some fruit that should be suitable. I also found a dealer that carried some fresh squeezed juice that is similar to grape juice.”
Rett took the fruit and bottles of juice. He had a bit of a problem pealing off the top but made sounds of approval, as he polished off two bottles in rapid succession.
Tod turned to the four progeny. “Did you observe any weapons or hostile acts?”
“We noticed that there were quite a few large individuals with lead filled impact weapons, many with curved knives and a few with molecular disruptors of Hllumff manufacture. There was much discussion as to our silver suits and that we were rich traders. They did not know what species we were and some speculated that we might be good targets at night.”
Desiree spoke up. “I didn’t hear any of that…where did you hear that?”
“We paralleled your positions – being invisible, we could see and hear details you could not,” said the closest progeny.
Rett spoke up. “LeiLei looks like a prostitute because prostitutes wear clothing to tantalize the males. She also had no precious stone, class representation. These people wear rank stones. Diamonds are the highest, rubies next, then emeralds. Many semi-precious stones represent the common classes. The upper classes polish their stones using an abrasive compound tumbled for a long period. They do not have faceted stones. I was surprised when I first saw that Earth beings could make stones look like they did. Then I found they could make perfect synthetic stones. We need stones to be treated well.”