A New Threat

by Aaron DeMott

  Yes.

  Incredible.

  That’s a space elevator. Over a thousand years ago, we used chemical rockets to launch objects into space. The space elevator was constructed in the late twenty-first century. It let us get material into orbit easier and cheaper than ever before. Later on we learned how to manipulate gravity to get off the surface, but the elevator is still the most efficient way to get cargo into space.

  After the transport docked with the station, Bast and Rrrark followed Tomed off the ship, through a series of corridors, and into a small round room filled with rows of black plastic seats. Bast sat next to a window and peered down at the planet’s surface.

  After a few moments, every seat in the small cabin was filled, and a view screen on the far wall blinked on.

  “Attention, passengers—” A young human woman’s image appeared on the screen. “The lift to the surface is about to depart. Please store any baggage you may have securely beneath your seat and fasten your safety restraints.”

  Bast watched as the woman on the screen demonstrated how the restraints worked. Bast pulled the strap out from the side of the seat and frowned at it. There was no way it would go around her. Also, it was designed to hold one’s back against the chair. She’d slide of her precarious perch if she tried that.

  She flattened one ear and looked over at Tomed. “Um, do you have an ideas?”

  “Not really. Sorry.” Tomed shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry about it, I guess.”

  The woman couldn’t have smiled wider if she tried while she demonstrated each action of the safety instructions.

  “This lift is equipped with the latest in motion reduction equipment, to make your trip as pleasant as possible. However, due to high speed during transit, some individuals may experience motion-related discomfort. If you find yourself experiencing such discomfort, sanitary bags are available at either end of the lift. Have a pleasant journey and enjoy your stay on Earth.”

  The screen turned off, and the lift started to descend. Bast couldn’t feel the lift move that much, but she could hear the lift’s motors as they turned at a high rate of speed.

  “So where on your planet does this take us?” Bast gazed out the window as the ocean grew larger. She could make out brown and green dots. Were they islands?

  “To a landing platform in the middle of the planet’s largest ocean. From there, we’ll take an atmospheric transport to UGAL headquarters in the California territories, where a lot of politicians will want to meet you. After that, we’ll see if we can work out a schedule for you to see anything that might interest you.”

  Rrrark turned to Tomed. “The guidebook had some suggestions on a few things to do and see for first time visitors to Earth to get a general impression of the people and culture.”

  “I’m glad it helped. Earth has so many different cultures that it can be somewhat overwhelming to try to get a picture of our race as a whole.”

  Bast listened idly while Tomed and Rrrark talked about different cultures and customs. She was mildly interested in the topic, but there was just so much to see on this trip. She had never been outside the Great Forest of the Mer-ahsh clan’s territory, which had only rivers and a few lakes; nothing like the sea spreading below the window. It stretched almost as far as she could see and looked like it grew larger as they approached the surface.

  “I wonder how many fish there are,” she said.

  Tomed and Rrrark turned to look at her.

  “Hungry?” Tomed asked.

  Bast lowered her head. “Sorry, just thinking aloud.”

  “Ah.”

  Bast remained quiet for the rest of the ride and stared out the window. Eventually the lift reached the bottom, and she followed the others out of the room, through a long terminal, and onto an open-air platform.

  The crisp, fresh air smelled of salt mixed with oil, steel, and humans. In front of her and to her right, several long steel arms stretched out into the water. A number of watercraft were tied to them at differing intervals. Over to her left was a long, flat floating platform. Several things she could only assume were vehicles sat on top of the platform. Bast padded over to the left to inspect them further.

  Each craft was shaped like a rounded cylinder with a flattened mast that stuck up at one end, and a door close to the tapered end. Behind the door was a horizontal slit that looked as though something might come out of it. What its purpose was, she couldn’t guess.

  Tomed approached one of the strange craft. Bast followed closely. A door close to the tapered end of the craft swung open when they were a half-dozen lengths from it.

  A girl with blond hair and a brightly colored shirt bounded down the steps and waved to them. “Hi, Tomed. I’m on time today, see!”

  She did a double-take when she saw Bast and Rrrark. “Oh! The aliens everyone’s been talking about. I’m so honored to meet you! I’ve always wanted to meet someone from another planet, but there aren’t many visitors to Earth, at least, not when I’m around anyway...” she took a breath and looked like she was about to keep going when Tomed interrupted.

  “Bast, Rrrark, this is Gale. Gale, Bast and Rrrark, from the Mer-ahsh clan of the planet Alkask.”

  “Gail?” Bast asked, “like the A.I. we met earlier?”

  Gale sighed. “Tomed! Quit introducing me like that!” She poked him in the ribs. “Everyone asks me that now, ever since that darn thing was introduced. And my name is spelled G-a-l-e, not G-a-I-l. But I go by my middle name, Evelyn, for a variety of reasons.”

  “What are those things?” Bast asked, pointing at the craft.

  “Those are grav-jets,” Evelyn used her thumb to point over her shoulder at the craft. “The latest model. It’s one of the fun little perks of working for the Psygens—I get to play with all the latest stuff.”

  “Grav-jets…nice name. What do they do?”

  Tomed laughed. “They’re a method of air transportation. It’s used for longer journeys and almost every human has one these days. The one we’re headed toward is mine, and we’ll be traveling to UGAL headquarters.”

  “Right this way.” Evelyn stood to the side of the stairs leading up into the grav-jet and swept her arm up toward the entrance. “Ladies and gentlemen, er, aliens, er, Meskka…” Her voice trailed off and her face flushed. “Uh, welcome aboard.”

  Bast climbed up into the craft and looked around as Rrrark and Tomed boarded after her. Tomed sat in the front-left seat. Evelyn ran up the steps and pressed a button to shut the hatch before she leapt over the right-front seat and landed with a small thump. She looked over to Tomed and then pressed a few different buttons. The jet whined as the engines fired up.

  Tomed turned around to face Bast. “You two might want to strap yourselves in. We’re getting ready for takeoff.”

  Bast watched as Rrrark laid across a row of seats and pulled the restraint across his midsection. Bast took the row behind him and repeated his actions. It wasn’t terribly comfortable, and it probably wasn’t all that secure, but it was better than nothing. Or was it?

  Evelyn nudged her control stick, and the jet turned. A short runway stretched before the windscreen. She pulled on the stick, her hand dancing over the dashboard buttons. The jet lurched forward, gaining momentum and speed.

  Bast felt like her stomach stayed behind without her. A low growl of displeasure came from her throat.

  “Oh, sorry.” Tomed looked over his shoulder. “I should have mentioned that this craft doesn’t have inertia dampeners. The flight shouldn’t take long—hang in there. We’re about to take off.”

  The aircraft’s nose tipped upwards and its wheels left the ground. Bast’s ears pressed against her head while her innards tried to tell her they were still on the ground.

  Chapter 4

  Jonathan Vincent harrumphed as he walked down the steps of the Assembly building. Tonight’s meeting had started out well enough. The Earth government’s subcommittee on spacecraft technology had asked Anaheim Q-tronics to give a presentation on t
heir latest advancements. The presence of the delegation from SeQish hinted something bigger than a standard update was on the agenda.

  The presentation itself went well—right up until the final announcement. Apparently some higher-up decided it’d make him look good if he sucked up to those fish with the gift of the von Braun, the latest Heim-class starship. Up until that point Jonathan had hoped it was just a bad rumor.

  He really didn’t have anything against the SeQish, but he had put all his creative energies into developing those ships to benefit mankind, not animals. There were still thousands of starving children all over Earth. Jonathan was convinced that space exploration and development could help solve those problems, either by giving the poor some opportunities on a colony world, or finding whole planets to farm and supplement Earth’s strained resources. Many in the past had this dream before him. Now the dream was within the reach of reality. The few colonies Earth had founded had only recently started to produce enough resources to send back to Earth. Then the bureaucrats had decided to give one of the most advanced starships man had created to a bunch of fish.

  His driver opened the door to his limousine. He yawned and flopped down into the seat. He should have been angry about this, but instead he just felt tired. All he could think about was the work his department had put into making the von Braun even better than other ships in the Heim class. All that work for nothing.

  He poured himself a small glass of bourbon as his driver climbed into the front of the limousine.

  “Home, sir?”

  Jonathan thought for a moment before he replied. “No. Stop by the office first. I have a few things I have to do before I head home. Shouldn’t take long.”

  “Very well, sir.”

  Jonathan pressed the button to raise the partition between the seats as the car silently pulled out into the street. When the partition closed, he downed the last of the bourbon and picked up the phone. He hesitated a moment and then punched in a number.

  Someone answered the call, and Jonathan spoke quickly, biting out his words. “I want to try it my way one more time before I commit to your alternative.” He hung up the phone and poured himself another drink.

  The car pulled up to the entrance to the Anaheim Q-tronics headquarters a few minutes later. Jonathan stepped out and went up to his office. He grabbed a holo-disc from one of his desk drawers. In a few moments he brought up the specs for the von Braun on his computer and copied them to the holo-disc, along with the personnel list of the technicians who had working on the ship. He also copied the files for other projects he had worked on, and most of the projects that were still in development.

  He grabbed another holo-disc and copied the program and research notes for the artificial intelligence designed to manage all of UGAL’s operations.

  When those files finished he added all available files on the Psygens from SatNet—in addition to a few he didn’t technically have authority to access—and pocketed that disc as well. He then cleared the log from his terminal before he returned to the waiting car.

  His wife Andrea waited inside the door when he arrived home. The porch light highlighted the red in her hair rather than its usual deep blonde. He offered her a smile and admired her before stepping across the threshold.

  “Honey, are you okay?” Worry lined her face.

  “You saw the news then?” he asked.

  “Yes.” She hugged him and cuddled up close in his arms.

  He wrapped his arms around her and kicked the door shut. He sighed. “I don’t know what they’re thinking. They’re throwing it all away. I don’t have anything against the SeQish, but I’ve worked for years on this project so we can still have food and energy for everyone without ruining the beauty of Earth. We could truly have a Utopian society here on Earth and keep the mess needed to produce the energy on other planets without hurting anyone. But we’ll never get there if we keep giving our planet’s resources away to animals!”

  “Yes, dear.”

  John tried to summon a smile. “I’m sorry. Who knows how many times you’ve heard this rant?”

  “It’s all right.” She smiled and led him to the kitchen. “You need to vent. Let me make you some herbal tea. It’ll soothe your nerves.”

  Bast jumped out of the jet as soon as its movement ceased.

  “Land!” She sprawled out on the pavement and just enjoyed the feeling of firm, motionless ground.

  Rrrark did much the same thing.

  Tomed climbed down after them and stood silently behind them. Bast was grateful. She needed a moment for her stomach to settle before she moved again.

  Evelyn finished shutting down the engines, paused at the top of the steps, and glanced back in the cabin of the grav-jet. “Oh, eww! Do I have to clean that up?”

  Tomed shrugged and took a few steps toward Bast and Rrrark. “Our first stop is the Psygen Building where I have a few quick things to do, and then I’ll show you the apartments we have for visiting dignitaries, where you will be staying. It’s about a kilometer from here.”

  Bast looked around at the towering buildings and concrete sidewalks. It was all so different from home. Only a few small trees lined the sidewalk, no dirt in sight, and she couldn’t hear or smell anything but humans.

  Rrrark’s ears flicked around and his nostrils flared as he smelled his surroundings.

  Doesn’t really look like a planet, does it? She asked.

  Not very. He glanced around the open area of the airport. Nowhere to hide, no vantage points.... He stopped and chuckled softly. “I’ve been a scout too long.”

  Tomed smiled. “Not quite the surroundings you’re used to, is it?”

  “It’s... different,” Bast said.

  “That it is. Personally, I think your people have a much finer sense of beauty when it comes to designing cities.”

  They walked in silence the rest of the way to the Psygen building. Bast gaped at the skyscrapers lining the streets. Most of the steel and glass structures towered out of sight. Rrrark, too, openly stared at the alien buildings. That reassured her.

  They stopped in front of a building several stories taller than the surrounding ones. Its polished white surface contrasted sharply with the blacks, reds, and greens of the others.

  Tomed led them through the double doors at the front into a large room with a floor of polished rock. A lighter shade of the same kind of rock made the walls. Couches were spaced around the room. Several plants grew in pots arranged around the furniture and set in the corners.

  A woman who looked about the same age as Tomed sat up straight on the edge of a couch in the center of the room, yet still managed to look comfortable. Her long black hair hung down her back, tied by a single ribbon. Unlike the other humans Bast had seen so far, she wore long, flowing garments. A distinct presence surrounded her. She stood and glided toward the two Meskka, nodding to each of them in greeting. “You must be Bast and Rrrark.”

  Bast no longer found it strange so many people knew who she was, but there seemed to be something different about this human. Tomed gazed at the woman with a slight smile on his face and she returned his look.

  Tomed cleared his throat and turned to his guests. “Bast, Rrrark, this is Psygen Nilre Nor.”

  Nilre smiled and inclined her head.

  Bast took a step forward and sat. “May I ask you a question, Nilre?”

  “Of course.”

  “Humans seem to all have two parts to their name, and I was wondering why.”

  “The first name is the one given to a person by their parents. The second name is a family—or clan—name.”

  “Then, you and Tomed are related?”

  “Not exactly—”

  “—The surnames were started several thousand years ago.” Tomed glanced at Nilre, then back to Bast. “And by now there are branches so far apart that it’s fairly common for people to have the same last name and not be related. Psygens are a bit different though; we all have the same last name, and are slightly related, bu
t not directly.”

  Tomed’s stomach growled.

  Nilre turned her head toward Tomed, and the corner of her mouth pulled up a fraction. “I believe it’s time for lunch. Would you care to join us?”

  Bast’s stomach rumbled in reply.

  “I think that’s a ‘yes,’” Tomed said.

  Bast stepped behind Rrrark, her ears flat to the back of her head with embarrassment.

  “If you’ll follow me, please,” Nilre said.

  She led them out the doors and down the street to a small outdoor cafe. Bast hadn’t thought anything about having prepared meals on the Goddard, or on the space station, but the meals on-planet also seemed to be stored and prepared in advance.

  Hey Rrrark, do you think humans only eat cooked food, or is it just because the city is so big there’s no room for wild game?

  I’m not sure. It seems strange to us, but I believe they don’t eat raw meat in their culture.

  “That would be correct, Rrrark.” Nilre had her nose in a menu and didn’t appear to notice them both stare at her.

  “You’ll get used to it.” Tomed raised and lowered his eyebrows and tilted his head slightly. “Nilre is the most powerful telepath I’ve ever met. She probably didn’t even know you weren’t talking out loud.”

  “I knew.” Nilre set the menu down on the table. “I am also sorry for intruding on a private conversation. I’m not used to being around other powerful telepaths. I offer my humble apology.”

  “Yes, of course. I’m not offended, just surprised,” Bast replied.

  “The fault is not yours.” Rrrark looked at Bast and blinked slowly. “Bast’s talent is more powerful than she realizes, and she is not yet fully trained.”

  Bast looked at him and cocked an ear. Did she really have more or less ability than any other Meskka? And did he just imply that there was some sort of advanced mind-speak training she wasn’t aware of? I’ll have to ask him about that later…

  A waiter brought their food as Bast mulled over the idea. Nilre had something called a “sandwich” as well as a bowl of vegetables and a glass of brownish liquid. Tomed had a similar sandwich, only with a pawful of some golden-colored triangles, and the same type of drink.