by S. H. Jucha
“Then what do the soma do now?” Neemtasa asked. The descriptions of Omnian life were confusing.
“Whatever they want to do,” Hessmas replied. “You captured Lieutenant Nata, a human. She was raised as a pup of Queen Nyslara. She’s the companion of the queen’s heir, Neffess. Both lieutenants fly the ships that you see on Sawa’s surface. That’s the equality of our society.”
In the moment of silence, Nyslara asked, “How do we proceed from here, Chona Neemtasa? I’m prepared to be generous, but I want my pup returned safely to me.” Rather than threaten with words, which is what Nyslara wanted to do, she rose slightly on her powerful legs. Her dominance by stature and personality was evident to the Sawa Dischnya.
“When your pup entered our territory and pulled on the hatch, she was taken for an intruder and captured,” Neemtasa explained. “She hasn’t been ill-treated. Before we return her to you, I would invite you into our nest. There is much I wish you to see.”
Pussiro had privately sent to Nyslara,
“We’ve only met, Chona Neemtasa,” Nyslara replied. “You have my pup and offer to return her, but you want more from me. How is this equitable?”
Neemtasa was at a loss for words. The Omnian queen was adept at negotiations.
“What would you suggest?” Neemtasa asked, and Sossfass managed to cover his wince.
“Let me share with you, Chona, our technological superiority,” Pussiro said. “In our heads, we carry small devices, which enable us to communicate with others. With these devices, we can locate an individual when we’re close. Do you understand what I’m saying?” Pussiro had eyed Sossfass, when he asked the question.
“You’re saying, Wasat Pussiro, that if you entered our tunnels, as Chona Neemtasa has requested, you will find Nata’s storeroom,” Sossfass replied. “Then, with your weapons, you can free her despite resistance from our warriors.”
Pussiro displayed his teeth. In an initial meeting, it would have been a rude gesture toward a queen, but between wasats, it indicated approval.
Nyslara eyed Neemtasa and waited.
Neemtasa could think of no other alternatives. Finally, she relented. “I would request you return with us to the outpost, where we exited,” she said. “You may block the hatch open. Your pup will be returned to you there, Chona Nyslara.”
“Acceptable,” Nyslara said. “After Nata’s safe return, we will tour your nest with you. You have the word of Chona Nyslara of Omnia.”
Hope rose in Neemtasa’s chest. While Ceefan’s heir, she’d witnessed decades of conflict among nests. Therefore, she was taken aback that another queen could be this charitable to her.
Faceplates were closed, and leather masks donned. Then the parties exited the edifice, returning to the choking sand. The winds had returned with ferocity.
Nyslara sent,
At the hatch, the Sawa Dischnya descended first, and Nyslara signaled her kind to wait until the twins went next.
Below, Sossfass barked a command to Hasmossa.
“Do we return the hairless one’s coverings, or should we keep them for examination?” Hasmossa asked his wasat.
“Return every piece of covering and equipment to Lieutenant Nata,” Étienne said evenly but with conviction.
Hasmossa’s jaw dropped. He hadn’t been told that the hairless strangers understood the Dischnya tongue.
Neemtasa slowly and regretfully shook her head, and Sossfass glanced at his queen in embarrassment.
“Now that we’ve insulted our guests, who we earnestly hope will help us, can we do as this individual has requested, and do it promptly?” Neemtasa asked. Her voice had started low and ended in a whip-crack tone.
“Chona,” Hasmossa replied with alacrity and shot out the door.
“Do all of you ...” Neemtasa started but then failed to recall the correct description.
“As Chona Nyslara said, we’re from Omnia and known as humans,” Alain explained.
“We know Nata speaks Dischnya. Are all humans capable of our tongue?” Neemtasa finished.
Étienne signaled Alain. They grinned at the queen, and they spoke to her in the Dischnya language. Afterward, they launched into a variety of languages that Omnians had encountered.
When the twins ended with a series of tweets and whistles, Alain added, “You’ve just heard the form of speech of the Swei Swee, a huge ocean-going race. They’re a favored race of one of our leaders.”
Sossfass closed his muzzle with an audible click. His thought was that the nest was either fortunate beyond compare to encounter these strangers or incredulously foolish to have taken one of their humans.
The winds buffeted the Omnians waiting on the surface, and Nyslara sent,
Étienne was about to reply, when Nata was led into the outpost.
“Lieutenant,” Étienne greeted Nata cordially but drily.
Nata snapped to attention. Words of relief at her rescue stuck in her throat. The senior captain’s voice had intimated that he wasn’t pleased with her behavior.
“Do you have your equipment, Lieutenant?” Alain asked.
“Yes, Captain,” Nata replied crisply.
“Then close your faceplate and get topside. Be prepared. Winds are severe,” Alain ordered.
Nata eased past the queen, clambered with alacrity up the ladder, and hurried through the opening.
On the surface, Nata flew into Nyslara’s arms. She heard the welcoming chuffs of the Omnian Dischnya.
Étienne signaled Petite that Nata was free.
Immediately, Petite added Nata and the surface security team to her connection with Étienne.
In the outpost, Neemtasa regarded the humans. Nata had disappeared up the ladder. She expected either the humans would depart, or the queens and wasats would descend, but nothing happened. Instead, the humans quietly stood observing her.
Then the Omnian Dischnya descended the ladder. A queen’s promise, Neemtasa thought with relief.
After the final stranger entered, Hessmas sealed the hatch. On the hardpacked ground, the wasats opened their faceplates, but the queens kept theirs closed.
“You can appreciate, Chona Neemtasa,” Pussiro said, “that the queens must keep their suits closed in the confined environments of your tunnels and rooms. We don’t wish to influence your soma.”
“Also, Chona Neemtasa,” Alain added, “the suits contain a limited amount of air. The queens will need to return to the ships to exchange tanks.”
Neemtasa realized that the strangers had no means of equating time, measurements, or numbers. Now that there was an imperative to move quickly, she changed the order of the intended tour.
7: Vermin
“Let me show you our nest,” Neemtasa said, indicating the outpost’s exit.
There was a moment of confusion, while everyone figu
red out the order. Neemtasa sent Sossfass out the opening first. She followed. It was expected that the dominant queen would walk beside her. Instead, one of the humans walked a careful distance behind her. After the human came the queens and the wasats. The last in line was the other human.
Warriors, protectors, Neemtasa thought of the humans, and trust is yet to be earned.
Neemtasa directed Sossfass to lead them to one of the newest tunnels. In turn, the wasat waved to a pup, who carried an empty trap. Sossfass spoke to him, and the pup described a complicated set of directions. The wasat shook his muzzle and chose to have the pup lead them.
Dutifully, the young female Dischnya hurried ahead, taking twists and turns through the tunnels. She constantly looked over her shoulder to see if her wasat and the queen followed closely. It wasn’t necessary. The pup was only five annuals old and tiny for her age.
Nyslara’s heart ached to see the effects of poor nutrition on the pup. The nest was in worse shape than she feared.
The tunnel narrowed. It was recently dug, and the ground remained churned, lacking sufficient traffic to be packed tightly.
When Étienne turned on his suit lights to illuminate the dim tunnel, the little pup chuffed sternly at him. Swiftly, Étienne shut down the lights.
“Forgive the pup,” Neemtasa explained in a whisper to those who followed her. “It’s her duty to collect the meat the nest eats. She takes her assignment seriously, and your light scares away the vermin.”
Nyslara scratched lightly on a rock for Neemtasa’s attention. She beckoned the nest queen close, and with her suit’s audio system, she said, “We understand what you want us to see. What else is important that you show us?”
Neemtasa chuffed softly, edged past the group, with Sossfass in tow, and headed back the way they’d come.
Behind them, the tiny pup shrugged and carried on with setting her trap. Her empty belly grumbled. She hoped that she would feast on new meat today.
As Neemtasa and Sossfass guided their guests through myriad tunnels, the ground became hardpacked, and the walls glowed slightly brighter.
The Omnians’ curiosity as to their destination was piqued, even before they exited a final tunnel. The dim light from the walls was eclipsed by an eerie green gleam that outlined Sossfass. Then the wasat exited the tunnel into a vast underground cavern.
A deep lake filled the cavern. The walls were wet and coated in bioluminescent fungi.
Females lined the lake. They dipped any manner of cup or bucket into the water and handed them to waiting pups. Then those individuals hurried to more pups waiting at the bottom of ladders that ringed the cavern. The precious containers were passed up the ladders. Then the water was carefully poured at the tops of the walls and allowed to run through the fungi.
There wasn’t a single uniform fungus. Instead, a tremendous variety of fungi grew out of the craggy rocks that comprised the walls.
More females gently collected fungi samples from the walls. When their baskets were full, they passed a handful to each of the smallest pups. Some of the pups couldn’t have been more than four annuals. The small portion of fungi was deposited in the bottom of a cage, which each pup carried. Then the young hurried off in different directions to disappear into tunnels.
The Omnians had briefly caught the interest of the Dischnya working the cavern. But, after a brief pause, every individual went back to work.
A pup paused to eye the suited Omnians. Then she wedged past the group and scurried away.
“The youngest make the best hunters of meat,” Sossfass explained. “Their size makes them quieter, and they exhibit unending patience. A capture is celebrated by the females and the other pups.”
“Queen Neemtasa, we’ve stayed longer than we should,” Nyslara said. “We need access to the nearest outpost, or we’ll be forced to lift our faceplates.”
“Sossfass,” Neemtasa ordered, without further conversation.
The wasat took off in a run around the lake, barking at the soma to give way. After circumventing about a third of the cavern’s circumference, he ducked into a tunnel.
The group was moving so fast that Étienne and Alain chose to turn on their suit lights to illuminate their way and prevent colliding with soma or walls. The glare of the lights temporarily blinded the nest’s Dischnya, who snarled in anger, until they saw who passed.
Nyslara’s air ran out, as Sossfass ducked through an opening into an outpost. While holding her breath, she quickly climbed the ladder and threw open the hatch. She waited until her boots hit the surface before she signaled her faceplate to retract. For her efforts, she got a face full of sand.
Choslora managed to reach the surface before her air supply ended.
The queens heard each other spitting sand and snarling.
Pussiro and Hessmas grabbed the queens’ hands, placed them on their shoulders, and led them to the traveler that Étienne had called for them.
Aboard ship, the queens took turns visiting the refresher to wash the grit from their eyes, muzzles, and ears.
In the meantime, the twins placed everyone’s tanks on charge and loaded the suits with fresh ones.
Nyslara linked to the traveler’s controller and discovered the ship was hers. She glanced at the twins and nodded gratefully.
Nyslara closed the link and connected to Posnossa.
Posnossa immediately replied.
Nyslara replied. Then she closed the link.
Next, Nyslara linked exclusively to the twins for privacy.
Nyslara chortled. It was close to a choking sound, humor mixed with great sadness. she sent.
Petite wondered if she would receive a call like this. Nata might be a lieutenant aboard her ship, but she was also Queen Nyslara’s pup. That created a complex relationship for the fleet’s commanders.
Petite sent, fully aware that the squadrons’ senior captains were on the conference link.
Petite detected the humor in Nyslara’s thought. she sent.
Nyslara’s chortle was unmistakable to the captains.
