by Jan Domagala
“Setting up the OP had its difficulties as the creatures were in dense rain forest, and I mean dense and yet strangely beautiful too. All the colours of the rainbow were present and some you’d never thought of,” Garvey paused and his features took on an expression of rapture as he was lost deep in the memory. Realising they were hanging on his every word he pulled himself back to the here and now and continued with, “I know how that sounds but that forest had a beauty that somehow transcended anything we’d seen before and I mean anywhere. The longer we stayed down there though, we learned that, even there, such beauty came with a price.
“We finally established the OP, we shielded it best we could, even used a camo cloak so we blended in with the forest and we settled in to do our jobs. I was in command of that first landing party and I soon regretted volunteering.
“The creatures we were studying were something like a very large cat and I mean very large. We knew the dimensions from the scans we performed whilst we were in orbit but knowing that did not prepare us for the sheer massive size of them when we got up close and personal. They were huge, yet sleek like all big cats. Their fur was sort of mottled which helped them to blend in with the forest. They had four sets of eyes, two on each side of their head which gave them an unprecedented three hundred and sixty degree field of vision. We never learned how their brains processed that much visual input though, the best we could come up with was that they could swop from one set of eyes to another, probably like us looking from left to right. They could look all around themselves moving from one set at a time. They also had eight legs, four forelegs and four hind legs. This made them incredibly mobile and fast. Their claws were razor sharp and as long as my hand, their teeth were even longer. They could bite a man in half with ease.
“The group we set out to observe, we thought was a pack but we found out it was a family, a real family unit, two parents and their cubs. The most startling thing though, as if what we’d learned up to that point wasn’t startling enough, was their aggression. We’d never seen any species with as much aggression before or since. It was terrifying.”
“How did this aggression manifest, did another species invade their territory?” asked Matt, intrigued at the vivid imagery Garvey’s memories invoked.
“Oh yes, most definitely, another species invaded alright. At first the creatures allowed them in giving them a false sense of security, letting them think they’d gone unnoticed, but what they were actually doing was observing them, those being watched were watching the watchers, so to speak. When they attacked it was so fast and so violent, they didn’t stand a chance.”
“Wait a minute, what was this other species that invaded?” Matt asked suspicious of the answer to come.
“We were, it was us. I was the only one to get out alive. I still don’t know how, but somehow I made it back to the shuttle and got out of there as they overran the OP. They slaughtered everyone they found. When I handed in my report I was ordered back down there with a squad of marines to capture one of the creatures.
“While all this was going on we were informed of the arrival of an Alliance starship, obviously they had the same idea as us of colonising the planet. We heard on the grapevine that they sent down a landing party too, but to another section of the landmass, we were exploring. They too met with the same fate as our first landing party, they all died, slaughtered by another species. We hoped the incident would deter them from further investigation, at least for a while, long enough, we hoped for us to complete our capture and autopsy of the creature.”
“Were you successful?” asked Sinclair.
“If you mean did we capture one of the creatures and learn anything, the answer would have to be, yes, but we also found more questions too. We found that the creature wasn’t a natural life form but one that had been created through genetic manipulation and gene splicing.”
“Transgenics?” asked Matt.
“Exactly,” agreed Garvey.
“Which leads to the next question,” Sinclair added.
“Do you think the Alliance had been there years before us sir?” Our intel on their scientific development tells us that they’re about equal to our own research in that field except for one notable program,” Matt said.
“How did they get here without us knowing?” Sinclair asked.
“They didn’t,” Garvey stated.
“Excuse me? How can you be so sure?” Sinclair asked.
“It couldn’t possibly be anyone from the Alliance because the creature we autopsied was a mature male at least thirty standard years old but it could’ve been older, possibly fifty or more. The medical examiner at the time couldn’t be completely accurate but that wasn’t all. One thing he was sure of was that it wasn’t the result of experimentation.”
“But I thought you said it was a transgenic?” Matt said jumping immediately on the contradiction.
“You’re right I did and it was, but not a direct result,” explained Garvey enigmatically.
“Okay, it’s official, I’m confused,” Matt said.
“Are you saying, what I think you’re saying?” Sinclair asked as an idea began to coagulate, one that seemed preposterous, yet would seem to explain much of what had happened.
“Yes General, probably,” Garvey said.
“Well could you put me out of my misery and explain it to me please?” Matt said.
“As I think the General has already deduced, the creature was not the result of an experimentation but of natural propagation. These creatures had bred for many generations, too many to tell how long ago the experimentation actually began.”
“You’re joking right? That’s just impossible, you have to be wrong,” Matt said.
“I can assure you Matt, I’m not wrong. Those creatures and quite possibly every creature on the planet, although indigenous, are the result of transgenic experimentation that began hundreds, possibly thousands of years ago,” Garvey said with an air of sad finality.
“But if they’re indigenous that must mean they were experimented on here, on their home planet, but by whom and where?” asked Matt.
“We have no idea to your first question but we did find out where,” Garvey said.
*****
“Who do you think built this city?” Torres asked as the AI landed the craft on a landing pad on outskirts of the sprawling city that had just been revealed to them.
“It looks ancient and yet modern somehow,” Riley commented.
“I know what you mean,” agreed Kurt who added, “Whoever built this had advanced technology, long before us.”
“Whoa! Slow down there, are you suggesting aliens built this?” Cooper asked.
“Think about it, we sure didn’t build it. I doubt very much the Alliance did either so whom are we left with? Besides, on this planet, we’d be considered the aliens,” Kurt said.
“If an advanced alien race did build this, why does it look like no one lives here, nor has done for a long time?” Vance asked.
“Let’s get inside and see if we can find the answers we’re looking for, chances are we’ll be safer in there anyway,” Riley suggested.
“Don’t bank on the safety thing,” Kurt said, as everyone glanced at him questioningly he said, “Hey, it’s been abandoned for a reason, all I’m saying is we’d better be prepared, that’s all, take nothing for granted.”
Riley said, “Good point, everyone get tooled up, like Kurt said, we don’t know what we’ll find in there so let’s have no surprises.”
“Although those winged creatures might not attack the city, there’s no guarantee we won’t find any land based creatures that will,” Kurt said.
“Do you mean like those things we saw just before we picked you up?” asked Torres.
“Who knows what we’ll meet inside there, after all, if an advanced civilisation lived here something must’ve happened to them that either wiped them out or forced them to abandon it. So far we’ve only seen creatures with elevated aggression levels, so you do the
math,” Kurt said as he checked his Sig P996.
“So what you’re saying is we can’t leave because those winged creatures will attack us again, and while we’re down here there are more creatures that will attack us. So far this trip sounds great, I’m glad I came. What about you Coop, you glad you came?” Vance said.
“Wouldn’t have missed it for anything buddy,” Cooper replied.
“You’re forgetting the Outlaws who also want to kill us too,” added Torres.
“Isn’t it great to be this popular?” Vance joked.
“I’ll have to be careful, wouldn’t want to end up with a swelled head,” Cooper said.
“Okay you jokers, let’s get inside the city and do our jobs and find some answers to this puzzle,” Riley said putting an end to further bi-play between his teammates.
“Artie keep monitoring us, stay in contact as we’ll need your help to find our way through the city and your eyes should there be any hidden dangers lurking inside,” he added.
The door opened allowing them to leave.
“Okay people, stay alert, let’s move out,” Riley said and he led the small group toward the city.
35
“So you found a city, that explains some of it,” Sinclair said.
“What else did you find?” asked Matt.
“We found that the city was old, extremely old but incredibly advanced even by our standards. We had no idea who the inhabitants had been or what they looked like, just that they were possibly humanoid. There were no records within the city that we could use so at first we had no idea what had happened.”
“How did the conflict begin?” Matt asked.
“When the news of the discovery reached the Alliance hierarchy they set off to capture the planet at all cost. Because we thought, it would be dangerous for them to attempt another landfall we tried to warn them of the dangers but they just took it to mean we wanted any tec we found for ourselves. It made them try that much harder. Before we knew it we were engaged in an all out war.”
“So what brought it to an end? I can understand how it began because I know the mindset of the Alliance Council, they’re not much different today but at least they can be reasoned with,” Sinclair said.
“It was the cost of life in the end, that and every landing party that managed to get past our blockade all ended the same way, being killed by the life forms down there. In the end, they agreed to talks in which we all agreed that the planet was just too dangerous. It cost both sides thousands of lives to come to a decision we learned from the start.”
“If you knew it, why defend it so vigorously against the Alliance, why not just let them have it, after all you knew they wouldn’t be able to colonise it?” asked Matt already knowing the answer but wanting to hear it anyway.
“Those in charge couldn’t take the chance that the Alliance would gain any scientific advantage from either the city or from studying any of the life forms so, we went to war over a planet we didn’t want; we just didn’t want them to have it either. Not one of our finest decisions.”
“Was the cover story to prevent anyone else from getting inquisitive then?” Sinclair asked.
“What advantage did we gain from what was learned there?” Matt asked becoming more angrier at the futility of the war, at the immense cost of lives lost over seemingly nothing. “Please tell me something positive came out of this other than what we already knew from countless other wars, that there are no winners in war,” he added in desperation.
“That’s certainly one point of view Matt, one I don’t personally subscribe to, and one that I find unusual for a military man like you to defend,” Garvey said.
“I fight so others don’t have to in the hope that some day, the threat of war will be eradicated,” snapped Matt angrily, his blue eyes burning with barely contained fury.
“We may have something from that war that we didn’t realise,” Sinclair said which halted both Matt and Garvey.
Matt turned to the General, a question in his expression voiced by the words, “Excuse me?”
“Doctor Baxter’s research, which led to the project Kurt Stryder was involved in, I think the two are related somehow. I think whatever was learned during the autopsy of that creature was used as the basis for that particular experiment,” explained Sinclair.
“Quite possible that the data collected was later used in many experiments, so to answer your question, some good obviously came out of the conflict,” Garvey replied.
“Well I’m sure the relatives of those who died would have a different opinion,” Matt said, still quite angry.
“Only because they were unaware of the full facts and unfortunately it will have to remain so. Now back to the task at hand, how do we deal with those creatures down on the surface, what else did you learn about them?” Sinclair said.
“Apart from them being dangerously aggressive transgenic creatures, nothing much really,” Garvey said.
“Isn’t that enough?” Matt asked.
Sinclair looked thoughtful for a second then said, “It doesn’t help us find out who made them like that or what happened to them.”
“Do you think it possible the creatures turned on their makers?” asked Matt.
“They did seem to vent their aggression on our soldiers and those of the Alliance, we thought it was because we had invaded their territory but I suppose it could be that it was directed towards humans,” Garvey said.
“Well if that’s the case then it puts a whole new perspective on this situation, one that increases the danger involved to us all,” Sinclair said.
“I’ll make sure the marines are well armed and prepared for what we’ll meet down there,” Matt said.
“Well there’s one question that remains unanswered and that’s, who are those Outlaws, really? I doubt very much that outcasts such as those we considered to be, would have the technology that it’s reported they have, nor that a member of the Alliance’s Black Knights who is listed as being killed in action would be among their number,” Sinclair mused.
“I wouldn’t put it past them, quite remarkable really, a simple black op, hide in plain sight and get what they wanted right from under our noses,” Garvey said.
“Well if it is an op sanctioned by someone in the Alliance I can suggest one person warped enough to try it, General Solon, head of the Black Knights,” suggested Matt as he took in what the others had said.
“Not any more he isn’t, it’s been reported he died in an accident at a facility they had on one of their planets, Toldax I think it was,” Sinclair said with a knowing glance at Matt.
“Yes he would’ve been bold enough to try and snatch him to even things up a bit,” replied Matt, referring to the mission that he had a hand in specifically, rescuing Kurt recently.
“Don’t know what you two are on about but I do know Solon’s reputation and this is definitely something he would try. Seeing as how he’s no longer with us I wonder if his successor is even aware of what’s happening out here?” Garvey said.
“Probably not and anyway, its possibly a moot point anyway,” Matt said.
“How so?” Sinclair said.
“Well whatever those guys are looking for, you can bet a year’s pay they haven’t found it,” he said.
“How can you be so sure?” Garvey asked.
“Because if they had, they wouldn’t still be here,” Sinclair answered before Matt had the chance to.
“Are you suggesting they’re trying to copy the transgenic research?” Garvey asked.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Sinclair replied.
“What makes you so certain that they haven’t already and the men stationed there are to protect the source and prevent us accessing it?” Garvey asked.
“If they had a viable sample we’d have known about it by now.”
“Not if they only recently acquired it.”
“Good point, and all the more reason for us to find our people and then destroy their base of operations,” Sin
clair said, adding, “They are in violation of a treaty that’s stood for half a century, I’m sure Solon’s successor in unaware of that fact.”
“You’re not suggesting we inform him, are you?”” Garvey asked, hardly able to believe what he thought Sinclair was about to do.
“It might be one way of averting disaster. If the Alliance get wind of our operations out here and I have no doubts they will, we need to state our case first before they send in a flotilla of starships firing all weapons. If they new guy in charge is unaware of what’s been happening out here it’s best he knows that they were the first to violate the treaty and not us or Prince Aswan’s ill advised detour.”
“And what if he’s aware of the Outlaws being Alliance troops and has merely taken up the reins as it were?” Garvey asked.
“Then he’ll know that we know and we’ll be back to where we started, fifty odd years ago fighting over what’s down there on that planet. Only this time we won’t be able to withhold the truth from the general public like last time. We can’t use the same lie twice,” Sinclair replied coldly.
“You’d risk plunging us back into a conflict that will cost both sides hundreds, possibly thousands of lives and gain neither of us nothing of value?” Garvey said.
“I have to, and I’m sure that the Alliance will want another conflict with us, about as much as we do with them,” Sinclair said.
“I’m with the General on this. It’s a risk granted, but one we have to take and just hope that common sense prevails,” agreed Matt.
“Not just common sense, this time we won’t have the lie to fall back on and I’m sure they don’t want the population to know of that lie as neither would we. As much as the Alliance differs from us they’re the same as us in one fundamental aspect, democracy. If the voters learned the truth, it would throw their government into absolute chaos as it would ours. Therefore, I’m relying on one thing, that they want to keep this secret as much as we do. If that’s the case then we have room to negotiate,” Sinclair said.
“Okay, so what’s the plan of action sir?” Matt asked eager to get moving.
