by S. H. Jucha
Orbit sent Sharon the coordinates for the nearest village.
Jess sat on the ramp’s edge, and he sent,
Lucia wasn’t any more comfortable sitting on the ramp’s edge than Aputi, who watched Jess’s back. It was a spacer thing.
However, as the assault commander, Jess was in his element, and Lucia intended to be a dutiful hunter. She sat beside Jess and felt a pat on her leg. It didn’t do as much to quell her anxiety of the ground rushing beneath their feet as the feel of Aputi’s hand grasping her suit.
The villagers’ initial reactions were to scatter. Then males came running with various weapons. They threatened the ship, but they didn’t launch any missiles.
Three individuals walked into the center of the males, spoke loudly, and the males ceased their aggressive actions.
“Wave and smile,” Jess said sotto voce. Then Lucia and he did their best to appear friendly.
It seemed to work. The three individuals, who appeared in charge, held up their hands and waved to them in an imitation of those above.
Jess pointed, pumping his arm a few times to indicate a direction. Simultaneously, he communicated to Sharon to move the ship.
Outside the village walls, Sharon set the traveler down, with its aft end facing the village.
The three leaders walked through the village gates. The entire community — males, females, and children — followed behind.
If you discounted the forest green-tinted skin, the hairlessness, and the entirely black eyes, they appeared amazingly humanoid. All ages wore long skirts and sandals held by thongs tied around the ankles. Most males wore vests, and the females wrapped cloths around their chests.
On closer inspection, Jess could spot the wrinkled skin and scars that marked the leaders’ advanced ages. They wore pieces of fashioned metal or gemstones on thongs around their necks to mark their authority.
The two groups faced each other across six meters of short trampled grass.
When Orbit activated the device, it frightened the villagers, who drew away from the display’s bright light.
Jess attempted to calm the villagers by running his hand through the projection to demonstrate it wasn’t a weapon.
Suddenly, one of the elders raised his hands to the community, spoke out, and eased their fears.
Jess took a step forward and placed a hand on his chest. “Captain Cinders,” he said.
The elder who’d spoken took a similar step. “Shalma Tsotsia,” he replied.
Jess nodded agreeably and sent,
When the holo-vid displayed the landing of Colony shuttles, which Orbit animated, the villagers oohed and aahed, having recognized the phenomena.
As Orbit orchestrated the imagery, villagers crossed the open space for a closer view of the display.
Jess was about to reply when Orbit’s show progressed to the fighting.
Immediately, the frowns that furrowed the elders’ foreheads cleared, and they spoke animatedly to one another.
Tsotsia addressed a large male, who pushed through the throng and rushed toward the huts. Then the elder turned to Jess, said something unintelligible, and held up his hands to signal patience.
When the male returned, he carried the cleaned and polished skull of an insectoid.
Tsotsia gestured to the male, who presented the skull, complete with pincers, to Jess.
Jess grasped the twin pincers, admired the skull, and tipped his head toward Tsotsia, who acknowledged the acceptance of his tribute.
The villagers gasped and recoiled, as Orbit dragged the giant insectoid from the shuttle.
When it was stretched out on the ground, the males overcame their surprise, and they edged forward to examine the carcass. They were taken by the small hole in the skull that appeared to be the only killing blow.
The males called for the elders’ attention. They pointed at the hole, and the elders closed around the skull to inspect it.
Jess considered warning the elders about the pincers, but they carefully stepped to the side of the head.
Tsotsia indicated the puncture. He touched the weapons of several males and gestured toward Jess.
The six shadows scurried from the shuttle. Their metal-tipped feet tattooed a rhythm on the deck, and they crowded among the veterans and Orbit.
Jess patted the sensor head of the shadow nearest him.
Something occurred to one of the elders, who excitedly spoke to the other two. Then he announced his revelation to the crowd.
In reply, the villagers expressed their appreciation of the discovery.
Lucia replied.
Tsotsia pointed at the shadow that Jess had patted and swung a hand in the direction of the red’s head.
Jess understood the request. He gently shooed the villagers away from the head. Several attempts failed to clear the background, until an elder caught on and called to the throng to make way.
The shadow was sent forward. Its laser head popped up, targeted the head, and fired.
The villagers saw the hole appear, but they weren’t appeased. It did result in a lot of discussion and some arguments.
Jess, Lucia, and Aputi turned and stared at Orbit.
Orbit explained.
Orbit sent in reply.
Orbit selected a pile of thorn brush, which was stacked nearby. He laid out pieces of them in a line. Then he uprooted a small dead tree trunk and stuck it at the end of the line.
This time, the villagers immediately responded to Jess’s motions.
Orbit directed a shadow to the head of the brush line. The shadow’s laser was fired to ignite the thorn branches. When the brush smoldered, the shadow’s laser pulsed, striking the tree trunk. The pulses were visible through the smoke, and soon, the trunk was burning.
Gasps and excited remarks rippled through the crowd.
Tsotsia walked carefully toward the shadow that had fired.
Orbit rotated the shadow toward the elder. He directed the legs to fold in such a way as to make the shadow bow to Tsotsia.
The elder emitted the strange cackle that the veterans took to be recognition or laughter. Then he patted the shadow’s sensor head, which delighted the villagers.
An understanding was reached among the elders. They waved the throng aside and invited their guests to the village.
Jess directed security to stay with the carcass. The young villagers seemed intent on investigating it, and he didn’t want an accidental death from touching the pincers’ tips.
When the veterans and Orbit made to follow, Tsotsia stopped and eyed the shadows, which had been left behind.
Jess smiled and signaled the shadows to attend him, which pleased the elders.
22: Hunting Partners
Stools woven from reed strips were set in a circle under a cloth overhang. Seating was supplied for the elders, the veterans, and Orbit, who pretended to sit to prevent crushing the stool.
The villagers crowded around the shelter, but respectfully remained outside its perimeter.
Jess scattered the shadows among those who were seated. More than once, an elder patted a shadow’s metal frame in contentment.
Lucia sent privately to Jess.
However, before the veterans and Orbit could begin, palm-sized gourd cups filled from a larger gourd container were served.
Orbit surreptitiously stuck a finger in his brew to analyze the liquid.
The elders tossed back the contents of their cups, downing the fiery liquid, and smacked their lips appreciatively.
Jess and Lucia sipped, as Orbit suggested, and made favorable noises.
Aputi felt more adventurous, and he slugged the liquid down. Then he coughed and wheezed, while the elders cackled.
To the big Pyrean’s chagrin, a young female swiftly filled his cup.
Aputi stared openmouthed at the SADE, who smiled brightly.
The veterans halted their conversation. Tsotsia had set his cup down and gestured at Jess. He flexed his thumb and fingers together multiple times, indicated his mouth, and pointed at the veterans.
Frowns creased the elders’ foreheads. Then one of them swiftly knelt beside Lucia. He hid his hand, while he showed her three digits. Then he touched his forehead and indicated Jess.
Jess regarded the elder beside Lucia, smiled, and held up three fingers.
The elder cackled, clapped his hands, and explained his test to the others.
The villagers, who surrounded the shelter, chattered their amazement at the discovery that the strangers could speak with their minds. The tale grew among the villagers of the mysterious visitors from the sky, who brought creatures that could kill the invaders with fire and talked among themselves in silence.
Orbit led the next series of communications.
By now, the elders understood the value of their visitors’ tool, but they didn’t have to manage all the guesswork of interpretations. The villagers ringing the shelter freely offered their thoughts of the imagery Orbit displayed.
The first series from Orbit indicated the passage of the star as the planet rotated. It was coupled with a simple number count. The next step was to replicate the shuttle landings and create an impression of past and present.
Orbit flipped between the passage of time and the shuttle sequence.
An elder female, her skin wrinkled by many annuals of exposure to the elements, exclaimed excitedly. The elders turned and listened to her. She lectured them, while her hands described images in the air. The old female got her idea through to the village elders.
Tsotsia requested something from the crowd, and a young woman hurried forward with a bowl of seeds.
The elder indicated the movement of their star across the sky, and he held a single seed, laying it on a small rug.
Orbit and the veterans nodded their understanding of the action.
Then Tsotsia counted seeds. The words meant nothing to the veterans, but Orbit carefully recorded the number and the words to build a vocabulary.
“Orbit, do you have a rotational time on this planet?” Jess asked.
“Assuredly,” Orbit replied.
When Tsotsia finished and resumed his seat on the stool, the seed bowl was nearly empty.
After some quick calculations, Orbit said, “The Colony landed about three-and-a-half Omnian annuals ago.”
“Third or fourth generation of young by now,” Aputi remarked. “That would make the oldest juveniles about two-thirds to three-quarters grown.”
“A thousand or more insectoids might have landed, but it’s a good thing for the villagers that they were spread far and wide,” Lucia said.
“We know what we face,” Jess remarked. “Time to leave.” He stood, and his action excited Tsotsia.
The elder called a male to his side. He’d carried the gray’s skull from the village. Tsotsia chatted, while he touched the male’s chest, patted a shadow, and placed a hand on Jess’s shoulder.
“Jess, we can’t let them hunt with us,” Aputi exclaimed.
“Orbit, play the insectoids’ fighting sequences again,” Jess requested. When the scene reached an appropriate spot, Jess signaled the display to freeze. It was at the moment that a red reared to strike.
Jess spent the next several minutes pantomiming the pincers of the insectoids closing on the male beside Tsotsia, and that this was unacceptable to them.
The elders spoke among themselves. Then Tsotsia stood and waved a hand in negation. He touched the male’s chest, walked to the holo-vid, and tentatively stuck a finger in the projection.
When Tsotsia wasn’t burned, he indicated the poised red and then directed two fingers at his eyes. Finally, he turned his hand down and waggled his fingers to imitate walking.
“Yes,” Jess said excitedly and nodded repeatedly.
The final thing to communicate to the elders was the veterans’ intentions to return tomorrow at dawn to begin the hunt.
Tsotsia understood and agreed.
The elders watched the visitors leave in their sky boat, and they sent runners to the neighboring villages. There was important news to share — strangers from beyond had arrived to fight the deadly invaders.
* * * * *
In the early morning, the veterans descended planetside. While Sharon’s ship made for the surface, the other travelers waited above for Jess’s signal.
Immediately, the veterans, except for Menous, who lacked an implant, linked to the traveler’s controller.
Encampment fires smoldered, and bodies tucked in blankets clustered around them. The males who guarded the encampment set up a hue and cry, when they spotted the shuttle descending. The noise brought the elders and many males running from the village.
Tsotsia called to the encampment warriors, who’d snatched their weapons from their she
aths. He kept speaking to the warriors, until they relaxed and lowered their spears, swords, daggers, or axes.
“Looks like this will be a much more complicated meeting,” Lucia said. “The elders have called for assistance.”
“Regard the assorted clothing,” Orbit said. “Yet, there are similarities among clusters of the hunters.”
“They’re from different villages,” Tacnock surmised. He’d spent much of the previous day and evening reviewing imagery of the veterans’ encounters and wishing he’d been there.
“Who exits the ship first? Us or them?” Aputi asked, as he pointed toward his fellow veterans.
“Humans and Orbit only,” Jess replied. “If these new arrivals run away at the sight of the rest of you, then we disrupt the fragile bond we created yesterday.”
Sharon landed and signaled the ramp down.
Then Jess, Lucia, Aputi, and Orbit walked off the traveler. They were greeted by the local elders as if they were old friends, and the veterans imitated the clasping of the shoulders and the touching of foreheads.
When Tsotsia and his two companions did the same to Orbit, they paused and eyed the SADE. Tsotsia couldn’t resist touching Orbit in several other places to confirm what his fingers had initially felt. Language didn’t exist to explain the discovery, and the elders kept their thoughts to themselves.
Tsotsia indicated the hunters who’d gathered, but Jess interrupted him.
The Jatouche exited the traveler and stood beside Jess, who introduced him to the elders. Comments rippled among the village males, while the elders stared. Jess placed a hand on Tacnock’s shoulder and stared quietly at the elders. Finally, Tsotsia and the elders introduced themselves.
Then Jess held up a finger, as he sent,
The routine repeated — introduction, pause, murmurs, a hand on a shoulder indicating comrade, and acceptance.
The elders stared toward the sky boat’s interior, and their expectations weren’t unjustified.
