Retread Shop 1: First Contact

by T. Jackson King

  Maran’s headcrest tightened. “Good. Our Trade options just greatly improved.” He looked sideways at Mother Esay. “Eminence Esay, perhaps your daughters can avoid eating the sea-life on this Earth—an L-D metabolism doesn’t go well with D-L food.”

  Mother Esay flipped two tentacles in dismissive mode. “We will welcome the opportunity to swim in a planetary sea. And to observe the native octopoids whose skin is chromatophoric like ours. Perhaps we can exchange thoughts with such as them.”

  “What about the Arrik?” Lady Essene called from beside Looseen. “They won’t be happy at losing this Council vote.”

  Looseen had thought much on that matter. She had her contacts within the Arrik, including with T’Klick T’Klose. She had in mind a possible compromise that would allow the Sept ruler to take home some shred of dignity.

  “True, Lady Essene.” Maran, she noticed, watched and listened carefully. Good, she needed a reliable Horem ally. “By the time Hekar reaches the Human star system it will be time to rotate the post of Conflict Commander. I will suggest it be rotated to T’Klose.”

  “Interesting option,” Maran said, watching her carefully. “Do you think he will accept?”

  She clacked two primary palps. “He can’t refuse. It goes directly to the Arrik racial paranoia. They are bound to protect the Race, even the Race of the Compact. He won’t be happy. But he can’t refuse. And his fellow Arrik will eagerly welcome the opportunity to mount a fighter ship shell around Hekar.”

  Mother Esay’s All-Hailer buoy whistled. “But who will control him? The Arrik are notoriously short-tempered. And duplicitous.”

  Looseen settled her bulk into the warmth of the sand. “Hekar of the Core will control him. The machine mind of this starship is no fool, even if it is still learning about organics. Shall we swim?”

  Those of her guests who liked water stayed and swam. Eeess begged off, saying vacuum didn’t go well with moisture.

  Looseen understood. She understood all things. Most of all, she understood the aching yearning of her children for a true sea-home. Their need for a true tide. Their desire for natural salinity levels versus the controlled levels of the Zik sea. She was their mother—she understood all these things. And she grieved for them.

  Nothing would stop her. Not T’Klose. Not the Humans. Not Hekar. The Zik would found a new colony. If not in the M series stars on the way in, then in one nearby. But a colony she would found.

  And the Zik Race would birth new brood-rulers, new myths, new histories, far from Hekeen.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  T’Klose dug his clawed feet into the sand of Bubble H12 as the emergency Council meeting drew to a close. Around the meeting rock were gathered the usual group—Looseen of the Ziks and Mother Esay of the Sliss, both floating in the cove’s blue-green waters; the Strelka Hive Master Swirling-Blue-Thoughts; Lady Essene of the Gosay; Eeess the Thoranian; Algonesus the Thix-Thet in his refrigerated tracglobe; and the new Horem Clan Coordinator, Maran. T’Klose spat his irritation into the sand not far from the Horem. Maran ignored him. This meeting had not gone the way he had expected, despite the news of the giant fusion bomb and the nuclear war between two nation-Clans. The Bubble’s bright yellow-orange sunlight, salty sea-smell and warm updraft winds in the distance did not please him—they only reminded him what they all stood to lose.

  Looseen had just finished calling the question of Contact.

  T’Klose watched as one by one, the aliens of Hekar endorsed Contact with the Humans. The idiots!

  The Strelka, Swirling-Blue-Thoughts, was the last to speak. Its flexarms moved emphatically as it spoke.

  “Compact mates, we should Contact these humans,” Blue-Thoughts hummed firmly. “But we must use caution. Like Maran and Looseen, I urge a remote parking orbit far out in their system, a defensive picket shell of ships about Hekar and a Probe venture to Earth to live among these Humans so we can assess their likely behavior.”

  T’Klose watched as this compromise solution to the threat from the Humans gained full acceptance. When the vote came, he voted—loudly—against it. Hekar still spoke the results: eight in favor of the Contact and Probe, nine in favor of the remote orbit and defensive shell.

  Of such decisions are disasters made.

  Looseen clacked her primary palps. “T’Klose, you feel the Humans are a threat to us—true?”

  “Of course!” He’d made that clear. Did she have no ears to hear?

  “And what,” continued Looseen, “would be the best way to prepare for aggressive actions against us?”

  Idiot. “No Contact in the first place,” he said, looking around at the suspiciously silent Council members. He loosened a tight tool harness strap, wondering at the silence.

  Looseen chitter-laughed. “We all know your position. The Council disagrees. We are Traders and Traders make Contact in order to Trade. But—you do have a point.”

  What? “Explain.”

  Looseen’s four perceptor stalks looked alertly at T’Klose, then the other Council members. “The future cannot be predicted with certainty. I recommend that Sept Ruler T’Klick T’Klose be made Conflict Commander of the Military Compound upon arrival at the Human star system.”

  Fleas of his wings! What was this damned crustacean about? He flapped his wings widely, feeling nervous. He felt tempted. And yet worried. What was the purpose of this proposal? What scheme lay behind it? T’Klose wished he had the decades of experience of a Sept Ruler at home, where Fartalker spies could claw out all the details of an enemy’s attack profile.

  “A good idea,” said Maran the wingless one, looking calmly his way.

  “Sensible,” Swirling-Blue-Thoughts hummed.

  “Yes,” Eeess said by radio message to the All-Hailer buoy.

  What did green crystals know about conflict?

  It went like that—everyone agreeing to make him Conflict Commander. Well, he was not Ruler-by-Right-of-Challenge-and-Defeat for nothing.

  “I refuse.”

  Maran’s headcrest flared wildly. “What? But, but—you must accept.”

  Ah—he liked this. “No.”

  The Zik Looseen chittered hurriedly. “Explain, please, your reasoning, Sept Ruler T’Klose.”

  Reasoning? He had many reasons. Flapping his wings, he hopped up onto the meeting rock itself, directly above Hekar’s sensor cone, and passed gas. Let that mechmind get a whiff of his offal!

  “My reasons? Simple. What you all propose is like handing me the control codes to a crashing assault craft just before it impacts.” T’Klose glared at them all. “Taking command of our military forces just before system entrance prevents adequate preparation. It prevents me from informed decision-making. Most of all—it limits my ability to plan ahead and anticipate possible Human aggressive actions!”

  Looseen’s perceptor stalks wavered a bit. “Logical points. Would you consider accepting if we made you Conflict Commander now? With time to plan an adequate defense?”

  That surprised T’Klose. Now? Before the usual end of the Strelka Transparent-Green-Song’s term? That would be nice. And something to show the Sept in place of his loss before the Council.

  “Yes, I would accept.”

  The call of the Question went quickly. In short seconds he had won—something. And the impertinent Strelka had lost. That he savored. But what of the Horem—they were far more dangerous. They seemed too taken with these Horem-like Humans. Too taken for their own good. He saw Maran watching him.

  “Clan Coordinator Maran, I wish to make an inspection tour of your dreadnought Sarenflex tomorrow.” That was the ship with the neutron antimatter beam that had defeated the best the Arrik could launch at the Compact. “Will you arrange for this in the starboard hangar?”

  Maran’s feathery headcrest flickered slightly. “Of course, Conflict Commander. Welcome to Command.”

  T’Klose felt . . . almost pleased. The Contact would occur—it seemed. But he would make certain—by the wings of his grandfather—that the Humans never
harmed any member of the Compact. May their gods help them if they ever try to harm Hekar, and his Nest-home.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Years later, Sargon once again sat in his Command Dais seat in the center of Hekar’s Command deck, surrounded by the quiet efficiency of his Watch Crew, the forward viewscreen flickering with multi-colored charts, vector lines and figures concerning the usual matters of an operating starship. Around him whispered quiet voices carrying out commands, issuing orders, taking readings on fuel levels, preparing the four, sunward-pointing main engines for their first deceleration thrust. Briefly he recalled the surprises of two past Awakenings from Suspense.

  Broadcasts from the Human year 2031 had carried fascinating news of Human space exploration. There had been a landing on the planet Mars by a joint Chinese, American and Japanese expedition. The ship had been powered by a nuclear thermal rocket fueled by a fissile reactor. There were three private industry bases on the south pole of Earth’s Moon, where Humans mined the pole’s frozen ice for water, oxygen and deuterium isotopes, even as they processed the Moon’s regolith to recover helium-3 isotopes. All to fuel the newly built laser direct impact fusion power reactors now spreading across Earth. Other Moon bases had been established by China, Russia, Japan and America. Meanwhile, two tourist space stations had been orbited by Bigelow Industries and Japan. Down on the rich soil of Earth conflicts still flared here and there. Japan had forcibly reclaimed from the Russians three ancestral islands north of its island of Hokkaido, which effort resulted in the sinking of several naval vessels before an armistice was reached. The island nation-Clan of the United Kingdom had flooded the undersea tunnel that connected it to the European Union. The UK had accused the EU of supporting independence for its Wales subpopulation. Which dispute caused the UK to ally itself more closely with America. The nation-Clan of Egypt had used its armored forces to conquer most of North Africa and part of the Middle East, acting in defense of what it called ‘true Islam’ as opposed to the non-rational Islam pursued by the Humans of the Islamic Caliphate. The planetary climate had warmed notably due to hydrocarbon use for power production. The nation-Clan of Russia had put in Earth orbit a battlestation armed with nuclear torpedoes. The station’s purpose was supposedly to protect Russia and Earth from incoming comets and asteroids.

  A later broadcast from the Human year 2040 had impressed even the Strelka. The Chinese, American and Japanese Humans had placed a colony of 300 persons on Mars. The colony was built with the aim of terraforming Mars into a future world habitable by Humans. To that end special lichen had been seeded around Mars in order to increase the world’s oxygen and make thicker its air. Volcanic tubes and caves were being used for colony habitation to protect the people from solar radiation flares. What surprised all Horem and many other Compact members was the novel space drive used by the Humans to put the colony on Mars. The American Humans had created a Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket, or VASIMIR, that used electromagnetic radiation to heat up and ionize gases like argon, xenon and hydrogen to produce a plasma thrust that moved the Human spacecraft very swiftly. No Compact species had ever built anything like the VASIMIR and the Compact Council was eager to obtain its design details. In other space exploration efforts, ion propulsion engines had sent Human robot craft to the gas giant moons of Europa and Enceladus, where the craft melted their way through the ice and down to the oceans under the ice shells of each moon. Chemosynthetic lifeforms had been discovered. While such life was know from Earth’s hydrothermal ocean vents and from the oceans of the Horem, Zik, Sliss and Arrik peoples, such outer system exploration had impressed everyone on Hekar. While small military conflicts still happened on Earth, the United Nations unity group had grown in authority and was now involved in several worldwide environmental, medical and research efforts. Most notable, the UN had found ways to distribute food from surplus nations to nation-Clans with starving populations. For the first time in Earth’s history, nearly all Humans had enough food to eat along with basic shelter.

  The lack of further nuclear warfare since 2017 had encouraged Sargon and everyone else, except for T’Klick T’Klose. Who now stood next to Sargon’s Command seat. With his black wings folded, his fan ears alert and his three eyes scanning every being who worked an instrument block, T’Klose acted like a Conflict Commander eager for conflict. For something to happen. The Arrik had been difficult enough during the years since Sargon left Suspense for the last time. He’d become officious and interfering as they approached the Human planetary system. Now, in the Human year 2049, Hekar was about to cross the Kuiper zone of comets that lay beyond the small world of Pluto. The flyer had insisted on being present during final deceleration and maneuvering into parking orbit.

  Nearby were the quartz globe of Eeess, still his Science Contemplator, and the rainbow coils of Life-Who-Is-Song, who continued as his executive aide. But the Arrik was a presence he couldn’t ignore. And it was time for the standard query.

  “Threat status, Conflict Commander?” he asked T’Klose.

  The Arrik stared ahead, stiffly formal in manner. “Nominal. No evidence of detection of our ship . . . Watch Commander. Earth and the cometary exploration craft New Horizons both lie on the opposite side of the system from our entry vector. We are shielded from detection by the yellow star. The outer planet probes Galileo, Cassini, Europa, Voyagers 1 and 2 and more recent ones are all dead. Covert system entry appears . . . possible.”

  “Thank you.” Life-Who-Is-Song, coiled up just below Sargon’s Command Dais seat, swayed with the emotions loose on the bridge. Sargon looked ahead at the line of instrument blocks and his multi-species crew.

  It was time. “Begin deceleration thrust.”

  Sargon closed his eyes to the front viewscreen’s displays and leaned back into the padding of his seat, letting its auto-manipulators massage tense neck and back muscles. Thank the Clan he could count on his Compact crewmates from 29 years ago to help him. Gathered on the deck were Life at his Aide post, Mother Begay of the Sliss at Environment, T’Set T’Say at her Power pedestal, Nomik the Zik at Supplies, Eeess at Science, Lord Tarq of the Gosay at Life Patterns, Belisarus at Navigation and Sparkling-Yellow-Thoughts at Liaison/Communications. Elsewhere on the ship Bethrin, his love, still stood with him, along with aunt Lorilen, Grethel, uncle Maran, his mother Peilan and his father Salex—now bed-ridden from old age at l56 ship years, but still alert. His and Bethrin’s children, Persa and Corin, worked elsewhere on Hekar, pursuing their own careers as biomed specialist and linguist. However, he noticed the Command Deck was crowded lately as more and more Compact sapients ended their Suspense hibernation. Everyone wanted to be awake during the last few days of the system approach. No one wanted to miss the actual entry into a new planetary system. And everyone wished to know the latest news from home and about the Human bipeds.

  “Fusion engines firing,” whistled T’Say. “All four main engines are vaporizing deut-li pellets. Antimatter is being added to the fusion plasma to maximize our power. Thrust is building to nine Horem gravities. Reduction of velocity to one-tenth lightspeed in progress.”

  “Gravnets are holding,” said Mother Begay as her RNA speech packets were processed by the All-Hailer pedestal next to her water tube. “All habitats are maintaining local gravity levels. Fighter craft, shuttles and fuel bins are restrained in the hangars. Sapients in tunnel transit are protected by tunnel gravnets. No injuries reported from deceleration gravities.”

  Sargon looked to the front left.

  “Environmental conditions are stable in all Bubbles and anywhere liquid is present,” Lord Tarq muttered. “Farms and hydroponic vats are functioning normally. Oxygen production by the Forest Bubbles is normal. All Suspense chambers and capsules are protected by local gravnets. Ship environment is good.”

  Belisarus’ tracglobe spoke. “Ship vector is aligning with planetary ecliptic of this system. I confirm that we are shielded from Earth-based detection by the yellow star.”

  Sargon hop
ed the ship was indeed not visible from Earth, from Mars or from any Human spacecraft now present in the system. While Eeess was most efficient at enumerating the various Human robot spacecraft launches and vectors, along with the frequent manned traffic between the Earth and its Moon, still, all it would take to alert humanity to the presence of visiting aliens was a telescope or radiation sensor aimed their way. The four Drive flares stretched out for 51 Horempads, or 50 kilometers in Human terms. But space within a star system was largely empty. And dark. And with much space between solid objects. There were no rocks, asteroids or comets ahead of their decel vector, according to Eeess. Still . . . .

  “Life-Who-Is-Song, please confirm the viability of our deceleration maneuvers,” he said calmly, not looking aside at T’Klose.

  The Strelka raised his white braincase and leaned his sensorium strip toward Sargon. “Watch Commander, viability is confirmed. Observations by our Astronomy Bubble confirm our best approach is to keep firing fusion plasma until Hekar reaches the outer photosphere edge of the yellow star. The star’s gravity will cause the ship’s course to curve around the star in a gravity-swing arc.” Life touched a nearby viewplate with his right flexarm, causing a vector graphic to appear on the left side of the front viewscreen. “Our decel thrust, combined with the star’s gravity, will swing us around and back towards our entry vector. As the ship moves outward, our velocity will slow further, both from continued fusion thrust and from the star’s influence.” Another image of the entire star system now appeared on the right side of the true light space image that filled the viewscreen. “Hekar will pass close to the gas giant Jupiter, and make a gravity-swing about that planet. By then our velocity will be down to one-hundredth of lightspeed. The ship’s vector will assume an orbital track similar to Jupiter’s orbit, then pass through its Trojan asteroid cluster on the way to entry into the Asteroid Belt of this system. Navigator Belisarus is in command of these maneuvers. Success is expected.”