Neighbors
Page 35
The captain closed gis eyes as the routine of the ship set in and allowed
gis ears to pick up the subtle details of the bridge activity. Gi could hear the soft scraping of skin against the floor, the tapping of controls, and even the breathing of those nearest to gis. Then gi allowed the feeling for appreciation to come to the surface as gi recalled the difficulty of a gis to rise to the top, stereotypes being everything.
Gis eyes opened slowly. “Go ahead, give me the next message.”
“It is a message from the head of the Tulin family. Receipt of message
acknowledged. Message reads, Gs Ho Tae, greetings from the Tulin family. It is my hope my representatives show me well. I make a request. I have received word that another predator, much larger than the last, has just entered our domain. Allow one of my many representatives to return home. Gat name is
Ga Tulin Amar, piloting the retriever Gasto on the belt. It’s not even armed and will provide no benefit in the conflict. Allow my representative and my ship to return home, and I will provide you with a domicile in the world-renowned Gat Fenora Mountains. Even on your salary, you would never make
enough to afford this location. It is a reasonable exchange, considering. I await your response. ”
The captain’s ears tingled at the silence on the bridge. Gi and a few
others scratched their ears.
“Captain, it is a good offer. Your status will increase before the next
cycle. Aside from breaking the standard protocol of bribery, there are no
foreseeable negatives,” said the captain’s chief representative.
“Analyze my standing after I take a bribery hit.”
“Current crew compliment is three hundred and thirty-eight. If they
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all recognize the bribe, your standing will fall from its current state of one thousand two hundred and thirteen to eight hundred and seventy-five.”
“I will lose my command if I drop below a thousand. You know that!”
“Yes and no, do not forget that by moving your domicile to the new
location, you will acquire no less than four hundred points and as many as
a thousand, depending on the location within the blessed mountain.”
“I almost forgot about that.”
“Yes, and of course your entire family will benefit for as long as you
retain the domicile. I suggest you accept the offer, on the condition that
you obtain the domicile before you write the order.”
“Make the arrangements, and for every three points of bribery findings
that don’t get reported, I’ll give you one point. As a bonus to you.”
The eyes of the chief widened, and a slight hum escaped gat mouth.
“I feel energized to work on your behalf.” The chief stood up and moved
slowly out of the bridge.
* * *
“Receiving a message from the predator.”
“Let’s receive the message.”
“We come from a distant star and wish to meet our galactic neighbors. Let’s meet and talk. ”
Several of the crew hissed or shrieked at the message, heads darting
back and forth as they evaluated everyone else’s response. A general consen-
sus was clear.
“Captain, may I speak?” said one of the lesser-ranked crewmen man-
ning one of the turret controls.
“Proceed, with but with a point in judgment.”
A crewman of political standing accessed that crewman’s profile and
deducted one point from git profile. Depending on why gi interrupted the
captain, gi would either double up or lose the point.
“Consider the style of this ship. It is not black and pointed, like the
first predator. Also, they speak, which is something the first predator did
not do. I would suggest it is not the same kind of predator. Perhaps attack-
ing this predator is not the optimal option.”
Now the Captain had to decide if the interruption was worth taking a
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point from the ship’s holdings. The Captain also had the option of supply-ing the extra point from his own standing, though that kind of thing was
very rare.
“Much of what you said, I find obvious. I would hear your proposal.”
The color of the lesser crewman drained away from git face. “Let us
accept a predator to talk among us, and they do the same. We will learn
much about them from how they treat our representative, without risking
our ship. We do this by allowing one of the closer ships to meet with them,
giving us foreknowledge of treatment.”
The captain tilted gis head to the side. “It is a worthy suggestion.
Increase git standing.”
The crewman leaned back heavily against git pole, and the nearest
crewmen reached out and carefully rubbed git arm from shoulder to finger.
The crewman of political standing documented the extra point in the crew-
man’s profile.
“Addendum of action, ten-three,” said the Captain.
The political officer documented the announcement in the ship’s log.
This is done when the individual in charge decides to go with the rec-
ommendation and levies the outcome against the crewman’s standing, ten
being the highest number of possible points attainable if the result is favor-
able, and negative three points if it’s a negative outcome.
Murmurs echoed throughout the bridge. This could mean a signifi-
cant adjustment for the crewman if git attained the ten points. Maybe even
enough points to bump up into better quarters.
“Make all attempts for our message to be heard by the predator, and
provide clear instructions as to what the crewman has suggested.”
The communications crewman worked git console diligently.
* * *
Alex stood just outside the hangar bay, as well as the entire armed security
detachment, who were stationed around various points on the ship. He
didn’t care for the large EVA suits, but understood their necessity, especially in this case.
Watching the display screen near the large door, he observed the small
ship enter the open hanger bay. The ship looked like it was made out of
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rock, modified by goblets of metal in various locations. One of the goblets burst with a small flame of thrust, and the ship descended onto the deck.
The hanger door in the background slowly closed, and Alex opened the
door to the hanger as air recirculated back inside.
Alex and two men, one armed with an alien pulse weapon and the
other with a shotgun modified to allow the large fingers of the EVA suits,
walked into the hanger bay. The small ship was the size of a mid-size pickup
truck, and as they approached the ship, they realized it wasn’t exactly rock
but were unsure of what the ship was actually made out of.
They stood outside the ship for a time, just looking at the ship.
“Uhh, Lanora?” Alex asked after a few minutes.
“Yeah?”
“Nothing is happening. Can you message the ship, let them know we
are ready?”
“We have; they just replied.”
“And…”
“They said, I was scared, and now that I see you, I am stone.”
Alex turned to look at his companions and shrugged. “I mean, did you
tell them about me? I’m a pretty nice guy.”
The ship made a hum of some kind, and a thin pole extended below
the ship to the deck. As soon as the pole hit the deck, it stopped with a
loud plink sound a
nd the alien slid down the pole. The alien was encased
in some kind of plastic wrapping that quickly expanded into a round ball,
completely surrounding the alien. The plastic did not inflate fully, perhaps
only ninety percent, allowing the alien to walk normally towards Alex. The
plastic ball rolled around the alien with each step it took.
The alien was a few inches taller than knee-high. Its skin looked smooth
and clay red, the head the widest part of the alien, its shoulders only a tad
bit shorter. It had two arms and legs, and walked much like the humans did.
Alex spoke into his suit. “Greetings, my name is Alex. I am Captain of
this ship.”
Symboli translated the message and, using the suit’s external speaker,
offered a translation to the alien. A moment later, the alien responded, and
Symboli translated.
“I am scared, are you feast on my body?”
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Alex bit his tongue and drew blood to prevent himself from smiling.
“No. We welcome you as an honored guest.”
The alien craned its neck to look up at Alex but kept shielding its eyes.
“Lanora, turn down the lighting in this room by fifty percent.”
A few moments later, the brightness of the room dwindled to half.
The alien took a deep breath and relaxed a bit. Alex grinned to his security
guard, careful to keep his mouth closed. The security guard returned a full
and bright smile. The alien cowered to the floor and curled into a tight ball, its right eye facing up while its left was hidden from sight.
“I know you didn’t mean to do it, but because you did, and the alien is
scared, I’d like you to leave the room. Both of you.”
Jack, holding the shotgun, gave the alien a final look over and decided
it was not a threat. He nodded to the other guard and exited the room, the
other guard following him.
“Gloria, can I exit my suit? That thing has his own.”
“Do you really think I am going to say yes?”
Alex tried to imagine ways to appear less threatening. Failing other
ideas, he lay down on his stomach and appeared as flat as possible. “We
mean you no harm,” Alex said, and Symboli translated.
“What are you doing?” Lanora asked as she watched from the bridge’s
main viewscreen.
The alien watched Alex carefully and unculred itself when Alex lay on
the ground. It walked closer to him until the plastic bubble nearly touched
Alex’s suit.
“You are large and have large teeth, and have come from the deep. Are
you not searching for food?”
“No, we are not searching for food, we have lots of food. We seek
knowledge and conversation.”
Alex watched the alien speak several times, and even though it was up
close, he couldn’t tell where the voice was coming from. The alien took
another deep breath and slowly walked forward until the bubble touched
Alex’s suit. Then the alien walked to the edge of the plastic against Alex’s
suit and placed the flat part of its head against the helmet of Alex suit.
“My name is Gis Nor Cest. My people are expecting your offering.
Will you not send it?”
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“Offering?” Alex asked in a hushed tone to Symboli.
“I think it means the diplomacy team.”
“Tell Gis Nor Zest I will stand up now and make way to our little ship
and go to their… mother.”
Moments later, the alien stepped far away from Alex.
Alex stood up slowly and walked towards the nearest shuttle. He
stopped to look back at the alien. “Will you not come with me?”
“In your ship?”
“Yes.”
“I am scared. Also, I am not sure I can breathe your air.”
“It will be a very short trip.”
“How many cycles?”
“Uhhh…”
“If we assume a cycle is a rotation of the planet like Earth’s, it’s roughly
thirty-two of our days. If we assume a cycle is the rotation around the star
it’s two hundred and thirty-four of our days.”
“Make the assumption it’s the thirty-two days and translate the infor-
mation to the alien.”
“Point zero, zero, zero, one cycles.” The suit translated.
“Alex, just go without it, we can take care of it,” Lanora offered while
they waited for a response.
“I really don’t want to go without it. Gs Nor Zest, follow me to
my ship.”
Alex led the alien into the shuttle, followed by the four armed guards
that remained in the seating area of the shuttle. Alex sat down loosely
on the pilot’s chair and carefully piloted the craft out of the hanger bay,
making a very fast departure towards the mother. He placed the alien in
the co-pilot’s chair but did not strap it in, as that would be useless due to
its size. The multiple-point harness system did not cover the alien’s body in
the right area; it would more likely cause injuries rather than prevent them.
Plus, the round plastic barrier was a major obstacle.
As Alex approached the large ship, maneuvering in such a way that the
effects of acceleration and deceleration would only be felt against the seat,
he wondered if there would be space enough for him anywhere on the ship.
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He didn’t care; he was doing exactly what he wanted to do his whole life, and if it cost him his life then so be it.
It wasn’t long before the large rocky ship grew very large in
his viewscreen.
“Humanity is finally doing it. We are going to make our first formal
introductory meeting of races.”
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Coming Soon
B o o k T h r e e
E a r ly 2 0 1 9
Message from the Author
AS I attempt to make the very risky transition from part-time author to
full-time author, I ask for patience with the coming books. I have not taken writing classes (yet), and this is my second published book. I have
learned a lot, and need to learn so much more.
I wish I had the funds to not worry about bills. I’m just nowhere near
there yet. Maybe you’re someone like Alex, who can make a huge
contribution/difference in someone’s life. I’ll just give you a wink, and
you can reach me on Goodreads.
It is my hope that you found the book entertaining, bringing you
to another world where you can lose yourself. If you did enjoy this book,
please write a review on Amazon. Doing this will help support me as an
author. I read all reviews and use the feedback to make changes to my writing.
Currently, my story arcs will fill about eight books in this series. If you have questions about the book, feel free to reach out to me on Goodreads. I also post updates on book activity there. I even sketched out
an image of a Zorn drone; it’s in my profile photos.
I took a big ‘writing risk’ in the Chapter ‘Predators from the
Deep,’ writing in three sex pronouns. I am looking forward to your
feedback from that.
To my fellow veterans out there, be vigilant, stay safe; and as always,
protect those whom you love and those who cannot protect themselves.
If you’re looking for another series to read; while you wait for my next book to come out, I enjoyed The Frontiers saga, by Ryk Brown, as well as the The S
ilver Ships series, by S.H. Jucha.
Until next time,
__________________________________________
Special thank you to my wife, family and to all of those who had a
part in this book.
Holly Soall, Nicole Dentremont, Lauren Whale, Katrina McMichael,
Sarah Weldon, Connie Kellerman, Deja Watson and especially Hanncel
Sanchez.