Space Scout

by S A Pavli

  “We’ll just have to leave these considerations for later,” I said. “Let’s concentrate on staying out of Smetronis’s clutches for now. I think we need some early warning if any if these AG sled’s come close. Sundance, we need to find a lookout post, somewhere which gives us a view of the surrounding area without us being spotted. I suggest you try and find such a spot and keep a lookout there throughout the day.”

  “Cannot carry out translation duties if I am some distance away,” rumbled Sundance. “Will have to boost radio transmission. Risk detection,” I looked up at the craggy peak which towered over the silver stream, which emerged from a cleft in its side. The top looked accessible and also allowed 360 degree visibility.

  “How about up there Sundance?” I pointed.

  “Yes,” he confirmed. “It looks suitable. Will detect intruders before they come in range of RF transmissions.”

  “OK,” I agreed. “Next, we need to camouflage the tent. It can’t be seen from the air, but is visible from ground level when you come from that direction.” I pointed in the direction we had come, from the sea inland. “I suggest we move the tent further back into the overhang and pile up some vegetation, bushes and trees around the front of the overhang to obscure it. It would take a very close examination to spot the Tent if we do that.” Manera nodded in agreement and Sundance maintained an impassive silence.

  The rest of the day was filled with physical labour in the hot sun. We could not have done it without the robot’s help of course. Moving the Tent back ten feet was not so bad, but the task of digging up and replanting bushes to form a thick enough camouflage was much harder than I expected. We had to bring a reasonable amount of soil and grass so that the bushes would look natural. Landscape gardening was not my forte, so the end result was a nasty mess, but I was not after winning any prizes at any Flower Show! By the end of the afternoon the job was done and we took a grateful cooling dip in the stream before preparing our evening meal.

  I allowed Manera to go first and diplomatically hid in the tent while she was bathing. When I was sure she had finished I came out with a towel to carry out my own ablutions. She was sunning herself on a large rock, drying her hair and she made no effort to turn away as I removed my clothes. I turned my back on her, removed my clothes and had my bath with my back to her all the time. The water was cold so I did not loiter and having dried and dressed I joined her on the rock.

  “Do humans find nudity embarrassing?” she asked.

  “Not at all,” I assured her, although I was not too sure myself.

  During lunch, which was substantial because we had not eaten all day in our haste to complete our defences, it was Manera who again raised the subject of our differing sexual natures.

  “How can Humans function if they are permanently sexually active?” she asked “Does this not affect your ability to concentrate on other tasks?”

  “Well, ‘permanently sexually active’, does not mean that we are continuously obsessed with sex,” I explained. “Socially, it is not acceptable to behave in a sexually explicit fashion, except under appropriate circumstances, in private and with another consenting adult. We have very strong customs to regulate what is acceptable and what is unacceptable behaviour.”

  “I see,” she said, looking thoughtful. “But is this repression not harmful? Social habits should not go against natural needs, as this will create unendurable stresses within the individual.”

  “Well, we call this creative stress,” I said. “Life is about balancing various needs and desires against social necessity, and the ability to harness this conflict in a creative rather than destructive way. Much of art for example is motivated by sexual themes and sexual conflicts.”

  “Yes, much of our primitive art is also on a sexual theme,” she said, and I could not help wincing. Primitive indeed!

  “But surely..,” I went on “Hianja must also have situations when their love or desire is rejected. Don’t you suffer psychological problems as a result?”

  “In the past we were like you,” she said. “Males and females had normal sexual drives. But there were problems,” she paused, as if unsure of herself. “We had to resort to artificial means.” She seemed reticent to say more so I didn’t press her. It seemed there were aspects of their history that the Hianja preferred to forget.

  Chapter 14

  The following three days passed without any sign of searching Aliens. Manera concentrated on her English language lessons and made remarkable progress. I struggled hard to learn Hianja but my achievements were derisory compared to hers. My relationship with Manera developed into affection and mutual respect. But there was always that repressed sexuality just under the surface. I was continuously aware of her sinuous shapely body, alien yet familiar. She reacted to close physical situations with cool detachment. She had no physical inhibitions about displaying her body and continued to do so, despite knowing that this was a distraction for me. In a way, it showed her complete trust in me. She was treating me as a friend and comrade and I was not about to betray that trust.

  There was only a couple of days to go before we could expect the arrival of the Hianja Expedition, and we were beginning to relax, thinking that Smetronis would never find our little hideout, when the bombshell arrived.

  “Object about two miles away, just visible,” came Sundance’s terse report.

  “Can you determine what kind of object Sundance?” I asked quietly.

  “Appears ground vehicle,” he replied. I looked at Manera and she frowned and shook her head.

  “Sundance, could it be a flyer hovering close to the ground?” I asked. There was a pause.

  “It is at limit of resolution,” came Sundance’s response “But yes, could be Hianja Tanseh.”

  “What direction is it headed?” I asked.

  “Along path leading our direction,” he replied. I began to see my mistake now in the location of our camp. We had unconsciously followed a break in the foothills going inland, and then picked up our little stream, following it up to its rocky source. It would be a natural thing for our searchers to do also. I cursed my stupidity and Manera looked concerned.

  “Paul, what?” she asked in English. I explained to her quickly my mistake. She shook her head in disagreement.

  “No, natural thing to do,” she said again in English. “Too difficult go up mountains. What do now?” she asked.

  “Sundance, I want you to stay where you are and continue reporting. Also, keep a lookout for the Hianja Shuttle. I would expect it to be flying much higher than the Tanseh.” I paused for a second in thought.

  “Are you armed?” I added

  “Yes, have rocket launcher and rifle,” he replied.

  “Good,” I replied. “If they come close, stop communications so that they do not detect us. Do not fire until I fire first, or give you the word. Understood?” I asked.

  “Understood,” he replied.

  “If possible try not to destroy the Tanseh. It may prove useful. Manera, do you know how to fly these things?.”

  “Yes,” she replied. “They use standard controls. But Paul,” she went on “Attacking Tanseh will give our position to Smetronis.” She was now communicating wholly in English, allowing Sundance to concentrate on his observations.

  “If they discover our camp, same thing,” I pointed out. “Should we hit them before they discover us?” I asked. She thought for a moment before replying.

  “No, position of Tanseh known on monitor,” she replied. Manera looked completely different from the regally immaculate alien who had stepped down from her shuttle ten days ago. Her hair was rumpled and unruly, and she was wearing my second set of work clothes. But she looked browner, fitter and meaner and I reckoned I could count on her. We settled down to wait. Sundance continued to give us occasional reports on the progress of the Tanseh, which gradually became closer.

  It started to become apparent that a search pattern was being followed. They were methodically quartering the ground between t
he sea and the mountains. Sundance calculated they would be in our vicinity by the afternoon. We debated whether to make a run for it, but it was obvious that the Tanseh was covering the ground faster than we could, and we did not want to be in the open.

  A couple of hours after we spotted the Tanseh Sundance spotted the Hianja Shuttle, at ten thousand feet to the North. We surmised that the other Tanseh was pursuing a similar search pattern to the north of the base, the Shuttle providing high level cover and support. The situation was now more serious because any attack on the low flying Tanseh would bring the more heavily armed shuttle down on us. The only hope we had was that our camp would be missed, so we set about ensuring that our camouflage was thorough and removing any telltale signs of habitation from our little enclosed canyon. Using leafy branches we erased our footsteps, backtracking to the shelter of the enclosed overhang and ensuring that the tent was completely invisible by deflating it to the ground. We took our positions behind a couple of boulders which through the foliage gave us a good view down the valley in the direction the searchers had to come.

  Manera still refused to use a weapon against her countrymen, despite agreeing that these Hianja were acting in a bizarre and inexplicable fashion, she was still not convinced that they would fire on us and pleaded with me not to be the first to open fire. I reluctantly agreed with serious misgivings, but asked her to at least hold the pistol, and instructed her how to use it. She absorbed my instructions in her usual concentrated way and I was certain she would know what to do, if she could bring herself to do it. A final message from Sundance raised the tension.

  “They are within two miles Paul, I must cease transmissions now,” he transmitted.

  “OK Sundance,” I replied. “Let us hope we are not spotted. Otherwise, follow my lead.”

  He transmitted a terse confirmation and we settled down to wait. We could not rely on any warning because the Hianja Tanseh were totally silent, so we hid behind our screening trees and bushes and hoped for the best.

  The moment arrived suddenly, the Tanseh appearing at the entrance to the grotto, flying at about two hundred feet, it snaked its way around the huge cliffs enclosing our grotto and hovered stationary above the stream. I hazarded just an eyeball peeking around the boulder to keep an eye on it. It was about the size of a large Earth automobile, and about the same shape but flat bottomed with curved sides. A bulbous flattened ring like protrusion in the centre enclosed the Artificial Gravity Generator that powered the craft. There were windows all around, which were open and various lethal looking weapons poked out. It was clearly not designed to be a military vehicle since there was no sign of armoured protection or built in weapons. Again I was surprised at the amateurism of the Hianja. They seemed to have no real military vehicles or equipment and their arms were small and hand held. The only advanced military equipment in evidence so far were the missiles fitted to the Mother Ship which had destroyed the mysterious intruder’s Flyer. I was sure that one shot from Sundance’s RPG would bring the Flyer down permanently.

  I looked at Manera and nodded reassuringly, placing a finger against my lips to denote silence. She looked tense and wide eyed but she nodded in understanding. I jabbed a finger out through the trees to indicate that they had arrived and she nodded.

  The Tanseh moved cautiously closer, drifting into the grotto and circling the small area, raising higher, and then coming down almost to ground level. It pottered at ground level for a few minutes and I began to worry. They were taking too long examining a small area and I had the sudden dread that our preparations were not thorough enough, that we had left some sign on the ground of our presence. But it seemed my worries were unfounded because suddenly the flyer lifted and headed down the valley at speed, soon vanishing from sight around the cliffs. I grinned in elation at Manera and danced a little jig.

  “I think we are OK.” I grabbed her and gave her a hug and she responded with a wide eyed look.

  “Do you think they will return?” she asked, hesitating over her English.

  “Nah, can’t see why they should,” I said confidently. “They don’t know that I established a second camp before their Mother ship even arrived so they probably think we are on the run. I don’t think they will be back.”

  “On the Run?” she asked questioningly.

  “Yes,” I said “Moving from place to place every day, sleeping rough ...er.. outside,” I explained. She nodded understanding.

  “What do we do now?” she asked.

  “We keep quiet until Sundance gives us the all clear. They may still be in radio range.”

  It was only a few minutes later when Sundance gave us the all clear. Apparently, the Hianja had given up for the day, the Tanseh heading up to the shuttle where it was taken on board and the shuttle headed north, probably to take the other searching Tanseh on board. It was late afternoon and the sun would be going down very soon, so we decided to put up the tent and prepare our evening meal.

  We were both quiet over dinner, the elation at not being detected giving way to a sober thoughtfulness. Sundance was still in his lookout position on the cliff above the grotto. I judged it was safer to keep the lookout going while the searching Hianja were still in the vicinity. Manera was keen to talk, if only to improve her English . I asked her about Hianja Society. How had they managed to preserve their culture over the vast expanse of their History, and had it changed over that time?

  Over thousands of years, the Guardians had ‘shaped’ the Hianja mind and body through genetic engineering, as well as Hianja Society through social engineering, always conforming to the fundamental principles of Hianja civilisation. I became more and more concerned at hearing this. I was aghast at the idea of so much control being exercised over a race by any group of individuals. I objected to Manera that the potential for tyranny would over time become very real .

  But Manera dismissed my qualms, saying that the concern of the Guardians was always for the common good and the preservation, as she called them, of the “fundamental guiding principles” of Hianja Society. I did not have the arrogance to disagree with an individual whose race had twenty thousand years of civilization behind them and had settled on hundreds of planets, moons and asteroids! I had to agree that if it works, then it’s probably right.

  After checking with Sundance, we settled down to sleep. It was a warm close night and we remained fully dressed, sleeping on top of the sleeping bags instead of inside. I lay awake for a while, unable to relax, with the feeling that it had all been too easy. Inside the tent it was completely dark. I could not make out any sign of Manera’s sleeping form, although I could hear her gentle breathing. For the first time since our meeting, I was beginning to feel a sense of strangeness about this beautiful alien creature. Being able to talk in English due to the incredible power of Alfred’s Language Compiler had given me a false sense of familiarity about Manera. But the more we talked the more it became apparent that Human and Hianja Philosophies in many areas were quite different. The murderous behaviour of Smetronis was another puzzle, completely at odds with the so called pacifist character of the Hianja. I must have dozed off during my musings because I suddenly jerked awake, Sundance’s deep voice in my ear.

  “Paul, the aliens have returned.” Damn, I thought it was all too easy.

  “Report!” I whispered.

  “I believe Tanseh landed around corner of cliff. Are coming up the slope towards camp.”

  “How many?”

  “Have seen three, but believe more,” I stood up quickly and reached out and found my pistol. Then the realisation hit me.

  “Sundance, you have broken radio silence!” I exclaimed.

  “More important to warn you,” explained Sundance tersely.

  “You are right Sundance. Hold your station for now,” I agreed. “Manera, wake up!” I shook her and she immediately sat up. “They have returned. A number of Hianja are coming up the hill on foot. We must get out of the tent otherwise we will be trapped,” I felt more than saw her
jump up. I reached out and found her, fumbling to find her hand.

  “Are you ok?” I asked.

  “Yes Paul, I am ready,” she whispered and I was impressed with the steadiness of her voice.

  “Come,” I said. “We will get out and climb up the escarpment behind the camp. We must be quick.” We fumbled our way out of the tent and through the obscuring trees and bushes to the back of the camp site. The rocks were not too difficult to climb but it was a dark moonless night and we took it slowly not to make any noise. Higher we climbed, angling to the right to make our way above and behind the overhanging rock which obscured the camp site. Sundance’s voice whispered in my ear again.

  “Paul, I am coming down from the cliff to attack them from behind. Where are you?”

  “Good idea Sundance. We are climbing above and behind the camp. I will try to get into a position to attack them from above,” If we could get them into a ‘pincer’ we may out of this alive after all I thought. We got into position above the grotto and I could see the area leading to the hidden camp quite clearly. I had yet to see any movement, but as we settled behind a couple of large boulders I caught a furtive movement to the right against the cliff. Sure enough, one dark shape slithered along the cliff and disappeared into a shadow and another came up from behind to occupy its previous position. I started counting and eventually go to six. I wanted Sundance to open up on them while I could still see them, but I could see no sign of him.

  Eventually, they were all obscured by the trees and bushes around our camp and hidden also by the overhang. I considered working myself out to the edge of the overhang, but I would be completely exposed there. I waited for Sundance to get into position before moving out onto the overhang, but I was aware that we did not have much time. Once the Hianja invaded the camp and discovered we were not in the tent, the obvious place to look would be where we were. There was nowhere else we could have gone.