Exodus: Tales of The Empire: Book 2: Beasts of the Frontier.

by Doug Dandridge

  “I’ll be there in a moment, Master Sergeant,” she replied to the man who was her second in command of the team. Master Sergeant Tapuarii Kama was a native of New Tahiti, and had been in the Constabulary longer than Jensen had been alive. As an augmented operative, he looked older than his actual age of ninety-seven. Bergland looked at herself in the cabin’s mirror as that thought hit her. She was only forty-six, but looked like she was seventy. She was on the far end of the bell curve for people who accepted augmentation, and had probably lost fifty years of life.

  That was my choice, she thought, shaking her head, then grabbing her kit bag and hefting it on her shoulder with muscles stronger than four humans her size. I wanted to be a superwoman, and so far the price had been worth it.

  The shuttle deck was amidships on the liner. Several of the basic ship to ground shuttles had already left, and one was lifting and heading for the cold plasma field that kept the atmosphere in the hangar from evacuating into space. The liner was carrying immigrants to a world that had plenty of room for new settlers, and tourists for a growing industry. And how many of them would have taken this trip if they knew what was going on down there, thought the Major, walking over to her team.

  “Attention,” called out Kama, and the line of eight humans and six nonhumans snapped to attention, those that could.

  Jensen returned the Master Sergeant’s salute, then looked over her handpicked team. She didn’t think they would win any beauty awards, and not every uniform was perfect. And that was not the reason she had chosen them for this mission. All were good at their jobs, all could think on their feet, those who had feet. She looked over the humans first, five men and three women. He walked past them to the two standing nonhumans, these Killi, an amphibian species that had been in the Empire for over four hundred years. And finally to the large tank floating on antigravs with the last four members of the team.

  “I bet you’re ready to get into some real water,” she commented to the four bottlenose dolphins that floated in the tank, giving her curious looks.

  “More than ready, Major,” said the translator that the quartet’s Sergeant, Tomas, was using, his own high pitched speech coming through the plastisteel of the tank.

  Dolphins had always been intelligent creatures, some said the second brightest animals of Old Earth, after humans. Others had assigned that place in the rankings to chimps, but the improved genome of the dolphin gave them intelligence equal to unimproved humans. And these four were specimens on the far end of the bell curve, easily the equal of all but the brightest humans.

  Jensen nodded, thinking of the risks these members of her team would be taking, though they would be better equipped than even the amphibian Killi in handling a Waterworld.

  “Let’s get on board,” she ordered, then waited as her team filed into the shuttle they had brought along for this mission. It was a Fleet class assault shuttle, heavily armed and armored, with a sensor suite more powerful than anything on the planet below. The dolphin tank rolled under its own power through the cargo hatch at the rear of the shuttle. The Major followed the walking members of the team into the shuttle, heading for the cockpit, where she strapped herself in next to the Warrant Officer who was their assigned pilot.

  “We have clearance for Lemuria Base, Major,” said Sarnai Zaya, her fingers working across her control board and bringing all systems online. “Incoming message from the Governor.”

  The Major accepted the transmission, letting the images playing across her occipital lobe through her link, ensuring the privacy of the com.

  “We are so glad to see you, Major,” said the middle aged man, the expression on his face showing that he had not felt glad about much for quite some time.

  “I’m looking over your data now, Governor Frieze,” she informed the man, multitasking as she digested the summary of what had been going on since the message arrived at New Tahiti by hyper VII courier. New Tahiti was in the same Sector, VII, on the upper side of the Empire almost opposite of Sector IV. It had taken the courier twelve days to reach New Tahiti, the closest Constabulary base. And forty-eight days for the liner to make the return trip. Which meant two months had gone by since the Governor had sent his report. And there had been nine more incidents in that time, with almost a hundred dead, and several hundred missing and presumed dead.

  “And you still have no idea what’s doing this?”

  “Some kind of animal,” said the Governor.

  The shuttle started to shake as it entered the atmosphere, the pilot dropping them into the gas envelope, then flattening out into a glide. The grabbers, their compensator function converting inertia to heat, smoothed out much of that turbulence. But they couldn’t get rid of it all.

  “We really can’t tell what, except that it’s really big, and it’s able to hide in the ocean,” said Frieze. “It gives no warning, and seems to strike from nowhere. We have some tissue samples that were left behind at the scenes, and they don’t match anything we’ve ever seen on this world. The biologists at the University are not even sure its living tissue. More like a combination of life and machine life.”

  “And no signals from the areas this, thing, attacked?”

  “No. Maybe a couple of words screamed out over a com, then nothing. Just smashed cities and some sparse wreckage in the sea. We’ve ordered all small craft to stay in harbor, but you know how that goes.”

  Yes, I know how that goes, thought the Major, imagining what kind of an uproar that would have caused on an Imperial world. People had freedoms in the Empire, and one of those was the freedom to risk their own necks if that was their desire. There would be citizens who made their living fishing the rich shallow seas of this world, supplying their own and other worlds with high quality seafood. There would be wealthy citizens who spent their life on their yachts, and who had no desire to stay in harbor. The authorities could appeal to their sense of self preservation, could even come up with some charges to keep some of them off the water, but there weren’t enough police on a world like this to keep most of those who wanted to go to sea ashore.

  “When are the other shuttles coming down?” asked the Governor.

  “Other shuttles?”

  “Surely your entire force is not on that one shuttle” asked Frieze, eyes staring at what must have been her holo on his desk.

  “This is all we brought, Governor Frieze. There is a war on, after all, and resources are stretched.”

  “I see,” said Frieze, his voice low. “Well, I can still hope you might accomplish something.” His tone indicated anything but hope.

  “We’ll be down in eleven minutes, sir. I would like to meet with the heads of your police force and militia as soon as we disembark.”

  “Of course, Major,” replied the Governor.

  And she could just imagine how well that might go. The local police and militia were sure to have a colonel or two, maybe even a general. She was a mere major, though according to the laws of the Empire, she outranked anyone not of the constabulary during an investigation.

  “Major,” called out the Governor over the com, his voice near panicked. “We’ve received a call for help from Humbolt Village. They blurted out that they were under attack, then, nothing. We have an aerial patrol on the way to the platform’s location.”

  “Show me,” she ordered without even considering that she was giving an order to the supreme authority on the planet.

  The holo over the cockpit control board came to life with an image of the globe of the planet, a blinking red dot showing where the incident was taking place. The aircraft were flying over the coastal mountain range, on their way from the central base in the middle of the continent, about nine hundred kilometers from the village.

  “Do you have a satellite view?”

  “No, Major. We don’t have many surveillance sats in orbit. We’re keeping them over the areas where we our citizens are concentrated.”

  A small arrow appeared on the globe, which zoomed in on that area, showing bot
h the air patrol and the location on the coastal village that was ground zero for this latest incident.

  “We have no communications with Hubolt,” came the voice of the in Air Commander of the patrol. The viewed zoomed in again, now showing the three aircraft in formation, their identification numbers underneath. Jensen knew those craft, basic planetary search, rescue and defense VTOL, capable of Mach 8 in atmosphere, with a crew of three and room for seven passengers. They were lightly armed craft, with a nose laser and whatever pods the people in charge felt were right for the mission.

  “My God,” said the Air Commander over the com. “It’s gone. The whole thing is just, gone.”

  Images started coming in over the com as the VTOLs circled. The Major could make out the remains of foundations, the pillars of plasticrete that had once supported docks. There was nothing else. Not a wall, or a roof, not even a nail.

  “What was the village constructed of?” she asked into the com, her question going out to the Governor and the Air Commander.

  “Most of the coastal villages are constructed of native materials,” answered the Governor. “Wood and stone for the most part.”

  “So not as sturdy as modern materials,” said Jensen, wondering what would have happened to the place if it had been made of plasticrete and glasssteel, substances that could withstand any storm of earthquake likely to be found on an Earthlike world. Hell, they could handle a close detonation from a nuke or kinetic, most anything except a direct hit.

  “Ship Alpha Charlie Three,” came the voice of the Air Commander. “Land your team and recon on foot.”

  Acknowledgements came back, and the designated aircraft set down in what was left of the village, not really needing a clear space, since the entire area was cleared. As soon as it set down six passengers disembarked, all garbed in the light armor worn by most search and rescue units, carrying laser rifles, their eyes constantly sweeping everywhere, the take coming back through their links.

  “Only the plasticrete left from the foundations,” came the voice of the Team Leader over the com. The view zoomed in on one of the foundations, which, while still there, was pitted as if something had eaten into it.

  “Just like the others,” said the Governor.

  “We’ll be at the capital in eight minutes, Governor,” said Jensen, checking her timer. “Please have the people I asked for, and all evidence you’ve gathered from past attacks, at the meeting place. Jensen out.”

  The Major leaned back in her chair after killing the com, then looked over at the Pilot. “I want our other equipment on the ground, or in the water, as soon as possible.”

  “No rest for the wicked, I guess,” said Zaya with a slight smile. “It will take two trips to get everything down, Major. I was thinking, since the liner won’t be leaving this space for at least a couple of weeks, I could take some time and look around a bit. For intelligence purposes, you know.”

  “There’ll be enough time to drink and scout out the local boys and girls, Sarnai. But right now I’m not sure what we’re getting into. I want everything where we can use it. Understood?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” said the dejected Warrant Officer.

  “Good girl. We have a job to do here, then we can worry about down time.”

  The shuttle set down on the landing field outside the Capitol complex. The city overlooking the field was not large, at most fifty thousand people, as cities tended to be on frontier worlds where there was room to stretch out. Only a couple of small skyscrapers, each displaying the logo of a megacorp, the business headquarters of those companies on this world. Most of the rest of the city was made up of low rises, no more than ten stories, most less than five. The hillside overlooking the city was alive with the lights of individual residences. On the waterfront was a small cluster of docks and warehouses, several good sized vessels anchored out in the harbor, smaller ones tied up at the docks. There was no moon in the sky this night.

  “It’s beautiful,” exclaimed the Major as she disembarked from the shuttle, looking up at the horizon where the Milky Way was rising. She saw that she was not the only one staring at the sight of more stars than she had ever seen in one place.

  Overhead there were sparse twinkles from the nearest stars, most forty or more light years from New Lemuria. The planet was over two thousand light years out from the center of the Galactic disc, fifteen hundred from the concentration of stars that was the plane of the Galaxy. Stars were sparse out this far, though there were still enough with habitable planets to make colonization worthwhile. And the perspective of being this far out from the center, the thick band of stars in the Perseus Arm provided a light show of almost unequaled splendor. They could make out the entire width of the arm, could make out the curve of the length, as well as the dark bands of gas clouds to both sides. A totally different perspective from what humankind has evolved with, looking though the disc of the Galaxy, with all of the obscuring gas clouds in the way. Jensen thought she could stand here forever and look at the glorious display of literally billions of stars. But that’s not why they sent us out here, she thought, turning away from splendor so she could deal with horror.

  * * *

  Government House was a low building, three stories, though spread across several hundred acres. Like most frontier worlds, space was not at a premium on this planet. The few tall buildings were symbols of the power of the companies that built them. The Imperium chose to display its power by taking up some of the best land in the city, overlooking the bay. The building looked very much like an indefensible structure, but it was anything but. Made of the strongest of modern materials, it was all but disaster proof. A kilometer high seismic wave could crash over the building and there would be almost no damage.

  The aircars landed on the roof of the building, on a lit landing port where a man in a business suit and several Imperial Marines waited. Jensen looked down on the pad from the front seat of her car, going over what they knew about what the locals were calling the Creature in her head. Her team was along with her for the meeting, all except the dolphins, who were being ferried out to the bay where they could start acclimating themselves to this ocean. They had been cooped up in their tanks for too long. Even the large swimming pool on the liner was really too small for creatures such as they, and they had been chomping at the bit to get into real open water. Local dolphins had been contracted to help teach them the lay of this ocean, which, though of similar composition to the waters they were used to, contained some completely different life forms.

  “Please take your seats, Major,” said the man who had led them to the meeting room, a large chamber with an entire wall of windows overlooking the city and the bay. Lights reflected off the water, while other lights moved under their own power, patrol boats sounding the waters to make sure nothing was sneaking in that might cause a catastrophe among the civilians. “This will be a working dinner meeting. I hope all of your people like seafood? If not, we have steaks, or pork chops.”

  “Seafood will be just fine,” Jensen told the man, an aide to the Governor. She knew all of her people enough to know what they liked, and what they couldn’t stand. A planet like New Lemuria would of course have its farms, and it livestock. But the main industries on the planet were seafood and tourism, in that order.

  A moment later the Governor came walking into the chamber, his military and police commanders following. Jensen and her people were on their feet in an instant in a show of respect, as much for the former Imperial Marine Colonel that Governor Paul Frieze had been as for the civilian rank he now held.

  “Take your seats, ladies and gentlemen,” said the Governor, walking to the head of the table and taking his own chair. “May I introduce Colonel Isabella Suarez, the head of the Planetary Militia.” The small, dark skinned woman nodded and took her seat. “And Colonel Neru M’tabasa, Chief of Planetary Police.” The tall ebony man also nodded, then slumped his over two meter body into his own chair.

  Another door opened and the Government Ho
use wait staff came in, a dozen men and women with plates of food and bottles of drink. A large platter of savory food, a lobster analogue, what looked like a half dozen large shrimp, and some pieces of different fish, along with potatoes and vegetables, were placed in front of each person at the table.

  “All local seafood, from the waters of our bay,” said the Governor with pride. “Not only is the seafood, and the land animals, compatible with our metabolism, they are complete in their nutrient composition. Our dolphins and whales subsist entirely off of the native ocean life.”

  “That’s very unusual, isn’t it, Mr. Governor?” asked Jensen. She knew that about half the terrestrial worlds in known space had life with compatible proteins, which meant the other half didn’t. Those that didn’t ranged from having completely inert and indigestible proteins to deadly poisons, and the incompatibilities went both ways. But even compatible planets normally had something missing in the protein matrix, much less the vitamins.

  “Very,” said Frieze. “One of the things that made this such an attractive world, even as far from the plane of the disc as it is.”

  The rest of the room was quiet as the guests went after their food with gusto. Jensen speared some of the lobster on her fork and dipped it in the melted butter provided. She closed her eyes in appreciation as her taste buds savored the shellfish. I could get used to this, she thought. I could even get fat living in a place like this. That last thought brought an internal laugh. Very few humans were overweight in this day and age, eight centuries after the human genome improvement project had worked its magic on the species. There were very few overweight humans, and those who were really had to work at it.

  “That’s what makes this, creature, so unusual,” said Frieze, hesitating for a moment in raising a forkful of fish to his mouth. “From the much degraded cell samples we have, what few of them there are, they seem to be an entirely different form of life from what we find over the surface and shallow seas of the planet. My biologists tell me they’re unlike any other life form known. Almost like it really isn’t alive, but is some kind of mix of machine and biological”