by Frank Carey
"Hey, that's my granddaughter..." Harm said, but stopped when Ashley gently placed her hand on his arm.
"It’s not what you think."
The lead Logash smiled and intertwined his tail with the female standing next to him. She, in turn, did the same to the female next to her. This went on until all the Logash had intertwined their tails.
"Ashley, I am honored to make your acquaintance," the leader said. "My name is Agendor, and these people are my family." He then proceeded to introduce his companions.
"How is this possible?" Harm asked. For the first time in his wondrous life, Harm found himself without an explanation.
"Prince Lucien, we are Logash," the woman Agendor had introduced as Rutile explained. "Unlike elves, we transfer information through tail-to-tail contact in a manner similar to your twin-linking. Unlike the twin-link, we all do it with one another regardless of familial ties."
"We have many questions," Agendor said to everyone.
"As do we," Ciara noted.
CHAPTER FOUR
Losira emerged from the examination room, stripping-off her mask and gloves before sitting down next to her brother, who sat in a corridor chair quietly reading a romance novel. "How the hell do you do that?" she asked while leaning her head against the wall.
"Do what?" he asked while putting the book down.
"Sit there so calmly while everyone else is running around like a headless chicken."
"Why are they agitated?"
She looked at him like he had just grown an eyestalk out of his forehead. "Hello! Two million year old Logash sitting in my exam rooms!"
He shrugged. "Meh. You see one..." He stopped when she cuffed him. "Ow!"
"Wuss."
"How are they doing?"
"The six of them are fine considering the amount of time they spent in cryostasis, assuming it was cryostasis. Tanni and Nebs are having a field day with our new friends."
"What about the tail thing?"
She grabbed his hand and initiated a twin-link. "Similar mechanism, but it can be initiated between any two Logash. They can filter out feelings to a much higher degree than what we can." She released his hand. "They did say that it is a learned behavior, which explains why our neoLogash haven't been tail twisting."
"Wonderful. So, what's next for our new League members?" Harm asked.
"Good question. I just don't know the answer. Technically, their species is the progenitor for at least half the League species. They do look like us, kind of, but they also look like Telescu, Crystallanians, and Ithians, though none of our people have glowing blue eyes and crystals in their chests."
"Hey, the grandkids are Logash!" Harm noted.
"And their father is a Crystallanian GELF while their mother is an engineered elfling."
"An elfling with our genetics, remember," he reminded her.
"Yes, how could I forget that? Are you still showing people pictures of the kids?"
"Of course. I also show them this," he said, digging an official Ventosian gold dollar coin out his pocket. It had Losira's portrait on it.
"Put that away, fool. I hate that carving."
He did as ordered. "Where are we on the Logashs’ physicals?"
"We're done, and they're getting dressed. Could I ask you a favor?"
"Sure."
"Could you give them a tour while we get their quarters set up? They've requested a setup like the one you had for the quads back on Ventos Prime."
"Sure, but why?"
"Our assumption that they're a military unit is a little off. They're a polyamorous family unit with Agendor the alpha male and Rutile the alpha female."
"Huh?"
"Think Torsan with six family members and two genders."
"Really? That must make dating difficult..."
She cuffed him, this time in the other arm. "Ow!" he blurted out.
"Still a wuss. Another item for your consideration. They have never dealt with a sapient non-logash species before, so popping out of their sleep chambers and seeing two elves and a Venlanten standing next to a Logash was a little disconcerting for them, especially when they found out the big, clueless elf was the Logash's grandfather."
"How did they react to Dr. Wassman?"
"Surprisingly well. Not one crack about unleashing the kraken."
Harm smiled. Half the League species have legends about giant multi-tentacled creatures which they think resemble Alturans. "Any subject I should avoid?"
"Nope. Just wow them with your wit and charm."
###
"The Cube is a cube-shaped research station of modular design," Harm explained to his guests. "We can add more modules if we need research space or jettison them in the event of an emergency."
"Harmon," Malg, the beta male asked. "What kind of research is done here?"
"Every kind I can think of," the elf replied. "We started out as a weapons research lab, then branched out to other subjects such as biology, drive systems, biocybernetics, xenoarchaeology, history, and alien weapons decommissioning."
"Biocybernetics?" Rutile asked. "There is vague mention of that in Ashley's psychload. Could you explain in more detail?"
"Sure. Follow me." He led them into a lab marked "Biocybernetics" where his cousin, Gloria and her husband, John, worked. He made introductions, then resumed his explanation. "Dr. Taggart and Dr. Aymar are the recognized experts in biocybernetics. Dr. Taggart is an Earth human, and Dr. Aymar is a Ventosian elf. Working at the bench at the back of the room is their assistant Joffrey. He's an Orta. Say hello, Joffrey.”
Joffrey's environmental suit, which was modeled after a human male, split open along the centerline, revealing Joff's brightly glowing plasma form. He floated out into the lab and bowed before returning to the suit and his work.
The Logash were dumbstruck. Taking pity on them, Gloria explained Orta physiology. "You can see why they need a suit that maintains their environment."
"These suits, can they be fit to other life forms?" Sil, the gamma female asked.
"Yes," Gloria explained. "They come in a variety of forms which can be worn or operated remotely. Harm, can you demo the Minotaur over in the corner?" She threw him a control headband.
Placing it on his head, he tapped the activator, and the Minotaur came alive. It walked over and gently shook the Logashs’ hands before returning to its charging rack.
"Amazing," Agendor said. "Truly amazing."
"Hey, did I miss anything?" Ruby said as she walked into the lab wearing her Telescu suit.
"I would like you to meet Ruby, one of the Alue from the planet Crystal..."
"Alue! Rutile screamed as she leapt across the room to grab Ruby by the throat as the remaining four family members formed a protective circle around Agendor.
"Rutile, what the Plark are you doing. Let go, dammit," Harm said while trying to break her grip on Ruby's throat.
Freeing a hand for a moment, Rutile grabbed Harmon by the front of his shirt and threw him across the room before returning to throttle the Alue. Ruby went limp as another Minotaur came alive, only this one was festooned with flags warning it was carrying live ammo. The Minotaur raised an arm and aimed it at the alpha female while spinning up one of the arm Gatling guns.
"Ruby! Stand down this instant!" Chasm said as he stormed into the room.
"But, Boss, she..."
"You are in League with this creature, this dealer in death?" Rutile yelled as she dropped the Telescu suit only to aim a weapon at Chasm. Before Ruby could take further action, the angry Logash ran over and grabbed the black elf while pressing the weapon's muzzle against his temple."
"Nooooo!" Ruby yelled, but then something odd happened. The Minotaur deactivated as a glowing ball of energy emerged from it. As the suit crumpled, the ball took humanoid form, coalescing into a tall, willowy bipedal form with gray skin, slender torso, and limbs, its head fronted by large, black oval eyes. "Please, don't harm him. Shoot me, if you must, but spare Chasm."
Everyone gap
ed at the alien, unable to speak. Finally, Ciara whispered. "Oh my God, Ruby, you're a Zeta Orionid."
"You know of her kind?" Rutile asked as she lowered her weapon and released Chasm, straightening his shirt where she had held him.
"By the way, I'm fine," Harm said testily as Gloria and Ashley helped him up.
"Forgive me for the insolence," Rutile said to both Harm and Chasm. "I was shocked when I heard the word Alue.
Ignoring them, Ciara continued. "Zeta Orionids are a creature of myth." Ciara walked over and handed Ruby a lab coat while Harm grabbed a scanner and aimed it at the Alue.
"Thanks," she said as she donned the coat. "This has never happened before, ever. I've always been a non-corporeal being. I... I... I think I'm going to be sick."
With an anger-filled glance at Rutile, Chasm gently took Ruby's slim arms and looked her in her huge black eyes. "You're fine. Listen to me, you're fine. This is the Cube; weird shit happens here all the time."
Ruby laughed while leaning down and putting her head on his shoulder. "Since when did you start swearing?"
"When I married an elfling who talks like a space captain," Chasm said.
"I'm scared."
"There is nothing to be frightened about. Trust me, being a corporeal life form is no big deal."
"This from a man with green fire coming from his eyes."
"Hmmm, there is that."
###
Ciara paced the room like a caged animal as neoLogash, Logash, Alue, and members of the Cube's staff mingled around them. It was Harms idea to throw together an impromptu get together while the military elements prepared for war. She stopped pacing when her commlink bleeped. "Go for Devlin... You found their suits, but no one was inside? What about the tracers? They have to be somewhere! Fine, keep me posted. Devlin out."
"Problems, Director?" Chasm asked as he handed her a glass of tea.
"Security can't find any elder Alue, only their empty suits. Platinum, Malakai, and any Alue who witnessed the devastation of the Logash race seem to have taken a holiday."
"This odd behavior worries you."
"Oh yeah."
Chasm fixed his fiery green stare on Ciara. "And you're worried about the inconsistencies between the Logash account of past events and the senior Alues' recollections, correct?"
"Very worried. The Alue have been a part of League life for as far back as anyone can remember. Every space faring race eventually found one or more Alue in their computer systems. At first, we all thought they were artificial intelligences which had sprung forth from the systems' increased complexity."
"Yes, the Density Theorem as we call it on Crystal. When the transistor density of a computer reached a certain level, an AI would spawn. The Alue preferred we maintained that myth until a level of trust between the two races was reached."
"The same thing happened with the League. We never thought they were lying to us. Now come to find out they have a physical form."
"What about Gloria?"
"Gloria? What about her?"
"Didn't she hide in the InterWebs as a non-corporeal being?" Chasm asked.
"Yes, she did. It was her way of holding off the pain caused by her separation from her brother, Royce. What's your point?"
"After she emerged from the webs as a corporeal elf, didn't anyone wonder if there could be other beings hiding there? I have been reviewing the Crystallanian database and found references to gray aliens. "
"Go on," Ciara said.
“These aliens--tall, gray in color, slender in build with huge, black eyes, flying saucer-shaped vehicles--appeared throughout Crystal's written history,” Chasm said. “Reports stopped shortly after worldwide computer networks were established. I have compared the Crystal data with data from Earth, Cora, Tralaska, Goranth, Stora, and Venlanta. They all tell the same story.”
"What are you saying?"
"I've talked to Ruby, and she remembers being told that Alues were always non-corporeal. They were born in computer networks and never experienced living as flesh and blood. They were also told that the war was waged by corporeal-hating Alue insurgents. Yet, the reaction Agendor's unit experienced when they heard the word Alue would lead us to believe he had a different viewpoint."
"Damn, you really were taught how to be a diplomat, weren't you?" Ciara asked.
He bowed. "I also cook and can do the laundry."
"And act as emergency lighting in the event of a power failure," she quipped.
"The perfect spouse," Chasm agreed.
"So how do we solve this conundrum?"
"You read souls, correct?"
"Yesssss," Ciara said.
"Ruby was born long after the war, yet she has memory fragments from all her progenitors."
"How do you know this?"
"Because we share my nervous system,” Chasm said. “I get momentary glimpses of her thoughts as she has glimpses of mine. Some of those thoughts are not hers, but originate from someone else, someone distant in both time and space. How do the humans say it? She has an old soul. All Alue do."
"But you can't read her thoughts, only sense them."
"Correct. We use a form of the SAC to communicate. The thought-sharing is an unforeseen consequence of the neural interface she uses to track my biosigns."
"And you think I could read these thought fragments."
Chasm nodded. "Read hers, read Agendor's, then compare."
"You make it sound so easy." She closed her eyes for a moment and thought about it. "Fine. Let's give it a shot." She took him by the hand and led him over to where Ruby was talking with Agendor and Rutile.
"This is going to be interesting," she whispered.
The black elf just nodded in agreement.
CHAPTER FIVE
Ruby sat in the exam room and waited while Ciara conferred with Losira. Next to her stood Chasm while nearby stood the Logash, all six watching her while trying not to watch her. "Boo!" she said to them.
Chasm chuckled, while placing a hand on her shoulder to reassure her.
"Boo," the six said back in unison. This got a smile out of her and them.
"Agendor, since we're waiting, can I ask a question?" Ruby asked.
He walked over and pulled up a chair next to hers.
"Sure."
"What really happened? You know, between the Alue and the Logash?"
"I'm not really sure. All I know is the Alue are responsible for killing the Logash race.
###
Housed in a vast building stretching thirty stories above the ground, twenty stories below, and covering a square mile of verdant land, the Academy of Science was home for thousands of the finest science and engineering minds the Logash had produced. Every day, hundreds of research programs were running in the labs scattered throughout the academy. On this day, one experiment in particular, would determine the fate of the Logash for millennium to come.
"Agendor, old friend, how goes the cataloging?" Delna asked as she caught up with her friend and co-worker. Delna, as usual, was dressed to the nines with her long blond hair held in check by a complex braid.
"Delna, you look lovely as always. Going on a date tonight?"
She took him by the arm and walked with him. "Yes, my unit met a wonderful gamma couple and we're having our first meet and greet tonight. Tell me, how are the others doing?"
"They are doing well, thank you for asking. They are performing their monthly military training."
"So, what about the genome catalog?"
"Almost finished. We have coded samples from every Logash on the planet. Meanwhile, our tests prove conclusively that we can seed planets with basic life units infected with our genetics. Just think, we can infect a planet with our genetics and have Logash running around in about two million years."
"Oooh, I can't wait to meet them. Agendor, have you thought about my offer to join our units?"
Agendor stopped walking so he could look at her. "I talked to Rutile and then the rest of the unit."
"
What did they say?" Delna asked, her eyes wide as she gripped his arm.
"They love the idea. Rutile thought it was high time we formed a larger family.
Delna's eyes lit up like a pair of blue suns. "We must schedule a meal and make it official.”
"I've got to finish a few details in the lab, then I'm scheduled to join the rest of my unit for some super-secret assignment. We'll be back in two weeks and can talk then."
"Excellent!" she said as she looked up at the wall chrono. "Oh! I'm late. I hope your mission goes well," she said before kissing him twice on one cheek, then on the other, the ritual exchange of affection between two Logash before they join in a unit.
"Thank you. By the way, how's your work going?"
"I wish I could tell you, but the council has slapped a no-blab on it. Good bye, Agendor." She hurried off, leaving Agendor to shake his head in wonder. "What have I gotten us into?" he asked out loud, as he turned and continued on his way to his lab.
###
Agendor walked into his lab, throwing his coat on the rack before grabbing a tea from a nearby dispenser. "Computer, begin daywatch. Report."
"Investigator, all samples, and codings have been loaded into probes one through one hundred thirty-eight. All probes are now loaded. Awaiting final order for fueling and preflight."
Agendor walked over to the terminal, taking a scone from the box left on the table by one of his apprentices as per custom. He sat down and skimmed over the status reports for the nearly twelve dozen small space ships, each equipped with the new ion drives. Once launched, they would head to their target planets at a fraction of the speed of light.
"Computer. Code Agendor one-one-seven-actual. Initiate pre-launch. Hold countdown until my return in two weeks. Reference personal calendar."
"Copy code actual. Waiting for final command."
"Computer, confirm actual. Initiate."
"Working. Preflight has begun. Countdown on hold until your return. Good day, investigator."
"Good day, computer," He replied. He got up, grabbed the scones and his coat as he headed out the door, unaware that he would never see his lab again.
