by Cynthia Sax
A fog hung over the terrain, layering a haze over their surroundings. The gray eyes and gray fur of the predators almost blended into their surroundings.
The creatures sported sharp claws on all of their feet and long canine teeth. And they were fast. Their movements would be undetectable to human eyes.
Doc and his two brethren were cyborgs, however. They could easily track the beasts, could avoid the teeth and claws.
That would take time and Doc preferred to concentrate on their mission. “Leave us alone.” He communicated to the beasts in their language, issuing a barrage of short barks. “And we’ll cause you no damage.”
They won’t believe you. Dissent relayed that projection through a transmission. We were manufactured to inflict damage on others.
The parameters of this mission restrict the damage we can cause. Doc reminded the J Model.
Captain had authorized them to match yet not exceed the aggression levels of the locals. They could inflict damage only if beings attempted to inflict damage on them first.
The beasts don’t know our parameters. Truth’s eyes shone with anticipation. They won’t believe us when we say we won’t damage them and they will attack us. Then we can fight back.
“Smell good.” One of the beasts raised his muzzle. “Nourishment.”
“We are not nourishment.” Doc slashed the air with his hands, seeking to dissuade their opponents. “You cannot consume us.”
“Eat.” Another beast bared its teeth. “Eat.”
The entire pack repeated that word. Doc stifled a sigh. The beasts didn’t have the processing power to view them as anything other than prey.
Distract them as I analyze the vegetation. He gave that instruction to his two brethren. Don’t end their lifespans.
Yes. Truth grinned. The warrior was eager to fight.
Even the normally solemn Dissent appeared pleased with those orders, the J Model repositioning to protect Doc’s back.
The beasts attacked. Dissent and Truth fended most of them off, happily knocking them in the direction from which they came.
Doc crouched, took a soil reading. The ground was as toxic as the rest of the planet. Its temperature was high.
A beast approached him from the side. It lowered, coiling its body, and leaped. Without looking up from his handheld, Doc punched it in the nose.
It flew backward and smacked into a tree, then fell to the ground whimpering.
Doc stored the genetic information he’d taken from the brief contact in his databases. Toxins were incorporated into the beasts’ fur.
Have you sampled their saliva? He asked his brethren.
I haven’t sampled it yet. Truth, that malfunctioning warrior, shed his body armor. Come and get me. He waved his arms.
A beast took the bait, pouncing. Its jaws clamped around the D Model’s right arm.
Got it. Truth grinned. Relaying the information.
He shook the beast loose. Blood spurted from the warrior’s wounds.
It was minor damage, would repair on its own. Doc concentrated on the data. The saliva is extremely venomous, would kill a human.
I’m taking a blood sample. Dissent extracted daggers from sheaths on his body armor.
The beasts attacked, were pushed back, recovered, attacked, were pushed back, recovered. The constant assault slowed Doc’s evaluation of the terrain.
Even a human would have processed the futility of their actions by now. He grumbled as he took a sample of a tree’s bark.
Humans aren’t nearly as much fun as these creatures. Truth caught two beasts by the scruff of their necks, slammed their skulls together and tossed them over his shoulders.
“Lava pocket.” Dissent shoved Doc forward.
Heat blazed over his back as molten rock shot into the air. The lava pockets were one of the reasons why the ship transporting them hadn’t landed.
Are you feeling any aftereffects of being bitten? Doc scanned Truth.
The warrior’s specs were within range. His nanocybotics had neutralized the venom in the beast’s saliva.
My processors say I’m not experiencing any aftereffects. Truth swatted a beast away from him. But they must be malfunctioning. I’ve never felt this strong.
The male might merely be buzzed on the beasts’ venom or he could be affected by the toxins in the air or impacted by a number of other inputs.
Needing his hands free, Doc hung his medic pack on a limb of a tree. The trees grew on the most stable ground, terrain unaffected by lava pockets.
A beast attacked him. He punched it harder than he had hit its previous pack member.
The creature slammed against a boulder and went limp. It continued to breathe, would live, but it wouldn’t bother him for a longer duration.
That was a good thing for the mission and for Doc. With each violent confrontation, his organic side emerged more and more, seeking to take complete control, to eliminate all threats.
He didn’t have his white jacket to combat the turbulent emotions inside him, to remind him why he needed his machine side to be in command. That symbol of his medic role was too visible to wear on a hostile planet, could draw prospective enemies to him and his small team.
But without his white jacket, he resembled the warrior he’d once been. Clad in black body armor and boots, the sheaths and holsters on his protective garment filled with weapons, he was outfitted to hurt, to kill.
To release the primitive part of himself.
Seeking to prevent that from happening, Doc scanned the nearby tree, focused on those findings, those specs. He derived formulas in his processors, performed calculations, determined probabilities.
That pleased his machine, bored his organics.
This approach is illogical. Dissent swiped at the circling beasts with his daggers. If we kill the beasts, they won’t return. We could—
“Danger.” One of the beasts on the edge of the pack yelped that warning.
The rest of the four-legged creatures ran at full speed in the opposite direction, their tails tucked between their hind legs, their heads down.
Doc, Dissent, and Truth looked at each other.
What could be more dangerous than lava pockets and venomous beasts? Dissent frowned.
We’ll soon find out. Truth’s grin spread as he donned his body armor. I love this planet.
Doc felt no love for Khambalia 5.
He wanted to focus on their mission, on scientific discovery, not on threats and not on situations that provoked the unstable, emotional part of himself.
Deal with the new danger. Doc delegated that task to Truth and Dissent. I’m gathering the information we require.
He would ignore everything and everyone else.
Chapter Two
Allinen was sitting on a top branch of her tree when the flying domicile passed over the settlement. If she had blinked, she would have missed it. She’d never seen anything move that quickly.
The flying domicile had made a sound louder than a paha’s growl. Its exterior had dazzled her. Light, the little that filtered through the clouds, reflected off the flying domicile’s shiny gray walls.
The structure was alien and powerful, and its appearance brought her hope. Other flying domiciles had arrived on her planet in the past. The beings inside those hadn’t stayed alive long enough for her to make contact with them.
This flying domicile was different. Perhaps the beings inside it would be different also. Perhaps this was the opportunity she had been waiting for.
She would track the flying domicile to its landing site, communicate with the beings from inside it, learn more about their culture, their customs.
When the time came, when her niece was happily residing in her own domicile, had her own family and no longer needed her, Allinen would be prepared to leave the planet…forever.
She would have the knowledge to negotiate with a future set of outsiders, would have skills she could offer them in exchange for a transport. They would take her wherever the
y were going next.
She might belong in that unknown place, might find happiness there.
A slight delay in implementing her plan was necessary. The guards were always extra vigilant after a flying domicile passed. If she left now, they might see her, stop her, guess where she was going.
That would be disastrous. Associating with outsiders was forbidden.
Allinen forced herself to wait, to suppress her recklessness and be patient.
Her gaze drifted to a gathering in an open space below her. It was one of the many mating celebrations, a means for not-yet-joined couples to become familiar with each other and for mated couples to revel in their status.
Beings chattered and laughed. Nourishment and beverage were consumed. A young Khambalian male gave his equally young mate a doll carved out of wood. The girl’s face turned dark gold. Her mouth moved. She held the gift to her chest.
The two of them had known since birth they were meant for each other. When they reached eighteen solar cycles, they’d join.
Allinen had known since birth she was destined to be alone. There was only one settlement on the planet and her mate hadn’t been found within it.
Unable to linger any longer, unwilling to watch others experience a sense of belonging she was denied, she climbed down the tree and jumped from the lowest branch to the ground. Her bare feet smacked against the surface, her toes spreading in the compacted dirt.
Excitement bubbled inside her. Adventure waited.
Then she saw who was approaching her and some of her enthusiasm vanished. She quashed her frustration, waited for the confrontation.
And it would be a confrontation.
When they were children, Allinen had considered her younger sister to be her best friend. They had been inseparable, the two of them always laughing and joking.
But Sisko had a mate and she didn’t.
That difference between them, small at first, grew greater and greater. Now, it seemed she only saw her sister when she’d done something wrong.
Allinen forced a smile. “This is a surprise.”
“It clearly is a surprise.” Sisko cast a critical glance over her. “You have a twig in your hair.” She sounded like their deceased mother.
Allinen plucked the offending debris out of her hair. Their mother had constantly disapproved of her also, blaming her many deficiencies and not the cruelty of fate for her unfortunate unmated state.
There was a time when Allinen had believed that lie, had tried to change, attempting to fit in, to belong—something she desperately wanted to do.
Now that she had more solar cycles, she realized that was impossible. Khambalian society was designed around couples, had no role in it for unmated beings.
And it never would have a place for her. Her kind valued conformity and tradition. No one would ever change the rigidly set rules to accommodate her.
She would always be excluded.
“A disheveled female brings shame to her mate.” Sisko recited that tired piece of advice. Both of them must have heard it a hundred times or more from their mother.
“I have no one to bring shame to.” Allinen met her sister’s gaze squarely. “I don’t have a mate.”
Her blunt response rendered her sister speechless for a couple of heartbeats, a feat Allinen hadn’t believed possible.
“You set a bad example for Vauva.” Sisko reverted to that often utilized argument. “My daughter has a mate to bring shame to.”
Allinen loved her niece, would never do anything to harm her. “Her mate has nine solar cycles.” He had one more solar cycle than Vauva. “He’s a child. I doubt he perceives untidy hair as a source of shame.”
“You speak like you have knowledge of mates, of children.” Her sister huffed. “You know nothing.”
Allinen might not know about children or mates but she did know her niece preferred to share her planet rotations with her aunt and that irked Sisko.
If it irked her too much, she’d forbid Allinen from seeing Vauva and that would be devastating to both of them. They cherished the time they spent together.
She had to tread carefully. “I will strive to keep my hair tidy in the future.”
“I could hear your feet hit the ground from five domiciles away.” Her hair wasn’t the only thing her sister found fault with. “You clump around like an outsider.”
Her sister’s information about outsiders was limited. Interaction with them was forbidden and Sisko always followed the rules. She prided herself on being the perfect Khambalian.
Allinen was far from perfect, but she would give the appearance of it if it meant being with her niece. “I will strive to be more graceful.” She dipped her head.
“Lanko tells me there have been more and more outsiders spotted nearby.” Finally, her sister came to the point of her visit. “Vauva is not to leave the settlement unless Lanko or I accompany her.”
Paha teeth. Allinen swallowed a curse. Sisko must have somehow become aware of their trips outside the settlement. “I would never place her in danger.”
She would trade her lifespan for Vauva’s in a heartbeat. Her sister should understand that.
“You left the settlement with her.” Accusation edged her sister’s voice.
“She was planning to leave the settlement by herself.” That wouldn’t have been her niece’s first solo adventure. The girl was as fascinated by the outsiders as she was. “I believed it best if I accompanied her. She was never out of my sightlines.”
She had ensured her niece hadn’t ventured too close to the outsiders, hadn’t placed herself in peril.
“Vauva wouldn’t leave the settlement on her own.” Sisko scoffed. “Unlike you, she follows the rules set for her.”
Allinen stared at her sister. Vauva was more of a rebel than her aunt had ever been. The girl had left the settlement on her own in the past.
But that revelation had been relayed in confidence. Allinen couldn’t share that with her sister. She wouldn’t betray her niece’s trust.
“Vauva is interested in the world outside the settlement’s perimeters.” More and more flying domiciles were landing close to them. They were impossible for anyone, especially someone young and bright and full of curiosity, to ignore. “If someone doesn’t explore it with her, she’ll venture into it alone.”
“No, she won’t.” Sisko’s jaw jutted. “You don’t know her. And, even if you did know her, which you don’t, this isn’t your decision. She’s my daughter and either you agree not to leave the settlement with her or…”
Or she wouldn’t see her niece again. Her sister didn’t have to voice that threat. It hung between them like a weapon, palpable and sharp.
Sisko was making a mistake with Vauva, but Allinen didn’t have a choice, not if she wanted to see the girl again. “I won’t leave the settlement with Vauva. You have my vow.”
Her sister narrowed her eyes yet didn’t push back. She knew better than to question Allinen’s word. “Your garment is frayed.”
Having issued that last piece of criticism, Sisko turned and walked away.
Allinen watched her, missing the younger sister she once adored.
The change was inevitable, she supposed. Sisko had always been hypersensitive to the opinions of others. Their mother’s criticisms had hurt her the most.
And that had escalated once her sister joined with her mate. Lanko was often held up to others as an example of what a Khambalian male should be…and he was well aware of that.
He hated Allinen, barely tolerated her messy, unmated, imperfect presence, and made that known to everyone, including Sisko.
A force smacked against Allinen’s side, almost knocking her over.
“That was the most incredible flying domicile I’ve ever viewed.” Her niece grinned up at her, her pale-gold eyes flashing with excitement. “You must have seen it, Auntie Allinen. It flew right over us.” Her slender arms reached up to the sky. Her voice lilted with enthusiasm. “It was so fast.”
It
had been fast. “I saw it, but—”
“I bet these outsiders have more than two arms.” The girl danced around her. “They would need additional hands to handle it. When it whizzed by me, I almost fell out of my tree.”
The clouds above. She loved her niece. “Your mother wouldn’t have been happy about that.”
“She isn’t happy about anything.” Vauva rolled her eyes. “Come on, Auntie.” She pulled on Allinen’s arm. “I want to see the outsiders before they’re eaten by pahas.”
Allinen didn’t move. She couldn’t. “I promised your mother I wouldn’t leave the settlement with you.”
“She said she’d make you do that.” That earned her another eyeroll from her niece. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell her.” Her niece tugged on her arm again. “We have to see this flying domicile.”
Allinen would see the flying domicile but she’d be alone when she did that. “If you want to see it, ask your mother to take you.”
“She won’t take me to see it.” Vauva’s tone communicated that Allinen should know that. “She’s scared of the outsiders.”
“Your mother has a reason to be scared.” She turned her niece in the direction of the domicile. “The outsiders are dangerous. They’ve killed our kind in the past.”
The elders had told them stories about vicious outsider attacks, how the beings had killed for sport, enjoying the ending of lifespans.
“They won’t kill us.” Vauva lifted her chin. “We’re too good at hiding from them.”
Allinen suspected the danger was part of the appeal for her niece. “The best place to hide from them is in your domicile.” The settlement was surrounded by guards. No one would harm her niece inside its perimeters. “Your mother is expecting to see you there.” She nudged the girl forward.
“But the flying domicile—”
“She’s expecting to see you there. Now.” Allinen stressed that timing.
Her niece looked over her shoulder at her.
Allinen gazed back at the girl. Relenting wasn’t an option. If she left the settlement with her, Sisko would find out and Allinen would never see Vauva again.
“You’re no fun.” Her niece pouted.
“That is a burden I’ll have to bear.” Allinen’s lips twitched. “Go home, Vauva.”
