For a moment, I wondered how I was going to communicate the amount of information I wanted to give them in light of the circumstances. Then I remembered the marker and note pad that the Sarge put on my list. Suddenly, I had a way to communicate quietly and get my meaning across without question.
We backed off another twenty meters where I pulled out my marker and note pad much to the surprise of the two officers. I doubt they had seen such items other than in old movies, if they watched any. Quickly, I wrote down what we should do in light of the sensors surrounding the enemy ship.
***
Silently, we moved forward again through the dense forest and brush. We picked up brush and tucked it into our belts to break up our outlines. Each of us looked for more sensors, figuring that the enemy didn't have an unlimited supply of them to put out. When we found a second sensor, we then knew where the blind spot was. We quietly moved to that point between the sensors before we started forward again, still alert for more of the sensors.
We didn't have to go but a quarter of a kilometer before we reached the edge of the clearing where the enemy ship was located. We sat quietly just inside the forest for about two hours and watched their activity to get some idea of how well they worked and how many personnel they had. Shirley recorded images of the enemy ship as it was being worked on by the Ape-oids.
I was a little surprised to see that they had a lot more personnel on board their ship than we had. Using only the number of personnel I saw, we were outnumbered about three to two. One thing I noticed was that they were sending out hunting and gathering parties to get food. I guessed that they lost their provisions in the battle.
We got back up and made our way along the edge of the clearing to another location where Shirley got different image angles of the alien ship. Then we went farther along the clearing's edge to get the last angle so that we had an image of the entire ship's surface area.
We spent about three hours watching and taking images before we left the edge of the clearing to make our way back to our ship. By nightfall, we were back where we stopped the previous night. Though I was eager to get back and take a look at the images, I knew that hurrying was the surest way to make mistakes and could lead to disaster for our mission. We went ahead and set up for the night in the same tree.
Chapter 10
The next two days were as uneventful as the five days spent travelling to the enemy ship. The third day was totally different. It provided another surprise for me as to the Sarge's choice of items for me to buy.
We were in our usual order when a creature we hadn't seen before emerged in front of me. I stopped while Shirley and Kyle stopped just behind me. I began to circle around the strange creature when it advanced on us. We were already spread out because I was leading us around the creature. We all fired with our stinger rifles and were astounded to see that the weapons had no effect on the creature. It just shrugged off the electrical bolts that we shot at it. Then it leaped at us and landed on Kyle. He was yelling from the pain of the electrical shocks that it gave him and then passed out. Shirley pulled her knife and slashed at it only to be shocked when she came into contact with it. For a moment, I wondered what to attack the creature with when I remembered the antique projectile weapon I carried, reached under my shoulder pack, and drew the weapon from the hidden holster. I aimed at the creature's head and fired one shot. The shot, at that range, couldn't miss. The creature suddenly went into convulsions as the bullet apparently began to short circuit its brain and internal organs. It collapsed at Shirley's feet onto the ground and died.
Shirley looked at me and then at the strange antique I held. Her eyes went large for the second time during that mission as she continued to look at the gun and then the dead creature. "Thanks," she said. "What is that?"
"It's an old projectile weapon. A friend of mine suggested I purchase it as survival equipment. I've been carrying it around for years now, wondering if he was just a trifle too cautious or distrusting of modern weapons. Except for testing it when I bought it, this is the first time I've had to use it. Are you okay?" I replied as I bent down to check out Kyle.
"Yes. That creature really carries a wallop of a charge. It's no wonder our stinger rifles didn't bother it. We were practically feeding it," she said.
I said, "So I noticed. Kyle's taken a bad shock. His hands and face are burnt. We'll need to treat him some now and then carry him back. I reckon he's going to be in a great deal of pain when he comes to."
We treated Kyle with our medical supplies from the three shoulder packs. Then Shirley and I went about treating her hand before we made a stretcher to carry Kyle on. Kyle was lucky that he was wearing his overslicks. They insulated most of his body from direct electrical shock and burns. Only the exposed areas of skin were burnt. To carry him, we used his hammock and two saplings that we cut down with our knives. Then we resumed our movement back to the Thurman. Of course, our movement was slowed considerably as we had to carry Kyle. It would depend on him as to whether we had to carry him the rest of the way. Once more, I was glad that he and Shirley were in peak physical conditioning.
Kyle came to a few hours later with a groan. We set him down and gave him some water and rechecked his wounds.
"How are you, Kyle?" I asked.
"Awful. Did you kill that whatever it was?" he asked.
"Yes, Dave shot him with a projectile weapon," said Shirley.
"A what?" he asked.
"Show him, Dave," said Shirley.
I pulled the antique weapon from the hidden holster and held it out for a moment before placing it back.
"I thought those were found only in museums or the movies," he said.
I replied, "Nope. There's a place two blocks from the Academy that sells them. Never knew just when I'd need it. I bought it on the recommendation of a friend. The old man who runs the store won't sell you one unless you test fire it, take it apart, clean it, and reassemble it in his presence. He believes in a person being responsible for and knowledgeable about such weapons."
"You mean you have to learn all that before you can go to his store?" Kyle asked.
I said, "Oh, no! He taught me himself while I bought it. It just took an hour extra. I'm glad now though that I spent that hour."
"You aren't the only one," Kyle admitted while letting out another groan.
Shirley asked, "You going to be able to walk or do you expect Yellow service back to the ship?"
He said, "Me? You've got to be kidding. Just give me a hand up and, if you don't mind, pack away my hammock since I'm a little clumsy in that department right now. I'll walk you both into the ground to get back."
"That's the spirit!" I said as encouragement.
We helped him up and repacked his hammock in his shoulder pack since his hands were both bandaged. His stinger rifle had to be slung over his other shoulder. Then we resumed our movement, only Kyle was now in the center since he couldn't handle a weapon.
That night we helped Kyle into a suitable tree to spend the night. I switched shifts with him for night guard duty.
***
The next morning, it was a little harder getting Kyle out of the tree than it was to get him into it. He was feeling better, so we were moving along at almost our best pace again after we ate breakfast. Along the way, we talked about the electrical creature, comparing it to electrical eels on Earth and how we might fight another one if we had to. We kept the stretcher poles as a precaution, in case Kyle became sick or developed any after effects later. We decided that the wooden poles were probably the best thing we could use to fend off an electrical creature without getting shocked. I hoped that none of those creatures had shown up at our ship. They would have been helpless against it, in all likelihood.
I had no such hopes for the Ape-oids. I wished them all the bad luck and misfortune they could get. It wasn't because I hated them. On the contrary, I felt no hate for them. They were simply the enemy who attacked my people when we tried to approach them diplomatically as we
had with the Blues. If anything, we weren't looking for a war. We were more interested in exploration, trade, and bettering ourselves.
The fact that our Navy was armed wasn't because we wanted to fight but to defend ourselves against the terrors of space and unexplored planets. Had our Navy been solely for the purpose of fighting, I'm sure we would have had a lot more ships and bigger guns than were on the ships. What was on the ships was mostly to fend off asteroids and for shore defense against wild animals. At least, that's what the weapons had been used for before. Of course, the weapons were used against pirates, but that wasn't exactly the same as preparing for a war. I will admit that our Navy spent a lot of time talking about tactics and strategy, but that was again mostly for use against pirates and because some long range thinkers said that we might someday come across a downright hostile race. None of us imagined the someday would come so soon.
So, I didn't hate or fear the Ape-oids. I respected them for having achieved as much as they had and for their obvious abilities. I wished they would become our friends and not remain enemies. The moment when they were willing to lay aside the weapons and embrace us as fellow intelligent beings, I would gladly do the same. But until that moment came, I would fight them with all the ferocity and skill I could muster.
***
It took us only a half-day longer to return to our ship than it had taken to get to the alien ship. I was glad to see that everyone was alive and well. Immediately, I called a meeting, described the electrical creature, and warned everyone that firing a stinger was useless. After the meeting, several crew members went to secure more wooden staffs for use in fending off the electrical creatures should any appear.
The surgeon took a look at Kyle's wounds and took him to the sick bay where the surgeon treated him with more medicines and re-bandaged him. Shirley took the recorder, plugged it into the computer, and started analyzing the images. I joined her a few minutes later, along with the rest of my officers.
"Well, so far, I've figured out that their communications are in shambles. It's right here in this image," said Shirley.
"That's a plus for us. That means they can't call in reinforcements to help them or to finish us off," I remarked. "What else have you spotted so far?"
"From the looks of it, they're in worse shape, but they've got more . . . manpower? I'll use that term for now. Anyway, they're working faster than we are. This could be a real drag race to see who gets off the planet first," Shirley replied.
"Looks like their weapons are half-gone," said Lieutenant Grade. "If we get off first, they're not going to be able to oppose us."
"Yes, but they only need one heavy weapon if they get off the planet first," I reminded him.
"I know," he said.
"Their sensors are shot to hell and back," replied Lieutenant Mike Andor. "Look at what they're using to cover the ship with."
"Do you think that their space sensors are just as bad off?" I asked.
He said, "Absolutely. See that opening into the ship. Zoom in on that opening, Shirley. Thanks. See! The whole panel is off as I thought. The circuit boards are in pieces. They've jury-rigged what they've got out so far. In fact, those sensors might not even work."
"You mean we did all that skulking for nothing?" asked Shirley.
"Probably," replied Mike.
"Okay, what else can we see about their condition?" I asked although I was seeing much of what they were. I wanted to be sure that they were contributing and gaining more confidence. Besides, I might have missed something.
Mike added, "I don't think they can bombard us from the atmosphere or space. They're not going to be able to target us. Maybe if they come over real low so that their gunners can aim manually, but then they're going to be in easy range for us to return fire. I'd suggest that we man one or both of the Mark III quads in the front of the ship."
I said, "Okay, Mason, go ahead and put gunners on the two Mark III quads as well. The scaffolding is up now and repairs are proceeding decently from what I could see when we got here. You all did a pretty fair amount of work while we were gone. Remember to pass on these remarks to your people. They'll appreciate hearing them and they'll work better. I trust that we've got everyone working?"
"Yes," replied Lieutenant Mason Grade. "The two injured people are working as gunners on the Mark II singles part of the time and fetching tools the other part."
I remarked, "Good! Don't give them any time to feel sorry for themselves. Okay, you all know your jobs and you're doing them well. Keep it up. Anyone who wants to look at the images some more is welcome to. If you have any more comments, let me know." I left them and went out to check on the crew and see that everyone was in good spirits and condition. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my officers had performed exactly as I wished them to do in my absence. I expected a few minor problems and omissions or other mistakes. There weren't any. They had earned completely the praise I gave them. I also took advantage of much of the remaining daylight to take another look at the completed work.
The scaffolding was completely in place. Most of the water tanks were sealed or nearly so. We still had to get more water into them, but what was left in them wasn't leaking out any longer. The hydroponics were recovering from the near fatal loss of water. I could see that we would be able to continue our mission if we could get the rest of the repairs completed. The only thing that worried me was the condition of the beams that made up part of the backbone of the ship. They needed to be reinforced somehow and there was little material to do it with. Those beams could give way when we tried to launch or land if we successfully launched without cracking up. It was definitely a miracle that we managed to land in our condition.
The scaffolding was taking off a lot of the pressure on those beams. I shuddered to think what might happen when the scaffolding was removed just before launch. The sudden shifting of weight might be enough to make those beams give right then and our work would have all been for nothing. That didn't even begin to approach the problems we might encounter when we started working on the steering and engines. They would have to be fixed so that they wouldn't be the cause of a major structural failure as well.
I was about to go into the ship to take a shower, my first in weeks, when I remembered that we couldn't take any showers until all the water tanks were completely sealed and refilled. I spotted my First Officer, Lieutenant Majel Remm, and walked over to her. "What are we doing for showers? Is the lake safe for bathing?" I asked.
"Yes. We keep guards handy for bathing. I was just going over there myself. Care to join me?" she asked.
"I guess so. We'll be in sight of the ship," I replied.
"The guards have short range radios. We're also covered by one of the Mark II singles. It's really quite the way to end the day," she added.
We walked together to where I finally noticed that several of our crew were already gathering and starting to undress to bathe.
"Has anything dangerous been spotted in the water?" I asked, remembering my experience with the electrical creature.
She said, "Not a thing. The water's crystal clear. The guards have a clear visual area far beyond where we swim and bathe. We haven't been taking any chances. Anything comes near, we get out of the water. So far, only small fish and crustaceans have been in the water where we go. Most of them scurry away from us."
I replied, "That's good. I'd hate to think that we were letting our guard down at the wrong moment. You did an excellent job, Majel. If we get back and I'm not convicted of anything, I'll be glad to put a letter of commendation into your personnel record. I hope you get your own command soon."
She said, "Thank you. I think I've learned more with you than I did in four years at the Academy. I hope that they don't convict you. You seem to be the only one who knows what to do and when to do it."
We reached the edge of the water. Like Majel said, there were guards covering the area, plus we were in sight of one of the Mark II singles and the now manned Mark III quad. We both undr
essed and entered the water, leaving our clothing and shoulder packs on the shore near one of the guards.
The water was delightful, especially after almost two weeks without a shower or bath. Along the way to the enemy ship, we found small streams to refill our canteens from, but nothing suitable for washing more than our hands and faces. The lake, on the other hand, was deep enough not only for bathing, but for serious swimming and diving. As well, it was crystal clear, much like the condition most of the rivers and lakes on Earth had been restored to.
***
At least in the last couple hundred years, our people had done serious reclamation work on the rivers and lakes of Earth. Part of it was accomplished by recycling everything, including the particulate matter from smokestacks and run offs. A lot of effort was put into creating products using those previously discarded wastes and the environment started to improve naturally on its own.
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