"How about a badge like you see in the Star Trek shows?" McPherson asked. "I always thought those looked cool."
"What is this fascination with jewelry?" GooYee asked as he stared at McPherson. "I see no reason to display symbols of wealth or social status in combat situations."
Heinbaum began to bristle at GooYee's comments. His arms were crossed, he was beginning to bare his teeth and the furrow between his eyes was so deep his eyebrows were almost touching. Ernest had seen too many of Heinbaum's explosive tirades and decided it was time to avoid one.
"Listen up Gooey; Human conflicts have always involved ornamental displays. We paint and tattoo our bodies with warlike designs meant to be aggressive or threatening to our enemies. Our weapons and garments can be covered with religious or demonic symbols to ward off evil or tap into mystic powers. Humans have even gone so far as to wear the body parts of dead enemies as symbols of prowess in battle. Necklaces, rings, pins, patches and belt buckles are common in this regard."
GooYee was nonplussed. "Why must the PDS be displayed at all? Why not incorporate it into combat clothing?"
"Oh," Heinbaum said. "So you prefer a combat vest instead of our necklaces or pins. Well isn't that a surprise."
Now it was GooYee's turn to get angry. "At least my combat vest won't fall off during a fist fight!"
"Yeah. We just blow it off with our MA ray pistols!" Heinbaum retorted.
"Enough!" McPherson thundered.
Heinbaum and GooYee stopped bickering. They'd both felt the ire of the redheaded demon and had no wish to provoke him.
"Gooey just said something intriguing," McPherson said. "Why must the PDS be displayed at all?"
Walking over to the white board, McPherson drew a sketch of the PDS device. The rectangle was 1/2 inch wide and 1 inch tall. He then drew a side view showing the 1/8th inch depth. Walking over to an adult human skeleton hung from a roller stand, he wheeled it over in front of the board.
With a questioning look on his face, he asked, "Why couldn't we implant the device inside our soldiers? It's not like the thing is so big it couldn't be done."
Heinbaum, GooYee, Roemer and Longarrow stared at him for several seconds.
"Freaking brilliant!" Miguel responded as Ernest nodded his head.
"Clever bastard," Heinbaum muttered but there was the hint of a smile curling up the left corner of his mouth.
"Acceptable," was GooYee's only reply.
"Where can we put it?" Ernest asked.
"Ideally it should be centered on the body. That's one of the reasons we decided to go with the necklace design," McPherson explained.
"Wherever we put it, it has to be stable. We don't want it moving around in the body," Miguel said. "Plus an implant means surgery. I don't think General Blunt will want all his soldiers unfit for duty because they have to spend a week recovering from incisions."
Ernest suggested a solution everyone agreed was acceptable. Laparoscopic surgery would be used to place the PDS device on the outside of the sternum. It would be held in place by surgical glue. The procedure would take less than an hour to perform and could be done with local anesthetics. The result of the operation would be a true human cyborg.
Miguel was so excited about the idea, he couldn't help himself. Quoting from one of his favorite Star Trek episodes, he said in a low, rumbling voice, "Resistance is futile!"
Chapter 12 - Recon
The last couple of days had been both disturbing and exhilarating for Chellsee Brookkss. She'd been indoctrinated since birth by the educational systems of Chrysalis to believe the Chrysallaman race was intellectually, physically and technologically dominant in the galaxy over all lower species. Those bedrock principles of Chrysallaman racial and cultural identity had proven to be so wrong and so exaggerated that she felt mentally and emotionally adrift.
Less than a week ago, she would've considered Humans as nothing more important than a food source. Now she wasn't sure they didn't consider her a tasty morsel just waiting to be served as their dinner. Chellsee needed something or someone to be an anchor her mind could hold onto while it sorted and analyzed her new reality. The sombrero wearing Chrysallaman with intelligent, haunting, deep black eyes was her choice to fill that role.
Whatsit was unlike any Chrysallaman male she'd ever encountered. There was no doubt he was a Chrysallaman, but the clothes he wore and the way he talked and acted were so un-Chrysallaman that she found herself emotionally off-balance whenever she was with him. He was kind and solicitous. Whenever she felt frightened or lonely, he comforted her. She relished the way his vibrant telepathic voice soothed her. Struggling to understand her thoughts and feelings about him, she had to admit she enjoyed his company, looked forward to seeing him and missed him when he was gone.
Knowing the importance of acclimating Chellsee to her new home, Whatsit insisted she have as much contact as possible with Humans. Her most memorable encounter had been with a big red-haired man named McPherson. Chellsee smiled as she recalled the first time she met the Scotsman. Whatsit had taken her to a large room he called the cafeteria where he said she should try a delicious meal he called taco salad.
The Human base had installed telepathic tokens everywhere so finding her way around was as easy as navigating the passageways of a mother ship. A marvelous aroma of cooking foods reached her when they were still over 100 feet from the double entry doors to the cafeteria.
The room was 30 feet wide and 75 feet long. The walls were painted in cheerful colors that flowed together to create intricate murals. Stainless steel tables with long benches on each side were scattered around; most of them filled with Humans and Chrysallamans talking to each other and eating from metal trays filled with a variety of interesting meats and vegetables. The far end of the room was walled with plate glass and brightly lit. A long stainless steel shelf at waist level ran across the glass-walled end of the room. Several Humans wearing white uniforms and oddly shaped white hats with big floppy tops stood behind the glass walls filling the trays of hungry base workers with whatever food and drink they wanted as they moved down the line.
At first Chellsee was frightened by the number of Humans in the cafeteria but when many of them waved and called out to Whatsit as they entered, she began to relax. She allowed Whatsit to hold her hand and lead her toward the left-hand end of the glass-walled enclosure where the smell of cooked food was strongest. The largest Human Chellsee had ever seen was standing at the end of the line waiting his turn. He was six inches taller than Whatsit, and his hair was flame red while his skin was very light as if he'd never been exposed to the sun. The big man hadn't seen them walk up behind him, and Chellsee was shocked when Whatsit punched the Human's shoulder with his fist.
Turning around, a slight frown was replaced by a wide, toothy grin under a bushy red mustache.
"Whatsit! You devil!"
After exchanging a few pleasantries, McPherson asked, "And just who is the comely lass standing beside you?"
"Captain Jerome McPherson, I'd like to introduce you to Miss Chellsee Brookkss. She arrived from Chrysalis aboard the Destinnee."
"Chellsee, this Scottish rogue is Captain Jerome McPherson."
Chellsee stared wide-eyed as McPherson said, "Chellsee Brookkss! A beautiful name for a charming lady."
With those words the red-haired giant swooped her into his arms, lifted her 8 inches off the floor and planted a wet kiss right on the tip of her nose. Grinning like a game show host, McPherson lowered her back to her feet, nodded his head at her, thumped Whatsit on the shoulder with his hand, gave him an odd wink and turned back to moving down the food line demanding double helpings of everything he saw.
Staring open mouthed at McPherson's back as he made his way down the line, Chellsee rubbed at her nose where McPherson's mustache still tickled it and asked in a whisper, "Is he always like that?"
"McPherson is a constant unchanged by calm or storm," Whatsit replied with a smile. "Irreverent, bombastic, intelligent, loyal. A good friend.
He likes you."
"Is that why he tasted me?" she asked with a bewildered look.
"No. No!" Whatsit replied with an amused look. "He kissed you. It's a Human gesture used to express friendship, love and sometimes intimacy."
"Intimacy!" Chellsee screamed as her eyes blazed with indignation.
"No. No!" Whatsit said. "He would never want to get intimate with you."
"What do you mean he would never want to?" Chellsee replied. "Am I not good enough for a Human?"
Whatsit was beside himself. With no past experience dealing with a Chrysallaman female, he had no idea what he'd said to make her angry, or what he could say to calm her down. He remembered a talk he'd had with Tom Blunt several years ago. "When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging."
At last understanding the Human adage, Whatsit said, "I'm sorry my attempts at describing Human mannerisms are so inadequate. Please forgive me Chellsee."
Chellsee had to admit she was enjoying Whatsit's discomfiture. His lack of experience interacting with females was at the same time maddening and endearing. She decided he was worth keeping.
"Humph. We'll see," she replied before brushing past him and pushing her tray down the line.
She later had to admit the beef taco salad covered with extra raw beef and spicy sauce was delicious.
***
"It's not a question of if, it's a question of when we travel to Chrysalis," Amanda declared as she drummed her fingers on the conference table.
"I agree," Jason said. "My biggest question is what spacecraft do we use for the trip?"
"Exactly what are you saying?" Yuri-Milost asked.
"What I mean is we have four alternatives as I see it."
Lifting a finger as he ticked off each point, Jason said, "Take a mother ship with a full complement of scout saucers. Take a mother ship with only a couple of scout saucers. Take a mother ship by itself. Take just a scout saucer with no mother ship."
Lacing his fingers, he continued, "Taking a mother ship with all five scout saucers would provide us with the greatest offensive and defensive capabilities in the event we run into trouble. Taking that many ships would also increase our flexibility in the event we encounter unknown variables such as multiple Asiddian outposts which need to be mapped and inspected."
Doug shook his head and said, "I don't favor sending all our working spaceships on a mission that could result in their total destruction. The whole point of going on a journey to get information is returning with the information. We're working on our own spacecraft design, but we're nowhere near the point we have our own equipment."
From the nodding heads around the table, it was plain the notion of sending a mother ship with five scouts was rejected.
Yuri-Milost leaned into the table and said, "I will be presumptuous and say a small task force may be the best alternative we have."
Peering around the table and detecting no objection, she said, "The Chrysallaman video and all accounts of the encounters between the Asiddians and the Chrysallamans indicate the weaponry of the Chriks is useless. What we need to determine is the efficacy of our protective screen and MA weaponry against the Asiddians. A scout saucer should be sufficient for those purposes."
Doug responded, "The main purpose of this mission shouldn't be to provoke a military encounter with the Asiddians. The principle focus should be to gather demographic information about the Asiddians, details about their military patrols in the solar system, planetary defenses and technological levels. We don't even know what they look like. A military encounter is the last thing we need."
Becky noticed Whatsit staring at Yuri-Milost. His arms were crossed and his posture indicated he wanted to be as far away from the Colonel as possible. There was little doubt in Becky's mind he didn't care for the woman with no neck. Making a mental note to ask him what reservations he had about their new staff member, she returned her attention to the discussion.
Amanda was saying, "I agree with Colonel Jenson. We don't want to alert the Asiddians to our presence if we can avoid it. The fact the Asiddians don't know we exist provides us with a lot of protection."
Doug said, "I think we need to take a page from the Chrysallaman playbook and send two scout saucers on the trip. I hate to sound pessimistic, but if one of the saucers gets destroyed, the other can high-tail it and bring back Intel. Sending just one scout leaves us no margin for error."
Sensing general agreement, Tom said, "Based on what I've heard and what we all know, I agree we should send two scout saucers to Chrysalis. One will act as an observer and fail-safe backup. Let's talk about what we want to accomplish from the mission."
Whatsit responded, "We need to find out what has happened to the Chrysallamans left on the planet after Emperor Horcunt abandoned them. It's been a little over 30 years of real time. Are they still alive? How many are left? What is their physical and mental condition?"
Tom said, "We'll find out what happened to your people, my friend, but our first priority will have to be the Asiddians. If we can't overcome their weapons and soldiers, we don't have any hope for ourselves, much less the Chrysallamans."
Nodding his head, Whatsit said, "Just so you know, I volunteer for the mission, and I won't take no for an answer."
Tom smiled and replied, "Didn't think you would."
***
Doug sat in the pilot's couch of the scout saucer Salteer and wondered if this would be the last time he'd ever see the blue green beauty of Earth. The viewscreen in the master control room showed the planet from an orbital distance of 10,000 miles, and the black background of space with its pinprick stars only accentuated the splendor of the planet.
"It's no wonder the Chrysallamans coveted our World," he mused as his eyes picked out tiny details of the topography.
It occurred to him that he no longer thought of home on the limited scale of a house in a city in a country on the planet. He realized his perspective had changed as a result of his recent experiences. The planet Earth was his home, not just some small piece of it. He was engulfed by a wave of protective emotion. His home must and would be defended at all costs.
A hand touching his shoulder broke the spell of his concentration. Startled by the unexpected interruption, Doug almost jumped out of his seat.
"You okay?" Becky asked. "You seem awful tense."
Without conscious thought, Doug reached up, grasped her hand and squeezed it.
"I think I'm getting protective in my old age," he smiled.
"I know what you mean. Are you getting a strong signal from the new beacon?"
"Yes." Doug tapped a sequence of commands into the GPC, and a series of blinking circles bracketed the Earth on the view screen. As they watched, each circle blinked from the outermost edges inward to the center. The pattern repeated every few seconds.
"Dr. GooYee modified the standard Chrysallaman locator beacon on Earth with a specialized FLR transmitter. Jason is in the process of replacing all the solar system beacons installed by the Chrysallamans with the new design. When he's done, only spacecraft with the capability of receiving FLR transmissions will be able to navigate our solar system with the beacons."
At that moment Whatsit, Chellsee Brookkss, Dr. GooYee and Miguel Roemer entered. GooYee and Roemer wore matching white lab coats. Roemer held a clipboard, and he was making notations as GooYee pointed at various instrument panels. Whatsit wore his usual combat outfit composed of a green trench coat, black boots and undecorated tan leather sombrero. A matching leather bandoleer crossed his chest with a cutter ray pistol holstered in its center. His bolo tie with the jeweled Chrysallaman skull ornament hung around his neck. Chellsee wore a white jumpsuit with pink highlights on the collar and cuffs. She was clinging to Whatsit's arm.
GooYee wasted no time on pleasantries. "Have you programmed the coordinates I gave you into the GPC?"
"Arrgh Cap'n!" Doug exclaimed in his best pirate voice. "The scurvy dawgs've hoisted the mainsail, and all cannon are armed. I'll keelhaul any lackey who fai
ls to follow orders."
GooYee was sure he was being mocked. The snickers coming from Chang, Roemer and Whatsit confirmed it.
Snorting his disdain for the comedic antics, GooYee said, "I trust you jokers understand the importance of our mission. It's beginning to appear I'm the only adult aboard this ship."
"Relax Gooey," Becky said. "It doesn't hurt to let off a little steam every once in a while."
"I fail to see any vaporous cloud emanating from any of you," GooYee responded. "In fact, I don't believe such a thing is humanly possible."
Shaking her head and rolling her eyes at the big lizard, Becky looked at Doug and said, "Why don't you explain to his nibs how you've programmed the GPC."
Leaning back in the pilot's couch, Doug said, "At your suggestion, Doctor, I've programmed two stops on our way to the Chrysalis system. Easing our way to Chrysalis in a broad sweeping curve should make our origination point almost impossible to track. In fact, our last leg brings us toward the coordinates for your planetary system from a direction opposite Earth's galactic position relative to Chrysalis."
Dawn of Chrysalis (The Origin of F.O.R.C.E. Book 2) Page 14
