The air was cool and smelled rich with earth and vegetation; it was very pleasant after three days in the canned environment of a spaceship. Ames and Twisst fumbled their way out of the ship and Hayes helped them find their footing down the steps. They stood at the foot of the steps looking around and taking in the scene while Hayes did a walk-around, checking the hull and landing struts for any visible problems.
He completed his inspection and walked over to the cart that the local had fallen over and tipped on its side. He set it back on its wheels and examined what was lying on the ground.
It appeared to be a mix of personal belongings and sealed ceramic containers; there were shirt and trouser type cloth articles and heavy, wax sealed containers. He guessed that they might contain preserved food. The most interesting thing was a sheathed knife that looked to be a product of great skill. He pulled on the heavy bone or petrified wood handle and a pale gray, quartz-like blade about twenty centimeters long slid out of the heavy, leather sheath. It looked sharp and he gave it the usual test against some hairs on the back of his left hand. ‘Sharp’ was an understatement, and he, very carefully, slid it back into a sheath whose odd, wood, blade guides he no longer questioned.
Ames and Twisst came up behind him as he looked toward the town and saw the crowd starting to gather at the other end of the path. As they arrived from the town, they approached with their heads pivoting upwards to take in the sight of the Santana; when they joined the group at the end of the path, their eyes were fixed on the three strange visitors. Several of them were carrying crossbows, but none, as yet, were pointed in their direction.
There was a small commotion as the local, that Hayes recognized as the owner of the cart, pushed to the front of the group; he was, practically, dragging another local that Hayes recognized from long hours of watching survey recordings and thought of as the Mayor because of the central role that he plays in many of the town’s activities. The owner of the cart was gesturing excitedly while the Mayor stood there staring at the Santana and the three aliens. Hayes smiled at the obvious parallel between all of the wild speculation about Ancient Aliens having visited Earth in the distant past. We are them, passed through his mind.
He looked at the knife in his hand and then back at the anxious face of its owner. He raised his free hand, pointed at him, and made an obvious gesture indicating that he should approach. He pulled out his pad, activated the translator program that Doctor Ames had loaded into the Santana’s AI, and hung the pad from his breast pocket. The owner of the cart had not moved, but had acquired a look that could only be interpreted as fright.
Hayes signaled again with more enthusiasm.
“What are you doing, Lieutenant?” asked Ames.
“Breaking the ice, Doc.”
Hayes’ gestures caused a bit of a stir in the group, and it looked as though his intent was clearly understood; the Mayor and someone standing on the other side of him gave the cart owner a small push toward Hayes. The Mayor pointed at Hayes and said something to the frightened man that had the inflection of an order.
Hayes smiled again, Send the sacrificial peon out, and see if he gets eaten.
The cart owner was shorter than Hayes--considerably shorter; but then, all Foresters averaged around twelve centimeters shorter than humans. It was unknown whether it was a genetic lock or dietary deficiencies. His clothing was well constructed, fit well, and looked pretty tough if not what humans would call haute couture. The best part was that Foresters had high hygiene standards and there were no offensive odors to politely ignore. Hayes had made sure that the three of them had slicked-up to the nines and wore matching dark blue Navy shipboard work suits. He knew from years of observing the Foresters that they did make an effort to dress reasonably well.
The cart owner had closed to within six meters of Hayes but did not seem to be inclined to move closer; it was close enough. Hayes held out the sheathed knife and said, “Trade!”
The pad on his pocket said, “Motka”
The cart owner twitched.
Hayes tucked the knife under his arm, pulled his own knife out of his pocket, and unfolded the twelve centimeter blade at one end and the seven centimeter blade at the other. He held out both hands with a knife in each.
“Trade!”
“Motka”
He held his folding knife out further toward the cart owner.
“Trade!”
“Motka”
Fear was, obviously, slipping away as Hayes’ intent registered as something familiar. The cart owner approached and gently took the folding knife. He folded the blades and unfolded them several times with a growing smile. Finally, he looked very closely at the blades and said, “Salaf mart” or something like that.
The pad said, “Metal construction
Hayes nodded, “Yes, metal construction. Will you trade with me?”
The longer translation resulted in a smile, a ducking motion reminiscent of an old Japanese gesture, and one word, “Tyyg”
“Yes!”
The cart owner took off running back to the crowd and showed them his new possession.
Hayes turned to the two linguists that were exchanging bemused looks, “Okay, I’ve warmed ‘em up; they’re all yours.”
Ames and Twisst activated their pads and hung them on their pockets as Hayes had done, “Stay with us, Hayes.”
They walked closer to the crowd and stopped about eight meters away when some back-pedaling indicated residual apprehension. Doctor Ames raised his left arm toward Hayes and said, “Hayes.”
He raised his right arm, “Twisst.”
He placed his right hand on his own chest, “Ames.”
The AI knew the intent of the introductions and did not attempt any translation.
There was no reaction from the group other than their eyes following his motions.
“Is there an astronomer here in this group?”
“
“Translation change approved.”
The question caused a stir and shouted orders from the front to the back sections of the crowd. A young female eventually worked her way through to the front. She was short even by Forester standards and was, probably, getting the best look she had seen of things; she stood wide-eyed and frozen. The Mayor gestured and those standing behind her gave her a push.
She came to within a couple of meters and spoke.
“I am a sky watcher.”
Ames had a small smile on his face, “Do not be afraid of us; we will not harm you or anyone else here. We are scientists from another star.”
She was still tense but the translation did change the look in her eyes.
“Do you watch your star?”
She gave that little ducking motion, “Yes.”
“Do you know that there is something wrong with your star?”
That hit a nerve; the apprehension was back, but her look back over her shoulder told them that they were not the cause of it. She moved closer and spoke quietly.
“I think there is - the others do not - the
The three of them exchanged looks. Hayes said, “Uh, oh.”
Twisst touched Ames’ arm, “Jonathon, I suggest we get a group of their leaders and scientists gathered for a little talk; we can sit in those seats.”
She pointed to a group of stools that served as general seating at the near end of the game field; Ames looked, nodded, and turned back to the sky watcher.
“We would like to talk to your leaders, scientists, and you over there. Can you get them for us?”
She ducked and headed for the group.
#
Twenty minutes later, they were sitting facing a group of Foresters on the game field sideline. The crowd had flowed onto the field and had turned into a mass picnic, complete with blankets, food, and drink. Everyone had given the Santana a wide berth as they passed it.
Hayes sat behind Ames an
d Twisst and paid more attention to the situation around them than the conversation. The name of the sky watcher was ‘Sathen’; Ames instructed the translator to equate her to ‘Susan’. The Mayor was ‘Joe’. Joe did not seem to like Susan sitting in the forefront of the high-ranking group.
Doctor Twisst gave them a quick review, “Our people discovered your world about fourteen of your years ago. Since then, we have been watching your people and the anomaly that orbits your sun. Our star scientists have determined that the anomaly is disturbing your star to the point that it will cause a great wave of radiation to hit your world and destroy almost all life here.”
She raised her hands to indicate the sky, “Our people are spread out over many stars, and there are many other worlds for your people to live on. We are able to move many of you to one of those other worlds if you wish.”
Joe did not look happy; none of them looked happy.
“You tell us that
“Yes!”
Joe turned to the group while some of them stood and gathered next to him into a tighter cluster. Susan remained sitting on her stool with her head bowed; she gave the impression of someone whose goal in life had just been realized--to her horror.
A noise behind Hayes got his attention and he turned his head. The side of the field had a line of trees and a moderate level of undergrowth. Sticking out from under the nearest low bush was the head of what had been decided was the local equivalent of a dog. The Foresters kept pets and there were a fair number of these ‘dogs’ around. What recorded sightings of them that had been made indicated a limited breed range and gave rise to the opinion that they were the result of a few that had come with the Foresters. This one was about the size and had the look of a Beagle with an elongated nose, short ears, and a solid rust colored coat; it was regarding Hayes with suspicion and growling.
There was a Forester couple sitting on a blanket a few meters from him. They had a small child--which he thought might be a girl--that was hiding behind her mother; she had not taken her wide eyes off of Hayes since they had arrived.
Hayes turned to them while he pointed to the bad attitude under the bush, “Is that dog dangerous?”
It was easy to tell that they were startled by being spoken to by an alien, but the woman managed to recover.
“Owner died -
Hayes abruptly got off his stool and headed straight for the Santana--a path that took him right through the audience.
“Hello! Nice day! Love that scarf! Excuse me!”
When he got to the ship, he climbed in and tossed the sheathed knife on his bunk then rooted through the stores in the lower compartment. He left the ship with a small bag and plowed another path through the spectators.
“Good morning! How ya doing! Nice looking kids!”
Every eye on the field had followed him. When he sat down again, Ames had a slightly exasperated look, “Lieutenant, what are you doing?”
“Breaking the ice, Doc.”
He removed a foil pouch from the bag and pulled the zip-tag. It took a few seconds for the aroma of genuine beef jerky to reach the dog, but when it did, all appearance of hostility vanished. Hayes broke off a small piece and tossed it in front of the dog’s nose. One sniff and it disappeared.
Now, he held out a larger piece toward it. Desire, anxiety, need, and distrust washed over the animal’s body language. Hayes slid off the stool and sat cross-legged on the ground.
“Breakfast in bed is over; now you have to come and get it.”
He continued waving the jerky; the animal slowly moved out from under the bush.
“Come on, nobody’s going to hurt you.”
It prowled back and forth in a low crouch. Fear and apprehension were at war with burning desire for more of the tasty meat. It was then that Hayes saw that it was a female and had swollen teats.
He turned to the Forester woman that had answered his previous question, “Does she have puppies?”
The woman gave a slight ducking motion and pointed back at the bush.
Hayes leaned farther forward and could just make out two little, furry faces huddled together. The smell of the jerky was wearing down their mother, and she was edging closer. Hayes reached further, and she stretched her neck that last millimeter in order to reach it. She retreated to her lair under the bush and began sharing it with the little ones.
Hayes resealed the pouch and exchanged it for another one before returning to the stool. This pouch contained chewy butterscotch candy. Genetic analysis of the Foresters and what they ate indicated a general ability to metabolize almost all human foods. He took one of the thick discs out and made a show of eating it with great pleasure. Then, he offered one to the little girl that was absolutely fascinated with him.
Doctor Twisst’s voice came from behind him, “Really, Hayes; you’re offering candy to little girls? I’m going to tell the Admiral on you.”
“Let’s not be hasty, Doc; I’m doing my bit to smooth the road. Besides, I like dogs and kids.”
The little girl was pointing at Hayes’ offering and talking to her mother. It looked as though his previous interactions with her were proving fruitful; she was encouraging the girl to go get the candy. The father stuck a word in occasionally but did not seem to object.
Finally, she came toddling over; she was wearing a long, straight, ‘granny’ dress kind of garment and could be judged to be about three or four years old by human standards. She stopped in front of him but did not take the candy.
“Are you a
He almost broke out laughing. Instead, he straightened and put on his best comic-offended look as he pressed a hand to his chest.
“Nooo! I am not a monster. Why, where I come from, the girls think I am very handsome and chase me everywhere.”
Doctor Twisst had a different belief system, “Oh, brother!”
“Here, this is very good.”
Now, she took the candy and put it in her mouth--carefully. Hayes just hoped that butterscotch flavor agreed with them; if not, he had some mints in the bag.
He dug in the pouch and popped another one into his mouth as a smile started on the girl’s face, and she began chewing enthusiastically.
He handed her the pouch, “Take this to your parents and give them some.”
He turned back to Ames and Twisst and the leadership group; they were all looking at him.
“What?”
Ames just smiled and turned back to Joe, “In the next few days, other ships will be arriving; they should be able to take around three thousand of your people to our nearest planet. Seven days from now, a very large ship will arrive that can take about 125,000. Only one of the first ships to arrive can land here,” he pointed at the game field, “the others must remain in orbit but will send small ships down here to move people up to the big ships.”
He pointed toward the south, “The very large ship can land on the surface, but it will need to be over there where the ground is harder.”
Joe was silent for a moment before he turned back to his group. A minute later, he turned back to Ames.
“We will talk
“Yes! We will be here to talk at any time. May we enter your town and talk with your people?”
Joe looked a question at others around him and saw no objection.
“Yes”
#
The longer rotational period of Forest gave them the opportunity for a good night’s sleep. Hayes was up early, got his shower out of the way, and made sure that Ames and Twisst’s ship suits had been adequately cleaned during the night. Forty minutes after rising, he was placing a hot, reasonably good breakfast on the small, fold-out tables next to Ames’ and Twisst’s bunks.
Ames pushed his hair back into some sort of alignment as he rotated his feet onto the deck and sat on the edge
of his bunk, “Really, Hayes, breakfast in bed? It is not necessary to treat us like this.”
“It is my job to take care of you so that the two of you can do your jobs. Besides, this is the only reasonable position on this ship for you to eat while grounded, and I actually prefer not having two brilliant scientists with several advanced degrees fumbling around in my galley.”
Hayes stepped back onto the central ladder and made sure they had everything they needed for their meals, “Remember, by authorization of the Terran Federation Navy and under the direct orders of Admiral Wills Reynolds, Commander of the Archer Sector, I, Lieutenant Easton James Arlington Hayes of the Terran Federation Navy am charged and commanded as Lord and Master and Pilot in Command of the starship Santana, absolute authority over any and all personnel and equipment in and on the hull of said starship.
“Basically, that means keep your hands off my kitchen. I ain’t your mother, and I don’t want to clean up after you. Now, anything else I can get for you before I go outside?”
Doctor Twisst had a fork-full of her breakfast half-way to her mouth, “Did you develop that theory on your own?”
“Oh, no, Doc; it’s in the book, they wrote it down for me.”
#
It was another nice day; the temperature was very comfortable but would get warmer as the day went on. There were a fair number of Foresters gathered in the field already; Hayes knew that many of them had spent the night there but had maintained a worshipful--or fearful--distance from the Santana. The seating area that the three of them and the leadership group had used also remained vacant.
Hayes carried the bag again and went from group to group handing out various candies. The simple sugars and unknown flavors were a big hit; besides, he enjoyed the reactions he got as the
It didn’t take long for the bad attitude to show up and he slid off of the stool to sit cross-legged on the ground.
“Today, you are going to come all the way here if you want some of this.”
Ariticle Six Page 8
