by Jay Korza
“The warriors have one of our guy’s commlinks and have found a way to keep it active after they removed it from him. I’ll fill everyone in at the debrief. But for now, we shouldn’t use the commlinks for anything that would compromise our operational security.” While she spoke, Emily had found the spot on her head that was bleeding and she applied pressure to it with her free hand.
Seth activated his commlink. “Reaper, come back to my position, Daria needs another corpsman. Everyone listen up: restrict your usage of the commlinks to non-secure information only. The network has been compromised.”
Chapter 9
The Shirkas and the combined Coalition teams made short work of the warriors that had been left on the station. Most had pulled out, and left the station before Seth’s team arrived. Their last known heading suggested they were in fact heading to Sector 493 as Jeeves had predicted.
Wilks and Mitra were patched up by the Cherta doctors and Schneps was on the road to recovery, though the road would be a long and arduous one.
The Shirka commando team left the system, headed towards another of their birthing planets. They had already briefed other teams that would be dispatched to other birthing planets; each team would be making contact with and training the Shirka cubs to defend the planets in the event the warriors tried to take over more of them. As new cubs were birthed, the information would be passed down to them before the older cubs left with their parents.
As Shirka cubs went, Seth was now father to a furry little girl. He still didn’t know the best way to talk to Emily about it, but he decided to have Fang along with him in case she had any Shirka-specific questions that Seth couldn’t answer. Hell, Seth had plenty of his own that he hadn’t yet had time to go over with Fang.
“And that’s how I became her surrogate father.” Seth finished telling Emily about the battle that left the female cub an orphan by her own species’ beliefs.
Emily sat motionless for several minutes. Her mouth opened and then closed without issuing a sound. This happened a couple more times before she finally spoke. “I’m sorry. I just have so many things to ask I can’t decide where to start.”
“That’s okay. I feel the same way.” Seth sighed. He leaned forward and placed a hand on Emily’s knee. “But to be blunt, we don’t have to figure this out together.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Because. We just started to…” Seth was at a loss for the proper word to finish the sentence. “I mean, we aren’t even together.”
He could tell by Emily’s expression that he hadn’t found the right word.
“What are we then?”
“I don’t know. That’s my point. I’ve never dated anyone in a combat zone, so I don’t even know if we are dating. I mean, before I was in the military, dating was an obvious act. I’d take a girl to an event or something and it would be a date.
“We’re on a starship and the only places we’ve gone together are the mess hall, briefings and debriefings, training, and oh yeah, combat. We’ve done a lot of that together. Are those dates?”
Emily couldn’t keep herself from laughing. “You’re right. You’re absolutely right. So let me offer you this: I would love to think of us as dating, even if our version is one of the oddest in the galaxy. And since we’re dating, I would like to be there for you and help you with your cub.”
Seth smiled and then looked at Fang, who was not at all enjoying having to be a part of this all too human conversation. “Well, now that that’s settled, I guess we should ask you some questions.”
Fang gave a low growl Seth had come to know this as Fang’s I’m not enjoying this at all so hurry up and get on with it tone. “I—we—need to know about feeding issues, developmental needs, and what to expect over the next few weeks. Anything past the next few weeks we can research later and start making a plan for it.”
Fang handed Seth a tablet. “I have already compiled several texts for you to read through that should help. I have not fathered any litters so I can only tell you what I have learned by watching others.
“First, she was removed from the birthing planet several weeks prematurely. I would suggest you allow her to spend most, if not all, of her time in the virtual simulation training room for the next two to four weeks. Have a combat training scenario running that resembles her birthing planet. She still needs to hunt for her food and develop in that environment for a little while longer or she might end up having social regression and integration problems later on.”
“But she’s still weak from her injuries. She can’t survive in those conditions. That’s why I took her in the first place.”
Emily offered an idea. “Fang, what if we had Bloom and Jeeves program the simulator to judge her physical condition and provide her with scenarios that were challenging for her but not beyond her physical abilities? As her healing progresses, the program will adapt and make things more difficult for her.”
“As far as I know, this is the first time in Shirka history that a cub has been removed from the birthing planet before they were ready. We do not have any protocols to follow for this kind of event. I would say that your plan is as good as any.”
“Well, with that heartfelt endorsement, how can we go wrong?” Seth patted his friend’s knee warmly. “I still need to find a name for her.”
“Cubs are not named for many months after they are brought home. The family will watch and socialize with the cubs during that time. Then the family will get together and discuss names for the cubs.”
“At least that’s one thing I don’t have to worry about for now.” Seth stood. “I’m going to go get her and take her to the training room. This Cherta ship has a much better holographic setup than Coalition ships do. I’m sure she’ll enjoy being back in the forest.”
“I’ll put out a message to the team to let them know the training room is off-limits for now,” Emily said.
Fang leaned forward and thoughtfully added, “I think, Captain, that it would be better for her if the team interacted with her as much as possible. Even running training scenarios that she could watch and even play along in. Eating their meals with her would also be beneficial to her feeling accepted into our pack.”
Seth shrugged. “That sounds good to me. We just have to make sure we aren’t pushing her physically past what her injuries will tolerate. Thank you both for your time. I’ll see you later.”
Seth turned and walked out. Emily took his last words to mean that he wanted some time alone with the cub.
She spent the next few hours talking with Fang about Shirka culture and rearing offspring. As one of the Coalition’s leading xenobiologists, she had a good working knowledge of the Shirka society, but her expertise lay with the archeological side of the science. Emily was more adept at dealing with long-extinct societies rather than currently thriving ones.
~
Seth walked into his quarters and was alarmed when he didn’t see the cub. As he walked forward, he heard a low growl come from under his bunk. Tentatively, Seth lowered himself to the deck and peered under the bunk. The low growl immediately stopped as the cub lunged from the darkness towards Seth. A large warm tongue found his face as he became entangled with his new daughter.
“I’m sorry if I scared you,” he said softly, remembering what Fang had told him about the cub being able to identify his tone and not the words themselves.
“I have somewhere to take you. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.”
Together they made their way through the ship. The cub growled every once in a while at the people passing through the corridors. Seth noticed that for the most part, she was interested in the people who passed and was happy to sniff them. Seth wondered what there was about the other people she growled at that caused that reaction. Was she picking up on something no one else could?
When they reached the training room, Seth opened the doors and the cub’s eyes went wide. She took a few steps inside and then looked back at Seth, as she waited for him to join her. To
gether they walked the rest of the way in and the doors closed behind them.
It only took twenty minutes of exploring before the cub became fatigued. Seth let her rest before he walked her to the cave he had programmed to be her new home for the next several weeks.
“It’s pretty nice in here.” Seth played his flashlight over the interior. Having found the sleeping area in the corner, Seth went and sat down on the forest bedding that had been programmed into the simulation. “Come have a seat.” Seth patted the area next to him.
The cub quickly came over, all sense of trepidation now gone. She set down next to Seth and put her head in his lap. In the end, Seth would spend most of the night stroking her fur while he read the texts on the pad Fang had given him. Seth finally faded into sleep as well, feeling more content than he had in a long time.
Chapter 10
The commandeered Cherta ship was much faster than anything the Coalition had, but the team’s destination had been pretty far from the Detrill shipbuilding station. The Cherta team that the Coalition was attempting to catch up to had arrived in the system two weeks ago and had already left sometime after.
Seth and Emily had decided to merge their two respective teams into one cohesive unit. They didn’t want there to be any chain of command or competitive issues between the two platoons. The full team, Wilks and Mitra included, were gathered for their pre-mission brief.
“And that’s why we’ve decided to blend the teams into one unit.” Seth looked to Emily, and she took her cue.
“Since Captain Fields is a line officer and I’m a science staff officer, he will be the OIC for all combat and tactical phases of any given mission. Once the area is secure, and/or we decide to break the platoon into tactical and investigatory teams, I will become the OIC for the research phase of our mission. Are there any COC questions?”
Emily could tell that Daria was a little raw about the COC but she also knew that her friend would deal with it and get over it soon enough.
Emily continued, “Alright then. Moving on. Captain Fields will give the tactical brief after I fill you all in on the overall mission.
“We don’t know why the Cherta were trying to keep their interest in this sector a secret, but we need to find out. We don’t know much other than they visited the fourth planet from this system’s star.”
Emily brought up a holographic display to show the planet. “There’s nothing impressive or unique about this world. You can go over the minor details later on your own, but basically, it has a Coalition standard atmosphere at about one hundred and five percent of Earth standard gravity. The area we will be landing at will be cold during the day, around five Celsius, and even colder at night, at least minus ten Celsius.”
Fang added “Freezer Time” to his personal schedule four hours before the mission departure time. Using the ship’s food freezer, he would cause his body to start thickening his undercoat, making him ready for the mission and not having to worry about being cold during the first couple of hours after the drop.
Emily continued. “We haven’t been able to access all of the data on board our commandeered Cherta ship, so we don’t have any information about this planet. Once we hit orbit, we’ll be able to determine where they landed and go from there. Any questions so far?”
Some faces showed they did have questions, but the operators were all seasoned enough to know that if the information wasn’t in the briefing, the OICs didn’t have it either. No hands were raised.
“Then I’ll turn the tactical brief over to Captain Fields.” Emily sat back down.
~
The drop was uneventful, boring even. The pilots from the Cherta Empire were superb at their jobs; even Jockey was a bit envious of their abilities. The pilots didn’t seem to care who was in charge, the Cherta or the Coalition; they took orders from whomever had control of the vessel, and at the moment, that was the Coalition.
The cargo ramp opened and the warm air inside the ship was quickly replaced with the planet’s cold atmosphere. The only saving grace at the moment was there was no wind to drop the chill factor even further. Fang was already extra furry from his time in the freezer on board the main ship, but even he felt the cold nip at him.
The team exited the ship with precision and purpose, and took up defensive positions around the perimeter. The light vehicles came out next, loaded with ammunition, light explosives, and scientific equipment. Once everything was unloaded, the team rallied up away from the ship so it could depart and head back to space.
Seth and Emily conferred while Surgeon took control of the platoon. “Okay team, nothing major has changed since the briefing. The initial survey of this planet shows the population to be pre-industrial, with most of its inhabitants living on another continent. We might still find some indigenous sentient life so keep your heads up and eyes open. Mother and Father will brief us en route to our target.”
A few snickers rippled through the group as Surgeon solidified Emily and Seth’s new team call signs. Seth had been adamant that he didn’t want the Shirka colloquialism to stick after the previous mission was over, but there are some things in a Special Forces unit that even the OIC couldn’t order the men to do. You couldn’t really order your men not to tease you in a good-natured way—you might as well have your mom write you a note to get out of combat or to have the bully stop picking on you. It just wasn’t done.
Seth sighed inwardly. He vowed to not let the team see his displeasure with the call signs. Emily, on the other hand, smiled outwardly; she liked her new nickname. It reminded her of how the British soldiers used to call ranking female officers “Mum.”
It wasn’t lost on Emily that the names were also meant to poke fun at the two officers’ relationship, but she was fine with that. She and Seth did a good job of maintaining their professionalism in the field and no one harbored any ill feelings towards what the two did in their off time.
Emily, as a xenobiologist with years of education and experience related to family and social interactions among different races, liked the call signs also because she theorized the team would eventually come to have familial feelings towards her and Seth. Emily postulated that this would only help to strengthen the team’s bond and overall effectiveness. She could already see in her mind the chapter headers for the write-up she would be putting together sometime in the future.
“So in short, the tactical plan is unchanged. Mother?” Seth choked slightly as he passed the torch to Emily.
“Oh, yes.” She snapped out of her journal-writing thoughts. “As Surgeon said, we may run into sentient species but it’s not likely. If we do, they are unlike any other race we have in the Coalition. We, of course, haven’t had any time to study them, but based on what I saw from our remote drone, I can’t even begin to determine their evolutionary origins.
“From what I’ve seen, this planet has a docile ecosystem. That is to say, there aren’t any predators, at least not in the way we think of predators.”
“How are there no predators? Isn’t survival of the fittest necessary to compel evolution forward? In order for a species to advance to sentience, doesn’t it require challenges, obstacles, and hardships to overcome and adapt to?” Major Telfer asked.
“First off, survival of the fittest is a total misnomer from Earth history. Darwin never said survival of the fittest; he said survival of the most adaptable. The organism most fit to survive in a given situation would become the dominant species. This concept became skewed very quickly and the general public took it to mean survival of the physically strongest organism.
“Look at it like this: if dragons, or some other huge and scary creature from your own planet’s mythology, came to life and plagued your planet, initially all of the physically weaker inhabitants of your planet would become prey to the dragon. In this initial culling, it would seem that the physically strongest, the fittest among you, would survive.
“But, let’s say that some of the people on your planet had red skin. And unbeknownst to
you, the dragons couldn’t see the color red. Those people would be invisible to the dragons no matter if they were strong, weak, smart, dumb, fat, disabled, or anything else. They would survive because the dragons couldn’t see them. Eventually, if you couldn’t find a way to kill all of the dragons, everyone on your planet would be red because they were the most fit to survive in that situation.
“So if we really want to stretch what Darwin said, then yes, you could say it is survival of the fittest. But not in the way that most people think it means.”
“Okay. I am almost afraid to ask what the second part of your rant is since you started off by saying ‘first off.’” Major Telfer was more interested than she let on.
Emily smiled. “I apologize for the rant; that’s just one of my scientific pet peeves. But to answer your question more fully, an organism does need challenges to overcome in order to evolve. That’s why sharks from Earth didn’t evolve at all for over four hundred million years; nothing challenged them enough to make them get better.
“However, that’s not to say that an organism needs a predator to be their obstacle to overcome. If the environment changes enough or food sources become scarce or evolve themselves, it can force an evolutionary change, even to the point of sentience.”
Reaper chimed in. “Can you explain what you mean by predators but not predators as we think of them?”
Emily loved talking science and enjoyed the conversation. “We have found a few ecosystems that self-regulate through voluntary sacrifice. We haven’t seen a whole planet work as a docile ecosystem; this may be the first.
“In this type of system, the predators don’t hunt their prey—their meals voluntarily give themselves over as food. And mind you, this isn’t a ritualistic sacrifice or some other belief system in play. These are non-sentient creatures following their instinctual programming.”
