“Captain, the four walking seals have woken up. They are moving about the Park pond.” She tapped a control patch on her right armrest. “Imagery going up front.”
The wallscreen imagery changed. The system graphic with its moving neutrino signals from the invader ships moved to the left side. The local situational holo that showed the two green dots of the Darts and seven purple dots for the enemy fragments moved to the right. The wallscreen’s middle now held a view down at the twenty meter wide pond, which was surrounded on one side by maple trees, aspens, pinyon pines and low shrubs, while the other side was filled with green grass that was ankle high. The Park Room was as large as the Forest Room, but its layout was intended to support crew visits for picnics, soccer games and badminton nets. The nets and picnic tables had been moved to the revamped recycling room which Jane had turned into a makeshift nature room for crew visits. The new place was not as nice as the Park and Forest rooms, but it would suffice for crew breaks. And the need to escape gray walls, beeping tech and formal saluting. Off duty break rooms on Star Navy ships had one unbreakable rule. Rank was left behind whenever you entered such a place. That relief from naval formality was something she both needed and supported.
Daisy refocused on what showed in the image. Which was four walking seals slipping fully into the pale blue waters of the pond, moving toward each other, butting head to head, and then flashing distinct and transitory color patterns at each other. To her they resembled Rorschach patterns since the color shapes did not look like living animals or trees or anything she recognized. A few low hoots came from two of the aliens. One alien, larger than the other three, turned away from the group, swished its swim tail from side to side and scooted up onto the pond’s sandy beach. It lifted its wide head and looked toward the access slidedoor. Where, the overhead imagery showed, two Marines in white Shinshoni hard shells stood at parade rest, though each had an arm aimed at the moving aliens.
“Antonova, come forward,” called Jacob.
When the exobiologist arrived, Daisy gestured her to sit in Richard’s seat. But the slim, black-haired young woman stood at parade rest and looked up at Jacob. She raised her right hand in a salute.
“Lieutenant JG Antonova reporting as ordered, sir.”
A rustle came from above as Jacob moved in his seat. “Take your seat below and look at the image on the wallscreen. Time to figure out what kind of animals are these aliens.” She heard his fingers tapping on an armrest. A new image joined the three in front. It showed an exam table in the Med Hall. On the table rested a flamethrower-blackened body of an alien. An ME stood nearby, scalpel in her hand as she made a slice down one side of the alien. Red blood flowed out sluggishly, heading for drain strips that surrounded the exam table. A second ME stood on the other side of the table, holding a med sensor panel toward the carcass. He was as black as Rebecca.
“CPO Lawrence, what does your sensor panel tell you about this alien?” Jacob said, causing both MEs to look up at the room’s ceiling, where the vidcam looked down at them.
The Liberian doctor squinted. A blue cloth mask covered his chin and mouth. Only his nose, brown eyes and wide forehead showed. Like everyone in the Med Hall he wore a blue cloth cap and a blue surgical gown.
“Captain, the sensor data is fascinating,” Lawrence said. “The skull is wide, ovoid and quite long. Its mouth is lined with layers of shark-like teeth. But there’s so much more!” he said, gesturing downward. “This creature has two hearts, an air bladder up front just behind its toothy jaw, four gills on each side and two eyes up front. There’s also two hearing sensora behind those eyes, a dense network of blood vessels, a shoulder girdle separate from the skull and a pelvic girdle attached to the rear spine. It has strong musculature that support its front pair of flipper feet and another muscle group for its rear pair of flipper feet. Finally, there’s a two meter long tail that is one thick muscle, and a digestive system in the middle that connects with an anal outlet where the tail meets the body mass.” The man paused, clearly catching his breath from spouting such a lengthy list of adjectives. “The central stomach shows the remains of meat protein, species unknown. It has ribs that reach down from its spine and cover the upper half of the body. Lalo can add to this from her incisions.”
“Go ahead, CPO Huáng,” Jacob said calmly, though Daisy could tell from his tone that he was impatient to understand the implications of all the biomed talk.
The Chinese woman looked up. Her dark eyes blinked. “There is an extensive network of capillary blood vessels just under the skin of this creature. That network connects to large arteries that connect to the rear heart. Similar arteries run from the gills on either side to the front heart. It is clear oxygen is received by these skin capillaries, which is then carried to the rear heart. Similar oxygen carrying blood arrives from the two sets of gills. The air bladder up front lacks any oxygen conversion tissue, but does have musculature suitable for expelling air.” She pointed at the rear half of the alien. “Blue blood is carried by veins to the skin capillaries in the rear half of the body. Clearly carbon dioxide is somehow excreted through the skin. My preliminary impression is that this is a creature whose biochemistry depends on oxidation. Oxygen arrives from both skin absorption and the gills. The bladder appears to be a weak secondary source of oxygen, perhaps through tissue absorption. Sir.”
“Lawrence, what is the brain like?” Jacob said.
The black chief petty officer had moved his sensor panel to the head area while the other ME was talking. “Sir, the brain has three segments that are highly convoluted like the human brain. The front segment has nerves connecting it to an air space in the forward skull that appears to be similar to the sonar-producing chamber of whales and porpoises. There is a single brainstem that runs through the spine, with branchings to the four limbs, the internal organs, the tail and to what might be a uterus-type organ at the rear of the body. This creature might have been a female.”
Daisy thought all the med talk was useful. But it told them nothing of alien motivations. Or abilities. Jacob spoke.
“Either of you, have you detected any organ that can produce the electric bolts that shot out at Chief O’Connor and Gunnery Sergeant Diego?”
Lawrence pointed his free hand at the lower portion of the alien’s wide head. “There are three masses of tissue that run from below its mouth to the middle of its belly. My sensor says these masses are composed of stacked electroplaques. They resemble the Sach’s organ and Hunter’s organ of electric eels, species electrophorus electricus. The plates are numerous enough to produce at least 2,000 volts at three amps for a second or less. That could generate 1,500 watts of current.” The ME shifted his hand. “There is also an air bladder connected to the small bones of its ear receptors. That suggests this species possesses outstanding hearing in both air and water. Sir.”
Daisy thought the electric shock stuff was helpful. But she wanted to know more. “Chief Lawrence,” she called before Jacob could speak. “What about those eight eyes atop its spine. Do they all connect to the brain? And is there anything unusual about them?”
Lawrence glanced down as Huáng coughed to him. He followed her gesture, which was pointing at a dissected eye bulb. The man looked up. “XO, yes, every eye has a notochord that links up with the brain. More unusual is the musculature that surrounds each eye, as indicated by Doctor Huáng.” The ME pointed with his free hand. “Each eye has independent movement. In this way it is similar to the eyes of chameleons, which can look in different directions. The two front eyes also move independently but they are located in a manner that allows binocular vision to the front. In short, this alien can always see you whether you are approaching from the rear, the side or head-on. Ma’am.”
“Fascinating,” Daisy said. “Are there any other unusual elements on the creature’s body?”
Huáng pointed to the head of the seal-like creature. Lawrence nodded. “XO, yes, there is. The front of the head, from mouth back to the gills, has lines
of black dots. They resemble the ampullae of Lorenzini in Earth fishes and amphibians.”
“Which means what?” Jacob said, sounding impatient.
Huáng looked up. “Those black dots are electroreceptors, sir. It means this alien, like sharks in the water, can sense magnetic fields. Sharks rely on their electroreceptors to orient according to the Earth’s geomagnetic field and to sense the electrical fields of other creatures in the water. Sir.”
“Captain,” said Lawrence. “The presence of electroreceptors matches up with this alien’s ability to project electric bolts. On Earth, some fish and amphibians use electroreceptors to do active electrolocation. Which means producing an electric field. It seems appareant these aliens can both sense magnetic fields and project both weak and strong electric fields. Sir.”
“Thank you,” Jacob said. “Continue with your examination of that carcass. Also examine the other three carcasses. Let me know what are the male and female indicators of this species, if anything is apparent externally.”
“Yes sir,” called Lawrence.
“Continuing,” said Huáng.
“Commander Branstead, is this walking seal alien a social carnivore?”
The Science Deck chief frowned, then looked up to Jacob. “Captain, that depends on the content analysis of the stomach. It contains meat proteins, according to the ME. So this species is not a herbivore. It could be either carnivore or omnivore, like humans.”
“So,” Jacob said tightly. “Analyze for me all that is apparent about this species, from the ME exam, the live video and their behavior to date.”
Alicia winced. Daisy felt for her. Jacob was asking the woman to tell him what usually required days and weeks of analysis by a multidisciplinary team of scientists. The woman sighed.
“Captain, there is the obvious,” she said, her tone calm and determined. “These walking seals are endothermic tetrapods able to walk well on land. They have both binocular and universal vision. They breath by way of cutaneous respiration through the skin, and by use of gills when submerged. They are vertebrates. They fit the phylum of Cordata and the kingdom of Animalia. Remarkably, their body shape resembles the long extinct Eryops megacephalus, a walking amphibian that lived in the Permian era.” The woman pointed at the pond image, where three aliens had pushed out of the water and were pursuing, slowly, some of the white mice which Jane had released into the room. A yellow electric bolt shot out five meters and killed one mouse. Two similar bolts fired by the other two did the same. The fourth and largest alien still held his position at the edge of the pond, his head and eyes focused on the two Marines. “They are predators and they like live prey. The electric bolts are clearly a hunting tool well suited for land hunting. In the water I expect those thick tails could move them fast as sharks. Which the front of their heads and their gaping mouths resemble. In short, we are looking at an alien species that appears to include elements of seal, mud skipper, electric eel, shark and chameleon. It is clearly an amphibious quadruped able to both walk on land and swim well in water. It likely prefers live prey. And since all Earth amphibians are carnivorous, it is probable these aliens are carnivores. Sir.”
“So yes, it is a social carnivore.” Jacob gestured at the wallscreen images. “Where are its hands? How does it manipulate its external environment?” Jacob asked.
Alicia shrugged inside her vacsuit. “Hard to say. But see what that alien is doing? The first one to zap a mouse? It is picking up the mouse with those long tendrils that hang from its upper mouth. My guess is those tendrils have good grip strength, can form a thumb and forefinger arrangement to pick up tiny items, and clearly serve to bring food to the dagger teeth of its mouth. As is now happening.”
Daisy watched as red blood dribbled down from the walking seal’s wide mouth as it crunched the mouse. Its bullet head lifted and swung toward the treeline. It hooted once, then began walking on its flipper feet in a manner that resembled the swaying walk of crocodiles and alligators. It was not fast but its clawed feet dug into the brown dirt, leaving deep gouges as it pushed its body forward, clearly hunting for more live food. Those feet had four long toes that curled as they dug into the soil. Could the toes grip stuff?
“Antonova,” Jacob called. “How similar are these aliens to Earth lifeforms? It’s obvious they like water and can hunt on land. And they’ve built starships that are deadly. What do you deduce?”
The slim Russian who sat next to Daisy leaned forward. Lori looked up at the front wallscreen, which still held the ME image and the Park image. “Captain Renselaer, these aliens most resemble amphibians of Earth. But unlike frogs, toads, salamanders and caecillians, this species did not lose its gills when it entered adulthood, unlike most Earth amphibians. But like many amphibians these aliens do use their skin as a primary respiratory source. Whether they produce young in the aquatic larval stage is unknown at present. Clearly they need to stay wet in order for their skin to breath.” She paused, looked down at one of her holos, then up. “While the lifeforms on our colony planets show organization into mammal, avian, aquatic and insect-like lifeforms, with millions of exotic bacteria, any analogy to Earth animal life is risky. One world has lifeforms with tripodal leg arrangements. On another world, the animals resemble our radial pattern starfish. A third world has hopping as its primary locomotion mode. The presence of vertebrate life, predators and prey, scavengers and parasites, along with air and water-breathing lifeforms, is common to all seven worlds.” She pursed her lips, glanced aside at Daisy, then sighed. “Yes, these aliens resemble walking seals with shark mouths. But what most fascinates me is the color changes on their skin. Bright colors warn of danger. In biological science it is called aposematism. It also makes sense due to their presence off planet. Predators hunt for new territory. But these color changes seem to do more.” She stopped.
Jacob nodded. “How do these color changes do more?”
Lori looked over to Alicia. Who looked up to Jacob.
“Captain, what my exobiologist is reluctant to do is to draw the obvious analogy of these lifeforms to the cephalopods of Earth’s oceans.”
“Explain.”
The woman’s amber eyes glanced to Daisy, then back to Jacob, her posture going stiff, as if she felt the need to present herself as the Science Deck chief she was.
“It’s obvious. From both the vidcam images of Chief Warrant Officer O’Connor and from the Park imagery up front,” the woman said dryly. “These aliens communicate by way of color changes on their skin. They are chromatophore animals.”
Jacob sighed. “Which means what?”
Alicia smiled quickly, then lifted her eyebrows. “On Earth the ocean-dwelling animals that use rapid skin color changes include octopuses, squids and cuttlefish. Land animals that do this include chameleons. The best at using chromatophore cells to change color, texture and skin appearance are the octopi,” she said. “Octopi can literally assume the identical coloration and texture of coral, rocks, sand and other underwater features, including the hulls of sunken ships.” Alicia turned and looked up at Jacob. “You saw how, when the Marines entered that darkened room, they saw nothing with their suit spotlights. The four aliens used their skin to match the silvery floor metal or the blue-white of the water in one tank. When they were knocked out by the tasers, their bodies sensed what they were in contact with and assumed that color and texture.” She paused, then gestured to the wallscreen. “Based on what we now see in the Park image, it is clear these aliens possess melanocyte cells able to produce any color in their environment. The reflective metallic colors are produced by iridophore plates below the skin surface. See how the alien now entering the trees has changed colors to match the low brush, making it nearly invisible to detection? These aliens possess a natural camouflage that is also their primary means of communication.”
In her Bridge holo she saw Jacob bite his lip, then the muscles in his jaw tightened. “So what color has what meaning?”
Alicia frowned. “This is where analogy is d
angerous. On Earth, some cephalopods use red to indicate anger or danger. Others go white as a sign of fear. Who knows what these color changes mean to these aliens? But it is clear they use colors to respond to temperature, mood, stress levels and social cues. To develop a system of color changes that mimics human acoustic communication requires both a large brain and intense socialization. Both characteristics are exhibited by these aliens, based on the fact of their starships and other tech.”
Jacob looked up at the Park image, then down. “Commander, can your xenolinguists do for these aliens what they did with the wasps? Create a dictionary of color words and meanings? So somehow we can communicate with these aliens? Perhaps by using one of the tech panels recovered by our Marines?”
The woman looked up at the front wallscreen. “Maybe. I will set them to matching color changes with physical behavior of these aliens. And also the hooting they make. It may be these aliens communicate words both by sound and by skin color changes. It’s gonna be a bitch to figure out.”
“No doubt,” Jacob said. “Assuming they have some analog with our amphibians, what behavior do you expect of them?”
Alicia shrugged. “The obvious. Predatory claiming of a home territory for food. As they did with planet four. Maybe their young need land access to mature. And they will continue to fight us and the wasps. They are social predators just like us. I would not underestimate them.”
StarFight 3: Battlecry Page 15
