by S. H. Jucha
“Could there be any better choice of site for our first landing?”
“I suppose not. That’s all the crew has been talking about since Teague first spotted those dark travelers. Keen eye, that boy. But those ships raise a good many questions, and I’m hoping you’ll find some answers … preferably ones that aren’t going to mean any of us harm.”
“I must admit that this expedition’s focus has grown far beyond my expectations. I was merely searching for a new, habitable colony.”
“That’s the problem, Willem. A planet that’s habitable for one species might be preferable to others.”
Asu and Willem regarded each other, but they kept their thoughts private. The discovery of the dark travelers, evidence of the Nua’ll’s passage, would generate turbulent waves that would ripple across the light-years to Haraken and the Confederation.
* * *
Willem planned to be planetside for approximately thirty days. Of the two travelers aboard the Sojourn, he would take the rear-loading shuttle. It was designed to carry heavy equipment, when necessary, and was constructed specifically to facilitate the ground survey scientists and techs. The Sojourn’s second shuttle served as a passenger carrier and could operate easily as a fighter, if need be.
Armed with the knowledge of the dangerous circumstances the New Terran colonists met when they finally made planetside, more than seven centuries ago, Willem was determined to conduct a thorough survey — atmospheric gas analysis, weather anomalies, soil testing for minerals and biota, water purity, microorganisms, and the potential of danger to humans from creatures large and small.
In determining who would be taken planetside, Willem attempted to approach the list as logically as possible, but he found a series of conflicting priorities. Decisions were much simpler aboard the observation station when I was investigating distant stars, Willem thought.
Willem knew he needed the Swei Swee to investigate the seas. They could shorten that aspect of the survey by tens of days, while he and the others concentrated on the land. However, for the Swei Swee, thirty days without a Singer was an unnecessary discomfort, and Willem was intent on treating the aliens as he would any of the crew, fairly and equally. If he had learned nothing else from Alex Racine, it was that, and it meant Ginny must be aboard the shuttle with the Swei Swee.
Dubbed Little Singer by the Swei Swee, Ginny was prized by everyone aboard for the light and laughter she brought to their lives. She had a way of enlivening any room she entered. Despite her humble beginnings as a deaf orphan aboard a space station in the outer rim of Sol, Ginny had bloomed into a beautiful young woman. Her hearing loss was repaired with the aid of Haraken medical nanites, restoring an innate perfect pitch, which enabled her to sing in the Swei Swee language.
Then there was the subject of Teague, whom Willem fervently wanted to protect. Every Haraken did, but Teague chafed at the attempts of those around him who tried to limit his activities in the name of preservation. And in these circumstances, any effort to dissuade Teague from traveling planetside was moot. Yes, Teague might engage in risky activities of his own, but if Ginny undertook an adventure that smacked of potential danger, he would not step 2 meters away from her side. In Willem’s kernel, the answer was obvious: If Ginny was going, Teague was going.
From captain to SADEs to crew and even to the Swei Swee, it amused one and all to watch Teague deny what his heart felt. The president’s son appeared aloof from Ginny’s charms, treating her as a friend, a good companion, but it was all Teague could do not to follow her every movement with his eyes when she came within sight.
Teague and Ginny, Willem thought, the pair acted with the synergy born of a quantum coupling.
-4-
Pussiro
“Has all been made ready?’ Nyslara asked Pussiro.
“Yes, my queen. The soma are below ground, and we’ve carefully disguised anything that was left above.”
“And the ship?”
“It’s poised far above us, my queen. Consensus among our lookouts is that the ship is too great in size to land. It must possess shuttles, which we expect will be used to land the aliens.”
The thought of possessing shuttles to return to space at will — to travel the planets and possibly the stars — caused Nyslara to pause. She deeply lamented the slow retarding of her people’s technical capabilities. Soon the knowledge of what once was possessed on Sawa would fade, and with the loss of knowledge and old stories, so would go the dreams of her soma. Then the possibility of retrieving their potential as a race would be lost.
“Have the runners returned with messages from the queens?”
“Most have returned, except for those journeying to the farthest nests. The replies aren’t good, my queen,” Pussiro said, casting his eyes down. “While they have taken your words of precaution to heart, disguising anything above ground and securing their soma below, none of them wish to join with us in repelling the aliens. Most believe their soma can best the intruders.”
“Fools, old and young,” Nyslara hissed. “They’re gorged on their pride, intoxicated in the belief that they possess absolute power, but they’ve no idea what they’ll face from these aliens.
“I believe they fear joining you, Nyslara. You rule a great and dominant nest. Joining you would diminish their standing and raise your own.”
Nyslara hissed in reply and waved a hand in negation. She wanted to hear no more of their fears. “What’s your plan, Pussiro, when the aliens land?”
“If we believe them to be the superior race and cower in fear, we’ll have wasted our opportunity, and we’ll be beaten before we even resist. So we will treat them as ceena and trap them,” Pussiro replied, his eyes gleaming in anticipation of the coming encounter.
* * *
“A small shuttle is descending, Commander,” a lookout reported to Pussiro.
“Where?” Pussiro asked. He was listening to the warrior on the underground communications network that was a simple string of wires and magnet-based receiver and mic handsets. Long gone was the soma’s sophisticated comm network. When equipment failed, decades after their landing, repairs were impossible. The machinery necessary to create the replacement parts never arrived from Sawa.
“The ship appears to be headed for the water’s edge near where the alien shuttle rests,” the lookout added.
There was a pause and Pussiro could hear the hissing intakes of breath from the two lookouts, who would be peeking out from a concealed tunnel entrance. “Commander, the shuttle, which is floating in the air, is in the same shape as the ancient ship buried in the sands.”
“Is it the same or merely similar?” Pussiro asked sharply, his mind racing and considering the possibilities.
“Exactly the same shape, Commander. Only, the ancient ship is dark, and this one has the colors of the great waters.”
“Perhaps, the ancient ship possessed the colors of the waters, but it has weathered,” the second lookout volunteered.
“Might the aliens have come looking for their comrades?” the first lookout asked. “Maybe it’s not their intention to invade our lands.”
“Keep a careful eye on them,” Pussiro ordered. “I will want a great deal of detail about their every action. It will be crucial in determining how we react to them. Pass the order to every lookout who has a view of the landing site. No warrior is to break cover. They’re to stay concealed.” The queen’s wasat returned the handset to the cradle and a furry hand stroked the whiskers on one side of his muzzle.
The nests never did find a trace of the aliens who had been aboard the three dark shuttles buried in the sands. Although the Dischnya estimated that the shuttles landed more than 100 years before they arrived, the general consensus was that there should have been some evidence of the occupants around the shore — equipment, flight suits, or bones. The shuttles were never searched, because, as far as the Dischnya were concerned, the ships weren’t designed for access, which puzzled them.
Absent any evidence to
the contrary, it became common conjecture that the shuttles were stranded, and others of their race had come to their rescue. But, if that had been the case, why were the aliens returning now, Pussiro wondered.
Since the Dischnya had been uncertain of the kind of technology the dark shuttles might possess, they were placed off-limits to the soma. None were to disturb the vessels for fear of releasing a contagion, or worse, an energy blast.
Pussiro ordered his support cadre to send warriors and trapping equipment to the tunnel exits nearest the ancient landing site, remaining underground, at all costs. Then he took off running, his powerful legs carrying him swiftly through wide tunnels shored with fire-hardened blocks of clay.
Knowing tunnel pathways intimately, Pussiro soon arrived at the lookout post that was nearest the landing site of the single dark ship. His swift pad strikes alerted the lookouts, who came to attention as Pussiro entered the hide. It was a small room that could accommodate about ten warriors, and, on the side farthest from the entrance, a ladder led to a simple periscope, the surface lens of which was camouflaged and could be detected by only the keenest eyes.
As the lookouts nodded their obeisance, Pussiro clambered up the ladder to take his turn at the scope. “It’s landed on the plains, not on the shore,” Pussiro remarked absentmindedly. “But where are the scorch marks from the engines?” he asked suddenly, turning the viewing glass left and right to search the area.
“There are none, Commander,” one lookout remarked.
Pussiro turned to eye his warriors, his lips curling away from his teeth. A human might have confused it for a smile, but, for the Dischnya, it was a challenge.
“It’s true, Commander,” the second warrior declared. “It didn’t fire engines. It didn’t fly in at speed and land in a line to reduce its speed. It hovered in the air and settled gently to the ground without a sound.”
Pussiro’s lips covered his teeth, and he returned his eyes to the viewing glass. He knew they would be facing aliens with superior technology, but silent shuttles that floated to the ground without blasting engines made his blood run cold, and he quickly revised his attack strategy.
Descending the ladder, Pussiro yanked the handset off its cradle and whistled shrilly. It was a sound that issued from every handset and commanded the warriors to pick up. “The plan remains the same,” Pussiro said after a brief moment to allow his warriors to come online. “But I don’t want the aliens harmed. Their technology is many times superior to ours, and if we hurt them, that ship above us might be capable of taking revenge on this entire planet.”
Pussiro replaced the handset and returned to the scope to watch the shuttle. The aliens had yet to exit their ship.
* * *
Orly Saadner leveled the traveler and halted in a fixed position 300 meters above the target area. He glanced at Willem, who was occupying the copilot position, and received a curt nod of approval. Orly patiently waited while Willem finished his final scan before choosing a landing site.
Tied into the traveler’s controller, Willem was able to examine the local environment in great detail. “Pilot Saadner, the beach is much too narrow to accommodate our survey party and experiences too much tidal motion. The plains near the shore represent an optimal landing place. Here,” Willem said, indicating a point on the controller’s ground image, which was repeated in Orly’s helmet display.
“It will be as you request, Co-commander Willem. I serve at your pleasure,” Orly replied, tongue-in-cheek. Ever since Willem requested him for the Sojourn’s team, the SADE had addressed him as Pilot Saadner or Ser Saadner. But the New Terran emigrant thought of himself as Orly and asked Willem to refer to him in that manner, not that it had done him any good.
Orly was as jovial and affable a man as someone would ever meet. But, more important, he was a natural at a shuttle’s controls, capable of putting the ship through acrobatic maneuvers that disoriented other pilots, which is why he was occupying the pilot seat of the survey traveler.
Easing the ship toward the ground, Orly continued to study the landing site, which was situated about 200 meters inland from the shore’s embankment, which was marked by tidal surges. Below the shuttle was a small, flat hillock dotted with formations of boulders, some as high as 3 meters. Orly examined the prevailing wind data and chose to use the traveler as a windbreak, aiming the nose toward the beach but then cocking it at a shallow angle.
Captain Xavier Escobar, seated in the traveler’s main cabin, was chafing. There were only three security escorts accompanying him. He’d requested eight personnel land with him, but was overruled by Willem. Not that the captain could disagree with Willem’s reasoning, since the landing zone, in fact, most of the planet, appeared to be empty of dangerous creatures. But, Xavier and his people were tasked with the safety of the survey team. In his estimation, four escorts were five too few.
Xavier worked for the Haraken Security Directorate when he was approached by its co-directors, Alain and Étienne de Long, to provide security for the expedition. At first, Xavier thought the position somewhat beneath his capabilities, and he thought to offer other names in his place, but the fact that the twins had sought him out gave him pause.
“Who are the principals that will be aboard the Sojourn?” Xavier asked. His implant received a list from Étienne, and he quickly scanned it. “Oh,” he said, drawing the word out as he exhaled. He had spotted the names of two SADEs, a university professor, four Swei Swee, the Little Singer, and Teague Racine. Now I’m wondering if I’m qualified for the task, he had thought.
The back half of the traveler was piled high with equipment — survey instruments, thousands of sampling containers, portable workbenches, temporary shelters for the scientists and techs, and much more. There wasn’t much room for passengers, which is why Willem had limited the security force to a total of four.
“Captain Escobar, please understand that it’s the primary mission of this first landing team to ensure that this planet is safe for a deeper and more thorough survey. We are but the first step. It’s important to limit the number of individuals who will be exposed to danger,” Willem had said. “This first group must be composed of as many technical people as we can accommodate.”
“And the Swei Swee?” Xavier had asked.
“Who better to survey the shoreline sands and ocean waters?”
“And Teague?”
“You know as well as I do, Captain, that the Swei Swee need their Little Singer. So, you’re welcome to tell Teague that he can’t accompany us planetside. Please let me know how that goes.” When Xavier hesitated, Willem commiserated with him. “That’s the predicament we all face, Captain. Teague has his mother’s face, but his father’s build and temperament. He’s polite but willful, and despite his protestations of a simple friendship with Ginny, he’s devoted to ensuring her safety. That Alex Racine and Renée de Guirnon could convince me to take this menagerie of individuals … Swei Swee, Singer, and son on our first expedition … makes me think that I’ve adopted far too many human habits.”
Orly landed the traveler, the interior lights brightened, and the scientists and techs went to work. Installed in the shuttle’s rear shell was a single door, covering most of the traveler’s rear, which swung down and formed the shuttle’s exit ramp, as Willem deployed it. But a pair of plex-crystal doors, located behind the massive rear hatch, kept the passengers isolated from the planet’s atmosphere. Inset in the doors were small sampling tubules that connected to instruments mounted on the doors’ inner faces.
Everyone waited while the air samples were collected and tested. Every instrument aboard contained a tiny controller that could comm the results, on request, to an implant or SADE’s comm. When the atmospheric quality tests revealed an acceptable range of gases for humans, despite the air’s warm temperature and low humidity, the team breathed a sigh of relief. Step one of the survey was complete.
One piece of equipment was busy sucking great quantities of air through its intake and filtering o
ut particles. The residue was delivered to one of the survey team’s larger pieces of equipment, which was busy running DNA analysis on any living material, fauna or flora, and chemical analysis on everything else.
The crew took the opportunity to get a meal and drink from the food dispensers while they waited.
Security spent the time monitoring the shuttle’s surroundings through the controller’s hull sensors. Although the traveler shell’s integrity was breached, due to the open rear hatch, and the ship no longer capable of charging its power crystals at anything approaching maximum, there was plenty of stored energy to keep the sensors and instruments running for several days. After that, the ship would need to be sealed again so that the shell could use the planet’s gravitational waves to charge its power cells.
Xavier began to relax when after an hour of searching he and his team hadn’t spotted anything remotely dangerous, although some of the large insects that were seen looked particularly menacing.
The completed DNA tests revealed more than one fundamental formation — some samples were composed of helix-style strands, but others revealed a hexagonal lattice. To the scientists, it was an indication that there were multiple life forms on the planet. More important, the different building blocks indicated that lifeforms had arrived on the planet from somewhere else, although it didn’t mean that they were still around.
The upshot of the tests revealed that the present life forms presented no inherent danger to humans, and the medical nanites in the Harakens’ bodies should be capable of handling contagions they might encounter. Dust samples indicated a host of tiny amounts of minerals and compounds in the air that indicated human’s food plants would grow well in the environment.
The preliminary testing completed, the survey team made preparations to exit the traveler. Most would stay in close proximity to the shuttle, including Edward Sardi, a Haraken professor of physics and an import from Sol, and the majority of scientists and techs, who would set up the field tents, lab benches, and testing equipment.
