Doona Trilogy Omnibus

by neetha Napew

  It’s strange, because their digestive systems are very different from either of our two races.

  Greene frowned. “In what way?”

  “More efficient, I’d say. My scans, though I can’t absolutely warrant the accuracy on alien bio-systems, pick up a kind of “afterburner” below the stomach, just after the pyloric valve. Well, that’s what it’d be on one of us. For their size, I bet one of them doesn’t eat much more than one of us does.

  “Speak for yourself,’ muttered Frill, disconcerted.

  Todd slapped him on the back and escorted him before the Gringg leader. “Now, Commander, you want to demonstrate the purity and deliciousness of one of our RREs for our hosts here?” he asked.

  Collecting a nod from Frill, he and Hrriss placed their armloads of packages in front of Grizz, next to the heaps of Gringg offerings.

  “These are examples of our food. We’re giving them to you for your examination. First, we’ll eat a sample.” He accompanied his speech with pantomime, which he hoped was comprehensible to the aliens.

  As the Gringg watched with interest, Frill eagerly tore open the pressed-plastic packet, then looked dismayed as the difficulty became obvious.

  “The helmet,’ he said, glancing at Todd for help.

  “How’m I going to eat wearing a helmet?” Todd and Hrriss looked at each other and at Ken.

  “Well, one of us is going to unseal sooner or later,’ Todd said.

  He attacked the grommets around the base of his helmet, twisting the fastenings loose.

  Greene sprang forward and grabbed his wrist. “What do you think you are doing, Reeve? Attempting suicide?

  If you choose to take foolish risks I can recommend to Lauder here that we have you brought back to the cruiser in restraints to wait until a psychiatrist sees you.”

  “I never take foolish risks,’ Todd said. He shook off the man’s hand. “The ensign here has already told us that if he encountered an atmosphere like this one planetside he’d consider it safe. Isn’t that right, Ensign?” Lauder, not eager to get into the middle of a battle between a renowned planetary leader and a formidable ranking officer, quickly nodded his head. Encouraged by Todd’s friendly smile, he added very timidly, “I’d think we were lucky, too, if the air on the Hamilton was this fresh, Commander.” The medic swallwed hard as Greene turned his stare upon him, but he didn’t recant.

  “Therefore I consider the odds very much in my favour.” Todd unfastened the plastic bubble and took it off. In the same instant, Hrriss removed his own headgear, and both took a deep breath. There was a murmur of approval from the Gringg. Todd almost choked with nervousness as the warm air hit his lungs. The two of them waited, watching each other for signs of anoxia, wondering if they had made a mistake, each ready to slap the helmets back on.

  One minute, two minutes passed. There was no sound in the landing bay except for a mechanized hum deep in the heart of the giant ship.

  Todd could almost hear the sweat trickling down his back. It hardly seemed as if only a couple of hours ago he had been sitting at the head of a tableful of voracious and self-seeking delegates who intended to ruin a special part of his planet to satisfy trade requirements. If he guessed wrong, if the data that the young medic had been carefully monitoring was incorrect, he could be about to die.

  Todd felt with every nerve ending the touch of moving air on his skin.

  It was pleasantly warm.

  His lungs dragged it in and pushed it out. It took more of an effort than breathing usually did but he was in a slightly heavier gravity than what he was used to. He was consciously tasting each breath for poisons, but there was only the cloying smell of recycled air and a musky, not unpleasant aroma probably exuded by the Gringg.

  He felt light-headed. What was it they said? That after five minutes without oxygen one became irreversibly brain dead? Everyone was looking at him, expecting a reaction of some kind. Hrriss’s nostrils twitched, and his ears swivelled forward expectantly. Todd suddenly realized that he was holding his breath. If there’d been enough oxygen to sustain him for the last five minutes, the next breath should be fine, too. With a half-hearted laugh, he let go and sucked in a deep lungful of air. Nothing adverse had happened. He was alive.

  Hrriss was alive. They and the Gringg breathed the same sort of air “It’s all right.” Todd nodded at his friend, and they fell into one another’s arms. “Go ahead, Frill,’ he said, as he and Hrriss pounded each other on the back in relief. Ken Reeve was smiling. “Lauder is right. Our atmospheres are at least compatible.

  “So they could live on our worlds, if they disposed of us,’ Greene said, his eyes cold.

  “Enough of that, Greene!” Todd said, firmly. “There are no indications whatsoever that these creatures are competitive. On the contrary, in fact! May Commander Frill assist me now with a food demonstration?” Grudgingly, Greene gave the order. Frill saluted and began to undo the helmet fastenings.

  Watching Todd and Hrriss all the while, the big Spacedep officer lifted off his helmet and put it on the floor beside him. He, too, took a few tentative breaths before relaxing.

  “It’s real air!” he said simply, grinning all over his big face.

  “This’ll cause speculation among the scientists’ data,’ Ken said.

  “Are all spacefaring races oxygen-breathers? Or do oxy-breathers tend to be pacific? There’s a theory in there someplace.” He took off his helmet, then peeled off his gloves. The baby bear toddled towards him again, this time chortling joyfully to itself that Genhh now exuded a totally different, and much more preferable scent: one compounded of many subtle smells. Ken was sniffed over from toe to crotch to pate.

  With no hesitation, Jilamey removed his helmet. Timidly, with a glance at Greene for permission, Lauder opened his a crack, testing the air against what was in his rebreathers. Only Greene remained sealed in his protective gear like a disapproving robot glaring at the others.

  The Gringg, too, seemed to be happy with the removals, grunting low, pleased sounds to themselves though only the littlest one made tactile, and nasal, contact.

  As the Gringg watched with considerable interest, Frill consumed an RRE. He tore mouthfuls away from the bar of compressed protein, chewed and swallowed them. The carbohydrate wafer crunched loudly in the metal-walled mom and the packet of fruit conserve went down with a slurp or two.

  “Uh, see?” the officer said, twisting the packets into a little ball and tucking them into the empty box, a little uncomfortable to have his greed witnessed by such a crowd. “That’s good food. Not as good as fresh, but OK.”

  “O-kaayy.” Grizz echoed the word.

  Todd thought that the big alien understood. It signalled to Eonneh, who undid one of the sausage-shaped packets and ate the contents, patting its chest to indicate satisfaction when it had finished. Todd caught a whiff of its scent. Not too bad, he thought.

  It smelled a little like smoked snake.

  “Here, try this one,’ Todd said, pushing aside containers of tuna fish, Doona snake, bean curd, turkey, and cheese, to open one of his favorites. It was popcorn, in a self-heating hemispherical container.

  Cautioning the Gringg not to touch he pulled the seal. The disk-shaped base started to glow. In a few seconds, the whole unit began to shake. Weddeerogh jumped, letting out a squeal of surprise, then hunkering down, getting as close as it dared to the twitching and bulging package. Todd grinned. Popcorn was not only food, but entertainment.

  Grizz watched more calmly while the silver dome unit expanded one pop at a time, until it had reached four times its original size. A small red spot appeared on the top of the dome, signalling that it was through cooking.

  Todd burst open the thin covering and took a handful of popcorn.

  “See? This is really good.” He ate piece by piece, crunching each between his teeth with obvious satisfaction.

  “Goo-ood.” Using its long claws, the Gringg picked up a single puffed kernel and looked at it, a giant examining a grain o
f sand.

  Then it indicated to Ken that he should take the other Gringg rations, and sat, continuing to study the fluffy morsel of corn.

  “Great,’ Ken exclaimed, collecting the bundles and putting some of them in his equipment pouch. Lauder, his hands shaking slightly, picked up an armload of the supplies and stowed them in his equipment carryall.

  “Thank you, Grizz. We’ll be happy to take these. Soon as we have a good close look, we’ll know if it’s safe for you to come back with us.” He bowed to Grizz and nodded to the others. “Thank you for letting us visit. We’d better get back, boys. The Admiral and the others will be going spare wondering what happened to keep us so long.”

  “One more thing,’ Greene said, quickly, planting a hand on Ken’s shoulder. “Tell them they’ve got to keep their ship in this orbit. If they move, we’ll consider that an act of hostility, and we will attack.”

  “Now, how do you expect me to explain that to them?” Ken demanded, fed

  up with the Spacedep commander acting the eternal wet-blanket. “I don’t

  even know how to say “how are you”, much less “stay put”

  “Oh, draw them a picture,’ Jilamey said, impatiently. He knelt down beside Eonneh and held out a hand toward the Gringg’s two-finger stylus. “Can I borrow that?” Surprised, the honey-coloured alien put the drawing implement in his hand, and pushed the tablet towards him. Jilamey whistled at the weight of the instrument, then fitted his fingers into the twinned loops. He drew a little circle on his hand with the point, and smiled up at Greene.

  “Now, what kind of orbit do you want them to stay in?” Glancing at the Admiral’s aide for permission, Commander Frill slumped down beside Jilamey, and looked up at the Gringg captain. “Draw Doona there,’ he indicated the centre of a blank tablet page. “Now, draw a big circle around it, far out, beyond the moons - better draw in the moons - and put their ship on the big circle. Boy, this is undignified,’ he complained, looking up at Ken.

  “Go on,’ Ken encouraged him. “You’re doing fine.”

  “Well,’ he said, showing the tablet to Grizz. “This,’ he said, following the circle around the planet. “is good.

  Uh. This,’ he took the stylus from Jilamey and drew a tangential line leading away from the circle with an arrow, er, is bad.” He crossed out the line. “This is bad, too.” Frill, red to the ears, drew in another tangent, this one leading inwards towards Doonarrala, and crossed it out. “Do you understand? Stay on this orbit.” His finger traced the circle around and around.

  “Reh!” Grizz said, following his gesture. “Orrrbitttt.

  Nggh yaahrr mmmmonnya.” The Gringg showed a mouthful of long white teeth and black gums to indicate comprehension.

  “Well done, Frill. Satisfied?” Ken asked Greene. “Again, Captain Grizz, our compliments. Until we meet again?” He bowed and turned away. Together, the party walked back towards the Spacedep shuttle.

  For big creatures, the Gringg could move surprisingly fast.

  Eonneh and the strange bear who had brought in the Gringg rations waddled swiftly past them, and stood by the shuttle. The party stared at them, their initial fears returning.

  “Now what is this?” Greene demanded, stopping at a distance from the ship. He felt again for his sidearm and cursed Todd Reeve’s insistence on coming unarmed. “Are they preventing us from leaving?

  Are we prisoners?”

  “Eonneh gerrvah,’ the light-brown bear said, and indicated his companion. “Ghotyakh gerrvah aui’d.” The other, its rubbery mouth drawn back in the imitation of a Human smile, waved at them and set a gentle paw down on the top of the shuttle.

  “Quite the opposite,’ Ken suggested, eyeing this gesture with amusement. Ghotyakh must be an engineer, if he patted spaceships like ponies. “I think they want to come with us as emissaries.”

  “Impossible!” Greene was alarmed at the thought of Gringg loose on a Spacedep ship, or amuck in the colony itself.

  “Not at all.” Ken glanced back at Grizz, who raised a giant snout in their direction. The intelligent, redbrown eyes were calm.

  “They’re showing that they trust us.”

  “They could die from exposure to toxins or bacteria on Doona.” Ken shook his head.

  “Obviously, Commander, they’re willing to take that chance. That’s something they need to learn from us, too: if both species can exist in the same bio-sphere. And I get the impression that if we don’t take them, we don’t leave.” Jilamey blinked. “Who do we leave behind as volunteers?

  As our ambassadors?” Ken grinned pointedly at his son. “Any volunteers?”

  “Hrriss and I will stay,’ Todd said, quickly, barely beating out Hrriss’s call to remain.

  “We are the logical choices,’ the Hrruban agreed. “We already serve the diplomatic arm for both Hrruba and Earrth, as well as Doonarrala.”

  “Wish I had your background in languages, Dad,’ Todd said, “but I think we’ll get along.”

  “I have all the faith in the galaxy in you two,’ Ken said, then his eyes twinkled. “Good luck.” Hrriss and Todd shook hands in turn with Ken, Jilamey, and the two Spacedep officers. Greene continued to look disapproving.

  “You should return to the cruiser with us.”

  “Not a good idea,’ Todd said promptly. “The Gringg have trusted us with two of their people. They might take it amiss if we don’t reciprocate. Remember it’s their initiative.”

  “We shouldn’t take them aboard, not until the Admiral has cleared such an important decision.”

  “Spacedep isn’t involved in this aspect of the encounter, Commander. Alreldep is!’ Todd told him. “Hrriss and I are Alien Relations. Report that to the Admiral.”

  “Two of our new friends are staying with us,’ Grizz said contentedly, watching Dodh and Rrss stand by as the other Ayoomnnns entered their fragile little vessel. “We have much to ask them. Go in peace,’ she called.

  “Errrrungh!” the cub called out his farewell to his new friends before the shuttle door closed.

  “Goodbye!” Ken called back, waving.

  The cub let out squeals of glee. “Errrrungh! Gggbyyy!” Just then the communit in Todd’s helmet began to crackle. Todd picked it up and held it close enough to hear any message.

  “Frill here, Reeve. If you can hear me, nod.” Todd obediently nodded. “We’ll keep sending on our way back to the Hamilton. Give some answer as long as you hear us. OK?” Todd nodded. “If we can’t stay in touch, we’ll come back for you in twenty-four hours!” Todd nodded vigorously, relieved.

  The last sight Ken had of his son and the Hrruban who was nearly his second son was the two of them disappearing behind the grey glass doors with the dark-furred aliens.

  For a moment Ken was afraid, wondering if he had made a mistake leaving them behind.

  It was a tight fit in the cabin with the two huge Gringg each spreading across two couches intended for one Human-size body. They were muttering excitedly to one another, their intelligent eyes scrutinizing all elements of the interior of the shuttle. Ken smiled to himself. The Gringg captain was probably having the same misgivings about sending two of his people with them.

  “Good luck, son,’ he said quietly, as Frill lifted off the little shuttle from the launch circle.

  Chapter 4

  COMMANDER FRILL GOT A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF perverse pleasure opening a communications channel to the hovering Spacedep flagship and giving his message.

  “Exploration shuttle returning at 1815 hours shiptime with two aliens aboard. Please inform the Admiral we will be with you by 1847.

  Frill out.” That’ll bring “em running, he thought.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Frill could see the colonist in the co-pilot’s chair grinning like a fool. Frill had to admit he felt the same elation. They’d gone out on a dangerous mission and had returned not only intact, but in the company of two members of a new species.

  Although at first the assignment had made him nervous, Frill was gra
teful that Castleton had selected him. The aliens’d be well worth getting to know. In all his xeno training, he’d never come across any other species - apart from the Hrrubans, of course - that was sentient, let alone so eager to cooperate. He was also grateful that two of the smaller specimens had been sent. The giant ones were going to take a lot of getting used to.

  The two Gringg were silent until the shuttle was inside the Hamilton’s landing bay doors, then began quietly muttering between themselves. Commenting on the differences? Frill wondered. The Spacedep bay walls were enamelled a spankingly clean white and stencilled with the Spacedep logo, and everything was smaller. A lot smaller.

  When he considered the size of the Gringg themselves, the volume of their ship wasn’t so extraordinary. They needed a lot of head and elbow room.

  Personnel in the Spacedep shuttle bay were fully clad in protective suits, and the board was showing full red alert. Frill thought that was rather overdoing security measures. If he had reported that they were under duress, or had given the covert danger code, it would have been appropriate. He had to remind himself that he had just spent a few hours on an alien vessel, and that those who remained aboard ship had no idea what the visiting party had experienced. He grinned again.

  Setting down the shuttle smoothly, Frill began to switch off systems and run over the cross check list, ably assisted by Ken Reeve.

  Outside the small ship, a security force deployed.

  Marines, armed with powerful slug-throwing and laser weapons hurried into a line surrounding them and knelt, waiting for the aliens to emerge. Behind the glass doors separating the bay from the waiting lounge stood Admiral Barnstable, Captain Castleton and other interested parties.

  Ken Reeve emerged first, grinning, followed by the Gringg. Frill had a good look at the reactions: the marines, to a man, recoiled and tightened their hands on their weapons as the huge bear-like beings hunched to get through the portal and then stood up and stretched, to relieve the cramp they had endured on the small shuttle.