The Cosmolis

by REM

  Josh was staring at the open fields and traces of a primitive town in the distance.

  “Yes, it is,” Jill replied.

  “I trust you will enjoy your stay,” said the orange Firble.

  “Do you have any family here?” asked the other.

  “No. We just wanted to experience the beauty of simple life for a day or two. Constant gambling and the ease of technology can get awfully boring at times,” said Josh.

  Jill looked at him as if stunned by his reply. She nodded at the Firbles.

  Both aliens were smiling at the remark. “That kind of beauty you will have no problems finding here,” said the orange one.

  The other Firble’s face stiffened into a more serious expression. “Though, we advise that now may not be the best time to visit our lands.”

  The orange Firble’s smile faded. He glanced at his brethren, then at the pilots. “There’s been talk of civil unrest between our two largest factions. No one ever knows how far these rumors will go. Visitors are still allowed, but we’ve been asked to caution anyone traveling into these territories.”

  Jill peeped at Josh’s face with a look of concern, but Josh kept his attention on the Firbles. It’s not like we have much choice, he thought, taking a moment to himself. We’re soldiers; unrest is our job! “Thank you for the warning.” He smiled. “We are not worried by such events and would love to see your wonderful lands regardless.”

  Jill twisted back toward the Firbles. “We’ll take our chances.”

  Pleasant grins returned to the Firbles’ faces. “Splendid!” said the orange one.

  “How can we secure a ride into town?” asked Josh.

  “Do you have a currency card?” asked the blue Firble.

  “Yes,” said Josh. He slid the card out from a pocket and held it for the orange Firble to scan. In return, the same Firble handed Josh a small green stone.

  “Give that to one of the drivers,” said the blue one, extending an arm toward three wagons along the edge of the station.

  “Thank you,” said Josh. He dipped his head.

  “Thank you very much,” said Jill, after doing the same.

  The pilots strolled over to the edge of the station. Josh led the way to a wagon on the far left and handed the green stone to the Boden driver standing alongside the vehicle. The alien had wrinkly skin, and moved relatively slow.

  “All aboard,” said the elderly Boden, opening a door so the pilots could climb into the roofless wagon.

  Josh helped Jill up, then got in too. The Boden sat up front and took the reins of a creature Josh thought to look like a hornless rhinoceros.

  “Eh-toh, eh-toh!” said the Boden, flapping the reins against the creature’s body.

  The animal pulled the wagon at a moderate pace, but still, Much faster than walking, thought Josh.

  He and Jill scoped out the brown fields to both sides of the dirt road, as well as the primitive town farther away. They even spotted a more distant mountain range.

  “Check those out,” said Jill, pointing to what looked like grey rabbits darting about the weeds.

  Josh also saw giant tortoises. He’d never seen those anywhere but Creston. Maybe they’re just a similar kind of creature, he thought.

  Sometime later, they entered the town from its western perimeter. Josh stared at the clusters of cottages all spread out. Each cluster was spaced anywhere from fifty to a hundred or so yards from the next.

  Once they’d traveled a bit deeper into the territory, he also saw farms with strange animals that were obviously livestock. He looked over to where Jill’s attention had been captured by a long field filled with various structures; Like a giant playground. Firble and Boden children were playing in the area.

  Finally, the wagon stopped at the center of town, which was actually closer to being two thirds of the way in. Josh eyed the various cottage-sized shops. One he thought sure to be a tavern, another an eatery. There was also a craft shop and a trading post. The other buildings were too hard for him to determine from the outside.

  “Inn right over there,” said the Boden, pointing to the largest structure in the area. It looked like five small buildings connected and had the shape of an octagon.

  “Much appreciated,” said Jill.

  When the pilots got off of the wagon, Josh walked to its front and asked the old Boden driver, “Is it possible for us to get a ride to that mountain range?” He motioned toward the mountains, which were many miles off.

  The Boden shook his head.

  “Is there anywhere in town where we can secure a ride?” said Josh. He slid out his currency card so the driver could see it.

  The Boden’s head shook again. “There’s no travel that far. Travel only from Taun, to town.”

  Josh took another peep at the mountain range and felt a rush of frustration. I reckon that’s got to be about fifty miles away. No way in hell Jill and I are walking that far. The citizens have to have some form of transportation for long distances.

  “Thank you,” said Jill, since Josh was quiet.

  “Yes, thanks,” said Josh.

  The Boden nodded.

  Josh turned and headed for the inn.

  Jill kept at his side.

  “We need to find some sort of transportation to that mountain ASAP if we’re going to get this done by today,” said Josh.

  “Uh-huh; I definitely don’t want to walk that far.”

  Josh tightened his lips, while shaking his head. “We’re going to have to if we don’t find another way.”

  Jill twisted a finger through her hair and said, “That would be an absolute nightmare. The average human can walk about four miles per hour, which means it would probably take us 12.5 hours; pretty much all day. Not to mention we’d be searching the mountain range into the night.”

  “I know,” said Josh, lowering his head, then raising it to peer around. The ‘primitive’ side… oh dear. Wonder if they have anything that resembles a bicycle.

  “Should we book a room first?” asked Jill.

  “Yeah, why not.”

  The pilots entered the Inn and secured a vacancy. They placed their luggage into the room, but walked out immediately after without doing much inspecting of the place. Josh and Jill made their way back outside and stood in front of the building. The wagon that had brought them had already departed.

  “Maybe I should’ve tried to bribe that driver a little harder with the currency card,” said Josh.

  “That wouldn’t have been a bad idea,” Jill responded.

  “Well, I think we should ask one of the locals about any available forms of transportation.”

  Jill was looking around. “Yeah.” She pointed toward two Firble women standing by a post across the way. “Let’s give them a try. They appear to be from around here.”

  Josh thought it looked as if the Firbles were having a heated conversation. The one with her back to the pilots would occasionally raise a hand, or wave her arm in a manner that suggested aggression. “All right,” he replied.

  They walked across an open space, past a well, and over to where the Firbles were standing. The aliens were talking in their own language, so Josh couldn’t understand a word of what they were saying. Their loud and sporadic chatter made it seem even more so that the females were quarrelling.

  Jill glanced at Josh with her brows high and gave a light shrug. It was if she was asking him, “Should we really try to interrupt this conversation?”

  Josh paid the gesture little mind. He was determined to find out what they needed to know as quickly as possible, and get on with the mission. “Excuse me,” he said, standing behind the Firble whose back was turned.

  The same Firble swatted her hand rearward, showing she clearly didn’t want to be bothered.

  Josh exchanged glances with Jill. He scanned for other locals they could trouble for information, but no one else was in the immediate vicinity. Josh glanced at Jill again, then tightened his lips. “Excuse me,” he said, louder than before.
>
  The same Firble swatted a hand back again, this time more frantically. She slid her leg rearward on the ball of her foot and kicked up dust in the pilots’ direction.

  Jill frowned, and looked at Josh in surprise.

  Josh kept his eyes on the Firble and smirked irritably. “Guess we’ll have to find a local that’s not a complete asshole.” Josh kicked dirt back at the Firble.

  Jill was more surprised than before at Josh’s behavior.

  The Firble woman snapped her head in the pilots’ direction. Her mouth was open wide like a horizontal oval, her teeth gritted. She glared sharply, exhibiting a “How dare you!” expression.

  Josh saw Jill jerking away. He gaped at the Firble in disbelief. I don’t believe it…

  The Firble woman stared hard at Josh. Her expression changed to one of confusion, then to a cheesy smile. “Josh…?” she said.

  He smirked. “Oh, now you want to be polite. I sure hope you don’t treat all of the visitors this way.”

  “It is you!” she said, stepping forward to give him a hug.

  Embracing the Firble, Josh could tell from the scrunched and bewildered look on Jill’s face that she hadn’t the slightest idea of what to think.

  “I’m sorry about that,” said the Firble. “My friend and I were having an extremely important conversation.” She turned toward the other Firble and said something in their language. The other Firble nodded and strode off hastily. She twisted back toward Josh. “What are you doing here? Mascarpa is one of the last places I’d expect to see you.”

  “I was just about to ask you the same thing,” said Josh. “Jill, this is Nalee. Nalee, this is Jill.”

  “Hello,” said Jill, extending a hand to Nalee.

  Nalee shook it and said, “Pleasure to meet you.” She focused her attention back on Josh. “My sister lives in Mascarpa with her family. I visit her here from time to time.”

  Ah, thought Josh. The place does seem to have a mostly Firble-Boden population from what I’ve seen.

  “I’m happy to see you, but you and your friend shouldn’t be here at this time. A war is imminent. Word’s been received that the easterners will attack within the next few hours. It’s far too dangerous for out-of-towners. Station officials should have warned you,” said Nalee.

  “They did,” Josh responded. “But we’re on a very important mission. Mercen has developed new weapons of mass destruction, ones capable of wiping out an entire planet in two shots. It’s believed they are planning to take over the Cosmolis by creating strongholds on select worlds. And Creston intel has determined Nystavia a probable location for a Mercen secret base.”

  Nalee’s cheesy smile was gone. She looked stunned by the news. “And you think this secret base is in Mascarpa?”

  “Possibly.” Josh pointed toward the distant mountains. “If there is, it would be in or around that mountain range.”

  Nalee gazed in that direction. “You would have to travel through the eastern region to get there. Normally easterners wouldn’t care about tourists, but with a battle brewing, you’d almost certainly want to go around their town without being detected, and that would tack on another hour or two to your traveling. Plus, there are aggressive verals within those mountains.”

  “What are verals?” asked Jill.

  “Nasty little creatures. The adults can reach five to five-point-five inches tall. They hop around on two feet and have sharp claws and a nasty bite.”

  Jill looked at Josh with bright eyes and a stilled expression.

  “We haven’t any choice but to go,” said Josh. “Are there any vehicles we could buy or rent to travel there? Maybe even an animal to ride?”

  Nalee shook her head. “All traveling in Mascarpa is done by foot. Except for the wagons that ferry visitors to and from the border station, and…” She stopped in thought.

  “And what?” asked Josh.

  “Well, Grusk law has allowed us one farming pod, a small, tight, two-seat aircraft that can only fly at extremely low altitudes. I’d say thirty feet max. But it’s controlled by town officials. Only old Jessler knew how to fly it, and he passed away about a week ago. It’s going to take some time before the town head gets another pilot trained. The people of Mascarpa don’t have much experience with advanced technology.”

  “Do you think they’d allow us to borrow this pod?” Josh asked.

  “It’s the town’s most advanced item. There’s no way they would loan it out to visitors,” said Nalee. She stopped for a moment, as if struck by a thought. Her eyes livened. “But… maybe my sister and I can talk Dulf into allowing you to fly it into battle for us. The easterners have a pod too. They used theirs the last time there was a skirmish and dropped sharp objects from above to turn the fighting in their favor. Perhaps you could take out the easterners’ pod, then use ours to travel to the mountains. You’d have to bring it back when you were finished, of course.”

  Josh was intrigued by the idea. I’ve flown void strikers, a Notle titan, training jets, and have seen basic instructions for a shadow fighter. Surely I can fly a damn farm pod.

  Jill’s jaw dropped as if she was gasping, but she didn’t. “You know we can’t get involved with any unassigned conflicts—it could jeopardize our mission—the safety of our planet, Josh.”

  Josh looked at her. “Or it could be the reason we were able to complete our assignment. Taking out a sole farming pod shouldn’t be too difficult—a lot easier than traveling fifty miles on foreign soil and possibly encountering similar or worse scenarios.”

  Jill gazed into Josh’s eyes as if looking for answers. He could tell she was pondering his words.

  “Do you really want to trek fifty miles for over thirteen hours, Jill?”

  Her head shook. “All right. We’ll take the pod, if we’re able to.”

  Josh thought Jill looked disappointed, but figured she’d be so either way. He held back a smirk and turned to Nalee. “Why are your sister’s people fighting anyway?”

  “Six months ago, the town head’s second, named Tigrum, made a public protest for the need of Mascarpa to advance its technologies. Tigrum had visited Taun on multiple occasions, and grown tired of the primitive lifestyle. As it turned out, other citizens felt the same way. Townsfolk who were opposed to Dulf and the old way of life set off east to form their own colony. They thought they’d be able to build grand structures and import new age devices, but Dulf blocked any such items from entering the country. Old Dulf isn’t just the town head, but the citizen-elected ruler of Mascarpa. He’s been so for over thirty years. Tigrum’s plan is to defeat the western warriors with his clever battle tactics, then seize control over all of Mascarpa, in hopes its citizens would come to understand his reasoning.”

  “Why won’t Dulf allow his citizens the freedom to prosper from technology?

  asked Jill.

  “Primitive life has been Mascarpa tradition for centuries—since its existence. One could easily ask, why don’t those who want technology just leave Mascarpa? The majority of citizens favor a simple lifestyle, in honor of their ancestors,” said Nalee. “Not to mention, the Grusks may feel threatened if technological advancements were to go too far. After all, this planet has been theirs before any.”

  “Sad, the things people have to die for in this universe,” said Jill.

  Josh moved his lips to one side and said, “Yeah. But this Tigrum guy is the aggressor.”

  Nalee and Jill nodded.

  “That’s true,” said Jill.

  “You’re lucky I have to worry about this fighting,” said Nalee, tapping the back of her fingers against Josh’s chest. Her cheesy, almost cartoony, grin had returned. “You owe me one, and I’m going to go hard,” she said, patting her fingers against his chest a second time.

  Josh smirked, feeling a burst of joy. “I know.”

  Nalee stared at him for a bit longer, as Jill wondered what the hell they were talking about.

  “I will go speak with Dulf, and help the others prepare for battle. You
two should stay around the Tavern or eatery, so I can find you easily when I return.” Nalee pulled out a small cylinder. “I will blow this from here if I do not see you.”

  “Okay,” said Josh. “Thanks for doing this for us.”

  “Very much,” said Jill.

  Nalee flashed her abnormally wide and gritted teeth. She turned and hurried east.

  Josh looked at Jill. “Well, what do you say we eat what might be our last meal for a while?”

  “I’d say that sounds like a plan. I could do with a beer.”

  Josh furrowed his brows. “You serious?”

  Jill smiled. “No.”

  Josh smirked.

  The pilots rambled over to the eatery and ordered up some food.

  Roughly forty-five minutes had passed when Nalee appeared at the entrance. She motioned Josh and Jill to join her. “Come with me,” she said, once they’d arrived at her side.

  The pilots followed the Firble woman east to the far edge of the town. Warriors were scattered about, preparing themselves for battle. Josh saw some putting on war paint, others sliding small pieces of wooden armor onto their bodies. He reckoned there were just under a thousand fighters. Most were Firble or Boden, but there were also a handful of Notles and humans.

  “Wow,” said Jill.

  Nalee guided them past a pile of obsidian weapons.

  Impressive, thought Josh, inspecting the sharply crafted rocks. Knives, swords, axes. He watched Nalee pick up a double-bladed staff. She stopped in front of an old brown Firble who had lots of facial hair. Two strong Firble warriors were standing by the elder.

  Nalee bowed her head at the old Firble. Then she extended a hand toward Josh and Jill. “These are the humans I told you about.”

  The Firble elder kept a staunch face, but dipped his head toward the pilots. “We welcome your assistance.”

  Josh bowed. So did Jill.

  “This is Dulf, leader of Mascarpa,” said Nalee, in a regal tone.

  “I am Josh,” said Josh.

  “I am Jill.”

  Dulf said something to Nalee in Firble tongue.

  Nalee looked at the pilots and said, “Come, let me show you to the pod.” She led the way around a small hut where the aircraft was resting in front.