by J. S. Bailey
“What are the Verdants going to do to us?” Dalton asked her.
She lifted her head. “What do you mean?”
“I know what they’re going to do to you, but what will they do to my people?”
Her lips formed a thin smile. “Were you hoping they would leave you alone? They hate colonialism, and I know they’d even try to bomb all the humans off of Pelstring Four if they thought they could get by with it.”
Horror wrote itself over Chumley’s face. “Have they attacked humans before?”
“Not yet, but I know that if they had their way, they’d kill every human on every world but Earth, melt the cities into slag, and return the planet to its natural state. Even if my company had never landed on your planet, it would have only been a matter of time before they came for you.”
“But you don’t know that,” Chumley said.
“I’ve heard the rumors circulating. Don’t count on them being merciful to you.”
“Do you know when we’re due to land?” Dalton asked, his stomach aching with apprehension.
“To use your terms, it should be about two hours.” She made a face. “The Verdants have such a head start, it might not even make a difference at this point.” She stabbed a finger at the datapad screen and cursed in Haa’anu. “I’m trying to put a warning through to our main camp, but the data connection in here is too spotty.”
“What can we do about all of this?” Chumley asked, shoving aside a few crates and sitting on the floor.
“We can allocate tasks so we know what we’re doing once we’ve landed,” Dalton said. He took his seat next to Ashi’ii and thought, hard. “We need to arm everyone in all our cities. When we land in Richport, I’ll put a call through to all the other mayors and sheriffs. Just about everyone has a cache of boomstones and flamethrowers.”
“Likewise, I will contact my company,” Ashi’ii said. “We don’t know where the Verdants plan to strike first, so we’ll have to plan for every contingency.”
“Wouldn’t it be safer for your people to evacuate?” Chumley asked.
Ashi’ii gave him a look.
“And what am I supposed to do when we land?” Chumley went on. “I’m not even a proper deputy.”
“I’m sure Carolyn will put you to work.” Dalton looked to the black porthole again, wondering what the mayor’s reaction to this mess would be.
I should have taken up accounting like Mother always wanted me to, Carolyn thought as she guarded the rear line of Greens massed in the street. More citizens had emerged from their homes holding weapons, and the rest peered out into the early morning darkness from behind the relative safety of their windows.
The sun would be up soon. She could already see the sky lightening in the east.
“Remain calm!” she shouted for the thousandth time. “Do not harm these Greens! They’ve come to help us fight more invaders who are on their way!”
It did seem somewhat surprising that the rest of the Haa’la hadn’t arrived yet. Cadu had run out to her half an hour ago to report that the Haa’la they’d shut inside the meeting room finally teleported away. Perhaps they were gathering to discuss tactics before wiping Richport off the face of the planet.
Errin appeared from the direction of the police station. “We’ve just heard from the spaceport,” they said. “Four ships just entered the Molorthia System. The ID codes are the wrong types for human ships.”
Carolyn swore. She’d thought the Haa’la would send ships from their mining base to obliterate Richport, but no, they’d had to go and call for backup from offworld! “I want to see this for myself.”
“What happens when they land here?” Errin asked.
“Our new allies will help us fight them.” She wondered briefly if the Greens might be wrong in their prediction. It wasn’t in her nature to trust man-eating plants.
“I’ll stay here, if you want to go talk to the people at the spaceport,” Errin said. “I won’t let anyone hurt these Greens.”
Carolyn dipped her head. “Very well.” She turned from her aide and shivered as she started past the ranks of Greens, who were either awaiting a signal telling them what to do next, or they’d decided to plant themselves in the street.
She borrowed one of the quads from the police station and rode out to the tiny spaceport, three kilometers southeast of town. The sun peeked above the horizon as she passed through the perimeter gate, and she skidded to a stop outside the small terminal, where two citizens dozed on benches out front beside their suitcases, waiting for their flight.
Carolyn strode to the Employees Only entrance and let herself inside.
She rapped on the door to the Space Traffic Control room. “It’s Mayor Kaur,” she said.
“Come in,” called a voice, so Carolyn let herself into the smallish room cramped with screens, a holographic model of the Molorthia System, and other equipment she couldn’t identify.
A man and a woman sat in swivel chairs. Nametags identified them as Dev and Nydia. “I’ve been told you’ve picked up some anomalies,” Carolyn said, nodding at the three-dimensional planets hovering in the center of the room.
“Yes.” The middle-aged woman cleared her throat and sat up straighter. “These four objects—” She stuck her hand into the middle of the Molorthia System, where blinking blips stood out like misplaced stars— “appeared a short time ago, and they’re headed straight for us. They’ve just passed the orbit of Molorthia Eight and should be here in about thirty minutes, if they maintain their course.”
“Errin Inglewood told me you believe the ships are alien.”
The man named Dev cleared his throat. “All ships registered on human worlds begin with the same three digits—it’s what designates them as human, and another three digits after those indicate their planet of origin. The registration codes on all of these are completely different.”
“We ran them through our database to get a better idea of who’s on their way here,” Nydia said, her expression grim. “They’re from Leeprau. That’s the home of—”
“The Haa’la.” Carolyn swallowed, uncomfortable. “They’re the ones who looted businesses overnight. Maybe you didn’t hear about it.”
Dev swiveled his chair back toward her. “That’s what that was about?”
“We heard the sirens,” Nydia yawned. “We figured it would be safer if we stayed here. We don’t change shifts for another three hours.”
Carolyn watched the blinking dots. “Is there a way to get a message through to them?”
“Yes, but they haven’t been answering.”
“We think it might be a language barrier,” Dev added.
“Give me the comm,” Carolyn said. “I’ll talk to them.”
It may not have been the right protocol, but she was tired, dammit, and she’d be damned if she’d let any alien invaders ruin the rest of her day.
Dev passed her a large comm unit with far more buttons than her own. “It’s set on a broad frequency. If there’s a ship anywhere in this system, they’re going to hear you.”
“Good.” Carolyn cleared her throat and pressed the Speak button. “May I have your attention please? This is Mayor Carolyn Kaur, of Richport on Molorthia Six. I have received intel that you, the Haa’la, will be landing on my planet with bloodshed in mind, but be warned—we will not hesitate to fight. We have powerful allies. You will regret landing here.”
She paused, waiting for a reply.
None came.
The four blips blinked ever closer to Molorthia Six, and as Carolyn watched, a fifth blip appeared at the edge of the system from the same direction.
Chapter 22
A voice crackled out of a speaker near Dalton’s head, making him jump.
“What did they say?” he asked, looking to Ashi’ii, who appeared to be struggling to understand their captain.
“He
r accent is very thick, but I think she said we’ve entered the Molorthia System. Chumley, you’d better get inside the Cube before I get charged for an extra passenger.”
Chumley dipped his head and vanished through the holographic archway, which in turn vanished behind him.
Dalton tossed his snack wrapper into the provided waste can and buckled his seatbelt, wishing he’d gotten some sleep.
The descent to Molorthia Six was uneventful. The ship shook as it entered the atmosphere, and Dalton felt surprisingly homesick as the green and brown landscape grew larger and vaster below them.
Dawn broke over Richport when they touched down at the spaceport. Dalton stumbled out into the daylight, feeling clumsy in the stronger gravity of his homeworld, and when he looked out at the tarmac, Carolyn of all people stood there waiting for him, dressed in her pajamas.
Carolyn blinked.
Dalton blinked.
“What the hell?” Carolyn asked, taking a step closer to him. Belatedly, Dalton realized she was holding a stun gun.
“It’s a long story,” Dalton said as Ashi’ii stepped out beside him. The door to their chartered ship whooshed shut, and the silvery transport trundled around to the back of the terminal to refuel before its trip home.
Carolyn continued to goggle at him and Ashi’ii. “Where’s Mr. Fanshaw?”
Dalton tugged the Cube out of his pocket. “He’s in here.”
Carolyn pursed her lips and looked to Ashi’ii once more. “Who are you?”
“My name is Ashi’ii Nydo.” The Haa’la bowed her head. “I would like to speak to your leader so we can gain a mutual understanding.”
“I’m Mayor Carolyn Kaur. You can speak to me.”
“Oh, good. I was hoping that—”
“First things first. Four alien ships entered this system ahead of you and are currently in low orbit. Know anything about that?”
Dalton’s gaze shot to the sky, but of course he couldn’t see anything. “They haven’t landed?” he asked, heart thudding in dread.
“Not yet.” Carolyn raised her eyebrows. “I’m assuming they’re scoping out the best places to dump their combustible acid.”
Ashi’ii’s expression grew stony, even for a Haa’la. “We need to find a place to sit down and talk.”
“About that.” Carolyn appeared suddenly uncomfortable. “Dalton, some things have happened since you went missing.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Like what?”
“Let me see if the spaceport will lend us an empty room.”
“Why can’t we just go to your office?”
“It’s not a good idea right now.”
Dalton turned to Ashi’ii, shrugged, and followed Carolyn into the building.
“Now what the hell happened to you?” Carolyn asked after they’d shut themselves inside the tiny breakroom reserved for spaceport employees. A minifridge hummed in the corner, reminding Dalton he was due for a hearty breakfast.
“Just one minute.” Dalton eyed a legal pad and a pen, scrawled You can come out now onto it, and held it in front of the Cube, which he’d gently set on the breakroom table as soon as they’d gotten there.
“I really don’t understand how—”
The holographic archway glimmered into life, and Chumley stepped into the room, smelling freshly-showered. “Did anyone miss me?” he asked, taking an empty seat and stuffing the Cube away out of sight.
Carolyn’s mouth hung open. Slowly, she closed it and cleared her throat. “You have less than sixty seconds to explain what happened to you.”
Dalton glanced to Ashi’ii, who nodded. “The sandstorm destroyed our transport,” he said. “We were stranded. The Haa’la found us and took us prisoner. They’ve been mining up in the forests and burning off the vegetation to drive out the Greens. We tried to escape, things went wrong, and now the Verdants are here to destroy anyone who isn’t native to Molorthia Six.”
“Who are the Verdants?”
“They’re Haa’la, like me,” Ashi’ii said, looking resigned. “They consider themselves ‘eco warriors’ and try to undermine what my company and others like mine do.”
“Meaning what?” Carolyn asked. If her eyes narrowed any further, they’d be shut.
“Say a company like mine comes to a planet and mines out most of the minerals. It’s simply unavoidable that the environment is going to be damaged in the process.”
“It would be avoidable if you didn’t go there in the first place,” Chumley sniffed.
“Nydo Base Corporation does not go public with the locations of its project planets,” Ashi’ii said, ignoring him. “Mostly it’s to avoid competitors moving in and fighting over resources. We typically select backwater planets where no one will bother us, but it’s hard to completely avoid detection in a galaxy as populated as this one. The Feds learned what my competitors and I have been doing and declared us among the galaxy’s Most Wanted for ‘crimes against nature.’ As if others haven’t done worse.”
Carolyn frowned. “And these Verdants were sent by the Feds?”
“Oh, no. They’re a separate entity. The Feds would only like to see us imprisoned, whereas the Verdants . . . ” Ashi’ii shivered. “When the Verdants locate a project planet, they destroy the mines, execute the workers, and clean up any damage that might have been done.”
“And they want to do that here?”
“I’m sure of it. And if four ships are in orbit already, it means they’re scanning for strategic sites to attack—and they’ll destroy your people, too, along with mine.”
“But we haven’t done anything!” Carolyn blurted, face red.
“You live here. That’s crime enough for them.”
Carolyn muttered a few four-letter words.
Dalton made an effort to keep his expression neutral.
Ashi’ii rose, her face grim. “I need to contact my people.” She patted her pocket, withdrew a communication device, and began speaking in Haa’anu.
With Ashi’ii thus engaged, Carolyn turned back to Dalton and said, “There are Greens in town.”
Her words hit him like a punch to the gut. “What?”
“I’m just warning you. They aren’t hurting anyone. In fact, Gwendolyn Goldfarb vouches for them.”
Dalton wondered if his brain had suddenly lost the capacity to translate human speech into meaning. “What?” he said again as a high-pitched tone began ringing in his ears.
“It seems Gwendolyn communed with a tribe of Greens when she was lost in the desert. She developed the ability to speak with them. They warn us of a battle and came to help.”
“Greens are helping . . . us?” Dalton gripped the edge of the table to stop the room from swaying, but the next thing he knew, he was on the floor again, and Chumley was proffering him a bottle of water.
“Took a bit of a spill there,” Chumley said, helping him sit up.
Heat blossomed over Dalton’s cheeks. He yanked the bottle out of Chumley’s hand and chugged it down in one gulp, then shakily returned to his seat.
Ashi’ii was still speaking on her device, and now Carolyn was doing the same with her comm unit. Seeing that Dalton had regained his senses, she ended her call and said, “Are you well enough to work, Sheriff?”
He shook himself. “You put me on indefinite leave.”
“And I just so happen to need you. That was Errin. I forgot to tell you, the Haa’la from Nydo Base have declared war on Richport. Their first ship has been sighted coming over the horizon.”
“I’m trying to tell them to stop!” Ashi’ii howled in frustration. “We have to fight the Verdants, not each other!”
“Trying to tell them?” Carolyn asked.
“They’re taking matters into their own hands after these . . . these human scum threw salt on some of my employees!”
Carolyn did an admirable
job of keeping her composure. “Did you tell them the Verdants are here?”
“Yes! They said they will deal with them after they’ve dealt with the humans.”
“Are they really going to dump combustible acid on Richport?”
“There’s only a little bit left—it’s on backorder and we’re waiting on a new shipment to come in from Leeprau. By the sound of it, their fight is going to be more up close and personal.”
Dalton got to his feet. “I’ve got to arm the citizens. Chumley, come with me.”
He strode out the door, if trembling in his boots with every footfall could be called striding. Events blurred, and the next thing he knew, he and Chumley were riding a spaceport rental quad toward town, the wind riffling his hair.
He wondered where he’d left his hat this time.
Once they’d crossed into Richport proper from the open desert, Dalton could see that things were amiss. Hundreds of citizens clogged the streets, some of them making attempts to flee in vehicles that couldn’t move due to the others blocking their way. Dalton and Chumley had to abandon the quad outside a candy shop on Cactus Street and run to the police station on foot.
As they neared the station, Dalton drew up short.
An uncountable number of Greens stood in the street. Cadu, Errin, and a few others stood at the perimeter of the gathered mass, trying to keep a bloodthirsty crowd back. Had these Greens actually come to help, or was it a trick?
Would this soon become a four-way battle—human versus Green versus Haa’la versus Verdant?
Spots flashed in his vision. He shook his head and tried to breathe, then continued forward.
Somehow he made it inside the station, and Cadu was suddenly standing with him and Chumley, panting. “Dalton? How did you get back here?”
“We need to arm everyone,” Dalton croaked. He didn’t feel fully connected to himself, like his eyes were ten million miles away watching the proceedings on a screen. “Errin says a Haa’la ship is almost here?”
