Vast Mantis

by Jim Henderson

  “Okay, standard drill. Shao, full planetary scans of everything we approach and general long-range scans. Mantis, assist in long-range scans and watch for any planetary or solar activity that might qualify as a catastrophe.”

  He set course to refuel at Truvoco-8 so they could then just scan inward.

  The scans of Truvoco-5, 6, 7, and 8 were all benign and they detected no other ships. They saw nothing to suggest wayward asteroids, extreme solar activity, or anything else that would wreak havoc on Truvoco-4. They then surveyed planets one through three. These too were uninteresting, uninhabited, and suggested nothing that might do harm to Truvoco-4.

  It was almost three days before they finally entered orbit around Truvoco-4 and started serious scanning and mapping. The planet was largely blue, with multiple moderate-sized continents with mixtures of brown, green, and white.

  Truvoco-4:

  Diameter: 11,900 km

  Surface Water: 80%

  Distance from sun: 1.1 AU

  Atmosphere: Moderate density.

  Gravity: 0.9 G

  Over the next 24 hours, they made a variety of orbits and developed detailed maps. Ximon left Mantis to continue scanning and gathered everyone in the galley. He had Mantis display some of the maps on the screens in the room.

  “Okay, so here’s what we’ve got. The planet doesn’t look too heavily developed. There are clear city areas scattered about, but none appear too large. We can see movement in some images, including some watercraft and land transportation. However, there’s no indication of what might have happened or how bad it might be. So, I think our next step is to enter the atmosphere and make some sweeps over areas of interest at about five to ten kilometers. That’ll allow us to get a lot more detail. There’s no sign of modern tech, so even if someone does see us, there’s not likely to be anything they can do. Thoughts?”

  Silas stared hard at the maps. “Well, if we can’t see it from up here, we’ve definitely got to go down there.”

  Elsbeth nodded and shrugged.

  Shao said, “If you don’t think we’d be threatened by natives, I’d recommend something below six or seven kilometers. We’ll be able to get more detail and still cover pretty large areas.”

  Ximon nodded, “Okay, that’s what we’ll do. If we have issues, we’ll pull up. I’ve got a half-dozen areas I want to cover. Then we can look at what we’ve got. We might hit some more areas or pick a place to land. We’ll feed the maps here or you can pull them up on whatever screens you’re near. If you’ve got ideas of places to scan, or places to land, speak up.”

  They spent the next six hours gathering scans and imagery from a much lower altitude. They noticed almost no response except for when they went fairly close to a high mountain. That caused some small, four-legged animals to scatter.

  They gathered again to look at the maps.

  They could see small numbers of humanoids in various areas, especially near the cities and towns. A few had some kind of pack or draft animal with them, large and slow. Again, they noted some kind of wagons and a handful of ocean-going craft. These didn’t look particularly large, but they were well-shaped, with sizeable sails. That took a certain level of tools, sophistication, and cooperation.

  Mantis noted, “There appear to be a substantial number of large burn areas. Perhaps there have been fires or volcanic activity.”

  Silas said, “I don’t think so. I’d like to go real low over this one.” He pointed to a very large burn area near one of the cities. “If it’s what I think, it’ll tell us a lot.”

  Ximon said, “Okay. We’re on our way. Everyone, come up to the bridge.”

  This area was near a city, but there wasn’t much movement around. Ximon flew over slowly at about 500 meters. This drew some attention and caused some of the humanoids to run into low buildings or into surrounding foliage.

  As the first detailed images appeared, Silas said, “Dear God. It’s what I thought. These are burn mounds – for people! Judging from the size of this burn area, this could account for much of that town. Something bad happened here for sure.”

  Looking at the images, they could see the blackened areas, but could also see heaps of partially burned bodies scattered throughout. It was a depressing and sobering sight.

  After a few passes, they flew off and cruised slowly at higher altitude.

  Elsbeth shook her head in dismay. “So, something killed them in big numbers, and it seems to be spread all over. What the hell would do that?”

  Shao said, “War, famine, or some kind of sick ritual?”

  Silas nodded slowly. “Could be, but I’m thinking disease may be more likely.”

  Raiza added, “That is quite possible. It could spread quite quickly and burning the bodies is often a reasonable way of getting rid of many quickly. When we land, we must wear vacc suits or other biohazard protection.”

  Ximon said, “We can’t be sure of that, but it’s a reasonable precaution. In any case, we need to land somewhere and try to talk to someone. Anyone want to guess how receptive these guys are likely to be to talking?”

  Elsbeth pursed her lips. “Probably not very – it will most likely scare them out of their skin. However, it’s possible that some of them might take us for gods, come to save them.”

  Ximon chuckled. “That’s possible, but they’ll likely assume their gods would know their language.”

  Elsbeth shrugged. “Probably, but we clearly have to pick a spot and try it. We might have to try several. If they don’t have advanced communication, we could screw up in one area and have neighboring towns be none the wiser by the time we get there.”

  Silas said, “We could catch one. Bring it back here, feed it, get it to calm down, and then get it to talk enough to learn its language.”

  Elsbeth was taken aback. “Kidnapping? Is that our plan?”

  “You may not like it. Hell, I don’t like it, but we’ve got to do something. Plus, for all we know, those things are still dying down there. We might not have much time.”

  Ximon put up his hands. “Okay, that’s not our first plan, but we may have to go there. First, we’ll try approaches at a few different spots. I’d say that Shao and Raiza might be our least threatening team, but in suits it won’t make much difference. I’m going to land near some village versus a city. We don’t need a mob scene. We’ll send a team of two with two backing them up. Let’s try Shao and Raiza, backed up by me and Silas.”

  Silas said, “That sounds reasonable. Keep in mind, they may be primitive but will almost certainly have some kind of weapons. I recommend body armor for everyone, pistols for the team and rifles or shotguns for the back-up.”

  Shao nodded. “Sounds okay to me. We’ll see how it goes.”

  Ximon picked an area just over a kilometer from a small town to land. They all got their suits on and the group moved slowly toward the town.

  Shao and Raiza entered a clearing containing a half dozen of the creatures. They were between 30 and 70 centimeters tall, covered in thin fur in colors between tan and mottled black. Their faces were humanoid, with only thin hair, but had narrow, jutting jaws, like small muzzles. The creatures in the clearing were gathering brush, perhaps for fires. When they saw Raiza and Shao, they all stood erect and nervous, then all but the tallest ran for the edge of the field and down into a hole.

  Raiza held up her hands and said calm, quiet words, but the lone creature was plainly terrified and ran, dodging and weaving, until it too went down the hole.

  Elsbeth, watching from the ship, said, “Well, that went well. Do you want to go down into that hole?”

  Silas said, “I don’t recommend that. They’ll be more dangerous in their lair, especially if they feel cornered.”

  “Then what do we do?”

  Raiza walked slowly toward the hole. “I propose we wait outside the hole, sitting patiently. They may come out and be less alarmed if they see we haven’t come in after them.”

  Ximon said, “Okay, but be careful. We’ll be
covering you from the brush back here.”

  They waited … and waited. They saw no more activity from the hole but saw a few of the creatures watching from a distance.

  Silas said, “I think they have a back door. Well, what now? It’ll be dark soon.”

  “Let’s pull back and just observe the town from near the ship. Perhaps they’ll get curious.”

  As evening approached, they saw more of the creatures working near the burn pit and right after the sun went down, it started burning. Though he couldn’t smell it through the suit, Ximon could imagine the sickening smell of burning flesh. They watched until the fire went out and the creatures disappeared into the small buildings of the town or down holes.

  The crew then chatted over a late dinner.

  Elsbeth, ever one to label things, said, “I saw the images you sent. I think these guys are called the ‘shrewsies.’”

  Ximon said, “The shrewsies!?”

  “Shrew people? Ratfolk? Mousemen?”

  Shao scrunched up her face, clearly not impressed. “Why don’t we go with something like ‘Truvocks’ after their planet?”

  Silas nodded. “That is a bit more dignified.”

  Elsbeth grumbled, “Doesn’t have the same ring to it.”

  Ximon said, “Well, with any luck we can get them to tell us their name tomorrow.”

  Mantis and Euclidia watched through the night, but the others all took turns supplementing them. There was little to see, with virtually no activity visible. Mantis kept a few small lights on so they could be seen.

  In the morning, Euclidia and Raiza made breakfast as the crew arose, expecting to devise a new plan. However, Mantis made a general announcement. “There appears to be a small group of natives approaching us.”

  The crew scurried to get ready. As they did so, Mantis showed a video of a solemn group of three tall natives. They approached the ship slowly and nervously and all three carried long staves with black banners on them.

  When the crew was ready, Ximon had Mantis slowly lower the loading ramp. This time, Ximon and Raiza went, with Raiza carrying a tray of food. The natives halted and took a step back when they saw Ximon and Raiza in their suits, but they seemed to steel themselves and resumed their slow, forward movement.

  Raiza lowered the tray of food to the ground and stepped several paces back. The natives were clearly intrigued by the smell of the food and came toward it. They knelt and ate almost ravenously while keeping a cautious eye on Raiza. They had soon devoured almost everything, except for a few scraps.

  Ximon and Raiza slowly sat down. Over the internal radio, Ximon said, “So, they’re apparently hungry on top of everything else.”

  When the natives had finished eating, they stood erect and then they, too, were seated.

  The tallest of them lowered its head and spoke a long stream of nonsense in what seemed to be a respectful tone. Ximon replied with a long message of peace and friendship. Neither side understood the other, but it reduced the tension.

  They exchanged more incomprehensible words. Then Ximon tried to convey some thoughts through images in the dirt. The natives seemed quite patient, though it wasn’t clear whether they understood anything. They too tried to convey some things by drawing in the dirt with their small, clawed hands. Finally, after about thirty minutes of chatter, they rose, bowed their heads and walked away.

  Ximon and Raiza stood, picked up the tray and backed toward the ship. Inside they compared notes.

  Elsbeth said skeptically, “Well, what did we get out of that? Thirty minutes of chattering?”

  Mantis interjected, “I believe we got enough that Euclidia and I will be able to interpret some words and phrases.”

  Ximon said, “Good. Please, get on that.”

  Raiza held up her tablet. “I also got biological readings in addition to some from last night. I do detect some pathogens, but nothing that appears too dangerous to humans. I’d now like to go examine the food scraps they left and see if I can get any DNA from those. I can’t yet say with confidence, but I believe breather masks and thin bio suits may be sufficient to adequately protect humans. I don’t believe any of us robots are at risk, though we’ll decontaminate when we re-enter the ship. I will state my findings within an hour.”

  Ximon said, “Great. We’ll plan to go out in a couple hours and take quite a bit more food.”

  Raiza confirmed that the risk was minimal, so the humans just put on light paper suits and hoods with breather masks. Raiza wore regular clothes and carried a large tray of food. Peter walked behind, carrying more food and water bottles.

  They emerged into a clearing near the town, laid out the food, sat down, and waited. Some natives watched tensely from the underbrush for a while, but finally a delegation of three advanced again. The natives eyed them suspiciously, clearly noting that they looked very different without their vacc suits on. The natives sat and ate, quickly and nervously, but not as hungrily as they had that morning. They motioned to some other natives in the bushes and said a few words.

  Mantis had forwarded the language he’d interpreted to Raiza, so she interpreted what she could. “The black one said ‘Come, food.’ The other said ‘Five.’”

  Five more smaller natives advanced and sat on either side of the delegation. They greedily ate while the delegation kept watch. The leader said, “Thanks food.”

  Ximon spoke into his microphone for Raiza to interpret what she could. She said, “We from sky to help. What happened here?”

  It wasn’t clear the natives understood everything, but they were obviously glad to see that these visitors spoke some of their language. After a minute the delegation signaled the other five to leave and they took the tray with them. The leader of the delegation stared intently at Raiza as if she might protest, but she just smiled and nodded. The leader again said, “Thanks food.”

  They then all gave their names. The delegation was Tubra, Creeda, and Kweeka. They called themselves the “Mid Ruda.” They had a hard time with Ximon and Raiza’s names.

  The delegation then tried to explain by repeatedly pointing and saying “sick, die, and cry.” Another of them mimed someone getting sick and falling over.

  Raiza tried to ask how far the disease had spread, but the delegation just seemed to signal that the whole village was affected.

  The delegation then explained their town and showed that some lived in the buildings above ground while others lived underground.

  Ximon had Raiza stated that they would be interested in seeing the town. The Ruda seemed to understand but seemed very uncertain and changed the subject by talking about something else.

  The meeting seemed friendly, but they only got a little information. After a while, the Ruda excused themselves and crew returned to the ship.

  As they ate a late lunch prepared by Euclidia, Ximon said, “I think we’re making progress. Let’s plan to go out again around dinner time with more of us and more food. Mantis, do you think you’ll have more of the language translated?”

  “Almost certainly, Captain. Every time we hear their speech or see their actions related to their speech, or ours, we gain valuable information. I will ensure the latest info is forwarded to Raiza and Peter.”

  “Please do, but I want you to come with us this time as well. I think if you stay in the background and don’t show your avatar, they may be okay with you. But let’s not totally overwhelm them. Euclidia, plan to stay here and continue working on translation. Silas, why don’t you stay back with Io in overwatch?”

  “That was exactly my recommendation. Mantis also informed me that she had additional overwatch.”

  Ximon looked confused. “Mantis?”

  Mantis replied, “Captain, I have done as you previously directed and targeted ship weapons on the most prominent building in town. If you so direct, I can fire on it within a few seconds.”

  “Oh yeah. I would have suggested that had I thought of it.”

  “You have previously set that expectation. Please note t
hat Silas has also suggested secondary targets throughout town. Those can be hit in but a few additional seconds if directed. Here is the map.”

  Mantis projected a layout of the town, with several structures highlighted and labelled: Primary, A, B, C, D, and E.

  “Okay, then. Be ready, though I hope it won’t come to that.”

  Raiza said, “Caution is prudent. However, I do not feel the Ruda are particularly violent and we’ve seen little indication of weapons. I recommend that when we meet with them later, we meet slightly closer to their town. Again, bringing a sizable portion of food seems much appreciated. I propose that we ask if we can tour their village and also that I be allowed to examine some of their sick, unburned dead, and possibly healthy.”

  “Do you think they’ll go for that?”

  “It is hard to say, but they are letting us get closer and allowing more of their members to come near us.”

  Silas thought about that for a second. “I know they’re cute and all, but that could be to lure us into a trap and they may certainly have weapons that we haven’t seen yet.”

  Ximon said, “Noted. We’ll be careful and we’ve got double overwatch.”

  So, they came out again at dinner, this time just over 100 meters from town. The process was repeated. The Ruda showed some initial hesitation with the additional crew members and, especially with Mantis’ telebot. Several of them inspected it carefully and one almost knocked Mantis over before Ximon urged them to keep their hands to themselves.

  The conversation was a bit more useful as Mantis and Euclidia had made more progress with the language. The Ruda seemed to be saying that their town had held something like 2,000 persons (“TikTikTik”), but that most were dead. It wasn’t quite clear whether that meant 51% or 90%, but one of the Ruda from the delegation said, “I have laid eight littles on the pyre.”

  They learned a bit more about the disease as well. The Ruda intoned, “It is said, the Shadow One came first to the To-Ruda. It slew them and they scattered before it as before a //garble, garble//. They sought refuge with the Go-Ruda, Ruda, and Ruda-Ko. But the Shadow One is very fast and pursues its prey. It slew them there and attacked those who sheltered them. The Shadow One then went from town to town in every land.” They then went into some lengthy explanation the crew only got part of, but it seemed to be something about the Queen falling and each town being its own Chief.