Then a shadow changed and became a human figure. He wore a bronze one-piece outfit. The blue flashes gave his face a weird glow. But the figure didn’t have any substance yet. Akin to a hologram. Bits and pieces of him disappeared, then popped again into view. When the face solidified, he looked human. Except the skin was reddish. For a moment he became solid. He raised his armed and waved.
Then vanished.
“What was that?” I asked.
“I’m guessing he’s one of the inhabitants of the planet.”
“Where is he coming from? From another location on the planet? From space? From a ship?”
Panther shrugged.
I pointed to the cavern before us. “How many of these structures are underneath the earth?”
“So many we haven’t bothered to count them, major,” Cajun said.
I flicked my mic on and called Rab.
“Yes sir.”
“I want a man or woman standing guard on every cavern in the area. I also want reports on any unusual events, say like a humanoid popping up and then disappearing again.”
Chapter 7
Three hours later I had seven sightings of “unusual” occurrences in the caverns. Although in three of the sightings only a shadow of a man appeared — a dark form with arms and legs, but too fuzzy to reveal any features. He or she had little substance at all. Just a shadow falling across the hard ground. In two of the sightings the shadow, very briefly, solidified and looked — at least for about three seconds — like a man. Or, as might be the case, an inhabitant of Sandeling. In the other two sightings the object that briefly appeared didn’t look human. It didn’t look like anything. Just a dark blob.
The technicians on the squad who were studying the phenomenon said that if I wanted definitive conclusions within a few hours’ time I was being impatient and unrealistic. It might take days, weeks, months or even years to determine what was going on.
I was reminded that there are some alien artifacts on other worlds that humans have studied for decades without coming to a conclusion on what they were made for or what function they perform. Which was true, but didn’t help the current situation.
The Panther said his theory was somebody – he assumed the native population of Sandeling – was trying to communicate with us. Although where the native population was located remained a mystery. We had scanned and rescanned the planet and our computers told us there was no life on the ice – besides Ryvenbark’s Raiders. The Intrepid had scanned the solar system and assured me there was no other life form on the six planets circling the sun. There were also no friendly or alien space ships nearby. However, Capt. Liddel said the Federation had dispatched two ships that should arrive within three days.
So where was the Sandeling population?
The Eisenhower and the Valiant carried loads of scientists who would tackle the problem once they arrived. The Federation’s view was we had pacified the planet, so it was now safe for the scientific community. I wasn’t so sure. I had requested two dozen backup security people from the Intrepid and Captain Liddel had agreed.
I had just stuck a cigar in my mouth when Rab came in and saluted.
“Any news?” I asked.
“No, sir. Everything is quiet. We have every cavern in the region staked out. Right now we’re seeing a few flashing lights and nothing else. Every soldier is on red alert.”
“Good.” I sighed. “I’m from the South. I don’t like icy climates. No native of Florida should be surrounded by ice.”
I walked to my desk and pulled open a drawer.
“Want a drink?”
“Don’t mind if I do.”
I pulled a bottle of Ancient Age from the drawer, then grabbed two glasses and set them on my desk. I poured until both glasses were half-full. Rab grabbed one and swallowed half the bourbon.
“At times I wonder why I picked this profession,” I said.
“Maybe it’s the great pension plan.”
“But on the plus side, I met Astrid, so I don’t regret it. But it does get frustrating at times.”
Rab had eased down into a chair. “You know we’ve been in freezing climates and have fought in temperatures over a hundred degree. Been in forests and been in deserts. Do you realize we’ve never been sent to an island with tropical temperatures and bathing beauties?”
“Which Astrid would say is a very good thing.”
Rab drank the rest of his drink. “Waiting is always tough.”
“Yes, it’s preferable to be shooting somebody. At least that’s not boring.”
“And we’re very good at it. We have to be or we’d be dead.”
“But I’m sure they would have given us a good eulogy.”
“Yes, I want dozens of women crying at my funeral. I think that would be a nice send-off.”
“I would say I only want one at mine, but Astrid has informed me she has to die first. She doesn’t want to be here without me, which I think is rather sweet.”
“I have two ex-wives who said they’d much prefer to be without me,” Rab said.
I sipped some of the bourbon. “You think we could ever adjust to what is called a ‘normal’ life?”
“No.”
“Well, it might take a little practice, but we might be able to slide into it.”
Rab shook his head. “We’re used to living close to the edge. But that’s only one aspect of our lives. We’re used to achieving difficult goals and we’re used to doing jobs that are important. Often we achieve great things. Could you lay that down and open a business? Could you sit around and collect coins?”
“I might be able to sit around and play golf a couple of times a week. I consider making a sub-par round to be greatness.”
“Whenever you tried that Logan, it didn’t work out.”
“Not yet. That doesn’t mean it never will.”
“True. Age changes us. Marriage changes us. The job changes us. I don’t think I could ever retire, at least not right now, but maybe you could. Besides, we like challenges. Some men run away from challenges. We run toward them.”
I sipped more of the liquor. “Perhaps. But that tendency does cut down on the life expectancy.”
Rab raised his glass. “But when we go, we haven’t led lives of quiet desperation.”
“Yes, we’ve led lives of frantic, hectic desperation.”
“And achievement.”
Before I answered Rab, I answered a call.
“Yes, this is Ryvenbark.”
“Major, this is Riley, third level. We have one. A man appeared in one of the caverns. But he’s in bad shape. He’s unconscious.”
“Get him to our medical room. Hurry!” I said.
Chapter 8
In his medical cot, the unconscious man looked human, with the exception of skin the color of bronze. He had a skintight uniform that was also bronze. The green lines on the medical screen showed he was in good shape. Temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, etc, were fine. Brain activity, even though he was unconscious, was surprisingly strong. He had suffered a minor concussion and lacerations appeared on his forehead and cheek, with blood leaking onto his face. The laceration cleared up quickly. I suspected he had medical nanos or something very much like that.
Dr. Conroy Manning was standing next to the bed looking up at the green numbers and lines.
“I have no medical experience, but I’m guessing the numbers indicate he will be fine,” I said.
“He should be. He suffered some type of trauma trying to get here. But he’s breathing normally and should awake soon. He got a minor bump on the head, but nothing that should cause long-term injury. I don’t know where he came from, but it looks like he had a rough journey.”
“That’s what I want to know; where he came from, and if there are any others like him.”
“Give him a little time and he can answer your questions.”
I nodded.
Gunfire rattled through the chambers. The burst-burst of laser fire.
; “MacLean here so. Intruder dead. Level three. Reptilian creature, with a weapon.”
“Getting to be popular location,” I said to Rab as we ran out.
Soldier Scotty MacLean was a six-foot three blond who looked like an Olympic gymnast even with the Arctic jacket on. He stood alert over the fallen intruder but gave a snappy salute as we walked. My reply wasn’t quite as snappy, but it was a salute. MacLean looked down at the dead creature.
“About three minutes ago the lights flashed and the walls rippled. Loud humming from somewhere. A shadow first and then this thing popped up. He was holding a weapon and aimed it at me. But I shot before he did.”
The thing before me had a face like a mutated lizard. Large eyes, big nose, teeth like a shark. Dark green in coloration. He had hands, but the fingers looked like short tentacles. Clothed in a dark uniform. MacLean’s laser blasts had blown two large holes in him, front and back.
“An ugly thing,” Rab said.
“Sure is. Wonder if he came from the same place the other guy did. And he was carrying a weapon.”
“Doesn’t mean much. When we travel to a world we carry weapons, but we’re incredibly nice guys.” He looked down at the green intruder. “Although somehow I don’t think he’s a nice guy. See that mouth?”
“Don’t think I’ve seen anything like this before. How about you, Rab?”
Rab had a cigar in his mouth. He took it out and looked like he was going to reply. Then he frowned. He stuck the cigar back in and walked to the dead creature. He knelt down as he puffed on the cigar. Ashes dropped and fell onto the creature’s face.
“We’ve seen creatures like this before,” he said.
“Where?”
Rab spit out some tobacco. “Ten years ago. On Vanodor. We didn’t get a good look at them because they skedaddled when we arrived fully armed. Most of what we saw were their backsides, but their fronts looked like this. Remember?”
I did.
A decade ago, a mini-league dictator decided to take over Vanodor; a nice, scenic, out-of-the-way world. Name was Conbor, but he liked to attach ‘general’ to his name. A brilliant guy, scientifically speaking. He could have legitimately attached ‘genius’ to his name. But the man lusted for power. The people on Vanodor were peaceful and lived a rustic, pre-technological existence. They didn’t have the firepower he did. He had won the allegiance of a bunch of lizard types who, for some reason, did whatever he wanted them to. Conbor had also assembled a bunch of rogue scientists around him; men who liked power as much as he did.
Rab was right. General Conbor’s lizard friends looked very similar to the creature on the floor. I hadn’t thought of it before. We dispatched them rather quickly so I never got a close view of them. Conbor, somehow, escaped. He was very upset at having his plans disrupted. He promised to kill me at an undisclosed later date.
I looked at MacLean. “Good job, soldier.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“We’ll get two men to drag him to the medical room.” I frowned. “If there’s one of these out there, I’m guessing there may be a whole bunch of lizards somewhere out there too.” I thought for a minute. “I wonder if he was after our bronze guest. He came with a gun and the bronze guy was unarmed.”
“Could be. That’s logical,” Rab said.
I checked with the Panther and Cajun, but they still had no idea where the bronze guy had beamed in from. Which made me uneasy. There are still a great many mysteries in space but, with our technology, we generally get detailed background knowledge about what we’re facing. The fact that two brilliant scientists knew nothing was bothersome.
“I’m going to check all the caverns, on all three levels. Why don’t you come with me, Rab?”
“Always ready for a pleasant walk. But I’ll bring my weapon, just in case.”
“Sounds like a good idea to me.”
Chapter 9
The pleasant walk took about an hour. After our two visitors arrived, both the humming and the flashing colors calmed down. The cavern’s rock stayed silent and stopped the elastic bending. When I got back to the medical room, the bronze man’s bed was empty.
“He was fine, so I put him in a private room. I thought you might like to talk to him,” Dr. Manning said.
“Yes, I would.”
“Before you do, there’s something I need to tell you.”
I nodded.
The doctor crossed his arms. “His name is Tarum, at least that’s a rough translation of it. Because he appeared to have a minor concussion I did a scan of his brain. What I saw was amazing. I confirmed my suspicions with him when he awoke. When you talk to him, major, he is going to have to speak very slowly because he will have to slow his brain down. He has the most remarkable brain structure I’ve ever seen.”
“So he’s intelligent?” I said.
“Yes, but it’s a great deal more than that. We are genrich. Our genes are perfect. We’re at an IQ level previous generations could only dream about. But that’s not what sets him apart. I…” Manning shook his head. “I’m not sure how I can explain. His brain simply works faster, much faster than ours do.” He gave a sigh of exasperation. “Let me give you an example. Let’s say you and a dozen member of your squad are on a planet, in a forest. Your soldiers are spread out but they are all connected, electronically, with you. You can talk to them individually.”
“OK, let’s say that. Your point is?”
“My point is Tarum could talk to them all individually and simultaneously.”
It took a second before I realized what Dr. Manning was saying.
“How could he do that without twelve mouths?”
“I don’t know, but I’m telling you he has that capacity. I also suspect his race is telepathic. Using his brain, he could ‘talk’ to a dozen people at the same time and not lose a syllable of the conversation. That’s what I meant when I said his brain is amazing.”
“That… is rather impressive.”
“That’s why he has to talk slowly to you. He has to slow his mind down to speak to humans.”
“Akin to us talking to a small child?” I said.
“That is a rough analogy but it is, to a degree, apt.”
When I walked in, Tarum was looking at a computer screen where pages from a history book flashed by. Flashing by at an amazing rate. When I stepped in, he was to about 1750 in human history. A few seconds later he was in the 21st century. He turned his head toward me and smiled.
“You are from an amazing race, major. You have made remarkable achievements in a short period of time.”
“We have a few things to be proud of. And, like I suppose every race, we’ve blown it a few times.”
He turned around in his chair. “I am Tarum. My race is called the Cappnids. That’s a rough translation into your language.”
“Good to meet you. I’m sure your race has many achievements to be proud of too, but right now I have no time and I need to ask you about other things.”
He nodded. “I have something I must tell you.”
“Where did you come from? I mean when you beamed into this place.”
“I came from Sandeling.”
“Where? There is nothing moving or living on this planet.”
“You are correct, major. I came from this planet, but not from this time.”
I leaned back against the door and crossed my arms. “Generally I have pretty good hearing, but could you repeat that one more time?”
“I came from three hundred years in the past, major.” He raised his hand and gestured toward the outside. “This structure you see, the caverns, are one vast machine. A time machine. Which my race had to use to flee the Soltarians or we would have been exterminated.”
“Are the Soltarians a reptilian race with large eyes and a whole lot of big teeth?”
He looked puzzled and shook his head. “No, they are about six-five, huge and furry. I’ve been reading your history. The Soltarians look a bit like Earth’s grizzly bears, but they stand on
two feet. Their coloration is between orange and brown. Shorter nose than the grizzly. They do have stubby, hairy fingers, not claws.”
“The Soltarians did this?”
“Yes.”
I stuck another cigar in my mouth and lit it. I was puzzled. The Federation knew very little about the Soltarian race. We didn’t even know where their home planet was. Their communications indicated they desired to be left alone. So the Federation left them alone. Tarum interrupted my thoughts.
“They are a great danger to my race and they are now a tremendous danger to your race. They seek to conquer and destroy. We did not understand that, not at first. We are non-violent people. We knew nothing of what you call war and didn’t want to learn. Some time ago the Soltarians made contact with us and we welcomed them, as we would any race. A few of my race became wary of Soltarians and warned us of what they believed was a savageness in them. We did not listen. As I said, we did not want war.”
“People rarely do. You may not want a war, but if another race decides to make war on you, you have no choice. War only needs the assent of one side. You either fight or die.”
For a moment, the bronze man looked melancholy.
“Most of us died,” he said. “When the Soltarians attacked, we had no weapons of defense.”
“Tarum, with all your intelligence you did not discern their true nature? You didn’t see what they were?”
“We did not want to see. We were blind, but it was self-induced. We had had a thousand years of peace. We didn’t want a war, so we convinced ourselves one was not coming.”
“At times I’ve felt intelligent people can be the stupidest folks in the galaxy. With all due respect, I think you’ve proved that.”
“You may be right. But there is no time to commiserate with my race. You must worry about your own race and the fate of every other race in the galaxy.”
“Care to explain that? In fact, why don’t you tell me, in detail, what happened here after the Soltarians attacked?”
He nodded.
“We are not warlike, but we are scientifically and technologically advanced. The Soltarians didn’t make a military strike, per se, but a biological one. They released a toxin that was deadly to my people, and we began dying. The toxin, though, did not affect the Soltarians. But we managed to mutate the toxin and turned it into an agent that was poisonous to our invaders. They began dying too. But our population had been devastated. The Soltarians, alas, died more slowly than we did. We knew they would train their weapons upon us. So we made our escape, through time.”