“Tyson and Cox sound like humans,” Josie said.
“Well, they started that way,” Topik said. “But they merged in 2193 and became Tyson-Cox, the physics symbiote. That’s when they came up with all of their revolutionary theories.”
“Eh, okay then.”
The planet grew to fill the whole screen. Stopping on the edge of the atmosphere, the Greenstar began to orbit the equator.
The red-brown land appeared inhospitable; mostly desert and mountains. A few groups of artificial mounds broke the pattern, hundreds of metres high and surrounded by plants.
“Those look like termite mounds,” Josie said.
“They’re right on top of the greenest areas of the planet,” Reyna said. “The only sources of water.”
“Those hives are filled with weird bug monsters that will eat our faces,” Bao Lei said.
“Okay. We’re looking for the population centres. Which one is the biggest?” Josie asked.
The display changed to show a massive hive surrounded by green.
“This one near the top of the planet,” Topik said.
“Okay, we’ll land beside it and try to establish contact,” Josie said. “Right?”
Reyna smiled. “Sounds perfect. We’re going to find intelligent aliens inside and make some new best friends.”
Bao Lei lit a cigarette and blew smoke at the ceiling. “You know what? I’m sticking with bug monsters eating our faces.”
“Our shuttles have room for three people,” Reyna said. “Captain, you need to decide who’s going with you.”
Josie considered for a moment. Sergeant Marc would run at the first sign of trouble, Pol hated her, and Doc didn’t seem all that useful in a crisis. “Reyna and Bao Lei, you’ll come with me.”
“Shouldn’t we have Sergeant Marc with us to fight the bug monsters?” Bao Lei asked.
Josie shook her head. “No, we’ll just have to manage on our own. That reminds me though, what kind of guns do we have?”
“The ship has an arsenal of lethal weapons,” Topik said. “All secured in the rear weapons bay, along with a selection of sim-rays in the forward weapons bay.”
“What’s a sim-ray?” Josie asked.
“Sim-rays induce different mild sensations in the victim, dependent on setting. For example: hunger, thirst, itchiness, or tiredness,” Topik said.
Josie thought those sounded all too wishy-washy to trust her life to. “All right. We can take some of those. But I think we should carry lethal weapons too. In case of bug monsters.”
Reyna, Bao Lei, and Doc stared at her.
“I’m not saying we’re going to shoot anyone,” Josie said. “It’s a precaution.”
“Captain, there was a little malfunction in the rear weapons bay,” Reyna said. “It’s off limits at the moment.”
“What kind of malfunction?” Josie asked.
Bao Lei took another drag of his cigarette and grimaced. “Pol activated a security bot without identifying us as friendlies. We barely got the door closed before it blasted us. It’s been trying to get out ever since.”
“Its batteries should run down soon,” Reyna said.
Josie felt a creeping sense of misgiving she had begun calling her ‘Greenstar feeling’. “How long do its batteries last?”
“Model TC101 was designed to operate for a thousand years without needing to recharge,” Topik said.
Josie nodded, trying not to laugh hysterically. “I guess we’ll just take some sim-rays then.”
Chapter 2
Josie settled into the front seat of the shuttle. Bao Lei and Reyna dropped into the two seats behind her that took up the remaining space. Adjusting the straps of her seat, Josie stared at the shuttle controls in front of her. Well, shuttle control really: a single bright-red button labelled ‘Start/Stop’.
“So, does Topik pilot these remotely?” Josie asked.
“Oh no, we fly them manually,” Reyna answered.
Josie studied both walls and even scrunched down to peer under the control panel, but couldn’t spot any other controls. “I don’t understand how I’m meant to steer this thing. Maybe you should take the pilot’s seat, Reyna.”
“Oh, we all fly it,” Reyna said. “The seat doesn’t matter. The shuttles use Intentiometric Drive coils. You press that button in front of you and then think hard about where you want to go. The shuttle follows your emotions.”
“It can read our minds?” Josie asked
Reyna chuckled. “No, that would be ridiculous. Just our emotions.”
“Okay, I guess we should start.” Josie pecked at the big red button.
The shuttle growled into life and lifted off from bay. It wobbled in mid-air, and then crashed back onto the deck like a drunken penguin.
“Captain, your reckless flying will get us killed,” Bao Lei said.
“I’m doing my best,” Josie said.
Bao Lei leaned forward and tapped her on the shoulder. “We’re all going to die in a fiery explosion and our bodies will be unrecognisable afterwards.”
“You’re not helping,” Josie said.
“The only question,” Bao Lei continued, “is if you’ll crash us into the Greenstar or the planet.”
“Shut up,” Josie said, through gritted teeth. She took a deep breath and pretended that she had the controls of Number Six, her old shuttle, in her hands. She focused on flying out of the bay. The shuttle wavered, then crept out between the bay doors. When they reached a safe distance from the Greenstar, Josie let out a breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding.
She experimented a little, imagining steering right. The shuttle leaned that way.
“We have to all want the same thing or the shuttle won’t work,” Reyna said. “Tell us what you want us to think about.”
“Erm... all right. We fly closer to the planet and enter the atmosphere,” Josie said. “Then we find the biggest hive and land beside it.”
Josie concentrated on moving the shuttle to the top of the atmosphere, then eased it through. The sky changed from deep black to a pale blue. Closer in, the planet didn’t look as harsh and inhospitable as it had from high up: like any desert on Earth, life hid in the cracks.
Josie raised her hand in front of her face. “Route to largest hive.”
An arrow appeared on her hand, pointing to the north. Josie imagined following it and the shuttle sped in that direction. The hive poked over the edge of the horizon and grew larger, looming over the land around it. As they got close, the desert gave way to green fields. It was alien, but strangely familiar.
The grass below them was spotted with other plants and flowers. They flew closer and passed over creatures in the fields.
“Topik, can you put those things on screen?” Josie asked.
The display in front of Josie changed to show a creature. It looked like a bipedal frog with red eyes.
“Looks scary,” Josie said.
“The creatures are twenty centimetres high,” Topik said, “And they seem to be herbivores.”
The screen changed back to showing the ground below them and Josie gasped. They were within a kilometre of the hive. Closer in, she could see the space around the hive was thick with creatures, tents, and other odd structures.
“What are they?” Josie asked.
“They appear to be the bug monsters,” Topik said.
“All stop,” Josie said, managing to get the shuttle to hover in place. “Can you bring one of them up on screen?”
“Of course,” Topik said.
The creature had a dragon’s head, a squat green body, a long tentacle on each side, and thin walking claws below the body, like a lobster.
Josie wasn’t sure what to feel. Her brain didn’t seem able to decide if it was a threat or a hallucination. “That’s a Delfan?”
“Apparently,” Reyna said.
“I figured they’d be inside that big hive. Is there somewhere we can land?” Josie asked.
The display changed back to a view of the l
andscape, with a section highlighted.
“This is the closest free area, Captain,” Topik said.
“All right, let’s try to land,” Josie said.
The shuttle wobbled its way to the indicated area and descended at a slight angle. With a crack, it fell the last metre to the ground.
“Captain, the rear stabiliser has been damaged,” Topik said.
Josie looked back at Bao Lei, expecting a wisecrack, but he stayed quiet. “Nothing to say?”
“You ordered me to shut up,” Bao Lei said.
“What? No. That wasn’t an order, more of a request,” Josie said, feeling uncomfortable.
“Well, in that case, we’re all lucky to be alive,” Bao Lei said. “And we’ll die on the return journey.”
“Nice,” Josie said. “Come on, let’s go meet the natives.”
Josie struggled out of her seat and back to the hatch. “Before I open this: the air is breathable, right?”
“It’s fine,” Reyna said. “There’s only been one planet where we passed out from the air.”
“The air is safe in low doses, Captain,” Topik said. “Anything less than a day won’t cause permanent damage.”
Sighing, Josie hit the hatch button. Legally and historically, she was dead anyway; if weird aliens or unbreathable atmosphere did kill her, they’d just be finishing the job.
The hatch lowered to the ground, becoming a ramp. A field of violet flowers stretched towards the mass of Delfan.
Josie descended the ramp and took a tentative breath. A sweet scent from the flowers, but nothing else. She strolled a little way through the field, brushing flowers aside with her legs. The petals on them ran down the stems to the ground in a criss-cross pattern. Josie heard a grunting sound behind her. She whirled around.
A Delfan peered around the shuttle at her and snorted.
Remembering her HandyTalk gloves, she jammed her forefinger in her ear. “Hello. We come in peace.”
The Delfan grunted. Her finger translated it to the unmistakable sound of laughter. It continued for some time. The Delfan caught its breath. “Wait until I tell the guys about this.”
Still letting out bursts of laugher, it walked away from Josie, gathering up flowers in its long, thin tentacles as it went.
“That was weird,” Josie said. “I expected more of a reaction to seeing the first ever alien on their planet.”
“Flint did say they seemed drugged,” Reyna said.
Josie nodded. “If that had been a human, I’d have said they were on something.”
“It’s a trap,” Bao Lei said. “They’re lulling us into a false sense of security before they fall on us and eat us.”
“I saw his teeth,” Josie said. “They were short and flat, not designed for eating meat. And their eyes are on the sides of their heads. They’re vegetarians.”
“Phew,” Bao Lei said. “So they’ll just stab us to death, without consuming us afterwards.”
Josie turned and looked at Bao Lei and Reyna. “Are you sure this optimism officer/pessimism officer arrangement works? Because it’s not helping me.”
“Nothing else would work better.” Bao Lei said.
Reyna nodded. “It’s the best system.”
Josie shook her head and sighed. “Never mind. Come on.”
She led them through the flowers to the area full of Delfans. The dirt there had been trampled into mud by hundreds of Delfans shambling about. A few of the Delfans had their tentacles raised in the air and rotated in slow circles, as if dancing. The rest stood talking or staring into space. No one seemed to be paying much attention to the humans in their midst.
Josie beckoned the others and walked out into the crowded plain. Inside one of the tents, a group of Delfans crowded a table, licking at it. Maybe it was the Delfan equivalent of a board game.
“It looks like a giant festival or party of some kind,” Josie said.
“We might find a leader inside the hive,” Reyna said. “We should head there.”
***
Sergeant Marc watched the screen, scanning the crowd around Josie, Reyna and Bao Lei.
“I could have dealt with that,” Pol said from Marc’s right. “A giant party? Piece of cake. Why couldn’t she have gotten the werebats of Noxos Five?”
“It does look like fun,” Doc said from Marc’s left.
Marc swivelled the captain’s chair round to face them. “We never know what’s down there. That’s the risk we all take on the shuttle missions.”
“You’ve gotten awfully philosophical since ‘Hardtack’ left you in charge,” Pol spat hardtack like it was the worst insult he could think of.
“It’s my first time as captain,” Marc said, cupping his right hand in front of him. “I’m in awe of the amazing responsibility. Your lives and theirs are right here in the palm of my hand.”
“I’m the one with the most experience,” Pol whined.
“Hey, you were hiding in your cabin,” Marc said, closing his hand. “Some of us don’t cower from responsibility, we grasp it.”
“Listen,” Doc said, her gaze on the screen. “I’m bored of this Greek guy look. I’m going to go change.”
Marc waved vaguely, his attention on Pol. “Don’t you see, Pol? We have an opportunity for greatness here. Think of the places Josie can lead us.”
“What about where I could take you?”
“You’ve been captain for ten years. You haven’t led us anywhere. You’ve had a thousand chances.”
“One hundred and sixty-seven,” Topik said.
“One hundred and sixty-seven what?” Pol asked.
“That’s how many alien species you’ve eliminated since you became captain of the Greenstar,” Topik said.
Pol shrugged. “They were all about to die anyway.”
“Plus, you’ve been personally responsible for the deaths of seven crew members,” Topik added.
Pol scoffed. “There’s no way it’s been that many.”
“Manny, John, Felipe, Irina, the twins, and Yugo.”
“You can’t count Yugo. He was suicidal,” Pol said.
“His last words were, ‘No, I don’t want to die’,” Topik said.
Pol shrugged. “Every mistake is an opportunity to learn.”
***
Josie struggled up the steep dirt ramp towards the gaping entrance of the hive. As they got halfway, the guards noticed them. Eyes bugging, the guards whipped out obvious weapons and pointed them at the humans.
Josie held her hands up, waving them in an attempt to show they meant no harm. When they didn’t start shooting, she advanced up the ramp, putting her finger in her ear. “We come in peace.”
“What the hell are you?” one of the guards shouted.
“This is more like it,” Josie said. “My name is Josie Stein. I’m a human. We’ve flown from another world to talk to your leaders.”
The two guards huddled together, waving their tentacles. Finally, one of them turned to her. “Wait here.”
The guard spun and ran off into the hive.
“Nice weather today,” Josie said to the remaining guard.
The guard glanced about. “Uh, yeah.”
They waited in an uncomfortable silence until the other guard returned, two more Delfans in tow behind him, each with sashes around them.
“This is Norman and Freddy, the representatives from the Industrialists and the Protectors,” the guard said. “They’ll take it from here.”
“Norman and Freddy?” Josie asked.
“Their names are unpronounceable. I made some substitutions,” Topik said.
“Nice to meet you both,” Josie said.
“Nice to meet you too, Captain,” Norman said.
“Captain, what is the nature of your visit?” Freddy said, holding up a round piece of paper in his left tentacle. The end of the right tentacle turned black as Josie watched.
“Two things,” Josie said. “We have an offer for you and an invitation. The offer is to teach you everything w
e know about space travel in exchange for the rights to mine gold on your planet. The invitation is to join the Union of Friendly Stars, an organisation devoted to the cooperation of all intelligent life.”
“A contract and a union.” Freddy seemed perkier. “Right this way, Captain.”
Freddy and Norman led the way into the hive. The tunnels of the hive were spacious but gloomy, lit by natural light spilling in from occasional windows. The two Delfans led the way to a cave mouth and, after a short pause where they each tried to let the other go first, stepped inside. Two long purple tongues lashed down, wrapped around them, and whipped them up out of sight.
“What just happened? Did they just get eaten?” Reyna asked. “Although being eaten is a great way to... Sorry Captain, I’ve got nothing.”
“Captain, I think this is the Delfan version of a lift,” Topik said.
Josie pointed, in what she hoped was a commanding fashion into the cave, then led them in. A long purple tongue flicked down and wrapped around her, lifting her off her feet. The breeze blew her hair back as she flew up into the darkness.
It slowed again. Her head was enveloped by something warm and wet.
For a second, Josie couldn’t breathe, then she was spat to one side. She landed in a heap on a dirt floor, bruising her knees.
She stood up and looked around her. Freddy and Norman watched from nearby. Bao Lei and Reyna lay on the ground beside her. Glancing behind her, Josie saw four purple mouths on the roof of the cave, long tongues lolling from them.
“Are you all right, Captain?” Norman asked.
“We just aren’t used to your method of transportation,” Josie said.
“How else would you get to the top of a tall structure?” Freddy asked.
Bao Lei and Reyna stood up, dusting themselves off.
“We move a portion of the floor up and down while we stand on it,” Reyna said.
The two Delfans stared at her for a moment.
“I can see we have a lot to learn from each other,” Norman said. “Please come this way.”
Norman and Freddy led them into another cave, this time with a window on one side. Josie realised that it was the Delfan version of a room. Two flattened rocks were perched on top of columns of dirt at waist level for the Delfan. They had to be desks. One of them was clear, but the other was stacked high with paper.
“Now, what kind of contract? What kind of contract?” Freddy mused. “You know, I don’t think we’ve ever had a contract quite like this one before.”
“I can well imagine,” Josie said.
Freddy moved to the desk with the stacks of papers and began pulling some out, marking them with the blackened tip of his right tentacle. His tentacle must be exuding some kind of ink, Josie thought.