Bonner's voice came back. "Uh, yeah, one more thing. I'm afraid it's not very good news. Seems like we've got full-fledged pre-nova activity in Volans. It's Gamma-2. She's getting ready to blow her top. All radiating activity is up. We've been on a rollercoaster ride for hours."
In the background, Fagen heard Nadine say something about Blane, but he wasn't able to catch it.
"What was that about Blane?"
"Well, he's been acting a little weird."
"So what's new?"
"He's been plugged in down in the lab since you left. He's not answering us anymore."
"Well, go check him out. If he's having a bad time, give him something to make him sleep."
"Uh, right. We'll try that."
"Okay, if there's nothing else, I'll see you in about an hour and a half. I'll give a call before lift-off. This is Fagen, out."
"We'll be expecting to hear from you. Out."
Fagen turned from his console and shouted toward the hatch. "Did you hear?"
"Yes," Parker answered. Fagen turned back to the console and entered a code into the keyboard. Lights came on across the instruments. The monitor informed him all systems were starting their initialization sequence. Fagen got up and climbed back down to the doctor.
Parker was wrapping a new bandage around his foot.
"How is it?"
"Infected."
"Did you take the antibiotics?"
"Yes."
"So don't be so morose about it. What's a few alien microbes, anyway? Don't worry," Fagen patted Parker on the shoulder, "the company's got a great medical plan."
*
By the time Harry caught up to Kretin and Arai, the captive alien had stopped gasping for breath . It showed no fear, instead it coldly eyed Harry. It looked like a little, wrinkled, old man with sickly skin and a nasty disposition. It had no ears or lips, but its eyes were wide and slitted, like an octopus.
Kretin stared at the alien and made a motion as if to strike it.
"No," Harry said using the Bedoran tongue, "hold your love of blood for a time."
Kretin looked suspiciously at Harry and spoke to his younger brother.
"Do you see how he speaks? Perhaps he knows more than he lets on. If he is to go with us, we need to perform the ritual. We cannot trust him otherwise."
Arai nodded. "That is what Grandfather would say." Then he stared upward through the trees. Harry could see the aborigine's eyes welling with tears. He started to moan, softly at first, but then it began to rise and he varied the rhythm. It was a sad, mournful song.
Kretin shushed him. "Now is not the mourning time. Your wails will bring the beasts."
Arai stopped crying and looked at his older brother. "You will be the next leader, Kretin."
Kretin waved his tail in the negative. "It is too high a price. Just be careful with this one until we can perform the ceremony."
"He will want to find his friends. They are not far away. We could take him there."
The alien began to struggle so much Harry had to set it down. It stood on its stumpy legs and gazed defiantly at the three of them before spitting a ball of mucous at their feet.
Arai raised his spear, "I will kill it now!"
Simultaneously, Harry and Kretin said, "No!" Kretin gave Harry a sidelong look before speaking to Arai. "I think we have out-distanced the others. We should perform the ritual while we have the time."
Arai still had the tip of his spear aimed at the alien's chest. It jutted out its boney chest, daring him.
"What shall we do with the devil?"
"Throw a net upon it."
In a last attempt to communicate, Harry showed his palms to the alien, one of the gestures recommended by the corporation, but in return it only spat at him again. Harry backed away and didn't object when Arai threw a net over the creature.
Kretin took the Earthman by a forearm and pulled him away as Arai tied down the ends of the net, effectively ensnaring the hissing alien.
Kretin straightened and stood on his toes so that he could look closely into Harry's eyes. "Do you understand me?"
Harry gave the appropriate positive response.
Kretin backed away and made a circle in the forest floor by dragging his foot through the fallen pine needles.
"What are you doing?" Harry asked.
Kretin looked at him sideways.
Harry wasn't sure what Kretin said.
"How do you speak so well?"
Harry understood that. "I listen. I watch."
Kretin nodded and pulled Harry to the center of the circle. "Remain here."
"Why?"
"It is important. Stay still and watch." Kretin stepped beyond the edge of the circle. Arai joined his brother. The creature fought its restraints, but was too weak to do anything more than hiss and spit.
And this thing is supposed to be a higher life form, Harry thought. How ironic he was getting on better with the primitives than with the more advanced species. He still didn't know what the aliens were doing there, other than murdering the wildlife.
Harry asked permission to speak. Kretin agreed and Harry looked up. "I would seek my companions."
Kretin leaned to his brother. "Do you hear? It is as you said. He seeks his brothers."
Harry took a step forward, but Kretin gently pushed him back. "We must do something first. Please stay where you are."
At that, the aborigine began to hum in a soft voice. He ignored the ugly sounds emitted by the alien and swayed to his own rhythm. He tapped the top of his head with his tail as he simultaneously rolled his hips and tapped both feet.
Arai began to hum along and he too, patted the top of his head with a furry-tipped tail.
Kretin reached into the pouch hanging on his belt and withdrew the sunstone. It was already glowing and warm in the young man's hands.
The alien saw the sunstone and stopped its struggles.
"What is that?" asked Harry.
The two aborigines ignored him and continued to hum the aimless notes. Kretin set the stone in a leather sling. Then he held the sling aloft until the stone held itself in the air. He pulled the sling away and the stone spun of its own accord, in the air, emitting colors and beams of white light. Harry felt heat pouring off the rotating gem.
He'd never seen anything like it. As far as Harry knew, such a thing didn't exist. The air rang as the gem generated invisible fields of power. Harry wondered where the aborigines had found such a thing.
Kretin stopped humming and admonished Harry to tell the truth. "Otherwise you will die. Do you understand me?"
Without blinking, Harry said, "Yes."
"Are you an outsider? A stranger to the Bedoran lands?"
"Yes."
"Are you a devil?"
"No."
"Do you harbor evil thoughts against the Bedorans?"
"No."
"What is your name?"
Harry pronounced the name his father had given him and elicited a laugh from Arai. "It sounds like dung-foot!"
Kretin gave the boy a stern look. Back to Harry, he said, "Where are you from?"
Harry pointed up. Both Kretin and Arai craned their necks and looked up into the trees.
"Not the trees," Harry said, "the stars."
Kretin looked incredulous. "That is insane! You want me to believe you came from the stars? Madness!"
Arai reminded his brother that Harry was testifying within the confines of the ceremony. "If he lies, he dies," the boy pointed out.
Kretin shrugged. "How did you come to be here?"
"It's a long story." Harry wasn't sure if he used the correct words, but the natives seemed to understand. If he told them everything, he was sure they wouldn't understand. Besides, he wasn't eloquent enough to say too much.
"Are you an enemy?"
"No," Harry replied, "I am your friend."
The stone continued to spin. A little faster now, Harry thought. The heat from it began to make Harry uncomfortable. The alien watched everythin
g, but was more interested in the stone than anything else.
"He is a friend," Arai repeated. "That is what we wanted to know."
"Two more questions." Kretin looked at Harry.
"Are your companions our friends also?"
"Yes."
"Then will you help us to overcome our enemies?"
This time Harry didn't understand what was asked.
Kretin repeated the question.
"We did not come to fight. We came to see things unknown to us. We come to understand."
With the tip of his spear, Kretin tapped the stone and it fell to the ground.
"You have fought against our enemies, at our side. This is good. You have told us the truth. Perhaps not everything, but enough. We will take you to your companions."
Harry breathed a sigh of relief.
Kretin poured water over the stone and handled it delicately, wrapping the gem in a thick piece of leather and slipping it back into his pouch.
"What is your name?"
"I am called Kretin." He turned to his smaller brother. "This is Arai."
"Kretin, I have a request."
"What is it?"
"Allow me to take the creature with me."
"The creature?" Kretin looked at the alien with disdain. "Why?"
"To study it. To find out why it kills."
"It is of no consequence to know. It belongs to its tribe and we belong to ours. It does what it does and we do what we do. It is our enemy and it is not meant to be understood."
"What will you do with it?"
"I will give it slow death and my Grandfather will have the final victory."
"Give it to me instead. It will harm you no more."
Kretin snorted and looked at the captive alien. "I do not believe it can harm us any longer."
"Perhaps its companions will return."
"Then we will kill them as we killed the others."
"May I take it with me?"
"No."
It seemed to be the final answer. Kretin stepped up to the alien and rolled it up in the net until it was completely immobile. It could still spit and hiss and did so with a renewed vigor. Kretin hoisted the bundle over his shoulder.
"Let us seek out your companions. They are not far."
The three, four counting the alien, set out to find Fagen.
Chapter 31
Fagen completed the pre-flight checks, leaned back in his seat and with Parker sitting in the co-pilot's chair, they watched the forest. Neither spoke. Parker felt his foot every so often and glanced at Fagen. Fagen ignored him.
Parker, like so many devoted professionals, was egocentric, emotionally undeveloped, and intelligent. A deadly combination. Fagen supposed Parker was thinking about how he'd word his report to the Corporation, so he tried to ignore the man and hoped Harry would show up. And what about the aliens? Would they attack? Had they planted something on the shuttle? Fagen had searched the vehicle thoroughly, but found nothing. How was the hatch opened? If it was Kathleen, why would she leave again?
Everything seemed to be in order. Fagen looked around the cockpit. A notepad with a connected pen was plainly in view. No, it wasn't Kathleen. She would have left a message.
Maybe the natives. But how could they have managed to open the hatch? They were curious creatures. Intelligent and hardy. As a species, they showed great promise. But what would it matter if Gamma-2 went nova? Everything here would be scorched. The great forests would burn and the oceans would boil away. Nothing would be left alive. He drove the thought from his mind. There was nothing he could do about it anyway.
No, he decided, the natives had not opened the hatch. Neither had Kathleen nor Harry. That left the aliens. If so, why hadn't they waited? What was going on? Perhaps there weren't that many of them. They couldn't be everywhere at once. One thing he felt sure about was that sooner or later, they would return.
Maybe he and Parker should just light the engines and get out of there. But he couldn't do that. Not again. He owed it to Harry to wait. Fagen looked at the doctor.
"How's the foot?"
The doctor reported in a clipped manner. "Fine."
Undeterred, Fagen continued, "You know, I've been thinking."
Parker glanced at Fagen. "What?"
"The aliens are well outfitted for what they're doing."
"And what are they doing?"
Fagen looked surprised, as if the answer was self-evident. "Why, they're walking around in this forest, hunting. Probably sight-seeing too. They use self-contained survival gear, have a full choice of weapons..."
An expression of incredulity spread over Parker's face. "You think that's what they're here for? To hunt for recreation? To take specimens? No, not specimens, trophies?"
Fagen shrugged. "That's what it looks like to me. They carry a variety of weapons; their EVA units, body armor, whatever you want to call it, are built for durability and dexterity. Did you see how they moved? They're really quite marvelous."
"You admire them?"
"The technology."
"Weapons and armor? That's not so much."
Fagen grinned. "Think about it. We've seen more than just advanced weaponry. That ship in orbit is a good example."
"I doubt if they're advanced enough to stop a nova."
"You've got a point there, Doc."
"Please don't call me Doc."
"Whatever."
Parker pouted for a moment, then spoke. "I think it's a disgrace we weren't able to open lines of communication with them. I can't believe there wasn't something else we could have done."
Fagen shrugged. "Harry tried his best. The things didn't want to talk."
"I wonder if Irons was the right man for the job."
"The Corporation thought so. I thought so."
"Yes, well, I wonder if one of us could have done better. There's no denying Iron's language abilities, but perhaps he would serve better as an interpreter acting after initial contact has been established."
"I'm not going to blame Harry for what happened. We were all there. You saw what happened. Afterwards, the creatures hunted us..."
"We don't know that," Parker interrupted.
"Ah, I see. And what do you suggest they were doing? Trying to invite us to a fellowship breakfast?"
"We owe it to them and ourselves to make every effort at peaceful contact. The opportunity is too important for us to bungle the job. What's the Corporation going to say when they find out what's happened?"
Fagen sighed. "The Corporation is run on greed. If that star Bonner located goes nova, they won't show any interest in this place. Mia Culpa will be a burned-out cinder."
"There's still the minor problem of explaining why we weren't able to establish a peaceful dialogue with the first advanced species found in the galaxy."
The commander looked out the port. "You think you could do better than Harry? You think you could get those things to talk to you without taking your head off?"
Parker sniffed. "I couldn't do any worse than Irons."
"Is that so? Well, would you like to have a chance at it?"
"What do you mean?"
Fagen pointed out the port. "Take a look."
Parker followed Fagen's pointing finger. Outside the shuttle, at the treeline and motionless as statues, stood two of the aliens.
"Shit," the doctor exclaimed, "let's get out of here."
Fagen smiled. "That's what I thought. Sure you don't want to go out and have a chat?"
"Don't be absurd. Let's get out of here!"
"Let's not be so hasty. If we fire up now, they might just blow us out of the sky as we're lifting off."
"What are we going to do then?"
"First, we're going to protect ourselves." Fagen pointed to an instrument panel. "Flip the bottom toggle switch."
Parker did as he was told. "What's that going to do?"
"We just applied power to the laser cannon."
Parker's eyes grew wide. "We can't fight these things!"
"I see. First they're intelligent and you think we should make every effort to communicate, then you think we should bug out." Fagen laughed. "Make up your mind, Doctor."
Parker didn't reply. His attention was riveted on the aliens. Fagen toyed with the joystick that controlled the sighting device for the cannon. The aliens remained motionless at the edge of the trees.
Fagen knew he could no longer afford to wait for Harry. There was a good chance the linguist was no longer alive. It was a shame. Harry was a good man.
He entered a command onto the console keyboard ignition. A high-pitched whine came from below as pumps worked to apply pressure to the fuel flow system. The patched hydraulic system held together like new. Bonner had done a good job. In minutes, the shuttle would be ready to go.
Outside, one of the aliens suddenly scurried to a flanking position. The other took a few steps forward and stopped. It reached for an instrument on its equipment belt.
Fagen brought the laser cannon to bear on the alien who lingered in front.
"We can't do this!" exclaimed Parker.
"I have no choice."
"Try the radio! Try anything first!"
"Go ahead," said a calm Fagen. "Try to raise them on the radio. Maybe it'll work this time."
Parker put on his headset and punched a button. Several channels opened at once. "This is Earth galaxy survey team. We are here with peaceful intentions. Do you understand me? Can you hear me?"
As Fagen expected, there was no reply. He checked the instrument readings for the cannon. The elements had pre-heated and the weapon was ready to fire, if necessary. To no avail, Parker tried the radio again.
Fagen shook his head. "I'm telling you, these things aren't interested in casual conversation."
"That's just too hard to believe."
"You better believe it. It just might mean both our lives otherwise."
While the two men argued, the alien in front leveled its weapon and fired a beam over the top of the shuttle. Parker ducked under his console.
"It was a warning shot."
"Let's get out of here!"
"I'm working on it!"
*
At the sound of the beam being discharged, Harry stopped dead in his tracks. Kretin and Arai stopped as well. All three peered through the trees, searching for the source of the sound. Kretin pointed ahead.
"We are very close."
Harry nodded in understanding.
*
Parker was on the radio again, calling the Magellan. Nadine's voice floated out of the shuttle speakers. "This is Magellan. What's going on down there?"