Carinae Sector: 01 - Traders' Scourge - Part 2 - Maveen Offer (12 page)

The Maveen had come to agreement about this viewpoint since the one sided battle with the human fleet. The manner of their forceful response had been settled between them, as they all knew they would have preferred at all costs to avoid the recent conflict. The probe continued to discretely observe the human ship, the mantra of their race was to observe and learn, then observe and learn again. For only then was direct action appropriate and hopefully this would also prevent further conflict.

                                                            ***

Lieutenant Tom Sawyer stood in the late evening on the rear of the helicopter deck of HMAS Sydney and casually scanned the ocean off to the port side of the ship. He had a sense that something was watching him, and as he watched the half moonlit ocean, he could see a very diffuse cloud shadow on the ocean pacing the ship. Tom moved closer to the railing and he noted that no cloud existed in the sky above the ship.

The shadow was a smooth cylinder, or oval shape, that was smaller than both the frigate and the other alien ships he had seen during the day. As he watched, the shadow moved ahead of the ship for several seconds, before then moving back down to trail the ship after several more seconds. The sense that he was being watched occurred again for a minute or so, and Tom now kept perfectly still. He soon felt he was no longer being watched, and calmly strode back to the hangar door to make a show of inspecting his helicopter.

Tom then quietly walked further inside the hangar and grabbed a video camera from the Seahawk. After verifying that the light switch was off and that he could capture video in both visible and infrared light, he carefully returned to his previous position by the rear of the Seahawk. Tom then spent the next fifteen minutes observing the anomaly under different recording settings, before he took the camera back inside the hangar to download a backup copy to a waiting workstation. As he briefly checked over the recordings, he was confident that he had enough information to show Commander Walker in the morning.

                                                            ***

Dan stood on the bridge of the Aurora Discovery in the predawn light and scanned with binoculars the massive alien star ship two kilometres away. The Trader main ship lay just off the beach from a coral strewn sand island, known as Middle Island, which was not much bigger than the ship itself. The large rear ramp of the Trader ship was lowered onto the island, and he noted that two suited Traders stood at guard at the base of the ramp. The guards appeared to be armed with rifle versions of the blaster that Garendestat had used with such proficiency the previous afternoon.

On the island the Traders were clearing space, by launching three smaller ships, and moving equipment around with large cargo walkers controlled by Traders strapped inside them. The Traders all now turned to the south west to look at something approaching their position, even as a bridge lookout called out a warning.

‘Sir, other alien ships are approaching…’

Dan turned and gave a gasp of amazement, for out of the pre dawn gloom to the west, four of the alien ships appeared. Each of the ships was connected in pairs to two large masses, and Dan soon identified that these must be the two ships that had been damaged in the recent encounter with the US 5
^th
fleet. Dan turned to question a crew member standing on the deck with a recharged video camera.

‘Bill, are you getting all this down on the record?’

Bill answered that he was doing this, and Dan had to check himself from waking Steve in his quarters with the news. Dan turned his attention to the island again and noticed three different smaller shapes nestled in the water just off the beach, like sleeping seals almost under the out swept wing of the massive Trader ship.

‘Bill, also make sure that you now get images of those three black ships, they must belong to the second race that did all the damage to the US 5
^th
fleet.’

Again Bill answered in that this was the case, and Dan now turned to study the mass of alien space ships clustered in shallow water just off Middle Island. Within minutes Steve was on the bridge and comparing notes with Dan and the crew. As they continued to look at the impressive star ship Dan voiced a question.

‘What is it with former commanders and ship captains, as they don’t miss much?’

Steve grinned as he replied to his brother in-law.

‘Well I awoke a bit earlier when the engine note changed as we came to the island.’

Now with a more serious tone he asked a question.

‘So have any of those smaller black shapes moved at all since we have arrived.’

With an answer in the negative, Steve quickly left to find Samantha and Rebecca. It was time to go see their new friend and get him ready to go home.

                                                            ***

Garendestat awoke to the still strange sounds of quiet human voices as they moved around their ship in the early dawn. He was startled for a moment, and he felt real pain as he moved his broken arm and his stiffened shoulder protested. The Trader had taken the precaution of leaving the blaster on the bench with the rest of his equipment the previous night. He now noted that the space suit pants were satisfactorily dry and quickly dressed in them only.

Garendestat turned on the light switch and was stretching again his sore arm and shoulder, when there was a polite knock on the roller door. He replied in Trader and there was a pause so he called out again in the human language. ‘I am well.’ The roller door slowly was raised and Steve stood in the doorway with Samantha and Rebecca.

Steve said ‘Hello’ and then beckoned Garendestat to follow him out the crew locker for a moment. The relief that Garendestat felt at seeing the Trader main ship from close range was obvious and palpable. He certainly seemed healthier and more alert also from a night’s sleep considered Steve. To one side of the now near stationary Aurora Discovery hovered one of the alien smaller ships that Garendestat now waved at with his good arm.

Samantha and Rebecca had managed to gather up several of the food types that Garendestat had sampled last night into a couple of backpacks. They placed the backpacks, together with the medical kit, on one of the benches in the crew locker. The two ladies then followed Steve and Garendestat onto the rear deck, and promptly made a detailed inspection the illnesses and injuries that afflicted Garendestat. Both of them made approving noises and stated ‘Good’ to the slightly bemused Trader as they peered at him.

Samantha was very happy with what she could understand of Garendestat’s recovery and she quietly stated as such to Steve.

‘The Traders must be tough as anything Steve. A human would be laid up with the scale of injuries and illnesses Garendestat recently suffered, if the rest of them are as resilient then they are a tough species.’

Garendestat heard her comments, but he did not understand all of it.  He merely pointed at his tattoos, arm and legs and said ‘I am feeling better now’ in reply. Samantha then offered another observation.

 ‘It appears his language has improved exponentially over night after a good sleep.’

Steve at this point was now reminded of how much about the aliens they did not know. Garendestat looked at the big ship, and then in turn looked at the small ship nearby and the runabout on the rear deck. Steve and Garendestat went over to the runabout and Steve turned on the radio and handed the radio handset to Garendestat.

Garendestat paused and considered what he would say before he started speaking in Trader.

‘Good morning father, I am just in the human ship off the island from the main ship.’

Garendestat felt even more relief as he heard his father on the radio.

‘Yes Garendestat, I hope you are feeling better this morning. I have been watching their ship for awhile. Did you observe much in your evening aboard their ship?’

Garendestat paused to think about his words and then replied.

‘Father I owe the gift of life to these humans and I stated as much after I was rescued.’

A moments’ pause greeted Garendestat as his father worked out a suitable response which then came shortly after.

‘Garendestat, your friends are alive to me and all the other Trader crew. Indeed this is hopefully a good start to a better understanding. Now exactly how are you coming back aboard ship?’

Garendestat then stated exactly how he wanted to handle this situation and the captain responded in agreement.

‘Very well son, it will be as you suggest and I look forward to seeing you shortly.’

Garendestat handed back the handset to Steve and pointed to the main ship as he spoke.

‘Steve, drive the runabout with me, Samantha, Dan and Rebecca to the ship.’

Steve regarded the improved speech of Garendestat for a moment and replied.  ‘We can do that Garendestat.’

He then asked a nearby crew member to fetch Dan from the bridge before ordering the crew to launch the runabout. Garendestat watched with interest as the small boat was deftly lowered, for he was reminded yet again of the skill and discipline of the human crew.

The ladies returned to the equipment store to fetch the food and medical kit. Steve now joined them as Garendestat also followed them into the room. Steve soon found what he was seeking in moments, a large canvas cover for a portable petrol generator. The cover even had carrying lugs and Steve quickly shook any dust out of it before giving the canvas cover to Garendestat.

The several pieces of Trader space suit, blaster and view finder were soon in the canvas cover, the flap was tied down, and Steve helped Garendestat lug it all to the side of the ship. Two crew members carefully tied a rope around under Garendestat’s shoulders. Before one pointed to the Trader’s broken arm and then the rope as they both stood ready. Garendestat looked a little nonplussed but made no fuss about the rope. Dan hurriedly arrived as the crew then let down the sturdiest ship ladder they could find to the crewman waiting in the six metre runabout.

‘I remembered the bottle of Malazin.’

Dan stated as he passed the bottle to Rebecca who carefully packed it inside the medical kit. Dan then went first down the ship ladder to show Garendestat how it was done, as he was concerned about his mobility given the broken arm.

Garendestat merely left his packed space suit on the deck, and slowly swarmed down the rope ladder to stand for a few seconds in the runabout. The broken arm only slowed him down, decided Steve as he watched Dan first ensure that Garendestat stayed seated on the runabout floor. Dan then untied the rope around the Traders massive chest. The rope was raised to be used to lower the space suit, food and medical kit in turn to the runabout. In minutes Steve and the two women were also onboard, and Samantha quietly spoke to Steve as the runabout motored away from the side of the ship.

‘I did not have time to tell you before, but I also packed two video cameras if we could spot something interesting to report Steve.’

Steve was relieved to hear that and gave a measured reply.

‘We should be okay over there and we just have to be careful in what we say and do. If we record our meeting down on tape, it can only help to find out what is actually their story. We must also find out how dangerous this second alien species are to humanity.’

                                                            ***

Captain Jane Walker read the latest message from HMAS Melbourne in disbelief, as it appeared that up to two dozen small boats was now approaching the Abrolhos islands from the mainland. The commander of the Melbourne had diverted his Seahawk helicopter to intercept the bulk of the boats, and Jane also quickly diverted their Seahawk from HMAS Sydney to change course. The helicopter had been heading again towards the Aurora Discovery, but soon was moving towards a second collection of small boats.

Jane then ordered the Perth on a course due east at thirty knots to assist the Melbourne. She also read the latest reports from Geraldton and Dongara. It appeared that the police and the soldiers guarding the marinas had been distracted in the early hours of the morning, and a number of boats had fled the marinas before order was re-established.

‘So has the whole world gone mad today?’ An exasperated Jane questioned to the bridge as HMAS Sydney increased speed.

Lieutenant Tom Sawyer had submitted a report early this morning about an alien ship apparently shadowing HMAS Sydney, though it was not detected. Jane had viewed the video footage quickly, and was almost convinced about his report, even if it was difficult to prove one way or another. She now wondered if the alien ship might be of the unknown second race that had just been reported by the Aurora Discovery as it reached the landing site. Now Tom Sawyer was already well on the way in the Seahawk to the southern knot of small boats. Jane conferred with Paul, her counterpart on the Melbourne.

‘Paul, if it comes down to the wire on these small boats, we cannot use the main guns or missiles. First we risk killing the bulk of these fools, and also I am wary about using our heavy weapons this close to those alien ships.’

Paul briefly agreed with what Jane was stating before she spoke again.

‘In fifteen minutes we will launch our inflatable boats with extra armed crew, and we will either board them or turn them aside. If they refuse to stop then the Seahawk helicopters are our last option.’

Susan Roberts sat in the front chair of the fast runabout. The media crew were again headed west for the southern Abrolhos Islands after she had dragged her aching body from bed at 4am.

The senior news director had rung her again just before the boat reached Dongara at 10pm last night. He had retracted his previous instruction to her news team to refrain from getting to the Abrolhos islands. Apparently a concerted effort by the media teams was being made at first light the next day to get past the Australian navy.

As soon as they were in motel rooms, Susan had quickly organised her news team to get some food and sleep in that order. The refuelled runabout was now leading at least ten other fast boats nearby with several other boats trailing along as they had slower top speeds. The opening of media cheque books had resulted in the desired effect. Come quietly; come just before 4am, then all boats to go as hard as they could for the Abrolhos islands.