Freedom Vs. Aliens (Aliens Series Book 3) (26 page)

Before them stood someone who resembled a walking raccoon. Covered in short fur from head to claw-tipped toes, the fur was covered in alternating stripes of black and white. Its face was carnivore pointed with a large braincase and two ears that were fluttering. A second pair of ears showed behind the first pair. The mouth was filled with needle-sharp teeth. But it was the two eyes that were truly Alien. They were mounted on squat cones of muscle under a forehead ridge. And they moved independently of each other.

“How the fuck does he decide what to look at?” muttered Max.

The raccoon biped in the AV image was dressed in a short leather loincloth and nothing else. Its broad chest rose and fell as it breathed in through rib slits on either side of its chest. While there was no nose, there were high cheekbones. Its teeth, when the pale brown lips pulled back slightly, were sharp white canines. Its hands had talons at the tip of each finger. Three fingers and a thumb. The hand and palm were also very human-looking. Arms and legs were articulated with elbows and knees in the primate manner. But it was the Alien’s posture that shocked them all. It was leaning forward as if to pounce, its yellow eyes fixed on the stretched out form of the cougar.

“
Mega mak to!
” the Alien barked loudly.

Then it flew through the air in a predator leap that landed it on the back of the cougar. Holding onto the creature’s back with its muscular legs, the raccoon person moved like the wind. In less than a second its white canines were biting the upper neck of the cougar. Red blood flowed from the bite. Jaw muscles tightened visibly. A crack of bone sounded.

The cougar moan-squalled, flared its forelegs outward, then collapsed, all control gone from its body.

The raccoon person pulled its red-stained teeth away from the creature’s neck, spit to one side, then stood up. Standing by the hindquarters of the creature, it put one clawfoot on the body of the creature it had killed and looked up at the watching silver globe.

“
Niktoren! Melak hab tho kit!
” it said in barkspeech.

“Rite of Passage,” said Denise, her voice shaky.

Jack sighed, sat back in his seat and folded his hands together. “Denise, explain. Please.”

“This is an AV broadcast sent worldwide at high signal strength. It shows a single person hunting a predator in the forest that may have been the ancestral home for both species,” she said. “It was intended to be watched by many people. Like hunting shows on old Earth, where you watch a hunter going after a bear, an elk, a tiger, anything dangerous.”

“ Damn right that cougar was dangerous!” said Max. “And did you all notice how the two of them, the raccoon person and the cougar, both had fur covered in alternating black and white stripes? They looked very similar in bioform. I think this is a case of Müllerian Mimicry. Where two predators show convergent evolution of body colors that signal danger. To the benefit of each.”

Jack looked up at the images of his fellow ship captains. Minna, Ignacio, Akemi, Júlia, Aashman, Kasun and Amitar. They all looked as shocked as he felt. He looked back at the image of the standing raccoon person, its clawfoot atop the cougar’s dead body. “What’s next?”

Into the scene walked four other raccoon persons. They were of two sizes, one being larger than the other three. These people were dressed in flowing yellow, green and brown robes. Similar to the ancient Greek
chiton
robes. And open at the sides for ease of breathing. Each wore a brown belt that supported small Tech devices. The larger person of the group reached out a hand and gripped the shoulder of the raccoon hunter.

“
Niktoren hab tho Melak. Melak ik nok soren. Gok!
” it said in a light-toned barkspeech, a voice not as deep as the hunting raccoon person.

“Is that a female?” said Maureen as she sat beside Jack.

“Could be,” Denise said. “Size differentials are usually an indication of gender differences. Could be we are seeing a female leading a group of three males who are . . . are congratulating the male hunter here. And perhaps telling him he is now an adult. If this is a Coming of Age ceremony with this hunt being a required ritual. Uh, I think the hunter’s name is Melak.”

“That is correct,” Anonymous’ dry mech voice said from the ceiling speaker. “SETI algorithm correlation of speech with behavior is completed. Converting AV language to Belter English.”

The hunter raccoon inclined his head to the taller person. His mobile eyes looked down. “Thank you Mother Of All. Melak offers you First Taste of this hunt.”

The taller, larger raccoon person whistled softly. “My hunger was satisfied before we arrived to watch your trek to adulthood. First Taste may go to your father.”

The Melak person looked up, fixed mobile yellow eyes on the one named Mother of All, then bent down. Thrusting a talon-fingered hand into the belly of the cougar creature, he ripped open its stomach, pushed aside white intestines, and pulled out a purple and red organ that still convulsed. Red blood squirted from two severed veins. “Father, may this First Taste reward you for your patience with me as I learned to throw the capture loop. I was not your best student.”

One of the shorter raccoon persons stepped forward, right palm outstretched. When the cougar’s red heart was placed on it, Melak’s father lifted it to his mouth, took a bite of warm flesh, chewed, swallowed, then offered the remainder to another male standing nearby. “Fresh meat should always be shared. With the other fathers here. With the Mother Of All. With your Mother. And with the young ones who await us at home. Come, my eldest. We need to prepare you for the piloting course you were so eager to study this past year.”

Bending down to grab the leg rope of the cougar, Melak pulled a metal blade from his loincloth with his other hand and cut that rope, then the neck rope. He lifted the carcass of the animal into an over-the-shoulder carry. Red blood rivulets ran down his black and white striped chest fur. He head-gestured to the four adults. “Lead. I will follow. Then later I will provide our Niktoren people with resources from the Near Rock Belt.”

Jack gestured back. “Denise, give us the next two AV images.”

“Right,” she said, sounding calmer than before. “Here it is.”

Between the true-light system image and the sensor image there now appeared a new image.

It was a city as seen from a distant place, perhaps a ridgeline like that of the low mountains that bordered the far side of the city. In the middle rose cones, globes, domes and tree-like skytowers. Winding between the rock and metal buildings were curving roadways on which moved teardrop vehicles similar to a Mars aircar, larger flat-bed vehicles loaded with boxes of stuff, and tubular vehicles similar to Earth buses that were crowded with raccoon people. To either side of the city were spacious landing fields. On one field, three rockets were taking off. The rocket shape was a globe set atop a square bottom stage. No doubt they were heading to orbit. On the other field, two rocket globes were coming down amidst a cluster of ten similar rockets. The landed rockets were being unloaded. The unloaded content was not clear in the image. But the voice told them.

“Today’s shipment of iron, tungsten, titanium, copper, tin and other construction materials has arrived from the Inner Rock Belt,” said a voice that sounded feminine, like the Mother character heard earlier. “The dwarf planet Mikto was the subject of three star blasts that excavated a shaft down to its iron core. Ships of the Niktoren Family Fleet are seeking other large rock sources of minerals to improve life on Tree.” The voice paused as the two descending ships landed on a field made of metallic mesh. “Elsewhere on Tree, adulthood ceremonies were carried out for this year’s young people. Niktoren on all three continents and aboard ships in our oceans watched this annual event. An estimated forty million youth took part in the Hunt Challenge. Mothers of every tribe attended. Organizers dismissed concerns about the possible extinction of the Magun predators. Captive raising of the Magun has been a tradition for millennia and their release into wild areas of Tree has ensured the survival of vital predator traits.”

“Jack,” called Elaine, “the rest of the fleet has arrived near us. All ships are now here.”

“Switching AV feed to laser Come-Back signal,” Denise said quickly. “Going to third AV imagery.”

The city scene disappeared. A scene set in the darkness of space replaced it. In the distance showed the planet three, which was called Tree by its inhabitants. The world’s single moon orbited nearby, a white airless landscape touched by dark craters. In the image’s foreground moved three spaceships, their shape that of a teardrop that pierced a large globe. Yellow-orange fusion flares shot from the wide end of the ships. To the far left of the image moved two other spaceships. Similar in design to the first three, these two were moving away on fusion flares.

Green laser beams shot out from the three spaceships, striking the rear of one of the two fleeing ships. It exploded in a flare of yellow, orange and white flame.

“Damn!” grunted Maureen from her Combat seat. “They’re fighting each other.”

A voice now spoke.

“The conflict between the Southern Tribe and the Northern and Eastern Tribes confederation over which group would control access to the Inner Rock Belt was resolved sixty-eight cycles ago,” said a male-sounding voice. “While the Southern Tribe spaceships were able fighters, their tribe did not have the industrial capacity of the confederated tribes. One by one their ships were hunted down and destroyed by the Northern-Eastern ships. Our current world is led by a Council that is dominated by Northern and Eastern tribe members. The Southern Tribe continues to provide fine engineers, chemists and spatial tacticians for our mining of the Inner Rock Belt. While some Southern Tribe members have urged the sending of an exploration ship to the outermost gas world of Baklo, the Council has chosen to focus on exploration of Haklo, the world next closest to our star NikHak.” The voice paused as an image of planet two, a white-clouded world that lay at the inner edge of the habitable zone, replaced the fighting ships. “While very hot and filled with noxious air, Northern Tribe researchers are working to change the planet’s heat and gas regime. Icy comets have been guided to hit Haklo. While the process of lowering its temperature and increasing the Breath of Air in its clouds will take many cycles, researchers say Haklo could become Niktoren habitable.” A new planet image replaced the cloudy one. It showed a world with dense clouds colored red, yellow, orange and white. “The world Miklo, lying just beyond the Inner Rock Belt, is presently being air-mined for its star fuel isotopes. The isotopes  add to those already being mined on our moon of Nightglo.”

“Denise,” Jack called back, “shut off the sound but continue recording this AV and the first two.”

“Done,” said their too mature youth.

Into the silence Jack turned in his seat and looked back at his crewmates. Nikola was focused on her Astro panel, perhaps tracking other thermonuke explosions. Max had one hand resting atop the Alcubierre drive pedestal, while the other reached up to the Main Drive module that had lowered from the ceiling. His buddy gave him a nod of acknowledgment, then looked up at the drive module. Jack knew that keeping a fusion drive plasma in Pinch Mode was a delicate operation that required constant attention. Even the help of Anonymous could not replace human judgment. Archibald’s gaze was still fixed on the ongoing space research report of the last AV broadcast. Blodwen, Cassie and Denise all met his gaze.

“Denise, Blodwen, it’s clear these Niktoren people are carnivores,” he said, giving each a nod. “They have fought a war. Their cities are modern and busy. They dominate planet three, or Tree. And they have an integrated world society. They resemble humanity from not that long ago. My question is, should we assume these Niktoren are social carnivore predators like the Hunters and we should just leave? Or could they become a Freedom Alliance member?”

“Brother Jack,” said Cassie, her hazel eyes thoughtful, “my spy training says there is always more to any society that is shown publicly. Could we ally with these Southern Tribe folks and help them overthrow this Council? As we did on the Mikmang world. Thereby gaining them as allies who would join our anti-predator alliance.”

Trust his youngest sister to think sneaky. While he was glad she had recovered so well from her beatings at the South Pole, she had yet to find a specialized job that fit her education, training and interests. Other than making them all some fine Italian-style meals, her contribution to the
Uhuru
had been one of proving their ability to do silent infiltrations against an armed enemy. Which they might have to do again when they arrived at the two ‘subject people’ worlds. For now, though, he had no good task for her.

“Cassie, that’s a good point. But inciting a civil war among people who just recently achieved social harmony is not my first choice of actions.” He looked to his two experts in animals and societies. “Ladies, your thoughts?”

Blodwen nodded abruptly. “Good. I prefer to have a constructive First Contact,” she said in her no-nonsense manner. “These Niktoren have achieved a lot on their world and in spatial exploration of their system. Their efforts to change the ecology of planet two are admirable. Their Coming of Age ceremony, while bloody to us, is very normal among human societies of the past. The three AVs we’ve seen suggest their society now focuses on adding to their industrial capacity the resources they can extract from this Inner Rock Belt between planets Tree and Miklo.” She paused, reaching up to pull at one curl of her thick blond hair. Blinking her pale green eyes, her mood thoughtful, she looked beyond Jack to the watching images of their allied captains. “We should invite this Council of theirs to join our Freedom Alliance. While these people are at least omnivores who love meat, they may not be aggressive expansionists like the Hunters of the Great Dark.”