Hunt for the Saiph (The Saiph Series Book 3) (3 page)

Zubek's voice was all business. "Understood, Travis. Echo will come in hot and deploy to reinforce your perimeter. Charlie to make a deliberate deployment and secure a landing site for the First Contact Team.” Zubek's tone softened slightly. “Good job, son. Keep your head and I'll be with you as soon as I can. Zubek clear."

Travis appreciated the confidence the captain showed in him but right now, he needed to get moving. "Corporal, round up the eggheads, we're leaving. I'll take care of our friend here."

Philippa got to work hustling the two scientists who were packing their equipment as fast as they could, glad to be getting away from whatever would shortly be coming through the inner door. Travis took a step toward the prisoner and used the barrel of his PEP to indicate he was to stand up. The alien slowly got to its feet and Travis motioned for it to make its way through the outer airlock. Hesitantly, it did as it was directed but once outside it stopped dead in its tracks, confronted by the sight of four Tanto combat shuttles dropping a company of marines onto the moon’s barren surface. Travis was forced to give the alien a gentle nudge to get it moving again as they climbed up the shallow incline of the crater wall to be met by Captain Zubek.

Zubek took a moment to give the alien suit a head to toe appraisal before activating his link to Travis. “Let’s get your prisoner over to Charlie Company’s Landing Zone to await the First Contact Team. Admiral Lewis must have lit a fire under them as they’re already on a shuttle and on their way down. I'm sure they’re chomping at the bit to have a chat with him..." Zubek chuckled softly, “Or her, come to think of it."

"Aye-aye sir. Papadomas, you’re prisoner escort with me.” He turned to the scientists. “You two head over to our Tanto and hole up until I need you. And thanks for a job well done." The two scientists did not need to be told twice and headed off at a dead run for the relative safety of the Tanto.

The small group of Travis, Philippa, and their prisoner moved off across the powder-like surface, skirting craters as they went. After a few minutes, they reached the lip of a large crater and saw that the four Tantos of Charlie Company were spread out on its floor. Marines poured out of the troop doors and took up positions along the lip of the crater, securing it for the arrival of the First Contact Team. The alien paused as he looked down at the deploying marines, his head slowly moving from left to right as he took in the scene. Travis gave him a gentle nudge to coax him on, but what had been intended as nothing more than a “hurry up” took a turn for the worse as the alien stumbled and the loose surface underneath him gave way. He tumbled down the crater’s steep side. Travis and Philippa leapt after him, only to have a large boulder intervene in their headlong chase. Philippa reached the crumpled alien first and went to her knees, turning him over and immediately noticing a large tear in the pressure suit, which was venting atmosphere. Philippa automatically reached for her emergency suit repair kit.

"Lieutenant, his suit’s ripped pretty well all the way through!"

Philippa worked quickly, knowing every second counted. The life-giving atmosphere escaping from the suit in a jet crystallized as it hit the coldness of space. Philippa's movements were drilled into her. Spray the glue. Fix the patch in place. Press down hard. Hold for one... two... three. Check for leaks. Philippa's eyes fell on a few lone crystals still escaping from the top edge of the patch. Her heart pounding in her ears, Philippa fumbled for her repair kit but she had dropped it onto the powdery surface in her haste to attach the first patch. Travis saw her frantic search and realized what she was looking for. Popping his own kit, he forced a second patch into her hand. With the second patch applied and no sign of a leak, Philippa sat back on her heels as Travis moved the alien into a sitting position, propping him up against the boulder that had nearly been the death of him.

Philippa became aware of an armored hand resting on her shoulder as she slowly regained control of her breathing.

“Quick reactions there, Corporal, I think you just saved our friend’s life," said Travis. His head turned skyward as his eyes caught sight of a lone shuttle dropping into the crater to settle in the middle of the marine cordon. "That’ll be the First Contact Team. What say we go hand over our prisoner and let them take it from here?"

Philippa nodded and pushed herself to her feet. She stretched out an arm to the alien, who was still leaning against the boulder. The alien hesitated, then took the proffered hand and used it to pull himself upright. For a moment, the two suited figures looked at each other through feature-hiding helmets before the alien slowly crossed its arms over his chest, gloved hands touching his shoulders and gave a small nod of his head.

"I think that was a ‘thank you,’ Corporal," chuckled Travis.

Philippa mimicked the alien’s movements, in an attempt to acknowledge the thanks, before the three of them set off for the waiting shuttle.

The outer airlock of the shuttle was already open as they reached it and there was a suave suited civilian and a gaggle of suited Navy techs waiting for them.

"Lieutenant Travis, I'm Clare Honeywell, part of Ambassador Jelav's First Contact Team. We'll take the prisoner in first, sir. If he’s from Planet II, his atmosphere is richer in nitrogen than Earth’s norm so we have a pressure chamber set up with his requirements. Once he's through we'll bring you in and you can brief the ambassador personally."

Travis and Philippa waited at the foot of the ramp as Honeywell gestured for the alien to follow her into the airlock. With a glance back at Philippa, he slowly walked up the ramp and Philippa lost sight of him as the airlock closed.

Travis opened his link to Philippa. “So we get to brief the ambassador personally. Huh, when was the last time you heard of a civilian listening to what a couple of lowly marines had to say? Five gets you ten we get a pat on the back and a mumbled thanks for your help before we find ourselves back out in the cold."

"You never know, sir. Jelav is a Garundan so he might do things a little differently."

"I'll believe it when I see it, Corporal."

The airlock door cycled open and both marines entered. The airlock cycled quickly and moments later Travis and Philippa were able to remove their helmets. Both gave their crew-cut hair a good rubdown as they did so. It was probably the most irritating thing about wearing the Wraith suit for long periods, no matter how much you tried not to think about it, you just wanted to rub your head sometimes. The day someone invented a way to scratch your head without removing your helmet would be a very happy day for many a marine. The inner door slid open and Travis and Philippa stepped into the shuttle proper. The well-lit personnel bay, which normally held twenty Wraith-suited marines and their gear, was instead full of bustling civilians, all seemingly talking at the same time. Not knowing what to do next, the two marines just stood by the airlock and waited patiently. The sea of civilians parted as the form of an elderly, but remarkably sprightly, Garundan made his way over to the marines.

"Ah, Lieutenant Travis and Corporal Papadomas. Welcome, welcome. I believe it is you we have to thank for our guest."

Travis answered, “We didn't really have much choice but to bring him with us, Mr. Ambassador..."

Jelav waved a dismissive hand at the lieutenant’s attempt at an explanation. “However it came about, Lieutenant, you have allowed us to meet a new race, something which doesn't happen every day." The ambassador glanced toward the rear of the cabin, as if in a hurry to return. He hesitated and then asked, "Would you like to meet our guest in the flesh, so to speak?"

An excited, "Oh yes!" slipped out of Philippa’s mouth before she could stop it.

The diminutive Garundan gave the small open-mouthed laugh of his people. "This way, then." The animated civilians parted as the ambassador strode to the rear of the cabin and stopped in front of the protective plasteel window. Hard as steel but clear like glass, plasteel was the perfect alloy for jobs like pressure windows and habitat domes in unfriendly atmospheres.

Seated in the small chamber was the still-partially suited alien. Philippa had no idea what he looked like beneath his pressure suit and was eager to find out. Looking through the plasteel, Philippa was confronted by what she could best describe as the head of a bird of prey atop a hominid body.

Two large, round, brown eyes stared back at her unblinkingly from a head covered in bright white feathers, which changed to darker brown as they disappeared under the pressure suit’s neck joint. Where a human mouth should be there was a protrusion of yellowed bone curving eloquently to a sharp point.

The alien stood and approached the plasteel until it stood directly in front of Philippa. The hands came up and formed the same cross-body move as before, but this time the suit gloves were off. Philippa's eyes widened in surprise as six thin, bony fingers touched shoulders before giving a short nod of the head. Philippa returned the gesture and the alien retook its seat.

Another soft chuckle came from Jelav as he noticed Philippa's reaction. "That’s right, Corporal Papadomas. Our guest has six fingers. It looks like this is our first encounter with a race who escaped Saiph DNA manipulation."

Ever since the discovery of Saiph DNA manipulation on nine different worlds which had been intended to bring forth a species to climb to the top of their respective intelligence chains and become the foremost species of their planet, scientists had prophesied we would, undoubtedly, run into a race who’s development had been free of Saiph interference and who had reached a level of development which would be comparable, if not superior, to our own. And here, behind the plasteel looking back at Philippa, stood a member of that race.

"How are we doing with the translation software?" Jelav called to no one in particular.

A harassed-looking tech off to one side of the chamber answered without raising his head from his terminal, "We've run all the radio transmissions through the computers, Ambassador, and I think I've got the algorithm close enough for you to understand each other. The computer will automatically refine itself as you go."

Jelav gave Philippa the open-mouthed grin of his race, "Shall we, Corporal? It was you, after all, who brought us our guest."

Philippa cleared her throat before stepping hesitantly forward until her face was inches from the plasteel. "Hello. My name is Philippa. Philippa Papadomas of the Commonwealth Union of Planets and we mean you no harm. What is your name?"

Inside the chamber, the bird-like head cocked to one side as the speaker repeated Philippa's words in his own language.

The alien regarded Philippa with unblinking eyes for a few seconds before saying, "I am Weloo. First Grade Technician. I see your computing machines are very advanced." Again the cocking of the head to one side. "Have you come to kill the last of us?"

Philippa hesitated in her response, taken aback by the matter-of-fact question. Jelav took her hesitation as his chance to speak, "Weloo. I am Ambassador Jelav. As Philippa stated, we have no intention of harming anyone. We seek only peaceful contact with your species."

Weloo looked from Jelav to Philippa and back again, "You are not of the same kind?"

Philippa regained her composure and answered calmly, "No, we are not the same species. The Commonwealth we belong to is made up of different races from different planets. Who are these people you talk of? Are they the ones who destroyed the planet around which this moon orbits?"

Weloo’s fingers balled into fists and he became very still. His mind’s eye seemed to conjure the image of his irradiated home. "Six cycles ago they came. Eighteen huge ships. We tried to speak to them. Our best scientists used radio, laser, and even went so far as sending up a small spacecraft to make personal contact with them, but instead they just kept coming on in total silence. When they reached high orbit they opened fire. Bombs fell on every city. Every town and then every village until there was nothing left. In less than two rotations, Edasich was no more.”

"Edasich? Is that the name of your people?"

Weloo looked up as the vision of his destroyed world cleared. "We who remain came from many countries on Edasich and before the destruction, we each claimed to be a citizen of that country alone. We had already established a small subterranean base here on this moon for scientific research. A joint venture between the different nations. However, neither they nor their people remain, so we survivors are all just Edasich now. Nothing more and nothing less."

"But how did you survive the attack?"

"Our base commander, Felan, saw the first bombs fall and ordered every non-essential system shut down in the hope we would evade detection. We kept the radio receivers on and heard the calls for mercy on every frequency. Their pleas were never answered. When the last bomb fell, the silent ships turned around and simply left. Felan ordered the power levels kept at minimum in case they somehow discovered us. For forty rotations, we stayed the same way. The recycled air was always stale and the cold... many succumbed to the cold while some took their own lives in despair. We had nearly reached breaking point, so Felan allowed the reactors to be brought back up to full power. The hydroponics labs, which had only been experimental, were now our only hope for food so they were expanded and we mined for water trapped in the ice below ground. It has been a struggle but we have survived."

A double tone in Travis' ear bug alerted him to an incoming signal. "Go for Travis."