Peggy Sue (The T'aafhal Inheritance) (34 page)

Gretchen leaned closer to the display tank and said, “I guess we had it easy the last time—the Triads made contact with us.”

“Yes, they did all the heavy lifting, along with the ship’s computer,” Sally agreed. “Heck, without the computer we can’t even talk with the Ambassador.”

“Well this crowd hasn’t given us a call,” added JT, consulting readouts on a side console. “They aren’t transmitting anything using radio frequencies.”

“Yes, and that is why we have all of you scientific types along,” the Captain said, suppressing a grin. “When you figure out how to contact the natives let me know.” Jack left the scientists to argue amongst themselves and returned to the bridge.

Throne Room of Tzzztchk XIV, Imperial Pzzst

Tzzztchk, Queen of the Ktchzz and Empress of all Pzzst, lay upon her alabaster throne, while the Imperial astronomer prostrated himself before her. Ministers hovered nearby, ready to denounce or praise the astronomer based on their reading of the queen’s reaction to the news he bore.

“So speak, star gazer,” her majesty rasped. “What momentous portents have you espied amongst the heavens that you seek our attention?”

“Oh, your most beneficent majesty, I bring news of a visitation from the stars,” the nervous astronomer chittered. It was not unknown for her majesty to have the bearer of bad news drawn and dismembered.

“The Dark Lords have returned?” the queen demanded. “Why did We not hear this from the temple oracle?”

“Forgive me, oh great queen, but the travelers who are now circling high above your realm are not from the Dark Lords,” the frightened savant continued in a rush. “They appear to be another form of sky god.”

“How can you know this?” the queen asked suspiciously. From her point of view science and sorcery were one in the same, and no prudent monarch trusted a sorcerer.

“The shape of their ship, Majesty,” he wailed, “It is much different from the vessels of the Dark Lords or their warrior daemons.”

“My Lord High Chancellor!” the queen screeched. “Accompany this seer of heavenly signs to his lair and confirm the veracity of his statements.”

A particularly large, bejeweled and well coiffed attendant hopped forward and bowed deeply. “Immediately, your Imperial Highness.” As that minister hurried the trembling Astronomer Royal from the audience chamber, the agitated monarch turned and rasped to another jewel bedecked attendant, “My Lord Chamberlain, summon the priests and my generals. We must decide how to deal with these new star gods.”

Peggy Sue, Beta Hydri E, Day 3

The Captain was sharing a relaxed lunch with Ludmilla in the wardroom when his comm pip chirped. His brow wrinkled and a scowl crossed his face at the unwanted interruption—he and Ludmilla had seen little of each other the past several days. The ship’s complement was busy preparing for every contingency prior to making contact with the natives on the planet below.

“Go on, Jack,” Ludmilla said. “You know they would not disturb us unless it was something important.”

“It had best be,” he muttered and then answered the call, “Captain, go.”

“Sorry to disturb you, Sir, but we are receiving a message from the planet.” It was the voice of one of the new junior officers, over the comm Jack wasn’t sure which one.

“What frequency? can we make sense of it?”

“They are using light, Sir. From the spectrum it appears to be focused and reflected sunlight. They are sending a code somewhat reminiscent of Morse code—the computer says that it is a degenerate form of a standard trading code, used long ago in this part of the galaxy.”

“Can it be translated?”

“The computer is working on it, with some help from the Triad Ambassador. No translation yet, but I thought you should know.”

“Yes, thank you. Keep me apprised of the situation. Captain out.”
The Ambassador might be of greater help than I thought,
Jack reflected. Looking to his companion he said, “Looks like we are in luck for the second time, my dear. It would appear that the natives down below have taken the initiative and called us.”

“Really? If we can communicate with them, we can arrange a face to face meeting. This is very exciting.”

“And you will no doubt find a reason to be included in the contact party,” he said, teasing her.

“Every expedition should have a medical doctor and a biologist along. Since I am both, sending me frees up a seat for someone else. Besides, I have as much first contact experience as anyone alive.”

“A good officer learns from experience,” Jack replied. “I’m not going to try and talk you out of going this time, but I am going along to keep an eye on you.”

* * * * *

An hour later, Ludmilla and Jack were in the CIC, listening to a translation of the message from the natives. The ship’s computer was providing the translation: “The message appears to be from an individual named Queen Tzzztchk, who claims to rule over the entire planet. The planet, by the way, is called Pzzst by the natives, who are known as the Ktchzz.”

“And what does the Queen say?” asked Jack.

“Roughly translated: ‘Greetings and salutations from Her Highness, Tzzztchk, queen of the Ktchzz and ruler of all Pzzst. We bid you welcome to our realm and hope to greet you in person,’” the Peggy Sue replied.

“I suppose that, given their level of technology, some form of monarchy was to be expected. Interesting that it is a matriarchy.”

“It simply proves that the galaxy is a rational place,” quipped Ludmilla. “It is well known that females are the best rulers.”

Olaf harrumphed and said, “you are simply applying human prejudices to an alien species. Anthropomorphizing the natives probably does them a disservice.”

“I don’t know about that,” said Elena, “but the fact that they spotted the ship in orbit and are making use of natural light to communicate with us is not behavior I would have expected from ancient Rome or China.”

“I think it means that we are not the first visitors they have had from the stars,” added Sally.

“Dr. Li is correct,” said the computer. “knowledge of the trading code is a positive indication of prior contact.”

“So we will not be breaking any first contact protocols, real or imagined,” Jack said. “Commander Curtis, draft a response accepting the Queen’s invitation—get our French diplomat to help with the proper phrasing.”

Gretchen raised a single, questioning eyebrow and asked, “you are certain about involving de Belcour? He’ll insist on being included in the contact party.”

“He’s been on best behavior recently and the reason for having him along is to win him over to our side,” Jack replied. “The best way to do that is to include him in our grand adventure. Hold out the prospect of being in the shore party as motivation, I’m sure that he will cooperate.”

“Aye aye, Sir,” Gretchen answered. Ludmilla’s face looked like she had tasted something foul but she did not comment. Jack glanced sideways at his partner, thinking,
she won’t argue with me about de Belcour in front of the crew, but I’m going to get an earful in our cabin tonight.
 

Destroyer of Worlds, Beta Comae – Sol Transfer Point

Survey of the Beta Comae system complete, the captain of the
ship from Ursae Majoris turned his ponderous vessel toward the star system known to the Dark Ones as
qwyyq106. The calculated transit time was six and a half days, long enough to give the crew a few days down time before preparing for emergence.
 

According to data provided by the Dark Ones, they would emerge above the system’s ecliptic plane, with the target world on the far side of the local star. This was a bit of good fortune, since it would allow them to attack the planet from out of the Sun, hopefully remaining undetected until the locals could no longer mount a meaningful defense. They would then swing far out into the system’s Kuiper Belt and replenish their supply of impact objects, before making another pass.

With any luck, the sterilization of the system’s third planet would be completed within a year,
the Captain reflected pensively. If the fourth planet remained lifeless, as reported by previous surveys, the crew of the Destroyer of Worlds might actually return to the People’s moon alive, with many years of honored retirement before them. The more than five kilometer long ship rippled and slid into alter-space.
 

Grand Plaza, Imperial Palace, Pzzst

After several exchanges of diplomatically worded messages between the Ktchzz and the Earth vessel, plans were made to travel to the surface and meet the natives, face to face. Given the monumental scale of the Imperial Palace—the site they were instructed to land at—the Captain decided that a show of numbers was called for.

Both large shuttles would be used, one of which would carry the Captain, Ludmilla and half of the Marines, including two of the four adult bears, comprising the main delegation. Jack and Ludmilla would be wearing light armor with fishbowl helmets, while the Marines would be fully armed and wearing heavy powered armor. Jack was certain that any monarch greeting strangers from beyond the sky was sure to turn out the palace guard to impress the visitors and he wanted his entourage to be as imposing as possible.

Jack also thought that it would be best for him to make initial contact without a committee of scientists hovering about. He reasoned that dealing with an absolute monarch was best handled leader to leader. Ludmilla got to play the part of the Captain’s consort, which rather amused her, much to Jack’s relief.

Once over the initial contact, assuming conditions appeared safe, a secondary party would emerge to parlay with the Queen’s ministers and draft a joint memorandum of cooperation. This party would be led by Dr. Li and M. de Belcour, with Midshipman Tanner and Kim Lawson along to assist.

The French diplomat insisted that his importance as an envoy would probably be judged by how many subordinates he had in attendance. Since Kim was one of the few crewmembers to befriend him, Jean-Jacques asked for her to be added, while Mr. Tanner was included so an officer was present to keep an eye on things.

They would be accompanied by one of the SEALs, Chief Morgan, wearing light armor with weapons concealed. Jean-Jacques insisted that the “diplomatic party” be minimally armed, to the point that the four diplomats were wearing regular, skintight spacesuits under utility coveralls. At first Jack balked at that idea, but finally agreed, figuring that the natives would probably have nothing more dangerous than the local equivalent of spears and swords. The Chief SEAL should provide sufficient deterrent to any aggression on the part of the natives, or could at least hold them off until more heavily armed personnel arrived.

The remaining six Marines, two bears, two SEALs and several crewmen would stay with the shuttles as a reserve party. The shuttles themselves were piloted by Lieutenants McKinnett and Lewis, with Sandy flying the Captain’s party and Nigel chauffeuring de Belcour and his “diplomats.” The Ktchzz had suggested the inclusion of diplomats in the delegation themselves, which Jack thought a bit odd. Peggy Sue’s computer said that the translation was not exact, but that was as close as the Ambassador and it could come.

The two shuttles approached the sprawling city in staggered formation, the Captain’s shuttle in the lead. As they descended, both released surveillance drones to keep an eye on things and to help relay communications back to the Peggy Sue. The landing area was a large circular plaza, larger than St. Peter’s Square in Rome.

Unlike the Piazza San Pietro, this space was not open to the rest of the city and lacked the imposing colonnade. This plaza was more like an oversized bull ring, with a huge barreled vault on one side, roughly in the position of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.

“That arch has to be more than 60 meters tall at the midpoint,” said LCpl. Ronnie Reagan, peering out a side viewport. Inside the vault, balconies and side doors could be seen dimly. “I wonder what it’s made of?”

“Look at all those ornamental spires and stuff,” said LCpl. Eddie Brown. “It looks like some kind of poured stone, almost like toothpaste oozed from a tube.”

“Yeah, it looks like some of the later work of Antoni Gaudi,” Ronnie replied. “All curvy and organic looking—sort of like half melted baroque. Of course, having only 80 percent Earth gravity helps with that arch.”

“If all that is stone or concrete this place could have some wicked bullet bounce,” said Lt. Bear, ignoring the reference to early 20
^th
century Catalan modernist architecture. “Remember that, if things go sideways and we have to shoot our way back out.”

The two shuttles landed 20 meters from each other with their rear ramps pointed toward the arched opening. From the Captain’s shuttle the ramp lowered until it rested on the flagstone courtyard.

“OK, Lt. Bear,” said the Captain. “It’s show time.”

“Aye, Sir,” Bear replied. “Right Marines, let’s do this like we planned it. Sanchez and Brown, lead us out.”

The first pair of Marines exited the shuttle, side-by-side. Once clear of the ramp they moved to either side of the opening, making room for the next pair of Marines. They descended, passed by the first pair and took positions ahead of their predecessors. The third pair repeated the maneuver.