Following an Inkling (Part V)
Feb. 14th, 2019 01:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fruzicleSimultaneously, at 2100 hours, on Thursday, the ninth day of the month Janus primus, in the year 2224, all over the Mars Colony, nine individuals received almost the exact same message.
Dax’s read:
Critical Meeting
Friday, 10 Janus primus
1155 hours
Classified Consultation Office Room 2616457
Tell No One
The following day, Dax slipped into Room 2616457 at precisely 1155. He had seen no one else on his way over. Sitting at a control bank of monitors Inside the room was General Irene Takeda, along with two unfamiliar faces. She glanced at Dax in a friendly manner and nodded toward the seat to her left and said, “Take a seat while we await the others.”
One by one, in intervals of seven minutes, the rest of the crew arrived. As it became obvious that this was indeed a reconstitution of the crew from the ill-fated trip six weeks ago wherein they had intended to meet the aliens at the Martian cave, everyone instinctively knew what the topic of the meeting would be. And though they had each arrived secretly, the mood was happy and convivial.
“Officers, I welcome you back,” Takeda greeted them. “I want to introduce you to two additions to our anti-subversive special agent task force, which we refer to fondly as ASS. On my right, we are welcoming Sergeant Fillip MacPherson, who will be stepping in as our animal husbandry specialist, and on my left, MariLuz Corazon, who be an additional mechanical tech, class VI.
We had our debriefing immediately after the Mons Pavonis cave mission. But we are here today to lay plans for the next obvious mission. Though the overall results of that day were positive, as you all know, they were not without sad consequences. We all miss Corporal Kaia Greenacre, both as a valuable resource and as a friend. We owe her the honor of completing that research. Our next task is to further explore the cave where her life was lost.”
Dax dropped his face to his hands. He, more than anyone, felt the weight of the tragic day he had had to lob a life-ending bomb into the mouth of the cave that held not only the aliens, but also his girlfriend. Since that day, he had gone through the motions of life more like a zombie than a living, breathing, smiling human being.
Task assignments were made; gear lists were handed out. Tuesday morning found them all winging quickly toward the Pavonis Mons cave. While Layfield once again piloted the ship, the others had some time to discuss what lay ahead.
General Takeda reminded them, “We will put the ship down a little closer to the mouth of the cave than we did last time. Hopefully, there will no longer be a risk from the aliens, who, presumably are now all dead. That should also guarantee that there will not be a massive sandstorm as there was last year. We will enter the cave to see what they had going on in there.”
“We will rope up to each other,” reminded Charlie, “both to keep everyone safe from falls and also in case we find something down there we’re not expecting.”
“What ARE we expecting?” queried MariLuz. “I really can’t imagine.”
“Well,” Linsa replied, “we learned that the aliens were seeking a world with an atmosphere comprised primarily of carbon dioxide. So perhaps they will not be wearing suits like we will have to.”
“But what form do you think they will have,” asked Fillip. “We've never had any prior knowledge of sapient beings anywhere else in space. If they are intelligent enough to transport to Mars from Alpha Centauri, then presumably they are pretty gosh-darned smart. Maybe they will have enormous crania. You know, big enough to hold their massive brains.”
“Do you suppose they will be mammalian? Or reptilian? Or what?” asked Layfield. He was a great pilot, but not as versed as Fillip in the anatomy of extra-terrestrial creatures.
“I really have no inkling,” replied Fillip. “We have no reason to suspect what they are, but on the other hand, nature has a strange way of repeating tricks that work. For example, in South America we know there are sloths. They live high in the trees, moving very slowly while they digest leaves that are noxious to all other animals. At the same time, there are koalas in Australia. They, too, live in trees, depend upon leaves that are toxic to all other animals. It’s called parallel evolution. Two entirely unrelated species have developed the same traits to survive in similar environments, though they are thousands of miles apart. So, who knows? Maybe the aliens are mammals or reptiles, or whatever, depending upon their habitat. Or were, I should say. They’re dead now, of course.”
Like before, as they flew, Dax stared intently out the viewing portal at the Valles Marianus, Mars’ giant canyon, but this time was far more subdued than previously.
Several hours later, the ship arrived at the adit to the deep cave on Pavonis Mons. The sky was a brilliant tawny gold without a trace of stinging sand.
General Takeda gathered the crew. “As it is only mid-afternoon, I propose we make an initial exploratory venture into the cave. This will give us a preview of coming attractions. Charlie, I want you to go first. Don’t anyone forget to carry your tazegun. Again, our speech will be encoded and transmitted among us by radio. Try to communicate any and all significant observations. This is not only a reconnaissance mission regarding the aliens, it will be an important fact finding for future task forces, whether it be for mining or habitation or whatever.”
After setting a Defense Alert Beacon (DAB) in the ship, the crew strung out, covering the cave from side to side, connected like so many Christmas lights on a wire. Dax, while connected to the others, brought up the rear.
“I feel like we’re entering an ant hill. Look at all the small pebbles here at the entrance,” observed Fillip.
Charlie was farther inside. “The rocks are somewhat bigger in here,” he called out. “This place is as big as a warehouse. There’s a ramp right down the center and it seems there’s some kind of iron track down the middle. It’s getting steeper. Everyone switch on your headlights and mind your footing.”
Some fifty meters in, everyone heard Charlie gasp. Then they heard Linsa quietly saying, “Oh no, oh no.”
“What is it?” inquired Takeda. “What have you found?”
“It’s Kaia,” whispered Linsa. “She’s stretched out on the ground reaching for something farther into the cave. But she’s dead of course.
The others gathered round. It was not clear exactly how many or who was crying, but there was some sniffling. Dax knelt by her side and tucked some small token around her wrist. He bent his helmeted head down to hers as if to kiss her.
“Strange,” said Layfield. “I’m seeing some tiny little black pellets on the ground around her. They are almost too perfect to be rocks.”
“What’s that?!” a startled Fillip exclaimed. “I thought I saw something! Over there, against the wall on the left! It was a faint glow.”
“I don’t see anything,” answered MariLuz. “Wait! Oh, never mind. It was nothing.”
“Oh no,” chirped Takeda, “There it is again. A little glimmer! It’s moving!”
All eyes scanned the left wall of the cave. Suddenly Dax cried out, “On the right! I see three fuzzy glowing spots along with three pairs of what I think are eyes!”
“They are catching the light,” said Takeda. “Wherever you turn your headlamp you will see them. Everyone halt for a moment.”
Everyone paused their clomping feet and stood as still as the massive rocks around them. They waited a minute. Then another minute. More and more little glowing points of light emerged closer and closer to them until the entire crew was surrounded. Once they were close, they could see that these weren’t tiny mouse-like eyes, they were big, round golf ball-sized orbs. They were bathed in a soft green glow. With the benefit of their headlamps, they could see that the creatures were actually woolly, like miniature bunny-sized sheep.
“Well, I’ll be,” whispered Linsa. “Martian mammals. I never really believed we’d see it. These remind me of…”
“Rabbits?” offered Takeda.
“Guinea pigs?” suggested Dax.
“Oh, I know,“ tossed in Fillip enthusiastically. They look very much like pikas, which are basically like rabbits, but with small round mouse-like ears. They live in high altitude meadows in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California.”
“Except that these fellows glow,” pointed out Linsa. “See how each one can turn on and off like a light bulb?”
“I like a pika!,” sang out Layfield.
“Of course, the question is,” said Dax, “are they mammalian Martians or mammalian Alpha Centaurians? How did they get here? How do they survive here? Ladies and Gentlemen, congratulations, you have just discovered the very first extra-terrestrial living animals.”
“I wonder if they taste good,” commented Layfield. “I love me some roast rabbit. And lamb. Mmmmmm.”
“Ack, don’t you even think about it!” shouted Dax. “We can’t do to Mars what we did to Earth!”
“Just sayin’,” said Travis. “I have really been missing fresh barbecue.” He scuffed his foot sheepishly.
“Moving on ahead, Crew,” commanded Takeda. She pointed deeper into the cave.
The cave had widened here and flattened out. Their headlamps barely illuminated the space more than fifteen meters ahead. Charlie flipped a switch to deploy a floodlamp. As he did, they all heard a skittering in the dark reaches near the walls. At the same time, they all became aware of the alien transport vehicle parked deeper in the cave. Like a metallic spider it sat, poised for attack.
“What I want to know,” asked Charlie, “is where are the aliens? Remember, we lobbed that bottle in here which caused some kind of explosion. We assumed it killed all the aliens that were in here. So far all we’ve seen are those cute little glowing pikas. I doubt THEY piloted that ship in here.”
Charlie set up his floodlamp to be stationary so they could all spread out and explore. Fillip went to the back corners where there were jumbles of armchair-sized scree. MariLuz was following close behind him. Dax stayed farthest back and Charlie advanced deeper into the cave. Takeda was examining the roof, which soared twenty meters above them. Linsa decided to study the lander up close.
“There’s some interesting writing on this vehicle,” Linsa called out. “It looks like a name and possibly some numbers. I also see a large bay for loading cargo or large beings. MariLuz, come check this out with me.”
Mariluz began to cross the cave to where the vehicle was. Suddenly she shrieked and pointed. “A monster! Oh my God, a monster!”
Everyone’s head swiveled to where she was pointing. A huge pair of meter-long antennae attached to a bulbous ant head probed the ground. A three-meter-long ant on spindly stilt legs hove into view. It stopped to sniff the gravel on which they had been walking. Its ponderous head lifted as if to get a heading on which way its prey had gone.
“It’s looking for us!” announced Fillip. “But I don’t think it can actually see. It’s adapted to the dark. However, I don’t want to be around when it figures out where we are.”
“On the other hand, I don’t think it has adapted to eating humans,” countered Linsa. “Where would it find that kind of meal?’
“Maybe it eats the pikas,” replied Fillip.
MariLuz began to cry. “I don’t want to be eaten by that scary abomination. I can see that it is conniving to get us.”
Suddenly she was surrounded by green glowing pikas, who surrounded her with chattering high-pitched voices. She was astonished when they actually began to speak to her in English. “Don’t worry, Miss. They are our slaves. They will do whatever we tell them to do.” Then, they turned toward the hideous formic beast and began to squeak and squeak and squeak.
The lumbering ant-like creature slowly turned and went back into the depths.
“What did you say?” asked MariLuz. “And how do you know English?!”
One pika answered, ”I said ‘Halt, Darkling. Go back to your bed. These people are not to be molested. Tell your brother Inkling the same thing. We don’t want any trouble with our guests.’”
“And did you just call it ‘Darkling,’ like it was a pet?” MariLuz was probing gently. The rest of the crew were nearly holding their breath in astonishment.
The pika replied, “Well perhaps like a pet, but they are indeed our slaves. They do the heavy lifting for us. You don’t think we carried out all the loose rocks ourselves, do you? Ever since we arrived from our homeland near Alpha Centauri, we’ve been able to make excellent use of these dumb beasts. They don’t think, they don’t speak, and they do what they’re told.”
“You may recall we tried to make contact with you. The bottle was sort of a test. We wanted to check whether you were intelligent enough to be cautious about such a gift. A foolish society would happily take the bottle, as indeed did these giant insect-like beings. A more discerning species would act more cautiously. As we were actually seeking compliant natives, we passed on you and moved on to seek the creatures with very little reasoning, yet easily trainable natures. Had you opened the bottle in your own habitat, you would have annihilated yourselves, thus smoothing the way for our own conquest.”
“Wow,” said General Takeda. “Just wow. This is so much more than we were expecting. My crew has worked hard today and we have reached the time when we must retreat to our vehicle outside and eat and sleep. We must continue this valuable discussion in the morning.”
Much bowing and waving ensued. The human crew gathered their equipment and headed up through the dark cave tunnel toward the surface, their feet crunching the gravel as they climbed.
Abruptly, Dax called out, “Where’s Travis?”
“Here I am,” he called out from the far side of the cave.
After most of an hour, they all emerged. The sun was setting as they gathered around their craft. Equipment was being stowed when Dax noticed that Captain Travis Layfield had something bulky in his daypack. Dax took the backpack as Layfield was cautioning, “No, no, it’s just for science…”
Dax gave it a squeeze. Then, he peered inside.
“You bastard!” he shouted.
One by one, in intervals of seven minutes, the rest of the crew arrived. As it became obvious that this was indeed a reconstitution of the crew from the ill-fated trip six weeks ago wherein they had intended to meet the aliens at the Martian cave, everyone instinctively knew what the topic of the meeting would be. And though they had each arrived secretly, the mood was happy and convivial.
“Officers, I welcome you back,” Takeda greeted them. “I want to introduce you to two additions to our anti-subversive special agent task force, which we refer to fondly as ASS. On my right, we are welcoming Sergeant Fillip MacPherson, who will be stepping in as our animal husbandry specialist, and on my left, MariLuz Corazon, who be an additional mechanical tech, class VI.
We had our debriefing immediately after the Mons Pavonis cave mission. But we are here today to lay plans for the next obvious mission. Though the overall results of that day were positive, as you all know, they were not without sad consequences. We all miss Corporal Kaia Greenacre, both as a valuable resource and as a friend. We owe her the honor of completing that research. Our next task is to further explore the cave where her life was lost.”
Dax dropped his face to his hands. He, more than anyone, felt the weight of the tragic day he had had to lob a life-ending bomb into the mouth of the cave that held not only the aliens, but also his girlfriend. Since that day, he had gone through the motions of life more like a zombie than a living, breathing, smiling human being.
Task assignments were made; gear lists were handed out. Tuesday morning found them all winging quickly toward the Pavonis Mons cave. While Layfield once again piloted the ship, the others had some time to discuss what lay ahead.
General Takeda reminded them, “We will put the ship down a little closer to the mouth of the cave than we did last time. Hopefully, there will no longer be a risk from the aliens, who, presumably are now all dead. That should also guarantee that there will not be a massive sandstorm as there was last year. We will enter the cave to see what they had going on in there.”
“We will rope up to each other,” reminded Charlie, “both to keep everyone safe from falls and also in case we find something down there we’re not expecting.”
“What ARE we expecting?” queried MariLuz. “I really can’t imagine.”
“Well,” Linsa replied, “we learned that the aliens were seeking a world with an atmosphere comprised primarily of carbon dioxide. So perhaps they will not be wearing suits like we will have to.”
“But what form do you think they will have,” asked Fillip. “We've never had any prior knowledge of sapient beings anywhere else in space. If they are intelligent enough to transport to Mars from Alpha Centauri, then presumably they are pretty gosh-darned smart. Maybe they will have enormous crania. You know, big enough to hold their massive brains.”
“Do you suppose they will be mammalian? Or reptilian? Or what?” asked Layfield. He was a great pilot, but not as versed as Fillip in the anatomy of extra-terrestrial creatures.
“I really have no inkling,” replied Fillip. “We have no reason to suspect what they are, but on the other hand, nature has a strange way of repeating tricks that work. For example, in South America we know there are sloths. They live high in the trees, moving very slowly while they digest leaves that are noxious to all other animals. At the same time, there are koalas in Australia. They, too, live in trees, depend upon leaves that are toxic to all other animals. It’s called parallel evolution. Two entirely unrelated species have developed the same traits to survive in similar environments, though they are thousands of miles apart. So, who knows? Maybe the aliens are mammals or reptiles, or whatever, depending upon their habitat. Or were, I should say. They’re dead now, of course.”
Like before, as they flew, Dax stared intently out the viewing portal at the Valles Marianus, Mars’ giant canyon, but this time was far more subdued than previously.
Several hours later, the ship arrived at the adit to the deep cave on Pavonis Mons. The sky was a brilliant tawny gold without a trace of stinging sand.
General Takeda gathered the crew. “As it is only mid-afternoon, I propose we make an initial exploratory venture into the cave. This will give us a preview of coming attractions. Charlie, I want you to go first. Don’t anyone forget to carry your tazegun. Again, our speech will be encoded and transmitted among us by radio. Try to communicate any and all significant observations. This is not only a reconnaissance mission regarding the aliens, it will be an important fact finding for future task forces, whether it be for mining or habitation or whatever.”
After setting a Defense Alert Beacon (DAB) in the ship, the crew strung out, covering the cave from side to side, connected like so many Christmas lights on a wire. Dax, while connected to the others, brought up the rear.
“I feel like we’re entering an ant hill. Look at all the small pebbles here at the entrance,” observed Fillip.
Charlie was farther inside. “The rocks are somewhat bigger in here,” he called out. “This place is as big as a warehouse. There’s a ramp right down the center and it seems there’s some kind of iron track down the middle. It’s getting steeper. Everyone switch on your headlights and mind your footing.”
Some fifty meters in, everyone heard Charlie gasp. Then they heard Linsa quietly saying, “Oh no, oh no.”
“What is it?” inquired Takeda. “What have you found?”
“It’s Kaia,” whispered Linsa. “She’s stretched out on the ground reaching for something farther into the cave. But she’s dead of course.
The others gathered round. It was not clear exactly how many or who was crying, but there was some sniffling. Dax knelt by her side and tucked some small token around her wrist. He bent his helmeted head down to hers as if to kiss her.
“Strange,” said Layfield. “I’m seeing some tiny little black pellets on the ground around her. They are almost too perfect to be rocks.”
“What’s that?!” a startled Fillip exclaimed. “I thought I saw something! Over there, against the wall on the left! It was a faint glow.”
“I don’t see anything,” answered MariLuz. “Wait! Oh, never mind. It was nothing.”
“Oh no,” chirped Takeda, “There it is again. A little glimmer! It’s moving!”
All eyes scanned the left wall of the cave. Suddenly Dax cried out, “On the right! I see three fuzzy glowing spots along with three pairs of what I think are eyes!”
“They are catching the light,” said Takeda. “Wherever you turn your headlamp you will see them. Everyone halt for a moment.”
Everyone paused their clomping feet and stood as still as the massive rocks around them. They waited a minute. Then another minute. More and more little glowing points of light emerged closer and closer to them until the entire crew was surrounded. Once they were close, they could see that these weren’t tiny mouse-like eyes, they were big, round golf ball-sized orbs. They were bathed in a soft green glow. With the benefit of their headlamps, they could see that the creatures were actually woolly, like miniature bunny-sized sheep.
“Well, I’ll be,” whispered Linsa. “Martian mammals. I never really believed we’d see it. These remind me of…”
“Rabbits?” offered Takeda.
“Guinea pigs?” suggested Dax.
“Oh, I know,“ tossed in Fillip enthusiastically. They look very much like pikas, which are basically like rabbits, but with small round mouse-like ears. They live in high altitude meadows in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California.”
“Except that these fellows glow,” pointed out Linsa. “See how each one can turn on and off like a light bulb?”
“I like a pika!,” sang out Layfield.
“Of course, the question is,” said Dax, “are they mammalian Martians or mammalian Alpha Centaurians? How did they get here? How do they survive here? Ladies and Gentlemen, congratulations, you have just discovered the very first extra-terrestrial living animals.”
“I wonder if they taste good,” commented Layfield. “I love me some roast rabbit. And lamb. Mmmmmm.”
“Ack, don’t you even think about it!” shouted Dax. “We can’t do to Mars what we did to Earth!”
“Just sayin’,” said Travis. “I have really been missing fresh barbecue.” He scuffed his foot sheepishly.
“Moving on ahead, Crew,” commanded Takeda. She pointed deeper into the cave.
The cave had widened here and flattened out. Their headlamps barely illuminated the space more than fifteen meters ahead. Charlie flipped a switch to deploy a floodlamp. As he did, they all heard a skittering in the dark reaches near the walls. At the same time, they all became aware of the alien transport vehicle parked deeper in the cave. Like a metallic spider it sat, poised for attack.
“What I want to know,” asked Charlie, “is where are the aliens? Remember, we lobbed that bottle in here which caused some kind of explosion. We assumed it killed all the aliens that were in here. So far all we’ve seen are those cute little glowing pikas. I doubt THEY piloted that ship in here.”
Charlie set up his floodlamp to be stationary so they could all spread out and explore. Fillip went to the back corners where there were jumbles of armchair-sized scree. MariLuz was following close behind him. Dax stayed farthest back and Charlie advanced deeper into the cave. Takeda was examining the roof, which soared twenty meters above them. Linsa decided to study the lander up close.
“There’s some interesting writing on this vehicle,” Linsa called out. “It looks like a name and possibly some numbers. I also see a large bay for loading cargo or large beings. MariLuz, come check this out with me.”
Mariluz began to cross the cave to where the vehicle was. Suddenly she shrieked and pointed. “A monster! Oh my God, a monster!”
Everyone’s head swiveled to where she was pointing. A huge pair of meter-long antennae attached to a bulbous ant head probed the ground. A three-meter-long ant on spindly stilt legs hove into view. It stopped to sniff the gravel on which they had been walking. Its ponderous head lifted as if to get a heading on which way its prey had gone.
“It’s looking for us!” announced Fillip. “But I don’t think it can actually see. It’s adapted to the dark. However, I don’t want to be around when it figures out where we are.”
“On the other hand, I don’t think it has adapted to eating humans,” countered Linsa. “Where would it find that kind of meal?’
“Maybe it eats the pikas,” replied Fillip.
MariLuz began to cry. “I don’t want to be eaten by that scary abomination. I can see that it is conniving to get us.”
Suddenly she was surrounded by green glowing pikas, who surrounded her with chattering high-pitched voices. She was astonished when they actually began to speak to her in English. “Don’t worry, Miss. They are our slaves. They will do whatever we tell them to do.” Then, they turned toward the hideous formic beast and began to squeak and squeak and squeak.
The lumbering ant-like creature slowly turned and went back into the depths.
“What did you say?” asked MariLuz. “And how do you know English?!”
One pika answered, ”I said ‘Halt, Darkling. Go back to your bed. These people are not to be molested. Tell your brother Inkling the same thing. We don’t want any trouble with our guests.’”
“And did you just call it ‘Darkling,’ like it was a pet?” MariLuz was probing gently. The rest of the crew were nearly holding their breath in astonishment.
The pika replied, “Well perhaps like a pet, but they are indeed our slaves. They do the heavy lifting for us. You don’t think we carried out all the loose rocks ourselves, do you? Ever since we arrived from our homeland near Alpha Centauri, we’ve been able to make excellent use of these dumb beasts. They don’t think, they don’t speak, and they do what they’re told.”
“You may recall we tried to make contact with you. The bottle was sort of a test. We wanted to check whether you were intelligent enough to be cautious about such a gift. A foolish society would happily take the bottle, as indeed did these giant insect-like beings. A more discerning species would act more cautiously. As we were actually seeking compliant natives, we passed on you and moved on to seek the creatures with very little reasoning, yet easily trainable natures. Had you opened the bottle in your own habitat, you would have annihilated yourselves, thus smoothing the way for our own conquest.”
“Wow,” said General Takeda. “Just wow. This is so much more than we were expecting. My crew has worked hard today and we have reached the time when we must retreat to our vehicle outside and eat and sleep. We must continue this valuable discussion in the morning.”
Much bowing and waving ensued. The human crew gathered their equipment and headed up through the dark cave tunnel toward the surface, their feet crunching the gravel as they climbed.
Abruptly, Dax called out, “Where’s Travis?”
“Here I am,” he called out from the far side of the cave.
After most of an hour, they all emerged. The sun was setting as they gathered around their craft. Equipment was being stowed when Dax noticed that Captain Travis Layfield had something bulky in his daypack. Dax took the backpack as Layfield was cautioning, “No, no, it’s just for science…”
Dax gave it a squeeze. Then, he peered inside.
“You bastard!” he shouted.
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