“Please forgive poor talking,” the dragon said as it led the two gobsmacked Marines into the castle. “Talking will improve with more input.”
Rev exchanged a glance with Randigold. “Poor talking?” It was amazing that they were this advanced. Up until now, the Uauii translators were the finest that humanity had experienced, but those took time to amass any degree of usability. Yet this alien was able to convey enough that Rev had already put his pad, with the pictogram communication program, back in its case.
He wasn’t sure how the dragon managed to speak Standard. They were too far away from Earth to have eavesdropped on radio transmissions. The only possible explanation was that they’d eavesdropped on conversations aboard the ship, and in that short amount of time, had discovered enough to be able to speak in basic, but understandable, sentences.
It seemed incredible that they could do that, but they’d managed to hack into a combat projection, so it wasn’t out of the range of believability. The bottom line was that the dragon was speaking, and Rev could understand it.
Rev craned his head to take in what he was seeing. The interior of the structure was much like the outside. It seemed to be a hodgepodge of different themes, but there was an underlying uniformity at the same time.
And it was bright. The entire place was in various shades of white and transparent. Rev couldn’t spot any windows or light fixtures, but it was very bright, and neither the alien nor the two Marines cast a shadow on the floor.
“I hope you’re getting this,” he whispered into his throat mic.
“Just keep it coming,” Clyburn said. “It’s amazing. And you’re still alive, so there is that.”
“Alive for now.”
Despite that quip, Rev’s initial apprehension when the dragon had approached them had faded somewhat. Maybe it was that the alien could speak that was putting him at ease. You can’t say “Welcome” and then escort your guests into your home while planning to chop them up for dinner.
Actually, you could, but I don’t get that vibe.
They reached the end of the long corridor and entered into a large, soaring room. It wasn’t the architecture that caught Rev’s attention, though, but rather the fifty-to-sixty dragons that were waiting in a huge circle. Some seemed to have clothing of sorts, while others were as naked as their guide, who led them to the middle and stopped.
Rev had never been particularly shy, but with all those eyes on them, he felt more than a little self-conscious.
“It’s like a firing squad,” Randigold whispered.
“A round firing squad?”
“Still feels like we are the target.”
“This is our famint,” their guide said, the bumps under the skin shifting into greater motion.
Rev couldn’t tell if “famint” was a glitch in their translations or if that was a purposeful use of a native word.
“You are ‘human,’ true?”
“Yes, we are humans,” Rev said.
This was deviating from all of their First Contact protocols, one of which was not to initially identify themselves, but Rev was playing it by ear. They already knew they called themselves humans, so why play around?
“We have a query. Are you here with peaceful intent?”
Rev looked around the room. The red, evil-looking eyes were locked onto them. He briefly wondered what would happen if he said no.
He shoved that temptation aside and said, “Yes, we come in peace.”
“That is most agreeable with the Po.”
* * *
“Do you feel safe if we take the shuttle?” Nyad asked.
Rev looked at Randigold, who shrugged.
“There’s been nothing to indicate that we’re in danger, so yeah. We do.”
Nyad hesitated a moment, then said, “Then that’s what’s going to happen. We’re starting preparations to make the jump. We’ll get back up on the comms when we arrive. Nyad out.”
Rev noted that the CO hadn’t said where they were jumping into the system nor where the shuttle would be going. Everyone now knew that the Po could eavesdrop on their comms, and evidently, the trust wasn’t there yet.
“Is that a smart idea, Sergeant Major?” Clyburn asked. “You’ll be stranded with them if anything goes wrong.”
“If we’re gonna continue with this FC, we’ve gotta go full in. And even if this is some elaborate trap, well, they’re not gonna do anything to us while waiting for the Explorer to get here.”
“Hell. You’ve got bigger balls than I have. Figurative balls, I mean.”
“This was the mission. Make FC, then establish a relationship. This is what we were trained to do.”
“Maybe, but I wouldn’t want to be stuck with fifty of the bastards. Especially if I wasn’t armed.”
Rev’s hand reached down to touch the bulge that was the Uauii blade in his pocket. He wasn’t completely unarmed, but he didn’t think the blade would make much of a difference if the dragons decided to attack them.
The last four hours had been interesting, to say the least. The Po had gently grilled them on humankind. Rev wasn’t trying to hide anything, but that didn’t mean he was going to give them everything. It was a delicate dance, unlike any other interrogation he’d ever had.
The flow of information wasn’t one way, though. Rev learned that there were two races on the planet: the Po, and the Zfthu—that was the best that Rev could do with the second race’s name. His human mouth couldn’t really pronounce it. Neither his hearing nor his brain could make much sense out of what the Po said.
That figure Rev had briefly seen running across the field as they were descending had been a Zfthu.
The first time the Po described the Zfthu, they’d use the term “serf.” Later, that had morphed into “client,” so Rev still had no frame of reference for the other race.
Rev put the Q-phone back into his pocket.
“Let’s get back to our hosts.”
Five of them were waiting. While some of the aliens had left after meeting Rev and Randigold, there were still a good number of them still hanging around. But except for their greeter—Rev didn’t know what its name was or if it even had one—the ones who interacted with the two Marines seemed to drift in and out of the conversation.
“I want to find out more about these Zfthu-guys,” he said, stumbling over the weird sounds.
“Do we get credit for two FCs?” Randigold asked. “They’re another species.”
“They aren’t tally marks, Eth.”
“Speak for yourself. I want all the tallies I can get before the rot takes me.”
“Won’t make any difference when you cross the River Styx.”
“What river?”
Rev rolled his eyes. “Geeze, Eth, the River Styx? Like the way into Hades?”
She looked at him with blank eyes.
“I swear, I’m wasting my good comebacks on you.”
He shook his head and rejoined the aliens.
“Um . . . our shuttle? In the courtyard? That will be leaving soon,” Rev said. “Our ship will be coming back to this system, and the shuttle will be returning to it. It is my hope that more of our people will come to meet you if that is acceptable.”
“It is very acceptable, and we hope that your people and ours may have a rewarding exchange.”
Rev huffed, but not about what their guide just said. It was how it had said it. Four hours ago, the dragons were speaking in stilted, but understandable, Standard. Now, they were speaking with a high degree of fluency. The fact that they could figure out how to learn Standard like that by listening only to Rev and Randigold was mind-blowing, and it spoke to either an innate ability or a very high tech.
None of them had obvious high-tech items on their bodies, but the sheer grandeur of their castle hinted that it was the latter. Which led to the Zfthu. As they descended, it sure looked like a medieval-level society out there.
“I’ve got a question for you,” Rev said.
“Please proceed,” their guide replied.
“The Zfthu. How is it that you two different races happened to evolve on this planet?”
“We didn’t,” their guide said and left it at that.
“But, you’re both here. You didn’t evolve together?”
“I see the confusion. Please forgive my lack of skill using your language.”
You’re speaking better than half of my Marines.
“The Zfthu didn’t evolve in the true sense of the word. We evolved them.”
What?
“I believe the correct term is ‘uplifted,’” one of the others said.
Both Rev and Randigold flinched. “Uplift” had been the goal of the Children of Angels. They’d believed that the Centaurs were a more advanced race and could lift humanity up to join them on a higher plane. There were a few who assigned that role to the Naxli, but when the Sia destroyed the Naxli home planet, that had thrust billions of people into the various Sia-worshipping groups.
If they hear about this, it’ll be an invasion as they rush to worship their new masters.
The two humans flinched, but the aliens never faltered.
“Yes, I agree that is a more accurate term,” their guide said. “Uplift.”
“What exactly do you mean by that?” Rev asked.
“Is that not the correct word?” their guide asked.
It extended its smaller middle arm, which ended in a three-fingered, skeletal-looking hand. The palm faced up, and after a moment, a holographic image of a roundish, feathery-looking creature appeared.
“That’s a Zfthu?” Randigold asked.
“No, that’s a Zfth.”
The alien’s pronunciation sounded basically the same, but there might have been a slight difference that Rev could barely discern.
Rev studied the creature for a moment. It looked nothing like the dragons, to the point that they seemed to be completely unrelated. Then again, an alligator and a bandicoot looked like they had nothing in common, either.
The image floating above their guide’s hand started to morph. The roly-poly creature became elongated, then pushed up upon two hind feet. A stone ax appeared in its hands, and the neck stretched, creating a discernible two-eyed head. The feathery fronds shortened, and the image began to wear rudimentary clothing. The ax disappeared to be replaced by some sort of long-handled tool.
Rev realized that he was seeing a time scan of the “uplifting” process. He didn’t know how long this took, but it was fascinating.
The changes stopped, and the Zfthu looked up at Rev, which unnerved him a bit.
“This is a Zfthu,” the guide said.
“They kinda look like humans, in a way,” Randigold said in a hushed tone.
Rev hadn’t thought that, but now that she said it, he couldn’t unsee it. And evidently, the dragons saw it, too.
“Yes, we noticed the similarities as well. It is likely a case of parallel evolution, but we would like to see, with your permission, if there are any common origins.”
Not likely. We’re a long way from home.
“We would be interested in that, too,” Rev said. “We’d like to meet the Zfthu, if that would be possible.”
The thought had struck him that the Po were keeping the other race as slaves. The disparity between the castle of light and the hovels Rev had seen was too severe to ignore. Rev half-expected them to refuse or deflect the request.
He was surprised, then, when one of the other aliens said, “You have freedom of choice. You may do what you want.”
It was the right answer, but Rev had no idea if it was sincere.
“Now we have a question for you,” one of the other aliens said. “You have indicated that your homeworld is in the galactic center.”
“Not the center so much as just closer in,” Rev said.
He wasn’t about to reveal the location of Earth or any planet in human space, and he hoped the alien was not about to press for that.
“You have corrected me,” the speaker said while its skin writhed quicker for a moment. It calmed back down, and the alien asked, “Have you interacted with many more races in your travels?”
Forty years ago, humanity might have suspected there was other intelligent life out there, but they’d never met them. Now, the count was up to nineteen—twenty-one with the Po and Zfthu.
“Yes, we have,” he said cautiously.
“Which ones?”
Rev hesitated. Maybe they were getting into things that Njuguna and her team should cover.
“The Uauii,” Rev blurted out.
“We do not know them by that name. Do you know if they have another?”
“We call them clickers, but that’s just our nickname for them.”
Randigold nudged him. “You can show them a picture on your pad.”
In for a nickel . . .
Rev took his pad out of the case and brought up an image of an Uauii. He held the pad out, and the five dragons crowded around.
They started clicking and making grunting sounds as their skin writhed in what looked like formalized patterns before they stopped.
“We do not recognize this being,” their guide said. “What is the location of their homeworld?”
It wasn’t just Earth or the human worlds. Rev wasn’t going to reveal the location of any planet. He was just making First Contact, not revealing everything there was to know about humanity and the other races.
“I’m afraid that I don’t know. I’m just a Marine making first contact, not a scientist.”
“You are a type of sea creature?” the other alien who’d been questioning them asked.
“What? Oh, no. I’m a—” he gritted his teeth and said the dirty word—“soldier.”
That got a reaction. They stepped back, their little legs churning.
Shit!
Rev’s hand drifted down to his Uauii blade as he chastised himself.
Not a smart thing to say.
The aliens recovered and stepped back.
“You are one who kills others in war?” their guide asked.
Rev exchanged looks with Randigold. He could see the wariness in her eyes.
He felt like he was walking on eggshells, so he tried to keep his statement as neutral as possible.
“A soldier might have to use lethal force, but that is always the last resort. Diplomacy is always the preferred course of action.”
“Have you killed another sapient being?” the alien persisted.
Rev could lie, but that went against his grain.
“Yes, I have, but only when it was necessary.”
Again with the skin-writhing and the clicking sounds.
Rev scanned the room as nonchalantly as possible. There were still thirty or so aliens present. He couldn’t see any weapons, but even without them, Rev could tell that the Po were strong, capable beings. He and Randigold weren’t going to be able to fight them off.
And even if they did, then what? The shuttle might already be gone, and outside of the castle, over the mainland, he’d seen hundreds of Zfthu villages.
Try and change the subject.
Rev pulled up a Kanter on his pad and showed that to the five aliens.
They looked on with interest, and the skin-writing almost stopped.
“These are Kanters. We call them lemmings. We have something over two hundred of them on the ship with us.”
They didn’t seem to recognize them, either. Nor the Breel, Centaurs, Naxli, or any of the others. For as advanced they seemed in some areas, it didn’t look like they got out past their homeworld very often.
Rev was just glad that they seemed to have moved past the soldier thing, and he wasn’t really interested in who they knew about and who they didn’t. But the longer they stayed on the subject, the better, so Rev went down the list, taking his time.
It wasn’t until he showed an image of a Sia that he got a reaction. And it was a significant one.
They went still, skin and all.
“Do you know them?” Rev asked. “They call themselves the Sia.”
There were a few quiet clicks and moans, then their guide said, “They are the Siau.”
“No, they say . . . wait,” Rev asked. “Are you using the ‘u’ like you do with the Zfthu?”
He knew he was butchering the sound, but it didn’t matter.
“Yes, we are. We know the Siau. They are our clients.”
“Clients? Are you saying—"
“We uplifted them.”