The Scythian Crisis, page 14
part #3 of Space Colony One Series
“Are we talking about whether the fila are smart or benevolent?” Cariad asked. “They moved Ethan to the lake after they cut off his leg. They could have done that and set him and the farmer and his kid free weeks before they actually did. That doesn’t sound kind to me. That sounds like… ” She struggled to find the right word.
“Like they were treating them as test subjects,” Kes filled in. “Yes, I have to agree. That does sound similar to what Vasquez and I might have done. We’ll keep our subjects alive for scientific reasons while we study them. On the other hand, we probably wouldn’t bother to set them free as the fila did if a disaster threatened. We would probably kill them or just leave them where they were while we escaped.”
“But don’t you agree the fila might not be as benevolent as you think?” asked Cariad.
“I guess so, but I maintain that if they do only see us as an interesting new species to study, they’re kinder to their subjects than we are to ours.”
“You’re determined to paint those creatures in a positive light, aren’t you?” said Cariad. “Kes, I really wish you would rethink this decision to meet the fila face to face. You didn’t see Ethan and the other captives after they’d been set free, did you? They were in a terrible state. As well as being filthy and their clothes in tatters, they looked half-starved. I heard that the farmer and his daughter had been surviving on raw roots, and I don’t even know what the fila had given Ethan to eat. I’m amazed they managed to walk all the way from the farming district to the settlement through the mud and devastation. I don’t know how they did it after the ordeal they’d survived.”
Kes replied, “I promise I’ll be careful. But think about this from my point of view, Cariad. Ever since I was a little boy I dreamed of meeting aliens. That dream stayed with me all through school, all through my degrees and my doctorate. I’m not brilliant like you. I had to work like a dog every spare moment I had to make it onto the Nova Fortuna project. And I did it even though I knew the only extraterrestrial species I would meet I would be plants or organisms too small to view without a microscope. But I still did it because it was the only chance I would ever get of achieving my dream.
“When I was revived and discovered that the information from the probes had been wrong, and that Concordia was home to at least one complex organism, I was delighted. Now we not only have the sluglimpets, we have our first ever contact with an intelligent alien species—possibly even more intelligent than us. And not only that, they want to see me. Seriously, Cariad, if you were in my position, what would you do?”
He had a point, but Cariad wasn’t going to admit it. As Kes had been talking, her sense of foreboding had increased. “Then I wouldn’t take the risk of throwing away all that hard work in one moment of poor judgment,” she replied. “You’re already communicating with the fila. Isn’t that enough? Why do you need to see them too? Didn’t you see them in the water around the ship?”
“I did, but I want to see them more closely. And I have a feeling that they’ve asked me to come to the water to meet them for a reason. Maybe they want to show me something. I was wondering if they’ve managed to decipher our written language and want me to read something.”
“But they could display writing on any interface screen,” said Cariad.
“They might not have figured that out yet,” Kes said.
Cariad was out of arguments for the moment. She knew from experience that Kes could be stubborn, and she also knew he was in a state where the more she pushed, the more he would resist. Single-mindedness was a useful trait for a scientist but it didn’t make for harmonious relationships.
The smell of salt water was growing stronger and the noise of their progress had begun to echo as if bouncing off a liquid surface. Cariad’s chest and throat tightened. Her tension wasn’t only due to worry over Kes’ impending meeting with the fila. She was also not looking forward to seeing the creatures close up. The sight of their writhing tentacles in the water around the ship’s hull had been enough for her. She sighed. Why couldn’t the fila be like aliens in the vids—humanoid and able to speak English?
The incline of the corridor they were walking along had almost leveled out. Cariad realized that only a relatively small portion of the ship was filled with water now. They had to be well below the sea level.
“I think we’re nearly there,” Kes said, his tone tight.
Cariad wished it was fear and not excitement she could hear in his voice. He ought to fear the fila more.
The quality of the light had altered. It had become more luminous and it wavered. They were seeing the reflection of ripples on the ceiling. Kes was a few steps ahead of Cariad, speeding in his haste to meet the fila. She hurried to reach him and grabbed his elbow.
“Slow down,” she said. “Take it easy. We aren’t in any hurry.”
He gave her a sideways hug. “Aww, Cariad. You worry too much, but I appreciate it.”
He did slow down a little, though Cariad knew it was only to appease her.
The floor and walls glistened, as if they’d been underwater only a moment previously.
“Nearly there,” Kes said. He gasped. “Look!”
The tip of a mottled tentacle had appeared on the floor of the corridor ahead and was sliding rapidly toward them. Cariad froze. Kes’ arm slipped from her shoulder. He squatted down, staring in rapt fascination at the thin, slithering limb. Cariad backed up. She tried to say Kes’ name, tried to tell him to move away too, but her mouth and throat refused to make any words.
“Would you look at—” The tentacle slipped around Kes’ ankle. “Oh.”
More tentacles were appearing, gliding up the corridor almost too fast to follow. Kes touched the tentacle that had taken hold of his ankle and was winding up his shin. “Hey, that isn’t nice.”
Cariad’s back was against the wet corridor wall.
The tentacle holding Kes gave a violent jerk, tugging him off his feet. He cried out as he hit the floor, back first. The other tentacles had reached him and were twining around his legs and arms. His look of shock was profound.
“Cari—” he said, but a tentacle wound over his mouth. Cariad couldn’t go to him. She couldn’t run. She couldn’t move.
Kes was struggling, but the fila were pulling him now, sliding him easily down the corridor. Kes’ voice was muffled but his eyes said everything. Their gazes met as he disappeared from sight.
Chapter Twenty
Ethan didn’t bother to knock or otherwise alert Cherry to his presence before going into her shelter. He did sleep there after all and he only wanted to check if she was home. But the sight he saw inside sent him reeling out in shock and dismay.
He stood outside, trying to rid his brain of the image imprinted on it. Cherry emerged a few moments later, clutching a blanket around her naked body.
“Ethan,” she exclaimed. “What the hell? You could give me a warning before you come barging in.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t think… It’s broad daylight, for stars’ sake, Cherry. How was I supposed to know you were… That you needed some privacy.”
“When else do you think I can do it? You and Garwin are here every night.” Her look of annoyance faded. “What do you want anyway?”
“I only wanted to talk to you, but it doesn’t matter. I can come back later when you aren’t… When you don’t have company.”
“Is it urgent?” Cherry asked. “Has something happened? We don’t have another loon who wants to go back to Earth, do we?”
“No, nothing like that,” Ethan replied, still trying to overcome his shock. It wasn’t so much what he’d seen Cherry doing, but who she’d been doing it with.
“Well, your surprise entrance has killed the mood anyway,” Cherry replied. “I can talk with you if you want. Wait here a minute.”
Ethan stuck his hands in his pockets and went for a short stroll along the path. He hoped that in time he would forget the picture that was stuck in the forefront of his mind but he didn’t think that would happen anytime soon. As he returned to Cherry’s shelter she re-emerged, dressed this time.
“He isn’t coming out then?” Ethan asked.
“No, he said he’s going to take a nap, so I said he can sleep there for a while. What did you want to talk about?”
“Let’s walk a bit, huh?” Ethan suggested. “We can go and see the progress on the flitter pile.” The three Guardians who had been working at the settlement had nearly completed excavating the pile and retrieving all the flitters.
Ethan had intended to speak with Cherry about his ideas for raising morale in the settlement, but he had a more burning question that he was compelled to ask first.
His question comprised one word: “Aubriot?”
“Oh, you saw who was with me, did you?”
“I did, though I wish I hadn’t,” Ethan replied. “Don’t get me wrong. I see you as a good friend and no more than that. But of all the men in the settlement, you had to choose Aubriot?”
“Why wouldn’t I choose Aubriot? What does it matter? And what do you care?”
“What does it matter? You know what he’s like. You were there that time he attacked me, right? Or did you forget about that?”
“Don’t be stupid, Ethan. Of course I remember it. I took him to the hospital, didn’t I?”
“That’s right. You did. Was that where this thing with him started? Wait. I don’t even want to know.”
“You don’t have any right to know,” said Cherry heatedly. “It’s none of your business.”
“I’m sorry. You’re right.” Yet Ethan still couldn’t get over his confusion. “Still, Aubriot. Is he different in private?”
“Ethan!”
“Okay, okay. I’ll stop.”
They walked another minute or two in silence, then Cherry said, “That fight he had with you… He’s worried the Guardians are going to try to sedate him again. That’s why he wanted to become Leader. He’d heard they said they follow the Leader’s orders. He thought if he was Leader he would be safe from them because he could order them to leave him alone.”
“Oh, so it wasn’t a power grab?” Ethan asked.
“Honestly? It was probably that too.”
“Right. So you do know what he’s like. But you still want to be with him?”
Cherry halted and turned to Ethan. “You don’t understand. I’m not with him. And, anyway, it isn’t necessary to like him.”
“You don’t have to like someone to do that?” asked Ethan.
Cherry resumed walking. “No. I don’t, anyhow. So what’s this thing you wanted to talk to me about?”
Reflecting that he did have to like them but keeping his thoughts to himself, Ethan said, “Cherry, what do you think we’re doing here? I don’t mean you and I. I mean everyone. All the colonists, Gens and Woken alike.”
“Uh, colonizing? Building humanity’s first deep space colony. As far as human civilization is concerned, we’re it, right? As I understand it.”
Relief swept over Ethan. Here was at least one person who hadn’t given up.
They’d arrived at the flitter pile, which was now more of a low heap. The Guardians had entirely excavated it, leaving only a low, wide-spreading layer of mud and debris. Fourteen flitters stood in a line, all clean but damaged to a lesser or greater extent. The sight of the Guardians’ efforts reassured Ethan somewhat. It was clear visual evidence of the benefit the androids brought to the colony. He hoped it would go a long way to restoring the colonists’ trust.
“Why are you asking?” Cherry asked.
“I was talking to a couple earlier,” Ethan replied, “trying to gauge the general mood around here, you know? We have plenty of work ahead of us and then probably a long, hard fight. The people I spoke to basically told me there was no point in doing anything. They implied we were all going to die anyway, so why bother? Garwin feels the same.”
“He does?” Cherry asked. “Seems kinda hopeless.”
“It is hopeless. None of them had any real hope about the future. And when I talked to Garwin about it some more, he said most colonists are only surviving, waiting for the aliens to return and finish us off.”
“Well, come to think of it,” said Cherry. “He’s very different from how he was before Twyla killed herself. He’s lost interest in everything. Doesn’t care anymore. I can see why he might say that.”
“But do you think he’s right about most colonists having the same attitude?” Ethan asked.
“I don’t know to be honest. I’ve been too busy retrieving the supplies from the Nova to socialize. And then the first moment I get to relax, someone interrupts me.” She gently elbowed Ethan in his side.
He laughed, but his somber mood soon returned. “I hope Garwin and that couple don’t represent everyone. If they do, what they believe will become inevitable. We’ll be sunk. We have to fight, Cherry. Every last one of us. Or we’ll never survive.”
“Then you’ll have to change their minds,” Cherry said.
Chapter Twenty-One
Cariad had made her way back to the reproduction facilities, though she couldn’t remember how. Everything from the moment the fila had taken Kes until she’d entered the Gestation Room had been a blur.
Panting heavily, she closed the door. It would lock automatically and the fila wouldn’t be able to open it. The security system wouldn’t allow it. Only she, Florian, and Cassie were cleared to go in there. But would the fila be able to override the system now that they had control of the ship? Perhaps she should return to the agricultural district and get out of the place? But no flitter would be there. Unless the Guardians were still investigating the airlock. Maybe she should contact them and try to go out that way. Had Kes talked to the fila about opening the airlock? He hadn’t said.
Cariad’s breathing was slowing. She needed to calm down and think. She walked through the hanging gestation sacs to the edge of the room and slid down to the floor, her back against the wall. The tiny babies were oblivious to the danger they were in. Would the fila try to take them too? She couldn’t leave. She had to protect the babies.
She should have protected Kes. She should have tried to help him. She’d wanted to, but none of her limbs would move. It wasn’t until Kes had been dragged out of sight that she regained some control of her body. Then her legs had moved but only in order to carry her far away from the dreadful, slithering, grasping, thieving tentacles.
Why hadn’t Kes listened to her? The fila had taken him just like they’d taken Ethan. What was happening? Had they put Kes in a cell like they had their other victims? Or were they doing something even worse? Kes had talked about how the fila treated humans like experimental subjects. What were they doing to him?
Cariad clasped her hands to her face and wept.
Why hadn’t she argued more strongly and persuaded Kes not to meet the fila face to face? She should have refused to go with him, telling him it was too dangerous. That might have convinced him to change his mind.
Though Cariad knew deep down that Kes would have gone anyway, no matter what she’d or done, she couldn’t stop blaming herself for what had happened. It had been a stupid risk. Why hadn’t Kes seen that? Out of the blue, a wave of anger hit her. Now the colony was probably down another man, and a fantastic scientist at that. One of the few who would have been able to help them understand Concordian organisms.
“Why didn’t you listen to me?” Cariad muttered. She remembered the too-brief moments she and Kes had shared while preparing for the departure of the Nova Fortuna. Exhausted by their long work hours, snatching thirty minutes here and there to spend together before collapsing with tiredness. Poor Kes. She couldn’t bear to think of him with those horrible creatures.
Finally, Cariad’s heart ceased racing and her breathing returned to normal. She dried her tears. Crying wouldn’t bring Kes back. She rested the back of her head on the wall and rubbed her eyes with her palms, telling herself not to despair. Ethan and the other captives had been released alive. Hopefully the same would be true of Kes.
She would have to comm the settlement and tell them what had happened. Who should she tell? The Leader, she guessed. The thought of talking to Ethan made her feel uncomfortable but she had to send the news.
As Cariad lifted a hand to her comm button it hit her. Comm. The fila were contactable through the ship’s comm. Maybe she could try to speak to them. She might even be able to persuade them to release Kes.
Cariad jumped to her feet and walked up the inclined floor toward the Gestation Room exit. But just as she was about to open the door she hesitated. What if the fila were outside, waiting for her?
No, that was ridiculous. If the creatures were able to slide all the way up through the dry sections of the ship they could have done so earlier and taken Kes, or Florian, or anyone else who’d been aboard since the crash.
Feeling more confident, Cariad opened the door. Outside, the corridor was empty. She recalled that Kes had been speaking to the fila via a comm access point on the corridor wall. She approached the small square panel. The sight of the mesh surface made Cariad’s heart race again. She swallowed and leaned forward until her lips were close to the grid of slim wires.
“Hello? Is anyone there?”
“YES,” came the immediate answer. “WE ARE… ”
The reply was so loud, Cariad jerked back her head to protect her ears from the noise. At the fourth word the fila uttered, the volume dropped low, however. It became so quiet Cariad couldn’t make out what the creature or creatures had said, though she guessed it was probably “here.”
She leaned close, preparing to speak again. But as she took a breath, the fila repeated, “YES. We … HERE.” Then she heard, “ARE HERE.”
Cariad tried to reply, but the fila said, “YES, YES, YES, YES, Yes, Yes… ”
Silence fell. The creatures seemed to be finally allowing Cariad to speak. “Where is Kes?” she asked. “You took my friend. Where is he? Where’s the man you took?” She bit her lip. Her throat was constricted and sobs threatened to well up, preventing her from speaking. She swallowed them down. She was doing this badly. The fila wouldn’t know Kes’ name. What words might they know? What should she say in order to make them understand her meaning?
