The Blue Gem, page 20
She stared, horrified, as one rocket after another accelerated to a high velocity. Their engines ceased, and they coasted onward. The holo-display continued to show them, indicating their positions by small points of red. The number of points in the holo-display suddenly multiplied into a sea of tiny red lights, which looked like a swarm of tiny red glo-lik flies converging upon a summer blossom.
They’re missiles, Not-Joh told herself. Not insects, but missiles with fusion obscenities.
They had multiplied at least eight-fold and were now diving on the asteroid ship from many different directions. It was like getting a hint of the existence of a malevolent spirit, no, it was more like seeing the face of evil.
An icon in the holo-display flashed briefly, indicating a change in status. A visible picture of the asteroid ship grew in the holo-display as beams of energy flicked from its surface. Each beam caused a tiny red fly to flare and die. The swarm of red lights continued to draw closer and closer to the asteroid ship until they seemed to merge with it.
A point of light spiked. The holo-display darkened. Another point of light appeared, to coalesce and grow into a gigantic sphere of incandescence, filling the control room with brilliant yellow light.
The holo-display blackened abruptly. Columns of figures scrolled through the air.
Not-Joh felt she had seen the face of the ultimate evil. It was almost a religious experience.
“Spirit-of-the-Mother save us,” she cried. “The Others use fusion obscenities like they’re sand from the desert. What kind of monsters are they?” Fearful but fascinated, she wanted to see what had happened.
It is still my duty, she thought as she worked to recover a recording of the event. “Ah, I’ve got it,” she said. “Replay at slow speed. Filter out the bright light.”
The asteroid ship grew large in the holo-image. Tiny dark flechettes sank down like a flock of hunting maa-li flies about to feed upon maggots in carrion. One by one, the missiles closed on the mass of the asteroid ship, only to disappear with tiny actinic flashes when touched by the flickering beam of energy.
The asteroid ship’s defenses are good, Not-Joh realized dispassionately.
One flechette appeared to close with the surface of the asteroid ship. A point of light started and continued to grow, filling the holo-image with a star-like intensity. It grew ever-more brilliant, lighting up the control room like a new sun. The light slowly faded, until the holo-display was again black, empty.
Not-Joh was overcome with fear and awe. She felt the urge to crawl into the deepest, darkest cave of her Hive. She wanted to hide as far away as possible from these violators of the Way. But the flashing yellow and green icons forced her back.
“Computer, show the ship approaching the Blue-Gem.” She wanted to see what was left of the asteroid ship.
A soft, plaintive sound came from the holo-display. It remained dark. It could not comply.
“Show volume of space where fusion explosions occurred,” Not-Joh said. After that, all she expected to see were rock fragments. The holo-display brightened.
The asteroid ship appeared. Its forward section looked different, as though it were smoother, more rounded. No longer did any of the tiny spiky weapons protrude from its surface. A set of faintly glowing symbols scrolled across the holo-display to show its course. It no longer was heading toward the Blue-Gem. Its course led past the planet in the direction of the system’s star.
An icon in the holo-image flashed to indicate a change of status of a nearby object.
“Display,” Not-Joh said.
The orbiting space station appeared. A small triangular shaped spacecraft slowly moved away from it and then accelerated.
“Course vectors for the spacecraft under power,” Not-Joh demanded. The holo-display showed a large dark area. A tiny twinkling point of light, identified as the accelerating spacecraft, occupied one side. On the other, a point of light indicated it was the asteroid ship. A faint red course vector extended from both to a point in space.
“They are going to the asteroid ship,” said Har-Lih. “Why?” Her breathing flaps flared.
“That I cannot answer,” Not-Joh said. “This may be time to leave. Prepare the Good-Child for departure. Start the ion engines. Warriors, arm the ion drive laser.” The sight of a fusion explosion had been a moving experience. She was filled with fear, or was it terror? Even without oxygen and water, she wanted to flee into the depths of space rather than face those who would use such weapons.
A bright yellow icon flared in the holo-display. The main ion engines would not start.
Chapter Forty-Seven
It wasn’t until much later that I, Kot-Nih, learned the true reason for the violent battle that took place high above the Blue-Gem. It seems those we called the Others are the alien Qu’uda, which of course, you already know. Even though the humans of the planet Earth were fighting to prevent the total destruction of their civilization, we know the Way-of-the-Mother does not condone the use of fusion bombs against life under any conditions.
Yes, yes, I know we use them to power the lasers used in our planetary defense system, but we Hoo-Lii never use them directly on planets or people.
Forgive me, but I’m getting off my main tunnel of thought. It seems the humans sent something with communications capability to contact the Good-Child, a communications pod. That communications pod was attacked immediately after the Qu’uda craft crippled the Good-Child. Now that we understand the nature of the Qu’uda intentions, it is clear why the humans subsequently used the communications pod to destroy the Qu’uda craft, which was attacking the orbiting space station.
As for the human’s use of fusion bombs on the asteroid ship, well, it must be viewed as an act of desperation. Even so, according to most priests who serve the Spirit-of-the-Mother, the humans committed a sacrilege. However, there are a few who point out they did not use those weapons on the surface of any habitable planet.
Yes, yes, I know it is a fine distinction, nevertheless it does offer them an argument should they eventually come to understand the universality of the Way-of-the-Mother and seek enlightenment.
I’m wandering again.
What they did after they used fusion weapons on the asteroid ship caused the greatest internal debate within our society. However, I, Kot-Nih, having read their records, now know the humans had no evil intentions directed toward we Hoo-Lii. It was their curiosity about us that compelled them to make the controversial gesture, which was an attempt to communicate with us.…
“Hoo-Lii,” came from the communicator. The greeting had come many times. It had become hard to ignore.
Not-Joh stared silently at Har-Lih for a moment. “Well, what do we do? They know our greeting; they have communicated numbers to us. They make no overt hostile gestures. Do we die like cowards gasping for oxygen in the depths of space? Or do we face them with Hoo-Lii courage?”
Four eight-day cycles of the Mother-of-the-Sky had passed since they tried to start the main ion engines and discovered they were also damaged in the attack. It had taken until now to get them repaired. The air was malodorous with the scent of many hives. The air reserves had dwindled; less than four squared days’ supply remained—even if they used all the water obtained from the dead warriors to make oxygen.
“Well,” Not-Joh asked. “Do we respond to their greeting?”
“We cannot tell them about Hool,” Har-Lih said.
“I agree. Do we have anything to lose by communicating?”
“No, but I’m afraid.”
“I, too. I do not know if these are the ones who destroyed Chud-Loo. If they are, we must destroy them in our departure.”
Har-Lih flexed her torso toward the floor in a faint motion of abasement that signified her acquiescence. “Attempt communications, Not-Joh,” she said.
“Computer, start the learning sequence. Transmit in the teaching mode,” Not-Joh said.
That would start the carefully thought-out process to simultaneously decode the alien language, while at the same time instructing them in the structure and basic form of the Hoo-Lii language. It was a task that occupied their time for several cycles.
“What is it?” Har-Lih had asked the same question several times previously. She stared at the icon that had just started flashing in the holo-display.
Not-Joh continued to ignore the question. “Computer, full scan of radiation emissions from approaching object.” They had watched the aliens carefully and none had approached the Good-Child during the last four squared sleep periods.
Until now.
It was the delta-winged craft from the orbiting space station. Its course led directly toward the Good-Child.
This was the craft that had traveled between the space station and the asteroid ship several times. Careful analysis of data collected by their sensors had revealed that its long, boxy body was fragile and thin-skinned. Its delta wings and tall fin at the rear suggested it was an atmospheric shuttle. With large windows at its front, it was ill suited for war. Further scanning did not reveal any apparent weapons. In addition, careful review of the records showed it had not fired any weapons during the battle over the Blue-Gem.
As it got closer, it slowed and adjusted its velocity to almost match that of the Good-Child. Long doors opened along the axis of its body. A tiny cylindrical object rose out of its interior. For a short while, both delta-winged craft and small cylinder continued to drift closer. The delta-winged craft rotated to face away from the Good-Child. Faint blue cones of fire appeared in its three engines. It accelerated in the direction of the orbiting space station, away from the Good-Child. The small cylinder continued drifting onward.
“Scan approaching object with all sensors,” Not-Joh said.
The spectral characteristics of the approaching cylinder filled the holo-display. Not-Joh read the data carefully and called up several reference programs to analyze the data further.
She breathed a sigh of relief. It showed no radiation characteristic of weapons or fusion reactors. Its emissions were low-level heat and traces of electromagnetic activity. So low, the approaching cylinder appeared almost derelict. Its infrared signal suggested a low-temperature heat reservoir. The computer had no similar radiation profile in its memory banks.
“Computer, probability of hostile weapon,” Not-Joh asked. It’s small, she thought. Too small to carry a passenger and life support system. Too cold, too.
Not-Joh examined the computer’s answer in the holo-display. It was negative with wide error bars. In frustration, she flapped her breathing flaps. “Go to visual image of object, up close.” She did not know what else to do.
The stubby cylinder appeared in the holo-display, revealing tiny plumes of gas from maneuvering jets were slowing the cylinder’s approach. There were other items on its exterior that Not-Joh did not understand immediately what their role was.
“Greater magnification,” Not-Joh said.
As the cylinder expanded in the image, something flickering drew her attention.
“Focus on source of visible radiation.”
The holo-display enlarged the image and showed the boxy cylinder had a screen which had a sequence of images. It took only moments for her to realize it was instructions to operate controls on a cylinder.
The picture sequence finished with liquid flowing out of the cylinder. The screen went blank. It started over again and showed the same picture sequence. She noted the cylinder’s velocity relative to the Good-Child dropped almost to zero. Its gas jets ceased operation.
It was two ship-lengths from the Good-Child, stationary.
Every able warrior had a weapon trained upon it.
Time crawled by. The cylinder’s temperature continued to slowly decline. The screen played the same sequence of images over and over again.
We must do something, Not-Joh thought. The section of the holo-display remained focused upon the cylinder’s flickering screen. She had memorized it. “Shrink image of object,” she ordered.
All at once, she realized the object in the screen was the cylinder. Her breathing flaps flared. Is it? Could it be it contains water? “That object on the screen is the cylinder.” Her nose flaps flared. “It shows the cylinder holds a liquid—”
“Are they telling us what to do?” Har-Lih snorted her breathing flaps. “Is the liquid water? Can they know we need water?”
Not-Joh rose up on her hind limbs. “If it is water, we’re saved.” Every tiny quill on her body quivered. “Get that alien object in here. No, wait. Get a warrior into a space suit. Get the priest to bless him.” Her breathing flaps vibrated, and her spines erected, now stiff with excitement.
“You’re going to bring that thing in here?”
“Yes. Have the priest bless the remote manipulator too and send it out to retrieve the alien device,” Not-Joh said.
It’s a risk, she thought. No, it’s not. We’re already as good as dead. So, what do we have to lose?
“Maybe it’s not water, but a trap? What if it’s a fusion explosive?”
“There is no fusion source on or near the device. It uses such primitive technology it should not even be in space. I think I know what it is.”
“Tell me, what is it?” Har-Lih flared her breathing flaps as if to smell-out a predator seeking to ambush her. “What if it isn’t water?” She closed her eyes, lowered her head, and silently prayed.
Not-Joh did not respond.
The holo-display changed to show the remote manipulator slowly closing on the ungainly cylinder. When the manipulator’s mechanical mandible obtained a firm grip on the alien cylinder, it towed it back to the Good-Child. For a moment, the cylinder disappeared from the holo-display as it slid inside the hull.
The holo-display brightened again to show the cylinder within the air lock. The screen on the cylinder continued to show the same sequence of pictures repeatedly, how to operate its controls. The sequence again ended with a liquid flowing, which if it were water, would give them the means to get home.
Inside the airlock, the higher light levels revealed the screen had a visual sensor with an attached transmitter.
“So,” said Not-Joh, “They’re watching us, too.”
“Perhaps we should destroy it, so they cannot learn how badly we’re damaged.” The tone of Har-Lih’s voice lacked any authority to cause any Chosen-Male warrior to respond.
“It doesn’t matter,” Not-Joh said. “They saw how we suffered on the spines of the craft that passed us. They have known of our condition for some time.” She watched the holo-display carefully. “Yes,” she said. “Get a sample.”
The warrior, who had received a special blessing from the priest, followed the directions on the screen and collected a sample of the liquid from the cylinder in a sample container, which he sealed tightly before opening the airlock. Once he passed through a hastily erected decontamination chamber, he brought it into the Good-Child.
“Quick,” Not-Joh said. “Get it tested.”
A small unripened female skilled in the operation of analytical tools put the container in an isolation chamber before drawing a sample of the liquid. The analytical tool responded almost instantly. She repeated the test.
Not-Joh stared at the results of the analysis of the liquid from the tank. “It is water, pure, with no contaminants. More than enough to get us back to Hool, praise be to the Mother.”
She hesitated for only a moment. “Transfer the water from the cylinder into the Good-Child’s system. Keep it isolated from the existing water supplies,” she said. “Use the analytical tool to test it as it transfers. Make sure all of it is water.” It was a gift from the aliens. They had sent water.
“Oh, Blessed Spirit-of-the-Mother, Savior of these unworthy children …” Har-Lih began to pray loudly.
“Har-Lih, let the priest recite the prayers,” Not-Joh said. “There’s work to be done.”
Once the crew transferred the water, the warrior, once again blessed by the priest, moved the cylinder—now much lower in mass—out of the air lock. Floating free off the Good-Child, he attached a device that contained a recording of the language-training program. It also included a copy of the Holy Scriptures that would show the aliens how to achieve enlightenment through the Way-of-the-Mother.
When we return, Not-Joh thought, it is better they speak our language, for they gave us the gift of water.
All on the Good-Child, especially those who had fought with Suh-Joh, understood the significance of the gift of water. Now it did not matter if these aliens had used fusion weapons, for they had indicated they were willing to accept direction, Hoo-Lii direction.
They would bend to the Way-of-the-Mother now they had agreed to become new servants.
“Priest,” Har-Lih called. “It is time for a prayer.”
The priest began the chant that was the special prayer of thanks for surviving battle. As it echoed through the Good-Child, first the Chosen-Male warriors joined in, soon followed by the crew, their voices pitched high in sincere thanks for the gift of life and salvation.
“Open a link to the aliens and send them this message: Hoo-Lii! We shall return to lead you, this we promise,” said Not-Joh. “Computer, prepare the Good-Child for departure from this system. Set the course for the Lin-Fed transfer point. Advise me when the Good-Child is ready.”
The Good-Child’s engines coughed into life. Soon, the low vibration from the ion engines provided its comforting sound to the crew as the ship accelerated away from the planet of the aliens into the darkness and safety of space. It was their first step on the way home.
Not-Joh watched the holo-display for signs of pursuit. No radiation flared; no craft followed.
We are safe, she thought. We are on our way back to Hool.
Inside the privacy of her sleeping alcove, Not-Joh prayed and gave thanks to the Spirit-of-the-Mother for protecting them and gave special thanks for letting them find a new world for her Hive-Mother, Suh-Joh.
