Space Scout - The Makers Read online

  “It is remarkable that our cultures are also so similar,” I remarked to Manera as we made our way to the lift. “Music, dance, theatre, moral values. I’m not sure how to account for all that.”

  “Love. Don’t forget love.” She gave me a sideways look as she walked into the lift.

  “Don’t forget love,” I agreed. “That sounds like the title of a song.”

  “It is,” she said, and broke into a lilting song, which featured the words ‘don’t forget love’ being repeated incessantly.

  “Very nice,” I said, but she continued to sing the repetitive lyrics with an insouciant smile. “Yes… really nice,” I added. “Really really… nice.” It seemed that the only way to stop her was with a firm kiss, which worked a treat and lasted until the lift arrived at our floor. When I stopped kissing her she started singing again, and I hastily grabbed her and continued the kiss. We exited the lift and walked to our apartment with mouths glued together, to the amusement of a couple of ancient dignitaries walking in the other direction.

  “Oh to be young!” said one.

  “Don’t forget to breathe,” said the other.

  The old chap had a point. Walking, breathing and kissing at the same time is remarkably difficult, particularly after consuming a substantial amount of alcohol. By common consent we decided on walking and breathing, and saved the kissing and other related activities until we were safely inside our apartment.

  Chapter 3

  Departure day arrived and there was huge media attention on our expedition, not just from Hian but from all over the Hianja Federation. We used prepared interviews which were distributed to every media outlet, otherwise we would have had no time to do anything else.

  Going up into orbit using a Hianja Tanseh lacks the drama of a rocket propelled shuttle, but it is much more comfortable. It was a big cargo shuttle full of supplies. Eight passenger gathered on the tarmac ready to board, myself and Manera and six others. They were Manera’s team of scientists, a couple of whom I knew from our Peacekeeper expedition. This was an opportunity to research the Omega Centauri cluster, its origins and structure, so between them they covered all the science disciplines. Two women, four men, mostly young except for one of the men, the venerable Professor Tans Frammic. He was Manera’s old teacher and associate who had contacted her and asked to be included on the expedition. He was a planetary ecologist like Manera, and strictly speaking we did not need him, but Manera did not have the heart to turn the old chap down.

  I was briefly introduced to the team as we boarded and as usual those who had not met me before gave me a discreetly polite scrutiny. The professor on the other hand was openly and curiously nosy. He gave me a long examination, looking me up and down before nodding thoughtfully to himself.

  “Yes. I can see why must go on this expedition,” he said. “Such genetic similarity between two species evolved on different planets should not be remotely possible.” He had the odd habit of seemingly talking to himself, and everybody else at the same time. I didn’t know whether he wanted any sort of answer from me. Manera rescued me by answering his implicit question.

  “The similarities are much deeper than the surface professor,” she said. I felt like saying oh yes baby, you can say that again. “They are both fundamental and genetic. There is no doubt humans and Hianja have been genetically engineered.”

  “Yes,” he agreed. “Using very advanced techniques.” He started nodding enthusiastically, with a small smile and distracted expression on his face. “Ho ho, it’s going to be very interesting.” He shuffled off to board the shuttle , then paused and turned back to me. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance young man. We must talk.” He waved a hand at me before continuing his walk. “Yes talk!” he added loudly. I couldn’t help chuckling. He was the archetypal absent minded professor.

  We all took our seats and fastened seatbelts and after a couple of minutes the shuttle lifted gently and accelerated quickly, the ground beneath us shrinking rapidly until buildings and other detail merged into hazy blues, whites and browns.

  First sight of the Settang Despass was a shock for those who had not seen it before in the ‘flesh’. There were gasps and much craning of necks to see out of the shuttle windows as we approached the behemoth. Hamolatonen and his crew, as well as Colrania and her technicians were already on board the Settang. We were the last remaining passengers and cargo.

  The doors of the cargo bay opened and the Tanseh gently drifted through into the cargo area. Clamps secured the ship and once the external doors had closed the cargo bay was pressurised and we were given the go ahead to exit the shuttle. We exited into the vast bay which also housed four of the Peacekeeper fighters, sleek lethal looking machines bristling with blisters and protuberances housing rockets, guns and lasers.

  The Captain himself was there to greet us and we exchanged greetings and shoulder hugs.

  “I hope everything is in order Captain,” said the professor jovially. “Can’t wait to be off. ?” I could not help chuckling at the professor’s enthusiasm. Having led a sheltered academic life, he was obviously happy to be out of the lab.

  “No problems professor,” replied Hamolatonen. “We have more supplies and ammunition to take on.”

  “Ammunition?” The professor looked surprised. “Why would we need ammunition?”

  “Professor, this is a military ship,” said the Captain.

  “Er, well, I assumed we were using the Settang Despass because of its greater speed,” said the professor. “Is it wise to arrive in an armed military vessel? It may be misconstrued.”

  “Better to be misconstrued than dead,” said Hamolatonen bluntly. The professor was looking doubtful, but nodded amiably..

  “Can’t argue with that Captain.”

  We made our way to our quarters while the robots unloaded the shuttle. Hamolatonen shepherded myself and Manera to one side.

  “A word with you?” he said, speaking quietly.

  “Anything wrong Hamo?” asked Manera.

  “The Guardian Council again,” he muttered, looking disgusted. “They have foisted two … ahem… observers onto the expedition.”

  I remembered the problems we had been given on the Peacekeepers expedition by the two so called Guardian Council ‘observers’. They had pulled rank and almost brought the expedition to bad end.

  “The only good thing,” continued Hamo, “is that Lanatra is one of the two.” She had been on the Peacekeeper expedition, and I had been impressed with her astuteness.

  “Well, that’s good,” said Manera. She had formed a good relationship with Lanatra. “Who is the other?”

  “Guardian Lainser Commra,” said Hamo with a scowl. I had never met the individual and I looked questioningly at Hamo. Manera also shook her head at him.

  “He is closely associated with Guardian Malanisa and the dissidents,” explained Hamo. They were the group who had attempted to sabotage Human-Hianja relationships, going as far as to kidnap me. They had failed, but the movement still had widespread support. Their argument was that Humans were still in the early stages of social evolution and more likely to resort to aggression and violence. Hianja civilisation had gone through a phase of extreme war thousands of years previously, which had left scars on Hianja society leading to a abhorrence of all violence. It had not stopped the dissidents from using violence against me, however, so I suspected some degree of hypocrisy on their part.

  “Commra has pretended to be non-aligned but we believe he is with the dissidents,” said Hamo.

  “He is only one,” said Manera. “We have Lanatra with us.”

  Hamo nodded.

  “I thought you should be warned about him. Otherwise, the preparation are going well. Paul, we have integrated Alfred into our network and he is on line. Channel seven.” I switched my comm to channel seven.

  “Alfred old chap. How’s it going?”

  “Welcome aboard Paul. Everything is going well. We should be ready to depart in a few hours.” It was always
good to hear Alfred old English accent and I could not help smiling. “And welcome Manera, a pleasure to see you again.”

  “Lovely to see you Alfred, figuratively speaking,” smiled Manera.

  “Alfred, I’d like us to have a conference at some point.”

  “Certainly Paul. Once the ship is underway.”

  “Right.” I agreed.

  Hamolatonen was going back to the ships control centre, which was called the ‘bridge’ using old sailing parlance. We headed for our apartment to settle in before attending a pre-departure meeting of the crew and members of the expedition. And meeting the ‘unknown quantity’ Commra, I remembered.

  We met up with Colrania for drinks before the meeting and she turned up with Lanatra. Colrania could never be remotely considered as attractive by Earth standards, but Lanatra was passably handsome, in a ‘horsy’ way, with a lush curvy figure. The ‘girls’ were delighted to meet again but I found myself slightly marginalised, not just because they were female, but Hianja female, which was an extra dimension of difference. I remembered the ancient saying, men are from Mars and Women from Venus. In this case, from somewhere even further away!

  I was smiling to myself in a detached fashion before receiving a heavy prod in the ribs.

  “Hey Earthman, you are not feeling insecure are you?” My beautiful partner looked amused.

  “With three of the most stunning females in the known Galaxy? Absolutely… er … yes.”

  “Don’t worry, Hianja females don’t hunt in packs,” said Lanatra.

  “I’ve heard the opposite, from somewhere,” I said, trying to remember where.

  “Your friend Batsano,” said Manera.

  “Good old Batsano. You and your perfect memory,” I said. “Not to mention, perfect everything else.”

  “Not so bad yourself, Earthman,” was the fond reply.

  “Don’t know what you see in him,” said Colrania with a wink.

  “I think he is very handsome,” said Lanatra with an exaggerated sultry look in my direction.

  “Hey girls, take it easy,” I protested to laughter. We all took a slug from our drinks and relaxed in a companionable silence.

  “So what’s the plan?” asked Colrania, leaning forward, half empty glass in hand, looking businesslike. “When we meet these… what do we call them… Makers?”

  “I don’t think we have a plan, as such. Other than, don’t get killed.” I looked apologetic.

  “That sounds like a good plan. Thin on detail, but essentially sound.” Colrania smiled.

  We had another round of drinks and some fun imagining what would be awaiting us in Omega Centauri, before heading off for the expedition pre-departure meeting.

  Chapter 4

  One would think that three weeks locked up in in a starship in Hyperspace, should, inevitably, become tedious. But Captain Hamolatonen seemed to be a master at finding projects and exercises to keep all of us busy; the crew, the scientists and any casual bystanders.

  Manera and her science team were largely exempted from these duties, but Manera made sure her team were kept busy and were fully trained and knowledgeable. I was literally the odd man out, neither crew, Science or engineering. I was nominally an observer on the Hianja starship. But I was not happy with that role and made sure, with the support of Alfred, that I was au fait with all activities. Myself and Alfred analysed all the exercises, kept an eye on everything, and offered advice as appropriate.

  Manera and I were introduced to the derided Guardian Commra. He was a shock, his appearance reminding me of the eccentric Kreslatcha, a tribe of Hianja that were genetically engineered from ancient Hianja stock and attempted to maintain the old ways. The males were fierce looking, more ‘brutish’ than the modern Hianja male, with lion like manes. Commra was not quite so fearsome looking, and lacked the mane. But his eyes were hooded and his manner reserved. Fortunately we had little to do with him.

  The day came for us to exit Hyperspace and the excitement was immense. We hoped that we would be within a few million miles of the mysterious alien Hyperspace Communications Device (HCD), the one that had transmitted the digital DNA message.

  We took our seats inside the vast control deck of the Settang. Manera and I and the three Guardians, Jansec, Lanatra and Commra were observers in the ‘bridge’ which was otherwise ‘manned’ by Hamolatonen and his crew of five, Colrania with two of her Systems team and two engineers. Around us were a panorama of 3D displays and engineering consoles. Alfred himself, that is the air conditioned drum containing his hardware, was also installed in a corner of the control deck.

  Sitting next to the Captain and seemingly detached from the proceedings was the elegant silver garbed figure of Cora, the Peacekeeper AI who had assisted us in overcoming the hostile Peacekeepers. She was one of the three master AI Peacekeepers, who had taken the form of a Hianja female android. She added an extra dimension of control over the Settang’s weapons, its army of fighters and robot warriors. Although she looked detached, I knew that her AI brain was in contact with the ship’s AI and monitoring all the information inputs.

  Exit from Hyperspace was always accompanied by a gut wrenching feeling of dislocation, followed by the beautiful sight of the blazing stars and Galaxies, and a cheer of relief and excitement. But the stars this time were incredibly, spectacularly dense, with almost no dark sky visibly. Our eyes were met by a blazing dome of light and we all gasped with surprise.

  “Whoa!” I gasped. “That’s a lot of stars.” I heard similar cries of disbelief from around me. Hamolatonen hastily adjusted the resolution and the brightness moderated to show individual stars, but still hardly no darkness between them.

  “We are looking into the cluster,” explained Colrania through the common speech channel. “If we look back into the galaxy…” The view shifted and panned around. The familiar view of Space appeared, the river of stars that was our galaxy, and the glitter of distant galaxies in the blackness of deep Space. “We are at the edge of the cluster,” she continued, “once we dive in then we will be surrounded by stars. The average distance between stars is 0.1 light year. We can jump between them in hours.”

  I shook my head in disbelief at the thought of jumping between stars in a matter of hours.

  “We have located the alien HCD,” announced Colrania. “It is in a system at the edge of the cluster, thirty five light years from here. We will need to make a small jump.”

  I calculated about an hour in Hyperspace.

  “We will take a couple of hours to scan the system and the surroundings,” announced Hamolatonen. “All non crew take a break. Manera, I need your science team.” Manera squeezed my hand and jumped up.

  “See you later toots. I’ll keep in touch via Alfred,” I said, as she bustled off to round up her team. I switched to my private channel with Alfred.

  “Alfred, can you keep me up to date with findings.”

  “Yes Paul. We have just detected weak radio emissions from a number of systems. The cluster is inhabited.”

  “Wow, holy smoke and bloody hell.”

  “It was expected,” he declared calmly.

  “I guess. Still a shock though.” I noticed Hamolatonen was waving me over and I returned his wave and walked over. He was in a huddle with Colrania and his first officer, Commander Pariso.

  “Paul, we have detected radio emissions from a number of systems in the cluster,” said Hamo.

  “Alfred has just told me,” I replied. “It was expected, but still a shock. First there was one, now there are many.”

  “Indeed, it feels almost crowded,” said Hamo. “We are trying to decode the transmissions,” he continued, “Alfred can help us here, he is experienced in that sort of thing.” Hamolatonen was referring to decoding the electrical and digital protocols used by the aliens. This would allow us to listen and view their transmissions, and access their computer data.

  “Have we detected Hyperspace signatures yet?” I knew that the Hianja had this technology. It was how they
had tracked and intercepted the Lisa Jane.

  “It takes a while to scan for them,” said Hamo. “It will be quicker to enter the cluster and have a closer look.” I nodded my agreement.

  “As agreed,” continued Hamo, “we will hold off making contact until we have analysed the situation, and your Earth expedition arrives.”

  “Yeah. We seem to have found a veritable nest of aliens, it may be wise to be cautious,” I said. It was not like me to be so wary. The idea that we could do a survey, then return home without making contact was almost anathema, but I was very aware that the fate of two civilisations may rest on our decisions here.

  “Is there any possibility that the aliens may detect us,” I asked.

  “That would be unfortunate,” said Hamo. He looked thoughtful. “We will make just one Hyperspace jump to the HCD, but well away from any planet.”

  “Yes. Let’s see what we find,” I agreed.

  I took my leave of the Captain and returned to our apartment for a quiet conference with Alfred. After a couple of hours he announced the breakthrough; the radio transmissions had been decoded for some of the alien planets. It appeared that they were not all the same. There was more than one ‘kind’ of alien.

  “Shall I put some pictures on screen Paul?”

  “Yes Alfred.” The apartments 3D lit up and I looked with interest. What I saw was a shock. It was an individual talking into the camera and it was certainly not human. Reptilian perhaps, greenish scaly skin, a nasty looking snout and beady red eyes. But also a very high domed forehead and long fingered sensitive looking hands.

  “Bloody hell! A proper alien. This can’t be the Makers surely?”

  “Probably not,” replied Alfred. “We have another kind of alien.” The picture changed to show a different scene, this time a number of people seated around a table. They were definitely humanoid, with heavy features and deep set eyes. Closer examination revealed differences in size and dress.