Alien Manifesto (4 page)

As I stripped off the camouflage and
stowed my skid I received a nasty shock. All of my instructors
materialized at once in front of my quarters. My heart sank, I had
failed after all.

To my relief Snarth arrived at that
very same moment. “Well done Human Tom, welcome to the team.” He
said simply, gesturing around to my former instructors, each bowing
to me in a show of respect and acceptance.

Having been raised in a church run
orphanage, I never had a family. My teammates in the Special Forces
were the only family I had ever known, short-lived as they were.
Someone was always rotating out, or getting killed. Somehow this
was different. Not only had I earned the respect of these warriors,
they had earned mine.

Snarth, damn his tentacles, was like
that rich uncle who was the black sheep every large wealthy family
has. This place, Snarth’s estate, was a hedonistic paradise and a
mechanical engineering wonder at the same time.

Now Snarth, there was a story. He
would not say where he was from. I always respect a person’s
privacy about that sort of thing. Because it is a sore subject for
me that I do not care to discuss either. From what I could gather
from the other team members, Snarth’s race was long-lived, living
thousands of years thanks to rejuvenation technology. And, he was
incredibly wealthy. He was a collector of the finest pleasures. In
fact, he was renowned throughout the galaxy for it. He could
apparently afford whatever caught his fancy. Snarth said Shorty
owed him a great deal of profit: seeing how rich Snarth was, I
could not comprehend how much Shorty must owe that Snarth would
bother to pursue him.

Snarth’s estate was located on its own
planet, populated only by Snarth’s employees, mechs and guests. It
was a small planet about the size of Earth’s moon. However, it had
every kind of environment you could imagine, polar ice caps, large
lakes, swamps, deserts, old growth woodlands, even a tropical rain
forest full of exotic plants. I could not even begin to understand
how that was possible. I just accepted it, I knew someday I might
learn the secrets of Snarth’s estate, until then I would practice
being patient.

It was a special forces training
paradise. And train we did, twelve hours or more every day. Some
days were in freezing cold, followed by a week in the tropical
jungle. I did not know what we were training for yet, none of us
did. I did know that we would be well trained for whatever it was
we were going up against.

Snarth joined the team in
the gymnasium that morning.
Will he tell
us when we are going?
I mean I was rather
enjoying this training by day and Tasha’s affections by night.
However, I was also eager to get on with the job.

“
Gentlemen, it isss time,”
hissed Snarth. “I have located the artifact and ssShorty’sss
location. It isss azsss bad azsss it getsss, ssseemsss he isss
holed up on a private essstate planet not far from here. Thisss
essstate isss a fortressss sssitting on top of a maze of
underground passssagesss. If he getsss loossse, we will never find
him or the artifact. We are going to kidnap ssShorty and sssteal
the artifact in one lightning fassst raid on hisss compound. Human
Tom, you and the feline massster will go in firssst and disssarm
the defensssive sssystemsss ssso the ressst of usss can land. Take
no prisssonersss except ssShorty, ssstun anyone elssse. I want him
alive,” he said. Then he hissed forcefully “You have your ordersss.
Departure isss at 0400 tomorrow. You will find the missssion
parametersss and building ssschematicsss on your data padsss,
ssstudy them well. I want no missstakesss.” Something about
Snarth’s forcefulness triggered my internal alarms.
He would bear watching.
He is NOT the aw shucks pleasure seeker he makes himself out
to be,
I mused
. I
must be cautious.
As I turned, I noticed
the feline master watching me intently, seeing my internal conflict
and confusion at the change in Snarth.

“
Young one, I see the
confusion on your face about Snarth’s change in demeanor,” the
master mewed softly. “He is dangerous when wronged or angered, but
he is also an honorable being. He has given you his word and he
will keep it, even if it costs him everything he owns. He will not
go back on his word. He demands that from all he does business
with. If you don’t cross him he will not cross you. I have known
him for many years. This is not my first adventure with
him.”

“
But master, why do you
fight for him?” I asked.

“
I do not fight for him
young one. I fight with him, because it furthers my own search for
an ancient artifact that legend says holds the answers I seek,”
mewed the stealth master. “It may be the same artifact Snarth is
looking for. I have been searching many years for the knowledge it
holds,” he added wistfully. “If I can but find it, then I will have
the answers to questions that I have struggled with all my life.
From the time I left my mother’s care I have searched for answers
to the questions about the afterlife,” he said growling. “I have
devoted my life to finding the answers, and soon it may well come
to pass.”

“
But Master, Snarth will
own the artifact,” I said. “This is his expedition and he expects
possession. Even if it is only until he can sell it to the highest
bidder,” I reasoned.

“
I have but to touch it,
young one, and I shall have my answers. That is the only
compensation I seek from Snarth,” the stealth master
answered.

We were interrupted by a thud and a
curse. The canine master had banged his head on the hatchway as he
boarded the shuttle, his view blocked by the gear he carried. After
arranging his gear in the cargo bay, the canine settled into his
newly made nest and went straight to sleep, leaving us alone once
more.

“
And then what, Master?” I
asked.

“
We shall see soon enough,
young one, we shall see soon enough,” he replied. With a whine the
repulser lifts spun and jerked us upward, we were outbound, and the
mission had finally begun.

We arrived at the target planet and
made an unobserved descent to the planet’s surface. The feline
master and I began our reconnaissance of the estate’s perimeter. We
had exited the cloaked, orbiting shuttle under the cover of
darkness and paraglided down to the surface unobserved. We were now
moving toward the main compound. Sensors indicated only one
humanoid life form in the compound. It must be Shorty. That meant
lots of security mechs and alarms.

The Master and I approached a large
boulder which the energy field protecting the main compound had
been built over rather than around. We began our insertion there,
using one of Snarth’s special tools to penetrate the energy shield.
We cut an opening in the energy shield near the base of the boulder
so we could get underneath it. We then used our antigravity sleds
to cover the distance to the main house without setting off any
pressure or infrared alarms.

As the feline master and I
floated down into the open courtyard that led to the main house, we
found our prey asleep on an eating couch in the open
courtyard.
Funny, I thought he would be
better protected
. As I slid off my anti
grav sled to secure the sleeping Shorty I decloaked.

“
No,” yowled the stealth
master as he lunged toward me, startling me.

I heard the Master grunt and the wet
slap of a projectile hitting a vital organ at the same time. I saw
the Master decloak once on the ground, blood gushing from a gaping
wound in his chest. It was a trap! Whirling around to face the
threat, I fired my blaster from the hip at the now decloaked
security mech, leaving it a smoldering pile of twisted junk. My
carelessness had just cost the team dearly.

“
Pass on what you have
learned, young one,” the master strained to tell me, going limp in
my arms.

This had better have been
worth it
. As I held the dead Master in my
arms, I swore another oath of bloody vengeance on Shorty’s life. As
I turned around to claim my vengeance, I saw that Shorty had
disappeared. My preoccupation with the Master’s death had given him
the opportunity to run and hide.
Damn you,
Shorty!

The com link squawked in my ear. It
was Snarth demanding an update. “Report,” he hissed. The rest of
the team had landed and I could hear the canine locating the last
of the security mechs and blaster fire as the Irishman put it to an
end.

“
The master is down and
Shorty is trapped in the next room,” that was the only place he
could go without being seen.

“
What about the artifact?”
Snarth hissed.

“
Still trying to locate,
Sir,” I barked back.

“
Hold, I will be right
there,” Snarth commanded, so I held.

Sensors indicated that Shorty had
blockaded himself in a nearby room with no exit. I only had to keep
him bottled up until Snarth arrived. I relaxed somewhat and took
stock of my condition. No injuries, not even winded, just pissed
off.

As Snarth arrived, I glanced up from
the schematic of the building we were in. “He is in the wine cellar
according to these plans I found on the building’s main computer.
There has been no movement in the room for the past several
minutes. Let me try talking to him see if I can get him to come
out,” I asked Snarth.

“
Shorty, it’s Tom,” I
called out to the wine cellar. “From when we were kids, you
remember? Shorty, I just want to talk. Shorty can you hear me?” No
answer came.

After several more unanswered attempts
to talk to Shorty, Snarth motioned me to try the door. I did not
detect any explosives or booby traps around the door. I opened it
by smashing it open with a violent kick, blaster drawn and set for
stun. I need not have bothered. I found Shorty curled up in the
fetal position, passed out drunk if the empty bottles scattered
around were any clue. A quick check of his pulse confirmed my
suspicion. “Yep, just passed out drunk,” I called out.

“
Load him on the ssship. We
will take him back to my essstate after we locate the artifact,”
hissed Snarth. The Irishman and the canine master half carried
half-dragged Shorty toward the ship, none too gently. The feline
master meant a lot to the both of them as well. Shorty had to
answer to all of us for the feline master’s death. I would not want
to be him when he sobered up.

“
You and I have to find the
artifact. If we haven’t located it by the time ssShorty wakesss up
we will beat it out of him,” Snarth said.

I growled back angrily, “He killed my
friend the feline master. I claim vengeance first.”

“
The massster wasss my
friend too,” Snarth hissed back angrily. “I owed him ssseveral life
debtsss. You ssshall have your vengeance, azsss bloody and terrible
azsss you want, after I get the artifact,” hissed Snarth, full of
menace, his muscles still distended by the adrenalin of the battle.
I backed down, now was not the time for this. As long as he died
that was all I cared about, it did not matter by whose
hand.

Changing the subject abruptly I said,
“These plans show a vault.”

“
ssShorty wasss no
geniusss,” Snarth hissed, finishing my thought aloud, smiling, his
tentacles wiggling. “I can only hope it isss that
easssy.”

~

Later at Snarth’s estate, after much
food, smoke and drink, a salute to the feline master was made. Each
surviving member of the team raised his glass.

Snarth said, “To victory and to my
friend, the Massster. I could never pronounce hisss name, no non-
feline could. I fought bessside him many timesss. He sssaved my
life more than once, I owed him a life debt. I trusssted him with
my life, he taught me many thingsss. I hope he hasss finally found
the answersss he sssought for ssso long. I will misss him. May he
ressst in peace.” Then each of the remaining team members drained
their glass in turn.

~

“
Tom, have you thought
about your future?” asked Snarth later that evening after even more
drink and excellent smoke.

“
Well, I think Earth will
be boring after all this,” I answered.

“
Funny you ssshould sssay
that, my boy. I find myssself in need of your ssservicesss once
again,” Snarth began. “You sssee there are sssome delicate
negotiationsss that require a ssspecial talent, one which you have
in abundance. If you would consssider ssstaying with the team, I
would be honored to fight with you again. Now that I have the
artifact I mussst sssell it quickly in order to maintain my
sssafety,” Snarth hissed.

“
It isss coveted by a group
of fanaticsss called The Followersss of Eli. They have been
sssearching for the artifact for generationsss. They will ssstop at
nothing to get it. Once I contact my buyer, thessse fanaticsss may
learn that I have it. They have believersss everywhere. ssSo you
can sssee I need ssskilled people I can trusssst around me ssso I
can recoup my profit and keep my ssskin attached to a breathing
body.”
This explanation was followed by a
fit of tentacle contortions I had not seen Snarth make
before.
“What do you sssay, my boy?” he
hissed hopefully. “You can live here on the essstate if you like.
And Tasssha isss yoursss if you ssstay.”