Charger the Soldier (41 page)

Elvin understood every word spoken to him,
but he could not answer any of the questions put to him in a way
that the humans could understand. All they heard was a series of
clicks as a response to their questions.

The confusion went on for some time as the
small groups faced each other, trying to find ways to communicate.
Pictures were shown that Elvin could not see, questions were asked
that Elvin could not answer. Body language and math equations were
tried, which all led to dead ends. Frustrated, the humans decided
to return to the small ship to try to find another way of
communicating. Several hours passed before the three re-emerged to
try again, this time carrying a blank piece of paper and some
colored pencils.

Elvin and Eve had also spent time trying to
find a way to communicate and decided that the only way was to wake
one of the eight humans in stasis. They chose the best preserved
member of the original group to revive.

Elvin and Eve came to meet with the humans,
guiding a confused and bewildered young girl struggling with the
effects of many years in suspended animation. Blurry-eyed and
groggy, the young girl stumbled forward to meet the three humans in
encounter suits. Shocked at what they saw, the three humans began
yelling about the discovery of a survivor who had obviously been
held prisoner.

When the mother ship broke orbit and headed
back to Earth, it carried video footage of the entire encounter.
The overwhelmed young girl screamed at the sight of the Taskers and
the confused humans opened fire on the Taskers.

The response of the planet's inhabitants to
aggression from the small band of humans was total and absolute.
Footage of the complete destruction of the small landing craft and
its crew had been transmitted to the mother ship in orbit, and
thence back to Earth.

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