Koban 4: Shattered Worlds (41 page)

Carson grimaced. “The Olt’kitapi should have left them where they found them, to eventually overrun the Krall home planet, eating one another.”

“I’m sure as the ancients died they wished the same thing. They were an altruistic race and wanted to help other species change and advance. However, they couldn’t do that for the Krall, so now we have to find a way to survive and to clean up their mess. I hope it happens in our lifetime, but I honestly don’t know how. I’m sure you two don’t want your child fighting this war.”

“His!” Beamed Alyson. Refusing to allow a note of defeatism to spoil her morning. “And no, I don't want him to have to fight hordes of Krall.”

“Then we need to gather and free as many of the Prada, Torki, and Raspani as we can find, to work with us if they wish. To produce the materials we require for the fight, and help us make the technological breakthroughs we need, and convince more of humanity to join the ranks of the Kobani. Therefore, let’s see who’s left on Philodor to help us.”

As Marlyn instructed Kap, her ship AI, to enter a two hundred mile equatorial orbit over the yellow green planet, she called down to the new gravity stabilization deck on level 10. She invited the three aliens there to come up to the Bridge, to occupy species designed seats there, for direct observation and conversation. She assured them there had been no sign of a Krall threat detected.

They could now house a limited number of alien and normal human guests in greater comfort, not to mention in a safer refuge if there was a risk of combat activity. Deck 10 had heavier outer armor and thicker floor and ceiling armor. However, it was the personnel alcoves, with embedded internal trap fields, which furnished needed protection from the maneuvers of the ship itself.

These alcoves provided additional countering of inertial forces, caused by any sudden and violent accelerations of the ship, which could potentially cripple or kill unprotected non-Kobani passengers. In cases of the most severe maneuvering, the individual compartments would automatically seal and rapidly fill with four different types of jells for added cushioning, the type of fluids being selected for each species.

This idea had been taken from Planetary Union Navy ships, to keep humans awake and in control of making combat decisions, which AIs had problems making. The Trap Field inertial compensators were new designs, and were the brainchild of a Kobani weapons technician. They were a scaled up application of the technology used on portable railguns and sliver rifles, which required considerable inertial force to counter the powerful kickback of those weapons, even when carried by a Kobani.

Each alcove’s protective jell was tailored to be the least irritating to the tissues of the species occupying the slots, and jell would fully cover them except where they needed respiratory, visual or communication devices, and waste removal. There were forty slots in all, ten each for the four vulnerable passenger species anticipated. However, with no normal humans aboard on this trip, some of the cylindrical units had been swapped out, so the Beagle carried an additional three Raspani, three Torki, and three Prada alcoves.

Dewy Grass was pleased to be able to visit the Bridge. The Raspani’s mind had only recently been embedded into the former “wild” body she now occupied, and she expressed relief when told she could leave the alcove. “After centuries of confinement in a mentally crowded multi personality mind enhancer, having to wait in this protective cylinder made me feel
claustrophobic
. At least that is the word my internal dictionary says is the proper one to use from Standard.” The Raspani spoke the language almost as well as any human, except with slurring at times, caused by having thicker lips and protruding small tusks. She was using the speech replicator hung around her neck now, to produce perfect Standard words.

Tramakar, the Torki to whom Dewy had addressed her remark, bobbed her carapace on the right side, which indicated understanding, if not a shared sentiment. From her voice box, her translated scrapes, clicks, and scratching sounds were also issued in perfect Standard. “The jell we Torki selected for our protective coating has a pleasant cool feel after the overly warm  temperature humans find comfortable, and it has a very refreshing taste. The fluid is thin enough to pass easily through our gill slits when we open those for underwater breathing. It’s nearly as easy as processing seawater, and contains nourishment. I enjoy the immersion if it’s required.”

On the opposite side of the compartment from them was Nawella, who as a furred Prada was even more delighted than Dewy not to have the protective jell suddenly poured over her body. Claustrophobia was only a small part of her reason, however. Each Prada spent hours preening their fur, and after being coated in the clear jell, none of the solvents tried thus far fully removed the residue. Nawella, as an elder, felt it essential to look her best, and she required hours of preening to look presentable after being coated.

She had a perceptive observation to offer. “I sometimes think the exuberant sense of humor of humans tends to manufacture the excuse to call for an extreme ship maneuver that requires the immersion. Particularly the males of their species.” She ran her small front teeth and slender fingernails through some of her slightly ruffled silky fur, as the thought passed through her mind.

“I intend to ask Maggi Fisher what is meant by the term,
you look like a wet rat.
Of all humans, I trust her to be the most honest in her reply, even when the answer may not please me. If the expression is a form of mockery, there will be a painful nip for Sergeant Reynolds’ posterior, if he isn’t too fast for me. He was the pilot twice when I have been coated with jell on flights where he was in charge. He claimed once it was a false alarm, and no anti-ship missile had been fired after all, or another time that one had missed us. I heard a crewmember say he didn’t think there was a missile, that it was a prank. I found no Krall weapons listed by that name.”

Tramakar, his crab-like physiology being far more different from a human’s than was a Prada’s, nevertheless believed the Torki mind had a better grasp of the immature mannerisms of their newfound human partners. The more reserved, staid and prim Prada seemed to inspire humorous actions and remarks from humans, especially males. She offered some advice, “After speaking with Ambassador Fisher, I recommend that you file your two longer front teeth to make them sharper, and approach Sergeant Reynolds quietly from behind. Kobani are very fast, and have excellent hearing.”

Nawella seemed perplexed. “I should not allow him an opportunity to explain?”

“Oh, I’m certain he would like that opportunity. You must not grant him that advantage, not if you wish to extract the proper amount of personal justice from him. I believe Ambassador Fisher will advise you to do the same.” There followed the untranslatable scraping sounds that Nawella knew was Torki laughter.

By the time the three alien observers had stepped from the lift onto the bridge deck, the Beagle had inserted into a two hundred mile equatorial orbit, and had launched a half dozen scout drones to pass over the middle latitudes and poles.

Captain Greeves turned and said, “Welcome Ladies.”

For some peculiar reason, most female humans persisted in describing females of other species as well-mannered and considerate human women, with high standards of proper behavior in their society. Nawella had looked up the uniquely human cultural meaning, and had shared it with the Raspani and Torki females. They all were equally puzzled, but had decided not to question the usage, since it was clearly intended as a complement.

Marlyn bore a puzzled expression. “I confess confusion, in that we have nothing yet to report of sightings of any of your peoples on the first two large continents. We have nearly completed a pass over both of those.”

She gestured to the three custom designed couch and restraint systems installed for their use. The three opposite view screen panels, one per observer, were set for full control by the observers from their respective stations.

Dewy was the first to review the recording of their approach and to zoom to look closely at the open prairies of grass, visible on the continent they were currently passing over. “Captain, the grasses look very high. I don't see any signs of grazing. There aren’t even any forests. This appears to be perfect territory for wild Raspani to feed.”

In a gesture all of the aliens now recognized, Marlyn nodded. “Our AI, Kap, says it’s not at all what we were expecting. The old Prada records mentioned many native grazers of this world, which are also missing, and this continent was once half covered by forests. The trees are entirely gone, and so are the herds that should have been feeding on the expanded grasslands. We spotted several places where grass fires have burned hundreds of square miles, and have started regrowth. The land appears entirely unmanaged and uncultivated.”

Nawella latched onto the most alarming item that pertained to her own people. “No forests? Not even restored domes?”

They all knew the Prada would have preferentially lived in isolated patches of forests, and if no trees survived, would have moved into abandoned domes, maintaining them and awaiting the return of the Krall they obeyed.

Alyson had been making detailed surveys of the dome remnants seen. “Nawella, each of the four domes sighted thus far has been shattered, and the pieces were widely scattered after that happened. It’s more than mere neglect and a thousand years of decay. The domes were destroyed from the air, probably by missiles, and later the lighter weight pieces were carried away and abandoned. Ground penetrating radar is finding metal pieces and armored glass fragments left hundreds of miles away from domes, in the grass or just below the surface. Two domes that shielded underground factories were hit the hardest. From the signs still showing above the grass and in the pit below, they were blasted by missiles, and burns from plasma cannons show on the larger struts. The dome debris fell into the flooded cavities that formed below, from the adjacent lakes or streams of cooling water, and there are no indications of repairs ever started. Evidently, the Krall didn’t intend there to be anything for their slave workers to maintain. They were not returning here.”

Dewy didn’t consider that an adequate answer. “It would be difficult for the Krall, in in a hurry to leave, to kill every Raspani and Prada spread through the vast forests that were here then. Some Prada would have managed to eke out an existence, even without modern tools. Ferns and grasses would still sustain Raspani, even when native predators eventually returned.”

Tramakar offered an answer that probably had occurred to the uncomfortable looking humans, but they were waiting for the Prada and Raspani observers to think of it themselves.

She uttered the probable truth. “Grass, but no Raspani, forests gone and no domes where the Prada could take shelter. No native animals have grazed here. The Krall clan in charge of this world truly abandoned it, and wanted it left not only uninhabited, but empty of animal life. There is only one way it could appear this way now, after so many years for a full recovery.” She left the obvious inference hanging, letting the bitter fruit ripen.

Dewy had no direct memory of such examples, not even from the records contained in the ancient mind enhancers that had housed their millions of mental Raspani refugees. Worlds left like this one came long after the Raspani herds had lost their intelligence. This came after the Krall had used all of the Raspani worlds, one of their earliest conquests, and made the survivors their staple food. She didn’t make the dreadful connection.

Nawella, despite her reluctance to say the words, certainly knew what had happened, with such clues made obvious. A forward head dart was her nod, and the sidewise motion that followed indicated confusion. “It has to be feral Krall that made it like this, after the small Rekat clan destroyed their domes and factories here.”

Carson shared knowing and relieved glances with his wife and aunt. “We suspected this, but have never seen its result on such a large scale after so long a time had passed. There was a small feral Krall infestation, on an island on Koban, and another older one on a small Haven continent, which had died out. On Koban it had not lasted long, because Koban animals are much better at defending themselves.”

Nawella’s head dart in the affirmative was more emphatic this time. “The Rulers…, I mean the Rekat clan Krall, would have destroyed the domes and factories to deny the Prada any refuge or tools, and probably left many nests of eggs to hatch. The hatchlings would all grow and spread unchecked, for many generations.” Her shoulders shivered in a Prada shrug. It was a sign of recognition and acceptance of facts, not surprised revulsion.

“This continent would have been completely overrun by the hatchlings, and every living Raspani, Prada, or native creature was eventually caught and eaten. Starving, the untrained larger Krall would attack each other, eat those they killed, dig up worms, catch insects, and eat leaves, then eat tree bark, which killed the trees. They would rip up woody shrubs and break off tree limbs to use as clubs against each other to get food. In less than a thousand years, the once huge horde they grew into would have stripped this land down to the grasses and each other. I hope the last of them killed and ate one another long ago, and starved.”

Such a sentiment expressed by any Prada would have been impossible two years ago. The Raspani influence as the elder race, more than human encouragement, had made such maturing possible.

Carson wanted to offer a bit of hope, but he urged caution. “This continent seems barren of animal life, and we saw that half of another continent looked just like this one before it passed behind us. However, there are two other major landmasses we have not passed over yet, and numerous large and small islands.”