SHU'KAN Read online

  The craft landed and the engines started to wind down.

  ‘Her name is Shi’la, and she is flying with you to Iceland. She’s part of the research team assembling there.’

  Stone wasn’t sure he was ready for this. Many humans suffered from xenophobia, especially after the Hiver’s, but no one had even talked to these people except Earths leaders and top military personnel. Everything was happening to fast. He stood his ground as the craft finally quieted.

  The door to the vessel was obvious. They waited for it to open. After a few moments, it slid upward with an odd sounding thud. At the same time, a type of ramp, or causeway, extended from the bottom of the entrance. The first to exit was a well fit male bipedal. He wore all red clothing that seemed to mold to his entire body. He wore no shoes as the clothing seemed to stretch all the way to the end of his feet as one piece. It extended upward ending at a perfect line at his neck and wrists. His skin was completely black-brown in color, and he had no facial or cranial hair. He was still inspecting the male when behind him a female disembarked. She was also well fit and wore identical clothing. Only the color was different. She wore all blue. Unlike the male, she had long snow white hair that reached all the way to her waist. Her skin was also completely black-brown. Stone frantically tried to think of something to say as they approached. Someone should have prepared me for this, he thought nervously.

  They both stopped about three feet in front of him. Now that they were closer, he could make out some fascinating features. Both had three fingers on each hand and an opposable thumb. Their skin, which at first looked smooth from a distance, seemed more leathery or snake-like in texture. Their eyes were a deep brown instead of white, and they both had black irises. They had no eyebrows and just a hint of eyelashes. They had no ear lobes, but definite crevices were visible for hearing. Their nose structure was similar to humans, but the ridge between their eyes was shorter. Physically, their muscular build was similar as well. -Two arms and two legs. The female had breasts, so the reproductive system more than likely was similar. Judging by the way they were studying him, they were having similar thoughts.

  Commander Gain finally spoke. ‘You look like the Hiver’s.’

  Stone could instantly see the similarities. The white hair and dark skin; as well as the humanoid build. If they were offended by Gain’s comment, they showed no sign of it.

  ‘Yes, we’ve had many mutated,’ the female responded. ‘But I’m sure that you’ve suffered similar casualties.’

  ‘Welcome to Earth,’ Gain formally replied. ‘I hope that our gravity isn’t too discomforting. From the file I read, your home planet’s gravity was a little stronger. I’m Commander Gain, direct Liaison to the United Nations. This is Lieutenant Stone. He’ll be overseeing the Security of the research project.’

  ‘Some of your people that were mutated were part of the attack on Earth,’ he said apologetically. ‘I see the similarities. It just caught me by surprise.’

  ‘How are you?’ the male said with a bow. ‘My name is To’il. –What up, brother?’

  Stone looked at the Commander. ‘What did he say?’ He seemed as shocked as he was.

  ‘What-up-brother,’ Commander Gain said grinning.

  The female moved forward and roughly rebuked the male in a language he couldn’t understand. She then composed herself; apparently trying to keep some dignity. ‘I apologize for my colleague’s inept attempt at the use of your slang. We have been fascinated by the unique use of your words.’ She glared at the male. ‘We’re still learning to grasp the concept fully. My name is Shi’la.’

  Stone chuckled at To’il’s obvious discomfort. ‘Don’t worry about it. I’m sure it won’t be the last time we stumble over language use. I’m just grateful you took the time to learn our languages. This would have been difficult otherwise.’

  ‘I will give it further study,’ To’il said after clearing his throat. ‘I suggest we continue our discussion on your transportation craft.’

  Stone gestured for them to proceed. They moved in unison to the Negrav Capsule.

  ‘I have to depart ways here,’ Gain said. ‘The Secretary expects a briefing every twenty-four hours. Another Liaison will meet you when you land.’

  Stone watched him leave. -Looked like he was on his own.

  They boarded the Negrav Capsule and moved to the passenger compartment. Stone looked around appreciating the luxury. There were four seats facing each other with a small table in the middle. The lighting was recessed to give a warm glow and the walls were covered with soft leather. At the center of the seats a Stewardess stood obviously nervous. Stone glanced back at his guests who were standing behind him waiting to be told what to do. He stepped next to the Stewardess.

  ‘You may want to show them which seats are theirs,’ he whispered. ‘And don’t look so nervous. They don’t bite.’ –He hoped.

  ‘Uh, would you like to sit here, ma’am?’ she finally stammered while pointing to a chair.

  He waited for them to sit then took his own seat.

  ‘Ok. We’ll be leaving momentarily,’ the Stewardess said looking relieved.

  Stone leaned back and waited for the Capsule to depart. He needed some quiet time for his head and hoped that he didn’t offend his guests in the meantime.

  It’d been an hour since takeoff, and no one had said a word. Shi’la and To’il sat stiffly occasionally whispering to each other. Everyone was being polite but was at a loss for a conversation piece. Stone was getting desperate. He threw out a question that finally came to mind. ‘So, have you tried developing a bioweapon before?’

  Shi’la looked relieved that he wanted to talk. ‘We’ve made several attempts, but without a live specimen for trials, it proved impossible to fully develop. We hope that working with your scientist’s, we can solve the problem.’

  ‘Developing a bioweapon won’t protect us from another attack,’ he challenged.

  ‘That may be so, but the Hive must be stopped or further resistance won’t matter. War is messy. Eventually we’ll have a mutative outbreak that won’t be manageable.’ She solemnly looked out the window. He could see her thoughts weighing on her. ‘Unlike Earth, my home planet was overwhelmed with the Hiver’s. We were forced to kill millions to contain the mutation.’

  She sat quietly for a moment. He waited for her to speak not wanting to be insensitive.

  ‘My elder parents were infected with the mutation. My entire kor’ni –or, how do you say? –My … town? –Yes, town. It was destroyed. No one survived. Well, some they took. –For food. I’m not sure if that’s any better than the virus.’

  He listened without interrupting. It was as if she was describing the attack on Earth. It had been bad, but not that bad. He couldn’t help appreciate the irony. Humanity warred with itself constantly. It was predicted to be the instrument of our destruction. But because we are violent by nature, the Hiver’s got more than they bargained for. The Shu’kan, apparently a peaceful and exploring race, was nearly destroyed.

  ‘I have to admit,’ he said changing the subject,’ I wasn’t too sure what to expect. Your species looks remarkably similar to mine.’

  ‘Yes,’ To’il replied. ‘We are hopeful that our two species can co-exist. –Tell me. –Your skin. It is so … pale. But not all your species are the same. How many variations do you have?’

  ‘Well,’ he chuckled, ‘I couldn’t say for sure. But I know we have at least four or five different colors to our race. But if we go as far as ethnicity, there are dozens.’

  Shi’la studied him for a moment. ‘That’s fascinating. Our species never evolved beyond what you see. We are all the same.’ She paused again. ‘May I touch your skin?’

  He stood and took off his uniform jacket and rolled up his sleeve. He sat down and held out his forearm. She poked him with one of her three fingers. He noticed that she didn’t have any fingernails, but small almost unnoticeable claws. He glanced at To’il’s hands. His were slightly larger, but there. She looked
almost shocked at the sensation.

  ‘Your skin is so soft. You must have to be careful to avoid lacerations.’

  He laughed. ‘-Yeah, something like that.’

  She joined in his laughter. It was an interesting sound like a chuckle and a tongue roll at the same time. He liked her. They seemed to be more at ease as well.

  ‘You are a soldier, yes?’ To’il asked.

  ‘I’m an Intelligence Officer. You recognize my uniform?’

  ‘Yes,’ he replied. ‘We spoke with your Admiral Cook. He was gracious. Our leaders fully expected that your ships would attack us after we learned that the Hive had attacked your world. –We call them the Scourge.’

  ‘We had anticipated taking some damage while attempting to contact you. –But we were willing to take that chance. Fortunately, your Admiral withheld his attack.’

  Stone wondered of he’d been that reserved. ‘-And what about you? Why the difference in your clothes color?’

  ‘I’m science caste,’ she replied. ‘To’il is warrior caste. We use the colors to distinguish between them.’

  ‘Does that cause … difficulties within your society?’

  ‘No,’ he replied. ‘Every Shu’kan is afforded the opportunity to join any caste they desire when they are inducted from their youth.’

  He was about to ask him to explain when Shi’la interrupted.

  ‘This ship is amazing!’ she exclaimed. ‘It’s odd how civilizations can branch off and excel in specific sciences. Your negative gravity technology is remarkable. We would have never thought to research this possibility.’

  ‘Well you clearly have your strengths as well,’ he replied. ‘That faster than light thing? –Pretty neat. –How’s it work?’

  She thought for a moment before responding. ‘The key is energy and its unique properties. Stars naturally emit positrons that counteract unbalances in their chemical structure. These positrons cause a momentary ripple or crease in the fabric of space-time. It’s possible to hop one of these ripples and ride the wave. Space-time expands in front of you and contracts behind you. The entire process is instantaneous and beyond our capability to execute without the assistance of our ships’ processors.’

  Stone raised an eyebrow in confusion. ‘I’m no physicist, but this ripple thing and space-time? So space is like … a bubble?’

  ‘Well, yes,’ she replied. ‘But it’s also like a body of liquid with an object floating on it. All the objects in space –stars, comets, black holes, asteroids –they’re all floating objects. They have mass and float lower in the liquid depending on that mass. If one of those objects wiggles in the water, it creates ripples. Stars wiggle and create the ripples, we just ride along. Space –or in this case, the liquid –moves instead of the ship. Several of your scientists have theorized the concept before. But our challenge with the technology is deploying it. For example, The Hiver’s have the capability to use FTL without considering the effects of inertia and momentum. –We suspect the ability is based on the principals of your Negrav technology. We, on the other hand, must plot a pre-determined course, build acceleration, and then calculate for deceleration once leaving FTL. Our drives are strictly linear. We hope by combining our technology, we’ll overcome this problem. It would eliminate the advantage that the Hiver’s have.’

  Stone shook his head in amazement. ‘I guess I’ll leave that stuff to you science guys.’ He grinned with renewed appreciation of his new friends.

  He glanced at To’il. He looked bored. He wondered if he would shed a little light on exactly how the Hiver’s invaded their world. ‘To’il, can you tell me more about the Hiver’s and your world?’

  To’il’s expression darkened. ‘The Hiver’s use the same strategy with every species they encounter.’ He took a breath and exhaled deeply. ‘It’s been almost fourteen cycles since the invasion. They show in force as a full Armada. They make no treaties, do not negotiate, and have no mercy. They are relentless in their slaughter and will sacrifice as many of their own kind as necessary to accomplish their goal. They stalked through the avenues of our cities, impaling millions with their razor sharp mandibles. The initial invasion lasted for days. All our colonies, seven planets in all, were attacked the same way. We aren’t a conquering race. What defenses we had were little match for them. After the first attack, we realized their bite caused mutations.’

  To’il looked at Stone. –His voice cracking under the strain of emotion.

  ‘It appears, Lieutenant, that our two races share common destinies.’

  They all sat in silence for a moment; each of them lost to the pain of their memories.

  ‘Twelve colony ships left our system.’ To’il continued. ‘We don’t know if the others have survived or not. But, we realized we had to seek help or our race would die.’

  ‘How many other species have they encountered?’ Stone asked.

  ‘Two that we know of,’ Shi’la replied. ‘But there have probably been more. None of them survived.’

  The next hour passed more quietly.

  Stone woke suddenly with someone jerking on his sleeve. He’d fallen asleep.

  ‘Lieutenant, Shouldn’t we be arriving soon?’

  Shi’la was standing over him looking concerned. He rubbed his eyes to work the sleep out of them then squinted out the window. It was dark out. He checked his chip chronometer. They’d been in the air almost four hours. The flight was supposed to be three.

  ‘I’ll check with the Stewardess,’ he said.

  He got up and walked to the front of the Pod and found her in the service compartment. ‘Excuse me. Is there a weather delay? We’ve been in the air for almost four hours.’

  ‘Yes, Sir. We slowed our air speed. Reykjavik is experiencing severe thunderstorms, but it’s expected to pass before we get there. You were sleeping and I didn’t want to bother you.’ She smiled and patted his arm reassuringly. ‘I’ll inform your companions and put them at ease.’ She moved around him toward the passenger area.

  He turned to use the lavatory when a paper lying on the service counter caught his eye. It was a weather update from Reykjavik Airport, and from the looks of it, it was a nice, clear summer evening. His adrenaline was racing. What the hell’s going on?

  ‘I guess the formalities are over.’

  Startled, he turned at the sound of a voice. He was looking down the barrel of a gun, and the Stewardess wasn’t smiling anymore.

  Admiral Ethan McConnel took a slow look around his office. Behind his desk, double doors opened onto a veranda that gave him a spectacular view of the Shipyard. Spread throughout the room was artifacts of historical significance; most of them from when the United States still maintained its own military. His prized display was at the center of the room under a small plexisteel dome. The interior was vacuum sealed for preservation. The items displayed varied from an ancient carbine revolver to the most valuable piece of them all: a tin mess kit that was issued to U.S. soldiers during the First World War. It was the last known surviving piece of its kind. It was worth thousands on the antique market.

  He sat in his high leather chair with a sigh of contentment. He was a man of power, and he knew it. Thirty-two years of his life had been dedicated to Earth Fleet. He was born to sit in this chair. As a young Ensign and Lieutenant, his ambition to excel was insatiable. He was forced to make some enemies on his rise to the top, but that was a fact of military life.

  His eyes dropped to his family pictures on his desk. His beautiful wife, Megan, had been the rock of his career. Even when Kyle, his son, whose picture sat beside hers, was born, she never questioned the long hours away from home. She was as much Earth Fleet as he was. He suppressed a sudden swell of emotion. He missed her terribly. The past three years hadn’t been easy. She was killed during the Hiver’s invasion when one of the bastards impaled her. He hadn’t been there for her. Duty had called, so she died alone. Kyle was lucky. He’d been at the Academy on lock down. Megan had been on the way home. They found her Pod two days later.
He’d pulled considerable rank and resources to find her. She’d been sitting in traffic when one of the things attacked her Pod and flung her body down an embankment. It hit Kyle hard. –Said she was the lucky one. In a way, he’s probably right.

  For a long while, he sat in silence thinking. The Prime Minister was a fool. The Hiver’s had no interest in our morality. Other’s felt the same way; especially Biotech Corporation. He’d agreed to help them move forward on a plan to be the first to develop the weapon. Why not? Someone had to develop it. Not everything had to be the brainchild of Earth Fleet. And if Biotech was willing to contribute to his retirement fund for certain … advantages, then better for him. It was a win-win for humanity either way. At first he was nervous about taking –did he dare say it? –Bribes? But these were difficult times. Why not look out for his future? All he had to do was arrange some details, provide some restricted access, and watch his account grow.

  He rose and grabbed his dress coat. He was taking an early lunch today. –Time to see what exactly Biotech wanted. After all, he could change his mind any time, right?

  Admiral McConnel was hungry, but he didn’t have a lot of time. The restaurant he chose for the meeting had an outdoor patio. He wanted to appear as public as possible; in case anything went south. He’d heard rumors. He ordered a tuna sandwich and sweet tea and wolfed it down. His appointment would be here in just a couple minutes.

  He looked around while he waited. Downtown New York was coming back to life. Even after the Hiver attack, humanity still pushed forward. People clung to hope even when there seemed to be very little. Shops and stores boasted new paint and other renovations. It seemed like a classic state of global denial, but what else did people have to do? Life still went on.

  ‘How was your sandwich, Admiral?’

  He turned to see a woman sitting at the table behind him. ‘Are you Brianna?’

  ‘Yes.’ She got up and joined his table. ‘We have a lot to talk about. Biotech has unique … goals, Admiral. I understand that you may share those goals?’