Ninth Orb Read online

  More importantly, she supposed, were they the technological equal of humans? Or could she and her colonists kick their asses back to where ever they’d come from?

  It was all very delightful that the anti-aging drugs that had been discovered that had enabled colonization meant that she would look and feel twenty five for the next couple of hundred years. She’d already invested twenty years of her life in this project, though, and she had no desire to spend another fifteen years on this fucking ship, headed back the way she’d just come.

  Chapter Two

  Eden looked out over the group of colonists that had assembled for the meeting. “It could be many months before we have a really clear picture of the situation, but as far as we can ascertain at this point, the alien installation that is encroaching on our colonial territory is military in nature. It also seems certain that they hail from a male dominated society.”

  Near the back of the room, a timid hand was raised. Eden frowned. She wasn’t ready for questions yet but she sensed that a little less formality might allay everyone’s fears and elevate morale. “What is it, Becky?”

  Becky blushed when half the women in the audience turned around to look at her. “Uh--I was just wondering how you arrived at that?”

  “The military aspect?”

  “The reference to their society. Surely we haven’t had the opportunity to study them enough to know whether it’s patriarchal or matriarchal?”

  “True, but it seems indisputable at this point. We’ve been observing them ever since we discovered their presence earlier, and there have been no females sighted--at all, unless they look like the males, or it turns out that the males aren’t actually males, but some sort of creature that reproduces asexually. Assuming our first impression is correct, though, and these are actually males, the fact that no females have been observed certainly seems to support both of the observations I’ve made. If they were here to establish a colony, as we are, there would be females. The fact that there aren’t, as far as we can tell, seems indicative.”

  “Yes, but--we’re all females. Wouldn’t someone else, studying us, come to the erroneous conclusion that we’re from a matriarchal society? Or they could even jump to the conclusion that we’re asexual--both of which conclusions would be wrong.”

  Irritation flickered through Eden, but she knew the woman had a point. “Obviously we’re not going to know anything for certain for a while. I’m only pointing out what it looks like we’re up against.”

  “So--we’re still planning to go ahead and land?”

  “What about their language? We’d learn a lot more about them a lot faster if the computers had deciphered that.”

  Eden held up a hand to stem an avalanche of questions. “We’re going to have to keep some order to this meeting. One question at the time, please.” She waited until the muttering had subsided before she spoke again. “I’ve spent the past several hours going over the colony plans again. There is absolutely nothing in there to suggest that we simply throw up our hands and give up if we arrive and find the planet occupied. In point of fact, the plans clearly call for colonization whatever we encounter so long as the planet itself is habitable. We all accepted when we signed on that this wasn’t going to be a walk in the park. I don’t think anyone, including me, actually believed we’d come up against another intelligent species, but that bit of human arrogance is beside the point. We’re here. Most of us have already invested twenty years into this project, five in pre-training, fifteen in the trek itself.”

  There was absolute silence when she paused again. “This isn’t a democracy, but I am interested in hearing your thoughts on this. Morale is important to success. So let’s take a poll. Those in favor of tucking their tails between their legs and running back to Earth--let’s have a show of hands.”

  Relief flooded through Eden when she saw only around a dozen hands. She knew there were others who probably agreed and just didn’t want to look like cowards by raising their hands, but it seemed the majority were either ready to stand their ground and take what they’d come for, or at least weren’t ready to run yet.

  “We’ll know more, of course, when the computer does crack the language, but--.” She shrugged. “They don’t seem to talk much. This has made it a little difficult to decipher the language.”

  “Telepathy?’ someone guessed.

  “Possibly. But it’s also possible they’re just a well oiled military machine.” She called up the images she’d selected for the colonist’s viewing. “Notice these males working here. We watched them for over an hour and they continued without pause, no stopping to chat, no breaks to rest--just unhurried but constant movement.”

  Silence reigned for almost ten minutes while the colonists studied the images.

  “They remind me of ants--actually there are several insect societies that behave a lot like this.”

  Eden glanced toward the voice sharply, but she wasn’t certain who had spoken. Returning her attention to the images, she considered the observation critically. “You mean in the sense that the jobs seem clearly delineated?”

  “They sure as hell don’t look like bugs to me. I know there’s nothing to get a fix on the size, but they look huge--and definitely not bug like. Look at the chest and arms on that one! He’s cute enough to make my--uh--heart flutter!”

  “Thank you for that scientific observation!” Eden said dryly. “You’re right, though, computer averages them at between six and half and seven feet. And they’re just too human-like to grasp the possibility that they could be anything other than mammals like us. That doesn’t mean they are, though. No matter how much they appear to be like us, they could be very, very different.”

  “Look,” Cpl Hicks said, striding quickly toward the front of the room where Eden stood. “This is what I was talking about. Notice these here--the ones holding weapons? They’ve got wings and horns. Those there, the ‘workers’, they don’t have the wings, just horns and their horns are smaller than the ones these guys have. The fact that there’s so little verbal communication could mean they’re a well oiled military machine, like you suggested, but it could also be a matter of--well, jobs designated from birth, like the ant colonies.”

  Eden shrugged. “Maybe. As far as I can see there’s just as much resemblance between them and feudal Europe during the dark ages. These workers could be something like serfs. Notice the fortifications here … along the outer edge of the city. This is strongly reminiscent of the defensive walls built around ancient castles, even though their technology seems to suggest they are well beyond that level of advancement. We won’t know much for certain about them until we can listen to them.”

  “So it’s been decided already? We’re staying? Sticking to the plan?”

  Eden followed the sound of the voice and found Captain Ivy Sterling without much surprise. “We have spanned light-years to get here. I’m sure as hell not going to turn around and head back until we know there’s no possibility of establishing the colony we came to create here.”

  “We don’t have the man power or the weapons to launch a war.”

  The comment sent a flutter of alarm through the colonists, though Eden found it difficult to believe the thought hadn’t occurred to any of them. “There is no sign that they’ll be antagonistic. The colony is intact. The bots have been working on it for a year and I can’t see that there was any attempt made to halt their progress or to interfere in any way at all. I think that’s a good sign.” She paused long enough for that to sink in. “The protective shields are fully operational and I also haven’t seen any indication that they have the technological capabilities of punching a hole through them.

  “At the very least, we’re all long overdue for some R and R--off ship. We’ll begin testing the transporters in the morning. If everything checks out, we’ll begin off loading tomorrow after the noon meal. Colonists interested in going should put in requests as soon as possible. We’ll be drawing names for the first group in the morning. For now,
you’re dismissed.”

  After several moments hesitation while that last comment sank in, the women finally rose from their seats and began to file out of the dining hall/meeting hall.

  “If we’re going to be living here, we’re going to have to get used to a new time zone,” someone commented as they began to file out of the room.

  “Oh! My God, I miss sunrise and sunsets--daylight--rain! I hope we can stay. I don’t think I could stand having to face another fifteen years of space!” another colonist muttered to her friends, her comments filtering out over the assemblage and drawing glances and thoughtful expressions all around.

  Eden could’ve kissed the woman. If she’d made the comment herself it would probably have been received with skepticism. Coming from a peer, it didn’t seem like propaganda designed to influence their viewpoint.

  Ivy Sterling approached her, settling a hip on one of the tables nearby. “I have to agree with what’s her name. I’m pretty sick of the ship myself. I’m still not comfortable with making such a decision without consulting with my superiors.”

  Eden studied the woman with a mixture of emotions. Ivy wasn’t just a beautiful representative of her race, she was intelligent and strong. She was also, unfortunately, a by-the-book soldier and Eden could see her personal desires were at war with her training, which was the driving force behind her objections. “It’ll be a good thing, then, when we get the go ahead from mission control,” she replied non-committally.

  Ivy’s full lips thinned with annoyance. “Say what you like, they weren’t expecting us to encounter resistance. As you pointed out, a lot of time and money was poured into this project. They won’t be happy about risking it. I’m not happy about the potential for disaster or loss of life.”

  Eden shook her head irritably. “Granted, but we haven’t encountered resistance--yet. I wasn’t expecting that we’d meet up with intelligent life--not on this level--either. But the world is teaming with life. We knew that before we even set out. We wouldn’t have chosen this planet if not for that. It’s nothing but pure arrogance that left us unprepared for the possibility that there would be intelligent creatures here on a par with humans.

  “Besides, we did know we would have all sorts of things to contend with--plants and animals and insects and micro-organisms we were completely unfamiliar with, all of which carried a potential threat--weather conditions, natural disasters. There was a lot more unknown we knew we’d have to contend with than known, all of which could be dangerous and life threatening to say nothing of the trip itself. It’s nothing short of miraculous that we made the trip without losing any colonists.

  “The project designers knew all of this, too, knew that there would be a great deal of risk to life, and a lot of hardship to endure. They aren’t going to call it off, Ivy, whatever you think. This may be something we hadn’t anticipated, but we’re still going to have to deal with it.”

  Ivy still looked skeptical. “So--what are your thoughts on dealing with it?”

  “I’m sure as hell not planning to go in with guns blazing!” Eden retorted. “We’ll see if landing provokes any sort of violent reaction from the natives. If it doesn’t, then as soon as we have some capability of communicating with them, I’ll instigate peaceful relations and try to come to an agreement to co-exist with them. If politics fail--well, we’ll face that when and if we come to it. In the meanwhile, we’ll keep the ship on alert and keep it in orbit in case we have to retreat.”

  * * * *

  As project leader, Eden was among the first to disembark. Ship’s captain, Ivy Sterling left the bridge in the hands of her second in command, formed up a squad and accompanied Eden and the six sector leaders that stepped into the particle transporters and beamed plantward.

  Their arrival did not go unnoticed. They generated a surprising amount of excitement among the defenders of the installation across the valley from New Savannah when they regenerated on the transporter platform on the roof of the municipal building. Ivy, who’d moved to the low wall that surrounded the platform as soon as she’d materialized and lifted her field glasses to study the fortifications looked grim as she lowered them at last and turned to Eden. “They might not have looked that interested in the colony, but they’ve been watching it pretty closely. They noticed our arrival.”

  Eden snatched the field glasses from Ivy and lifted them to her eyes. As her vision focused a jolt went through her. One of the soldiers on the distant wall held something very like the field glasses she had, and he was looking directly at her. As she watched, he lowered them. His expression was unreadable, making it impossible for Eden to determine the gravity of the situation, but she recognized the face--or thought she did, anyway. It looked like the same male she’d had such a close encounter with before on the bridge of the ship.

  On the other hand, she hadn’t really seen any of the others very closely. There might not be enough difference in their appearance to tell them apart.

  She shrugged. “It might just be coincidence that the male decided to look at about the time we arrived. He didn’t look particularly disturbed.”

  “Then why did he sound an alarm?” Ivy demanded tightly.

  Eden blinked. “Sound an alarm?” she repeated.

  Ivy lifted her arm, pointing to the wall. When Eden raised the field glasses to her eyes again, she saw that Ivy was right. All along the wall facing them soldiers were taking up defensive positions.

  Frowning thoughtfully, Eden lowered the glasses again. “That’s a defensive maneuver,” she said finally. “They don’t know what to expect, so they’re preparing--just in case. Why don’t we try ignoring them and see if they get the message that we’re not interested in tangling with them?”

  “They might take it as contempt--which could totally piss them off.”

  Eden looked up worriedly. “Check the fields. If they’re operating at a hundred percent, then I don’t think we have anything to worry about.”

  One of the soldiers that had accompanied them plugged into her system and called up the information. “Computer verifies that all defensive systems are at one hundred percent,” she responded after a few moments.

  Still frowning thoughtfully, Eden nodded. “We’re just going to have to risk them taking exception at this point. We still haven’t cracked their language and I couldn’t communicate with them if I tried. If our presence seems to stir them up too much, we’ll return to the ship and wait until they settle down a bit to try again.”

  Resisting the temptation to try to communicate with gestures, which could easily be misinterpreted, Eden focused her attention on the city itself with an effort, gazing out at the sprawl below them. In a sense, New Savannah was as cold, boring, and unimaginative as the ship. There was actually pleasure to be derived from the rigidly square, level, totally symmetrical buildings and roadways, however, primarily because of the contrast between the city and the backdrop of cerulean sky, craggy purple mountains, and the view of the valley that lay before the city.

  Heartened, Eden turned after a time and led the group across the roof to the roof access door. It opened readily to her identification and the group filed into the lift. As curious as she was about the administrative offices, they weren’t really high in order of importance. Ignoring the temptation to check them out, she ordered the elevator to the ground level. The heels of their boots echoed hollowly on the stone flooring as they exited the empty building and paused outside to examine the city that bots had built.

  Beyond those that had been built for specific tasks like the municipal building, the hospital, and the police department, none of the buildings had been claimed or assigned and there was nothing to greatly separate any one from another beyond the dimensions. But there was a variation in the sizes and heights that added interest to the otherwise bland cityscape and Eden could easily see that the colonists, once they’d had the chance to settle, could personalize their space to give the city the warmth it was lacking.

  Crossing the walk outside
the municipal building, she stepped down onto the main roadway. At once the road began to move smoothly. Bracing herself for balance, Eden studied the outer façade of the buildings that would make up the city’s marketing center as she moved past. Behind her, she could hear the sector chiefs discussing the merits of the buildings and the faint creak of armor and weaponry as the soldiers shifted uneasily, obviously having found no comfort in the computer’s assurance that the security systems were fully functional.

  As their uneasiness filtered through to her, Eden found her thoughts wandering from the city she was supposed to be inspecting to the aliens across the way.

  More specifically, her thoughts were on one in particular. She could lie to herself all she wanted, but she knew the alien she’d seen in the field glasses was the same one that had jump started her hormones when she’d first seen him in the viewing screen on the bridge.

  How close, she wondered, were they to human males? Close enough that companionship might be an option? Recreation if not procreation? They had their frozen pops to insure the continuation and purity of their species. If by chance there was a possibility of compatibility, she couldn’t help but think that, politically speaking, it would be a very good gesture that could help make peace between the two camps.

  Upon consideration, she decided she probably should amend that to ‘a sort of peace’ because if they were human-like at all, the difference in their cultures wasn’t going to be the only thing the colonists would find to disagree with them about.

  Chapter Three

  When they had thoroughly inspected the colony, Eden and the others beamed up to the ship once more to begin the battle over territory, leaving the squad on the ground to hold the city. The structures weren’t all completed, but they wouldn’t need all of them at this point and certainly not for a council meeting. The main thing was that there was no comfort to be found. None of the buildings were furnished and she wasn’t ready, yet, to give the go ahead on offloading such things.