“ATTENTION!!”
Snapping my legs together, hand at my left side, new arm whirring on the other, I watched as the Base Commander trotted before us, her long black coat pleats flapping lightly in the hot savana air that tickled my five o'clock shadow. Two of my teammates stood beside me, listening to the commander droning on about the mission. I paid attention just enough to ensure she was sticking to the brief I’d already read.
I didn’t blame her, she was just doing her job, trying to keep us safe. She had a reputation for that. Base Commander Annastasia Kornivos, a veteran of the Europa wars, took her job very seriously. I’d read her entire file in post-op while I was recovering from my previous mission under her command.
It was nice to see the base had expanded a bit in that time, basketball hoops on either side of the Aero-lift pads, a third story, all Shuzon tree’s removed from the grounds, additional barracks and supply depots, and at least thirty more drones buzzing the perimeter. Somewhere inside my old team was undergoing a second round of quarantine after bringing one of the locals to the base. Apparently one of them took a fancy for Dr. Sendrik and offered to help us learn more about eir people. At least that was the scuttle in the mess.
“AT EASE!”
Waiting for the fourth member of our team I took a wider stance, new arm’s gears doing all they could to compensate for the change in position. A wide Samoan frame like mine made even small motions quite large.
At Ease. Sure, it’s easier to stand this way for a long time, but it’s still so regimented. I envied the civilian standing with us who didn’t have to follow such silly traditions. She still had to wait here in the heat and listen to momma bear growl on about things she surely already knew. Heck, pretty soon she’d be giving us the rest of the mission information the Commander wasn’t allowed to tell us. What was taking our other civilian so long?
Away Teams are always two military and two civilians, at least one male and one female, with a variety of mission skills, as outlined in the Galactic Commonwell Charter. My role was clear, I’m just the big gun. My skills in terrain analysis and cooking weren’t likely to come into play this time.
Lt. Ford was a highly rated tactician, marksman, and electronics warfare specialist. Anyone tried getting into our implants he’d not only know, he’d have already shot their antenna.
Citizen Andrien was an accomplished diplomat, a negotiator, something we never thought we’d need on our colony ship since we weren’t supposed to be meeting anyone else for at least forty years.
Mother Maria, what is taking so long? Launch was supposed to be twenty minutes ago. Looking past the Commander I finally saw a civilian RFID tag approaching the door. Nao Nakamura. Accessing, accessing… a social worker? Heading far north to meet with another species of aliens and they’re sending a social worker with us?
My heart skipped a few beats as the door opened and a large red and gold feline serpent emerged from the base. Hir four monstrously long arms and claws nearly dragging along the ground as shi slowly slithered toward us. I focused on my husband and my Saints for strength as it neared our formation.
The Commander turned and waved hir forward. “Citizen Nakamura, Teacher Chaka, welcome.” It was hard to accept how calm she was standing next to this massive beast as it looked over us with those strange shifting eyes, not at all like a humans, or a cats. They shifted color and shape looking more like squid eyes. The Commander gestured to our tall spindly white man and introduced him before indicating me. I stood to attention, sweat pouring down my dark skin as I shook. “Ensign Daggson is your heavy weapons, demolition, and field construction specialist. Daggson is also well versed in terrain analysis.” Why didn’t anyone ever bother mentioning what a good cook I am?
The Shozi’Anto flexed hir feline lips in exaggerated motions of speech, “Yes, I read Daggson’s work with Doctor Sendrik. Chaka is pleased to see that hir sibling’s digestion of your arm has not stopped you from working.”
I was stunned, and I think I started blushing. Knowing that others had been reading that account, it was quite embarrassing. I tried to wipe a stupid grin off my face and come up with a semblance of a reply.
“Oh, uh, you, heard about that. Yeah, a new arm is being grown for me, and in the meantime I’m using this robotic tool arm. Links directly into my weapons and sensor systems. More efficient for our mission anyway, but yeah, I’m looking forward to getting to feel stuff with my own right hand again next week. Third replacement, I’ll have it tattooed with the image of the Anto I lost it to.”
If my dominant hand wasn’t missing right now I’d probably have facepalmed. Really? That was the best I could come up with to say? I’m such a dork.
The Commander cleared her throat to regain our attention before moving to the next person. “This is Citizen Adrien. She will be your diplomatic liaison representing the people of The Aeternia. Your mission will be to make contact with the Kardani, one of the other intelligent species of this world. Chaka’s people have provided us with some information regarding their culture, but the Shozi Monastery has insisted that we learn more for ourselves. An Aero-Lift is currently en route to the southernmost Kardani island where we are told the Shozi conduct their trade with them. It is carrying a specially modified teleportation chamber which will be sufficient to transport your entire team at once. You will contact them, inform them of our existence and purpose, and learn about their culture and capabilities.” <Well, wish she’d told us we were teleporting, I’ve been impatient for our second Civilian Expert to arrive because I thought she was holding up our departure.>
I looked over the alien again and finally realized that Nao’s ID was being broadcast from inside the creature. Of course we didn’t need a Social Worker, we needed someone familiar with translation. Chaka and Nao would be our translator with the Kardani.
A misunderstanding in First Contact and one of these things innards raped my own… well, yeah. Hir stomach womb also tried to ‘heal’ my synthetic arm landing me with this hunk’a hardware. But that neural interlink, it was heavenly. Sharing thoughts and senses with the serpent around me, the wondrous level of awareness of my surroundings, and all those rippling muscles. More importantly, looking through hir eyes and hearing through hir ears I could understand the rest of the aliens in the tribe, but trying to put that understanding back into English was difficult. Nao was already certified for translation work between English, Esperanto, Japanese, Korean, and both major forms of Chinese. Yeah, translation, another skill we never thought we’d need since English was required for everyone joining the Aeternia. Lt. Riptide had said the interlink might be addictive. Maybe so, cause even now I wish I could go back in.
Moving? Oh, right. Teleporter is in position.
