Chapter 29

On the knoll Zoe’s, Alana’s, and Vanessa’s teams described the events since finding the two bodies to Sarah’s, Siobhan’s, and Keriann’s Clans. Briana then told of finding four people near Siobhan’s shuttle, and their camp site. She continued with, “As to the victims by the cave, the forensic team’s initial impression is that they’ve been dead for several months, and perhaps longer. They are certain that the two victims were naked when staked out. What happened between that point and their deaths is still to be sorted but that may not be possible. Based on the animal tracks and the position of their bones they were partially eaten before decay started. Since there isn’t any urgency the team is going over the site very slowly and thoroughly. They’ve requested permission to stay as long as it takes to finish collecting evidence. It was approved a few minutes ago.”

“Any obvious clues regarding the victims?” queried Eileen of Siobhan’s Clan.

“As far as we can tell they weren’t our family, nor were they Atewa or Monque. However, there are breeds in both those worlds that we haven’t interacted with.”

“True.”

“What about the observers?” asked Sally. “Like, where are they from? Why are they here? Sorry, those weren’t fair questions.”

“I think those are questions that we all have,” commented Conan.

Briana replied, “Well based on an exchange between Ge, Mi, and Cathan, two groups are watching your camp site with cameras. The weapons they have are similar to what we would carry on a recon mission.”

“How are we going to handle this?” queried Niamh.

Emma responded, “Intelligence and Security want to just monitor them for the time being.”

Abaigeal of Briana’s Team added, “Each group we’ve discovered is now infested with our spiders, with controllers to handle the acquired data. We left the four that Cathan’s team met sleeping on the ramp. A search of their bags found what appears to be surveillance equipment. Their camp contained more equipment and what appear to be base communication units.”

“Oh, I forgot to mention,” said Briana, “the observers on the ridge monitoring your camp site aren’t much higher than you. The group further south can see some of the hillsides that lie on the east side of this meadow.”

“So they didn’t see any of our exercises,” responded Chester. “On the other hand they likely saw most of the activities in the training area, which could be informative to their sponsors. That includes how we integrate teams with other worlds for joint exercises. So is this a concern?”

Aoife said, “We know that there are liaison people from other worlds in the Atewa and Monque Intelligence groups. Once we know more about the observers, we should be able to figure out what world they come from.”

Tara added, “If they are from an element of the Alliance, and since we know they are here, it seems like an opportune time to learn how this group is supporting an operation like this. For instance, how do they communicate? And how did they get here? So, because of that, I like what Intelligence has planned.”

“I think we would all like answers to those questions,” said Siobhan. “You realize that our people who visit other worlds will be scrutinized just as carefully.”

Rusty said, “Once we determine who is supporting them we could let them know that we aware of their activities here, and that we see those activities as an invitation to act in the same manner toward them.”

“We should play that card very carefully,” responded Keriann.

“Oh, I definitely agree. I think all of us should keep abreast of this.”

“Agreed,” they replied.

Zoe asked, “How do we record our activity and recent events?”

“Any comments about the observers are to be kept separate and secure,” replied Briana.

“We will need to make some revisions in our log then,” said Alana. “However, that should be easy as they haven’t been filed yet.”

“Did you get all the cameras set up?” queried Kendra of Siobhan’s Clan.

“On that side of the ridge, yes. We plan to do this valley tomorrow morning.”

Amber added, “Since we are now very familiar with this valley why don’t we assist you.”

“That would be great,” responded Zoe. “Since this is an add-on a shuttle is bringing more cameras and transmitters this evening.”

“Are you all hungry?” queried Alison.

“Are you serious? Do you realize how late it is? On top of that we didn’t have very much this morning as we had too many things to do.”

“Well lunch is ready,” responded Claudette as she and Keira lifted the lids off the food trays.

As they began to eat Kelly said, “Briana, what are your plans for this afternoon?”

“We need to check with Cathan, but we will likely head on back. Why?”

“Well you might want to practice your dream-walking skills. Yesterday, we took a dream-walk around the valley. This morning we surveyed the valley using our IPTPs and then compared our dream-walk perceptions to real distances. The differences were significant enough that we think that everyone with dream-walk ability should make the same comparison.”

“That is interesting,” responded Adam. “It might explain some things we’ve experienced and seen.” Looking at his spouses he added, “I suspect we could take a couple of hours this afternoon to do that.”

Lana of Zoe’s Clan said, “Well since we need to wait for supplies we should try it as well, although we don’t have our IPTPs here.”

Claudette said, “Now that is a problem I can easily solve.”

It was late afternoon when Briana’s Clan boarded DBM02 to rejoin Cathan’s Clan on the other side of the ridge. As soon as they left Sarah’s, Siobhan’s, Keriann’s, Zoe’s, Alana’s, and Vanessa’s Clans began walking back to their camp site. They were about half way to camp when they saw Ge and Mi coming down the hill off to their left. When Ge and Mi were clear of the tree line they loped across the meadow toward the group.

“You two look like you are glad to be here,” said Maeve.

“We are.”

“Well we are pleased to have you join us.”

When Ge and Mi reached them, they stopped to be petted before continuing toward the camp.

As they walked Sarah said, “We thought it would take you longer to get here.”

“We went around the south end of the flooded area,” replied Ge. “You all could probably follow our path, but we aren’t sure about anyone else. It is pretty rough. We think you could cross the gaps that we jumped. There are only a few other groups who could do that without having to climb down then back up. Actually walking may be easier closer to the flooded area, but then crossing the stream could be more difficult. We didn’t look for places where it could be crossed.”

“We went on a dream-walked up that way yesterday evening,” said Emma. “From that perspective there seemed to be a few places where you could wade across without too much difficulty, if the water was at a normal level anyway.”

“We saw some places where that looked possible. We jumped across at a narrow spot because it was reasonably clear on both sides. Nearby was a place where we could have made small jumps between big rocks to get across. We chose not to do that because they were wet and looked slick, besides there were better alternatives.”

Mi added, “I’d rather swim than slip off a rock. We likely could have done without running for the jump, but we had the space so...”

“Well we are glad you’ve joined us,” said several of the group.

“Were the predators following you a problem?” asked Mi.

“Not today. Yesterday we were on a different knoll and as we were getting ready to leave they made a run at us. They were surprised when they ran into the shield. We also used our IPTPs to travel both ways. Some of them followed us most of the way back but didn’t attempt to pass the two herds grazing near our camp.”

“We may go check them out later. They looked different than the others we’ve seen.”

“They are. We suspect they hunt in at least pairs.”

“What did you think of the observers?” queried Terry.

“They apparently have the skill to move without leaving a visual trail, although their trail from near where you’ve exercised before to where they are now is pretty obvious. We think that is because they were on foot and in a hurry to catch up with you. They are not the same as the people who’ve been at Tara Ardchlár or visited our ships.”

“That is very helpful. Thanks,” Terry responded as she scratched their ears.

“What are you going to do about them?”

“Nothing for now. We are curious about their presence.”

“Some of us could monitor them.”

“Good idea, but we like having you near us.”

“We like being near you as well. However it would give us an opportunity to teach the younger ones some additional skills without a great deal of risk.”

“I’ll let Intelligence know that we will be gathering more information on the activity in this area,” responded Sally. “I will assure them that we will share the information with them as it becomes available. They will be very happy when they see it as it won’t need as much analysis as the other sources require.”

“If you transfer us then only a few would know that we are there.”

“Okay. Tomorrow we will arrange it. Who?”

“Well it won’t be us but there will be two adults and four cubs. We will let you know later who and when they are ready. Depending on food supply they will likely stay more than a week, but no more than two. They will let you know when they are ready to return.”

“That would be fine. Thanks for the idea and for offering assistance.”

The next morning during breakfast Sean of Zoe’s Clan said, “Last night was an experience that I will always remember.”

“What was so special about last night?” queried Oriel of Keriann’s Clan.

“Maybe it is just me but this is the first family camp fire I’ve participated in with you all. Sure we’ve had similar gatherings since arriving here but last night just felt different. Maybe it was the mood I was in, but I would like to think that it is the group I am with. So perhaps I should consider it a blessing, just like it was to be invited into Zoe’s Clan or meeting this extended family.”

“Well we are glad that our paths crossed, and that you opted to join us. I am certain that your spouses are also pleased with the outcome of those events.”

“You better believe it,” responded the women of Zoe’s Clan.

Melody added, “Last night I felt more relaxed than I usually do.”

Ge rubbed up against Melody as she said, “Thank you, we are glad that our presence permitted you to relax.” She then licked Melody’s cheek.

“You’re welcome. We are always glad to have you around.”

“Very true,” added Sean.

Sean’s comment prompted an exchange of thoughts about the camp fire the previous night and how it differed from the others. As the conversation began to peter out Aoife said, “It has been a long time since a group of us have sat around and shared like we have this morning.”

Emma added, “That is because it seems as though there is always a task pending that needs our attention. I like this because I get to know each of you a bit more in-depth. There are aspects of our personalities that aren’t very clear in our mind-link making it easy to overlook them.”

“I agree,” responded Amber of Siobhan’s Clan.

Sarah said, “I’ve always found enjoying a camp fire with my friends and family to be very relaxing. Well the day is moving on so Zoe, Alana, Vanessa, what is your plan for putting out the cameras?”

Zoe said, “Let’s pack up and head south with the shuttles. Each shuttle has a map showing approximately where we think the cameras should be placed. As we progress toward the south end of the valley each shuttle will stop at intervals to put out the cameras and relay-stations. Most likely the first one to stop will be the first one to move to a new position, that way we leap-frog our way up the valley. We think we should be done in an hour or two doing it that way ... well maybe a bit longer but not much.”

“Leap-frog?” queried Casidhe.

“It is a children’s game and it refers to when the one at the end of the line jumps to the head of the line.”

“Now I understand. Thanks.”

It was late morning when the Órarduine finished setting up the cameras. The three shuttles began their return trip with a climb out of the valley. As they rose to about 500 meters they moved into formation. They then turned east to reach a heading that would take them over Carey FOB. As they passed along the east side of the valley they watched the terrain below. The meadow west of their camp site was no longer flooded but it still had large patches of standing water. As they continued north they saw indications that other areas downstream had also flooded but those didn’t appear to be as severe as the flooded areas upstream.

Melissa said, “Did anyone take aerial photos of the flooding?”

“Yes,” replied Oriel.

Eleánóir said to the Security teams, “Can you give us more background on the purpose of the cameras?”

Vanessa and Alana both said, “Zoe?”

Chuckling Zoe said to the other team members, “You all can answer this as well as I can.”

She continued with, “We understand that it is a pilot project. The purpose is to see if a camera matrix, along with a weather station, is an effective means of gathering wildlife data and general information about an area. It is hoped that this will reduce the need for people to explore uncharted areas. The goal is to add more depth to what we know about the various places we are interested in settling before visiting them.

“On Earth this was done by explorers then settlers, it also took place over a very long time and some of the information was wrong. If the information gathered provides our biologists with a good understanding of a location then it will be easier to select optimal sites for future settlements. The obvious goal of this is to avoid establishing a settlement in a poor location. Monitoring an area over a period of time should give us an understanding of the biosphere at that location.”

“Okay. Someone should get a pat on the back for thinking so far ahead.”

Kelly said, “They did. I think all of us realize that our presence will result in changes to the biosphere. Ideally we would like those changes to be minimal, and not negative.”

“Which will be impacted by how we structure our economy,” added Tiff of Siobhan’s Clan.

After the three shuttles passed the FOB at Carey, they turned and headed into space toward the clan’s ships. Siobhan said to the other clans, “What are your plans for this evening?”

“Well,” said Alana, “I suspect we will spend the afternoon with Intelligence reviewing our observations.”

“Sounds about right,” added Zoe and Vanessa.

Keriann said with a smile, “Do you have a proposal?”

“Yes,” replied Emma. “How about all of you joining us for dinner at Tara, followed by a little dancing?”

Erin said, “I think we could do that although I don’t think we will stay very late.”

“We aren’t planning a late night but this commitment will push Zoe’s, Alana’s, and Vanessa’s Clans to finish their activity review.”

“Hey, we don’t drag them out,” responded Belinda.

“We know you don’t, but now you have an excuse to speed things up.”

“With that kind of a benefit we’ll have to go out with you all more often,” laughed Elyse of Alana’s Clan.

“It was nice to have you all along,” responded Sarah’s, Siobhan’s, and Keriann’s Clans.

Erin and Alison were walking toward the Intelligence group’s conference room on Tara when they saw Kaitlin, Eileen, and Emma waving. They paused so that the trio could join them as they were also attending the morning meeting. When they were close Erin and Alison said, “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” replied the other three before exchanging hugs.

“Have you seen Katia?” queried Kaitlin.

“I’m already in the conference room.”

“Okay. We’ll be there in a few minutes. Are we late?”

“Nope. I am early. Besides, they are still setting up.”

“Good morning,” said the group with Erin when they entered the conference room.

“Good morning,” came the reply. Greetings were interspersed with preparations for the meeting.

Muireann said, “There are refreshments and snacks along the back counter.”

Entering Erica said, “Oh goody, I won’t miss breakfast. Good morning everyone.”

“You missed breakfast?” queried Katia. “I didn’t think anyone did that.”

“I wish. Fortunately it is not often.”

“Problems?”

“We think the gremlins are on the loose this morning. Since the discovery of the people on Carey, we’ve been a bit more paranoid with regard to faulty sensors. Faulty sensors are a problem we’ve had for some time. While some of the issues are due to them being used in an environment they weren’t designed for, many are due to wildlife taking an interest in them. However, from what our engineering staff have told us they are close to having a solution.”

“It shouldn’t take a lot of effort to check them out, so I must be missing something.”

“Well if they need to be physically checked we have to send 2 technicians and 2 security staff. The security is needed due to our people being stalked when out alone or in pairs. No one has been attacked, but why take the risk.”

“Agreed.”

“Several who have hunting experience think that the predators are using our presence to aid their hunting. To put it another way, our presence distracts their prey.”

“Muireann, sorry for sidetracking your meeting,” said Katia.

“Well I think it was productive, just not in the direction we intended. Our goal this morning is to bring you up to date on the groups recently discovered on Carey. First a bit of housekeeping since this is the first time we’ve had an incident like this. This incident has been labeled UKV-Carey-06-01. UKV indicates unknown visitor. Obviously Carey is the place. Zero six is the year and the last number is the incident number. Although there are multiple groups it is being viewed as a single incident.

“The first logged notice of these people was by PSTA01 AI. However, the Spec Ops teams thought they were being watched several times after arriving with the three Command Staffs at Carey. The sensation did not have a predatory aspect to it thus they chose to reduce their sensitivity to it. Three of our Command Staffs were in our special practice area.” Muireann then reviewed the details of how the people’s presence was discovered and the initial data collected. She then outlined the assets deployed to monitor the various groups. “Yesterday, we found their support base. It is in a narrow valley 40 km south and slightly west of the training area. There appear to be 6 people there. They are resupplying their teams using drones. This conclusion is based on the presence of several drones on the ground there. They have done a very good job of hiding their presence.”

“So how did you locate them so quickly?” queried Katia of Kathryn’s Clan.

“Luck and timing played a large role. Early yesterday morning aerial surveillance noticed some small objects flying near tree top level. Their first thought was that they were birds but after paying closer attention to their movements they decided to focus on where they went. One of the objects ended up near where Cathan’s Clan encountered the first group before disappearing. A short time later it reappeared and headed toward where we now know they are based. We have not detected any long distance communication either between the groups, or off planet. It could be technology that we are not familiar with. This morning a delivery to a different location was detected.”

“Do you know what prompted Cathan’s Team to approach them the way they did?”

“In their words, instinct, but it was a little more than that.” Several chuckled. “A better answer is that PSTA01 AI had determined that they were biological entities. The team did not sense any hostility or similar intent as they approached them, which fit with the way the four had investigated PSTA01. Putting them to sleep gave the team an opportunity to assess these people without them knowing they had been discovered. Besides, the UKV people apparently didn’t want to be seen by us so we obliged them. While the four slept on the ramp, with the assistance of the lions, we searched and photographed their gear. During this two team members and the lions went to check out the group’s camp site, which they also photographed and searched. Once their activity at the site was complete the lions rooted through it to make it look like animals had been there. They even marked it in several locations.”

“Lions?”

“Yes. The team had a pair of lions with them. They indicated that without the lions’ assistance searching the camp site would have either taken longer, or not been as effective. As it was everything was completed well before the sedative wore off.”

“I guess they could make a mess of things, and their foot prints would provide evidence leading to a reasonable conclusion.”

“Based on later observations and the spider data, it was very effective. This group moved their camp site later that day.”