Chapter 6

Fourteen days later, a pair of 'cutters' arrived in orbit around Yerowl. I could not see them, of course, but I sensed their arrival. 125 people aboard each of the ships, commanded by a Lieutenant Commander David leFronte, aboard the Gustav. I called several of the ninGrahhlls to aid me, for I had to keep track of many of them and, at the same time, needed to scan each visitor to determine if there were any threats. leFronte was a junior officer in the USN and was eager to rescue Commander Nelson and her crew of survivors. He was also eager to make planetfall and see if there were any new creatures on Carmody 3.

Commander Nelson and her 'crew' of four plus the disabled Sunny Li took one of the shuttles up to meet them. As senior officer, she instructed leFronte to keep all his personnel on board the ship, pending further instructions from higher authority. "There are sentients on Carmody 3," she said. "Unusual sentients. We need to get somebody from the United Planets involved."

Then she sent a message to higher authority in the USN. It was in code – which apparently was a way of shielding a message until the proper recipient could get it. I suppose that method of directing a message would be necessary in circumstances where you could not speak to the person directly, as I could to anyone on Yerowl: like in interstellar radio.

I watched her, and I'm sure that she felt my touch. Now that I knew she could do that, I extended my scan of her, and found the portion of her mind that could feel me. It was a very welcoming 'place' within her consciousness – a feeling that I had with only one other person: Meriah.

The message contained an uncoded portion: the part that contained something she called the 'address.' I had not thought that messages needed to be 'addressed' – why would you when you could 'address' any being on the planet? I will tell of the full, decoded message:

TO: USN High Command – Eyes Only Admiral Prestwick

FROM: Commander C. Justice Nelson, Commanding SEV Destiny

Coding: SEV Gold 843

On 17 August 2828, the Destiny translated into the Carmody system, and a Condition Zulu accident occurred. The aft bridge contingent were the only survivors. We transitioned to a habitable planet, Carmody 3, and found sentient life there.

This sentient life can only be described as a race of telepathic hexapumas. They are the dominant species on this planet and can detect human thoughts even into space. They know the text of this message before coding, for example. I recommend a full scientific and diplomatic mission be assigned to this planet.

Ends

Upon inquiry, Jay informed me that she had a duty to report to the highest levels of the USN and the coding, SEV Gold 843, was a means of ensuring that the message could only be read by the most senior officers. She further said that the Standing Orders she operated under required that if a species were encountered who exhibited any unusual, extra-sensory powers, the officer in charge was to contact Command Authority – which meant the highest levels of the USN. I told her that I had known that from her mind on the first day we spoke. I could feel mild amusement from her. 'Of course, ' she transmitted to me, 'Sorry. I forgot.'

She then proceeded to go to a 'cabin' assigned to her. The cabin was a very small space that was to be her personal space aboard the Gustav. Other members of the Destiny's crew received similar assignments; all save Sunny Li. He was unconscious and went to a place called MedCenter, although I continued to update Dr. Nicolevna Reston periodically on the extremely troubled nature of his dreams. He perceived hideous monsters that were eating at his soul and his very mind. It was unsettling for me to touch his mind, and I did so only out of respect for Jay, who had asked that I keep her abreast of his condition. None of my people – the hexapumas – had ever been in such a condition, but I'm sure that we would have put a 'puma down as an act of mercy; just a slight squeeze on the heart was all it would take. I offered that option to both the Doctor and to Jay, but their ethos did not permit it. What he was experiencing was not life, it was torture.

Merlin was still housed in the computer of the shuttle, of course, but he uploaded all his experience on the planet to his counterpart on the Gustav.

The reply to Jay's message came about 12 earth-hours later. It was in the middle of my sleep cycle, and G'hann'lis was watching the humans-in-a-bottle at the time. He had picked up some of their humor, I noticed. When he related the situation to me, some hours later, I pointed out that 'humans-in-a-can' would be more apt, since their space ships were made of metal. We shared a moment of light levity over that.

The message that came was addressed only to the ships level of coding, so it was seen first by the Gustav's captain.

TO: Commanding Officers: Gustav & Destiny crew

FROM: M'bata Nkrubé, Presiding, United Planets Security Council

We are sending a mission to Carmody 3 under the leadership of Acting Ambassador Admiral Rochelle Morris. She will take command of all USN and UPSC diplomatic forces and personnel in the area of Carmody 3. She has full authority to deal with indigenous life forms on the planet.

The Gustav will return to its assigned duties as part of Task Force Alpha. The Melkov will remain in Carmody 3 orbit, under the command of Commander Nelson, who is also in charge of the planet, pending Ambassador Morris' arrival.

Ends

That sounded fine to me, but Jay was of another opinion when I contacted her.

Jay: 'Grahhll, I am uneasy about the wording of that message. The Ambassador will 'deal with' everyone and every thing on the planet. 'Deal with, ' not 'meet with, ' or 'establish relations with' ... Has a hostile feel to me. And also, these orders put me in charge of the planet. At most, I should be in charge of human personnel on the planet.'

Me: 'I do not understand human wording well enough to discern the differences, but I trust you, Jay. I can sense the cause of your unease. But do not worry, Jay. Unless they plan on bombarding the planet from distance – like the Bugs that hover in the back of your mind – we will deal with the Ambassador when he arrives.'

Jay: 'She ... Rochelle Morris is female.'

Me: 'Oh even better. Meriah will be in her element. Frankly, she deals with females easier than she does with males. She likes to think that all males are ... playthings. That does not integrate well with your human society. You have both sexes equal, do you not?'

Jay: 'For several hundred years, we have had technical equality. The men among us think they have 'granted' women equality. It pleases their egos. Therefore we have allowed them to continue with that conceit. The truth of the situation is somewhat different.'

Me: (chuckle) 'We male hexapumas have encountered that ... uhm ... situation with our matriarchs, as well.'

But Meriah was not able to speak with the Ambassador when she arrived some weeks later. I am greatly distressed to relate the events that took place at that time – even though I wrote the draft of this account years later. (And I revised it decades later, as I near the end of my time.)

Meriah's time with the unborn cubs had come to fullness two days before the scheduled arrival of the human Ambassador. She delivered two kits, a male and a female. But she began to bleed uncontrollably and she died.

I cannot begin to explain how painful those two words were to me: "she died." It was as if the sun ceased to shine in the sky. A great blackness descended upon me, and it was only the existence of the new kits and my other three offspring that caused me to function at all. At the root of it, her death was my fault. It was I who convinced her to become gravid at what should have been the time when she began to relax and enjoy the family she had. My near frantic desire to have the joy of kits again had killed the most important person in my life.

I would have ended myself had it not been for the kits and the youngsters in my care. I could never do that to them. Meronar found a 'wet nurse' (in human grokable terms) for the kits; they'd need mother's milk for the first few weeks. And then they'd need me, now almost full time. I spent several days with my offspring: Mercahn (the eldest and a female), Krayshall (middle cub and a male), and Shenthra (our ... nay... my youngest). I named the twins in violation of every convention of the people: Sh'anfor (the male) – I named him after me – and Meriah'na (the female) – I named after my mate.

You cannot imagine my distress when I learned from Jay – after Meriah's death – that Dr. Reston might have been able to save my Meriah from bleeding to death if she had been contacted. Everything had gone so easily the first three times, and we had midwives who knew what to do – or so we thought. We had no need of the humans and their devices and sciences. Hubris, and that alone, killed my Meriah: mine at wanting more offspring, and my people's for not needing help from the 'brain stunted' humans and their equipment.

I apologize for this digression from the song of the development of human / hexapuma relationships. No one wants to hear the maudlin confessions of the singer. But I felt it was necessary to give you the reasons for the change in personnel who traveled to make that first encounter with the human Command Authority.

In place of Meriah and, presumably, me, at the meeting with the Ambassador, the council sent Shwantè, Meriah's second in the Council, and a respected 'puma in her own right. As her aide she chose Merhanh, Meriah's sister and most likely successor. In my opinion, they made a mistake by not taking their ninGrahhlls but what do I know – I'm only a male. They met on the Ambassador/Admiral's flag ship, SS Harrington.