Chapter 8: On the Hunt

”Sir,” one of the male bridge crew said. “We are picking up a small gate opening up ... approximately 22,000 kilometers away.”

“Is it a communications gate?” Passos asked.

“Confirmed,” another bridge crew member said. “Registering codes ... it’s one of ours.”

The bridge of the UHN Drake was quiet. Passos was standing and looking over his console. A part of him was tense. The map of the sensor screen showed that the Drake was 5,000 kilometers from the Alaron. The Menshe’tat wasn’t that far either. The viewscreen shifted over to a tiny gate formation. The wormhole was stabilizing. By now, the vice admiral was used to seeing this. It took less than a minute before something else would happen.

“We’re getting a hail from the UHN Lifen,” the bridge crew said.

“On my console,” Passos directed. His mustache twitched as he crossed his arms. The face of Shira appeared on the screen. Her shark-like features and purple hair almost glowed from the inside bridge light.

“Vice Admiral,” Shira calmly said to him. “I trust you have good news.”

“What’s your report?” Passos asked.

“I have found the remains of the Alara’jal fleet at Sector Jox’ta 3. Only two of their hulks are within 25% intact. I have already begun salvaging operations.”

“Then I can safely assume that you haven’t encountered any Aksren?”

“You are correct,” she pressed her fingers together. “There have been no signs of any life in the fleet. No doubt, all the Alara’jal that participated in this final battle perished almost 200 years ago. The salvaging is proving to be promising so far. Most of the hulks have been stripped of their equipment. However, we are still finding a few components, including railgun barrels, a few heavy ballistic missiles, and some spare equipment. We will continue for as long as possible.” She was doing her best to remain composed, but her moment of silence seemed to indicate that she was waiting for Passos to give some information.

“Very good,” the vice admiral said. “We have some good news to provide to you as well. We have found the Alaron. They have established a colony on the nearby habitable planet. Doctor Fengge has made contact with the Alaron survivors.”

“Excellent ... How many?”

“Fengge reports that over 1700 are alive on the surface.”

“Hmmm ... I was expecting more ... no matter. What is the status of the Alaron?”

“The Menshe’tat and I have teams on the ship right now. It’s been abandoned but salvageable. We’re having a hard time getting the Alaron’s fusion cores to work. Most of the equipment has seized and is inoperable. It will take approximately three days to get the ship partially operational again. Half of the warheads are still functional but need to be overhauled. We found a few antimatter warheads in it.”

Shira seemed to give a mild hint of relief to hear the news despite her efforts to remain emotionless. “It is expected for a neglected vessel of this age to be in this current state. Time is of the essence, Vice Admiral. If you have the information, send me a list of any spare parts that my salvaging team can find here to help expedite the repairs to the Alaron. Upon my eventual arrival.”

“Hmm! Of course,” Passos tapped a few buttons on his computer to begin pulling up the information. He wanted to compliment Shira on her thinking, but he probably already knew what she was thinking.

“What is the Doctor’s current status?” she asked.

“Only Fengge is allowed to be with the Alara’jal on the surface. He is working with one of the elders ... a ... Tonja ... I believe that’s her name. Apparently, the Alara’jal have no issue with us working on the Alaron. However, they are reluctant to leave their village.”

“They won’t have a choice, Vice Admiral. Regardless of their feelings, the Aksren clan won’t hesitate to eradicate them. What are their current defenses?”

Passos shook his head. “Mostly small arms ... they have one shuttle that might be operational ... that’s it.”

“Inadequate.”

“Should I contact the T’rintar clan and summon additional reinforcements?”

“Not until the Alara’jal request to vacate. If the Aksren clan arrive and launch an attack, if they see a large T’rintar fleet, they will summon additional forces until a full-scale battle commences. I also doubt that the T’rintar clan will allocate too many resources to defend a people that they tried to wipe out long ago. Summoning additional UHN forces would also threaten to undermine the defenses on the UWA worlds. No, Vice Admiral, that won’t be necessary. We have the resources needed to accomplish this mission.”

“There is something to report as well, Captain,” Passos remarked as he gave her a questioning look. “One of the Alara’jal already knows English. It appears that a human had made contact with the Alara’jal almost two hundred years ago. They have very little information as to who this human was.”

“Interesting...,” she calmly replied with almost no surprise. “Is that human’s remains on the surface of the planet?”

“No, from what Fengge has reported, the human only briefly knew the Alaron’s Adjunct. He didn’t travel with the ship. I’m assuming that this person either stayed at Zalri’eko till their passing or went somewhere else.”

“When you have the time available, reference all human missing person reports that follow within 200 to 190 years ago. Widen that time span if you have to. I doubt that your people’s history would neglect to report an Itrean first contact when they were busy running from their own homeworld. Somewhere in that list, you might have your answer.”

“That list might end up being pretty large.”

“Nonetheless, one of those names is the person who spoke with these Alara’jal.”

Passos knew that this was a mystery that may never be solved unless more clues came into place. For a brief moment, the vice admiral wondered if Shira might have known more than what she was suggesting. However, the issue was not a center of high focus, either. Even the Shal’rein was conveniently pushing this mystery to the side.

“Hmmm...,” Passos remarked. He momentarily thought back to the incident at JJ-78, the day that he and humanity would see the Itreans for the first time. Somehow, other humans had beaten him to it.

“Do you have that list of needed spare parts?” she interrupted his thoughts.

“Hmph ... there...” the vice admiral said as he tapped a button. “Continue with your salvaging operations, Captain. Use your discretion, and good luck.”

The Shal’rein’s single eye seemed to track the downloaded data on her console. “As to you, Vice Admiral. Shira, out...”

The communications channel closed. Passos sighed as he looked at the planet’s surface through his screen.

“Doctor, the fate of an entire species rests on your shoulders...,” the vice admiral quietly said. “Let’s hope that luck is on your side...”

“We are here in the great forests, approximately two kilometers from the village of Alaron’tre’til,” Fengge explained to his small recording camera. He was moving quickly, using his machete to cut the various plants that got in the way of his path. “Our current goal for today is to go on a hunt. The village of the Alara’jal does sustain itself with food that they grow, but an ever-increasing population could always use more protein and meat. I’m joined with Tonja, one of the village elders, along with two others. So far, we’ve been on the hunt for a little more than an hour. I have my trusty pistol that the natives have graciously returned to me. The hunters are armed with primitive rifles to the original assault rifles that they use to take down large prey. The rounds these guns use ... they must be the type of rounds used on small military vehicles back at home. I’ve never seen anything that huge before. They are basically the same length as my whole body. From what...,” he paused as he had to swing at a branch, cutting it down quickly. “From what Tonja has informed me, the natives hunt the Goagoa, a supposedly grand creature even bigger than the Alara’jal. Needless to say,” he chuckled. “I feel like Alice in Wonderland and that I have just shrunk. My only hope is that I don’t get gored by this creature. If this is my last recording, then I can happily report that my mission in finding the Alara’jal has become a success.”

With that, Fengge took his camera, kept it on record, and strapped it to his shirt again. This freed up his hand and made it easier to swing his machete. Unfortunately, he had lost some ground with Tonja. He could see her large moving tail that he had to put some distance between carefully. Any violent turn that she made could send the appendage straight into the human, knocking him senseless or worse. Another familiar Itrean, Huven’ja, was not much further ahead, armed with her rolling block rifle. She was far ahead, scouting ahead. Far to the left and in front was Tochasa. Needless to say, the more he could avoid him, the better.

“Omph...,” Fengge commented to himself. He wiped a small amount of sweat from his brow.

Tonja lightly turned her head to look at them as she plowed through bushes without difficulty. If anything, the paleontologist, had to worry about any hooked-up branches that could fling towards him from Tonja’s mass and movement.

“Are you alright?” she asked him.

“Oh ... I’m just doing fine,” he replied with a hint of enthusiasm. “Have to dodge the occasional branch that gets tossed to me.”

“Are you tired?”

“Me? Ah ... no ... I never tire.”

“Your breathing is heavy.”

“It’s difficult having to keep up with people that are much taller than you.”

“You don’t give up. Do you sleep?”

“I sleep ... eight hours if I’m lucky. With this, though, I won’t be sleeping ... never sleep. I will go till I pass out.”

“I can carry you if you pass out.”

Fengge nodded as he looked up at her back. “No doubt, you could...”

For a moment, his gaze seemed a little more transfixed on her. Tonja could see that the human was looking at her body. The human was not the sort to be quiet for too long. Even as leaves, flowers, and branches threatened to hit his body like mad, he couldn’t stop looking at her.

“What is it?” she asked him.

“Just ... admiring the aesthetics of the Alara’jal...”

“Aesthetics?” Fengge didn’t know if she was playing coy in not knowing the word.

“Hehm...,” he coughed. “It’s a professional way of saying that you are beautiful.”

She had slowed down in her walk upon hearing it. She was doing her best to walk side by side. However, it was difficult for her to keep track of the path ahead.

“Aesthetics...,” she seemed happy to know the word. “You use fancy words ... to compliment me?”

“Yeah, I did ... look ... I,” a branch smacked Fengge in the face. “Omph ... I’m not trying to make a move on you. I study dinosaurs for a living and to see something ... the most powerful being right in front of me ... it can...” His finger was fiddling with the camera, debating about pausing his recording.

For a moment, Tochasa’s head turned to see the tiny human and fellow Alara’jal associating with one another. Fengge spotted it as he could see it briefly. The male Itrean’s large four fingers gritted into his slung assault rifle. What the paleontologist didn’t see was that Tochasa’s teeth were hard-pressed together. He struggled to keep his anger in check and focus on the hunt.

“I think ... I like the aesthetics ... of the human,” she confessed.

“Now, I will definitely need to edit all this out,” the paleontologist said as he finally shut his camera off. By now, the team of four had reached a small clearing. The forest still consumed much of the area, but there was less brush and foliage to slow everyone down. Also, the overhead greenery had warranted a rest.

“Ieteppe!” Tochasa yelled. It was enough for everyone to come to a halt.

“Take a break,” Tonja told Fengge.

“Eh ... umm ... yeah...” the paleontologist found an area of dead leaves and rubbish. He got on his knees as Tonja got next to him, leaned back, and purposely fell onto her butt. Her tail and mass sent a massive amount of air in all directions, practically disorienting Fengge. The heavy thump of sheer weight echoed throughout the surrounding area.

“Feet tired,” Tonja replied. She didn’t sit cross-legged and stretched out her three clawed feet. Instead, her razor talons would flex and retract as she tried to get the feeling back from all the walking.

“Do the hunts usually last this long?” he asked.

“Yes ... no ... depends...”

“Fengge!” Huven’ja said to him. She was at least ten meters from him before she turned around and pointed at her butt. “Ula Click Ion?”

“Yeah ... yeah...,” he waved at her with a hint of exhaustion. “I’ll wash your ass later on tonight.”

“ ... You want me to tell her that?” Tonja fumbled with her words.

“I was joking. Uh ... I’m more tired than I thought.”

Tonja explained something that the human didn’t bother to translate. Huven’ja only seemed to chuckle a little bit. She took a knee and pointed at Tonja, saying several other words such as “Tonja ... Fengge Ulata Click te...” The paleontologist could understand it as “Fengge will wash Tonja’s ass tonight.”

Tochasa only seemed to stand away, trying to ignore the jokes and witty comments that everyone was using. The look that was given to Tonja and Fengge was only a sign of growing frustration. Tonja could see it now but did nothing. Tochasa had no choice but to continue to tolerate the alien creature’s welcome.

“Well...,” Fengge smiled. “I’m glad to see that the Alara’jal know how to be in good spirits.”

“So ... the T’rintar clan...,” Tonja asked. “What do humans and T’rintar do?”

“Ehm ... many things. We’re allies, but the T’rintar don’t rule over us. We still do what we want to do and have our own freedom.”

“You are not their slaves?”

He shook his head. “Far from it. We help each other. If it weren’t for them, the human race would have been wiped out way before we ever met you. Among ... other things.”

“Why do they not conquer you?” Tonja asked. “You claim to be weak. The Itreans are stronger than you.”

“Our military is nothing like the T’rintar, but...” Fengge decided to confess now and get it out of the way. Instead of just describing it, Fengge tapped his augmented arm and pulled up the main menu screen. He accessed the file logs of the current day. A projected image was displayed for Tonja. The other two Alara’jal saw it as well. It showed the terrifying creatures both in liquid and in possession of former Alara’jal bodies. A look of shock and horror could be seen on Tonja’s face. Huven’ja even seemed shocked at the imagery. Fengge later showed a few achieved videos that he saved onto his arm. It depicted entire worlds that had been consumed, Itreans possessed and fighting fellow loved ones, and spaceships commandeered from the very buildings constructed by the Itreans to spread the Emphra further. Tonja simply sat in aghast.

“That happened after Zalri’Eko fail?” Tonja asked.

“Yeah ... while your people were trying to build this place. The Itreans had to unite together to fight against this alien race. The Emphra almost wiped out everything. The Itreans stayed together for some time under an alliance.”

Fengge paused the recording. He didn’t want to see any more of the images. The very thoughts sickened him. Tonja went and explained what the paleontologist said to the other two. Tochasa seemed to think about it but only turned his head away. Even with such imagery, it was unknown what could be deciphered as the complete truth.

“The Emphra consumed Zalri’eko,” Fengge added. “The Aksren clan purged it.”

Tonja paused and further added that to her translation to the others. Fengge would have to keep all of this in mind. If he was to convince a people to leave their world, this sort of imagery would be further needed to drive the point across. Finally, Tonja had to change the topic. Despite the horrors, it was a recent relic of the past that had become slowly discarded under civil war.

“The Itreans...,” Tonja asked. “They unite, but try ... to kill each other?”

“Yeah,” he told her. “Not long ago, a deadly disease was created that wiped out all the males of the Yutilians, Aksren, and Shal’rein. It’s called Ziliks Disease.”

“Created?”

“Yes, it was devastating and spread through the entire Itrean worlds.”

Tonja put her hand on the base of her jaw. She was speechless as Huven’ja demanded a translation. Tonja complied and explained to them. Tochasa’s face gave a scornful look. Fengge had to tell them the truth.

“You bring disease?” she asked.

“No!” the paleontologist was adamant. “It only targets Yutilians, Aksren, and Shal’rein. I’m unaffected.”

“But ... the Yutilian that was here ... she was in armor.”

“Yes, she was.”

“Are we safe from disease?”

“Yes.”

Fengge debated about what he had just said. This wasn’t completely validated information. However, he considered his answer carefully. This had to be the truth because the consequences would be dire no matter what. Thankfully, Tonja was so busy translating that she didn’t notice the slight amount of hesitation on the paleontologist’s face. Surprisingly, she didn’t push on that topic. Tochasa said a few words that almost came out as “Let them kill themselves.” Fengge felt inclined to disagree, but he decided that it was best to progress his explanation. Besides, he would likely encourage more questions that may only agitate them.

“Ziliks Disease didn’t stop the war,” Fengge continued. “Females forced other females to become ‘ivon.’”

“Ivon...,” Tonja knew the Itrean word. It could be loosely translated to “Other Male” or “Third Gender.” There was no definite meaning, but one that was solidified in the Itrean language.

“Evil...,” Tonja explained. “You want us to unite with ... Itreans that are dead ... inside.”

“Now you know why humanity is so important in all this. We might not be a powerful species when compared to the Itreans, but maybe ... somehow, we can fix that. Needless to say, ... the last year has been interesting.”

Tonja translated to the others again. Meanwhile, Fengge began to load up another set of images from his arm. He knew that the next series of pictures would be particularly ... lewd. However, it was best for them to see it. So he had everything loaded but waited before projecting it.

“I’m not sure if ... my people will ally with our enemy,” Tonja continued.

“Why?” he asked her. “The T’rintar embrace changes ... at least from what I see. I’m not saying the process is perfect, but ... it would be a lot worse. For example,...”

He took a deep breath as he tapped the button on his wrist. This activated a set of pictures to be projected from his arm. Each image depicted that of the erotica variety. One showed a Yutilian woman with her arms stretched wide on the bed. Her human mate would tenderly kiss her neck, arms wrapped around her lover. Another image would show an Aksren woman raised in a T’rintar world. Her human lover is deep inside of her as her legs are splayed open. The last picture was that of a Shal’rein woman lying on top of her human mate. Her shark teeth could be seen as she was using her strength to keep her lover pinned to the bed. All of this while they were deep in the passion of sex.

“Eeep,” was Tonja’s reaction. It was said in a deep tone as her large eyes were processing what she was seeing. Huven’ja slapped her leg and put her free hand to her mouth. A set of heavy clicks and clattering broke out from her. She was obviously laughing.

“Us, humans, carry the cure,” the paleontologist explained. “Humans carry a gene that prevents the virus from killing male Itreans. A little bit of surgery or a quick treatment and human men can create offspring with the Itreans. The babies are the cure, and male Itreans can be born again.”

Fengge smiled as he activated the next set of pictures from his augmented arm. The following three images were of the same human and Itrean couples together. It was several months later. The Yutilian was clothed and had a protruding belly. The Aksren woman was showing her bare belly that was bulging. The Shal’rein woman had a coy smile as her human mate’s hand was pressed to her protruding belly.

“I can keep going,” Fengge continued as he waved his hand into the air. “The need for violence is not necessary anymore. I agree with you, Tonja, that we can live in harmony. The Alara’jal can be a part of that process too.”

Tonja understood it all. She put her hand to her large rounded jaw. Then, finally, she translated all of it for the others. The paleontologist could at least tell from two of the reactions that it was promising. Only Tochasa had a look of disgust. Huven’ja only seemed to laugh, but it fell into a smile and slow chuckle. She was intrigued.

“I know this is the first time that you’re seeing the faces of your prior enemies,” he continued. “You only have the words of your parents and grandparents to go off of in knowing what they had to face against. But now ... we’re seeing some of the most significant changes to Itrean history.” He put his hand to his chest. “I’m not even a historian, and I know this. Please ... let this work.”