Close Encounters (4 page)

Still emoting, I took another two steps, hands lifted to show I was holding no weapon. This time I got a reaction. The youngster’s lips curled back to uncover strong, white teeth, and a low warning sound emerged from between his lips. Taking a tighter two-handed grip on his spear, he shifted it across the front of his body in a defensive stance.

Pausing, I studied the spearhead. There was something familiar about it, as if I’d seen it or another like it before. It was a flat black metal with odd markings etched into its surface.

My musing triggered the memory of a picture I’d once run across of a spear belonging to a giant species called the Ashwani, which had been extinct long before their planet was discovered. “Max, can you get a clear image of his spear?” I subvocalized.

“Yes. I’ve taken a holo of it.”

“Good. See if you’ve got anything on a race called the Ashwani and compare the spear’s markings to any written language we have for them.”

Junior was still grimacing at me, so I took a deep breath and walked closer, hoping I wouldn’t have to hurt him. His body tensed, and a growling sound rumbled from his throat.

Staying loose and keeping my weight balanced on the balls of my feet, I took another step. I was only fifty feet from him now, and apparently I crossed some imperceptible barrier. Without further warning, he charged.

On the trip from ZT Twelve to Orpheus, Max and I had run the vids almost constantly, searching for consistencies in the grunts and growls that made up the Buri’s language. The first time I’d mimicked the sounds, Crigo had fallen out of the antigrav chair and hissed at me. When I laughed, he stuck his nose in the air and vanished into another part of the ship.

There was only one sound I was reasonably sure about, and only because I’d seen the results when the big guy used it. When Junior charged, I stopped and let out a roar that had the fauna chittering in the trees.

The effect on the youngster was electric. He reacted as though he’d slammed into an invisible wall, staring at me with eyes the size of Max’s portholes. I could feel waves of surprise and uncertainty pouring from him.

The bushes at the edge of the jungle rustled, and Junior looked over his shoulder as two more males stepped into sight. One was the big guy from the vids, the obvious leader of the tribe. The other was one I hadn’t seen before. He was somewhere between the youngster and the big guy in size, and his hair and eyes were a deep brown. He didn’t look happy. A scowl marred his features as he barked at Junior.

When the youngster answered, his tone was low and apologetic. The two new arrivals listened, and then refocused their attention on me. A deep anger and defiance emanated from Brownie, but all I got from the big guy was a vague sense of curiosity and interest as his black eyes moved over me. He stood with his long legs braced apart, arms crossed over his broad chest, while Brownie gestured toward me and grunted ferocious-sounding epithets.

With a distinct air of resignation, the big guy growled a response. Brownie, radiating satisfaction, handed his spear to Junior and started toward me.

Damn. I was hoping to avoid this. But since I couldn’t, I was glad it was Brownie. His attitude got on my nerves.

I held my ground until he lunged, then moved to one side. With my faster reflexes, I could have circled him three times, filed my nails, and had lunch before he touched me, but I didn’t want to show off. Yet, from his perspective, it must have seemed like I’d vanished. He staggered to a halt and gazed around.

I tapped him on the back. “Looking for me?”

With a roar of fury, he spun and grabbed. This time I didn’t dodge. Instead, I bent at the waist and twisted my lower torso into the air. My feet hit his jaw in rapid succession as I spun into the air. His head rocked back, but he didn’t go down. His eyes narrowed, studying me as he touched his bleeding lip with one hand.

Flexing my knees, I dropped into a defensive stance and waited. He came at me slower, a calculating gleam in his eyes. Warily, we circled each other, him edging ever closer. It didn’t take an empath to understand his plan. He figured if he could only get his hands on me, I wouldn’t stand a chance. And if I were a Natural, he’d have been right.

But I wasn’t even a normal GEP.

I stopped circling and let him come. With a grunt of triumph, his massive arms fisted around me and lifted me from the ground. Using the edge of my boot, I made contact with his shin, and then jammed my elbow into his throat.

Choking and gasping, he released me to clutch at his neck, and I used the movement to grab his arm and toss him over my hip. He landed on his back with a bone-jarring thud that would have knocked the air out of a lesser creature, and then rolled to his feet.

Before he could take another step toward me, I dropped to the ground and kicked his feet out from under him. Even as he hit the dirt again, I returned to an upright position, but the maneuver had knocked my cap off and my braid spilled down my back.

Instantly, the big guy roared a command that froze Brownie in his tracks. He glowered in his leader’s direction while they exchanged a series of grunts and growls, then three sets of eyes lowered to my chest.

“I think they just realized you’re female,” Max commented in my ear.

With a smile, I propped my hands on my hips and thrust my boobs out so there would be no doubt in their minds. Hey, they might not be my best feature, but I was proud of what I had.

Brownie groaned and shut his eyes, humiliation in every line of his body. Not only had he got his butt whipped, it had been a female who’d done the job.

The big guy snapped another order, and Brownie shot me a hate-filled glare as he retrieved his spear from Junior and slunk off into the jungle. I’d have to do something about that, and soon, I realized. I couldn’t afford to have enemies in the Buri tribe.

I glanced back at the two remaining Buri to find them watching me, the big guy’s dark gaze intent, as though he couldn’t quite figure me out. Still smiling, I walked slowly forward until I was right in front of him. Junior took a few steps back, but the big guy held his ground.

Normally I wouldn’t have to worry about names as our scientific team would have supplied the important ones during introductions on my arrival. This time I was on my own. I’d named Junior because of his age and Brownie based on his color. But it didn’t feel right to name the big guy that way for some reason.

“Key-rah,” I said, touching my chest. “Key-rah.” I moved my fingers to his chest. “What’s your name?”

He glanced at my fingers and then lifted his gaze back to mine, his expression inscrutable. I wasn’t picking up a single emotion from him, even when I touched him. All I felt was the solid warmth of his skin under my hand.

“Key-rah.” I tried again. “My name is Key-rah. Your name?” He captured my wrist in his big hand, holding it gently but firmly so I couldn’t pull away. His free hand went around me and lifted my braid.

He studied it for a moment, rubbing it between his fingers, then leaned down and sniffed. Now I was getting something from him. A feeling of…expectation? That was the only way I could describe it. Whatever it was, he was pleased.

His lips curved in a smile and he grunted something to Junior as he straightened. Without any warning, he released me and turned back to the jungle, vanishing into the thick brush.

“Same to ya, buddy,” I grumbled. “And if you just told him I was a harmless female, you’ve got a big surprise coming.”

Junior watched me warily throughout my remarks, so I gave him my most reassuring smile, then turned toward Max. To my surprise, the young Buri followed me. I brightened. Apparently the big guy’s comment hadn’t been derogatory after all. He must have ordered Junior to keep an eye on me. I looked back at the clearing just in time to see another male, this one with dark gray hair, take up the position Junior had vacated.

So I rated my own guard, did I? Well, if Junior thought he was going to spend the rest of the day holding up a tree, he had another thought coming.

It had been my experience that societies with low technology tend to be uncomfortable approaching Max, so when I was on a job, I always set up Quonset huts to live and work in. Since the huts came preprogrammed to erect themselves, the hardest part of this task involved wrestling the boxes onto the antigrav sled for transportation.

By the time we reached Max, the cargo hatch was down, and the hold’s conveyor belts had stacked the boxes in the opening. Crigo, who had arrived seconds before Junior and me, was sprawled in the shadows at the edge of the jungle. Giving the rock cat a wide berth, Junior chose his own tree and leaned against it.

They had the right idea, I decided. It was hotter than Inferno in midsummer, so it only made good sense to set the huts up where they would be shaded by the trees. It would also impede any line-of-sight surveillance the Dynatec crew endeavored.

There also didn’t seem to be as much flying insect life in the jungle. The plains abounded in the speedy little critters. A swarm went by me doing about 140 kilometers per hour, and I used my superfast reflexes to delicately pluck one of them from the group for a better look.

Yep, they certainly were ugly things. They had long, nasty-looking proboscises and orange eyes. But their bodies were streamlined for speed and they had six wings.

Yetch. I released it in a hurry and went back to what I was doing, wiping my fingers on my leg to divest myself of any leftover bug juice that might be contaminating me.

Retrieving a laser cutter from the cargo bay, I walked a few steps into the jungle and looked around. The brush wasn’t quite so thick once you got past the outer edge, and I could see the trees gradually became bigger the farther away they grew from the grassy plain.

A movement in the over-canopy caught my attention, and I glanced up in time to see a tiny creature the size of my hand flit from one flowered vine to another, chittering as it went. It resembled nothing so much as a miniature dragon, but instead of scales, it was covered in jewel-toned feathers.

It landed by gripping the vine with tiny talons and then delicately sipped from a flower. And it wasn’t alone. Now that I’d noticed the first one, there seemed to be hundreds of them, filling the trees with flashes of brilliant color that rivaled the flowers for sheer beauty.

A few of them noticed me watching and flitted closer, heads tilting from side to side as they studied me intently. One of my observers, a brilliant iridescent green fellow, dangled upside down from a vine not two feet in front of me and gurgled inquisitively.

I couldn’t help smiling at their antics. “Friend,” I told them, on the off chance they might understand. It seemed to work. With satisfied cheeps, they went back to flower hopping.

The more I saw of Orpheus Two, the more I liked it, and that worried me. Agents couldn’t allow themselves to get too attached to a place or a people. Not only did it lead to bias, which could skew the findings, it caused undue upset and heartache when it was time to leave. And that time always came.

Shaking my head, I went to work clearing a space big enough for the huts, and making a path through the thicker brush so I could reach Max without having to fight my way out. When I was done, I put the laser cutter away and then motioned for Junior.

His eyes narrowed, but he didn’t move. With a sigh, I walked over to him, took his hand, and pulled. He planted both feet and refused to budge.

I glanced at Crigo, who was still sprawled under a nearby tree, front legs crossed as he looked on with amusement. “Hey, I could use a little help getting him moving.”

Lazily, Crigo rose and stalked into the jungle. A few seconds later, he let out a roar from right behind Junior that had the dragon birds swooping and fluttering in panic. It also served my purpose, since Junior launched himself a foot into the air at the sound. I used his forward momentum to drag him to the cargo bay while he was still looking apprehensively over his shoulder.

Amazingly enough, it didn’t take him long to figure out that I wanted help loading boxes onto the antigrav sled, and he set to work with such enthusiasm that I suspected he’d been bored. Either that, or he was afraid of what Crigo would do if he didn’t cooperate.

While we worked, I checked in with Max, using my chip so the conversation wouldn’t disturb Junior. “Did you have a chance to scan Dynatec’s ship?”

“Yes.” Max’s voice vibrated in my ear. “It’s in good condition, but it’s a much older model with a conventional computer. I made sure we’re out of its scanner and weapon range.”

Odd. Dynatec was a huge company. They could afford the most up-to-date ships and equipment available. So why use such an old one, especially when there was always a danger of pirates targeting lone ships? “What weapons are they carrying?”

“Standard, old-fashioned laser rays, and a few projectile cannons. The type that fires laser-guided missiles.”

I nodded, although still puzzled at their use of outdated weapons. Projectile cannons could be devastating when used dirt side, but Max would know the instant their system locked on to a target. Using our orbiting satellites and weapons based on his surge crystal, he could strike with pinpoint accuracy to take out a single weapon, or destroy their entire camp if necessary.

The satellites also allowed Max to record any activity on the planet’s surface. And once Max recorded something, it was a permanent part of the ship’s log. No tampering could destroy his records, because they weren’t stored physically on board. They were beamed directly to a special storage unit in the Alpha Centauri system, where Alien Affairs had its headquarters. Only Max or the boss could access the files, and even they couldn’t erase them.

After the mission was completed and the fate of the Buri decided, all the recordings would be released to the Federation Library and Archives to be studied by sociologists and other scientists. They would forever be part of Federation history.

“Set up the usual perimeter,” I instructed Max. “If anyone from the Dynatec crew broaches it, let me know immediately. If I’m not here and one of them shows up, use the static shield. I don’t want them getting within fifty feet of you or the camp unless I’m aware they’re here.”