Metal Boxes - Trapped Outside (20 page)

Whizzer looked at Triplett, Arnold, and Lee. He glanced back at Stone. “There aren’t too many of us left, young man. I’m sorry you don’t trust all of us, but there are only nine ambulatory civilians left and four without any injuries at all. Whatever concerns you have can be mitigated by the fact we are trapped out here on the back side of nowhere.”

Stone knew Whizzer had a point. “Use everyone at your discretion, Whizzer. Keep an eye on everyone.” Whizzer blanched when Stone added, “If anyone steps out of line, they will die, do you understand?” He glanced up, spotting Private Tighe casually leaning up against a rock only a few feet behind Triplett. She nodded back, giving him a quick salute with the stump of her missing hand.

Whizzer gulped, having spotted Tighe’s cold-eyed glance. “I understand, Ensign Stone. What do you have?”

Stone said, “We have some Hyrocanian videos, recordings of their encampment.”

Out of the babel of excited voices, Stone heard the big question “How—?

He shouted over the voices, “How we got the data isn’t important. What we have is a matter of life and death. Our life and death, do you all understand? Doctor Arnold thinks we’ve never tried a diplomatic solution to the Hyrocanian War. Well, we can’t try diplomacy unless we can talk, right? We don’t know their language and as far as we know they don’t know ours. We need to know everything we can glean from these videos. We need analysis and we need it now.”

Numos said, “I think Doctor Triplett should be asked how she communicated with the Hyrocanians? I mean, she passed data to them.”

Ryte said, “We cannot ask her as that will violate her right not to self-incriminate.”

Triplett snorted. “You can’t even have this conversation with me here unless I have an attorney present, since you already placed me under arrest.”

Ryte replied, “We didn’t invite you into this conversation. My preference would be to keep you chained up in a deep dark hole where you couldn’t talk to anyone. However, Ensign Stone is in command, and he thinks you might be useful.”

Whizzer started to point to various people, hoping to best utilize their skill sets for the analysis, but Stone stopped him. “Whizzer, EMIS Agent Tammie Ryte is in charge of the video and all data extracted from it.”

Ryte cleared her throat. “Ensign Stone? I’m sure I shouldn’t be in charge.”

Stone said, “Okay, then Lieutenant Allie Vedrian is in charge. What she says goes. If anyone gives her an argument about anything, it will be like arguing with me and by extension, arguing with the Emperor. Let me be clear, we’re too close to the Hyrocanians for safety. I don’t care what Triplett, Arnold and Lee think about the Hyrocanian’s ultimate motives, they bombed our compound without warning and destroyed the Vasco de Gama and our resupply ship, the Iridium Rock, with missiles. We may be at war and the Vasco de Gama, as a navy scientific research vessel, was fair game, but the Iridium Rock was a privately owned ship full of civilians, not a military target.”

Arnold began, “Maybe—”

Allie interrupted, anger and hostility evident in her voice. “Maybe nothing. The civilian ship wasn’t a threat to anyone. The Hyrocanians didn’t stop to identify either ship. They could have been filled with orphans and puppies for all those four-armed freaks knew. They just blew them into space dust without even checking. Anyone—and I mean anyone—who sympathizes with puppy killers had better learn to sleep with their eyes open.”

The scientists all stepped back away from Allie as her face reddened with anger. They noticed Private Tighe kept her face neutral, but the knife appearing in her hand as if by magic, didn’t look neutral at all. They took a step away from her and froze, realizing, perhaps the first time for some of them, how tenuous their hold on the thin thread of life had become.

Ryte spoke clearly. “Doctor Triplett is under EMIS arrest. She isn’t to be harmed except to stop her from further disseminating information to the Empire’s enemies.”

Allie huffed and sat down on a rock.

Stone nodded. “The Hyrocanian actions so far don’t give me any hope for a peaceful solution to our situation. Frankly, if I had a nuke I would blast the bastards to glass without so much as a how-de-do. I make this promise to all of you. If we can find a way to open peace negotiations without getting ourselves killed, then we will do so. How does that sound, Whizzer?”

“Eminently practical, young man. I’m sure we can all agree to work toward—”

Allie shook her head and waved him to silence, obviously in pain from her emotional outburst and her head injuries. “Our goal is to gather information on the Empire’s enemies. We are doing so to save our lives and the lives of the wounded and injured around us.”

Numos added, “Any electronic emissions or transmissions of any kind will lead them right back to us and they have already proven they have a taste for shooting first and asking questions later.”

Arnold snorted, “I wonder where they learned that tactic.”

Numos said, “I don’t care whether they learned it from us or if it’s because they’re homicidally inclined toward genocide. It impacts our chances of getting off this planet alive and our chances are already so slim they are invisible when you look at them sideways.”

Arnold nodded, “I agree, sir. Once we are able to communicate with them, we should negotiate terms of surrender.”

Stone said, “That is my call, Doctor Arnold, if and when we’re able to communicate.”

TWENTY-FIVE

Stone felt queasy as the activity swirled around him. LCDR Butcher and MCPO Thomas hobbled into the small circle of rocks that Stone was beginning to think of as his conference room. In short order, they hobbled back out, seeking navy personnel with the skills to help analyze the Hyrocanian videos.

He glanced up. The tarps overhead were still in place, giving him some semblance of a ceiling. Something was making him dizzy and nauseated. He shook his head to clear it, but that made it worse. Jay’s stomach rumbled.

She said, “
Hungry, Mama.”

Stone was no longer worried about anyone hearing him talk to his drascos, he did it all of the time, but he realized he now had to watch how he phrased things. “Well, girls. I imagine you’re getting hungry.”

Peebee said, “
I can smell food over that way
.” Somehow, she projected a direction toward the forest outside of the wall.

Jay agreed, “
Lots of food, like last time we were home
.”

Stone said, “I’ll bet you haven’t eaten in a while, huh?”

Neither drasco answered his question. They didn’t seem to have much of a sense of time, but he had the impression they hadn’t eaten since their race away from the compound. Stone couldn’t remember having eaten since before that, even though he remembered a chunk of drasco meat on a stick in the meadow, he still wasn’t sure what happened to it. There wasn’t anything he could eat in the forest, not without killing and cooking it, except for a few tubers. Anything large enough to be worth killing and cooking had either been chased away or was fodder to the crab swarm. As hungry as he was, he didn’t want to leave the protective cover of the tarps to endure the open sky.

He could tell Tuttle was nearby without looking. He craned his neck backward, feeling like his head wasn’t swiveling far enough. “Barb? Are you supposed to be watching me or on a break?” Before she answered, he continued. “Either way, could I ask you to take Jay and Peebee out to the edge of the forest and let them eat? I know it isn’t safe, but they haven’t eaten—”

Tuttle interrupted, “Of course I’ll take the girls out to feed. We’ve tried before, but they won’t go.”

Stone said, “Jay and Peebee, you go with Barb to get food, okay?”

Peebee asked, “
Mama eat, too?”

Jay didn’t ask but said with a firm voice, “
Mama eat, too
.”

Stone said, “You go with Barb and be good girls. I’ll get something soon. Go. Shoo. Get.” He scooted over to the rock Allie was using as a backrest and leaned up against it next to her. He was on her blind side, the side with her eye covered in the thick bandage. Without looking, she reached over and patted his leg while continuing to direct people in setting up teams for specific analysis study and arguing against duplicating the recordings for more efficient study.

He understood the need to keep the number of copies to a minimum for security reasons and he had no desire to look at them. He had seen his share of Hyrocanians and their mutual communications had all been of the “I kill you or you kill me” type of conversation. Still, half a dozen dataport view screens popped on in front of scattered groups, Ryte directing various videos to the screens for study.

Allie assigned scientists to study in separate groups, but she didn’t stop them when they ran back and forth comparing notes and chattering excitedly with each other and into their dataports. Even Triplett and Arnold were enthusiastic in analyzing their respective videos and taking notes. Men and woman, healthy and wounded, wandered into the area. Each was sent to work with a specific group depending on their own specialties. Their main concern was what weapons the Hyrocanians had available for future attacks. The majority of volunteer analysts were marines, many with extensive experience in a variety of weapons.

Even Spacer Dollish, with nothing to cook, was assigned to scan whatever videos he could find on Hyrocanian eating habits. Stone doubted they were vegans. He had been far too close to their double rows of teeth to imagine they evolved from anything other than carnivores. Their teeth were buzz saw sharp with a passing resemblance to an industrial shredder.

Whizzer zoomed in on a video of a group of Hyrocanians, froze it in place, and called up another video of the Hyrocanians just before the compound blew up. He tried to compare the guttural grunts and screeches, searching for patterns. The noises were similar, enough to be a language, but not close enough to identify specific words. He couldn’t know what word meant what. A valid first step would be enough to verify the aliens even used verbal communication.

Trying to assign specific meanings to specific words was unlikely. If the Hyrocanian language was anything like human language, translation was next to impossible without some Rosetta Stone equivalent. Stone could image a human holding up a spherical object and saying one word. The interpreter wouldn’t know if the word was: round, citrus, heavy, edible, cheap, juicy, mine, or simply orange. Would that word be in Empire Standard, or one of the thousands of languages and dialects humans have used over the centuries, there would be no way to make that determination.

Stone watched Whizzer for a while, running back and forth, always excited. Arnold was alternately excited and depressed depending on whether they were making any perceived progress. Triplett didn’t speak to anyone except to point out various study possibilities. Whizzer gasped and froze a video. In a flash, the display was enlarged and everyone gathered around to watch as an overly blubbery Hyrocanian in a small group yanked a small pencil shaped tool from a pocket. The vid, playing in slow motion, showed it flipping a switch, and the pencil flashing out a long hissing whipcord-like wire. The wire stiffened at the flick of another switch and the huge Hyrocanian jammed it deep into the neck of a passing Hyrocanian.

The larger of the two stood over the body of its dead companion, grunting and sputtering. The other Hyrocanians in the group ignored both the killer and his victim, each going about other tasks at hand as if nothing had happened. The killer flicked off the pencil and, still shouting, waddled away disappearing into a building.

Arnold and Triplett were pale with shock. The killing was brutal and apparently done without warning as the smaller creature just ambled by. No other Hyrocanian bothered to look at the victim. They just left the body on the ground where it lay oozing all manner of fluids.

Allie said, “I’m not much of an xeno-anthropologist, but that doesn’t look like diplomatic, peaceful solutions are high on the Hyrocanian’s list.”

Stone would have answered, but he kept his eye on Whizzer. Whatever shock the scientist felt dissipated as the man split the displayed screen showing the killing on half and the compound video just before the explosion on the other half. Both videos showed a fatter than normal Hyrocanian shouting and grunting at other obese Hyrocanians. Whizzer rolled dials back and forth until he had a small snippet on both screens where the Hyrocanian shouted the same thing. Everyone got excited. Stone wasn’t so sure. Similar random video tidbits of humans might generate the same noises, yet the meaning would still be too obscure to be useful. It would be like two humans shouting “bank”, “mine”, or “watch”. Homonyms were far
too
common in human languages
to
assume
two
such words wouldn’t exist in alien speech since Whizzer ignored the majority of the Hyrocanian’s speech.

Stone stopped and tilted his head, twisting it back and forth, listening to many of the screens at the same time. Slapping his forehead with his palm, he realized he was trying to smell the videos. Unless he was willing to broadcast he had new abilities, or that he was insane, he needed to carefully phrase his next question.

“Whizzer?” he called out. “When you have a moment, please.”

Allie patted him on the thigh. “Don’t shout, Stone. I have a headache.”

Stone frowned. “Not funny! I heard the joke before. Are you backing out on our after lunch deal?”

Allie snorted a laugh. “Lunch was the joke, you goober. We aren’t likely to even get much for supper.”

Stone thought about complaining. He’d been offered sex and it didn’t look like he was going to get it. He grunted in frustration and would have said something, except Whizzer skipped over to him just then. Instead of sniping back at Allie, Stone asked, “Whizzer, are we sure the Hyrocanians have the same ears we have?”

Whizzer replied, “Of course not, young man. You can clearly see they are hinged to rotate and—”

Stone interrupted. “No, doctor. I don’t mean the ear flaps, I mean the inside. Do they hear the same way we do?” He vaguely remembered something from biology about humans having a couple of tiny bones inside their ears that vibrated, but he couldn’t remember how many or what they were called. There were a few times he wished he had paid more attention to his studies, not just pushing information into his head to pass the test.

The scientist looked askance at Allie. “I would assume the military has gotten their hands on Hyrocanian bodies after combat for autopsies, but none of that information is available to the civilian scientific community.”

Allie replied, “We haven’t gotten Hyrocanian bodies like you would expect, Doctor Wyznewski. Most of our confrontations have been space battles that don’t leave much in the way of soft tissue. The Hyrocanians are as loath to let us have their dead as we are to give them ours.”

Stone said, “I don’t want to start an argument between you two as to who knew what when. I just wanted to ask if it is possible for the Hyrocanians to speak or hear in a different range than we do?”

Whizzer chuckled, “Good question, young man. We can’t assume …” His voice had started to have a lecture quality, but it faded away and he slapped his forehead with his palm. Turning and racing away, Whizzer started spinning dials on the display, running them back and forth seeking different frequencies.

Stone’s stomach rumbled and he tilted his head back. He could barely hear the sound from Whizzer’s display, but it rolled past a few frequencies that buzzed irritably in his ears. It didn’t take long before other displays began rolling frequencies seeking his alternate theory that maybe Hyrocanians heard and spoke in frequency ranges not used by humans. There were a few frequencies that really set his back teeth to aching.

Whizzer shouted in excitement. Almost everyone clustered around him as he explained the Hyrocanians listened and talked in multiple frequencies. Not everyone was as excited about that as the group of marine NCOs studying a video of what looked like a surface-to-air anti-aircraft missile launcher.

Spacer Dollish had wandered off to vomit after scanning a video of Hyrocanians eating. The view made more than one human queasy. The four–armed freaks fed by forming a circle. One of their number threw in a dozen two-legged, piglet-type creatures, some of whom ran and others just sat awaiting their fate. First one Hyrocanian and then another, dashed forward at some unseen signal, grabbed a piglet and began ripping it apart, biting huge chunks of its flesh while it squealed, crying out in pain. The Hyrocanian tossed odd bits of dripping flesh to its companions.

Stone caught a whiff of chocolate and peppermint. Jay and Peebee were bounding over and around rocks, coming back from their lunch of leaves and grass. He could smell their contentment. After watching the Hyrocanians feed, Stone was almost tempted to become a vegetarian like his drascos. Except, he had an urge for a double cheeseburger with bacon and a fried egg.