To The Stars (The Harry Irons Trilogy) (37 page)

The three, four counting the alien, set out to find Fagen.

Chapter 31

Fagen completed the pre-flight checks, leaned back in his seat and with Parker sitting in the co-pilot's chair, they watched the forest. Neither spoke. Parker felt his foot every so often and glanced at Fagen. Fagen ignored him.

Parker, like so many devoted professionals, was egocentric, emotionally undeveloped, and intelligent. A deadly combination. Fagen supposed Parker was thinking about how he'd word his report to the Corporation, so he tried to ignore the man and hoped Harry would show up. And what about the aliens? Would they attack? Had they planted something on the shuttle? Fagen had searched the vehicle thoroughly, but found nothing. How was the hatch opened? If it was Kathleen, why would she leave again?

Everything seemed to be in order. Fagen looked around the cockpit. A notepad with a connected pen was plainly in view. No, it wasn't Kathleen. She would have left a message.

Maybe the natives. But how could they have managed to open the hatch? They were curious creatures and intelligent and hardy. As a species, they showed great promise. But what would it matter if Gamma-2 went nova? Everything here would be scorched. The great forests would burn and the oceans would boil away. Nothing would be left alive. He drove the thought from his mind. There was nothing he could do about it anyway.

No, he decided, the natives had not opened the hatch. Neither had Kathleen nor Harry. That left the aliens. If so, why hadn't they waited? What was going on? Perhaps there weren't that many of them. They couldn't be everywhere at once. One thing he felt sure about was that sooner or later, they would return.

Maybe he and Parker should just light the engines and get out of there. But he couldn't do that. Not again. He owed it to Harry to wait. Fagen looked at the doctor.

"How's the foot?"

The doctor reported in a clipped manner. "Fine."

Undeterred, Fagen continued, "You know, I've been thinking."

Parker glanced at Fagen. "What?"

"The aliens are well outfitted for what they're doing."

"And what are they doing?"

Fagen looked surprised, as if the answer was self-evident. "Why, they're walking around in this forest, hunting. Probably sight-seeing too. They use self-contained survival gear, have a full choice of weapons..."

An expression of incredulity spread over Parker's face. "You think that's what they're here for? To hunt for recreation? To take specimens? No, not specimens, trophies?"

Fagen shrugged. "That's what it looks like to me. They carry a variety of weapons; their EVA units, body armor, whatever you want to call it, are built for durability and dexterity. Did you see how they moved? They're really quite marvelous."

"You admire them?"

"The technology."

"Weapons and armor? That's not so much."

Fagen grinned. "Think about it. We've seen more than just advanced weaponry. That ship in orbit is a good example."

"I doubt if they're advanced enough to stop a nova."

"You've got a point there, Doc."

"Please don't call me Doc."

"Whatever."

Parker pouted for a moment, then spoke. "I think it's a disgrace we weren't able to open lines of communication with them. I can't believe there wasn't something else we could have done."

Fagen shrugged. "Harry tried his best. The things didn't want to talk."

"I wonder if Irons was the right man for the job."

"The Corporation thought so. I thought so."

"Yes, well, I wonder if one of us could have done better. There's no denying Iron's language abilities, but perhaps he would serve better as an interpreter acting after initial contact has been established."

"I'm not going to blame Harry for what happened. We were all there. You saw what happened. Afterwards, the creatures hunted us..."

"We don't know that," Parker interrupted.

"Ah, I see. And what do you suggest they were doing? Trying to invite us to a fellowship breakfast?"

"We owe it to them and ourselves to make every effort at peaceful contact. The opportunity is too important for us to bungle the job. What's the Corporation going to say when they find out what's happened?"

Fagen sighed. "The Corporation is run on greed. If that star Bonner located goes nova, they won't show any interest in this place. Mia Culpa will be a burned-out cinder."

"There's still the minor problem of explaining why we weren't able to establish a peaceful dialogue with the first advanced species found in the galaxy."

The commander looked out the port. "You think you could do better than Harry? You think you could get those things to talk to you without taking your head off?"

Parker sniffed. "I couldn't do any worse than Irons."

"Is that so? Well, would you like to have a chance at it?"

"What do you mean?"

Fagen pointed out the port. "Take a look."

Parker followed Fagen's pointing finger. Outside the shuttle, at the treeline and motionless as statues, stood two of the aliens.

"Shit," the doctor exclaimed, "let's get out of here."

Fagen smiled. "That's what I thought. Sure you don't want to go out and have a chat?"

"Don't be absurd. Let's get out of here!"

"Let's not be so hasty. If we fire up now, they might just blow us out of the sky as we're lifting off."

"What are we going to do then?"

"First, we're going to protect ourselves." Fagen pointed to an instrument panel. "Flip the bottom toggle switch."

Parker did as he was told. "What's that going to do?"

"We just applied power to the laser cannon."

Parker's eyes grew wide. "We can't fight these things!"

"I see. First they're intelligent and you think we should make every effort to communicate, then you think we should bug out." Fagen laughed. "Make up your mind, Doctor."

Parker didn't reply. His attention was riveted on the aliens. Fagen toyed with the joystick that controlled the sighting device for the cannon. The aliens remained motionless at the edge of the trees.

Fagen knew he could no longer afford to wait for Harry. There was a good chance the linguist was no longer alive. It was a shame. Harry was a good man.

He entered a command onto the console keyboard ignition. A high-pitched whine came from below as pumps worked to apply pressure to the fuel flow system. The patched hydraulic system held together like new. Bonner had done a good job. In minutes, the shuttle would be ready to go.

Outside, one of the aliens suddenly scurried to a flanking position. The other took a few steps forward and stopped. It reached for an instrument on its equipment belt.

Fagen brought the laser cannon to bear on the alien who lingered in front.

"We can't do this!" exclaimed Parker.

"I have no choice."

"Try the radio! Try anything first!"

"Go ahead," said a calm Fagen. "Try to raise them on the radio. Maybe it'll work this time."

Parker put on his headset and punched a button. Several channels opened at once. "This is Earth galaxy survey team. We are here with peaceful intentions. Do you understand me? Can you hear me?"

As Fagen expected, there was no reply. He checked the instrument readings for the cannon. The elements had pre-heated and the weapon was ready to fire, if necessary. To no avail, Parker tried the radio again.

Fagen shook his head. "I'm telling you, these things aren't interested in casual conversation."

"That's just too hard to believe."

"You better believe it. It just might mean both our lives otherwise."

While the two men argued, the alien in front leveled its weapon and fired a beam over the top of the shuttle. Parker ducked under his console.

"It was a warning shot."

"Let's get out of here!"

"I'm working on it!"

*

At the sound of the beam being discharged, Harry stopped dead in his tracks. Kretin and Arai stopped as well. All three peered through the trees, searching for the source of the sound. Kretin pointed ahead.

"We are very close."

Harry nodded in understanding.

*

Parker was on the radio again, calling the Magellan. Nadine's voice floated out of the shuttle speakers. "This is Magellan. What's going on down there?"

Excitedly, Parker shouted into his headset. "We're under attack! Two aliens are outside the shuttle!"

Nadine's voice came back over the loudspeakers. Matter-of-factly, she said, "What would you have us do, Doctor?"

Fagen interrupted. "Nadine," he said calmly, "we're preparing to lift off. If all goes well, we'll see you in thirty minutes or so. If not, well, you have my permission to leave orbit and head back to the wormhole."

Parker pivoted to Fagen, an angered expression on his face. "What are you saying? We'll be stranded! We'll be killed!"

"Calm down. Give us a chance to get out of here before you write our obituary." Fagen spoke into his headset. "Did you copy all that, Nadine?"

"That is affirmative. We'll be waiting. Good luck. This is Magellan, out."

"Now what?" The doctor asked.

"Now we protect ourselves and try to bug out without being burned."

Fagen checked his instrument readings. The shuttle was ready for lift-off. The computers waited for the initiate command. He glanced out the window and saw the alien advance toward the shuttle. It was only twenty yards away now. Fagen doubted whether the blast from the engines would do them any harm.

They would have to leave the laser cannon where it was. For the time being, it offered some degree of protection.

Fagen didn't want the creatures getting any closer. There was a chance that if they reached the shuttle, they could open the main hatch again and gain entry. Fagen wasn't going to allow that to happen.

As the creature continued its advance, Fagen aimed the laser cannon at the legs of the beast. It took another step forward and Fagen squeezed off his shot.

The white-hot light jumped from the barrel of the cannon and burned into the creature's metallic foreleg. The shot staggered the alien as the laser burned into the metal. Before it had sufficient time to cut through, the leg bent and the creature tumbled forward to the ground. The beam shut off and the cannon began to accumulate charge for the next shot.

The second alien came to the aid of its fallen comrade. It fired a shot at the laser cannon and registered a direct hit. The cannon exploded, scattering bits of metal like shrapnel across the hull of the shuttle.

Without another word, Fagen engaged the computers. The ship responded immediately, igniting the chemical fires to the rocket engines. The shuttle heaved and began to lift off the ground.

Both creatures were in view. The wounded alien remained on the ground while its companion stood over it and pointed a weapon toward the ascending shuttle. Fagen concentrated on the instrument readouts. The shuttle performed normally, just a few more minutes and they'd be out of danger. Parker gripped his armrests and kept his eyes on the aliens.

The shuttle seemed to move extremely slow. Seconds stretched like minutes.

"Can't we make this thing move any faster?"

"Doing the best I can," Fagen replied. "What're the aliens doing?"

Parker stared out the window. "One of them's on the ground. The other is pointing something at us."

"Uh-oh," said Fagen even as the creature fired its first shot.

The beam struck the shuttle somewhere on the underside and the craft rocked wickedly from side to side. An alarm filled the cockpit and sparks flew from an instrument console.

"We've got a power overload," said Fagen. He glanced to the rear of the compartment. Calmly he added, "Will you put out the fire, Doctor Parker?"

Parker looked behind and saw flames springing from behind an instrument panel. He jumped out of his chair, for the moment forgetting the discomfort of his injury, and grabbed a fire extinguisher.

As the doctor put out the fire, the shuttle continued to rise. The aliens didn't bother to fire another shot, but plenty of damage had already been done. Fagen fought the controls and hoped the craft wasn't severely damaged.

*

At the sound of the engines, Harry began to run. The forest filled with their roar. The aborigines followed cautiously behind. Harry didn't share their reluctance. He knew what he heard: the sound of the shuttle engines, the sound of his escape vanishing.

He ran as fast as he could. The additional gravity made him feel as though he was running through syrup. He stumbled once, but caught himself and pressed on.

Harry glimpsed the bright fires from the engines and gulped for air. As he watched, the shuttle lifted into the air. It wobbled for a moment and then continued upward. Harry slowed to a walk and finally stopped. There was nothing more he could do.