Chapter 7.
A full day had gone by without the transceiver being approached. Like all other units earmarked for use with ‘seeded’ communities, it had been programmed to be ‘proximity sensitive,’ environmentally aware, able to sense when any life form approached. Depending upon the type of life form, the unit was programmed to respond appropriately. In the case of the ‘Sef colony’ it was programmed to report back to the control center on a 24 hour time schedule, unless, of course, Sef initiated contact himself.
Perhaps the ‘subject’ had misplaced the unit. That had happened on many occasions with other subjects. The on-duty technician pondered this possibility as she sat at her station and began reviewing reports from the six previous shifts. It was part of established protocol to begin the review process, should the ’24-hour rule’ be violated. From what she gleaned from the most recent report, perhaps negotiations were still in process, and the subject had deliberately delayed making contact.
At the beginning of this shift, her supervisor had left instructions to do high resolution scans in the vicinity of the transceiver in question, once that portion of the planet was well into its dark cycle. Though the unit was capable of high resolution masking, it was decided to wait until dark, rather than risk the remote possibility of being detected during daylight hours.
The other units distributed around the planet had all reported the usual activity and had gone dormant after reporting in. The remainder were assigned to the ‘exploratory section.’ Since they lacked holographic capabilities, they were stationed permanently in high geosynchronous orbit where they conducted narrow-swath infra-red tracking over the ‘seeded’ colonies.
As she was reading through the reports, one of the ‘geosyncs’ on her board alarmed. When she pulled it up on her screen she noticed it had just completed a scan of the area where the transceiver in question was located.
Upon comparison of the previous scan data she noticed that the number of ‘hot spots’ had decreased markedly, thus triggering the alarm.
Quickly she scrolled through her check list for instructions. There was a highlighted note attached to this particular unit, instructing that the section head should be immediately notified upon detection of any unusual data.
“SECTION HEAD?!” The technician said under her breath.
“What’s that, Judy? Did you same something?” Her co-worker in the adjacent cubicle said, surprised.
“Yes! One of my ‘geosyncs’ has a priority note attached. I’m supposed to call the Section Head! That’s a jump way up the ladder . . . clear out of our division! That’s clear up into Command Level.
“Holy crap, girl! What’s the “geosync’ say? You sure it’s not just a glitch?”
“No! It’s for real all right! ‘Sides, if it was just a glitch, there wouldn’t be a high priority note attached . . . would there!?”
“I guess not! Tie me in and I’ll start I.R. comparisons while you call upstairs.”
“Thanks. I’m not sure I know how to jump that far up the ladder.”
“Click on the highlighted note. It should bring up another screen with instructions.”
“OK. Here goes.” Judy clicked the note. But instead of a new screen popping up, a ‘flag’ appeared with this text: ‘Commander Evander’s office. Please hold for connection.’ The message blinked several times, then a screen with a face appeared.
“Evander here. Who’s calling, please?”
“Sergeant Judy Humes, sir. I have a note to contact you about. . . .”
“Thank you. I’ll be there in a few. Evander out.” The screen reverted to ‘geosync’ mode. Surprised at the brevity of the conversation, Judy stood and peered over the top of her cubicle.
“Wow! This must be something hot! Anything yet?” she asked.
“Just pulled up the IR scans from a few hours ago. Data comparisons should be. . . .”
The office door swung open and in strode a tall thin, grey-haired man wearing antique ‘granny glasses.’ He was carrying a book, his finger stuck between pages to mark his place. He removed the glasses quickly as he approached the cubicles.
“Hello, ladies.” He offered a quick smile, which disappeared as he drew close and peered into the screen.
“Sir. IR scans revealed an anomaly a few minutes ago. Looks like a drop in ‘hot spots.’ I’m pulling up the last two for comparison.”
Both images popped up simultaneously. Each image showed what would be expected, a dark grey background (ground surface), with areas of varying lighter patches (foliage and other objects which gave off heat signatures of varying temperatures). In the center of each image there was a brighter patch. The bright patch in the newer image was markedly more pronounced than that of the older.
“Zoom in on those, please.” Evander said as he leaned closer.
The close-up of the older scan showed numerous bright specks, clustered together on one side of a darker area. On the far side of that area numerous other bright specks could be seen. There were also two ‘hot spots’ in the center.
The most recent of the two images appeared to show both groups of specks converging. Many of the specks appeared to be blurred.
“Do you have action feeds for these scans?”
“No sir. Protocol called for single frames on 30 second intervals. These are the most recent we have. I can pull up point-count data, if that would help, sir.”
“Let’s do that, Sergeant. Can you do data streaming simultaneously?”
“Yes, sir. It’s coming up now, sir.” Judy stepped to the side so Evander to come closer.
The data stream showed a point count for all heat signatures which registered 20% or higher above ambient temperature. In the older data the number held at 284 ‘hot spots.’ The newer data showed fluctuation, suggesting that some of the ‘hot spots’ were cooling.
“This doesn’t look good, sir. What do you want us to do now?”
The last time Sef and he had spoken, Evander had been concerned that the following day’s negotiations might reach an impasse. In his time as a ‘seeder’ he had witnessed countless scenarios where clashes between cultures had resulted in conflict. But in those situations each culture had been human.
Here, the situation was unlike any other. Neither side was human. One side was composed of high-order simians, while the other was. . . . He wasn’t sure WHAT to call the other. Half human? Part simian?
He had studied and observed social groups on hundreds of planets. Primate societies were generally the most advanced. Like all ‘communal’ types, simians had learned to adapt to environmental AND cultural changes. Individual survival had become directly dependent on group dynamics. ‘Going along to get along’ might be the best way to describe it.
The ‘great apes’ in particular had been able to minimize internal conflict with little or no observable harmful effects. The individual benefited by cooperation rather than competition. Of course competition existed, but it was always kept in check by individuals finding their place within the social order.
“Let’s bring Sef’s transceiver on line and see if it’s recorded any unusual activity since the last meeting.”
Yes, sir.” Judy stepped over to her console and activated the transceiver. “Shall I unmask it, sir?”
“Not just yet. Let’s see what the unit has recorded first.”
The tech keyed in a few commands and waited for confirmation the unit was responding properly.
“Nothing, sir. I show no ‘hot spots’ in the vicinity. Activating flight controls now. Still masked, sir.”
“Very well. Let’s ascend to just above tree top level and start a visual scan.”
Down on the surface it was unusually quiet. A light haze shown through the canopy. Droplets of water could be seen dripping from the foliage.
“Monsoonal rain, sir. Must have just stopped in the last few minutes.”
The transceiver hovered just above the tallest trees, then began a slow 360 degree rotation, scanning
the jungle floor below.
“Nothing here, sir. Just a few empty nests close to the ground. Looks like the colony’s already up and begun their day.”
Evander sat his book on a nearby table, then pulled his glasses from his pocket and put them on slowly, peering more closely at the screen.
“Strange. We should see some movement, even at this low elevation. Switch back to IR again and do another scan.”
“Still nothing sir. We’re scanning a 200 foot perimeter and still no hot spots.”
“OK. let’s go up another hundred feet or so and see what we can see.”
The transceiver rose, then went to ‘station keeping’ (hover mode), and began another circular sweep.
“There, sir . . . at about 3 o’clock. I’m picking up some faint IR returns. Too weak to be bio-mass, though. There’s a lot of them.”
“Let’s move closer. Switch back to visual. Masking still activated, please.”
Evander inched closer, peering over the sergeant’s shoulder.
“Looks like a clearing, sir.”
“Mmm.” Evander’s mind was filled with dread. He tried to steel himself for what he knew was coming. He had seen this before, long ago on a different planet. The details would be different, but the result would almost certainly be the same.
The transceiver homed in on the weak signals. As it’s camera cleared the perimeter, what it recorded below was a scene of unspeakable horror. There in the center of the clearing lay two bodies, one the headless corpse of a man, the other a misshapen mass of disjointed limbs and matted hair. The body was so badly beaten as to hardly resemble the simian it once had been.
At the edge of the clearing other bodies could be seen. None of them was as badly mangled as the first two, who had received ‘special’ treatment.
Evander stepped back, sighing, folded his arms across his chest and lowered his head.
“That’s Sef and his father,” he said, more to himself than to anyone else.
The room was quiet, the two technicians staring numbly at their screens. Evander stood quietly, eyes closed.
“Sir, the others all appear to be simian.” Judy began hesitantly. “They must have been killed very early this morning. That explains why the heat signatures were so faint . . . that, plus the rain”
“Yes . . . yes . . . I’m sure you’re right.” Evander removed his glasses and swiped his hand across his forehead, just once.
“Let’s get a body count. Be sure this is all recorded.” Evander spoke quietly, deliberately, as he looked around the room for a chair. Seeing none, he leaned against a cubicle wall, watching silently as the tech began doing as she was instructed.
The transceiver moved across the clearing and then down into the trees, both camera and IR scanner panning slowly back and forth.
After a few long minutes the count was complete.
“Sir, I count 128 bodies. 13 of them are Tal infants. I also count 12 adult Tal. Their bodies are dispersed further out from the . . . the scene. . . .”
“Why would they kill their own?” The other tech asked.
Evander stood erect, clasping his hands behind his back, head lowered in thought.
“The Tal are an aberration. They lack the reasoning power of humans, they lack any semblance of self-restraint.”
He turned slowly and added as he walked back toward the door: “There is much we need to evaluate before we can know why all this happened. Have the unit collect tissue samples from the ‘seeded’ simian body there in the center of the clearing, as well as from one each male and female Tal body. Recall the transceiver to the nearest Link and have it transported here. Notify me when the samples have reached our lab. If I’m needed, you can contact me in my private quarters.”
With that, he left, closing the door quietly behind him.
Chapter 8.
For several days after the slaughter, the Tal reveled in their perceived independence. But as the revelry wore off, a stark realization began sinking in. They began to realize just how dependent they had been on their simian families.
The Tal were, after all, more physically human than they were simian. They were much larger in height as well as body weight. They were adapted for ground dwelling and upright locomotion. Their feet were flat, rather than hand-like, with all five digits aligned, not at all good for tree climbing.
The fruits and nuts which were their regular diet grew high up in the trees. Their simian kin could easily climb to those heights, where they retrieved the bounty and brought it down to the clumsy new species. Now, with the simians gone, the Tal were forced to seek other means of sustenance.
The simians were somewhat omnivorous, but chose vegetation as their primary food source. Rarely did they resort to consuming animal flesh.
Now, because they really had no choice, the Tal became primarily meat-eaters, scavenging where and when they could for the meager vegetable matter they could find.
Their prey animals quickly adapted to Tal predation and learned how to avoid them. Consequently, the Tal were forced to leave the familiarity of their home ranges and follow the herds as they migrated.
The Tal were few in number, now less than a hundred strong. They were in direct competition with other carnivores who also followed the migrations.
Unknown to them, as they followed the migrations northward, they were following almost literally in the footsteps of Amon and his clan.
##########
Thank you for reading my book. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. My original intent was to write a single volume. But as time went by and my imagination blossomed, I decided to make it two volumes so that I could get to know my characters better.
Book two of The Chronicles of Amon is called The Sea of Marmara. It picks up where LINK left off and follows Amon through until the end of time. (!!) I know you will enjoy reading it….especially the ending.
Please feel free to let your retailer know what you thought of my book.
I’ve just started another book which features two of the characters from the Amon series. Remember Broc and Nahm? They’ll be dealing with the Central and South-American cultures of the Mayans and the Incas. I’m looking forward to finding out what happens.
Again, THANK YOU for your interest. I’ll have more for you just as soon as possible.
Wayne
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends