“The point is,” said Morgan, “there is a great deal at stake here. If this is the first encounter of alien life, there is enormous amounts of money to be made.”
“There is more going on here than worrying about money,” said Jupe.
“What was that?” Rolondo asked Morgan, realising why he was trying to convince them to go back out. “Is that all you care about? Money? Are you serious? You want to risk everything by going out there again? You have no idea what that thing is, but you’re willing to risk everything to find out, because there is a slim chance of making wage over it?”
“It may not be important to you,” said Morgan, “but it happens to be important to me.”
“We’re not saying it has no importance,” said Rebbi. “What we’re saying is we are in danger, and the longer we stay here the more danger we are getting into.”
“I don’t know if we are in danger,” said Jupe. “We’ve been sitting here for a while, and nothing’s happened. Now I’m not so sure about kicking it all in, and going back to Earth.”
“You just said you were,” said Rolondo.
“Aren’t any of you curious about what happened to Ancia and all the colonists?” he asked.
“We would if we were actually at Ancia,” said Rebbi.
“And I keep telling you, that is where we are,” said Jupe.
“Sorry, not going to convince me,” said Rebbi. “Out there is nothing like what we know about Ancia. Not even close.”
“It’s nothing like Ancia, Jupe,” said Real.
“I’m not interested in convincing you,” said Jupe. “The fact is, we need to stay to see what this place is, and what those things are. Is it Ancia and something’s gone wrong, or is it somewhere else? Morgan’s right, it may have great importance. Whatever that was out there, we need to know what it was.”
“We’ll vote,” said Rolondo. “All those in favour …”
“There’s no voting,” said Jupe. “I’m the captain, I’m in charge. No discussion.”
“Who do you think you are? TC?” asked Rebbi.
Jupe glared at her, and then at Morgan who was smirking. They didn’t know it was the biggest insult that they could give him.
“Let’s go,” Jupe said to Rolondo.
“Go where? Out there? I’m not going out there again.”
“You got the straw. Let’s go see what’s out there.”
“I don’t care what’s out there. “I’m not going.”
“Real can go,” said Rebbi. “He didn’t see it. We’ve seen it and he hasn’t. That’s only fair.”
“What are you talking about?” Real asked her.
“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” said Jupe. “You need to see it too, Real, so we’ve all seen it.”
“What, are you crazy?” Real asked them all. “That doesn’t make any sense.” They kept looking at him. “What if it’s dangerous?” he protested.
“Then we’re in trouble,” Jupe said to him, patting his back as he walked past. They all heard a short chuckle, and it reminded them of TC.
Real saw the others staring at him like he was a coward. Even though that was true, he knew that going outside into the great unknown, was a better option than looking any more at their accusing stares.
* * * *
Jupe helped Real with his suit and they went outside. As soon as his foot landed on the surface, fear returned, but he wasn’t going to show it in front of Real. They walked in the direction, as best as Jupe could remember, where they had seen the unknown thing. Real was unfamiliar with the suit and he fell behind. He then started running to catch up to Jupe, and grabbed his arm when he got to him. When Jupe pulled his arm away, it caused Real to yell with fright.
“What’s with you?” Jupe asked him.
Real looked at him, his eyes wide, and then turned to head back to the ship, without a word. Jupe watched him go in amazement, and then looked to the area of the thing, whatever-it-was, and continued walking there. There was a part of him that found the venture enlivening, even though most of his brain was yelling at him to follow Real and get back to the safety of the ship. The thought of finding an alien creature made him forget the danger. But there was more; he was curious in finding any sign of all those Ancian colonists who had come out to the world. Although he would have scoffed at the idea had anyone pointed it out to him, it was exactly the kind of brainless heroism that TC would have done.
He arrived at the site of where they saw the moving shadow. His heart raced so much that it set off warning signs in his suit, and his breathing became rapid. But then he saw that there was nothing there at all, and he felt ridiculous. He kicked at some loose rock, entertaining the thought that perhaps all they saw was falling rock; nevermind that the moon had no wind and there was nothing to make anything fall. He walked on further, taking occasional glances back to the ship, just for the reassurance that it was still within eyesight. All of the large rocks around him cast deep black shadows, but none of them moved.
Then his footstep felt odd, and the surface all around him turned to soft rock and dirt, and gave way under his weight. The dirt engulfed him and he felt himself falling deep under the surface. When he came to a stop he hit hard rock and the sensation caused blackout. When he came to, he frantically checked his life support, seeing he had only been out for a few minutes. Then he saw where he was. A large cave stretched before him, and he fumbled at the suit controls for an infrared viewing. When he turned that on he yelled so much that his visor momentarily clouded over.
It was like a wall of bugs around him, impossible to see where one started and ended, moving as one; legs, feelers, antenna, who-knows-what, waving randomly. Others moved rapidly over the top of the mass, looking like giant cockroaches, but dripping with liquid and goo. A couple suddenly flew away with such speed that it was almost like they disappeared. Then the walking ones dramatically increased their speed, and began to pick up the ones beneath them, two or three at a time, and run off with them. Some of the things had wings, some had long waving feelers, some were shiny, some were hairy; all were frightening.
Watching the mass of creatures, Jupe missed a tall, angular one moving toward him with purpose. This one had a shiny elongated head, no discernible eyes, and long probing antenna. Under a light shell, its body was full of scales with long hair at random places. It had two legs the same size as its body. Parts of it were dripping with transparent goo, and the rest was dry and flaky. Behind it came another, exactly like it.
“He will help us.”
Jupe jumped at the voice, and when looking for where it came from, yelled with all his might at the sight of the two creatures peering down at him, again clouding his visor. He could not stop yelling, and because of that, could not see anything.
“We have hope.”
The second voice was different. Jupe knew that it wasn’t coming to him audibly, since it would have to have come through his suit’s comlink. Convinced that he was about to die, he felt a sudden surge of boldness, and he stopped yelling long enough for his visor to clear. He looked up to the creatures and decided to disregard everything his brain was telling him, since nothing in his life had prepared him for such a moment, and therefore no rules applied.
“Talking to me?” he said to the creatures, beginning to feel the whole experience was a dream, and perhaps he was still unconscious from the fall.
“How else do you communicate?” came the second voice.
Jupe looked at them and knew his worst fear was happening to him, that not only were these things alive and horrible, they were also talking to him without the aid of comlink.
“What are you? Bugs?” he asked.
“What are you?” came the first voice, from the nearest creature.
Jupe had no idea what to say as they waited for him to respond. Was this the fabled First Contact? Was he the first man to meet and communicate with an alien race? If so, Jupe knew that he was entirely the wrong person for the job.
“I am a human.
”
“What is that?”
“From Earth.”
“What is that?”
Jupe ran out of words to say.
* * * *
Rolondo gave the comlink a smack. Morgan told him that was a stupid thing to do. They had lost all track of Jupe for nearly half an hour and they were fearing the worst. Rebbi wanted one of the men to go out and find him, since they knew the approximate place where he was when they lost contact, but none of them wanted to look at her.
Then there came a loud scrapping on the starboard side of the ship. It sounded like something was repeatedly hitting the ship’s outer hull. Unable to do anything else, they just looked at each other in sheer terror. The scrapping became louder and louder, and then was heard in different places. Rebbi suddenly screamed and Rolondo took her in his arms to try to calm her.
“There’s got to be guns somewhere on the ship,” said Real.
“The Wilsons must have left some,” said Morgan.
“See what’s doing that noise, first,” said Rebbi, looking to Rolondo to do it.
“How we do that?” he asked her.
“Hull cameras,” she said, pointing at a side set of monitors.
They all looked at the monitors and then to each other, wondering who would do it, and if it was a good idea.
“We have to know,” said Real.
Morgan took a deep breath and sat in the small seat by the monitors, and turned them on.
Crawling over the hull in groups of five or more, were small black creatures that looked like bugs greedily descending over their helpless prey. They could not immediately tell the size of the things, given that they were more shocked at how fast and aggressively they were moving.
* * * *
Jupe had been picked up by the first creature, as easily as a feather. Feeling the force of its strength, told him that he was totally powerless against it. He was tightly pressed against its repulsive and oily torso, as it took him deeper into the cave. Since he was head-first on the thing, he did not know where he was going. Then he started shaking, and wild thoughts overwhelmed him, fearing most of all that his visor was going to break and he would find his face touching the creature. He feared that more than what he should have feared, that he might be eaten.
“Why do you struggle?” the creature asked him. It sounded like a kind parent, but that didn’t help him.
“What is this? What’s going on?” Jupe shouted.
“You are with friends, for now,” said the second.
Jupe found himself being placed on stable surface with undue care. He quickly looked around and found that it was a small cavity in a secluded part of the cave.
“What is this place?” he asked.
“You are different from the others,” said the first. “You did not come their way. Why are you different?”
“Is this some kind of joke? Who is that talking—how can you talk to me?”
“I am talking to you, with my companion,” said the first. “Do you hear something else talking to you?”
“Who are you?”
“We are the Living,” said the second.
“What?” Jupe asked, becoming hysterical and feeling like he may pass out. “The Living? What is going on?”
He tried to scramble back, to get away from them, but was unable to stand due to the low ceiling. Then he lost it, and just turned into a blind rage and started to yell at them.
“I’ve had enough of this, do you hear me? Do you think I wanted to come out here? Do you? I was kidnapped! By my own father! How do you think that makes me feel? Bad, is how that makes me feel! And then I find out, this great man, this hero, was just using us, using the passengers, to make money out of them. Was he taking them to Ancia? Oh, no, he wasn’t. He was only going as far as T Station. And what was he going to do at the T? Abandon them, or worse, kill them. Right, so we got the ship off him and got away. So I agree—stupidly as it turns out—to take them to Ancia. Take them to what? This place? Full of aliens? Full of bugs? This isn’t Ancia!”
“Ancia,” said the first. “You speak of Ancia.”
Jupe could not help becoming sarcastic. “I do, don’t I? And just what have you done with Ancia?”
“This is not Ancia,” said the first. “This is Ancia’s moon.”
Jupe looked at them and blinked a few times, and started to tell himself to get a grip on the situation. “This is Ancia’s moon? And that rock of burned-out charcoal, that is Ancia?”
“That is Ancia,” said the first.
“And it’s covered in giant talking bugs, because?”
“We need your help,” said the second.
“You what? My help? Guess what: I’m not helping anyone except myself. And don’t tell me how you can talk to me. As far as I can see, you don’t have mouths. Because I don’t care! I’m leaving now, if you don’t mind, and taking my ship and any passengers who want to accompany me, and we’re getting out of this hellhole. Okay?”
Careful to not get too close to the creatures, he tried to search for a way out. He looked upward, to see a way out that way, knowing that reaching the surface was his only chance.
“You need to help us,” said the first, its tone still gentle, almost understanding of his pain and fear.
“No, can’t do anything to help you, not doing it. Get out of my way, I’m leaving.”
“If you join our fight,” said the second, “you can free many of your kind, and at the same time help our kind.”
“Human,” the first said to his companion. “From Earth.”
Jupe stopped and looked at them. For them to mention Earth gave him a sense of dread, as if he had betrayed his world to them. He wanted to tell them to stay away from his planet, that they know nothing about the place, and nothing is worth knowing.
Another creature, with multiple arms and legs, and a large fat body and strange head, suddenly leaped down to them and began to hit the two creatures with a flurry of kicks from its legs. Little creatures began to fall off it, with even smaller ones falling off them. Jupe could not believe his eyes as the main creature’s head detached itself from the body and climbed on top of the first, friendly creature, causing it to collapse. It had small legs and large eyes, and yet it was taking no notice of Jupe, even though he was plainly in its sight.
It then jumped onto the second creature and forced it down in the same way. In a flash, the head returned to its own body and the whole creature jettisoned away. All the little creatures that fell off flew upward and followed it. The first creature then took hold of Jupe and brought him close to its large mouth. A small tube shot out of the mouth and began to discharge goo all over him, with a smell so strong that it seeped through the suit.
“We are sorry,” said the first.
Jupe was freaking out and screaming. “Get off me! What are you doing?”
“We do this to prepare you,” said the second, “to protect you from the Master. This is your best chance to escape. You should go now.”
“Go now,” said the first, lifting Jupe up high above its head, toward a small opening. “Do you thank me?”
Jupe scrambled and bustled his way up the opening, barely big enough for him to get through, until he reached the moon surface.
“Do you thank me?” he heard again.
If he wasn’t so terrified, he would have collapsed right there, but he ran as fast as he had ever run, back to the ship.
* * * *
Jupe was lost for words as he tore off his suit and ran up to the flight deck. They had all reacted with terror to the sound of the airlock opening, even though the other noises had ceased about fifteen minutes ago. His suit was covered in goo, and most of it was on his back. He didn’t want to think about what it could be, or if it posed a danger.
“What happened?” asked Rebbi, horrified at his state.
“What’s that on your suit?” Rolondo asked him. “It stinks.”
“We’re leaving,” said Jupe, gasping for the words. He jumped into
the captain’s chair. “And I can confirm this is indeed Ancia’s moon.”
“How can you confirm that?” asked Real. “How would you know that?”
“Wait on,” said Rolondo. “What is that goo?”
“No, tell us why you think this is Ancia,” said Real.
“Let’s just say I met some people who provided that information,” said Jupe.
“People?” asked Morgan. “The colonists?”
“This isn’t Ancia,” said Rolondo. “Who are you fooling?”
“Jupe, was it the colonists?” asked Rebbi.
“I don’t know,” Jupe said reluctantly, wishing he had told them nothing. The only thing on his mind was to get the engines up and the ship out of there. “Just forget what I said.”
“What’s all that goo on your suit?” asked Real.
“It’s just … traces of wildlife,” said Jupe. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Wildlife?” asked Rolondo.
“There is alien life out there?” asked Morgan. “Did you make contact?”
“That’s alien goo?” asked Rolondo.
“We’re leaving,” said Jupe.
“Jupe, tell us,” said Morgan. “Did you make contact? First Contact?”
“Right now,” said Jupe. “We’ll prepare the engines in a slowfall orbit, that should be okay. It’s been done before. I just want off this rock, and right now.”
“It’s the bugs, isn’t it,” said Real. “You got close to the bugs.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Jupe, not knowing how Real knew, or why he was being calm about it.
“Sure, the bugs,” Real said with a shrug. “Like the ones who were attacking the ship. We saw them, on the monitors. They looked like insects, but really big. Way too big. And they moved really fast.”
“Attacking the ship?” Jupe repeated.
“You weren’t here,” said Rebbi. “They were all over the ship. We decided to discharge one of the engines.”
“You did what?” Jupe shouted at her.
“Easy up,” said Rolondo. “It was the only thing we could think of, aside from going out there and whacking them. You weren’t here. As if you would have been much help here anyway.”
“Are you telling me you started the engines?” Jupe asked Rebbi. “You hit the controls without me even on board, with no one on board who has any idea about how the ship runs? Are you kidding me?”