Chapter 14: Finding a New Home

The Lifen transport had finished its landing on the surface. The open area of the forest allowed enough room for it to land. The boxy-looking ship was much bigger than it appeared as its main bow door slowly opened. The ramp was lowered down to the grass as Alara’jal villagers were getting ready to enter it.

“See?” Fengge told Tonja. “I told you that it would hold enough room for your people.”

“Enough to ... transfer us to the Alaron,” Tonja replied.

The paleontologist looked up to the sky. More ships had come. At least six transports had arrived, along with a few additional warships. The quiet forest had become an active one. It was odd for Fengge to see the villagers leaving the confines of their homes. This would be a challenging transfer. Both of the characters were in their original clothing, thankful to put aside their spacesuits and armored equipment. With the paleontologist, he held his hat to his chest, still enjoying the great shade provided by the forest’s edge.

“The last few hours have been busy,” Fengge remarked. “I’m thankful that the Alara’jal choose to go to Earth.”

“Yes...” Tonja remarked. “Tochasa was helpful in ... convincing the others. Not even ... his grandmother could object.”

“She was in for a big surprise, wasn’t she? Noreep ClickClick backed down. It even surprised me. I guess the battle really let him know that there was so much more that was out there.”

There was serenity in the scene. The forest was beautiful as it always was. The battle had been over, but the mild form of trepidation had remained. Was another enemy fleet ready to return to attack the allied forces? Would the Aksren launch an all-out assault to eliminate the Alara’jal? The general consensus was that it was best to move ahead. The victory was crucial for the Alara’jal, but only a minor one in a much larger grand-scale war. It was time to leave before the enemy returned.

The peaceful environment seemed to drown out that reality as it always did. For a moment, Fengge tapped his shirt pocket as if he was thinking of getting pictures, but he reminded himself that it wasn’t necessary. He had enough content to entertain an audience for generations to come.

“To say goodbye to this...,” Tonja commented.

“It won’t be easy, but it will work,” Fengge replied.

Fengge noticed that the crew of the Lifen were not in their enclosed suits. This included both Itreans and humans that were exposed to the open air of the forest. It surprised the paleontologist.

“You will have a good home,” an unknown but familiar male voice came from behind.

“Wha?” Fengge turned around and saw that it was none other than the vice admiral. The gray-haired man twitched his mustache as he took a deep breath. He was accompanied by two men that were armed and provided an escort for him. They were all dressed in their typical jumpsuit uniforms.

“Passos,” the paleontologist addressed him. “You got the jump on me. I saw a couple of shuttles flying around earlier.”

“Yes...,” Passos grumbled. “Our medical teams told me that it was safe to traverse on this planet. I admit ... I wanted to get a chance to see this place before we departed.”

“The Itreans are safe too?”

“Yes. It’s been confirmed that the Alara’jal are immune to Zilik’s Disease. Lady Tonja, I presume?” The vice admiral was looking up at the towering Alara’jal woman. She had turned around and looked down at him.

“I’m Tonja,” she replied. “You are the human leader?”

“Leader of this task force, yes.”

“Should you be up on your ship?” Fengge asked. “What about the bad guys? Won’t they return?”

“Now you sound like most of my bridge crew, Doctor. Yes, I should, but...” Passos was looking at the environment. “The Drake had taken its damage, and the crew can handle an hour’s departure from me. They’ve proven that they don’t need to have me around much longer. I retire soon ... if I’m going to retire, then I should get a chance to see this world before we leave. Besides, I came down here to meet another I wish to see in person.”

“You find it beautiful?” Tonja asked.

“Hmph ... that’s an understatement. It reminds me a little bit like Cebravis. I can’t promise that Earth is going to be good, but...”

“Fengge has told me everything. Earth is ... not well.”

Passos nodded. “If I were younger, Lady Tonja, then I would give my word that I would never leave this world and guard your people.” The vice admiral grounded his boot into the dirt. “We were lucky just now ... as my crew keeps telling me. I tried one last time to convince the UHN to send additional assets, but they can’t send more warships here. We don’t have the means to protect you.”

“I know ... I saw it all.”

“But, I can give you the good news. Hev’benjee ... umm ... Hev’ne...”

“Hev’benni.”

“Yes ... Hev’benni has been quite helpful with my chief engineer. You can be happy to know that the Alaron is operational again ... or at least operational enough to get it to Earth. We got plenty of transports to also get everyone else ... including any equipment that you can take with you.”

“It will still take time,” Fengge commented.

“All the more reason for me to be here,” Passos took a deep breath. “I have to thank you, Tonja ... I heard you helped stop that other Aksren ship.”

“I know...,” she replied with a mild hint of remorse.

“You helped save two ships, the Menshe’tat and the Drake, and their crew owe you their lives.”

“Not to mention the villagers,” Fengge added.

The combined words seemed to be taken to heart by Tonja. Getting off the Alaron was her only true source of relief, but she did acknowledge her contributions. She gave a quick nod and briefly closed her eyes.

“How is Youica and Coyaca?” Fengge reluctantly asked.

“The Menshe’tat took most of the damage in the fight, but ... I have to admit that they held their own in the battle quite well.”

“Are they alright?”

“They took a few casualties, but the Lesser Adjuncts are ... alive and well.”

“There is always room for improvement,” an unknown but familiar female voice came from the distance.

“Ah ... there she is,” Passos commented. He could already see the person he needed to see. Everyone turned around and saw Shira. She was walking in her familiar red and blue jumpsuit uniform, her arms tucked away behind her back. Her shark-like tail swung a little bit over the thick grass as she calmly approached them. Besides her was the XO, Javier. Both of them had long exited the Lifen and seen the people they needed to interact with. Shira’s hearing had long heard some of the conversations that were going on with the group.

Fengge waved over to her as Tonja looked down at the incoming Itrean. It was the first time that she had ever seen a Shal’rein up close. Oddly, the shark-like Itrean almost ignored her, but her single working eye had already told her what she wanted to see.

“Shira ... good to see you again,” Fengge remarked to her. Both Shira and Javier lightly saluted the vice admiral. Javier was remarking upon the towering Alara’jal even though he had already seen them near the Lifen’s bay doors.

“As it is to see you again,” Shira calmly replied in her almost emotionless state. “I see that all of you are still alive.”

“I can say the same thing with you,” Fengge commented. “I heard a little bit that happened with you and the Lifen. Nobody got hurt, right?”

“I can assure you, Doc, that everyone is alive,” Javier said with a hint of a smile. “The Captain had some ... interesting ideas on how to evade our hunters with the derelict fleet. It worked. Finally, the Aksren just gave up and left the system. Once they did, we came back here as soon as possible. Seems like we missed out on some of the fun that you guys went through.”

“Hmph...,” Passos was nodding his head. “Quite ... I’m thankful that the Lifen took no damage.”

“Our evasion is irrelevant,” Shira replied. “I must commend your abilities to win the battle in this system.”

“Your plan worked.”

“It was expected. However,” Shira turned to look up at Tonja. “There were still variables for the victory to be achieved.”

“You are the leader of ... this ship?” Tonja gestured to the Lifen.

“Yes, I am,” she replied. “My name is Shira, Captain of the UHN Lifen.”

“My name is Tonja,” the tall Itrean replied. “You are ... Shal’rein?”

“Yes, I am.”

“We have enough room for around 300,” Javier reported. “The other transports should be enough to get the rest.”

“The sooner we depart, the least likely chance that the Aksren will launch a 2nd fleet.”

“They’re not going to give up, aren’t they?” Fengge asked.

“I can answer your question with a question. If you lose contact with assets that you sent to one system, would you send another response to investigate that disappearance?”

“Ah ... yeah, I would. Oh! I see what you did there.” The paleontologist smiled and pointed his finger at her.

“Unfortunately, my time is short,” Shira replied. Her attention remained focused on Tonja. “You are one of the representatives of this colony. Has that changed in the last few hours?”

Tonja briefly looked at Fengge as the paleontologist nodded to her. The Alara’jal woman quickly nodded.

“Then I will need a favor,” the Shal’rein calmly explained. “Consider it a debt repaid in saving your people from annihilation. I request a Velx’pli.”

“Ah ... what?” Passos asked. Fengge was doing his best to translate the Itrean word, but his mind was blank. However, it even appeared that Javier was clueless about this. Tonja seemed confused as she thought about it.

“What is that?” Fengge remarked.

“I will explain it carefully,” Shira continued. “I am looking for a relic of your people. It is shaped like a pipe that measures a half meter in length and has four holes on each side. There will be a box-like extension on one side of it. There will be a silver lining on the mid and rear portions of the base. Do you know anyone in your village that descended from the time they served in Starfortress Ome’tci? The Alara’jal would also call it Starfortress Xil.”

Fengge had no idea what she was talking about. However, he could see a sense of familiarity from Javier as if he recognized it. Tonja only gave a hint of confusion until she really thought about it.

“I ... don’t know,” she replied. “But ... we have a number of ... artifacts ... things that our people had ... we keep safe. I think ... it sounds like ... something we have. I ... will need to talk ... to another elder. His name is Yoretalaj.”

“Hmmm ... I think I remember seeing something like that, too,” Fengge added. “It just looked like the rest of the artifacts, but now that you mention it.”

Shira replied with only the tiniest hint of a smile. “It is crucial that I obtain this item. Your people will have no need of it, all the more reason for me to take it. I cannot depart until it is brought onboard my ship.”

There was a massive shift in Shira’s voice, as if everything that happened in this entire mission was dedicated to this sole moment. Why was this item so crucial for her to have? Fengge looked at Tonja and nodded to her. If this item was considered junk, then why bother worrying about keeping it? It didn’t appear to be a weapon. It was just an odd-looking pipe. For Tonja, it didn’t seem to carry much importance to it since she knew so little about it. However, it didn’t hurt to retrieve it. There was still time. Tonja wasn’t going to question this any further.

“I am sure ... the artifacts will be brought,” Tonja explained. “I need ... to talk to Yoretalaj.” She seemed to be in a slight hurry. She already had a few belongings with her that she needed to get as it was.

“Excellent,” Shira stated. “Doctor Fengge. I recommend that you stay and wait here.”

“I was ... just about to go with her,” he replied. Tonja’s large size meant that her fast movement cleared a much larger range than Fengge could ever achieve. He froze in place and looked at the captain.

“It won’t be necessary. I will have both you and Tonja join my ship. We will personally bring you to Earth.”

“Oh ... ok. Sounds like a plan. I’m curious, though. Has there been any attempt to figure out who our mysterious person was that met the Alara’jal?”

“I hadn’t had the time to investigate it,” Passos replied.

“But we have,” Shira replied before she looked over to Javier.

“The person we think matches with the books that you described belonged to Kensen Farlan,” Javier explained. “He was a courier and linguist that helped serve in the Earth convoys when the people were being evacuated to Mars. He served some time from 2163 to 2165. His job was to translate for both English and Chinese speakers. However, in August of 2165, there was a catastrophe when he was en route to another freighter during one of his voyages. The shuttle he was in apparently had a malfunction, and it suffered a runaway engine. They tried to recover him, but the shuttle reached speeds that made it impossible to save him. He and the shuttle crew were presumed lost. However, it was later reported that a peculiar light appeared near the supposed last location of the shuttle. It was assumed that his ship exploded.”

“The letters and name seem to match,” Fengge remarked. “Even the profession adds up. That has to be him.”

“It appears that the Alara’jal clan had encountered Earth long before the other clans ever did,” Shira added.

“I wonder what happened? The Alara’jal certainly had a chance to find a human of their own, but ... they never stayed.”

“In our history, Itreans had a tendency to leave other species alone. However, there would still be observations made of other species. Most likely, if the Alara’jal encountered Earth, they would have found it mostly uninhabitable. With their dwindling resources, they would have had a further disinterest in taking it. In correlation with the time stamps, it would be further easy to conclude that the Alara’jal were more interested in the war to save themselves rather than worry about human affairs.”

“It sounds like they tried to take the secrets with them when they were almost made extinct.”

“At least we helped solve an ancient mystery,” Javier commented. He made a slight grin upon saying that. “Kensen Farlan will officially be remembered as the 1st human to encounter an alien race.”

“Absolutely marvelous...,” Fengge replied. “May the man continue his journey through the stars.”

“I recommend that you go and join up with the others in boarding the Lifen,” Shira said, wanting to move things forward. “I need to speak with the Vice Admiral.”

“Of course...” Fengge got the hint that the UHN officers needed to talk about military business. He started to leave.

“And ... Doctor.”

“Yes?” He paused and looked back at the Shal’rein.

“Good job in your work with the Alara’jal.”

The paleontologist shrugged. “I’m just glad to be a part of all this moment in history ... just wished I could have done more on my end.”

“I think you have fulfilled everything that you needed to accomplish in this mission, much as to my expectations.”

Fengge took his hat and put it on. “All in a day’s work of a paleontologist.”

“I have one last favor to call upon you.”

“Heh...,” Fengge winced and smiled a little bit. “I don’t know, Shira. I think I have seen my fair share of excitement in the last couple of days.”

“Quite the contrary, Doctor. I can promise you that your days of excitement will be more regulated to your profession on Earth. Perhaps it will be less ... eventful. However, I will need a list of contact information of other paleontologists that you know of. More preferably, those that live off Earth.”

Fengge nodded his head. “I know a few. Guaranteed, you’ll have it.”

With that, Shira turned her gaze back to Passos, who had been quiet. Fengge left to go and convene with the other Alara’jal. Javier seemed to keep a mental note of everything that was transpiring. The vice admiral seemed to be more focused on the environment as if the occurring conversations were less critical. He hadn’t noticed that Shira had pulled out a small tin box. She opened it, pulled out a cigarette inside it, and lit it with a small laser lighter.

“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” Passos commented and shook his head. “We’re bringing them to a world that’s mostly dead compared to this.”

Shira lightly looked at the scenery for a second before looking back at the vice admiral. “For a time, perhaps.”

“What’s the status of the Lifen?” Passos looked at her. He could see that she was busy smoking. She then blew smoke from her nostrils.

“Undamaged,” she answered. “We managed to secure a few weapons. We also secured a few spare parts to ensure of the Alaron’s future operational status.” She brought the cigarette to her rounded snout and took a drag before blowing air through her nostrils.

“You have enough space for 300. Do we have an estimated time of departure for the Lifen?”

“Approximately 25 more minutes, sir,” Javier answered. “There is another area being cleared to allow more transports to evacuate the Alara’jal. Looking at 2 hours of total evacuation time needed.”

“Good.”

“What about the scout ship that you disabled?”

“The Itrean crew surrendered the moment we came aboard. The auto-destruct mechanism was destroyed in the attack.”

“Lucky shot. I’ve heard that it is difficult to knock out that system.”

“A skillful shot,” Shira countered.

“Hmm,” Passos grunted. “Only half of them survived our attack. I remember seeing one of them was a child, a girl that lost her mother in the battle. All of them, they were just ... conscripts ... forced to fight against us. They were terrified that we were going to torture them when we took them prisoner.”

“Conscription is a common method in the Aksren forces,” Shira added.

“Doesn’t make it right, though. I adhered to their wishes. The scout ship will be scuttled before we depart.”

“Respectable. When the Aksren response fleet arrives, they will only find remains of their reconnaissance fleet. They will assume that everyone is dead and treat it as an honored death. As a result, their families will be left alone back on their home planets. They will never know that we took some of them as prisoners.”

“Brutality ... we lose sailor after sailor ... marine after marine,” Passos grumbled. “Yet, the Aksren clan hold little value towards their own people. They just see their people as ... meat.”

“As you humans would say, ‘cannon fodder.’”

“After JJ-78 ... after everything ... I only have pity for our foes.” He shook it off. “I would be lying to say that the Drake can take another fight so soon. That’s going to be a full week of repairs.”

“That doesn’t explain why you are here, on the surface,” Shira commented.

The vice admiral sighed. The sudden look of exhaustion could be clearly seen. If the planet were to be suddenly nuked, he wouldn’t care. Even if he died from that choice, he didn’t care.

“I’m tired...” Passos replied with some disgust. “So tired ... I remember in my childhood when the UHN explored solar system after solar system. Planets would be named after the Captains who found them. Habitable world ... I find one and ... nothing. No luck to follow me on this. In the end, I will be known as the captain of the doomed JJ-78 incident. I’ll be remembered for finding the Alara’jal ... and for removing them from their home. Regardless of what happens next, my history has been sealed.”

Shira didn’t appear to press her question any further. Instead, she simply remained quiet and let the man sulk a little bit.

“Let me ask you this, Shira,” Passos asked her. “What was your reason for recommending me for this mission?”

“I see ... you wished to ask me that personally. I can answer your question with a question,” she replied. “Who has expertise with the Aksren? To clarify, who survived an Aksren battle to warn the others of the threat that the Itreans brought to humanity? Then, who later formed strategies on how to combat against an enemy and trained that to their fellow shipmates?”

She took another drag of her cigarette. Passos lightly nodded. The question appeared only to have the most marginal effect on the gray-haired man. The Shal’rein tapped the ashes from her cigarette into the clean air.

“I wanted to commend your actions today in commanding the fleet and repelling the Aksren assault,” she said.

“Hmph...,” Passo’s mustache twitched. “I only took your advice into action ... using the Alaron as bait to have it surprise the Aksren.”

“Regardless, you, the Drake, and the Menshe’tat are all intact. My advice only circulated on circumstantial evidence and what-ifs. There is a difference between strategy and applied tactics. You applied both of them with great effect with room for improvement.”

“In other words, sir,” Javier added. “My Captain is giving you a compliment. That’s a high mark.”

Passos lightly shook his head. “Why would you have such praise for an old man like me? Besides, you should be thanking Youica and Coyaca as well.”

“I already have,” Shira replied. “However, my praise for them was already expected in how they reacted. They briefly acknowledged it or considered it mundane. They seemed more impressed with you and wished to speak with you further.”

“Ehm...,” he changed subjects. “I don’t see how I impress much when I’m on my way to retirement.”

“Quite the contrary, Vice Admiral. There will be further need of your expertise in the future, events that may be crucial for you to be involved in. For now, enjoy your retirement. Know that war always follows the warrior. The warrior doesn’t decide when to lay down their weapons in future conflicts, but they can decide the outcome of an entire war. Perhaps more so than they believe...”