14: Sneaking Out to Meet a Paramour

He who is not courageous enough to take risks
will accomplish nothing in life.

Muhammad Ali

“I’ve got to say,” Gary said as they approached the Zssizliq vessel. “All this sneaking around is akin to a young maiden climbing out her window to meet her paramour in a tale as old as Shakespeare.”

“Except, the young maidens weren’t put to death when caught sneaking back into the house,” Al cautioned. “What we’re doing is a bit more serious. This act is clearly treasonous. Still, it’s our only hope for saving ourselves and resolving this never-ending war the Tandorians are trapped in. It’s worth our potential sacrifice, if we can help restore the Tandorian Empire to its once majestic, welcoming stance. Their current strategy is ... less than ideal.”

“You’re telling me. Nothing shouts that louder than the people grasping at hope with both hands once it’s offered. These people are desperate. We’re not risking this for ourselves, but for the billions we’re hoping to help.”

“From your voice to God’s ears.”

Gary considered his pal. “I was under the impression you’d given up your belief in God.”

Al shrugged. “I had a decent discussion about it with Myi the other day. She pointed out that it’s difficult maintaining your faith, when you see your God not as the same being everyone worships, but as merely one minor deity among thousands. But after discussing it, I realized that, even if I’m not convinced, what it offers is more important than what it doesn’t. I’m not going to count on God saving my ass if I screw up. But it’s reassuring to assume there’s some higher power watching over us, and that everything isn’t merely a series of random events. I still hope there’s something out there besides the inky blackness we’ve been traveling for so long.”

“Hope floats, as they say. With hope, you venture much. Without it, you can barely keep your head above water.”

Al chuckled. “That’s not a saying; it’s the title of a movie.”

“Well, at the time we were trying to escape Earth, I wasn’t keeping up with too many movies.” He hesitated, as the other shuttle halted and they closed the remaining distance. “Well, since they have the bigger ship, I guess we’re going aboard their craft.”

“That was my intent all along. I want them to feel comfortable. Coming aboard an enemy ship, no matter how innocuous, isn’t reassuring.”

“Tell me about it,” Gary said, unstrapping himself, preparing to disembark. “My heart is now permanently lodged in my stomach.”

They quickly donned their flight suits, specially designed for rapid deployment, but not as good for surviving long if refused entry.

“It’s an odd design, one I’m unfamiliar with.”

“I daresay few Tandorians have ever been invited into one of these,” Al countered, as they entered the equalization chamber. Sealing their helmets as the door closed behind them, the air was sucked back into the shuttle for reuse, creating a vacuum to match that outside the ship. Opening the final hatch, they floated out into space.

Shoving against the hatch doorframe, they propelled themselves across the divide, reaching the strange alien hatch. As Al tried to determine how it opened, it folded inward, sucking him and Gary inside, leaving them unsure what process countered the absolute vacuum of space to pull them in. As they tumbled against the inner hatch, the outer one sealed shut, locking them in, as incoming air filled the chamber.

‘Is now a silly time to ask whether the Zssizliq breathe oxygen or something toxic to humans?‘ Gary asked.

‘They’ve encountered the Tandorians before, ‘ Al said, sitting up. ‘They almost universally breathe some mixture of oxygen, so I’m guessing they’re aware of our requirements. Still, I’ll wait until our suits announce it’s safe before I remove my helmet.‘ He hesitated, before informing their people back on the Blissful Destruction they’d made it. ‘We’re aboard the Zssizliq ship. Will let you know how it goes.‘

Al’s helmet dinged, and his faceplate displayed the composition of the air. ‘Looks like we’re safe, after all.’

‘For the moment,’ Gary cautioned.

Al released the locking clasps on his helmet, removing it after the pressure equalized. Gary followed suit, wrinkling his nose as soon as his helmet was off.

“Gah! I was aware of how strong the smell of space is, but this is ... intense!”

“Many people describe the smell of space, but it’s difficult to associate with comparable Earthly smells. The Tandorians refer to it as the ‘stink of space’.”

“Space doesn’t really stink,” Gary corrected him. “It just has a particularly sharp, pungent smell—especially since you expect the lack of an atmosphere to have no smell at all, but this, this is more than just that!”

An inner hatch opened, folding in on itself much like a fast-motion picture of a flower closing up after the sun has set, revealing two Zssizliq. Al bit his lip, preventing him from reacting, but they didn’t look anything like the various Tandorian species. These were very definitely bugs! Large ones, standing at least eight feet tall. They looked like cockroaches, with a hard shell which folded up behind them. They had multiple limbs—eight short arms, two longer ones, two small but sturdy legs, and two twitching antenna.

“We come in peace,” Al said in Zssizliq.

“You live and work with scum,” his counterpart squealed, his voice chittering, snapping and clicking. “We’ll decide how ‘peaceful’ you are. The Tandorians are anything but.” Al noted his pronunciation was far from that of their hosts, and vowed to adopt their speech patterns to the best of his limited human capabilities.

“Still, your request made us curious,” the other one said, speaking in a far more easily understood manner. The clicks and pops remained, but were much more subtle. “No Tandorian vessel has ever requested a personal meeting, especially not one without demands.”

“We’re not Tandorian,” Al explained, standing and leaving his helmet on the floor. Standing was tricky, as the floor was both slick and sticky, but he moved cautiously. Gary stood too, though he kept his helmet under his arm. “We come from a small, isolated planet called Earth, which was visited by Tandorians who died long before we were born. Since we were trained to take over for them, our own people rejected us. However, when we journeyed to Tandor, we ... weren’t impressed.”

“While your accent is odd, your pronunciation is better than we’ve ever heard from a Tandorian—not that they bother speaking with us.”

“All we had to study were some ancient Tandorian lesson discs. Very dated, I’m sure, and they were meager to begin with.”

“Tandorians never wanted talk, only attack.”

Seeing this might take some time, Al decided to go for comfort, sitting after entering fully into the inner chamber. The floor, while comfortable, was decidedly squishy, oozing an oily brownish lubricant of some kind. “Please, we’re eager to hear how this ... war began. Surely it isn’t as simple as we’ve been told. The Tandorians are not terribly ... forthcoming.”

As Al spoke, he transmitted the exchange via their internal links. Their telepathy, usually dependent upon Zita, was augmented now that The One was back in operation. Since no one realized he was active and controlling their sensor data, there was little chance of the information being discovered. At least, not until after they’d been arrested for espionage.

“What’s to say? Tandorians land on Queen’s nest planet, kill tens of thousands. Kill Queen too, meaning millions not born.”

Al shrugged, hoping they understood the concept. “There’s no mention of any such encounter in their history. Apparently, they decided to keep it secret. Please, anything you can relate will help us understand what, and who, we’re dealing with.”

The first Zssizliq reclined, laying on its side instead of sitting as Al was. His second remained standing, much as Gary was. “They come, destroy birth planet, flee leaving dead behind, no offer to help, no warning of deaths.”

“While I don’t doubt your tale, it sounds like something is missing. As bad as the Tandorians can be, they operate according to established rules of logic and behavior. Can you please relate what you do know, so hopefully Gary and I can figure out what might have happened?” Al turned, motioning to his second. “I’m Al Collins, of Earth. This is Gary Marks, a ... defense expert. The Tandorians call him a warrior, but he’s focused on preventing harm, rather than attacking anyone. I’m an ... Intuit, someone with precognition abilities. I’m the one who keeps ships flying faster than light, allowing us to cross between multiple systems within single lifespans.”

“We have similar roles, though our warrior class is just that, they are warriors and nothing else.” The primary speaker indicated himself. “I am Rollsqmarsh. I’m an unimportant dignitary, but was the only one available familiar with Tandorians. We’ve never heard of any Earth.”

“Neither had the Tandorians, which is why they treated us as enemies, instead of welcoming us as we anticipated.”

“Tandorians come to our birth planet,” Rollsqmarsh continued, without any further explanation, “land on delicate surface, crushing those underneath.”

“Hold on,” Al said, raising his hand. “When you say ‘birth planet’, do you mean your homeworld?”

“No, we mean birth planet. Planet of births. Home of Queens. The place all Zssizliq originate.”

“Ah, I understand now. We have a very different system of live births. We each give birth wherever we are at the time and raise our children ourselves, according to our own ideals and goals. There is no ... institutional governance involved.”

“Only Queens can bear young, each of us have one specific role, we not do other tasks. My role is to communicate with other species, specifically Tandorians. As result, I’m outsider, much like you, torn between our people, and those who fear and despise us.”

“I can relate. But getting back to your story, you say the Tandorians purposefully destroyed the planet?”

Rollsqmarsh rolled his head before starting again. “Birth planet very flat, featureless. Surface is artificial, constructed of honeycomb material that generates power to keep the young growing until able to join own hives. They land, crush honeycomb, killing everyone below. They know not ordinary world, know people inside. Even if not, they not reveal they kill thousands.”

“Okay, this is starting to make sense,” Al said, leaning back. “What happened then?”

“They drive huge machines over delicate surface, crushing all underneath. Not just lives, but the resources and machinery upon which life on birth planet depend. Then, they just leave. No help injured. No honor dead. No communicate with us. Just destroy and leave.”

“We learn when birth planet no communication,” Rollsqmarsh’s second said, speaking more with clicks than the other sounds, making his words harder to understand. “Launch as many ships as can gather, hunt down killers.”

“Instead of stopping, opening dialogue, they attack, kill more,” Rollsqmarsh continued.

“Okay, one more moment. When you caught up to them, did you establish communications, or did you attack, trying to avenge the dead?”

“How communicate will killers whose language we not speak. We send messages, warning not to leave. They ignore. We warn, detail charges and penalties, but they unconcerned. When not stop, we stop, crippling their ships so they no flee.”