Birds of Prey - Hetero Edition

"Come on, Reesh, let's double time it."

The giant reptile rumbled affirmatively, lumbering along after them. The Ensi watched him pass, her violet eyes wide with wonder.

"That must be a Krell'nay," she mused, "I had hoped that I might see one in person. It is magnificent."

"Don't worry, they're a lot friendlier than they look," Baker said.

"And you two must be the Beewolf pilots, Lieutenants Baker and Jaeger. You are the ones who fought with our squadron in the asteroid field. Maza'xol'natuih speaks most highly of you in her reports. I would thank you for your assistance on behalf of the Val'ba'ra'nay, but it would be insufficient to express the gratitude that we all feel. We have been preparing for the insect invasion for twenty rotations, ever since the tragedy on Ker'gue'la. Yet in the very moment that they prepare to launch their assault, the Earth'nay and their allies appear to save us. It is fate."

"From where we were standing, it felt more like your squadron was pulling us out of the fire," Jaeger replied. "We're happy to help, the Coalition exists to fight Betelgeusians."

"Can you explain this name to me, Betelgeusian?" the Ensi asked. "What does it mean?"

"We first encountered them in a star system known as Betelgeuse. It turned out that they weren't native to that system, but the name stuck. Our people up in orbit are already sending you all the data that we have on them, I'm sure."

"Your Captain tells me that you are to serve as ambassadors, is that correct? In such a case, I will leave you in the capable hands of Maza'xol'natuih and her flock, they will be tasked with assisting you during your stay. Please, walk beside me," the Ensi said as she set off towards the hangar doors in her bobbing gait.

"Hang on," Baker said, "I'll fetch our gear." He jogged off towards one of the dropships, mounting the landing ramp and vanishing from view for a few moments. When he emerged, he was carrying two loaded rucksacks. He tossed one to Jaeger as he neared, who caught it by the strap and slung it over his shoulders. They contained MREs, a change of clothes, and a few other items that they might need during their visit.

Baker and Jaeger followed the Ensi as she set off, Maza staying by his side, her companions hurrying after them.

"It shames me," the Ensi began, "but I must soon depart to oversee preparations and to treat with your Captain. Being separated from one's flock is difficult, as I'm sure you can appreciate, one must rely solely on one's own judgment. But that is necessary for an Ensi, there is too much to oversee for just one Val'ba'ra'nay."

"Uh...sure," Jaeger replied, "I can understand that."

In reality, he had no idea what she was talking about. She didn't seem to rule alone, she spoke of having a group of other Ensi who filled the same role as her. In fact, none of the people that she had introduced had been alone, were they all part of a flock? Was it so unusual for a Valbaran to act on their own initiative? That might explain why Maza always had to rush off to huddle with her friends before taking any action.

As he emerged from beneath the shade of the hangar, Jaeger had to shield his eyes against the glare of the sun, the white architecture of the circular city and the innumerable windows shining like beacons. From where he was standing, he could see the cluster of skyscrapers in the city center and the tips of the tower blocks, but everything else was obscured by the trees and foliage. If he didn't know better, he might have assumed that the spaceport was located in the middle of the countryside.

There was a gentle breeze that helped to stave off some of the heat and humidity, rustling the leaves of what looked like palm and conifer trees. Most had green leaves, but some were stained purple, perhaps it was another kind of photosynthetic plant that had evolved in parallel with the more familiar variety? The sky above him was a deep blue, with a few wisps of white cloud visible, the system's star a fiery ball of pale light that made him wish that he had brought a pair of sunglasses and some sunscreen with him.

He could make out more Valbaran vessels parked in the hangars, mostly more landers, likely the primary method that the aliens used to ferry personnel and supplies into orbit. They must use some kind of heavy lifters too, chemical rockets maybe, because there was no way that they could have transported the necessary materials to build those defense platforms using such small ships.

"I'm curious as to what you make of our city," the Ensi said, leading them along a winding path that snaked between the trees at the edge of the runway.

"It's very impressive," Jaeger replied, "it seems to be very carefully planned out."

"Should it not be?" Maza asked, confused.

"Please, Maza'xol'natuih," the Ensi chided. "Our guests have alien customs, we must try to be understanding."

"Our cities are a lot bigger and a lot messier," he explained. "They're usually built and expanded as needed, rather than planned out in advance. Some are hundreds of years old and have ended up covering thousands of square miles."

"What are miles?" the Ensi whispered to Maza.

"A unit used to measure distance," she replied.

"Ah, I see. They must be very large, then. Perhaps you will indulge me with some pictures or video recordings when we have the time? I should like very much to see them for myself."

"Of course," Jaeger said with a nod.

"On Val'ba'ra, every one of our cities is an engineering project in itself. It is self-sufficient and self-contained, designed for maximum efficiency, coupled with minimal impact on the local ecosystem. How you are able to accomplish that while continuing to expand is beyond the understanding of even our most accomplished scientific flocks, you must share this technology with us."

"Earth'nay cities must be amazing," Xico added, hurrying along with her bobbing gait to join in on the conversation. "Imagine a city that spans such a great distance, imagine the complexity! The transit systems, the waste disposal, the environmental hurdles that they must have overcome. There is so much knowledge that we might one day apply to Val'ba'ra."

"Haha, yeah..." Baker chuckled half-heartedly, shooting Jaeger a concerned expression. These aliens seemed to take environmentalism for granted, now probably wasn't the best time to fill them in on the reality of city living back on Earth. It might dispel the positive image that the Valbarans seemed to have of the Coalition.

"Yilgarn has extensive parks and botanical gardens," the Ensi continued, "all designed to make the inhabitants feel as if they're not in an urban area at all, but rather in the midst of a natural environment. When we do build large structures, we try to make them as aesthetically pleasing as possible. Did you see the city center on your way in?"

"We did," Jaeger said, "you have skilled architects. I've visited a few large cities on Earth, and those buildings are the equal of anything that I saw back home."

"You flatter me, Earth'nay," she trilled as the feathers on her head and forearms fluttered in vibrant shades of yellow and orange. Xico too was pleased by that statement, sharing a flurry of colored feathers with Maza. The dark-scaled alien took more interest in the technological side of things than her companions.

"I wanted to ask," Jaeger began as they made their way through a stretch of forest. The trunks of the trees were straight and fat, reminding him of a baobab tree, the vaguely blue-colored leaves spread out in fan shapes like a palm or a fern. There were purple flowers poking up through the green grass, small insects that resembled winged ants flying between them. Everything was tightly packed, such that he could no longer see the hangars of the spaceport, which couldn't have been more than a two minute walk away by now. "What's the function of the giant wall? I get that the laser batteries are for defensive purposes, but if the Bugs should attack the city, they would land troops behind the walls using drop pods or troop carriers. Is it to defend against ground invasion from other cities?"

"Goodness no," the Ensi replied, flashing her feathers in what might be shock or perhaps amusement. "The wall is for defensive purposes, yes, but only against hostile fauna."

"Hostile fauna!?" Baker exclaimed, "what kinda hostile fauna would need a two hundred foot wall to keep it out?"

"Earth has lions," Maza replied with an excited flurry of feathers, "Val'ba'ra has Teth'rak."

"Maza'xol'natuih and her flock will be happy to give you a full tour, I'm sure," the Ensi said as the group emerged from beneath the forest canopy. Before them was a flight of stairs that led up to some kind of awning that almost looked like a bus stop, designed in the usual curving and organic style that he was becoming accustomed to seeing. It was connected to a pole that led off into the distance, suspended in the air on sparse supports. At first, Jaeger assumed that it might be some kind of water pipeline, but then he saw something zipping towards them along the pole. It was a train car, the same white color as everything else in the city, its bullet-shaped chassis lined with windows. It was hovering just off the track, a mag-lev train.

It slowly decelerated and came to a stop inside the little station, as quiet as a whisper, and then the Ensi stepped onto the stairs. It was actually an escalator, Jaeger watching as it carried her up towards the platform. The other Valbarans followed after her, so Jaeger and Baker did the same, the steps a little small for their large human feet. When they arrived at the top, they had to duck under the awning. There was about a foot of clearance for the average Valbaran, but Jaeger was tall enough that he could feel his hair brushing against it.

"I must depart now," the Ensi said, giving them another salute with a flash of red. "We will meet again soon, I am sure. I am sorry to have made you walk so far, but the spaceport is some distance from the nearest mag track. Maza'xol'natuih has been tasked with ensuring your comfort and seeing to your needs during your stay, please address any concerns or questions that you might have to her and her flock."

He wasn't sure what she meant by that, the spaceport couldn't have been more than a five-minute walk away, but he thanked her as she stepped through an automatic door and took a seat in the train car. The chairs here were much like those that he had seen inside the Valbaran lander, like a director's chair with no back support, designed to let their thick tails hang over the rear. Curiously, there were no other occupants inside. The train sped off towards the city, soon becoming little more than a white glint seen through the ever-present heat haze.

Baker adjusted the straps of his rucksack, clearly already suffering from the oppressive atmosphere.

"So what now?" he asked, glancing down at the gaggle of aliens.

"What were the orders that your Captain Fielding gave you?" Maza asked.

"Pretty vague," Jaeger said with a shrug. "I'm fairly sure that the Captain just wants us to explore the city and interact with the locals, then relay what we learn to him. We've already developed a rapport with you and your friends, and unlike the engineers or the Marines, we don't have a lot to do until the shooting starts. I guess the Captain wants us to scout out your civilization a little while we have the time."

"Like I said, it's shore leave," Baker added.

"It's not shore leave," Jaeger replied with a roll of his eyes, "we're supposed to be making an effort to observe and understand. We can't just goof off. If we go back to the Rorke without anything useful or insightful to report, then we'll be on Fielding's shit list."

"I think I understand," Maza said, turning to her group of four friends and huddling up with them. They chirped and hissed in their own language, glancing conspiratorially at the two humans every now and then, fluttering their feathers and flashing the LCD panels on their forearms. After what felt to Jaeger like an excessively long time, they broke ranks, Xico walking up to a touch panel that was mounted on the guard rail by the track and typing in a command.

"So...where are we going?" Baker asked.

Maza puffed up her feathers in the shades of yellow and orange that Jaeger was beginning to associate with excitement.

"We will give you a tour of the city. We should begin at the outermost ring and move inwards. Our first stop will be the wall. You will be staying at our dwelling rather than at a hotel closer to the city center, we have all of the accommodations that you might need. All the better to immerse yourselves in our culture and learn about our customs, no? You can observe how the average Val'ba'ra'nay lives."

"We can't wait to show you our city!" Xico added, looking up from the console and giving him a flurry of yellow.

"Uh...alright," Jaeger said. He began to roll up the sleeves of his uniform, trying to cool himself down a little. These damned things were so unsuited to the tropical environment. "What do you mean by our dwelling?"

"Me and my flock, of course," Maza replied matter-of-factly.

"You all live together?"

"Naturally," she said, cocking her head as she looked up at him. "This cannot be unusual, you Earth'nay all live together on your carrier, your friends sleep in close proximity to you. I have seen your quarters."

"Life on a carrier isn't a good example of a normal living situation for a human," he said, the alien fluttering her feathers in confusion. "We're crammed together like sardines because we have to be. Under normal circumstances, we wouldn't choose to live in such close proximity to each other. Most people live either alone or with their romantic partner. Sometimes people become roommates because they want to reduce living costs, but it's rare to find more than two or three people living together unless they're a couple with a lot of kids."

"Then...Baker and Scratcher are not your flock?"

"No. They're just my friends, my colleagues."

"Yet you fly together?"

"Like I said, we're colleagues," he explained. "That's our job."

"Earth'nay are usually solitary creatures, then? I am shocked by this."

"No, no. It's not that clear cut," he said, growing frustrated. "Why don't you tell me what a flock is first? Humans might not have any equivalent to compare it to. The Ensi kept mentioning it, and I don't know what it means."

"Flock is an Earth'nay word," she assured him. "I checked."

"Yeah, but it might not have the meaning that you think it does. Don't assume that I have any prior knowledge, explain it like you would to...well, an alien."

She paused for a few moments, considering carefully before proceeding.

"A flock is a group of people who live and work together, commonly six, but sometimes a few more or less. In our prehistory, the Val'ba'ra'nay were pack hunters, our ancestors would coordinate to bring down prey animals as a tightly knit group. When we discovered agriculture, that social bond continued on. Whether hunting an animal or tilling a field to plant crops, any task is made easier with more able bodies, and any decision is made wiser through consensus."

"I see," Jaeger said, "so it's like a family unit? What about parents and children? Do they have a place in the flock?"

"If a member of a flock produces offspring, then the flock will raise the child together until it comes of age, then it will leave to find its own flock."

"And how does one find a flock to join?" Jaeger asked.

"Friends and schoolmates, coworkers, neighbors. Anybody of like mind. Nobody remains alone for long."

"So you guys do everythin' together?" Baker added, leaning on the nearby railing. "Live together, work together, raise children together? What happens if one of y'all is qualified for a job, but one of your buddies ain't?"

"A flock must find a place in society that suits all of its members," Ayau explained. "But more often than not, individuals of similar interests and skill sets will congregate, so problems like that are infrequent."

"Then everything is democratized, in a way?" Jaeger continued. "You all have to reach consensus before you do anything? Doesn't that slow you down?"

"Perhaps," Maza admitted with a flurry of feathers that seemed analogous to a shrug, "but our decisions are all the better for it. Does your Captain not consult with other knowledgeable members of his crew in the briefing room before making decisions?"

"I suppose," Jaeger conceded.

There was a whoosh of air as another train car arrived in the station, sliding to a halt. Maza wasted no time, gripping him by the wrist with surprising strength and tugging him through the sliding door. This one too was empty, perhaps by design, as a couple of aliens might frighten or disturb the local commuters. It was almost bare inside, more white, featureless metal save for the chairs and windows. She took a seat, guiding him into the one beside her. It was a little small for him, but it was comfortable enough, kind of like an undersized folding chair that you might bring with you to the beach. Baker and the rest of Maza's flock sat down behind them, and then the train car began to move.

CHAPTER 9: TYRANT LIZARD

Jaeger couldn't feel so much as a vibration through the floor, and there was no sound from the engine, he might have been standing still if it hadn't been for the trees that were rushing past the windows at alarming speed. He looked out over the band of greenery, the elevated mag-lev track giving him a better view of his surroundings. It looked much like it had from the air, trees and grass, rolling hills and white structures in all kinds of shapes and sizes. But from this angle, he could really appreciate the effort that had gone into the landscaping, the way that every tree and hill seemed precisely placed to obscure something else from view. In a way, it reminded him of the Pinwheel, an artificial structure that used clever trickery to present an illusion of nature.

The city center was rushing towards them, the spires and glass towers even more artsy and exotic when seen from this distance, but Maza had said that they would be visiting the wall first. They seemed to be going in the wrong direction.

Before he could bring it up with her, he noticed that another train car was rushing towards them along the track, his heartbeat quickening as he watched it approach. The two cars were going so fast that they would probably vaporize if they heat each other.

"Uh...Maza? There's another car on the same track as ours. Maza? Maza!"

Moments before the two collided, the cars shifted, sliding to either side of the cylindrical track as if they were falling off it. The interior stayed level, like it was gyroscopically stabilized, Jaeger barely feeling the motion as he watched the other car zip past. It then returned to its original position, the aliens fluttering their feathers and laughing at his reaction.

"I guess that's one way to get two cars on the same track," he mumbled, composing himself. He glanced over his shoulder at Baker, who seemed to have enjoyed the scare, a wide grin on his face.

They reached a Y-bend in the track, and the car shot off to the right, the mag-lev system was apparently much more versatile than he was accustomed to. Now they were heading in the direction of the circular wall, he could see it slowly rising in the distance. He craned his neck to peer out of the windows as they passed over a residential district, watching the dome-shaped dwellings fly past below. Each one was surrounded by gardens, and they were all near a water source, you'd have to pay out of the nose to live somewhere like that on Earth. Buying a square foot of land was probably equal to the cost of paving it with an inch of gold plating.