Project - Prometheus Ch. 07

"You owe me nothing, Sohlkris. I spoke for a warrior I thought deserved a second chance and did what I could to ensure that you were given it. Though if you do feel indebted to me and my crew, there is one thing you can do that would balance the scales," Alex responded.

"Name it."

"Do right by the Ahl'kanin, as your ancestors did in ages past. Help them become strong enough to repel others like the Yahk'shurt. Do this and you can consider the debt paid in full," Alex stated.

"Done. It is the least we can do in light of our transgressions," Sohlkris replied as he bowed to them.

"Go and see to your people. My mother will be along to set you all to your duties soon," Luminia said, her light alto voice thick with emotion. Bowing once more, the man turned on his heel and went towards the lodges where his people and daughter waited. Lumi then turned to Alex and jumped into his arms, hugging him.

"Thank you! My mother may have had to negotiate with him to see about training our warriors like his are and that would have taken many days, weeks even! You did it all in a few minutes!" Lumi enthused as she hugged Alex as hard as she could. Taken by surprise, Alex hugged her back a little awkwardly and then set her down.

"It's what he does," Nats said sultrily as she walked up to her man and planted a kiss on his cheek. "He helps people out when he can and makes things easier for everyone involved."

Smiling, Alex returned the kiss but on Natalya's forehead. She leaned into him as the rest of them waited for Valessa to finish her business as the chief. They didn't have to wait long as Valessa arrived shortly, having directed everyone to their tasks.

"I apologize for keeping you all waiting but there was business that had to be attended to and it could not wait. We have to clean up the mess that the Yahk'shurt left and collect our dead, to prepare them for the embrace of the mother goddess. But where are my manners? Please, come and dine with my daughter and I this evening. There is much to be discussed!"

"Thank you, great chieftaness! On behalf of all of us here, we humbly accept your hospitality," Alex said graciously. Her bodyguards filing in around them, Valessa led the way to her dwelling. It was a much larger lodge than most of the others in the settlement. As they arrived, Alex noticed that there was a bit of discomfort when he was trying to breathe, almost like his esophagus was slowly freezing.

"Jaesa, I'm having a difficult time breathing at the moment. What's going on?"

"Just a moment sir, taking a more in-depth scan of the air," the AI chirped over the comms. "Ah! As it turns out sir, there are microscopic ice crystals floating in the air. Not of a great quantity, but enough to cause some discomfort."

"How so? How severe is it?"

"The crystals, though microscopic, seem to take a longer time than normal to melt when inhaled. As a result, there is a small buildup of ice in your airway. Nothing substantial but enough where you are feeling a slight strain. By my estimates, as long as you have a respiratory aid or open source flame, you should be fine," Jaesa explained.

"And unassisted breathing? What would be the outcome of that?" Alex wondered as he followed his crew into the dwelling.

"Running the numbers now, sir. Standby," came the reply. After waiting for a maybe thirty seconds, Jaesa responded. "Approximately, you would be able to breathe unassisted for a period of two to three days before you would need to seek medical attention. The buildup would affect both your ability to breathe and your lung capacity."

"What would happen if I was to reach four days?"

"Death, sir." Jaesa stated.

"Understood," Alex replied as he was shown the way into the lodge. Like many of the structures in the village, it was made of both bone and ice. But there was also what looked like metal interspersed within the walls. The honor guard stepped up to open the rudimentary door open for the chieftaness' guests. Each member of the Perseus nodded in thanks as they passed them.

Once inside, breathing became a slight bit easier for Alex. He noted that there was a large fire pit in the center of the room, with a smallish fire crackling merrily. Valessa instructed her guards to bring what food they had so that their guests could be fed. With a quick salute, half the guards dispersed to carry out her orders.

The whole crew looked around momentarily as they took in the atmosphere. The interior was decorated with various skins, pelts and furs from what they guessed were the local wildlife. Also, on the walls and some racks that dotted the room were weapons of multiple makes and design. Some were also made of metal while others were made of that same crystalline compound that many of the Yahk'shurt's weapons were made of. It was clear that the décor was one of a great hunter.

Being the chieftaness, Korsa wondered how Valessa made the time to hunt down these beasts. Korsa was particularly drawn to the hide of some sort of a bipedal creature with snowy white fur, which seemed to be close to her own size. The fur itself shimmered in the light, almost as though it was made of crystal. If there were creatures that big here, Mama K was glad they had been found by sentient beings rather than those creatures.

"You like the pelt?" Valessa asked the large woman.

"Yes! I have never seen its like before. What is it?"

"The hide of a Tashkuun beast. A juvenile if I remember correctly," Valessa said, the translator in Alex's suit converting her words.

"This is the hide of a juvenile beast?" Korsa asked incredulously.

"Yes. Fully grown, they are easily twice that size. Alphas of their various packs are often bigger than that."

"How did you bring that thing down?" Taal'ani wondered aloud.

"I didn't," Valessa responded. "My husband, Faal'Dahr, took that one down some time ago. That was before..." the woman trailed off. Having hit a sad topic, the crew focused back on the center of the room.

Valessa gestured for everyone to be seated and slowly, they all found a seat nearby. Alex opted to step out of his suit and have it standing nearby rather than crush one of the seats with its weight. He also saw that the seats were carved from bone of some kind or were fashioned from metallic scraps.

"So, there has been a great many questions on my mind for some time and I feel I now have the time to ask them," Korsa said as she made herself comfortable by the fire.

"Ask them, war goddess. You and yours have more than earned the right to speak at my fire," Valessa said, letting the Khontaran woman go on.

"What are your people called and how did you survive on a world such as this?"

"Well, that is a bit of a tale to tell. Let us dine first before we speak on that matter," the chieftaness said. As if on cue, the rest of the honor guard returned with their arms laden with large bundles. Several small tables were pulled out from hidden alcoves behind the skins and set up in front the gathered crew.

Once done, the bundles were placed and opened, revealing an assortment of meats of various cuts. There was also what appeared to be cheeses and some leaf like greens and whitish shoots. Surprised at the variety of before them, the travelers looked to their captain before they dug in.

"Jaesa, can you scan the food in front of us and determine its safety?" Alex asked.

"Of course, sir! Just one moment please," Jaesa piped up before launching her scan, using the sensors in the crews suits to do the work. Both Valessa and Luminia stared at Alex, somewhere between offended and angry that they would dare poison their saviors! Picking up on the vibe in a heartbeat, Inari jumped in with a quick explanation.

"Please, take no offense at the precaution. It is because every species.." the word earned her a confused look before she amended ".. people, are different in many ways. How they are built and what they can and cannot do. Food you might be able to eat, we may not be capable of doing so because it might make any of us sick because we cannot eat and enjoy it as you do."

Hearing this explanation alleviated any offense that both women took. They didn't have to wait long until they heard the AI's voice reply over the comms line.

"Everything from the scans check out, sir! It is safe to eat though I am picking up on some sort of compound similar to opiates that naturally occur on Earth. Though it isn't in any sizable quantity to affect your judgment or perceptions."

"Thank you Jaesa. I'm certainly glad we don't have to make dinner out of rations tonight. Speaking of which, make sure that our prisoner is fed. There should be enough leftovers in the galley to last a few days, until we get back aboard the Perseus at least," Alex stated as he gestured to the rest of the ladies to dig in.

Without further prompting, the ladies started into the food, each one of them famished from the battle they had all endured. Everyone had made a sizable dent in the platters in front of them as pitchers of water were brought in to go with the meal. They all found the meats and cheeses quite tasty, if a little dry, but the water certainly eased that. The vegetables that were there were reminiscent of green onions and cucumbers in taste, but they made quick work of what was there.

There were some leftovers here and there, but they were slowly picked at as both Korsa, Inari and Priya waited for everyone else to finish their meals. Both Luminia and Valessa were astonished at the speed at which the ladies consumed their food while everyone else either chuckled or giggled at their voracious display.

"I'll be sure to make either a shepherd's pie or a big pan of lasagna when we get back," Alex said, observing his crew mates with a smirk.

"Might have to take you up on that!" Korsa laughed as she finished what remained of her meal. Soon after, everyone had eaten their fill, with anything leftover going to the three who were marooned on this world to begin with. With that settled, Valessa then stood, garnering everyone's attention.

"I promised you all the tale of who we are and how we have lived on the world, Talemkha. I will tell it as it was told to me by my mother and her mother before her, going back to before we came here," Valessa started.

"Our people are called Artucian and we are not of this world. Generations ago, before the first of our people set foot upon this world, we came from another. We lived on a land that was fertile and bountiful. Life for us was easy, and we lived without care. Our ancestors wanted for nothing as we lived in a place we could easily call, a paradise."

"We had no need for weapons of war or conflict, as we had established peaceful relations with other peoples we had met amongst the stars. Trade flowed between us and we were living in an existence that is merely a legend and myth to us now. That was before the Great Fire consumed our world. Before the arrival of the Tsur'Shak, the Light Eaters."

"They descended on us without pity or mercy, slaughtering everyone, even....newborns. Many tried to fight, but they were easily cut down, as we were never warriors. Though they died by the thousands, those who fought gave us the time we needed to board the Great Ark. It was a vessel we had constructed long ago, to be used in a time of great need. As it took us from our home, we watched from afar as our world burned," Valessa said with sorrow.

"We fled into the stars, hoping to outdistance the Tsur'Shak. Though we were not militarized, we had great technologies that allowed us to flee their grip. They gave chase, but could not catch us, as we were much faster than they were. Soon, we lost them and when we knew that they had abandoned their chase, we searched for a new home."

"Eventually, we found this world, which when we arrived, was a green and abundant world. It was considered, until we saw that the ice and snow was encroaching on the life-giving areas and decided to leave it and try to find another world. Sadly, fate, had other ideas for our people."

"There was a small group of us, who believed that it was our fate and destiny to go to this world, so we might be strong again. The leaders of that time wanted no part of it and the greater whole of the Artucian people agreed with them. This small cabal though, had already planned for this. They had sabotaged our ship, causing us to descend to this world, crashing upon it. Our Great Ark plummeted into the sea, but we guided it so it was near the shores of the only continent."

"Many died in the crash, but we persevered and continued on. We did what we could to get as many people off the Ark after we had landed as some were stranded in areas below the waters. After we got out, we turned on the cabal. They had damned our people, so we condemned them to exile from the rest of us. They were told to never return, under pain of death. They would have no part in what we would make on this world. Those exiles eventually became the Outcast clans, such as the Yahk'shurt."

"Though we were stranded and decimated, we still knew what needed to be done. The ice was still coming to claim the temperate zones of our new home, but we had time. Using what remained of the Ark, we fashioned great domes and dwellings from them, spacing them out, so we could grow as a people and still survive."

"The Ahl'kanin and other peaceful clans are descended from the original builders of these domes. Our ancestors charged us, to maintain and keep the domes as places of refuge and safety and to continue producing food for our people to live. The snows came, and we held onto everything we had, fighting to keep what we built."

"Over time though, everything we had built began to slowly fall. Either by the storms of the world or the ravages of the outcasts, one by one, each dome that produced food, fell. The exiles weren't interested in learning to do things themselves, only taking and enslaving those who knew how. The exile clans pushed some settlements too far and let these people die before they could pass on the knowledge of what they knew," she spat bitterly.

"Despite the aggressive actions of the exile clans, they were easily handled because they were often disorganized. They would often bicker amongst each other as to who should lead them rather than work together in co-operation. Until recently."

"From what we knew, our settlement, is the only one left that produces enough food to feed the surrounding clans. We grow and harvest more than enough to feed all who are our allies so that was one of the main reasons why we were under siege as we were. We were holding out own against them until a week ago."

"What happened a week ago?" Pree asked, enraptured by the story.

"Luminia was captured, while out hunting and word was sent to me of it. I had little choice but to bow to their demands. If I hadn't, Lumi would likely be dead or worse, have a Yahk'shurt's seed growing in her belly. The Yahk'shurt wanted absolute control over what we have and if not for all of you, they would likely have it by now."

"We all have experiences in being put in bad places by bad people," Alex said as he looked at everyone around the room. "The good news in this case is that we could stop these ones. Serendipitous I would say."

"Serendipitous?" Lumi and Val asked at the same time before looking at each other and smiling.

"It means 'fortunate accident.'" Inari clarified. "If it hadn't been for my ship crashing here on this world, we would never have met. Much would be different right now if it hadn't been for some things that have happened."

"Indeed," Luminia said with a smile.

"I am curious about one thing though. How is it you have an understanding of our language? It's been nagging at me for a while now. I'm not complaining mind you, I'm just curious," Inari went on.

"I learned it from a ship like yours," Luminia said matter-of-factly.

"Like ours? What do you mean?" Pree queried.

"Your people aren't the first ones to visit Talemkha. You are the first to survive though. Many who came died before any of us could reach them. By the wreckage or the cold," Luminia said.

"Where is this ship that you've learned our language from?" Alex inquired, his eyes alight with inquisitiveness.

"It is a place my father, and I used to go to, to hunt. It is where he killed that Tashkuun beast and brought back its pelt. It is a place I have not gone back to," Luminia's chin quivered as she remembered the events that transpired some time ago. "Most Artucian don't go there, because for those who are untrained, it is a death sentence."

"Why is that?" Korsa asked aloud.

"It is the grounds of the Tashkuun beasts. Where they mate, where they lair and where they hunt. We call it, the Dead Snows," the young woman finished with tears staining her cheeks.

"If that's where the ship is, then we should have a look at it," Alex said out loud. Luminia looked at Alex as though he was losing his mind or insane. Maybe she thought it was a bit of both.

"Captain, if she says that's where the Tashkuun beasts roam..." Korsa said until Alex cut her off.

"That's where we are going to investigate tomorrow. If there is a ship there, we need to give it a good look and see if it's salvageable. We have little in the manner of raw materials or basic starship components aboard the Perseus. We used every bit of what we had left to build the Hermes," Alex explained. "If we have any chance at bringing the Perseus back to full capacity and rebuild the Darkstrider, then we'll need all the salvage we can get our hands on."

"But we could also wind up stranded if we're not careful," Natalya broke in, playing the devil's advocate.

"I'm not saying we go now," the big man clarified. "After everything that everyone's been through, we could all stand to use a bit of shuteye. I'm recommending that we go in the morning, so we can at least see these things coming at us."

"That makes the best sense. Some Tashkuun beasts hunt at night, so there won't be as many during the daylight," Luminia put in helpfully.

"That certainly helps, and we also have the heavy guns on the Hermes, should we need them," Talon supplied. The rest of the crew nodded in agreement at this idea. Kas had yawned a few moments ago and the rest of them were looking a bit bedraggled.

"If it does not offend you chieftaness, we will go back to our ship and sleep in there for the night. We have no wish to crowd anyone with our presence," Alex said as he stood.

"It does not offend and though we have the room, I will respect your wishes," Valessa replied. "Please, take breakfast with us in the morning before you depart for the Dead Snows."

"We would be honored, chieftaness," Alex stated.

"Please 'Captain', we are but equals. Call me Valessa," the older woman said warmly.

"Very well then Valessa. You may call me Alex."

Smiling, the chieftaness of the Ahl'kanin watched them take their leave. It was still a hard thing to believe that such great and powerful warriors stood with her! Such power would be sought after for certain, but for now that power remained with her and her people. She was still perplexed that they had placed their lives on the line to protect them. What she knew and what she was taught was that the strong cared not for what was right, but who had power. Maybe it was time that this way thinking changed.

"Luminia, go with them and make sure they aren't being mobbed by the people. They are our honored guests after all," Valessa instructed her daughter. Lumi looked at her mother curiously, but let the matter drop. She probably would convene with the other chiefs on some matters of importance. She then gave her mother some privacy and time to think, as Valessa was often doing before meetings.

"If it's all right with you Captain, I will stay with you and your crew? I still have many questions I would like to ask of you and yours, if that's all right?"