Worlds Apart Pt. 02

"But I've seen one speak," Liz added. "The one on all the newscasts, the ambassador."

"That's right," the Captain replied, taking a bite of her sausage. "They're living alongside humans now, they're speaking, they're cooperating. Something profound is happening on that planet to have changed their behavior so drastically. To answer your question, no, I wouldn't worry. Not only is Jarilo crawling with Marines, but the most indiscriminately violent species in the Galaxy has seemingly been domesticated there."

"The going theory is that the Betelgeusians on Jarilo are changing themselves to appeal to their human neighbors," Jessie added. "They're altering their genetic makeup just as they do when adapting to a hostile environment. Instead of altering their castes to be able to survive in an argon atmosphere or to withstand high pressures, they're changing themselves to be able to communicate, maybe to be of use to the Coalition."

"Their membership was approved by the Security Council," Liz confirmed, nodding her head. "It was all anybody at the embassy talked about for weeks."

"We'll know for sure once we arrive," Cassidy said. "I'm looking forward to filling up our server banks with all the data that the researchers have collated."

***

The routine of life aboard the Magellan quickly became the new normal. Jamie was surprised by how quickly he adapted, how fast the crew filled the roles of the friends and family who he had left behind on Earth. By the time they made their final jump into the 70 Virginis system, he was almost sorry to be leaving.

They reentered normal space some distance from their target for safety reasons, beginning to burn deeper into the solar system. At the halfway point, the ship spun on its axis, pointing its great engine cones towards Jarilo as it began a gentle deceleration. It took several more days for the planet to come into view on the telescopes, the crew admiring the glittering, emerald jewel from afar as it slowly grew larger.

Jamie found himself fascinated by the sight. He had never seen an alien world before. Much like his glimpses of Earth from the ship's observation deck, this planet was wreathed in swirling bands of white cloud, the oceans reflecting the sunlight from its star. Unlike his home, however, the unfamiliar continents were completely dominated by greenery. There were caps of white ice at the poles, but everything between them was dense forest, even the equator devoid of any brown hues that might indicate desert.

The Captain had them strap into their seats as they began their orbital insertion, deceleration pressing them into their padded backrests as the engines fired. The horizon of Jarilo rose up beneath the viewport, its round shape gradually flattening as they drew closer. From this distance, Jamie could make out great rivers that snaked through the forests like veins, the continent-spanning canopies a mass of green in varying hues.

"The Navy is hailing us," the comms operator said, glancing up from his console.

"They'll be expecting us," Cassidy replied. "Our IFF should already be on their whitelist."

"This is the survey vessel UAS Magellan," he continued, speaking into his headset. "We're here on a scientific mission sanctioned by the United Academy of Sciences. I'm forwarding our information to you now, please stand by."

There was a short wait, then he gave Cassidy a thumbs-up.

"Well," she began, spinning her chair around to face the passengers. "It looks like the first leg of our journey has come to an end. I have to say, we'll sorely miss our adopted cook while you two are planetside. It'll be back to microwave meals for most of us."

"We'll be sorry to go too," Jamie replied, Liz nodding her head in agreement. "This place feels a lot like home now."

"It's not goodbye just yet," she added as she reached out to tap at her holographic display. "We'll be performing some surveys from orbit and downloading the research data from the UAS personnel on the surface while you two do your thing, then we'll be taking you back home. The timetable is pretty up in the air at this point, but we'll keep in touch."

"What happens next?" Jamie asked. "Will we be docking at another station and taking a tether down?"

"Oh, there are no space elevators on Jarilo," the captain replied as though that should have been obvious. "The only way down to the surface is by shuttle. It might be a bumpier ride than what you're used to."

"Uplink has been established with the colony," the comms officer announced. "I'll let the UAS research base know that we've arrived."

"I'm sure they'll let us know when they'll be sending up a shuttle to collect you," Cassidy said. "Until then, best start packing what you want to take down to the surface. Don't feel like you have to empty your cabin, as you'll be coming back soon enough."

***

By that evening, they had received word that a shuttle would be coming to pick them up the following day. They had one last meal with the crew, almost everyone who didn't have duties to perform attending a feast of Liz's making. When their bellies were full, and the conversation had died down, Liz, Jamie, and a couple of the crew retired to the observation deck to get a closer look at Jarilo.

"I thought the Earth was green compared to Borealis, but this is something else," Liz said as she watched the planet slowly rotate beneath them.

"Looks like a giant piece of broccoli to me," Jamie added, making her snicker. "When they said that there was a blockade around the planet, I kind of imagined battleships stacked end to end all around the equator. I can't even see any Navy ships. They must be too far away."

"We can use the telescopes to get a better look," Jessie said, nudging Higgins out of her way as she moved over to the console. One of the windows directly behind it briefly became opaque, then shifted to show a magnified view of the clouds. "Daryl mentioned that he was picking up some odd anomalies on radar," she added as she angled the lens towards the horizon. "I'll patch into the sensors and see if I can find the coordinates."

After a minute of fumbling with the controls, she managed to locate something, zooming the telescope in on a cloud of orbiting vessels.

"There's your fleet," Higgins said.

They were so far away that it was hard to see details, even with the telescope, but they were nicely silhouetted against the planet's glow. There were maybe two dozen ships of varying sizes, all clustered around a large vessel at the center of the formation, orbiting far below the Magellan. Most resembled shards of dark glass, their angular hulls painted jet-black, while the larger one was ocean-gray in color.

"That's a jump carrier," Liz explained, pointing to it with a curved claw. "The rest will be frigates, support craft."

"Those carriers have ventral railgun batteries that could level a city in a matter of minutes," Higgins said, leaning over Jessie's shoulder to get a better look. "Makes me feel a little better about the Bugs down on the surface."

"Hang on," Jessie said, examining her readout. "What's this?"

She changed the camera view, zooming in on something else. Floating in orbit relatively close to the fleet was some kind of structure, not any kind of ship or station that Jamie recognized. Whatever it was, it looked half-finished. It reminded him most of the docks that he had seen on the terminal station, large berths in the shape of rib cages that enclosed the freighters. There were several such cradles attached to a central mass, radiating outwards in a circle.

"It looks like...a dead animal," he muttered as he examined the readout.

"That thing is big," Jessie said, increasing the zoom level a little more. It was built from some kind of skeletal structure, but it was impossible to tell whether it was metal or bone, the naked framework covered over in places by masses of what could only be described as off-yellow flesh. "It's gotta be a few thousand feet across."

"Is it covered in meat?" Higgins wondered, squinting at the display. "That's Bug tech right there, has to be. Looks like they're building a station or some kind of dock, maybe the terminal for a tether. Why the hell would the Navy let them do that?"

"Can you get a closer look?" Liz asked.

"Maximum magnification coming right up," Jessie replied, the view zooming in further. There was some distortion and blurring, but she fiddled with the controls, bringing it into clearer focus. On the viewfinder was a section of hull, what looked like muscle and tendon wrapped around sturdy beams of what could only be described as organic metal. For a moment, Jamie assumed that the structure was rippling, but he soon realized that there were creatures swarming all over it like ants.

He had seen pictures and videos of Bugs, they were impossible to forget. These were Drones, humanoid insects that stood maybe four or five feet tall, their two pairs of arms moving frantically. It was hard to see what they were doing at this resolution, maybe spreading something on the structure's surface, connecting veins and cables. Their bodies were enclosed within shimmering, iridescent carapaces that shone in the light of the sun, colored in every hue of the rainbow. Some were emerald green, others a striking red, some blue or orange. Each one had a branching, beetle-like horn that protruded from its forehead, no two exactly alike. In place of mouths, they had sets of twitching mandibles, and it was impossible to tell if their compound eyes were organic or part of a helmet.

"They're all over the fucking thing," Higgins muttered, his disgust palpable. "How are they operating like that in open space? When our guys go out on the hull to do maintenance, we need suits with an oxygen supply, magnetic boots, tool kits. They're just...hanging out."

"Betelgeusian armor is hard to distinguish from their natural carapaces," Jessie explained. "They could very well be wearing some kind of pressure suits. That, or they've adapted their biology to be able to survive in a vacuum for extended periods of time, which is a little disconcerting..."

"Look at that one," Jamie said, pointing to the edge of the display. Jessie panned the camera a little further left, focusing on it. There was something far larger clinging to the structure with several pairs of jointed, insect-like legs. Its bulbous body was covered over by a segmented carapace, the faint, blue glow of electronics visible in places. It was covered in spindly antennae and clusters of small, black dots that might be eyes or cameras, a pair of metallic thruster nozzles flexing as though they were alive. It looked like a giant, armored housefly, a chimera of flesh and metal. With the Drones for comparison, it must have been around sixty feet long.

As he watched, it pushed off from the structure, tucking its spindly legs beneath its belly. With flares of green flame from a series of thrusters mounted all around its hull, it turned toward the planet below, quickly accelerating out of view.

"Even their ships have organic components," Jessie explained.

"Looked more like an animal than just a machine with organic components," Higgins said. "What are the UNN doing out here?"

"I guess we'll find out when we've finished archiving the research data," Jessie replied. "They have months of reports backed up."

After a little more sightseeing, Liz and Jamie bade their friends goodnight and returned to their cabin.

CHAPTER 4: ADAPTIVE MUTATION

The next day came quickly, Liz and Jamie rising from their nest of blankets and pillows to prepare themselves for the journey ahead. They scarcely had time to finish their breakfast before the shuttle that had been sent to collect them was taking up formation beside the Magellan. Jamie watched it through one of the narrow windows in the corridor just outside the airlock, the smaller vessel shooting bursts of blue flame from its thrusters as it matched their velocity and heading. It was sleeker and more aerodynamic than the bulky survey ship, clearly designed with atmospheric flight in mind, but that wasn't to say that it was in any way elegant. It had a pair of stubby wings for gliding and a cockpit situated high on the stunted nose, the silhouette of the pilot visible beyond the canopy. It had a wide hull, making it look oddly bloated, likely to accommodate a large cargo hold. It was painted white, but the underside was charred black by the heat of reentry, and the old coating was chipping away in many places. Along the side was stenciled faded text in Cyrillic, suggesting that it was of Russian origin.

The umbilical began to extend from the Magellan, connecting to a hatch on the flank of the bulbous lander. The tarp-like material that covered it began to inflate as the passageway pressurized, a green light coming on beside the airlock's outer door to signal that it was ready.

The Captain had come down from the bridge to see them off, and she hit a console beside the inner door to open it, the panel sliding into a recess in the ceiling above.

"I hope you guys find what you're looking for down there," she said, the pair turning to face her. "I think your chances are pretty good."

"Thank you," Jamie replied, extending his hand. "Without you and your crew, we would never have gotten this far."

She took it, giving it a vigorous shake.

"No problem," she replied with a grin. "Nothing wrong with picking up a couple of interstellar hitchhikers."

"We'll see you soon," Liz added, enclosing Cassidy's hand in her huge mitt. "You'll have an extra passenger if everything goes our way."

"I'll look forward to it," she chuckled.

They said their goodbyes, then entered the airlock, the door sealing behind them with a whoosh. As the pressure equalized, the outer door opened, the fifty-foot umbilical stretching out before them. Liz ducked to avoid hitting her head as she followed Jamie inside, the metal walkway creaking under their weight. At the far end was the hatch that led into the shuttle, its design considerably different from that of the airlock. It looked more like what one would expect to find on a submarine or something of the sort.

As the pair neared, it swung outward on a pair of sturdy hinges, a man clad in a black pressure suit gesturing for them to approach. He was wearing a bulky flight helmet in contrasting white, the visor currently raised to expose his stubbly face.

He helped Jamie through, then stepped aside to let Liz pass, the Borealan having to crouch and turn sideways to fit. They emerged into a cramped troop bay, the walls lined with seats, enough for a squad of Marines. He was relieved to see that there were crash couches large enough for Liz. It was clearly an old ship, judging by the scuffed deck and the loose wires that hung from the ceiling in places. Some of the metal paneling on the walls was brighter, newer, clearly recent repairs. It was lit by dirty light strips on the ceiling that seemed as though they should have been brighter, giving everything a dingy vibe. The padding on the seats was protruding through tears in places, and there was a musty smell about the ship, as though the air filters hadn't been cleaned in a very long time.

The bay was separated from the cockpit by a narrow door, the glowing lights of the control panels and the stars beyond the canopy visible through its aperture. Unlike the Magellan, this craft was too small to have an airlock, opening directly to the umbilical.

"Take a seat and strap in," the pilot said, sealing the hatch before making his way into the cockpit. Contrary to what the lettering on the hull had suggested, he didn't sound Russian. His accent was something more akin to Spanish or Portuguese. "The science types hired me to take you down to the colony. The ride might get a little rough. These forests create a lot of weird weather, so make sure your harness is good and tight."

He wasn't UAS or Navy, then. This must be a privately-owned shuttle. Judging by the masses of cargo netting and bungee cords that were bundled up towards the troop ramp at the rear, it was safe to guess that he probably made his living hauling goods.

Jamie and Liz exchanged a glance, then sat down next to each other, sliding their bags beneath their seats. The first one that Jamie sat down in had a broken harness, and he shared another concerned look with Liz before sliding into a neighboring seat. They were much less comfortable than the ones on the Magellan, but he was quickly learning to temper his expectations.

There were no windows in the troop bay, but Jamie could feel the hull reverberate as the shuttle detached from the umbilical, along with the sense of motion as it began to accelerate. Before long, they hit the atmosphere, turbulence starting to rock the little craft. Jamie found himself gripping the armrests of his chair for dear life, Liz reaching up to grab a handhold on the ceiling above as the shuttle threatened to shake itself apart. It was like being inside a can of loose bolts while it was rolling down a hill. The hanging wires swung, the light strips flickered, and the sounds of stressed metal filled the bay.

Jamie had a collection of colorful expletives and constructive criticisms of the pilot's flying skills that were boiling up inside him, but he felt that insulting the man was probably unwise with the door to the cockpit open.

It took several minutes for the shaking to abate, the shuttle starting to make lazy, swooping circles as it decelerated. There was another rumble from beneath the deck, presumably the landing gear deploying, the craft bouncing as it touched down.

They waited as the pilot got up from his controls, scant glimpses of green forest visible beyond the cockpit, the man giving them a questioning look as they stared back at him.

"We're here, ride's over," he said. "What are you waiting for, the no-smoking sign to turn off? This ain't no airline kids, you don't need my permission to get up."

He made his way past them, hitting a control panel beside the troop ramp, which slowly began to lower on a pair of hydraulic pistons. As soon as a crack appeared, daylight flooded in, along with a rush of fresh air that washed away the musty smell of the shuttle. It smelled like wet earth after a rainstorm, cool and crisp, immediately lifting Jamie's spirits. He and Liz unbuckled, Liz slinging the large duffel over her shoulder as she walked down the ramp, Jamie following after her. He considered thanking their pilot, but decided that he probably wouldn't appreciate it.

For the first time in months, Jamie saw blue sky above, the sight giving him an odd sense of vertigo. He had grown accustomed to being able to reach up and touch the ceiling, and the return to normalcy was somewhat jarring. He filled his lungs with fresh air, fresher even than that of his home city, devoid of any man-made pollutants.

He found himself standing on top of a raised landing pad, its surface scorched black, a ramp leading down to the ground. There was no grass, just dirt that was broken up by a few fern-like plants with splayed fronds. Before him was a cluster of prefab buildings, none more than one or two stories tall, all made from the same off-white material. Their design was industrial, functional, each one raised a good foot off the ground on sets of extensible supports that resembled the outriggers of a crane. Some had been stacked one on top of the other or side by side, fitting together seamlessly to create larger structures, while most were standing alone in a loose cluster. From his vantage point, he could see maybe three dozen buildings, enough to make a small town. Several of them had comms arrays protruding from their flat roofs, and there was a network of thick, insulated cables trailing on the ground between them to create a network. There were no roads, just dirt tracks that had been carved out by regular use. Jamie could see a few open-topped, off-road vehicles with thick, treaded tires sitting idle.