Extinction: The Will of the Protectors Page 4

  He nodded towards Shar’tuk, the only full-blooded Nortes on either team. “He’s older than I am but he doesn’t look it because he doesn’t have a human half. He’s still considered just barely an adult by Nortes standards.

  “Growing up with a Nortes mother, I got a lot of her life views when it came to age and making life decisions. I’m sixty years old, Earth standard.”

  Emily’s eyes got bigger. “I’ve read most everyone’s profiles. I really didn’t pay attention to the ages, though. Wow, sixty? Really?”

  Jenson smiled. “Yes, ma’am. But let’s make a totally unscientific extrapolation here. Let’s say I live to the mean average between both species: I’ll be about one hundred and forty when I die of some boring natural cause. I’m still not even halfway through my life yet, and I’m already receiving one retirement check from an Earth company. I may be new to SpecOps but I’m not new to the military; I’m eligible for retirement from the Marines in three years. A few more retirements and I’ll be able to live without working for almost the entire second half of my life.”

  “That’s pretty damn awesome.” Emily thought about the scientific discoveries she could make in that same period of time. “I wish I knew I’d get another one hundred and twenty or so years.”

  “That’s the thing, ma’am.” Jenson took a drink of his beer. “Just because I can live that long, doesn’t mean I will.”

  Chapter 3

  The next day, both teams sat in a large auditorium style conference room and waited for the Cherta delegation. This time, Seth and Emily purposely sat next to each other so they could confer with each other if need be during the meeting. They didn’t want to be too familiar with each other at dinner last night so they had purposely kept their distance in public. This was different and the team members knew Emily and Seth weren’t getting close to each other for personal reasons.

  “I’m very pleased with how yesterday went.” Seth opened up.

  “You mean the training or after dinner?”

  “Both.” Seth was fairly sure he blushed now.

  “Me too.” Emily kept her composure. “I think dinner went well. They’re really meshing as a team.”

  “I agree.” Seth tapped a few commands into his personal tablet. “I’ve been going over our mission objectives with Mike. We both like the idea of maybe trading team members every once in a while to get some cross-training during actual missions.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Emily received some updated roster information Seth just sent her. “Depending on how this meeting goes, and how the brass decides to deploy us, our first few missions should be with the teams as they are now and then we can try your idea.

  “As it stands, my understanding of our team division is that my team will be deployed to areas that may hold scientific value to our war effort. Places like prior warrior bases, planets of origin, or more ruins like the one my team originally discovered. If we need heavy backup, you guys come and help out.”

  “Well, we’re not going to just be sitting on our asses out here waiting for you, you know.” Seth poked her in the arm.

  “I know. I didn’t mean it that way,” Emily said. “Your team is still responsible for commando-type missions on the fringes of our borders. Going out to do cleanup missions, recon, rescues, and destabilizing assaults on enemy positions: typical hero stuff.”

  “This is a new concept for the Marine Corps to have these two types of teams working together. Hell, your team is a completely new designation within the corps.” Seth was a little bit jealous. “I think together we can figure this out and set the example for future units.”

  “I hope so.” Emily was used to working under pressure but this was a whole new kind of pressure that she still needed to get used to. “Regardless of the outcome, I’m sure it will be fun along the way.”

  Seth was about to respond when he heard Mike call the room to attention. Every one stood straight in their brand new dress uniforms that Jeeves had finally procured. The president, Nortes empress, and Detrill emperor walked in and took their seats.

  Seth wondered how many hours or even days it took for some poor protocol officer to work out the seating arrangement for this meeting considering it was anything but normal.

  The conference room had stadium seating, which currently held Seth and Emily’s teams. In front of them was a half-moon table with the outer curved edge facing towards the stadium seats. The Coalition entourage was seated on the outer edge of the table with their backs towards the soldiers. In front of the half-moon table was a simple rectangular table with no chairs. Seth wondered why there weren’t any chairs, but he soon found out.

  The Cherta delegation was led into the room by two of the president’s protocol officers. Emily thought it was odd that there wasn’t any preamble to their arrival: no national music played, no introductions of any sort. This was very out of place for a meeting of this magnitude.

  The Cherta were an odd-looking species, though not the oddest sentient beings Emily had ever encountered. By human standards, the Cherta were only mildly odd but still extremely interesting. They were almost slug-like in their appearance, but the more you looked at them, the more you saw the details that started to alter your initial impression of them.

  They had cream-colored skin from head to tail, without a trace of hair. Their slug-like first impression came from the overall shape of their bodies, which were similar to combining a maggot’s ribbed body with a snake’s longer and more muscular form, and adding in a dash of a snail’s mucous-laden exterior. There was actually a slight trail of something slimy that followed the Cherta on the deck.

  On the main trunk of their body were six appendages. At the rear-most portion close to the tail were two legs, one on either side. These looked to be responsible for a good portion of their movement, working in conjunction with the slithering of their trunks and tails. Just forward of the two main rear legs was a smaller set of legs that looked like they may have opposable thumbs or toes on them. The second set of legs also helped with their movement but obviously less so.

  After the second set of legs, the body turned upward and the Cherta bodies became upright. Towards the top of their trunks, they had two arms and hands with seven fingers, at least two of which on each hand were opposable.

  The trunk did not have obvious shoulders or other thoracic structures; it just went right into the Cherta head. The Cherta face was slightly flared at the sides, with ridges along the side that were either cartilage or boney projections. Emily couldn’t tell what the ridges’ evolutionary significance was, and that excited her; something to research was always fun for her.

  The Cherta had four eyes: two were placed in a fairly standard humanoid fashion but the other two were a few inches lower and a few inches out to the sides of their heads. Emily surmised that at some point in their evolution they were the prey and not the predator. Eyes to the sides of the head almost always indicated a prey animal of some sort.

  They did not have a visible nose but they did have slits below their second set of eyes; Emily guessed the slits were either gills or breathing slats. The mouth was typically set in the face but with a much larger than the usual humanoid ratios of mouth to face. When the Cherta finally spoke, Emily still couldn’t tell what kind of teeth, if any, the Cherta had.

  “Hello, honored beings,” one of the Cherta said as he—or maybe she or it—spread his arms wide in a gesture of greeting. Emily was curious whether that was a Cherta gesture or if they knew that it would be endearing to humans.

  The voice emanated from the Cherta but not exactly from its mouth. Emily thought that the being might have some sort of a translator device that worked in real time with its spoken words.

  He continued. “We are grateful that you have agreed to meet with us. The Protectors wish you well and hope that we can come to an agreement that will avert any possible hostilities between our empires.”

  The president stood. “We thank you for that humble greeting. It is we who are ho
nored by your presence. The Coalition is always excited to meet new cultures and expand our knowledge of the universe while giving back whatever we can in return.”

  The Cherta nodded as well as he could without a neck; Emily was sure that the gestures the creature displayed were not normal for his kind. He was definitely trying to fit in with the humans and make them more comfortable with his appearance.

  A second Cherta moved forward and spoke with a female voice. “I am glad that your brave heroes were able to join us for this meeting. To see soldiers who fared so well against the Warriors is inspiring.”

  Seth wanted to reply but wasn’t sure this was the right time to do so; he decided that a slight head nod and a smile would show his appreciation of the comment.

  “And modest too,” the Cherta female added.

  The four Cherta took their places on the other side of the rectangular table. Emily now realized why there weren’t any chairs on that side: the Cherta didn’t need them. All four delegates were roughly the same size, and although they definitely had differences in their overall appearances, Emily couldn’t tell which, if any, of the features distinguished a male from a female.

  The first Cherta spoke again. “I would like to begin with introductions. We have chosen human names to make it easier for everyone to communicate with each other. Our names in our native Cherta language are not easy for newcomers to get used to.

  “In fact, we use a neutral language in the Cherta Empire, for interspecies communication, that was specifically created to ensure that no single species felt like a different species was more important. The language was also created in such a way that it is very easy to learn, regardless of where you may come from in the galaxy.”

  “We appreciate your effort to make our initial meeting as harmonious as possible,” the Detrill emperor said.

  The same Cherta continued. “I have chosen the name Steve, and I am the Prime Minister of First Contacts. On my right is Martin; he is my first aide, and speaks on my behalf when I am not available. To his right is Jack, our Minister of Faith. To my left is Jenny, our Minister of Soldiers. Ministers are all the first aides to the Prime Minister of the division they are assigned to.”

  “Steve,” the president stood, “I am—”

  He was cut off with a gentle wave from Steve. “I do not mean to be disrespectful, but we know who each of you are and what your positions are. If we were to introduce over thirty beings, we would be here for quite a while.”

  The president wasn’t sure whether Steve was making a power play or whether the difference in cultures was at the root of his behavior. The president decided to play it off in case it was a power play. “Steve, I couldn’t agree more. I’m glad to see that we can be open with each other and get right to things.”

  “As are we, Mr. President.” Steve made a facial expression that had absolutely no human correlation. “To that end, we will accept your unconditional surrender and integration into the Cherta Empire. Effective immediately, of course.”

  “Maybe we do need a little political protocol after all.” The president sighed. “We invited you here to discuss diplomatic relations and cooperation. We are also interested in having your Empire join the Coalition, although that step is not necessary for us to have a positive and mutually beneficial relationship with each other.”

  “That is very true.” The Nortes empress spoke. “Neither the Detrill nor Nortes people are members of the Coalition, but we still trade freely with each other and have many similar interests that we work on together.”

  Steve shifted slightly. As one of the most prominent xenobiologists in the galaxy, Emily started to grasp some of their behaviors. She thought Steve’s shifting was akin to a parent trying to explain a concept to a child who just wasn’t getting the point.

  Steve said, “I can appreciate your positions, but we do not coexist with other species, at least not at the governmental level. Once you are a part of the Cherta Empire, you will be free to govern your own worlds and your own people as you see fit, so long as your laws fit within our standing laws. Your laws may be more restrictive than ours, but they may never be more lenient.

  “Of course, the Coalition will cease to exist. No species is allowed to have dominion over another within the Cherta Empire. There are only ever two levels of government: the empire and the species-specific ruling bodies.”

  Jenny, the Minister of Soldiers, spoke next. “Your militaries will also be disbanded. Any and all soldiers who wish to remain in the service of the military may become a part of the Cherta military. We provide military resources to every member of the Empire and we assure your safety.”

  “Fuck. You.” Snake growled from the back.

  “Stow that, Sergeant.” Seth didn’t raise his voice because he pretty much felt the same way.

  “I know this is difficult for most species to come to terms with, but the Protectors are very clear on what must be done,” Martin said.

  The Detrill emperor leaned forward. “Who are these Protectors? Are they the higher echelons of your government? Or are they a different species from the Cherta, a species that runs the Empire?”

  “They are neither,” Jack replied. “The Protectors have guided us for thousands upon thousands of years. Even before the time of written language for our species.”

  The president was concerned that the Minister of Faith might be saying the Coalition was about to be forced into a religious cult. “One of the main beliefs within the Coalition is that all of our citizens have the right to choose their own faith; they can believe in whatever religion they care to.” He paused. “I cannot believe that any of our citizens would take kindly to the idea of having to worship the Protectors. And I mean no offense by that statement.”

  Jack put his arms forward; it was an attempt at a human gesture but it failed to translate properly to whatever Jack had meant by it. “The Protectors are not gods, nor part of our religion. The Cherta do have strong religious beliefs, but the mainstream church does not integrate the Protectors into those beliefs. There are some who have integrated the Protectors into their faith, but that is not the general consensus nor the wishes of the Protectors.

  “The Protectors are an immensely ancient species that have evolved into a level of existence that is, quite frankly, beyond even our understanding. But they still exist in our universe, roaming from galaxy to galaxy, trying to guide sentient beings towards the most harmonious existence they can achieve. But they never interfere directly. Beings are allowed to make their own choices, right or wrong.

  “The Protectors have made it clear, for several millennia now, that the Cherta are the most suitable species in the galaxy to lead our peaceful Empire. We believe that the Protectors want us to rule in order to provide all of the sentient beings in our Empire the ability to evolve into their own personal best form. We don’t know what that form will be for any particular species, or when it will occur, but we will help you to achieve it. That is the wish of the Protectors.”

  “This sounds like a religion regardless of the fact that you say it isn’t.” The president did his best not to become emotional with his responses. “What if the Protectors told you that we should be in charge? What then?”

  “We would, of course, allow it. Immediately,” Steve offered. “We have defied the advice of the Protectors before and paid dearly because of it. We will never, as a species or Empire, allow that to happen again.”

  “Why are we here?” Emily wasn’t sure whether it was her turn or not, but decided it really didn’t matter at this point. “Why ask us, the soldiers, to be present for these talks? We make no decisions for our respective governments.”

  Jenny shifted her attention fully to the soldiers. “If your governments will not surrender and become part of our Empire, we wanted to offer you the chance to join us on your own.

  “We are impressed with your two teams’ abilities and believe you would be useful to us in the coming war with the warriors. We promise that we would never put any
of you in a position to fight against your Coalition if you were to join us. You would only be deployed against the warriors.”

  The president looked at Seth for a response. “We are extremely honored by your offer, but I am confident that I speak for every soldier here when I say, no thank-you.”

  Jenny smiled as best as her oversized Cherta mouth allowed it. “We did not think you would accept our invitation, but we had to ask just to make sure.”

  Steve placed a data tablet of some kind on the table in front of him. “On this device is everything you need to know about your integration into the Cherta Empire. It details our laws, customs, and biological data for each species in the Empire, and much more. It should answer most of the questions you have.”

  The president couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The Cherta made this meeting sound as though the capitulation of the Coalition was a foregone conclusion. “Steve, I understand that cultures and protocols can differ drastically between two species, so I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt here. I’m sure your intentions are not to threaten, cajole, or intimidate us but that’s exactly how you are coming across. It might be beneficial if we took a break. Maybe move this meeting to an informal setting over dinner so we can get to know one another as individuals rather than mouthpieces for our respective governments.”

  Martin leaned forward. “We would rather enjoy that, Mr. President. However, it will not change the fact that prior to our departure, we will require your surrender and sworn allegiance to the Empire.”

  The president was a barely contained fury of emotion. The Detrill emperor saw this and took the opportunity to speak. “Good beings, you must know how a coalition works. Even if the president did want to comply with your demands, he could not—not without first taking the information back to the Coalition chairpersons for a vote.