Perilous choices, p.30
Perilous Choices, page 30
part #11 of Gate Ghosts Series
“Is this technology available to others?” Testora inquired.
“The conclave seeks to uplift every race with technology, providing the society is dedicated to peaceful coexistence and the well-being of its citizens,” Julien replied. “It never happens quickly. Otherwise, the social fabric is strained. But, once started, it’s inevitable.”
Four pairs of adult Monkfred eyes closed, and the riders exchanged the thoughts of their grazers for a few moments. When eyes focused on Julien, they expressed contentment.
Ophorous shared.
“When would the transition begin?” Testora inquired.
“Whenever you’re ready,” Julien said. “Do you need the same process on your other worlds?”
“We’ve other challenges on those planets,” Testora lamented. “The immediate need is for our home world.”
Opal stepped forward to garner attention. Then she asked, “If the calves are raised here, how will they accumulate the defensive knowledge about the packs?”
Monkfreds examined Opal closely.
“You ask a question steeped in aggressive experience,” the matriarch’s rider pointed out. “Did the sisters develop in a unique manner from SADEs?”
“We did,” Opal replied. “However, we’ve come to accept the SADEs’ tenet that life with biologicals is much richer and more rewarding.”
Testora and the other rider nodded thoughtfully.
Then the matriarch’s rider replied, “When the calves achieve about ten annuals, they’ll have the size to manage the bumps of a herd under stress. They’ll occupy positions in the herd’s center, where they’ll learn how the herd’s perimeter individuals repel the packs.”
“Is there anything that Yerets might do to prepare the calves for the difficult return to their home world?” Yathal inquired.
“A question with a generous intent,” Testora replied. “We must think on that.”
Julien focused on the matriarch with calf and rider. “Will you remain here while we transfer other pairs?”
“It would be our pleasure,” the rider replied. “If only I can find a way to remain dry.”
That final comment elicited laughter, trumpeting, and screeching.
The professor and her rider were loaded aboard a traveler to be returned to the Freedom. Meanwhile, some of the dried grasses, preserves, and nuts were delivered to that ship too.
Julien requested a SADE monitor the matriarch and calf.
In addition, Yathal assigned two citizens to ensure the rider had the food she required. They were placed on a government stipend.
When the transfers were complete, the Freedom and its Trident escorts sailed for the Monkfred home world.
Julien occupied his time with the professor and her rider in their bay.
“What are the troubling conditions on your other worlds?” Julien inquired.
“Two are climatic,” Testora replied. “The third has a sentient race who has a rudimentary existence and lives as hunters.”
“Why settle there?” Julien asked.
“We settled the environmentally challenging worlds in hopes of giving our calves an opportunity to mature,” Testora replied. “The harsh weather on both planets takes its toll on matriarchs and calves alike. Settling away from the hunting tribes on the third outer world was our next best hope. For a while, we were successful. Then the tribes found us. At first, we rebuffed their assaults. Then they got clever, banding together for hunts and laying traps.”
“That’s why you’ve decided to find a deserted planet and install domes,” Julien surmised.
“Without your help, we believed our herds were doomed to slowly decrease in number until we ceased to exist,” Testora admitted.
“Do I understand that you’d like to retreat from every outer planet?” Julien asked.
“The numbers of matriarchs and calves on the outer planets are probably too many for the Yeret planet to absorb,” Testora replied. “The Yeret world must have time to benefit from the water you’re delivering.”
“Despite our best efforts, there’s little we can do about inclement weather across an entire world,” Julien mused. “However, we could remove the matriarch-calf pairs from those two planets and take them to the tribal world.”
Testora raised a hand to object, but Julien held up his too, and the rider subsided.
“It would be easy to deploy a Trident or two above the planet,” Julien continued. “Each Trident has four travelers, which could be used to protect the herd.”
When Julien paused, Testora said adamantly, “We’ve no wish to see the hunters harmed on our account.”
Julien chuckled, which caught the professor’s attention.
“You’ve experience with races in this condition of development?” Testora queried.
“I’ve experience with hundreds of races of all types,” Julien replied. “What do you think the reactions of the hunters will be when a ship floats in front of them to prevent their access to the herd?”
“They’ll heave their spears and sling their rocks at your ship,” Testora replied.
Julien waited.
Testora screeched in understanding, probably informed by the professor. “Unable to bring your ship down, they’re likely to think they’ve met some sort of deity,” she offered.
“There might come a point when we have to demonstrate our power,” Julien said. “However, it won’t be aimed at the hunters.”
“From where does your power originate?” Testora inquired.
“The shuttle you were aboard can carry passengers and cargo. It’s also a fighter, with a beam weapon,” Julien explained.
“If you’ve developed such weapons, then you’ve truly experienced many civilizations,” Testora said.
Julien nodded and replied, “I’ve lost many friends who fought to prevent races and entities from harming others.”
“From where does this dedication come?” Testora asked.
Julien heard Testora’s words, but it was the professor who stared intently at him. “That’s a long story,” the SADE replied.
“I believe we have time,” Testora responded. “It’ll be good to know about your conclave.”
Julien’s story unfolded, beginning with his potential demise and a young captain who rescued him and a derelict ship. He augmented his narrative with images in his palm holo-vid, which fascinated the Monkfred pair.
Except for the Monkfreds eating and sleeping, they were completely entertained by Julien for the entire trip.
After the flotilla reached the Monkfred home world, the Utilimat warship captains were warned not to play the same game. Realizing that conditions had changed, the warships retreated to the system’s periphery.
Julien dropped planetside with the professor and Testora.
There were three compounds to visit across the planet, and at each one the Monkfred pair explained what had been discovered on the Yeret planet and the agreement to transfer the remaining matriarch-calf pairs to the Yeret world.
At the first compound, Julien prepared for objections. Instead, he heard the matriarchs’ trumpeting, which told him of their worry about their young.
When acceptance was complete, Freedom travelers and crew members descended on the planet. One at a time, a matriarch-calf pair was loaded and lifted to the Quadrant. As a compound was cleared of the eligible individuals, the stored food was loaded next.
After the final traveler landed aboard the Freedom, Gistamia lamented,
Julien replied.
Julien said.
Julien smiled.
Gistamia had encountered a calf, who was younger than an annual. The little one’s snout investigated the captain’s hand for an opportunity to suckle. Gistamia’s face crumbled at the thought that the baby could be endangered by packs of hungry carnivores.
Every biological crew member inquired of the SADEs why the Monkfreds were challenged to manage their calves. They learned that production of a matriarch’s milk required large quantities of fresh grasses. Grazing was continuous, and new calves must nurse multiple times a cycle. However, the herd couldn’t protect the youngest calves.
The Trident squadrons separated. Half accompanied the Freedom to the Yeret planet, and the other half stayed with Julien. His guests were the professor and Testora.
Julien had already gleaned the locations of the three outer Monkfred planets. It seemed that knowledge of this sort was a rider specialty. He directed the Trident commanders to make for the planet with inclement conditions due to sweltering heat.
21: Save the Calves
“What are your intentions?” Testora asked, leaning forward on the professor’s head and staring intently at Julien.
“I believe you’ve taken risky steps to prevent your herds’ demise,” Julien replied. “While I can appreciate your intentions, you might only be slowing an eventual outcome. I wish to rectify the conditions you’ve created.”
“And if we don’t like what you do?” Testora challenged.
Julien replied, “I would ask you to withhold judgment until we’re finished. If you don’t like what we’ve accomplished, we’ll reverse our efforts.”
“As we seem to be trapped aboard your ship, it appears that we can be nothing else but observers,” Testora said. Then the professor and she turned away from Julien.
Opal complimented.
When the flotilla exited outside the target system, a second transit was necessary to approach the inhabited world.
The Trident captains abandoned the usual cautious approach to allow time to detect other ships. Under full power they accelerated until they could enter the planet’s lower orbit.
Meanwhile, Julien hurried to the bay that the professor and Testora occupied, while he collected more information.
Julien examined early telemetry and noted the planet’s axial tilt.
Grazer and rider saw Julien swiftly enter the bay. It was opposed to the calm manner in which he was seen to move.
“Trouble?” Testora asked nervously.
“Possibly,” Julien replied. “The ambient temperature at the surface is extremely hot. However, the planet has a tilt. Hopefully, we’ll discover your herd closer to the southern pole where it might be degrees cooler. We’re searching the planet now.”
As the Tridents dropped close to the planet to scan the surface, controllers identified the carcasses and bones of dead matriarchs and calves. At the velocities with which the ships were moving, identification of the small riders wasn’t possible.
Julien withheld the information from the professor and Testora.
The Tridents circled the planet, entered the dark side, and shifted their controllers to scan on infrared.
After the entire surface had been searched, the conclave ships had discovered two small bands of Monkfreds. Each one had clustered around a small pool. The air temperature was only eight degrees centigrade cooler.
“How many matriarch and calf pairs are you expecting us to find?” Julien inquired.
“Seventy-four,” Testora quickly replied.
“We’ve located two small herds,” Julien replied. “The matriarchs number eighteen, and we count twenty-three calves. We can’t tell the number of riders.”
Testora stood on hind legs, grabbed her head, and screeched in torment.
The professor raised her snout. The sound of her trumpeting was a wail.
“I lament the loss of your kind,” Julien said. “Time is of the essence. We must save the remaining individuals. Please board the traveler.”
Julien had to leap out of the way, as the professor rushed for the ramp. It was the swiftest he’d ever seen the pair board a ship.
Every Trident’s traveler was prepped. Then the ships dropped planetside.
The professor and Testora could visit only one band at a time, and the pair hoped that the other small band would cooperate with the conclave members.
Julien and his guests landed next to a drying pond. As crews piled off the ships carrying water pails, he could see the digging marks in the pond’s bed to encourage water to fill it.
In response from Testora, matriarchs struggled up from the cool soil, and they nudged the calves to stand.
Such was the dehydrated nature of the planet’s residents that they didn’t even recoil from the strange creatures who rushed toward them. But there was no mistaking the cool water held up to their snouts.
Matriarchs turned their heads toward the calves, and crew members shifted to water the young.
Not enough water had been brought to help the Monkfred pairs recover fully. That wasn’t Julien’s intention. He needed them to feel relieved so that the professor and Testora could encourage them to board.
The plan worked. Soon, the travelers were loaded and lifting for the Tridents.
Testora was devastated. Most matriarchs were without riders, and she learned that the extreme heat had withered the fruit, depriving the riders of sustenance.
Julien hurried his Monkfred pair to board again, and Opal flew toward the other band.
The second group had survived in better condition. They’d consumed every drop of water, but they were hesitant to board the ships. It took the professor and Testora to persuade them that this was their only chance to survive.
Again, Testora lamented the loss of many riders.
The five Tridents had used every one of the twenty travelers to rescue the planet’s remaining Monkfreds. As swiftly as the captains had entered the system, they raced to exit it. Julien had pointed them toward another system and a planet occupied by bands of hunters.
Aboard each ship, crew members distributed the dried grasses to the matriarchs and water to every grazer.
The nearly comatose riders were whisked away to medical suites.
The SADEs knew the fruits that the riders preferred, and they adjusted sugar-saline solutions for them. After a few hours, it was seen that only one rider succumbed, her metabolism having suffered too much. Soon, the riders were slurping at bowls of reconstituted preserves. The nuts were withheld until the riders had more time to recover.
Every matriarch managed to recover sufficiently until they could start feeding on the dried grasses.
However, the calves continued to suffer from the lack of quality milk. Each cycle that passed saw the demise of a calf.
The flotilla’s entry into the tribal planet was at the same pace as the previous system.
“Julien, to prevent losing more calves, we must locate robust matriarchs,” Testora explained. “They can feed the calves until the matriarchs aboard can graze on fresh grasses and produce the milk the calves require.”
Opal passed the message to the other pilots that a strong herd must be located.
However, after the travelers reached the surface with their precious cargo, the large herd that was expected wasn’t evident.
The professor and Testora admitted that it was probably what had happened, and the Tridents and the travelers began a planetary search for small bands.
In the case of the hunters’ planet, the Monkfred numbers hadn’t suffered greatly. Food was abundant as were the hiding places for a group of only five or six matriarchs and their calves.
The riders performed the same task, as they had on the home world. Instead of standing on the grazers to view packs sneaking through the grass, they often left their grazers to scout from trees or rocky outcrops.
