Chapter Four
Li was slightly unnerved for a second. He ended the silence with a question. "It's been proposed that the bugs are a product of Jockey engineering. Any theory on how the hunters are linked to the Jockeys?" "Sadly, we do not have sufficient data to formulate anything more than a guess, though we are fairly certain the hunters are a result of natural evolution, and are much younger than the Jockeys as a species. Their technology, as advanced as it is, pales in comparison to that of Linguafoeda's creators, and it doesn't resemble any Pilot artifacts we've discovered so far." He knows a lot more than he's letting on, Li thought. "Oh, I was enjoying our conversation so much I forgot the time, Mr. Li." "Yes of course Mr. …how shall I address you in the future?" "Mr. Kenzo is fine," the man answered, rubbing his clean-shaven chin. "You may of course retire to your quarters until further notice." Li got up and gave the man's hand a stiff shake before walking out.
Alone in his quarters Li had the luxury to reflect upon the hive disaster, or miracle, depending on whose perspective. Despite his efforts to the contrary, Li knew he had never truly bonded with his men. He had tried to foster a sense of camaraderie, but ultimately his motive had been selfish, pragmatic. He had wanted his men to be efficient above all else. He felt no sadness, no ache in the heart for the lives lost. There was only a numb emptiness that had always been there. His soul was barren … he tried to care but he didn't. Alone in the room, he closed his eyes. His mind drifted into the darkness.
There was a knock on the door. Li got up quickly. He had fallen asleep fully-dressed. He opened the door to reveal a fresh-faced assistant. "Mr. Kenzo apologizes for disturbing you," the young man said politely, "but he requires your presence immediately. He says it is important." Pushing fatigue aside, Li snapped to alertness and followed the assistant through a series of corridors. This time Li walked into Mr. Kenzo's private office. It was tastefully furnished with expensive-looking Asian décor, ironically most of it was Chinese. Li sat down without being asked. "Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience you have suffered Major," Mr. Kenzo offered in a most amiable tone. "I failed to mention in our last conversation that the Ctesiphon has been sweeping this quadrant for the past two months." "What on earth for?" Li grunted. "The source of a most unusual frequency." "Let me guess, a distress signal …" Li groaned, "we all know what happened to the Nostromo crew when the company decided to play Good Samaritan.'" Mr. Kenzo chuckled. "You have a sense of humor, Major. I like that. But I must confide to you that we have no idea as to its purpose. We simply know it's very weak and we've nothing like it in our database, not even in the Acheron files." "The hunters maybe?" Li ventured, praying that it wasn't. "There are faint similarities, we believe they're only coincidental. No, I'm afraid it's quite distinct really. It's a derelict for sure though. Ah yes, A crew has been assembled to board it … perhaps now is the time for you to prove yourself," Kenzo suggested with that enigmatic half-smile. "They're in the mess hall enjoying the Ctesiphon's fine dining …" Li got up to go. "…and oh," Kenzo called after him, "I hope you have nothing against synthetics."
Li walked into in the dining room. The scene vaguely reminded him of his old squad. He took a mental note of each of the faces as they turned in his direction. There were only five. Fewer people to get killed … great, and all civilians by the looks of them. His eyes rested on an attractive red-head. She bore a striking resemblance to the Corporal Wells. Li felt a slight pang of survivor's guilt, but tried to brush it aside, which only resulted in more guilt. He looked at her again. She wasn't eating. Just a synth, he thought, strangely relieved. He made his way to the table and sat down to a tray that was waiting for him. Fucking turkey again, A burly, bald-headed man with a light-brown goatee greeted him good-naturedly, "Nice to have you on board Major, I'm Khorfu, chief engineer and captain of this outfit. That young man over there is our linguist, Rosenberg. Achmed next to him is our astrobiologist. Alexis is our math whiz and as you might've guessed, that pretty-redhead sitting to the side is our synth," "Nice to meet you and your crew … you didn't mention her name?" Li replied, trying to build some rapport. "Priest," Khorfu chuckled. If there was one thing Li hated more than bugs, it was the company being cute with name selection. "So you're the guy who got his entire squad killed," Alexis stated flatly. Li winced. Before he could respond Khorfu intervened. "He ran into hostile XT's on a bug run. Can't really blame him for shit like that." "I promise I won't get Priest killed," Li offered, feigning innocence. Khorfu guffawed loudly. Alexis seemed to soften up a bit despite herself. More's the pity, Li thought. She was an attractive woman, with mocha skin and full lips. "What did they look like … these XT's?" Rosenberg asked, leaning forward. "Intergalactic yetis, according to old man Kenzo," Khorfu quipped. Li nodded, "They're big, strong, and fast. Can't say much else except they're fond of masks and hair-extensions…" Alexis chuckled. "…oh yeah, these motherfuckers have some sort of active camo that makes them near-invisible." "We heard you actually encountered two," Achmed said matter-of-factly. "Two?" Rosenberg's eyes opened even wider. "Yeah, they had a score to settle. According to Kenzo, the one that got killed was probably a criminal or outcast, son of a bitch killed three of my squad." "Chee-rist man," Khorfu remarked, "so you had to fight bugs and some alien psycho … glad I didn't have to go through with that shit." "It gets better, they hunt bugs for fun, with blades and spears. I hope to God I never run into one of them again." The significance of that statement was not lost on the crew as they glanced at each other. "Shiiit," Khorfu muttered. "I hope so too 'cause you're gonna be with us." They looked down at their food for a moment. Li turned his head and glanced over his shoulder at Priest. "She doesn't say much does she?" "I have been listening with great interest," she responded with a disarming smile. "I prefer not to interrupt when my input is not required." "She's a bit of a loner," Khorfu laughed, "nothing to worry about … anyway, you're gonna be our point-man Major Li. None of us have any combat experience, but if something happens, and I doubt that it will, but if it does … we'll be relying on your expertise." "I promise to try my very best," Li said, retuning Khorfu's good humor, "nice to meet the team, I'll be hitting the gym later." He made eye-contact with Alexis. Apparently she felt obligated to respond, "See you tomorrow at the shuttle." She forced a smile.