Chapter 6
Edward's ship finally touched down on the surface of Galaluna 2 days after liftoff. The scientist had the ship programmed to scan the surface of Mutrad for suitable terrain to land on, and after a few minutes of orbiting the ship automatically sent itself downward.
"What did Edward say we were supposed to do if the ship starts plummeting on the planet?!" Modula cried out nervously to his shipmates.
"He said when, Modula, not if," Lucius (the King) reminded him. "It's supposed to go down quickly like that, remember? And don't worry, the technicians are already deploying the re-entry casing metal. All we have to do is buckle up and prepare for a bumpy landing." Modula growled and join Edward as the two men strapped themselves in. The crew had been allowed to wander the cabin for a while in weightlessness (another aspect of space travel that Modula had declared to abhor) and artificial gravity was activated as the ship began its descent.
"Shouldn't this flying hunk of metal have thrusters or jets of some kind to ease its descent, like the Manus robots? Or at least some landing gear of some sort or something?"
"Edward had been working on that," Lucius mused, "But a few weeks before he died he told me that he hadn't been able to perfect any of that. He came up with the method of landing we're using now and assured me that our next flights, if we were to continue this space program, would probably have the things you're mentioning."
"Oh," Modula said, not wanting to linger on how Edward died—not because he was filled with grief by it as Lucius assumed, but because he wanted to hide his annoyance at not waiting until after Edward had perfected landing from space before he had sent him hurtling to that planet he seemed to like. What had he called it? Perth? Urth?
"I know that this isn't your favorite place in the world to be right now," Lucius went on, "But try to appreciate the historical significance of this visit. It will be the first time our worlds make contact. Who knows what we could learn from each other? You should feel privileged for getting to take part in this. I know Edward certainly would. No matter what happens, Modula, I want you to remember that we're doing this for him."
"Very well, then. For Edward's sake I'll stay on this wretched brown sludge ball as long as I need to."
"That's the spirit! Well, don't tell the Mutradi that you think their planet is a sludge ball, but you get the idea."
When the ship landed, the Galalunans filed out. General Modula was the second to last to leave the ship, right before the King, who withdrew a Lanron counter from his suit. The device looked and functioned like a Geiger counter, but seeing as Hans Geiger did not exist on Galaluna the object was instead named for Kanus Lanron, the Galalunan who had done similar work in his place.
"The radiation is higher than home's, but it's not dangerous enough to cause any health problems unless we decide to take up residency here for 5 years or so," Lucius remarked. Whipping out another device, this one made by Edward, he was able to check out the contents of Mutrad's atmosphere.
"Slightly high amounts of Radon, but otherwise it's a Nitrogen-Oxygen atmosphere like Galaluna," The King announced. "In fact, it's so much like our own that I don't think we need these!"
"YOUR MASJESTY, NO!" Modula cried in horror as Lucius took off his helmet, much to the shock of everyone. Modula quickly took a deep breath and took off his own helmet, and he would have placed it on the King's head if Lucius hadn't pushed it away.
"Don't be so nervous, Modula. Everything's fine!" Lucius inhaled and exhaled normally to demonstrate. The other Galalunans nervously took off their helmets and breathed, finding that the King was correct. Modula finally gasped for breath last, feeling humiliated when he found that he didn't die from it.
"Just because the atmosphere is safe doesn't mean that the planet is!" Modula protested as Lucius walked off without him, eager to explore this new world.
He could see that this part of Mutrad was a mostly barren place; the soil was mostly rocky and brown, and vast expanses completely devoid of plant life stretched out before him. The only things sticking out were formations of rock, some of them as small as mounds, others tall enough to be mountains, and still others with openings that led into caves or deep underground. The sky above them was a misty yellowish gray, and they could only faintly make out the stars above them. Galaluna was still visible, though.
"It's strange that no one was here to witness our arrival," Lucius mused as he, Modula and the rest of the group wandered northward in search of intelligent life.
"They were probably all terrified by the sight of giant metal object crashing on their planet," Modula replied, trying to conceal the cynicism in his tone. "Perhaps coming here was a mistake," he suggested, looking longingly at his home from this alien world.
"Don't be so negative about it! We'll find someone eventually. And if we don't find anyone today, we can stay here for as long as we need to until we find a civilization. We already know there's life here thanks to Edward's telescope; we just have to find it!"
While Lucius was speaking, he heard one of the accompanying soldiers cry in horror, "Up in the sky!" Everyone turned to look up and covered their eyes as a blinding red light came over them. They all felt a rush of wind as a creature they couldn't quite make out swooped down and landed 50 yards or so behind them, its feet and wings barely missing the ship. When the creature stopped emitting light, it was revealed to resemble a giant bat.
"I think Edward said he saw a few of those things flying around when he looked at the planet," Lucius whispered to Modula. The pair was the farthest away from the Mutradi.
"What about the man on top of it?" Modula asked, pointing to a figure that was now climbing down the back of the giant bat. The Galalunan soldiers that had come on the mission pointed their weapons at the figure, a red creature wearing a hood and holding a staff.
"Our mission is a peaceful one, but we'll shoot if we must!" one of them said timidly. The King rushed over to the humanoid Mutradi, parting his way through the soldiers.
"This is no way to behave in front of the first representatives of this planet!" Lucius bowed to the creature and said, "It is not likely that you understand our language, but please understand that we come in peace and wish for harmony between our 2 worlds." To demonstrate this point, the King kneeled before the creatures in submission, trying to convey that he, as a guest in their land, was at their mercy. The Galalunans followed his lead and dropped their weapons, also kneeling. Only Modula stood before the Mutradi.
"I don't kneel to strangers," he said stubbornly. The Mutradi had no idea what he was saying, but he could tell that the way this creature was not making any submissive gestures like the rest of his kind was a sign.
"Well?" Modula asked, pointing his blaster at the Mutradi. The Mutradi place a tentacle on the giant bat's forehead, and when he let go the bat took off with a rush of wind. Lucius and the others looked up to watch it fly away, but they retained their kneeling postures. Seeing that the King was still kneeling and the General was still standing, the red Mutradi's eyes began to glow a light green color, and he muttered something in his language.
. . . . .
"What was he saying?" Lance asked Ranaron, who frowned when he saw that he was being interrupted yet again. And since he was a frog it was a pretty big frown.
"I was just about to tell you!" Ranaron replied in irritation.
"Sorry, I didn't know!"
"The Somortite scout—that was the species that they met, you 3 fought one of them once—was using telepathy to tell his superiors that he had found the Galalunans. We Mutradi had been anticipating your species' arrival when we detected the ship being launched from your planet. He also told them how your King had kneeled, and how Modula had most noticeably had not. The superior that the Somortite had told was Delphox, an oracle who he believed would be able to interpret that sort of sign. Although, personally, I believe the symbolism was quite obvious."
"Which was?" Lance asked impatiently.
"The one that stood was not going to submit himself willingly to the Mutradi," Octus explained. "If he was not willing to submit, then it was implied by his refusal that he would rather rule over the Mutradi instead."
"How do you know?" Lance demanded.
"As Ranaron said, the symbolism is obvious," Octus stated.
"So then when they thought Modula was a threat the Mutradi captured my father and the others?" Ilana asked. "I remember dad telling me about this," she explained.
"Not quite," Ranaron corrected her. "You see, Modula's refusal to submit was interpreted by Delphox as a sign that this man was an ideal host for the Achillcasus—someone who was defiant to authority, even if it came in the form of a person whom he respected, as we found out when we Mutradi came to understand his and Lucius' past friendship. Delphox knew that although Modula would likely resist, once they could get the Hat on him he would be the one of all the Galalunans that had arrived that would be most likely to receive it without harm."
"Without harm?" the others asked.
"I will explain that later," Ranaron reassured them. "I must get on with the story..."
. . . . .
As soon as the Somortite had finished speaking, he used his staff to emit a powerful energy field to grab all of the Galalunans.
"What are you doing? We mean you no harm!" Lucius protested.
"It's your fault for bowing to them! Now they think we're all willing to be their slaves!" Modula protested.
"No, that can't be it! And why would he leave his…whatever that Mutradi he was riding on—to fly off without him or us?" Lucius asked. As he tried to figure out the possibilities, he heard a screeching sound, and the bat-like Mutradi reappeared with 2 more figures on his back: a creature with long tentacles that looked like a fusion between a cockroach and a squid, and a green, humanoid creature with unusual appendages sticking out of its head. The tentacled Mutradi had yellow eyes, while the green Mutradi had red ones. They also contrasted in that the green one was wearing a white robe while the tentacled one wore no clothes, apparently not needing any.
The 3 Mutradi spoke to one another in what seemed to be different languages, glancing at their prisoners occasionally. Finally the tentacled Mutradi approached one of the soldiers and crawled inside its mouth, trying to seek information. The other Galalunans were horrified by this barbaric practice. They could even hear the Mutradi speaking to the soldier in its native tongue, and the Galalunan could only reply:
"But…we come in…peace!"
"What do you think it's doing?! Inserting its eggs!?" Lucius asked nervously to Modula.
"I don't know, let's just wait and see." Eventually the tentacled Mutradi emerged, perfectly normal, and as the soldier it had entered shook in fear from what had happened to him, he spoke to the other two Mutradi.
. . . . .
"Now, the King and Modula did not know what they were saying at the time," Ranaron began, "But word traveled fast among us Mutradi as to how the conversation went, given its importance to us. Well, that and the Somortite had a good memory and wrote everything down. So now I'll tell you what they said…"
. . . . .
"They seem to be the most receptive to Cephalavicanese," the Cephalavican told Delphox and the Somortite. "Their tongues and vocal chords are quite unlike any of ours."
"Hopefully we can teach them our languages, that will make communication easier. In the meantime, learn theirs as well, Xeexi," Delphox instructed him.
. . . . .
"THAT was Xeexi?!" Lance cried in astonishment. "What was he doing there?"
"Yes, it was him! He was serving the oracle like an upstanding Mutradi citizen would do. Now could you please not interrupt again?" Ranaron demanded.
"Him? An outstanding citizen? What kind of an upstanding citizen crawls inside people's mouths and makes them say things they don't want him to know about?"
"All Cephlavicans can do this on unadapted species," Ranaron explained. "But Xeexi was one of the best."
. . . . .
"I will do my best, my oracle," Xeexi said, "But I do not know how much knowledge I could gain."
"Perhaps an exploration into their subconscious minds could give some insight?" the Somortite asked.
"No, Ghubar. Such a thing isn't necessary, as much as you would enjoy it," Delphox insisted. "We have learned enough of them by their actions—especially the one who did not bow. We should now load up the aliens and take them to Yersirin."
"But what if none are meant to wear the Hat?" Xeexi asked. Delphox shook his head.
"Have you no faith, Xeexi? Surely one of them will bring us liberation. I think it is the one that does not bow. Did you get his name from that soldier, Xeexi?"
"Yes. The one that did not bow is Modula, and the one who offered peace is their king, Lucius."
"They sent their king on a potentially dangerous mission?" Delphox asked as Ghubar began to use his telekinesis to levitate the prisoners and place them on the back of the giant bat Mutradi.
"To show that they come in peace," Ghubar said, repeating the King's mantra. Delphox laughed.
"They may come in peace, but we certainly hope at least one of them is willing to lead us to more."
AN: Sorry I didn't update this before. I just have a bunch of other fanfics going on and wanted to show you all that I haven't forgotten this one. I'll be putting some of my other stories on hiatus soon, so this one should get some more attention eventually.