The creature came around the instanthe turned the laser upon it and commenced to thrash and make sharpkeening sounds that actually caused him pain, to his surprise. Hestopped it by clamping one hand over the orifice emitting thehorrible noise. It went perfectly limp while he was surveying theirsurroundings to make certain it had not drawn trouble down uponthem with the noise it was making and consternation filled him.When he managed to shake off that blinding emotion, however, herealized it was still breathing.
Embarrassment followed.
And confusion.
His people considered themselvesempathetic to one another and to other species.
Regardless, he had never consideredhimself to be prey to his emotions, had always prided himself onhis logic and reason. They were tools that made good decisionmaking possible whatever the situation.
Of course, the problem, he was sure,was the drone.
They made it possible for his speciesto experience far more than they ever had before they had thoughtto create physical manifestations of themselves.
Which transpired to be a disastrousdecision.
On the surface, it had not seemeddangerous in the least. There were biological creatures of everyshape and size and every level of development. The only drawbackthat they’d been able to anticipate—which had very little bearingon them—was that the biological entities were prone to disturbinglyshort life spans.
It was their rush to experience thingsthey had had no way to experience or learn from that was theirundoing.
The avatars did allow new exploration,open doors for them.
But they also introduced them toemotions they’d never felt before and magnified others, making themdangerous where before they hadn’t been.
He had not experienced it before. Hehad been thoroughly conditioned to deal with the changes before hehad been sent on the mission, however, and he thought that he wasprepared.
Uneasiness pierced his confidence inthat ‘truth’, the suspicion that he might not be as prepared todeal with life as a biological entity as he, and everyone else, hadthought.
* * * *
Scout Quan made his first, andpotentially last, mistake when he stepped inside the darkenedinterior of an intact segment of a structure.
It was not the sort of mistake hewould have made ordinarily, but this mission was extraordinary,mostly because of the avatar he had adopted.
He had been told that hecould expect to adjust quickly and that it would be second naturebefore he even realized hewasadjusting to having a physical form.
He could not see that that was thecase, however. He had to concentrate to manipulate the drone and,as a consequence, it diverted him from matters of equal or greaterimportance.
Like the need to be aware of hisimmediate surroundings for threats.
He had no sooner stepped from thelight than a figure entered the cave-like interior opposite him.They both stopped abruptly and stared at one another. Just as ScoutQuan decided to attack, however, the intruder spoke.
“I am Forward Scout Xi.You are Scout Quan?”
Chapter Two
Ultima swam upwards toward the lightand found pain, not the peace she had expected. A jolt traveled allthe way through her when she lifted her eyelids and stared up intothe face of death.
An alien cyborg was standing overher.
She was too paralyzed with terror formany moments to realize he was simply staring at her.
He had to know she was still alive andyet he hadn’t made a move to end her.
Maybe he wasn’t really there,though?
She’d seen them halt and their gazegrow distant—much like a human who’s allowed their mind towander—except she suspected they were communicating with others oftheir kind, maybe asking for orders?
She closed her eyes again, trying tobrace herself, but the tension intensified the pain and that was acomplete distraction. It was a while before she realized time hadactually passed and nothing had happened.
