The Nature of Predators

Memory transcription subject: Governor Tarva of the Venlil Republic

Date [standardized human time]: December 9, 2136

Negotiations with the Duerten Homogeneity were ongoing, though the last three days all ended the same. The moment Ambassador Noah brought up lending their auxiliary support ships to humanity, the galaxy’s other sapient avians balked. The Duerten were recognizable for their curved bills, which stuck out like “Pinocchio’s nose” according to my beloved human. They didn’t take kindly to the UN’s suggestion that those bills likely evolved to spear prey.

The Duerten also told me that a Venlil presence on the call was unnecessary, and shut me out of today’s meeting. I would’ve rather been with Noah at the governor’s mansion now, but I trusted him to take care of himself. I simply knew that if the talks fell through, the Terran ambassador would lump all of the blame on his shoulders. The United Nations needed to turn one of the military alliance-only voters; that constituency contained most of the Federation’s powerhouses.

Earth can't fully commit to offensive action until we have the resources to support such maneuvers. Zhao would never run the risk of his homeworld being counterattacked.

Visiting the rescues’ hospital offered a way to pass a few hours. It distracted me from my inability to get the endangered Thafki to send a representative, or to get the Duerten to do anything but chitchat. Were all these diplomatic efforts wasting the Terrans’ time? There were only so many times humanity would extend a hand in friendship, and have it slapped away. At this point, it was for practical reasons that they tried at all.

Glim had stabilized, and was busy drafting talking points for Noah. The human ambassador had another unenviable task on his plate; we planned to reveal the Gaians’ true identity to all of the saved Venlil tonight. There would be mass panic, once it was apparent that the masked bipeds were predators. This was the trial run for our larger ambitions with the other races rescued from Shaza’s sector.

I’d taken it upon myself to monitor Haysi, who’d remained an emotional wreck despite the Gaians leaving her alone. My concern for Sara also lingered; the female human had been absent from the facility, ever since Glim snapped at her to leave. But now, I spotted the curly-haired scientist taking aggressive strides down the hall, and carrying a massive stack of papers. Her binocular eyes were frantic.

“Slow down! Take a breath.” I rushed out of the security room, and grabbed Sara’s forearm. “You’re back here? What are you doing?”

The Terran waved her postcard-sized papers. “I went to the Venlil Museum of History. Photographed every nook and cranny, and annotated the human exhibit with sticky notes. Thought it might cheer Haysi up to see her old passion.”

“That was very thoughtful of you, but Sara…I know how much you love to work with others. Haysi isn’t one of your projects, okay? You’re not responsible for her recovery.”

“I just want to help. I know she would be too scared to visit, with human visitors.”

“What about you? You’re scared to visit her, because you know that she’ll look at you like you’re a monster.”

“Tarva, you won’t talk me out of bringing this to her. I’ll drop it off and leave, but I must be sure it gets to her! After terrifying a Venlil who’s been traumatized half to death, the least I can do is give her something that makes her happy.”

“The whole terror aspect is not your fault.”

“Yet it feels like it is. I’m giving this to Haysi.”

“Then I’ll go with you, Sara. Please just keep back, and let me do the talking. I’m not trying to silence you, but she won’t hear a word you say.”

The predator took a shaky breath, and nodded in agreement. I pried away a chunk of her photos, lightening the load she carried. It was a sincere gesture on Sara’s part, to recall Haysi’s request to visit the museum. However, with what we knew now, it was for the best that the Gaians hadn’t allowed the rescues to roam free.

Haysi wasn’t thrilled about the Terran “invasion” of Venlil Prime; little had shaken her dispirited state of mind. Perhaps seeing exhibits that existed before her captivity would offer comfort. It was a slice of something familiar, which had once fascinated her. I remembered her eagerness to seek grants from me, when I’d been our planetary ambassador.

“Haysi might learn to love our exhibits in time. Maybe she’ll appreciate humanity’s nuance and complexity,” Sara assured herself.

My ear flick was noncommittal. “We’ll see. Let’s go, together.”

I thought it would be best to discard the photos of the human corridor, since it may evoke a negative reaction. Haysi seemed like the type to see her museum as defiled, or to see an objective look at the Terrans as a biased undoing of her “Pure Evil” work. There was no polite way to tell a friend not to showcase her species, though.

My advice was to demonstrate humanity’s good side to Haysi; it’s possible Noah passed my message along. I should’ve been more careful with my words.

Sara fitted her mask over her face, and extended her wrist in my direction. Catching on, I wrapped my prosthetic tail around her arm. Neither Terran astronaut complained that the metal replacement didn’t offer the soft, bushy comfort of my natural appendage. It was the sentiment that counted to the predators. I was grateful that they didn’t treat me differently for my disfigurement.

My paw wrapped around Haysi’s door handle, and I pushed my way inside. Sara stood behind me, all but hiding behind my shorter figure. The predator’s pulse had quickened beneath my metal tail, which its touch sensors picked up on. The Venlil rescue receded into her pillow, freezing at the Gaian’s appearance. I think Haysi hoped Sara had departed for good.

“Hi Haysi,” the Terran scientist said softly. “I’m sorry for bothering you now, and I’m sorry for my poorly thought-out exposure therapy. I’m not trying to scare you.”

Haysi didn’t reply, but I could see her teeth chattering in her jaw. My tail uncoiled from Sara’s arm, and I gave her an encouraging ear flick. The human approached with cautious steps, clasping her photos with tentative fingers. I set the pictures I’d removed from the stack on the mattress, and the scientist placed the rest atop those ones.

I gave Sara a pointed look, reminding her that I should handle conversation. “Haysi, Sara did something very nice for you. She knows you love the Museum of History, so she photographed the entire building for you. You can see everything that’s there now, just like it was in the old days.”

“I…d-don’t want anything from a h-human,” the Venlil coughed.

“Oh, come on. I know you want to see the Museum, and you don’t want to be around human visitors to do it. It’s up to you whether you want to look at the photos, but now, you can.”

“M-manipulation. Stop.”

“Nobody’s doing anything with ill intent toward you. We just want to help you. See, we’re leaving now.”

I reaffixed my tail to Sara’s delicate wrist, and backed out of the room with her in tow. Haysi pulled the covers over her face, waiting for the Gaian to recede from sight. My heart felt heavy, as we retreated into the hallway. The human slumped her shoulders, and I recognized that pouting posture from Noah.

It would be harsh to tell the predator my honest opinion, but I thought Haysi was a lost cause. There was no way of making progress with someone who refused to listen; the historian was entrenched in her opinions. As much as my next words would sting, I couldn’t go on seeing a friend subject herself to pain. There was nothing any human could do to win certain rescues over.

“Sara, I think that you should stop visiting Haysi. Nothing good is coming of you seeing her, and it’s obvious she hates humans,” I stated in a firm voice. “There’s no changing what’s been done. I can find another rescue to reassign you.”

“I don’t want another rescue!” Sara stomped her foot in frustration, pitch climbing frenetically. “I want my friend that I played Jenga with, and hugged before she went to sleep, back. I lied to her. I hurt her, and she can’t even look at me.”

“You don’t want another rescue? It doesn’t have to be a Venlil then. Listen, you could meet new and exciting species, the ones the Mazics are facilitating! A scientist like you could brainstorm strategies to rebuild the Thafki’s population, or perhaps be the bigger person that aids the Krakotl.”

“It’s ironic that we saved the species that led the extermination fleet, from the cattle farms. It’s sure funny.”

“You know there'll be a shortage of Terran volunteers. Your help would be quite needed, and—”

Emergency raid sirens resounded through the hospital, a tone that every Venlil knew far too well. Sara seemed familiar with the warning, and her eyes stretched wide in alarm. Panic swelled in my heart, as I reached for my holopad. Dozens of messages from General Kam littered my feed; I should’ve been keeping an eye on my notifications.

Inbound signatures of an indiscernible make, heading for Venlil Prime. Our new defenses should thwart them with ease, but there’s the possibility of a few missiles slipping through, Kam wrote in his first message. We don’t have the ship garrison we once had, despite humans standing at the helm. All civilians should be sent to bunkers.

Sara leaned her masked head over my shoulders, and stared straight at the holopad. Humans were wonderful at focusing on what was in front of them; still, I couldn’t imagine having their narrow field of vision. Using binocular vision goggles, at the very Museum of History tour Sara had photographed, I had felt blind. The world had been a claustrophobic mess, and every person snuck up on me!

The scientist used a visual translator to parse the text’s meaning, and recoiled at once. The once-illegible Venlil script now imparted its grave warning. I hoped Sara could keep her wits, because I was losing my own.

“W-we’ve got to go,” I stammered. “T-there’s no telling how many ships are coming, and it’s p-probably the Arxur. D-did Isif betray us? Sara, let’s go!”

The human drew a shaky breath. “I’m not leaving without Haysi.”

“Every second we’re here, our r-risk of being caught in a stampede or b-bombed—”

Sara wasn’t listening to my response; her legs were dashing in the opposite direction of the exits. My ears could pick up other Gaians scrambling to retrieve their rescues. Even in my fear-stricken state, I recognized that bringing the former cattle to a bunker would be a problem. They’d see human refugees unmasked, and there wouldn’t be a chance for the planned reveal.

There were going to be panicked trauma victims, locked in an enclosed space with predators. This was a worst-case scenario; I hoped the Gaian volunteers offered explanations now, before the truth became evident. It was difficult to collect my thoughts, but I was cogent enough not to leave Sara to her own devices. I managed to chase after her, retracing the path to Haysi’s room.

The human was collecting the photo stack off the bed; she stuffed the images underneath her arm haphazardly. Without hesitation, Sara reached for Haysi. That elicited an ear-piercing shriek from the Venlil, who thrashed around in panic. I had enough sense to fetch a mild sedative, and hand it to Sara. There was no chance the historian would cooperate with a predator carrying her.

The scientist jammed the needle into a vein, and scooped the forcibly-relaxed Haysi up. I wrapped my tail around Sara’s leg, just in case I lost control. The last thing I needed was to get separated from her, and get swept up in a stampede. The human muttered reassurances, and jogged in the direction of the exit.

“Where is your car, Tarva?” the Terran barked.

I studied my reflection in her mask. “The d-driver should be waiting in the p-pick-up area, if he d-didn’t panic. I’m s-sorry…I usually have c-control of my instincts, but Arxur raids are t-traumatic for me.”

“I know that, Governor. You’re doing great, okay? I’ve got you both.”

The predator’s warm stability coaxed me along into the outdoors. UN security personnel, who lurked in my vicinity ever since the memorial’s stampede, greeted us. They had just been rushing into the building, determined to evacuate me after I kept them waiting. Sara allowed them to assist with carrying Haysi, and I let the humans herd me to my car.

The Terrans roughly pushed my head down, since the back door was already open. I dropped into a passenger seat, and tried to steady my breathing. Venlil Prime was under attack by an unknown assailant; we had to reach a bunker at once. I also needed to establish communications with my people, in order to make relevant decisions.

The UN security guards dove in, after shoving Sara and Haysi inside. I huddled against the human scientist, and shot a concerned glance at the rescue. This was not going to be a pleasant experience, once we were all caged inside a bunker. That was assuming the three of us could get to safety unharmed.

“H-how close is the nearest bunker?” I asked the driver.

The Venlil flicked his ears. “F-five minutes, ma’am. I’ll do my best to avoid pedestrians.”

I cast my gaze out the window. Sara removed her mask, given that the security staff weren’t obscured for the occasion. It was selfless of the human to return for Haysi; I hoped that Noah and Glim were able to get to safety as well. The Terran ambassador could hunker down in the mansion’s bunker, at least. Glim’s fate was reliant on the other caretakers getting him out.

My frightened brain pondered the reason for our attack. Until we learned more about our assailants, and the confrontation had played out, there was no determining why Venlil Prime was under siege. If anyone could protect the civilian populace, it was our closest allies. Humanity wasn’t going to let our homeworld suffer easily.

All we could do, stuck on the ground amidst a major metropolis, was fast-track a route to shelter.