The Nature of Predators

Memory transcription subject: Captain Sovlin, Federation Fleet Command

Date [standardized human time]: October 20, 2136

The United Nations had only scratched the surface of species in the Federation, having meaningful interactions with a small percentage. The Krakotl and Farsul received the most fanfare in the anti-predator coalition, but 24 total species had participated in Earth’s attack. Of those, 17 committed only a minority of their forces.

One of those was the Harchen, a reptile species famed for their natural camouflage. The waddling prey bipeds were half a human’s height, and could morph their skin into a multitude of alluring colors. Their species was a stellar average in most fields, notable for a few media franchises and software start-ups. Thus, all they had in common with the Arxur was animal class.

My decision to wander into Harchen territory looked dicey though, in an obvious Venlil ship. Given their hostile relations with Earth, I doubted they’d welcome us with open arms. That was why I weaponized the humans’ stealth tactics to remain hidden. Their cunning strategies, deployed against Gojid border outposts long ago, had become useful in ironic fashion.

Our ship leapt between high-gravity spots, until we lurked behind a satellite of the Blissful Modernity. It was a wealthy colony which housed media conglomerates and tech companies. Most importantly, it was the home of an investigative reporter I wanted to recruit. Her stories were hard-hitting, and she was steadfast to the facts; whatever they may be.

“Why are we here, Sovlin?” The deaf Talpin demanded through his synthesizer. “You are escaping with the Harchen, a Terran enemy. You still want to kill the humans for being predators?”

Berna, his sister, flicked her claws. “Countless people died on Earth, you monster. How can you turn your back on them?”

“I’m going to pick up a journalist named Cilany, who I trust, in the shuttle,” I replied. “You’re going to wait here, where no one can see you. In and out, then we head to Aafa.”

“This ‘Cilany’ must have an interest in protecting her planet. Her species is hostile to the humans,” the female Gojid returned. “There are other journalists in the galaxy…hell, thousands on Aafa. We don’t need an enemy.”

“The media figures who can be impartial to humans are few. Cilany’s the one who exposed the Sivkits for turning away millions of refugees a year, and dissected their unsustainable colonizing practices. Though, it was outing the Krakotl military for prolific extortion that got her famous.”

“How does any of that connect her to you?”

“Because I was the anonymous source for both stories.”

Gunboat diplomacy wouldn’t retrieve intelligence, whatever my UN guards had thought. Berna and Talpin objected to my plan, but they were missing the big picture of our Kolshian excursion. Mouthpieces were little good without the means to spread their message around. Besides, investigating the Federation was something that mandated professional assistance.

Sensors indicated a large ship presence around the Blissful Modernity, perhaps the Harchen anticipating a human counterattack. Scanning for subspace readings or life signs wasn’t an option in our precarious stealth mode; the situation would be clearer once I got a visual. The escape pod was cramped on the inside, but I wriggled through the emergency hatch nonetheless. My hope was that this Venlil-sized four-seater would escape detection.

Here you go, Sovlin. Fly through a waiting armada…and then, you have to get back up here too. This was a remarkably bad idea.

My surroundings became visible on the viewport, as I coasted out from behind a solar station. The Harchen colony glistened a dusty brown, and lacked any signs of native vegetation. Hundreds of warships were centered around the planet, which set alarm bells off in my head. The prey reptiles never had this many heavy craft on stand-by, for a minor colony.

After fiddling with the buttons, I magnified an orbiting warship on screen. The breath was sucked from my lungs. That clunky, explosive-laden death machine was an Arxur bomber, and it was surrounded by many brethren. It wasn’t being challenged by any Harchen vessels, despite the fact that most of their fleet stayed at home.

Had the Harchen’s involvement in the attack on Earth left their colonies vulnerable? Perhaps they had to ration their defenses to the most populated areas without complete numbers. It was also possible local coordination was too poor to resist a full-fledged assault. Regardless, something must’ve caught the grays’ eyes.

The emergency channel crackled to life, when I switched on the radio. “Requesting immediate assistance from any Harchen vessels in the vicinity. Harchen Command…do you copy? Our evacuation ships are being slaughtered!”

There was a brief pause, before a terse reply came through. “We can’t divert assets from Fahl. The Arxur are trying to lure us away from the homeworld, since their head-on approach failed. I’m sorry.”

“B-but you can’t just leave us here! Send a few ships to cover evacuation, please!”

“Blissful Modernity, you’re not the priority. I suggest you broadcast the Chant of Remembrance planetwide, to secure your passage to the afterlife. Good luck.”

The Chant of Remembrance was a traditional folk-song that the Harchen used as a last rite. That was one way of saying that the entire colony was going to be sacrificed. If I attempted to land on the surface, I might get blown out of the sky, or gunned down on foot by the Arxur. Worse yet, I could be herded onto a cattle ship.

Overall, this was becoming a worse idea by the second. Berna and Talpin could be spotted in the main ship at any moment, or be left without a pilot to complete the journey. The humans needed our testimony to reach the Federation. The fate of the galaxy hinged on the reception of my plea.

But if I was ever a good captain, I had to try to rescue an old friend from the Arxur incursion. What kind of man stood idly by as innocent civilians were butchered? The Harchen people didn’t deserve this, however complicit their government was in Earth’s bombing. I wondered if the Terrans still understood that.

“You just land by the Blissful Network’s office, run in, rescue Cilany, and take off,” I told myself. “This will be fine. Nobody will notice a tiny escape pod amidst an orbital bombardment.”

I plotted a descent course for the address. My shuttle snuck past the grays, as they focused on decimating the landmass. Arxur looked for visuals of escape craft from the surface, not suicidal rescuers. They probably relied on sensor data too. Our stealthy approach gave me a chance to land, but the return trip was another matter.

The shuttle blazed into the thin atmosphere, rattling from the external force. Fiery missiles streaked down alongside me. They were a relentless barrage meant to inflict high casualties. The people on the ground knew that it was raining death, and their escape chances were close to none.

Would the humans come to the rescue, if they were here? I asked myself. Samantha spoke like she wanted this to happen, but I can’t believe she truly meant that “purge” line.

The Harchen ground enlarged on the screen, with a smoky mist fogging the air. Precise explosions targeted a few city blocks, smiting residential areas and infrastructure. The Arxur wanted to flush any civilians from their homes, so the cattle collectors would have an easy time. It was a page out of a playbook we’d seen many times.

“Landing complete. Initiating shutdown sequence,” my pod’s computer announced.

I scrambled out of the shuttle, gun in paws. The polluted oxygen sent me into a coughing fit, and my eyes watered. Mushroom clouds dotted the horizon like treetops. The sole relief was that there were no lanky Arxur silhouettes in the vicinity, although I could hear gruesome screams in the distance.

The press building was still intact, and that was a positive sign in itself. Stampeding wasn’t a viable instinct, when bombs were going off on every corner. The ‘runners’ were likely half-eaten corpses by now, but some people must’ve sheltered in place. I had to hope my reporter friend was one of them.

Autopilot kicked in, as I sprinted up the emergency stairwell. There were no signs of footsteps, electricity, or chatter. My prayer was that the Arxur hadn’t swept this building already. I doubled over, once I stumbled onto the third floor; the steep ascent left me winded.

Terrified screams followed my entry. “DON’T EAT US! We’re r-reptiles like…oh.”

Cilany gasped. “Sovlin? What the hell are you doing here?”

My gaze swept the room. There were four Harchen reporters hiding under desks, quivering in terror. One was holding a seat cushion over his throat, as if that would protect him from an Arxur’s teeth. I relaxed my gun, and gestured toward the stairwell door.

“No time. Come with me…I parked a shuttle outside. You can all fit if you squeeze together,” I growled.

Cilany blinked in confusion. “Not so fast. We’ve heard you’re a human prisoner, and that you were mentally unstable before. Why and how are you here? I won’t be a predator’s test subject.”

“The humans sent me to Aafa as a messenger, and you can see I’m in good condition. I need your help. You’ll have every opportunity to stay with the Kolshians.”

“Prove you’re not re-educated, Sovlin. They could’ve turned you into a mindless minion. Doing their bidding, advancing their agenda.”

The other Harchen reporters watched with apprehension, though they inched toward the exit. I respected that Cilany hadn’t changed her skeptical ways, but these questions were wasting time. She was too inquisitive for her own good. From the tone of her rhetoric, I wondered if she had bought into the anti-human propaganda.

“Their sickening eyes made my spines bristle for days. I thought the humans would torture me, and lay waste to any civilization they crossed paths with.” I chewed my claws with impatience. “I believed every empathetic act they did had an ulterior motive; I wanted them all dead. And I remember it all, unlike a brainwashed individual.”

Cilany climbed to her feet. “So why would we help humans send a message? After what they did to us?”

“What they did to you?! You attacked their home, unprovoked. It’s the Arxur attacking you now. They’re not affiliated.”

“This is a coordinated bombardment against every species in our coalition… at least, those that we can make contact with. Someone had to tip the grays off days ago. Are you sure about that unaffiliated claim, Sovlin?”

Shock coursed through my veins. The other coalition members were under siege too? A specific attack against the races who targeted Earth led to some dark conclusions. If these raids weren’t spontaneous acts of violence, then maybe the Gojid cradle…no.

The humans were kind to noncombatants on the cradle, imperiling their own lives for our welfare. Terran rules of warfare disallowed attacks against civilians. Those soldiers fought tooth and nail to protect our cities, and cared for our refugees with the utmost kindness. I couldn’t believe that they would set such a plan in motion, but who else would’ve contacted the grays?

The humans were very interested in negotiating with the Arxur, during that last interrogation. It’s possible they reached out, I decided. Protector help us, if they jumped sides out of desperation.

Cilany shuddered. “You know the Terrans talk to the grays; I can see it in your eyes.”

“The humans were pursuing diplomatic avenues, but they also despised what the Arxur did to our worlds. It has to be an accident if they shared this,” I sighed.

“All I care about is the honest truth…and you might not like what that truth is. I can’t help you spread human deceit. Not even to save my life.”

“This isn’t about humans, Cilly. I’m here because the Federation are killing each other, over how they voted. It’s going to doom us all. Just please, come with me now, and take a look at the facts. That’s it.”

Fear shone in the female Harchen’s eyes momentarily, and her skin morphed into the beige shade of the walls. I took that as a sign that she was camouflaging to head out. The other staffers had no qualms scampering down the stairwell ahead of me. They’d take their chances with an unstable, predator-tainted Gojid over an Arxur slaughter fleet.

Terrified shrieks echoed from the first Harchen staffers to exit the building. They turned back, tripping in their haste back up the stairwell. I gestured for them to quiet down, and raised my gun. There must be an Arxur cattle squad or an eaten Harchen in sight, which meant we needed to depart quickly.

I peeked my head out the door. Horror brought my spines to full bristle, as I saw five grays leaning against the escape pod. The vicious predators were waiting for the prey to wander into their grasp; my stationary shuttle must’ve been sighted along their route. The hunters seemed delighted by the unexpected appearance of a Gojid; I suppose that was a rare meal, post-cradle.

There was no way I could shoot all of them, especially with their superior reflexes. Running was impossible too, since my shuttle was our ticket off this rock. Had I just brought the Harchen to their deaths? My brain froze in terror for a split second, sealing my fate.

One Arxur pounced from all fours, and dragged me by the arm out into the open. Saliva coated my fur in a sticky dousing, as its monstrous fangs pierced my skin. My initiative for the humans was going to end with me as a predator’s meal.