The Nature of Predators

Memory transcription subject: Captain Kalsim, Krakotl Alliance Command

Date [standardized human time]: October 22, 2136

The line between dream and consciousness grew blurry; I slipped between waking moments in delirium. Whatever drugs I was given seemed designed to keep me out of it, but there were brief flashes of humans putting my wing back into place. Rumbling voices cascaded around me, and filled me with the urge to claw my way to the surface. The vivid dreams left my brain in anguish. My near-death experience had turned decades of rotten memories into a jumbled casserole.

There had been one nightmarish case where we found an elderly Krakotl, ripped apart in her backyard. With a cruel sense of humor, my dream state decided to re-enact the scene. Standing over the rotting corpse, and seeing the innards tugged from her stomach, was the abyssal image of evil. Extermination officers were supposed to act in time to prevent these occurrences.

I could feel a sour taste swell in my beak. It was followed by a scorching sensation, as I regurgitated my meager lunch. My partners insisted on immediately torching the area; this body was defiled beyond burial salvaging. The victim’s family would understand. Some faint remembrance told me that this was the case that made me transfer to the military.

We never found the predator. I looked…obsessed…ran down every lead.

“Over here!” a voice hissed on the wind.

My wings flapped with urgency, and I sailed off in the direction of the call. All I wanted was to fry the animal that would commit this heinous deed. This had been the only predator I ever hated; my standard practice was to refrain from emotional judgments. It wasn’t a hunter’s fault for being born, but the existence of whatever did this was offensive to me as the Arxur.

The scenery blended together with that dreamlike passage of time; the abrupt change wasn’t jarring in the moment. Without warning, I was buffeted down by a brutal gust of wind. The forest clearing around me looked quite familiar, and my instincts screamed that something wasn’t right. There was a neon fabric dome, a sapient-built structure which tickled something in my mind.

Invisible forces tugged the entrance flap open, as though inviting me in. I inched closer, despite wanting to back away, on legs that felt like concrete pylons. Violet Krakotl blood formed a thin trail across the grass, which returned a sliver of my resolve. A predator like this could not be allowed to reproduce under any circumstances. The bravado it had, to waltz into our settlements, meant it was a true abomination.

My eyes were not prepared for the sight that awaited. Inside, there crouched a lanky, brown-skinned creature, which I recognized as an adult human. The predator was chowing down on a Krakotl’s gullet, and blood was smeared on its chin. How had an alien sapient gotten out here?

It looked up as I entered, with feathers jammed between bloodied canines. Those brown eyes, with that awful pleading quality still present, belonged to Arjun. This must be that kid, all grown up, and now as ugly as the rest of his freakish race.

“Humans are not vicious,” Arjun whined, in the childish register that didn’t match its development. “You’re brainwashed, Kalsim!”

I tried to raise my flamethrower, but my wings wouldn’t move. The predator bared its teeth, inching closer. I should’ve killed that conniving demon while I had the chance. It didn’t matter that humans were capable of empathy, when it was a selective concept that could be turned off like a light switch. What a curse, to be given the gift of sapience, yet to have such an atrocious form…

The hideous monster sprang forward. Its unrivaled endurance meant that its bloodlust would never be sated. Any compassion was overridden by an instinct much stronger; that was what their history told us would happen, all along. The Federation needed to kill as many humans as possible, but I had forgotten that. Its clawless fingers pressed into my throat, and all I could hear was the pounding of my heart.

“I’m going to kill you!” I shrieked, snapping upright. “SAVAGES!”

My head spun, and I realized I was in a ventilated building. The cool metal beneath my spine suggested I was on some sort of operating table; at least, I hoped that was what the tiny knives were for. My wing was bound in some sort of plaster, and gauze was wrapped around my aching neck. This must be somewhere amidst the predator-infested lands of Earth.

The realization that it was a dream provided immeasurable relief. Thinking about the details, it was a senseless nightmare. Social hunters wouldn’t wander and pick us off alone. Still, I couldn’t help feeling uneasy at that peek of the future. It was tough to picture the human kid devolving, and encroaching on Federation worlds with his brethren.

I slid my talons off the table, clicking around on wobbly feet. Why had Arjun’s father listened to its son’s plea to spare me? Weren’t the primates furious about the cities we destroyed?

Arjun didn’t deserve to suffer, but maybe I should’ve put him down. If I knew humans were such brutal hunters, their compassion wouldn’t have swayed me. Those drawn-out methods are far worse than the Arxur’s.

With a bit of hesitancy, I tested the door handle; it was unlocked. The humans kept their structures more sanitary than I expected, from creatures accustomed to constant blood and death. There wasn’t any reek of predation, or biological markers left to intimidate me. Perhaps the Terrans realized I showed mercy to their kind, and stayed their hand? They were a cogent species, not the non-sapient terror I saw in my nightmare.

Still, I felt like I should be bound or caged. Maybe the primates were testing whether I could be enslaved? That was the only reason I could fathom why they’d patched me up. Thoughts of Thyon, the only surviving member of my party, raced through my mind. It begged the question of how long I’d been out, and whether that ‘MARCOS’ faction had sniped him.

As I turned into a wider area, a gun was jabbed inches from my face. An adult human watched with a neutral expression, but I could see the hunger that lurked in those pupils. The alien predator looked like the result of a disastrous lab experiment, with its exposed face and glistening skin. I felt sorry for the prey races like the snake, that had to deal with these things marching around.

“What was that noise? You’re going to kill me?” Its eyes glowed in the middling light, and its dry lips tensed. That must be a cue that it wanted blood to wet them. “I encourage you to try, bird.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. “W-was…n-nightmare. T-there’s…no point to k-killing you now. We failed.”

“Kalsim thinks we’re going to conquer them, Dad,” Arjun offered from atop a footstool.

“Well, I don’t think we’ll have the chance, kiddo. The grays beat us to the punch, or so I hear.”

Solemnness clasped my heart, as I thought of the undefended Nishtal. The Arxur wouldn’t pass up a golden opportunity, if it was brought to their attention. There hadn’t been time to dwell on the reptiles’ arrival at Earth, but it told us a lot about the humans. The fact that the Terrans were a feeling people, who cared for each other, hadn’t stopped them from jumping in bed with their antithesis.

“You are dangerous, and still I have shown you mercy, time and again. My home is gone. Do what you think you must, human,” I grumbled.

The father peeled back its plump lip. “The name’s Manoj. You have a sick idea of mercy, but my son is alive because of you. That’s the only reason I’m not ending you myself, got it?”

“I see. It is difficult to look a sapient in the eye and kill it…Manoj. Even for one of your spawn. What happens to me doesn’t matter; I won’t resist the execution squad.”

“C’mon, resist a little. I got wildlife doctors to treat you and your pal, with some reluctance. They gave in eventually, on the condition that I turn you over to UN forces once you’re stable.”

“Wait. My pal?”

“Arjun told me where to find him…pure genius hiding spot. Look under the bedsheet, behind me.”

The full-grown human was positioned just right to obstruct my vision. On closer inspection, the tubes and wires behind the predator were attached to the Farsul officer. Horror coursed through my veins; Thyon was missing an arm. The jagged edges around his shoulder stump suggested teeth had sawed it off. Manoj must’ve gotten too hungry around the injured officer, and experienced a lapse in its control.

I know it must tough for a predator to stitch together a wounded prey animal, who was in a coma…but my gosh.

“You ate Thyon?!” I checked both of my wings in a squawking panic. The human scalpels could’ve shaved off tiny flesh bits, in fractions that I hadn’t noticed. “You’re just like the Arxur!”

Manoj snorted. “Damn, you’re a fucking idiot. Human teeth aren’t big enough, certainly not to do that so cleanly.”

“That…yes, you’re right, predator. Then you fed him to the tigers, I suppose?”

“Actually, it was leopards that got him. Same family as tigers, but with spots instead of stripes. Would’ve had nothing left but crumbs, except that I showed up when it was picking at him. Arjun was upset about it, else I would’ve let nature run its course.”

“You’re lying. We placed him in a tree; there’s no way land predators could’ve gotten to him!”

Manoj pulled up a clip on its holopad, with a snarl borne of cruel amusement. The human set the device down on a table, and I leaned over it hesitantly. A massive beast with a mottled pelt was walking up a vertical trunk, defying gravity with ease. Sinister forepaws hugged the bark’s circumference, while its hindlegs moved like it was ascending ladder rungs.

The predator’s speed quickened without warning, and its hindlegs pushed off. It leapt onto a branch in an adjacent tree, faster than any land-walker should be able to. I suppose these leopards were more than capable of scaling greenery in a blink. The only reason I could conjure why the Terrans kept such a beast alive, was their arboreal roots. That aerial terrorization might be relatable to them. Manoj had shown me that they were quite willing to scale forest trunks themselves.

The tiger reserve makes sense now. The humans respect this family of animals, because they recognize the bestial common ground.

The adult predator leaned back. “So, we reduced the drugs keeping Thyon in a medically induced coma. He’s already starting to stir…this should be good.”

“I assumed you would want revenge, Manoj, and I know it’s just how humans are. But please, take it out on me. I gave the orders, I deserve your wrath. All Thyon wanted was to stop predators from hitting any more worlds. He couldn’t sleep at night, knowing there was another Arxur out there.”

“We’re not the Arxur.”

“Nobody understands that but me. I always saw your redemptive qualities, and how unique humans were. I wish that was enough…we both know co-existence wasn’t an option. I’m sorry that it had to be like this, truly.”

“It didn’t have to be like this at all. We wanted peace, to fight alongside you…and you committed genocide against us for it.”

“I wonder if there could have been another way. Human conquest is as inevitable as your growth. There are no future generations, for any other race, with you alive.”

The human’s scowl was growing more visceral by the second. I wondered if it was reconsidering its promise to Arjun to spare me. My exterminator training faltered, as its narrowed eyes bore into my skull. A fearful squawk bubbled in my throat, but I fought to ground myself. Beneath its anger, pain manifested in its increasingly hostile posture. The skin of its hands was tight around the bone knobs, which suggested waning control.

My thoughts wandered to how Arjun had appealed to my morality, and claimed Terran religions called for natural compassion. I reminded myself that those emotions were genuine; they didn’t just disappear at adulthood. This father, monstrous as it was, resisted murderous urges in favor of its bond with its son. Perhaps if I appealed to that side, and continued to treat this ghastly beast with dignity, I could save Thyon.

“Extermination officer is a dangerous job, where you’re always on call. Not good for settling down, so I never had kids,” I stammered. “I have killed a lot more living beings than I like to recall. But I have to believe that somewhere, for how we slowed Earth’s expansion, there’s a hatching who will live to adulthood.”

A low rumble emanated from Manoj. “There’s millions of children, on both worlds, who are dead right now because you tried to kill us. All for our eye placement?!”

“Human, your eye placement is a symptom of a bigger problem. Predators do have forward-facing eyes, but it’s much deeper than that. That’s like saying a virus must be eradicated for its spike proteins…its actions, the infection and spread, are the issue.”

The adult human adjusted a rectangular object, which appeared to be a video camera. A red light blinked by the lens, and I guessed I was being recorded. That was a sensible action for intelligence purposes. Manoj bared its yellowed teeth, approaching me with shuffling steps. It traced an oily finger across my beak with a chuckle, before pointing my nose toward the camera.

“Say hello to the people of planet Earth,” the predator sneered. “You’re being broadcasted to social media right now, wherever the internet still functions. Look the eventual millions who’ll see this in the eye, and repeat your little virus line.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. “You’re angry. I don’t hate humans for what they are. It wasn’t personal, it’s just the reality of the situation.”

“It sure felt personal, drumstick. I happened to find footage floating around from the UN raids: a Krakotl transmission sent to a downed ship. Those pink markings on this fella’s beak look awful similar to yours, don’t they?”

The Terran pulled up another video on its holopad. I recognized my own visage on the feed. An allied ship must’ve intercepted the hail we sent to the downed human, who had shown us a picture of its family. Pity swelled in my throat, as I thought of the offspring in its image. Those three primates had looked younger than Arjun, and now were left without a parent. For all I knew, they died in the bombings, and that UN pilot had sacrificed itself in vain.

“Surrender yourself to our custody, peacefully, and I’ll see that you survive.” The cadence of my voice was overlaid by static interference. “You can ensure that your culture is remembered.”

Manoj offered a chilling grin, its alien features giving off contradicting signals. “That’s your mercy, Kalsim? A perfect view of the destruction of your planet, your culture, and everyone you cared about. Meanwhile, you’re a prisoner among people who want your kind exterminated, forever. An exhibit in a twisted museum.”

“I wanted someone to study your culture. I wanted you to be remembered.”

“Fuck you. We could execute you, and that decision won’t be up to me. But my suggestion, people of Earth? Let’s give him the same ‘mercy’ he offered one of ours. Let him witness the destruction of Nishtal in HD, while we keep him locked up…to document Krakotl culture.”

My eyes shifted to the floor. There was never such an undercurrent of cruelty in my offerings. I had been trying to minimize their suffering, while Manoj aimed to twist the knife. Krakotl culture was well-documented by every Federation race, so it was not in jeopardy of vanishing from the records. There was no point to that existence! The humans viewing this video would demand a more violent end for me, wouldn’t they?

A motor revved outside the compound, and predatory shouts rippled through the air. Those must be the UN soldiers picking me up. I shot a final glance at Arjun, who was watching me with interest. The human kid raised a clawless hand as we locked eyes. Perhaps this was some gesture of farewell, like the tail signals of many species.

The foresight of Arjun as a human adult floated through my mind again. I doubted I would ever see him again, but if I did, he would be something unrecognizable. These creatures grew out of the tolerable phase much too quick. Fighting off tears, I lifted my uninjured wing at him. The explosive noise of a door flying off its hinges pierced the air; Terrans couldn’t do anything quietly.

“Good-bye, little predator,” I whispered. “Don’t go scaring any more snakes.”

Dark fabric enveloped my head before I knew what was happening. Pure terror coursed through my veins, at the sheer number of humans I sensed around me. This was the largest concentration of predators I’d dealt with in my life. Part of me hoped that they would take me as a meal, instead of skewing my mercy into a revenge fantasy.