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16

They stowed the boat and covered it near the same riverbank they had landed on the first time and made their way back toward the settlement camp. It was darker than before due to the occlusion of the inner planets, and walking was slower this time around. They arrived at the pond once again and Pomeroy stopped to take some additional samples of the water. The bioluminescence was even brighter than before and bathed them all in its amber glow. Clement detected a scent he hadn’t before, sweet and aromatic, and it created a taste in his mouth, almost like vanilla. He noticed Yan lingering near him, touching his skin at every opportunity. He found himself aroused by her mere presence, but he fought off any baser thoughts and tried to focus on the mission at hand. It was difficult.

As they departed from the pond to head to the settlement he took Pomeroy aside.

“This bioluminescence, it has an airborne component, doesn’t it?” he asked.

“Yes, I think so. I’ll have to conduct some more tests, but I’m pretty sure it’s got an aphrodisiac quality to it,” she replied.

“No doubt about that. Plus, I smelled a vanilla scent, even tasted it in my mouth.” She nodded.

“I did as well. And Ensign Telco’s biceps were looking pretty tempting to me again,” she joked.

“I wonder if that could be natural?”

“You mean my attraction to Telco? Unlikely.”

Clement shook his head. “No, I meant the bioluminescent aphrodisiac,” he deadpanned.

“Oh. I don’t know,” she admitted. “I’ll need time to set up my equipment to come to any conclusions, but it certainly is a convenient coincidence if you wanted people to be fruitful and multiply.”

“Well, I hope we can get you that time when we reach the settlement.”

“Aye, sir,” she said as they walked on.

A few minutes later they gathered on the outskirts of the settlement camp, looking down on the communal fire from a nearby hillside. Things had gone quiet coincident with the occultation of the Trinity star. It was noticeably darker, and it seemed many of the tribe must have been sleeping. Clement looked at his team.

“Yan and I will go in first and see how they greet us. You two will follow once I give the signal. Stay out in the open but out of the camp until I signal you in. We won’t know how they will react to strangers until, well, until we know. If anything goes wrong . . . ”

“Understood, sir,” said Pomeroy, tapping her sidearm cobra pistol. Clement nodded and took Yan by the hand, trying to look as friendly as possible, as they made their way toward the dwindling bonfire at the center of the first group of huts.

“Trying to start something, sir?” Yan teased.

Clement shook his head. “I think you know my stance on that by now, Commander. Just trying to look as friendly as possible to meet the natives.”

As they approached the camp there were only three people in a rough circle around the fire, which was attended by an older woman with distinctly gray hair and a couple of young children, a boy and a girl, perhaps only five standard years old or so. The woman had loose-fitting clothing that appeared to be woven covering her body. When she saw Clement and Yan approaching she stood up and chattered something to the children, then raised her voice slightly. People began to stir in the huts at the sound of her voice. Clement and Yan came right up to the fire as she stared at them approaching her, still holding hands. They stood there, smiling, as adults and children of various ages started coming out of the huts. The looks on their faces were ones of astonishment and curiosity. They talked amongst themselves, looking and pointing fingers at the two strangers.

“Their language . . . ” started Yan, “I can almost make out . . . it sounds similar to Old Imperial Korean, like the twenty-second-century language we found on the Ark.”

“Can you talk to them?”

“I’ll try,” said Yan. She stepped forward, toward the bonfire, and said words Clement didn’t understand to them. There were surprised looks, then a few laughs.

“What did you say?” asked Clement.

“I tried to say that we are friends, and asked if they would welcome us. Obviously, I got something wrong.”

“Try again.”

Yan turned to them again and spoke. This time there were nods and more smiles.

“I told them there were about twenty of us coming, and could they accommodate us,” she said.

A young woman stepped forward and spoke to Yan in their language. “What did she say?” asked Clement.

“I think . . . she wants to know if we’re the ones who were watching her at the pond,” Yan said. “I guess we weren’t as quiet as we thought.”

“I guess not. Tell her it was you and I. Be honest,” Clement said.

Yan spoke again, and the girl laughed, then turned to the gathering crowd and spoke to them, and then they all laughed. She turned back to Yan and said something else.

“She wants to know if we enjoyed watching them,” said Yan, turning to Clement with a smirk on her face. Clement just shrugged; he couldn’t keep himself from smiling, embarrassed they had been found out. Yan stated a positive response, and the crowd laughed again. Then the woman came forward and gave Yan a hug.

“Ask them if we are welcome. Tell them we are here to learn about their people,” said Clement.

Yan, still in the girl’s arms, asked her question. There were nods and welcome grunts all around. The girl pulled away from Yan, who was quickly surrounded by people touching her dark hair and coveralls, and came to Clement. She hugged him and then kissed him on the cheek, leading him by the hand back to the gathering crowd around the fire.

Fifteen minutes later they were sitting around the fire eating berries, some sort of baked cake and fruits. Yan was conversing with the girl, whom Clement decided to call Mary. Clement had used his com to call in Pomeroy and Telco, and had relayed the friendliness of the natives to the rest of his approaching crew.

Communication was slow as Yan was the only one with the necessary language skills. Pomeroy had set up her equipment and was busy running tests, taking DNA swab samples from willing natives. Ensign Telco was very popular with the ladies, who seemed enamored with his dark hair and large, broad shoulders. He was taller than most of the males at six foot four. The men seemed to average about six one, the women were tall at five nine or five ten. There was a general uniformity of looks as well: the amber-toned skin, light hair, and they were almost all, both male and female, good-looking and well proportioned. Clement had his suspicions about these people and their origins, but he was willing to wait on Pomeroy’s test results before expressing them. And one other oddity was that they had no proper names, at least not that Yan could figure out.

Within a few hours the rest of the crew arrived and Clement had them spread out among the settlement, to make friends and learn what they could. Mary, for her part, stayed with him and Yan almost exclusively, inviting others over when Yan had a question she could not answer.

After a few hours of questioning a picture of the settlers was beginning to form. They referred to themselves as the descendants of the “First Landers.” It was unclear what this meant, and they had very little concept of numbers, but Clement and Yan suspected that the First Landers were the original group of colonists who had come to Bellus from “somewhere else,” probably Earth, they surmised. It appeared as though the original colony had failed and the survivors had spread out until they occupied a large portion of the fruitful plain they lived on. They also were told of the “Hill Place,” where the original colony had either been or had a base. Clement determined they would make a trek to the Hill Place in due time, if it could be found.

As one of the inner worlds occulted the Trinity star again and things began to get darker, the crowd quieted down and returned to their huts to sleep or conduct other activities, taking many of their new companions from the Beauregard with them. Mary, however, took Yan by the hand and started with her out of the camp, toward the pond.

“Going somewhere together?” asked Clement mischievously.

Yan turned back, smirking. “Oh,” she said, “are you jealous?”

Clement looked at Mary, and her barely-there clothing. “Very,” he said. “These people seem to have a remarkably open sexuality.”

“So I’ve noticed.” Yan turned back and spoke to Mary, who chattered back at her, smiling. “She said you can come along, if you’d like,” said Yan. Clement looked to Yan and the beautiful Mary.

“I don’t want to be the third wheel—” he was interrupted by Mary’s chattering again. Yan said something back to her, and the conversation went on like that, back and forth for a few moments.

“I think she feels sorry for you.”

Clement hung his head. “I feel sorry for me too.” He waved them on, then turned toward one of the beds in an empty hut. “Good night, Commander.”

“I want you to know this is only for anthropological research,” Yan said as he walked away.

“Of course it is,” he said. Then Mary giggled, and the two women sauntered off together.


When Clement awoke he was still alone in the hut and it was “day,” or what passed for daytime, outside. He rose and went to the communal food tray and ate. Eventually Yan turned up.

“You’re awake,” she said. “I guess you wouldn’t have been much fun last night. You needed the rest, hmm?” He looked at his watch.

“I slept a standard eight hours,” he said.

“Well, that’s not standard for them. Mary was awake after three hours, as soon as it got lighter. I managed another two after that. I’m guessing this constant light-and-dark cycle plays hell with their circadian rhythms,” she replied.

Clement gave her a quizzical look. “It doesn’t seem to affect them. They seem to rest when they want to,” he said.

“Yes.” Yan looked up at the gentle salmon-colored sky. “Maybe this is Paradise,” she said.

“Could be. Um, does Paradise have a latrine?” Yan smiled and pointed behind the row of huts.

“That way,” she said.

Clement nodded. “When I get back I want to form a team and find this ‘Hill Place.’”

“We’ll be here, Captain,” she said, smiling again.

After concluding his business, Clement called his team together and picked himself, Yan, Mary, Pomeroy, and Telco to go to the Hill Place. Mary assured them (through Yan) that she could find it. Pomeroy loaded up Telco with her technical equipment and Clement added a penetrating sonic radar–mapping kit. The young ensign took it all in stride.

On the way up, Pomeroy informed him of her initial test results.

“As you may have suspected, they are absolutely human in every way, but they seem to have been specifically adapted to this world, down to the melanin in their skin and the size of their eyes to adjust to the slightly darker sun,” she said.

“Are they clones?” Clement asked.

Pomeroy shook her head no. “More likely . . . genetically engineered specifically for this world,” she said.

“A eugenics program?” Pomeroy responded with a shrug.

“I’m no history expert, but it does seem to be in line with what Yan tells me about this ancient Korean empire on Earth.”

Clement thought on that for a moment, then:

“What do you think the purpose was in putting them here? If we assume this planet, and perhaps the others, Alphus and Camus, were seeded with human life, what was the intended outcome?” he asked.

Pomeroy got a frown on her face. “I can only conclude they were put here as an advance population, a workforce of some kind.”

Clement nodded. “Slaves?” he questioned. “But why such a long gap between the original seeding and the arrival of an overlord force? According to what Mary said last night they have been here for many generations.”

“Could be lots of reasons. War back home, technological setback, a natural disaster on Earth. We just don’t know. But it seems likely the people here were abandoned for at least a couple of centuries.”

“Until now.”

“Until now,” she agreed.

“And now the masters have come back to claim their property, and the only thing that stands in their way, is us,” said Clement, pointing at his chest.

“For the moment,” replied Pomeroy. Clement thanked her and then caught up with Yan and Mary, who were busy chatting as they held hands, walking up the trail together.

“Can you ask her how much farther it is to the Hill Place?” said Clement. Yan chattered to Mary and Mary responded with a shrug.

“She said ‘a bit more distance,’ if that helps?”

Clement shook his head. “It does not.”

By Clement’s watch it took another thirty minutes of crisscrossing switchbacks before they reached a flat mountain plain. Another ten minutes after that and they finally reached the Hill Place.

What they found was an abandoned bunker of stone and concrete with a glass dome that had collapsed over years of decay. The bunker sat on a high rock ledge, looking out over the fertile valley below. Clement led the team to an overlook where he used his field glasses to survey the terrain below. It was low, flat land broken only by rivers and the occasional dot of light representing the odd settlement or two. Presently he handed the glasses to Telco. “What do you make of that plain, Ensign?”

Telco scanned the valley from left to right. “I’d say it’s about one hundred fifty klicks across, sir. I count about a dozen settlements of various sizes, but there are probably more.”

“Estimated population?” Telco put the glasses down and turned to his commander.

“Judging by the size of our camp, I’d estimate up to fifteen thousand, sir,” he said.

Clement nodded approval at Telco’s assessment and then proceeded inside the bunker with the rest of the team. The ruin was essentially empty, with very little in the way of equipment or any kind of recognizable technology. He ordered Yan and Pomeroy to spread out while he and Telco explored what seemed to be the main nerve center of the base. After thirty minutes of fruitless searching, he called them both back.

“Anything?” he asked.

“I found what appeared to be a space for a possible birthing center, a large refrigeration chamber, and the like. Beyond that . . . ” She trailed off.

“Yan?”

“What looked like probable barracks for about thirty people. I suspect this was originally a camp for scientists. Probably where the original colony was set up. I’d speculate that as the population grew they were eventually sent down into the valley to live. This base was probably evacuated once it became clear that a follow-up mission wasn’t forthcoming,” she said.

“They couldn’t survive up here—no place for growing crops and the like. Once they ran out of rations they had no choice but to join the populace on the valley floor. Eventually, the succeeding generations likely forgot what their original mission even was,” speculated Clement.

“That does fit with what Mary has told me of their legends surrounding this place.”

Clement looked at the three women, then turned to Telco. “Get me that sonic-mapping kit,” he said to the young ensign. Telco responded quickly by unpacking the device and assembling it, then powered it up and handed it to Clement. Yan sent the ensign out to keep watch on the valley below while the adults continued their survey. Mary followed Telco back outside, apparently uninterested in what they were doing in the lab.

Clement turned the device around the room. It showed nothing but rock and concrete, except for one wall. “What do you make of this, Pomeroy?” he asked his science tech.

She came over and he handed her the bulky device. She scanned the wall at eye level, then took a few steps toward the wall. “I see a doorway, sir, covered up by the concrete.” Then she pointed the device to the floor. “I can definitely make out a stairway leading down, sir, but the range of this device is only about ten meters.”

“Down to where?” asked Yan.

Clement came up and confirmed Pomeroy’s reading, then changed the mode of the device to deep-penetrating radar and handed it back to her.

“Try it now,” he said.

Pomeroy looked down again, then let out a soft gasp of surprise. “Jesus, sir! There’s all kinds of superstructure here, likely metal, beneath us, up the hill—Christ, it’s all around us like latticework, sir!”

Clement nodded. It was what he had expected to find. He had Pomeroy give the device to Yan for a third view.

“This is an arcology,” she confirmed. “An engineered structure.”

“Pomeroy, how high is this ‘hill’?” asked Clement.

“My measurements from the camp were twelve hundred meters, sir, almost precisely,” she said.

“And this laboratory?”

“Three hundred fifty meters up, sir.”

Clement nodded his head. “This entire hill, this mountain, is artificial.”

“But to what purpose?” asked Yan.

“That’s to be determined, Commander. One thing is sure, though: Earth did not have the technology to build this kind of structure back when the 5 Suns colonies were founded four centuries ago.” He instructed Pomeroy to record the scans she was making and save all the telemetry for further analysis.

As Pomeroy was finishing her scans Clement was about to give further orders when he heard Telco calling them from the ledge. They scrambled out together.

“Something going on at the far side of the valley, sir,” he said, handing Clement the field glasses. Clement looked to where Telco had pointed. There was a flashing of light and the distant crackle of ordnance, with smoke rising from the ground. Clement looked to the red-sunset sky. Streaks of yellow could be seen heading for the ground, descending through the thick, warm atmosphere.

“What is it?” asked Yan.

Clement scanned the sky. Dozens of ships were descending now. “Beachhead. They’re landing,” he said. “Ensign Telco, you and Lieutenant Pomeroy will stay here and man this observation post until relieved. I want details on the scale of this landing. Commander Yan and the native and I will return to the camp and began prepping the people for evacuation. Stay sharp, both of you, and be prepared to make for the ship at a moment’s notice.”

“Aye, sir,” they both responded.

He handed the glasses back to Telco.

“Do you think they’ll come here, sir?” asked Pomeroy.

“I hope not. But we have to be prepared. Do your duty. Keep track of the amount of force they’re bringing to bear. I’ll be in touch by com at the first opportunity after we assess the people’s ability to evacuate.”

Yan looked to Mary. “They may not even understand the concept of an attack. They’ve lived in peace and harmony for generations,” she said.

“Then you’ll have to help them understand,” he replied, then took her by the arm as they moved out, Mary trailing a few steps behind them.

“How can I do that? They don’t understand complex concepts like war, or even a ship from space,” Yan said.

“We have to protect them any way we can, Yan. This is not merely a landing by the Earth Ark forces, it’s an invasion,” he said. Then he let her go, and they started swiftly back down the mountainside.


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