SG Nova Roma, Chapter 4.08

8 – H2Z-118

(H2Z-118 – Hill - Year 3, Day 12, 0930)

Scott looked through his electronic binoculars and studied the view. Ever since they had moved from Destiny to Chaser, they had gotten access to better equipment. The binoculars were one piece of gear on that list. They had found a river and several interesting plants, so their official mission had been a success. But then they had spotted what looked an awful lot like a settlement of some kind. So now they were taking a closer look at that from the top of a hill next to the river.

“Doesn’t look very big,” Scott said. “Fifteen, maybe twenty houses. No obvious defenses, so its probably not a military installation.”

He handed the binoculars to Rush, who studied the settlement as well. Because it was daytime, there was no easy to tell if the settlement had electricity. And there were no powerlines either, nor any obvious power sources. ~No windmills, no solar panels, and no reactors.~ He turned to Rush.

“So, what do you think ?”

“I think we are looking at a backwater town in the middle nowhere,” Rush said.

“Think we can go down there and talk to the natives ?”

“I don’t see any signs of movement,” Rush began. “And even if there were people there, we don’t have the translation matrix necessary to do so.”

“So we might end up facing torches and pitchforks,” James said. “Great, just great.”

Scott realized that Rush was right. But they also needed more information about the locals and their species. So he lead the team towards the town. What Scott and the rest of the team didn’t know was that they themselves were also being watched. Low Commander Dr-28-A had been peering through his own powered binoculars from a nearby hill.

So far, the aliens had gathered several plants and send a considerable amount of water through the Alien Ring. The brass would not be happy when he submitted his report. They had tried to downplay the Alien Rings, but once word got out that these devices were some kind of portal, they would have a riot on their hands. As for the aliens, they were now headed towards the farming town of Gamox. He gestured for his troops to follow them. They needed to know more about these aliens.

(Chaser – Youngs Quarters – Year 3, Day 12, 0935)

Young was sitting in his quarters, reading reports. One of the perks of the transfer from Chaser to Destiny, was that his quarters on the new ship had several improvements. To begin with, the pillows on Destiny had been terrible. His current bed came with much better pillow. Another improvement was the office section of his quarters.

The Primians had made an L-shaped wooden desk for him by hands. It came with six drawers and looked like it had been made on Earth in the seventeenth century. There was a special place for him to put his laptop – another gift from the Primians – that kept it from sliding and three chairs. Two were simple chairs for visitors and one was a luxurious chair for the colonel. Young had just finished a report when there was a knock at his door.

“Enter.”

The door opened and Ginn came in.

“We finished the decontamination on the water we brought back from the planet,” She said. “Greer said that the water tank is maxed out.” She handed him a folder. “And TJ reported that they found some very interesting plants. The botanical team should have plenty of work to do once they bring them back.”

“Once they bring them back ? They’re still off-world ?”

“They found a settlement.”

Young put the folder down and grabbed his radio from one of the drawers. He and Ginn headed for the Gate Room, where Volker and Barnes were still manning the two stations. Young told Barnes to dial the Gate, which she did. As soon as the wormhole finished forming, the Colonel called Scott.

=/\=Scott here.=/\=

“Lieutenant, what are you doing ?”

=/\=We found a settlement, sir. No signs of military presence, so far.=/\=

“Lieutenant, that is not the mission,” Young said. “Return to….”

That was as far as Young got before gunshots erupted over the radio. Then the channel went dead.

(H2Z-118 – Dirt Road - Year 3, Day 12, 0942)

Matthew Scott was on the ground as bullets whizzed over his head. It turned out that they had walked into a farming town. The kind where the locals carried sewn-off shotguns and hunting rifles. And they were not fond of outsiders, which was why they were now shooting. But they were – ironically – not shooting at Scott and his people. Instead, they were in a skirmish with an alien military patrol that had apparently been following the team.

So now Scott and his team were on the ground, while the two sides fought it out. Scott and James could join in, but they had no idea which side to support. Not to mention, they could end up starting a war between the Alliance and this new species. Suddenly, the shooting began to die down. The patrol had retreated from the engagement. Scott looked around and slowly got to his feet. The aliens appeared to be reptilian and – more importantly – were not hostile towards Scott and his people.

The largest off the aliens appeared to be the leader. He seemed to give instructions to the other, who went back into their houses. Next, he gestured towards a square in the middle of the village. Scott knew that Young had told them to return, but he didn’t want to ruin the goodwill he had with these people. Not to mention the fact that there was still a military patrol out there. So Scott led the way deeper into the village. The square was a circle with a well in the middle. It was at this point that his radio came to life.

=/\=Young to Scott.=/\=

“Scott here.”

=/\=Where the hell are you ? I gave you an order to return to the ship, Lieutenant.=/\=

“Yes, sir. But we just made contact with the natives, sir,” Scott said.

=/\=Contact ? It sounded more like a firefight to me.=/\=

=/\=That was my fault, Commander.=/\= An unknown voice said. =/\=We got into a little scrap with the military boys.=/\= Scott looked around to see the alien leader speaking to some kind of communications device. Apparently, it included a translation circuit of some kind. The voice was surprisingly soft and didn’t fit with the alien’s appearance. =/\=They needed to be reminded of the rules.=/\=

=/\=Who is this ?=/\=

=/\=This is Ga-25-H. I am the leader of the village of Pal.=/\= The leader said. =/\=I promise your people are safe in this village. If you do not believe me, feel free to send more of your people.=/\=

There was a moment of silence, then Young spoke up. =/\=Scott, be careful. I’ll be there as soon as possible.=/\=

“Yes, sir.”

Scott led his team into the village. He got the feeling that they were walking into a powder keg. ~There is something going on here.~ And that they were about to learn a lot about this species. He just hoped that they would be able to return to Chaser to tell the rest of the crew all about it.

(H2Z-118 – Dry Creek Bed - Year 3, Day 12, 0947)

Dr-28-A and his patrol were a dry creek bed. His patrol had chased off by the people of the village, which he had realized was the village of Pal and not Gamox. It turned out that Gamox was farther to the north. Dr-28-A had botched the identification, which was why he was now cursing himself. On the bright side, while three of his soldiers had been wounded, none of them had been killed. He stopped cursing and took out his wireless communicator. It did not take long to ask for a medical team.

That done, he reached into his pocket and took out a small book. The book was the sector atlas. It had maps of the region and notes about key features. He looked up the entry for Pal and read it. ~Well, that explains why they opened fire on us.~ It also suggested that the aliens visit to Pal might get rather interesting. So he would wait for the medical team and then hold this position. ~Maybe I can still salvage this mission.~ For now, however, it was simply a waiting game.

(H2Z-118 –Hill- Year 3, Day 12, 0955)

Young had gathered a second team and taken it through the Gate. Besides himself, the team consisted of Greer, Varro and Airman Dunning. Now the team was laying on the same hill where Scott had spotted the village to begin with. Young was looking through a pair of electronic binoculars. He studied the village, before spotting a dry creek bed between them and it. Then he had seen the aliens inside said creek bed. They had been well hidden. And it was clear that these aliens were some kind of military unit.

~Even if I didn’t know about the firefight.~ Young thought. This was because the aliens were wearing some kind of uniform. He also saw that they were carrying some kind of firearms. ~The game is afoot.~ They would have to steer clear of the unit in the dry creek bed and try to approaching the town from the other side. The question that kept playing in his mind was…do they know that we are watching them ? And where the aliens watching back ? Either way, it was a waiting game for now.