Space Pachy

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say.

Outerspace Zone Y.45.Centon6

They might have gone through the vortex, but it seems more probable that Lexion lasered them.” Gjero was reviewing star maps on the other side of the vessel’s bridge.

“True. Both of your comments. Why would Lexion laser them? Wouldn’t it be more advantageous if they jumped the vortex?” Commander Mara B. Santra gazed out the immense viewing panel but no longer saw any of the space probes that had pursued her vessel.

The Outerspace provided no exciting explosions or fiery visuals, having no atmosphere. Where before there had been a pursuit, now it was simply…emptiness. She noticed Gjero had stopped all motion and was deep in thought, bony head cocked to the side.

“Yes. You are correct. My second comment is withdrawn.” Gjero smiled blandly, shiny blue lips parted slightly, revealing only 2 pointy spotted canines. His black tongue flicked out slightly, just enough for Mara to see the diamond piercing at the vee of the fork in his tongue. “They most certainly jumped. It does not matter. We have our flight course to maintain and had they continued pursuit, it would not have changed even that. We arrive on our outpost planet at 1.000.51,” Gjero stated.

Ninety seconds later, Mara keyed her mic. “Crew, prepare the Orion 5 for gravity pull and landing in forty seconds,” Commander Santra announced, allowing her command chair to automatically secure her.

Home

The Century Fleet Commander was awaiting the Orion 5 crew inside a clear glass-like pyramid constructed of clear cubic silicon nitride with titanium supports. Suspended above the pyramid was a lemon-yellow cantilever umbrella with a circumference of 4200 meters. As the day heated up, the umbrella rotated, keeping the pyramid headquarters building cool from the red dwarf sun and its two orbiting white dwarfs. There was no darkness on the outpost and most buildings had wraps that encased them at 2000 and retracted at 0500. The pyramid was an icon of authority with no wrap and worker activity around the clock. Its exterior walls were like the ancient two-way mirrors, providing the ability to see outside, yet those outside the pyramid could not see in. Its peak shone a continuous beacon like on sea planets with lighthouses for their sea vessels.

“Sir, the space probes disappeared shortly before our arrival.” Commander Santra informed her leader.

“Jumped, huh? It is not a concern now. A new mission has been outlined and I need you to lead it, beginning tomorrow. You will have one week to review the mission parameters and write your plan of action.” Century Commander Tonasion smiled gently at Santra, who nodded her agreement.

The Mission

Mara went to her study to review the mission. Galaxy Headquarters had reason to believe that the Valkyries were running amuck once again, kidnapping children, stockpiling H2O, and poaching camels and pachys. She reviewed the data provided and studied the images on the holoviewer. This was a large mission, and she would command twelve catVs, three fighter Vs, and one flatbarge. It was vital she made the mission a success, vital to her people and the galaxy.

Children couldn’t withstand hard labor in the precious metal mines – clones and robots were used elsewhere, but the reptilian Valkyries discovered beetblood children could breathe more easily underground and, in their eyes, didn’t need maintenance. When the beetblood children died, their bodies were thrown into the lava pits. Families couldn’t even bury their beloved offspring. Searching for kidnapped beetbloods was useless; they were never found, and no bodies were ever recovered.

The amethystblood children from Galaxy O all had type O blood and were kidnapped for food. The reptilian Valkyries ate those children as a delicacy. Some of the amethystbloods escaped; some were fortunately rescued. The Valkyries never threw those children into the burning lava pits; they were considered priceless and could be bred for more food. Mara’s outpost planet only had beetbloods, but all children were precious.

Camels and Pachy-elephants were of ultra-importance to the galaxy and survival of humanity due to their ability to find and store large quantities of H2O. She had to take out the entire fleet of the enemy. She considered requesting a second flatbarge to tow any captured enemy barges carrying precious cargo.

Commander Mara was tired and just falling asleep in her study when a whisper in her ear awakened her. “Mama. Are you sleeping?” It was her son Josh, curled up with her.

“No Baby, I’m awake. I missed you.” Josh was now sound asleep, sucking his thumb and she inhaled his fresh scent, settling deep into the hammock, rocking to sleep gently. Mara slept soundly in her study’s hammock and didn’t hear her son when he climbed out in the early morning.

“M, are you hungry? I made breakfast, c’mon, get up my sleeping lady!” Her mate, Kerry, was shoving her shoulder, making the hammock bounce.

“Stop! I’m tired. Not hungry,” she mumbled. Kerry picked up the hammock, rotating her vertically in it, squeezing her body to his. She giggled as he jumped up and down, jarring her awake. “Ok, you jerk. Can’t catch a break.” She kissed him and they rubbed noses, grinning at each other.

Coffee tickled her nostrils and suddenly her stomach growled loudly. “See! I knew you were hungry before you did!” Kerry shoved the mug of hot black liquid into her hand. “Sit. Eat. I know you must leave again soon. Tell me.”

Her father, called GoPa by Josh, who resided in an adjoining pod, wandered in. He passed his daughter, lightly kissing the top of her head, a hand on her shoulder. “You are home. Josh watched for you each night before the wraps clamped shut. He pointed at satellites and stars, asking, ‘Is that Momma?’ The CentComm told me you are assigned again and leaving in less than a fortnight.” She nodded and beckoned him to sit and join them for breakfast.

Mara wolfed down her food, explaining everything to Kerry and her father, as together they watched three-year-old Josh playing on the porch. The mission was not secret to anyone at this outpost, so she felt at ease explaining her planning. Kerry had been a former commander and opted to be the stay-at-home parent when Mara got her command. In two years, he would go back to flying but now he held down their home post, waiting until it was time for her to conceive once again. The conception would be twins, a boy and a girl, a choice Mara made upon graduation from the interstellar academy. Females could decide the sex of a child prior to conception. Mara and Kerry, as fleet commanders, were allowed three children, whereas all others could only have one, and could not choose the sex. Flight missions were dangerous; many commanders didn’t make it back home, and the Galaxy Headquarters wanted to ensure the population continued at a steady pace and was purposefully planned. It was in their best interests to have new blood to groom for the flight and war schools, to protect their peaceful galaxy. Headquarters had the right to change an embryo’s sex intrauterine, but they generally did not interfere with fleet commanders.

Neither Mara nor Kerry had siblings. GoPa had been the CentComm many years ago prior to Mara’s birth. Her mother had been a flight engineer and Mara was born on a mission to Outerspace Zone W_u.104. Immediately after her birth, the commander of the vessel jumped a vortex, then slid a space wave down to Zone R.52 to ensure the safety of the newborn. Her mother retired when Mara went to the interstellar school and had died one year after Josh’s birth. She and GoPa were still mourning her, missing her presence and advice. Family weekends always included some past memory movies so Josh would know his grandmother.

The Plan

Mara studied the mission for five hours each day, running through scenarios, plotting star courses, conducting tabletop exercises with her captains and flight engineers.

“Commander Mara,” Gjero was addressing her in the friend form; he was the only one allowed to do this and only if they were alone.

“Yes, Gjero?” She smiled at him, watching his tongue flicking in and out of his mouth. Gjero was very unusual in looks and abilities; he had been with her since she was ten years old, now seventeen years total. Her parents had assigned him to her at puberty to ensure she was trained in the art of jongkai fighting, but also to keep her safe – he was a combat instructor, but became her mentor, chaperone, and unlikely friend. Gjero was a xyeroborg without fear and could not feel pain. He got his feelings hurt occasionally, another unusual behavior for a xyeroborg. Gjero found Mara an adept pupil of the precise movements of jongkai. She could not beat him in hand-to-hand combat but was the only being on the outpost who came close.

“I have been reviewing your plan. It is good.”

“But?”

“Ah, you know me so well, Commander. It is lacking.”

Mara knew Gjero was minimalist in his conversation, and she would have to continue the back and forth to get him to emit his findings, but she wasn’t in the mood today. Time was running out.

“All right, lacking how? Please be detailed and precise in your comments, Gjero.”

Gjero cocked his head slightly, as he always did when analyzing. “We need the flatbarge to be on the other side, not at the rear.”

“What? How will it get there without our protection? The Valkyries will disintegrate it.”

She watched Gjero’s head shake left to right robotically in a ‘no,’ disagreeing with her. His white rimmed jet-black eyes held hers, as her frown deepened.

“Commander, I think if we float it on the higher vibration space waves, in the azure zone, they won’t see it. They concentrate on lower levels with their reptilian brains. We can test it. Here is the plan.” He shoved a graph at her and brought a hologram up in front of her. She watched as the dimensional plan took shape, the enemy spacecraft flotilla outlined in red. The hologram matched all the colors of the space waves known in the cosmos. Her fleet of vessels, colored violet, came into sight. The flatbarge, a pale azure, blended into the space wave of its color. She could barely make it out.

“Oh! And if we are running silent, in stealth mode…I see it! Gjero, you are a genius! So, with the flatbarge on the other side, we push them into a vee formation, squeezing them…”

“Yes, Commander,” he interrupted. “That isn’t all though. I will take my vessel below yours, invisible to them. As they get pushed into the mouth of the vee, you will veer off, I will pop up, and poof! We have them trapped in our incinerator formation. The flat barge will fire its lasers from in front, you from above, and we pick them off one by one. We can hide in the space waves and wait for the next group or push on through.” She was nodding her understanding and agreement. He cocked his head once again, and she stared at him.

“Another problem.” His tongue flicked out.

“What IS IT, Gjero? Quickly!”

“Ma’am excuse me, but there is no ‘quickly’ when planning war. As I was contemplating - if any of the Valkyries have children on board, we will not want to destroy those vessels, correct?” She nodded yes and waved her hand to get him to continue. “Will we board the vessels? We won’t know ahead of time unless we can trick them into telling us.”

“Wait here.” Mara left and went to her private communication closet. She requested to speak to the Century Fleet Commander and when he answered, she explained the dilemma.

“Commander Santra, the Valkyries do not have children on their vessels. They consider them a nuisance. The Valkyries do not eat while on missions, so their vessels are lighter, carrying very little supplies. You were right to come to me with this question; not many would have thought of this. My teen years in the Valkyrie fleet during the era of peace taught me a great deal about their behaviors.”

“Thank you, Sir. It was Consul Gjero who brought this up to me. Our planning is almost completed. Sir?”

“Speak!” came his order.

“I was considering perhaps we should have a second flatbarge?”

“Why?” he queried.

“Perhaps we will capture an enemy barge with cargo and need to tow it?” She watched his posture carefully through the Videocon. Counting the seconds, Mara realized she was holding her breath. Fifteen, twenty, twenty-five seconds…

“Approved, Santra. Out.” He closed the Videocon before she could say thank you.

After the nine-day week had passed, Mara was prepared and on day ten gathered her lieutenants for logistical planning. Gjero ran the hologram presentation for all to see. The mission captains agreed and the flatbarge engineer proclaimed the idea brilliant; he hand-selected the second flatbarge engineer who was in route to the Outpost. On Day twelve Mission VY7.3.551 under Santra headed out to meet the Valkyries.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Mara had chosen to bring her “familiar” Chloeanne with her. Gjero had approved but Mara wouldn’t have cared if he objected. Her decision for Chloeanne to accompany her on the mission was hers to make. Kerry loved the idea. Chloe was a comfort to Mara, and she worried about her when she was away from her on missions. No one cared for Chloe like Mara even with the detailed instructions she always left. Importantly, Chloe’s blood had a protein that stopped bleeding instantly and one drop in coffee gave added alertness. The vessels had patches of the bleed-stop but Santra believed this mission might need more than a few patches.

Mara would never allow the pachy-elephants to be farmed for their blood or body parts and hated those races who did it - another reason to stop the poachers. Three generations ago, the therapeutic blood properties were discovered. A few drops taken did no harm. Mara’s people had created a large elephant hematocritarium hidden deep in labyrinths on Outpost N49, and for security purposes, an empty diversionary one on Outpost L2. The Era of Peace had declared that nothing should cause harm to any sentient being.

Due to Chloe’s weight, Mara had to keep a close watch on the tilt, level, and weight dispersion of the vessel. When Chloeanne’s ninety-year-old mother died seven months after birthing her, unfortunately no pachy-elephant aunts were nearby. The orphan was hand raised by Mara using an ancient elephant milk formula from planet Earth’s African continent.

Calm emanated from Chloe’s pale gray thick hide; she tucked her long snout in a coil between her colossal flappy ears. Eyelashes long as Mara’s forearm encircled Chloeanne’s eyes, giving the appearance of kohl eyeliner. With a broad tail splayed at the bottom like a beaver, Chloe was an expert swimmer both underwater and on the surface. She slapped the water with her tail to invite Mara to swim. Chloe’s tusks were just coming through, for the pachys of this age didn’t reach maturity until age thirty. Full tusks would preclude her from voyaging on this small Class E vessel; she would need the space of a Class XM once mature.

Mara smiled up at Chloeanne as the pachy blinked at her, rumbling softly. Mara found her ridiculously cute, wearing her trunk as a hat and blinking those expressive eyes that changed from honey to gray depending on her mood. “That’s right, Girl, you are my co-pilot on this mission. We are looking for poachers and kidnappers.” Chloe held Mara’s gaze in complete comprehension, waving the tip of her snout up and down like a periscope.

Suddenly the instruments began jumping and Mara snapped her dyna-viewer down over her eyes. The dyna made it possible to see five deathray gliders tailing her vessel, invisible to the naked eye. They flew silently, hidden in space waves, and the point one was raising its launcher. “Number Six, there’s a deathray behind me readying to launch! Take it out!” Her order crisply rang out across all the speakers, reverberating through the mission’s entire fleet. Number Six darted above the attacker and sent a particle beam across it. She watched as the deathray ship trembled, then dissipated into tiny particles that floated outward from its former location. She continued directing her team by using her specialized viewer sight.

“Commander Santra, I am at 3.4.001 off your Saturn quarter. I am shadowing you.” She smiled at Gjero’s announcement.

“Understood. Mission VY7.3.551 stay tight. There will be more deathrays and interstellar probes coming at us. Stay sharp and protect each other.” Mara’s command was clear across all comms.

Now in total silence her captains flew the vessels in a tight formation. She could see them all on her comm screen and occasionally saw a motion and the faint color of a space wave.

Chloeanne was rumbling softly, and Mara looked hard at her. The noises were not normal for her, and it made Mara fret. Chloe had moved to the viewing pane, her snout touching it, then gently tracing patterns on it. A deathray zipped past the pane, and Chloeanne rotated her head to keep it in sight, her long eyelashes fluttering.

“Commander, the sound channels are open in this sector, and we hear strange noises coming from the Valkryie ships. The noises are low pitched whines, but some do go up to a crescendo. The Valkyries are either attempting to shut off their comms, which goes against interstellar regulations, or are preparing an onslaught of discordant noise. Over.”

Mara saw Chloe becoming agitated, her heavy legs and enormous paws tapping a rhythm, her head swinging side to side, the tip of her trunk whipping front and back like a cobra.

Gjero and Chloe

“Gjero, Chloeanne is acting strangely. She is swinging her head and making unfamiliar noises. Do you copy, Number One?”

“Number One here. Yes, Commander, I copy. I am above your Neptune; do you have visual?” Gjero had moved into location so fast, it hadn’t registered on Mara’s comms set. She peered up at the bubble roof and saw Number One’s vessel.

“I see you, One.” She held the ship steady, but Chloe was still tapping out her agitation with her heavy feet.

“All right, send my voice to Chloe,” Gjero told Mara and she snaked her mic next to Chloe’s ear. Chloe’s hide rippled in pleasure as Gjero sang his xyeroborg notes of calm to her. His baritone voice rang out clear, up and down the scale, dragging out the top and bottom notes to a low hum on each relay. Chloe’s ears were slowing down the flapping, the tip of her trunk was in her mouth and her feet were now still. He did one more scale for her and Mara removed the mic.

“That’s it, Big Girl. You love Gjero, don’t you? He loves you too. All is well.” She patted her familiar’s side while talking softly to her.

Pain

Suddenly the calm was split with screeching over the comms. “Commander!” Mara heard the distress in Number Four’s voice calling to her. She searched for Four in her mission’s fleet of vessels, then found it just as it disintegrated. Chloeanne roared in pain. Mara’s head whipped to look at her pal.

“Chloeanne. Baby, it’s OK. I’m here.” Mara slowly approached, hands held out to her pal. The enormous eyes blinked in understanding, the deep honey color slowly turning to inky gray. Her long snout whipped through the air, her eyes slammed shut and she issued an ear-splitting trumpet.

“You’re in pain! What is it? What is hurting you?” Mara could see her pachy pal becoming disoriented and she raced through mental scenarios to help her.

Chloeanne began backing and circling, bellowing, flapping her enormous ears, slapping her tail on surfaces. Mara was trying to hold her ship steady under Chloe’s shifting weight. She tossed her viewer aside and put on her temporal headphones.

“I was always taught that nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space.” Mara remembered her mother’s voice from childhood. “But what if they can?” her mother had continued. Mara only now remembered this follow-up question voiced so long ago.

“Those filthy bastards! They are using subsonic sound waves. I hear it! No wonder the pachys can’t escape from poachers,” Mara shouted aloud, her mic keyed for all to hear. She felt rumbling, vibrational noises deep within her body, and her head ached with a pulsating pain that didn’t let up. Chloeanne’s ears were flapping incredibly fast and blew Mara’s cap off her head.

Chloeanne can hear the noises. Her pachy genetics allow her to hear things that are below the human range, so it is even worse for her!

Theoretically, sounds didn’t transmit in space. Mara realized now that either her mother had experienced this or had imagined future technologies. Clearly the Valkyries were transmitting noise using the space waves; her fleet was picking this up on comms, not from an open regulated channel. They were using a method she didn’t know about, a method that bounced noise across space, and reverberated inside her fleet’s ships. How?

“Gjero, come in! They are bouncing noise somehow through space and it is transmitted inside our ships. Add this into your equations, fast! A vacuum doesn’t transmit sound, so how is this happening? Chloe is distraught again. Out.”

“Chloe! Chloe! Come!” Mara commanded her. Chloeanne trotted lightly to Mara who placed sound cancelling headphones inside the pachy’s enormous ears. She watched as her pachyderm friend calmed.

“All stations! Listen closely. They are using subsonic sound. It should not travel through space, but Chloeanne can hear it clearly. Do YOU COPY? It is new technology. Chloeanne, my pachy, can hear it.”