To Duncan’s intense relief, the planet they were currently investigating appeared to be both giant cabbage and trigger-happy villager free. So far, at any rate—this was Thessalia after all, so Duncan wasn’t about to jump to any conclusions, but he figured that the galaxy owed them a quiet mission. In fact, in direct contrast to the previous day’s planet, this moon seemed infinitely more peaceful. Instead of the dark pine forests, his team had emerged from their shuttle to be greeted by a view of gently rolling hills with small thickets of deciduous trees dotted across the landscape. The lack of cover between the thickets gave Duncan pause, but he had to admit that the verdant grassland spread out before them was very inviting.
“So, remind me, how far will we be walking today?” Chris asked as he surveyed the open, and mostly empty, landscape, the slightly plaintive note in his voice reminding Duncan that Chris wanted to get back to Argo as soon as they could.
“Don’t worry, Vabre, we’ll get you back to your lab on time,” Duncan replied, reaching out to pat Chris gently on the back as he shot a grin in Fleming’s direction. “It’s not too far—is it, Lieutenant?”
“That’s right, sir,” Fleming replied, flashing a grin back at Duncan. “Apparently, the edge of the township is about three klicks west of our landing site, Chris,” she said. “The terrain’s not difficult; we should be able to make good time.”
“Hmm,” Chris replied, not sounding entirely convinced as he frowned thoughtfully at the vast expanse of land before them. He then pulled out his scanner and proceeded to walk slowly around in a large circle, presumably scanning for things of interest, and mumbling to himself under his breath.
Duncan allowed himself to smile affectionately at him for a moment before turning to Corrin and Fleming and shrugging helplessly. Fleming returned his smile fondly while Corrin lifted an all-too-knowing eyebrow. Duncan quickly smoothed out his expression and looked down at his watch.
“Right then,” he said, adjusting the straps of his pack and then settling his hands on his P-90. “Let’s get moving, then—Fleming, you take point.”
With a raised eyebrow of her own, Fleming moved past him and into position, heading out along one of the well-worn paths that led to the west, away from their landing site. Corrin was still standing next to the shuttle itself, looking at Duncan in a very disconcerting manner. Duncan decided it was best to simply continue to ignore that look in hopes that it would go away.
Corrin had been his usual stoic self that morning during their run, much to Duncan’s relief. Still, Duncan had decided to avoid even the potential for further discussion by setting a faster pace than usual. Of course, that tactic had also succeeded in making him even more breathless than normal, and he’d had to collapse in his quarters for a good ten minutes before he’d found the energy to heft himself into the shower—one of the many joys of racing against a twenty-six-year-old. However, as he’d also been spared any more painful self-analysis, Duncan considered the tactic to have been worthwhile.
Realizing that Corrin still hadn’t moved, Duncan looked around for Chris. Spotting him still engrossed in his scanner, he said, “Hurry it up, Vabre,” ignoring Chris’s startled look and then frown in favor of shooing him down the path in Fleming’s wake. “The sooner we get to the town, the sooner we can get the meet and greet over with and be on our way. All right?”
“Yes, all right,” Chris replied as he took off after Fleming.
Duncan turned back to Corrin. “You got our six?” he asked.
Corrin looked at Duncan for a moment before turning his head slightly to watch Chris’s departing figure. Nodding slowly, he swept his gaze back to Duncan, his eyes serious. “Always, Harris.”
“You know, Major, this mission might actually turn out to be quite interesting from a technological point of view,” Chris said as Duncan caught up to him. “I’m getting some interesting readings,” he continued, tapping his scanner with a finger and looking over at Duncan, his eyes alight with curiosity.
“You’re registering some form of tech?” Duncan asked, forcing himself to turn away from Chris’s excited features and concentrate instead on the collection of buildings that had just appeared in the distance ahead of them as they’d crested a hill. Emotional distance—that was what was needed here. As he’d stood in the shower that morning, his legs feeling decidedly shaky, he’d given himself a firm talking to—there were to be no slips on this mission. He was going to do his job, stay focused, and look out for his team. Emotional distance. He kept his eyes on the horizon and tried to block out his awareness of Chris walking close at his side.
“Yes,” Chris replied, his stride becoming even more exuberant as he waved his scanner at Duncan and beamed. “I’m not quite sure what it is exactly, but I’m picking up some sort of electromagnetic radiation. Hmm, around 150 GHz, so radio waves to be precise.”
“Well, that certainly does sound promising,” Duncan replied, his tone steady. “We haven’t picked up anything as advanced since you joined the team.”
Chris nodded, and Duncan couldn’t help but notice that he was still beaming. “Yes—this is certainly the closest I’ve come to really interesting tech in the field, especially as the readings are in a bandwidth I’ve not seen before.” He squinted down at his scanner for a moment, the mystery obviously capturing most of his attention. “They’re almost like….” He shook his head.
The horizon was clear, no sign of threat. “Like what?” Duncan prompted, deciding that he’d earned the right to enjoy the sight of Chris practically glowing with scientific curiosity. After all, encouraging Chris’s productivity was part of his job.
“No, it’s nothing,” Chris said, but he was still frowning down at the scanner’s display, so Duncan decided it was worth pressing him.
“Come on,” he encouraged. “You have an idea—you’ve got that look. What do you think it is?”
“Oh, I have a look, do I?” Chris asked, glancing up from his scanner to arch an eyebrow at Duncan.
“Absolutely,” Duncan replied with a smile. “And that’s it. So talk.”
“Well,” Chris continued slowly. “I mean, if I didn’t know that it wasn’t possible, I’d say they looked rather like EEG readings.”
“You mean like brain waves?” Duncan asked.
“Exactly,” Chris replied, looking up at Duncan with a crooked smile. “Very odd, isn’t it?”
“Very,” Duncan agreed. “Interesting, though. And, it’s something you can explore once we make contact wi—” The rest of Duncan’s sentence was cut off by Fleming coming to an abrupt stop ahead of them.
“Major, I think we’re approaching the entry point to the settlement,” she said. As Duncan drew level with her, she pointed up the path to where what looked like a guard tower had come into view.
The tower itself was not very tall—a few meters off the ground at best, just enough to give its occupants an advantageous position over anyone approaching. A figure suddenly appeared at the doorway to the tower, the person’s hands holding something that was then raised to his or her face. Most likely binoculars of some sort, Duncan thought. He tensed for a moment, and his grip tightened automatically on his weapon; he was acutely aware of the fact that they were out in the open with very little cover should the person decide to attack. As he watched, however, the figure lowered the binoculars and moved a hand to the side of his or her head, as if reaching for a communication device. At that moment, Chris’s scanner beeped, causing him to begin tapping away at it like mad.
“Vabre,” Duncan said in a warning tone, catching Chris’s attention and then tilting his head toward the tower.
“Oh, right,” Chris said, looking at the tower with wide eyes before quickly stowing away his scanner in his rucksack with only a touch of reluctance.
When the figure remained still and showed no signs of launching an attack, Duncan decided that first contact was a go. “Right team,” he said, glancing around at the group. “Let’s go check it out.”
They moved closer together as they continued their approach, Corrin and Duncan taking up flanking positions with Fleming and Chris on the inside. Fleming lengthened her stride just enough to put her slightly ahead of the rest of the group, thereby making it easier for her to make the first official greeting. They had learned the hard way that Fleming was a far better diplomat than anyone else on the team, and Duncan was more than happy to let her do the honors. As long as the rest of them were there to back her up, of course.
As they drew closer, the figure in the guard tower became more visible—a young woman with her hair tied back from her face. She wore a beige jacket, complete with insignia, and a matching pair of neatly pressed trousers, both of which suggested that she was indeed a soldier. In addition to her uniform, she also carried a weapon of some sort, and Duncan found himself tensing internally, part of him already expecting this mission to go the same way yesterday’s had. As if to give further credence to his fears, a second person joined the woman on the small balcony of the tower—a man this time, dressed in an identical uniform, complete with weapon. In tandem both soldiers turned, their faces impassive but their bodies taut and obviously ready for action. Duncan and Corrin exchanged a quick glance, both moving a little closer to their teammates.
“Hello!” Fleming called out once they were within range, looking up at the soldiers and spreading her hands wide in a nonthreatening gesture of greeting. “We’ve recently arrived on your planet. We’re peaceful explorers, and we ask for access to your township so we might meet with your leaders.”
The soldiers exchanged a quick glance, and then the woman moved forward and descended the steps of the tower so she could approach them on the road. The man remained on the guard tower, his weapon at hand to oversee proceedings.
“Welcome to Atara,” the woman said as she came closer. She held her hands out wide in an echo of Fleming’s greeting. “We are always happy to welcome traders to our towns.” Her tone was open and friendly, but Duncan could see that there was still a look of hesitation in her eyes.
Fleming obviously noticed it too, for she remained where she was. “And we are happy to be here,” she replied. “My name is Jessica, and these are my friends, Corrin, Duncan, and Chris.” Duncan noticed that she didn’t use any of their titles, a deliberate move to appear less hostile to the soldiers, although he suspected that their own uniforms and weaponry were enough to put both Ataran soldiers on their guard. “We have traveled here by shuttle,” Jessica added. “And we are eager to see if we may help each other.”
“I am Officer Jenia, and this is Officer Malan; we both serve in the Ataran Guard,” the woman replied.
Duncan decided that, now the introductions had been made, it was safe enough for someone else to talk. He stepped forward with a smile, keen to reinforce to Jenia and Malan that they didn’t represent a threat. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said, letting his tone of voice warm. “We’ve heard good things about your planet from our allies.”
Jenia turned to look at him as he spoke, a small smile blooming on her face in return, along with a faint blush on her cheeks. Duncan couldn’t help the small feeling of satisfaction in seeing her reaction—it wasn’t only Tennant who could turn on the charm when needed. Unlike Tennant, however, Duncan only ever did so when it was strictly necessary. His actions had served their purpose; Jenia was already regarding them with a slightly friendlier manner, and Duncan had never been above using whatever he had at his disposal to make things easier for his team.
“Like I said, we are always happy to welcome new people to our planet,” Jenia said. “You must know, however, that the Guard is responsible for the protection of the Ataran people. As you have come from a different world, there are some questions we must ask of you before you can be admitted into the great town of Ata.”
“Of course,” Fleming replied easily, bowing her head once in acceptance. “We are happy to provide you with whatever you require.” As she spoke, she shot a quick but hard look to silence Corrin, who’d started to open his mouth, no doubt to voice his concerns about providing information. Duncan couldn’t really blame him, given the dangers many of the planets they’d visited potentially posed, but he trusted Fleming to know what she was doing and to not give too much away.
Jenia nodded. “Malan and I will take your names here and direct you to the Primary House in the great town of Ata.” As she spoke, she looked up at Malan who nodded and disappeared into the small room in the guard tower. He appeared a few seconds later with what looked like a datapad clasped in his hands.
Beside him, Duncan felt Chris give a small start, his interest obviously piqued by yet more evidence that this culture was at least somewhat technologically advanced. Chris made an abortive move to his pack, as if to go for his scanner, but then caught himself. Duncan smiled internally—Chris knew what he was doing, all right.
“The Primary House?” Duncan asked, hoping to divert any attention away from Chris.
“The headquarters of the Ataran Guard and the home of the Ataran Primes, the great leaders of Atara,” Malan replied, speaking for the first time as he descended the tower’s steps. “All new visitors to Atara from the worlds beyond the great ring are asked to register there, especially those who seek an audience with one of the Primes.” He eyed Duncan’s and Fleming’s weapons and Corrin’s Ionian energy pistol with a cautious eye, but made no comment on them. Seeing this, Duncan decided to risk a small gamble in the hopes of securing further goodwill. After all, the evidence they had already suggested that the Atarans would make good allies and trading partners, so he figured it was worth taking the chance.
“We understand your need for caution,” he said, meeting first Jenia’s and then Malan’s gaze. “We always travel with our weapons close at hand. After all, you never know when you’re going to run into the Zenoid.”
“A sensible thing to do,” Malan commented without inflection, as if still trying to weigh their trustworthiness.
“Is it permissible for us to continue to carry our weapons in Ata?” Fleming asked, smoothly picking up on where Duncan was going. “We would feel more comfortable in so doing.”
Jenia smiled at that, a little sadly Duncan thought. “Yes, of course,” she replied. “While our ordinary populace do not carry weaponry, we understand that newcomers—those who are not blessed to be part of the great net—must do so in order to protect themselves from the hunger of the Zenoid.”
“The great net?” Chris said, speaking for the first time. Apparently, a tidbit like that was entirely too much for him to resist. “This… ah… great net; what would that be, exactly?”
“The great net is that which connects us all,” Jenia replied, lifting one hand up to gesture toward her head and then toward Malan’s. The movement was smooth and looked almost automatic, as if something often repeated that had become a habit. “Just as the great vastness of space connects the multitude of worlds, the great net joins our people together. It is the blessed gift of the Forebearers.”
Chris frowned at that, obviously trying to understand what she meant. “So, these Forebearers built the great net?”
“Yes,” Jenia replied, appearing somewhat confused by Chris’s confusion. “Although they have now risen on high, the Forebearers were gracious enough to bestow upon Atara these precious gifts so that we might survive and flourish despite the shadow of the Zenoid.”
“Ah, yes,” Chris said slowly, obviously trying to work out the best way to probe the Atarans for more information. “So did they, ah, bestow you with any other gifts?”
“The people of Atara were gifted with this one creation: the great net through which all of Ata can join,” Malan replied. “It is our privilege to accept the Forebearers’ gift and join the net so that we may commune with others in order to survive and protect our own.”
“I see,” said Chris, although it was apparent from his tone that he was none the wiser. He opened his mouth, obviously intending to ask another question, but Fleming cut in instead, effectively cutting off any further comments.
“You have been most kind,” she said, reaching out a hand to touch Chris’s arm lightly in apology as she did so. “As you can see, we are interested in learning all we can from you, and hope that perhaps we can talk of these matters in greater detail in Ata.”
Malan nodded and handed over the datapad he’d brought down from the guard tower to Fleming. “This will direct you from here into the great town of Ata itself and then to the Primary House. We will inform them of your arrival, so you will be expected.”
“Prime Alaria is holding office there at the moment,” Jenia added. “I am certain that she will be happy to discuss matters of trade with you.”
“That sounds perfect,” Fleming said with a smile. “Thank you, Officers Jenia and Malan.”
The datapad Malan had given Jessica turned out to contain a map as well as detailed instructions on how to access the town of Ata and, once inside city limits, the Primary House. As soon as he had confirmed their bearings, Duncan passed the pad over to an eager Chris so he could examine it. However, Chris returned it to Fleming almost at once, sighing with disappointment, having ascertained its technology to be of little interest.
Leaving Jenia, Malan, and the tower behind them, they continued along the road toward Ata. The town itself soon became clearly visible; a large collection of low-lying buildings nestled amongst the rolling hills. None of the Ataran structures appeared to be over two stories tall, and the natural color of the stone from which they were hewn helped them blend easily into the landscape. Such camouflage, however, would serve as little protection against Zenoid scanners and life-sign detectors.
“I can see why they need the guard towers,” Duncan commented as they entered the outskirts of the town, his eyes constantly scanning the small buildings on either side of them for potential threats. “The whole town is so low lying—not at all defensible once the Zenoid have it targeted. The raiders would take out any defenses they may have within seconds, the guard towers notwithstanding.”
“Hmm,” Corrin grunted in agreement. “It’s not even built at the top of one of these hills. No visible signs of effective defense or weapon batteries either. A couple of guards with handguns aren’t going to be any good at withstanding a full attack.” He sounded irritated—as if he took it as a personal insult that these people were not better protected. Still, given what had happened to his own people, Duncan reckoned that maybe he was.
“Perhaps they have some other means of evading the Zenoid,” Fleming suggested. “After all, many have found that hiding is a more effective way of ensuring a population’s survival than fighting.” She kept her voice soft as the road they were on widened and people started appearing in the side streets.
“Perhaps,” Corrin said, looking doubtful. “Town’s a bit big for that, though. Too far from any really effective shelter as well.”
“Could they have some fancy tech to help them?” Duncan asked as Fleming glanced down at the pad in her hand and then guided them around a building on the right and then to the left onto another street.
“Well, if there is something protecting them from the Zenoid, it isn’t something of their own design, that’s for sure,” Chris said. “That pad’s pretty basic—it can hold a picture and a few lines of text, but that’s about it. And the readings I was getting earlier agree with what….” He paused, gesturing behind him as if trying to come up with the officers’ names. “They said.”
“Jenia and Malan,” Duncan prompted.
“Right, yes, them,” Chris continued, somewhat distracted by sparing a nod of thanks to Duncan. “There is some degree of technology here, but it’s all rather crude. Apart, that is, from this ‘great net’ of theirs presumably, although quite what that is, I have no idea.”
“Well, maybe that’s it,” Duncan said. “What do you make of this ‘great net’ business, anyway? I can’t say I can recall hearing that expression before. Anyone else heard of it?”
“I’m afraid not, sir,” Fleming said, shaking her head. “None of the Ionian briefings mentioned anything like this, and I can’t recall it being talked about during any of our other missions.”
“It’s a new one to me, as well,” Corrin said, shrugging and moving slightly closer to Fleming as they passed a group of young men who were gathered together on the doorstep of one of the buildings.
“Vabre?” Duncan asked, mirroring Corrin’s move so the team as a whole was closer together as the streets slowly became busier the closer they got to the town center.
“I’ll have to have a look through our databases once we get back to Argo, but at the moment I can’t think of any kind of alien tech we’ve come across before that would ‘join people together’,” Chris said, complete with air quotes. “Other than that, I think we just need to keep on the lookout for anything… strange.” His hands twitched in the air, and he looked pleadingly at Duncan. “I need to use my scanner here if we’re to get any more information.”
Duncan shook his head. “Not yet. We need to get to this Primary House and get some privacy first.”
“I suppose so,” Chris agreed with a resigned sigh. “After all, we don’t want you doing anything—”
“Risky, yes, I know,” Duncan interrupted with a smile. “Look, we’re doing well so far on this one; let’s not push it, okay?”
“Yes, we’re doing well,” Chris echoed. “By which you meant that we’ve yet to be shot at and have so far avoided being ambushed.”
“And are you complaining about any of that?” Duncan asked, raising an eyebrow.
“No, no,” Chris said rapidly. “By all means, carry on,” he continued with a wave of his hand.
They turned another corner and were suddenly caught up in the bustle of the town itself. Unlike the fairly quiet roads on which they’d been traveling before, the center of Ata was crowded and lively. The streets were lined with shops, their displays filled with food and other wares. The roads themselves now had a much smoother surface and were filled with slow-moving automotive vehicles as well as a number of large livestock animals. People were rushing to and fro between the low-lying buildings; many of them cast the team wide-eyed looks. Duncan tried smiling benignly, hoping to prevent their appearance from causing undue alarm. He was aware that they seemed very out of place in Ata, with their large weapons and black uniforms. Most of the Atarans were dressed in muted browns and creams, and the whole scene reminded Duncan of something out of an old Star Wars movie.
As if reading his thoughts, Chris moved closer, bumping Duncan’s shoulder with his own as he whispered, “Perhaps the great net has something to do with the Force?”
Duncan grinned and was about to reply when something in Chris’s rucksack began beeping with alarming loudness. Chris stopped immediately and started scrambling about in his pack for his scanner, both the obstruction he was causing and the unusual noise garnering the attention of a large number of the people around them. Duncan moved quickly; glancing around he spotted a small alley between two nearby buildings. He got a firm hold of Chris’s left bicep and, ignoring Chris’s flailing, pulled him into it. Corrin and Fleming followed them, standing side by side in the alley’s entranceway and using their bodies to block the view from the street so Chris could work unobserved.
“Was that really necessary?” Chris asked, eyes wide and a little shocked as he pulled his arm out of Duncan’s grip. “I was only trying to stop the alarm from sounding.”
“Yes, it was necessary,” Duncan gritted in reply, taking a step away and fixing Chris with his best glower despite the gut instinct that was urging him to draw Chris close and calm him. “You know better than to get your scanner out when we’re in the open like that, especially when every damn person out there was already looking at us like we’re some kind of terrorists. You bringing out a piece of loud and obviously complicated alien technology is practically asking for us to be ambushed.”
Chris stared wide-eyed at Duncan for a second more before dropping his gaze and mumbling a soft apology, his cheeks flushing slightly as he spoke. He quickly located the scanner, pulled it out, and punched a few keys to silence the alarm.
“You got a problem there, Chris?” Jessica asked, peering around Duncan’s shoulder in the narrow alley so she could see Chris. Duncan moved to the side so he was leaning up against one of the buildings to make room for her and Corrin.
Chris was frowning down at the scanner’s display, still muttering under his breath.
“Vabre?” Duncan prompted.
“One moment,” Chris replied. He punched a few more keys and then looked up at them. “I set the scanner to record the strange frequency waves I was getting earlier—you know, the ones that looked like brain waves?”
Duncan nodded as Chris fiddled some more with the scanner before continuing. “Well, it looks like there was a strong burst of activity about forty minutes ago—most likely when we were at the guard tower—and then a huge surge just now.” He shook his head in amazement. “It’s incredible—the sheer volume of data contained in these waves is just simply immense.” He tapped his scanner as he looked over at Duncan. “I’ve got almost 100 gig of memory in this thing—that’s more than most computers—and yet it’s been almost entirely filled by less than ten minutes of recording.”
Duncan thought about that for a moment. “The data?” he asked. “Can you interpret it?”
Chris shook his head. “It is just like before,” he replied, holding his scanner up so Duncan could see the display—a dense grid of jerky lines reminiscent of EEG readings. “Spikes of electrical activity, but on such a huge scale it’s like the scanner is recording every neuron firing from every person on the street.”
“Hang on a sec, Chris. You mean to say that you’re reading these people’s thoughts?” Fleming asked, her eyes wide. “But how is that even possible?”
“No, I’m not reading their thoughts,” Chris replied. “It’s more like they’re… well, projecting their brain activity somehow.” He shook his head as he spoke, the sense of wonder clearly evident in his tone. “Not that I have any idea how that’s even possible.”
Chris’s words gave Duncan pause; he was starting to see a pattern here. “Wait a minute, you picked up readings like this when we first arrived on the planet, right?” he asked, his mind whirring as the pattern started to make sense to him.
“Well, not exactly like this,” Chris replied. “To a much lesser degree and only because I was doing a broad spectrum sweep and significantly magnifying any and all possibly man-made signals.”
“Yes, but you could tell that something strange was going on,” Duncan pressed. “And then again, at the guard tower, you were getting something there.”
“Yes, but what I’m getting now is without a doubt coming from the town… or rather the people of the town because… Oh!” he exclaimed suddenly, his gaze flying up to meet Duncan’s, his eyes wide. “You mean that you believe that this,” he said, tapping his scanner, “is the great net?”
Duncan shrugged. “It could be.”
“Hmm, ‘commune to survive’,” Chris quoted softly. “You know, that is actually a fairly accurate deduction.” He looked up and narrowed his eyes at Duncan in consideration.
“Only fairly accurate, Vabre?” Duncan teased as he grinned at Chris.
“Oh, all right,” Chris acceded, his brown eyes sparkling with mirth. “More than fairly accurate, if I’m to be honest.” He smiled.
The sound of muffled laughter from Fleming drew Duncan’s attention away from Chris and back to the present situation. Glancing over at her, he took in her wide smile and even noticed a flash of amusement in Corrin’s eyes.
“Okay, enough of this,” he said, pushing up off the wall and turning to glance back out at the busy street. “We’re not going to get any answers skulking around in back alleyways. Let’s get to the Primary House and see if we can get some more info about this great net and, hopefully, a trade agreement.”