Shiro told me all about his home world.
How the Horizon Alpha made a rushed, disastrous landing on a planet full of dinosaurs. How they survived for three years, struggling against man-eating beasts from huge to tiny. How the whole world changed when the birdmen arrived.
“We knew they existed,” he said. “We had their drawings, and we even had the body of the last one of them to try living on Tau Ceti e. But we had no idea they’d come back.”
Tishi fluffed her feathers. “Our people received the beacon. We knew there was intelligent life new to the planet, so we sent a team to investigate.”
She spoke as if she’d been there, but Shiro said this had all happened over twenty years earlier. “We have a mixed colony there now, with Siitsi and humans living together in a huge valley where most of the dinosaurs can’t get in. My friend Caleb runs things, along with one of the Siitsi from that first shuttle. They’re doing pretty well. You met Ricky last night, right?”
I nodded. He was the third human at the dinner table.
“Well,” Shiro continued, “Ricky is Caleb’s son. And these guys’ parents are also on Tau Ceti e. Their generation is serving on Siitsi ships all over this part of the galaxy now. And the people who stayed on the planet are building quite a little city in the caves where they live. But there’s still danger, and that’s why we need the repellent plant. We traded for it with the Botanists, and now we’re taking it back home to plant it all over the sides of the mountains where everyone lives.”
So they did make it. The Alpha ship got safely to its destination. Well, not really safely, from the sound of things.
“Did the Beta make it?”
Shiro grinned. “Sort of. They didn’t make it to their original destination, Omicron Eridani. Their ship was falling apart, just like yours. But they were able to land on Epsilon Eridani, and now you couldn’t get a single one of them to leave for any reason.”
“It’s really something.” Priya stood up and motioned me over to the aquariums at the back of the lab. “These crustaceans are native to the planet. The dominant species is a huge, intelligent insect that lives in giant hives. The insects eat these things, and the humans that landed there do, too.”
I looked into the tank. The white crustaceans were larger than my fist, covered with pale armor plating. Long feelers waved from what I assumed was the front end as they scuttled around the rocks. Who decided these gross things were food?
“They carry a parasite,” Priya continued. “A single-celled organism that uses the giant bugs as a secondary host. It lives in their brains and affects their sense of smell. Apparently, it’s incredibly flexible and does the same thing to human brains. The people eat the crustaceans, and the parasite sets up shop in their heads. They smell things that non-infected people can’t smell. It’s how the insects communicate, and with the parasite on board, the humans can be part of the hive that way. Humans can’t make the pheromones, but they can sure smell them.”
Corey chimed in from behind me, startling me from staring at the nasty bugs in the water. “The queen of the insect hive secretes a special pheromone that bonds the other insects to her. They will literally die to keep her safe, and the humans that live there feel the same way.”
From his seat at the table, Shiro added, “It’s true. Once the Siitsi came to my planet and we had access to space again, we went looking for them. Since they weren’t where they were supposed to be, it took us forever to find them. We just made contact last year, and we thought they’d be overjoyed to see us. Want to head out into space again, maybe find another place that wasn’t crawling with bugs.” He smiled. “Not one of them would even consider it. They looked at us like we had three heads. Their leader is a guy named Noah. They have hives all over the planet, with humans and bugs living together like a big, weird family. When we offered to bring them with us, you’d have thought we were offering to eat their grandmothers. They’re so bonded to those bugs, there’s no getting them off that world.”
I shook my head. Hard to imagine living with giant bugs, especially if they looked anything like the nasty beasts in the tank.
“We’ve been studying the parasite,” Priya said, gazing into the tank. “We think there might be some medical use for it.” She pointed to a rack of small, silvery bottles next to the tank. “And we’ve been able to recreate the queen’s pheromone as well. So far, our tests are showing that hundreds of species are susceptible to it. Once it gets into a brain, that pheromone is irresistible.”
I picked up one of the small bottles, turning it over in my fingers. The liquid inside was slightly milky and swirled when I spun it around.
“It’s a really interesting molecule,” she continued. “When people with the parasite smell the pheromone or rub it on their skin, they’re instantly bonded to the queen. But if you drink it, it’s a sedative. Acts completely different internally. Strange. We traded a crate full of the waterbugs to the Botanists in exchange for the dinosaur repellent for the Horizon Alpha people.”
Priya’s words almost made me drop the little bottle. I shivered. Who knew what the Botanists could make from a parasite like that? I hated the Botanists for what they were doing to my people. Now I realized the danger went far beyond just my group of Delta survivors. They were a plague on the galaxy. The bottle fit nicely into the pocket of my borrowed pants. I wouldn’t likely need a sedative, but so far nobody seemed to be on the same page with me about finding the Botanist ship and saving my brother. If I had to slip away somehow, it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared.
I trudged back over and plopped down at the table. “So what do we do?” My fingers drummed on the surface. It had already been too long. “How are we going to rescue my people?”
Corey exchanged a glance with Priya. They both turned away from me, focusing on the bugs in the tank. Tishi pushed back from the bench and sidled over to join them. Only Shiro stayed facing me. He looked down at his hands for a long moment. The skin was dry and cracked. He looked very old to my eyes.
Finally, he lifted his head and met my gaze.
“Jonah, I’m really sorry. But there’s no way to track them. No way to find them now.” He glanced over to the door of the lab. “You’re welcome to stay here and join the crew on this ship, or we can take you to either of the planets where the other Horizon ships landed.”
No. Oh no.
His shoulders sagged, and his expression held a tired sadness. “I’m sorry, but your people are gone. There’s no way to rescue them. You’re the only survivor of the Horizon Delta.”