CHAPTER 7

 

The shuttle was late. Barring a skeleton crew manning the nets from Town Hall the entire population of Diana milled impatiently some distance back from the landing pad. Ray and Rose had given up staring into the sky and moved to shelter under a large flat leafed tree with a deeply ribbed trunk. Vine like branches dangled downward to meet roots reaching up from the forest floor.

At last, a ripple of excitement fluttered through the crowd as the smoke plume of the shuttle entering the atmosphere finally appeared. Shuttles were a familiar but not common sight to Dianians. Irregular supply shuttles, remotely piloted by the local tug operators, arrived every few years with vital components, supplies, and other items that could not be micronized and G-Ported.

To the Dianians the most important among these were the neo-natal lung implants that allowed their infants to survive. This plume, however, dwarfed those of the goods shuttles as it arched across the cloudless sky towards the rudimentary shuttle port. The glistening black ceramic shell finally emerged from the smoke as the shuttle decelerated and the landing jets rotated and roared into life; arresting the forward motion of the lumbering landing craft.

“What type of shuttle is that?” Ray saw Dane sign to Gift, palms upturned with wide awe filled eyes.

Gift shrugged, “Nothing like I’ve ever seen. Not on the regular CDSE roster.”

All eyes were glued to the glistening, black craft. They watched as the pivoting landing jets set the trees thrashing. The shuttle descended towards the dirt landing pad and spiraled slowly down, the CDSE logo appeared on the shuttle’s flank as the craft rotated, embossed in a different shade of black. Landing legs extended, and the shuttle settled onto the dirt sinking into an ominous crouch.

The Dianians shielded their eyes and pulled their collars over their mouths to filter out the clouds of blasting dust and small stones kicked up by the landing. Eventually the engines cycled down, and the dust cloud began to drift away on the breeze.

Stone and his wife Clear, to all intents and purposes the leaders of the Dianian community, gathered in front of a small delegation chosen to be the first greeters. They headed out to the landing pad as the pilot switched off the running lights and powered down the shuttle. They stood in a ragtag bunch at the spot where the steps were most likely to be located.

As it turned out, the steps hinged on the side they had chosen to stand which became clear as the gantry opened, and the steps descended away from them. Ray felt a little embarrassed as the delegation fussed and prodded each other around to the other side to wait for the humans. Rose grinned at Ray and her shoulders shook in a Dianian giggle. Ray returned the grin and look skyward in mock exasperation.

All eyes watched as a pair of black-clad legs appeared at the top of the steps; the torso still occluded in the body of the shuttle. The solitary figure descended and the ring of Dianians contracted as people jostled and craned their necks to get a better view.

At this distance Ray could not see well but she guessed from the athletic swagger that the figure was male. The man approached Stone and shook his hand. He was a full head taller than Stone, which put him at over six foot, and much broader across the shoulders. Ray could see him signing and felt a little pinch of pride that the newcomers would bother to learn their language. Second down the ramp was a figure wearing a CDSE jumpsuit, clearly carrying a camera of some description. No doubt the events of today were being beamed live to Earth.

Rose turned to Ray with querying eyes and indicated “something on the face”. Ray looked where Rose indicated and saw the plastic mask over the figures’ mouths and noses. She frowned thinking for a second. The Diana atmosphere was similar enough to Earth that the Humans should be able to breathe.

Ray frowned deeper and speculated, “Bacteria? Pathogens perhaps?” she shrugged. “They won’t have immunity to our microbes.” For the first time Ray wondered if the same might be true in reverse. The masks could be for the Dianians protection also. Ray had read about the devastation the flu had wrought on the natives of South America after the Europeans landed in the late 1400s. The Dianians’ genetically enhanced immune systems generally dealt well with viruses however so protection for the humans was probably a safer bet.

The rest of the black clad figures descended in a column, each of them shaking hands with Stone and Clear and then progressing slowly along the line of delegates. Ray noticed several women in CDSE uniforms. Ray craned to get a look at their hands. She couldn’t quite make out their shorter fingers at this distance, but she could clearly see their long bodies and comparatively short legs.

Following the CDSE figures appeared a column of men and women dressed in the unmistakable jungle combat uniform of UN marines. Dianian eyes widened in surprise and Ray felt a murmur of speculation ripple through the crowd.

The marines had various attachments and metal contraptions on their uniforms and each had a large assault rifle slung casually over their backs. This was a UN navy ship and some of the delegates including the captain were military, but the combat troupes were unexpected. Ray stared at the machines of death strapped to the soldiers and felt her heart skip a beat.

These were the first real weapons ever seen on Diana. Why did the UN think that twenty-four heavily armed marines were necessary for this mission? Violence was not commonplace on Diana, but it did happen occasionally. They had an ad hoc volunteer police force of bigger, stronger folk who would intervene to break up fights and go and have a stern talk to kids who were raiding the fruit trees, but they had never needed any type of weapon, let alone an assault rifle. Ray found the marines deeply unsettling and from the shuffling of feet around her she suspected the feeling was shared.

One of the marines towered above the rest and had shoulders bigger than most of the men. She, together with one of the larger male marines, wrestled a pod down the stairs. The mask wearing occupant’s raven-haired head protruded from a tightly strapped blanket inside the Plexiglas dome that covered the pod. Stone and the first of the humans to descend had a quick translated conversation with the pod bearers and together they looked to where the medical team waited to take the patient. Again, Ray felt her heart rate jump and her fear surge at the prospect of caring for him later that night. The added fear of contracting some virulent Earth virus magnified her dread.

Ray’s mother, Bones, stepped forward to meet the stretcher bearers and leaned over the apparently unconscious man for a moment. Satisfied, she indicated the way to the Med Bay and the team disappeared around the bend. Ray’s mother had been known as Bones ever since she set Clear’s arm after it was broken by some falling lumber years ago.

Ray’s focus returned to the main group of humans who were now also disappearing towards the barracks. No doubt for some sort of smaller and more official welcome she supposed. The crowd shuffled in place for a while, clearly unsure what to do next and a little stunned at how quickly the humans had emerged and then disappeared. Ray saw many signs for “tall” and speculative confusion about the masks and lots of signs for gun. She wondered if the humans had expected a round of applause or some sort of fanfare.

Rose twirled a blond ringlet between her fingers. Lost in thought Ray put a hand on her shoulder, capturing her attention, and gave it a little friendly squeeze.

“I thought they might wave to us or something. Throw sweets to the children like they do in the Earth parades perhaps.” Rose looked over the ship again for a moment frowning to herself. “I guess they are just like us in the end, here to work.”

Ray could see similar conflicted feelings reflected on the faces of the crowd as they dissipated towards their various tasks, preparing for the community welcome. Ray and Rose were off the hook having dug tubers for a good period that morning, so they headed straight to the glade where the welcome party was scheduled for the evening.