THE KOSTROMA SAGA by Michel Poulin - HTML preview

CHAPTER 52 – NEW FRIENDS

 

10:03 (Universal Time)

Saturday, September 10, 2321

Krazts family cave, Grand Island, New Shouria (Wolf 1061c) Second planet of the Wolf 1061 System, 13.8 light-years from Earth

‘’I AM GOING OUT ON A HUNT, MOTHER.’’

‘’ALRIGHT, BUT BE CAREFUL: KEEP YOUR DISTANCES FROM THOSE BIPEDAL CREATURES.’’

‘’DON’T WORRY, MOTHER: THOSE BIPEDALS HAVE NOT SHOWN THEMSELVES TO BE HOSTILE TOWARDS US TO DATE.’’

‘’STILL, BE CAREFUL, RIAK.’’

Young Riak, the sole female offspring of her parents, then walked out of the family cave, using her two powerful hind legs while keeping her wings folded in order not to scrape them against the rock surface of the short tunnel leading to a sort of balcony naturally formed on one side of the forested hill containing the cave. Once fully out, Riak deployed her feathery wings to their full eight-meter span and took off from the balcony. Riak was still fairly young for a Krazts, being what a Human would consider a young teenager, and was noticeably smaller than a fully grown Krazts, who had a typical wing span of eleven to thirteen meters and a length of seven to nine meters from their toothed beak to their feathered tail. The Krazts were the prime predators on Wolf 1061c but, more importantly, were also the only local intelligent species, with an average I.Q. of 84. That level of intelligence allowed the Krazts to make and use stone tools, light fires, speak among themselves and even have a writing system, all things which helped them dominate the fauna of the planet. That was until the arrival of strange bipedal creatures who had come from the sky and then started building large floating structures along the coastline of the big island claimed as Riak’s family’s hunting territory. The first and sole direct encounter of her family with those bipedal creatures some time ago had nearly ended in tragedy but, thankfully, one of those bipedal creatures who had been about to be eaten had shown herself to be an intelligent being with sensitivity and comprehension, something that had prevented a massacre inside the family cave. Since then, Riak and

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her two brothers had followed the wise directive from their mother, Koory: ‘Bipedal creatures are off the menu from now on’. So, Riak was firmly decided to limit her hunt to the various fish roaming the ocean around the island and to the herds of herbivorous mammals roaming the plains and forests around the family cave.

Deciding at first to try her luck at fishing, Riak flew eastward from her family cave, heading towards the waters of the wide passage between the island and the nearby continent visible on the horizon. Those waters were normally full of fish of all kinds and sizes ready to be grabbed when they broached the surface and became vulnerable. Strangely enough, the new bipedal neighbors of her family, while having built huge floating structures, had not yet been seen by Riak to even attempt to catch fish in those rich waters. Maybe they didn’t like fish, or maybe the taste of the local fish was not to their liking? In truth, Riak and her family knew next to nothing about the newcomers, having cautiously kept their distance from them after that first, near fatal encounter. Flying in large circles once well over the ocean, Riak started looking down for some fish ready to be caught in the sharp claws of her hind legs. Her upper legs, which also acted as arms when she walked at the vertical, had sharp claws as well, doubling her lethality and efficiency as a hunter and fisher. She had made three such circles before she saw a fish swimming just under the surface. Her two keen eyes fixed on her prey, Riak dove straight at the fish and, right after cutting that dive, managed to grab her prey in her claws. Flying back to medium altitude, Riak saw that the fish was too small to be worth bringing it back to the family cave, so she decided to devour it herself while flying. That took her only a few minutes, but the fish was enough to fill her stomach and give her more energy to continue her fishing.

Riak had just let go the remains of the fish she had just eaten when a movement to her left caught her eyes. Looking in that direction, she saw one of the flying boxes used by the bipedal creatures as it came down from high altitude, heading towards her family’s island and the floating cities moored along its coasts. As Riak had grown accustomed to, that flying box proved impossibly fast, despite its complete lack of wings. She wondered for a moment how that was possible but finally shrugged it off and concentrated back on her fishing. As for the flying box, it either didn’t see her or, more probably, simply ignored her and continued its descent.

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10:34 (Universal Time)

Koorivar interstellar shuttle SHEMAK

Eight-year-old Terry Anderson was avidly looking out of his window when he shouted in excitement and pointed at something in the sky.

‘’DAD, I SEE A FLYING DRAGON!’’

His father, Jake Anderson, bent down to look outside and effectively saw what looked like a very large bird covered with a colorful livery of red and yellow feathers. It had a long neck supporting a head with an impressive beak and also had a long flexible tail ending in a large feathery fan that seemed to act like a plane’s rudder. The creature was however quite far away, looking like a small bird due to the distance, and was flying in large circles at low altitude over the sea.

‘’Aaah, that must be a Krazts, the species of giant, intelligent birds known to live on New Shouria. It looks like it is fishing. It certainly looks like a magnificent creature, with its red and yellow feathers. This is a chance for you to take a picture of it, Son.’’

‘’I sure will, Dad!’’ replied the preteen boy, who then filmed for a few second the Krazts until it was out of sight. On his part, Jake was happy for his son to have been able to spot it. As a Spacer miner working and living in the Main Asteroid Belt of the Solar System, he and his little family had been dying for a long time for such a vacation on a habitable planet, so that they could change their minds from having to live in a Space city located under the surface of Pallas, a large and irregularly shaped asteroid that was the center of one of the biggest space mining networks in the Solar System. The view he and his family now had of the large oceans and forested lands of New Shouria convinced Jake that he had made the right choice by booking a one-week vacation at the recently opened New Shouria Resort Center, run by the Koorivars. The heavy, 1.3 G gravity of New Shouria had at first made him hesitate between it and the equally new resort center on the nearby moon of New Haven, which enjoyed a 0.89 G local gravity, but the fact that the New Shouria Resort Center had artificial gravity decks set to normal Earth gravity, along with the more diverse fauna and flora than the one found on New Haven, had decided Jake into booking a safari tour vacation on New Shouria. Judging from the full cabin of the shuttle, plenty of Spacers hungry for open air and beaches had done the same, something quite understandable when you had lived your entire life in enclosed space cities, save for infrequent vacations on a still overpopulated and polluted Earth.

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A few minutes later, their shuttle landed in the middle of a large, floating landing pad anchored just off a luxuriant coast. The landing pad, like three other similar landing pads big enough to accommodate a full-sized starship, was in turn linked by anchored floating bridges to a large floating city on one side and a smaller but still substantial floating complex on the opposite side. When the Anderson family came out of the shuttle, along with the other passengers, they effectively felt only a normal Earth gravity as a guide directed them to a waiting group of buses. The 120 or so passengers quickly filled the three big vehicles, while their unaccompanied luggage were taken out of the shuttle and were then loaded on an air truck. Jake’s wife, Janet, rested her head on his left shoulder after they sat down inside one of the buses, looking out with contentment at the ocean and land scenery.

‘’Oh, Jake, it is so nice to see real nature for a change. This place looks beautiful, apart from being pristine, with zero pollution in evidence.’’

‘’It sure does, honey. The tourism agency did not lie about this place.

Considering the reasonable cost of booking this tour, I think that we should take more frequent vacations on such new worlds.’’

‘’A great idea, Jake. I understand that we had the choice between this and three other habitable new worlds and that more may become available for tourism in the coming months and years, right?’’

‘’Correct, Janet!’’ replied Jake before consulting his pocket data pad. ‘’Apart from New Shouria, we had the choice between resort centers or cruise ships on New Haven, the first moon of this planet; on Hyanesu, in the Gliese 581 System; and on Oceana, also in the Gliese 581 System. The latest information is that at least three more habitable systems with moderate to warm climates have been selected for colonization and resort building: Vinland, in the Gliese 832 System; Borealis, in the Trappist-1 System and New Venice, in the Tau Ceti System. A fourth place, Icelandia in the Trappist-1 System is also mentioned but, due to its sub-zero average temperatures, will be a Winter sports center on top of having cities.’’

‘’Isn’t the Gliese 581 System the one that contains the home planet of a hostile and aggressive alien race?’’

Jake had to search through his data pad for a few seconds before he answered her.

‘’You are correct, Janet. The third planet of the system, Gliese 581c, is home to the Vorlaks, a cruel and dangerous race. However, that planet has been put under firm

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quarantine by the Spacers League and is closely watched by both armed satellites and warships. The Vorlaks have already earned themselves a series of nuclear strikes which took out their space capabilities and many of their governing complexes. Still, I would tend to agree with you that maybe we should avoid that system altogether. Right now, though, let’s enjoy our family time on this planet.’’

Their bus, driven by a Koorivar, then started rolling, taking one of the floating bridges towards the smaller complex. The latter was still a very substantial structure, as the Andersons could see when their bus stopped in front of the main entrance. It covered a good two hectares of floating platform surface and its twelve-story-high main tower rose more than forty meters above the anchored floating platform supporting it. The resort staff which greeted the fresh batch of tourists was mostly made of Koorivars, a reminder to the Andersons that this planet was now the new official home of the Koorivars. The resort manager, a mature Koorivar, greeted the group in the main entrance lobby, near the reception desks, once the tourists had recuperated all their luggage.

‘’Good morning to all of you, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the New Shouria Resort Center. My name is Shirak and I am the general manager of this complex. For your general information, this complex, like the other installations built on this planet, uses Earth’s Universal Time as well as Earth’s standard calendar as date and time references, so you won’t need to synchronize your wrist videophones during your stay. The reason for using Earth time is simple: this planet completes an orbit around its red dwarf star in only a bit less than eighteen days. It is also tidally locked to its sun, which means that it always presents the same face to Wolf 1061. It will thus be daylight all the time at this complex. However, I am sure that this point will not bother you after living most of your lives in underground space cities and facilities.’’ A concert of approving comments met that declaration by Shirak, who then pointed at the long reception counter and at the bank of elevator doors visible behind him.

‘’Once I am finished speaking, you will be free to go to the reception desk to my right, to register your arrival and obtain your access cards and service bracelets before going up to your rooms to drop off your suitcases and relax a bit before lunch. If you were wondering about possibly being disoriented by looking around this lobby, don’t worry: if you see the elevator cabin doors move slowly, that’s because the whole main tower structure of this resort is rotating constantly on its central vertical axis, doing one complete revolution every hour. Because of that feature of our resort complex, you will be able to enjoy from your rooms a panoramic view of the ocean and of its coastline.’’

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‘’Now, that is a nice feature!’’ said softly Janet to Jake while holding the hand of Lisa, their small four-year-old daughter. Jake could only nod approvingly to that as Shirak continued speaking.

‘’After making yourselves at home in your respective rooms, you will be welcome to come back down to this level to go have lunch at our buffet restaurant, the ‘Sunshine Buffet’. Following lunch, you will be able to start your vacation with a guided safari tour around the nearby plains and forests. Don’t worry about the 1.3 G local gravity during that tour: we will provide you all with gravity compensation harnesses. The safari tour will depart the resort’s main entrance at one o’clock.’’

Enthusiastic exclamations and comments greeted those last words by Shirak, who then invited his guests to proceed to the reception counter.

At 12:42, after having dropped their luggage in a large, nice suite on the ninth floor of the resort’s tower and going back down for a copious lunch, the Andersons showed up in the main entrance lobby, where staff employees provided them with gravity compensation harnesses of the adequate size, including baby harnesses for the few infants present. Then, at precisely one o’clock, the excited tourists boarded a small caravan of all-terrain vehicles, anti-gravity passenger carriers which could fly as well as roll on the ground, with one Koorivar guide per vehicle. Jake Anderson, who boarded the lead vehicle with his family, couldn’t help ask a question to their guide on seeing a Human man carrying a holstered pistol board their carrier.

‘’Uh, Mister Korvan, why is this man armed with a pistol?’’ The Koorivar smiled benevolently at that question and answered him in a reassuring tone.

‘’Mister Mark Donovan is the armed escort for this safari tour, sir. We will be getting quite close to numerous local animals that are still not familiar with our presence on this planet. The tour is actually very low risk, but Mister Donovan will be with us simply as a precaution against any unexpected incident.’’ Jake nodded his head at that, approving that measure, which was a good, common sense one in his mind, especially now that he was with his two young children and his wife. The only doubt he was left with was about the weapon carried by the said Donovan: a simple pistol didn’t sound much of a weapon in his opinion when possibly facing a charging wild beast. He however kept that thought to himself and sat back in

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his comfortable seat next to his wife, with Terry and Lisa sitting in the two seats across the centerline aisle from his seat.

After rolling some 200 meters down a large pier linking the floating resort complex to the coastline, the caravan of five all-terrain carriers drove down a trail cut through a thick forest, going slowly to allow the passengers to admire the luxuriant alien flora, which included trees with purple and red-colored leaves and pink flowers and bushes. Janet Anderson opened her mouth with admiration as she looked around at all that alien but beautiful nature.

‘’Look at all those colors! This is magnificent!’’

After rolling through the forest for maybe 600 meters, the convoy emerged out of the tree line and onto a wide grassy plain dotted with small clusters of large trees. The sight of the various animal herds grazing and roaming that plain made both Terry and Lisa shout with excitement.

‘’LOOK, DAD! BUFFALOS! I CAN ALSO SEE SOME KIND OF ANTELOPES!’’ Consulting his data pad, Jake gently corrected his eight-year-old son.

‘’Those ‘buffalos’ are called ‘Musks’, while those antelopes are more properly called ‘Tars’. However, I will give you that they look quite similar to their Earth equivalents. Mind you, those musks look both big and powerful. Hopefully, they won’t have a temperament as mean as that of African Cape Buffalos.’’ Janet, who had visited South Africa a few times in the past, nodded her head at that.

‘’Yeah, those ones can be mean enough, even when faced with lions.’’

‘’Do they have lions here, Mom?’’ asked Terry, prompting Jake to again consult his data pad.

‘’Nope! The only predators known around this planet are a sort of six-legged wolf called ‘Berdash’ and giant dragons, one of which we saw from our shuttle and that are called ‘Krazts’. The rest of the fauna is described as being mostly herbivorous.’’

‘’Ooooh, I hope that we will be able soon to get out of our vehicles, so that we could approach some of those alien animals.’’ wished out loud the excited Terry.

The boy’s wish came true some ten minutes later, when the caravan of vehicles rolled to a stop next the wood line and let out its passengers near a large herd of grazing animals which looked like small pink goats. Those goats, apparently unphased by these newcomers, only gave them a passing look before returning to their grazing. Korvan,

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the guide in charge of the tour, assembled the 142 tourists near the vehicles before they could approach the goats.

‘’What you see now are called ‘Gendus’. They are strictly herbivorous and are very sociable animals. You will soon be able to approach them and even touch them, but I will urge you not to try to pick them up, especially the young Gendus: that could trigger a defensive reflex from their mothers.’’

‘’Uh, can I ask who named all these animals we saw to date?’’ asked a man who was a bit overweight and had a camera with telephoto lens hanging by a strap from his neck. ‘’Those names sound rather alien.’’

Korvan smiled and nodded his head at the question.

‘’That’s because they are alien names: they are the names under which they are designated by the sole intelligent species on this planet: the Krazts, the giant, feathered birds of prey that you may have already spotted.’’

‘’How intelligent are those, uh, Krazts?’’ asked another tourist.

‘’Intelligent enough to make stone tools, light fires, have a verbal language and even have a writing system of their own. They are carnivorous predators by nature and hunt fish and herbivores for food and can be both dangerous and deadly. However, they are also social beings who form small family groups, which in turn occupy distinct hunting territories, which they fiercely defend against other intruding Krazts. When the first exploration team arrived on this planet a bit over a year ago, one of our people was grabbed and nearly killed by a Krazts who had decided that she was going to be his next lunch. Thankfully, our team was able to free her and arrived at a sort of understanding with the Krazts family that considers this island as its exclusive hunting grounds.’’

‘’You sound like those Krazts are few and far between, no?’’

‘’You’re right, sir: the Krazts population of New Shouria is quite limited and is widely dispersed all over the planet.’’

‘’Their language and writing, can we understand it?’’ asked Janet Anderson after raising one hand high.

‘’Partially! Our exo-zoologists have been studying them covertly for months now, but we still have much to learn about the Krazts. If there are no more questions at this time, I will now let you approach those Gendus. Again, do not be brusque around them and do not try to pick one up. You may caress their mane gently but exercise a minimum of caution and respect their living space.’’

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That was enough to make young Terry be one of the first to walk to a Gendus and caress its back. After a first nervous twitch, the animal seemingly got quickly

accustomed to the boy and resumed its long grass eating, to Terry’s happiness.

Jake and Janet, on their part, approached another Gendus with little Lisa, protecting their daughter while allowing her to touch the animal. Lisa giggled as she caressed the pink fur of the quadruped, but the strong smell of the alien animal quickly made her wrinkle her nose.

‘’Pheww! It stinks, Mommy!’’

‘’Earthly goats also stink, Lisa, so that’s not really a surprise. It is however quite a quiet beast, I must say.’’

Jake was about to add to that when an alarm was shouted out loud by someone.

‘’EVERYBODY DOWN!’’

Having zero military training or experience, Jake’s first reflex was to look up instead of ducking. At the same time, a giant shadow passed over the ground as a huge bird covered with red, green and blue feathers overflew the group of tourists, flying very low. What Jake saw next horrified him: the Krazts, as it had to be, closed its hind legs’ claws around Terry, making him scream in both pain and terror, and started flying away with the boy. Seeing that their armed escort had his pistol out and pointed, Jake screamed at him, nearly hysterical.

‘’SHOOT! SHOOT IT!’’

‘’I CAN’T! I RISK HITTING THE BOY!’’

What happened next was truly stunning.

Flying in wide circles over the plain while looking for an appropriate prey that could provide supper for her family, Riak suddenly saw another Krazts, a fully-developed adult, fly in over the area, coming from the direction of the nearby continent. The sight of that other Krazts, instead of making her happy, lit anger and resentment in her: this was her family’s hunting grounds and had belonged to her ancestors for generations. For another Krazts to intrude on it, especially to hunt, was tantamount to a declaration of war.

‘’What is that Klallat Clan asshole doing here?’’ she asked herself, identifying the intruder’s family branch by the color livery particular to the Klallat Clan, which resided on the continent. She then saw the intruder swoop down, diving on a large group of bipedal creatures standing among a herd of Gendus. Her anger was then replaced by a mix of

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horror and apprehension as the intruder grabbed one of the alien creatures in its hind claws and started flying away with his prey.

‘’NO! THAT ASSHOLE IS GOING TO ATTRACT RETALIATIONS AGAINST MY FAMILY!’’

Forgetting about her severe size and strength handicap over the adult Klallat intruder, Riak then dove steeply on him while shouting a battle cry. The Klallat member, speeding away from the group of now screaming bipedal creatures, did not spot her until Riak violently rammed into him, her upper members’ claws extended out. Taken by surprise and also hurting as Riak’s forward claws gnawed into his head and neck, the Klallat let go young Terry Anderson, who then fell down on the ground from a height of about eight meters, the long grass of the plain luckily softened a bit his impact with the ground. Realizing that this was a fight to the death, the Klallat then retaliated with speed and brutality, beating back the much smaller Riak with his giant wings while biting her at the upper root of her body and right wing. Riak screamed in pain but then bit back her opponent, her toothed beak closing on the Klallat’s long neck and drawing blood. Her opponent’s answer to that was to jab her, using his beak like a swordsman would stab at an opponent with his blade. With the Klallat putting all his strength in that strike, his pointy beak actually punctured right through Riak’s right wing. He then planted his hind claws into her belly and made her fall to the ground under his weight. Riak slammed down hard on the ground, her back on the grass while pinned down by her opponent. The Klallat then threw back his head, preparing to jab his beak into one of her eyes, while shouting in anger.

‘’NO RORIK ATTACKS ME LIKE THIS AND LIVES!’’

Riak, immobilized and helpless, could only wait for the fatal blow to land on her and shouted a last, desperate cry for help. Just then, a loud crack that sounded like thunder resonated, while a sort of bolt of bright blue light struck the Klallat’s head, literally vaporizing it. The body of her dead opponent then fell backward, freeing her from his grip. However, atrocious pain reverberated from her punctured right wing and she found herself unable to get up.

The moment that Terry was let go by the giant, dragon-like bird, Jake ran to him and knelt beside him, putting his arms protectively around his son.

‘’Are you alright, Terry?’’

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‘’I…I hurt, Dad.’’ answered Terry in a halting voice, obviously suffering. Looking up quickly around him, Jake saw that the Krazts who had grabbed Terry was now engaged in a violent fight with the other, smaller Krazts. Next, he shouted at their tour guide.

‘’MY SON NEEDS A MEDIC, QUICKLY!’’

Korvan immediately grabbed his pocket radio on hearing that and started speaking urgently in it. The group’s armed escort, Mark Donovan, then carefully aimed his pistol and fired once. Jake, who had expected to hear the typical detonation of a firearm, was taken aback by the bright blue ray which cracked out of Donovan’s pistol. The damage it did, vaporizing the dragon’s head, surprised him even more. However, his sole priority now was his son.

‘’Can you get up, Son?’’

‘’I…I think so. My right upper arm and left side are hurting like hell, though.’’

‘’Here, let me help you: we must get to the cover of those nearby trees as quickly as possible.’’

Helped gently by his father, Terry soon managed to get back on his feet. That was when he looked at the smaller Krazts lying on the ground some thirty meters away, moaning with pain.

‘’That dragon…it saved me from the bigger dragon.’’

‘’Forget about him for the moment, Terry: you need to have your wounds treated.’’

The boy nearly replied to that but let his father help him towards the parked vehicles and the trees, where a nearly hysterical Janet met them and frantically kissed her son.

‘’My God, Terry, I was so scared for you.’’

‘’I will be okay, Mom: I only have a few scratches and bruises. That smaller dragon saved me just in time.’’

Looking up at the downed Krazts lying in the grass, Janet saw Mark Donovan approach it slowly with his pistol pointed. Terry also saw that and immediately shouted at the guard.

‘’NO, DON’T HURT IT! IT HELPED ME!’’

Donovan hesitated for a moment, then lowered his pistol, to Terry’s relief. He next returned to the group of tourists to inspect the boy’s wounds with practiced eyes and hands.

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‘’Hum, a few lacerations and skin punctures, plus a few bruises, but only light bleeding. Let’s disinfect and bandage those wounds while we wait for an ambulance.’’

After checking on Terry’s condition and leaving him in the hands of Mark Donovan, Korvan cautiously approached the smaller Krazts, which was still lying in the grass and moaning in pain. As for the other Krazts, it was definitely dead, its whole head gone. For a moment, Korvan’s eyes met those of the wounded Krazts and he saw only pain and distress in them. Taking a decision, he turned around and shouted at one of the Koorivar drivers of the safari tour.

‘’BRING ME A FIRST AID KIT, QUICKLY!’’

Looking back at the Krazts, he then said one of the few Krazts words that the staff of the resort had to learn on arriving on the planet.

‘’Friend… Friend.’’

The Krazts seemingly understood him and nodded its head in a very human way, then laid it back on the grass, apparently weak and exhausted. As soon as the driver had brought him a first aid kit, Korvan slowly approached the wounded Krazts while repeating a number of times the Krazts word for ‘friend’.

‘’Sarda… Sarda.’’

Walking cautiously around the left wing and head of Riak, the Koorivar knelt on the ground, next to where a large puncture wound in the right wing was bleeding, and opened his first aid kit. Watched by the now semi-conscious female juvenile Krazts, he sprayed some antiseptic over the wound, then started gently applying the largest bandage he had on it, while still speaking softly.

‘’Sarda… Sarda.’’

His gentleness and repeated claim of friendship apparently worked, as Riak did not attack him and simply watched him treat her, even though she was not sure what he was doing exactly. A delicate moment came when he found that he needed to lift Riak’s right wing from the ground in order to disinfect and bandage the exit wound. Looking up at his group of tourists, he signaled and shouted to his tour vehicle drivers.

‘’I NEED HELP HERE!’’

Three of the Koorivar drivers reacted to that and ran to him and Riak, but wisely slowed down to a slow walk once within a few paces of the wounded beast.

‘’How can we help you, Korvan?’’ asked the senior bus driver while watching Riak’s toothed beak.

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‘’I need to raise its right wing from the ground, so that I could bandage the exit wound in it. Go around me and, on my command, slowly and gently raise the wing by a few centimeters.’’

‘’Got it!’’

Changing positions took only a few seconds but the Koorivars hesitated a bit before raising Riak’s right wing, as the latter was now watching them while hissing softly. Working in unison and with about as much caution as if handling a venomous snake, the four Koorivars managed to finish bandaging Riak’s wound in a few minutes. As they were laying back down the right wing, one driver looked at Korvan.

‘’It seems in pain. Shouldn’t we give it some pain killers?’’

‘’We can’t! Unfortunately, we still know little about the local biology and what would be a pain killer for us could turn out to be a poison for this Krazts.’’ The air ambulance that Korvan had called for then landed next to the parked tour vehicles, with two medics, one Koorivar and one Human, coming out at once with a medical gurney. Watched by the anxious parents of the boy, the medics briefly examined Terry Anderson, then laid him on their gurney and carried him into their ambulance. Korvan saw the rest of the Anderson family go in the ambulance as well, electing to follow their kin to the hospital located in Khorramshahr, the newly built floating capital city of New Shouria situated within sight of their resort center. With that worry taken care of, Korvan then had two questions for himself: first, what to do now with the wounded Krazts; second, whether to continue this safari tour or discontinue it and return to the resort center. This present situation had no precedent to it and no protocols had yet been decided for such a case. Korvan then did what most people would do in his place: he kicked the problem upstairs. Grabbing his radio, he called the office of the manager of the resort center, getting an answer nearly immediately.

‘’Shouran speaking!’’

‘’This is Korvan, calling from the main plain east of the resort.’’

‘’Aaah, good! Mister Donovan advised me by radio some minutes ago about this incident with a Krazts. Is the boy now on his way to the hospital?’’

‘’Yes! The ambulance just left here with him and his parents. However, we have still a wounded Krazts here. I gave it first aid as best as I could but don’t know what to do next.’’

‘’Is that the Krazts who attacked the Krazts that tried to carry away the boy?’’

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‘’That one exactly. It is visibly unable to fly by itself right now and looks both weak and in pain. What should I do now? Also, should we stop the safari tour now or continue?’’

There were a few seconds of silence on the radio before Shouran answered him, sounding none too sure himself.

‘’Uh, concerning the safari tour, canvass your group of tourists to see if they want to continue or not. If there are any hesitations or doubts, cancel the tour and return to the resort with them. In that latter case, they will be reimbursed for that tour. As for the wounded Krazts, I frankly don’t know. This concerns after all a case with a sentient alien being. I think that I will contact Governor Mirkin about this. I will call you as soon as I get his response to this.’’

‘’Very well, sir. We will stay with the wounded Krazts and wait for further instructions. Korvan, out!’’

Pocketing back his radio, Korvan then looked at his drivers, who were still kneeling with him around the Krazts.

‘’I am going to see if our customers want to continue this tour. Stay with this Krazts for the moment and continue reassuring it.’’

Getting up and walking to the waiting tourists standing near the parked vehicles, Korvan signaled them to assemble in a semi-circle around him before starting to speak to them.

‘’Ladies and gentlemen, I am truly sorry for the incident that just happened. Know that the Krazts that attacked a member of our group was not from this island and was probably an intruder from the nearby continent.’’

‘’What about the smaller one, the one that attacked the bigger dragon and saved the boy?’’

‘’It is actually a member of the Krazts family known to live on this island. Krazts are known to be very territorial and live in widely dispersed family groups or clans around the planet.’’

‘’Is it seriously hurt?’’ asked a middle-aged woman.

‘’It is presently unable to fly, but I treated its wound as best I could and it should recover with time. I asked my superiors for instructions about it and am waiting here until I get fresh directives. Now, in view of this incident, I am asking you now if you wish to continue with this safari tour or if you want to cut the tour now and return to the resort center?’’

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The crowd of tourists looked at each other with indecision at first, with family members discussing between themselves about what to do. Korvan waited patiently as they deliberated and discussed the situation. The majority of the group then decided to continue the tour, to which Korvan nodded his head.

‘’Very well, ladies and gentlemen. We will do so as soon as someone comes and takes charge of the wounded Krazts. To those who have doubts about continuing the tour, I am offering you to return you to the resort center in one of our buses. What do you say to that?’’

The few people who were too afraid to continue the tour promptly accepted Korvan’s offer and loaded up aboard one of the vehicles. Once that vehicle flew away back towards the resort center, Korvan found himself waiting with his customers near the tree line, not knowing how long it would take for him to receive fresh instructions concerning the wounded Krazts. He thus addressed again the tourists in a loud voice.

‘’Ladies and gentlemen, it could take a while before the situation concerning the wounded Krazts is resolved. In the meantime, I can continue describing to you the various species presently in sight, if you would like me to do so.’’

‘’That Krazts, it is supposed to be an intelligent being, correct?’’ asked a young woman after glancing at Riak, still lying down in the grass some thirty meters away.

‘’Correct! It has about the intelligence level of an ancient Neolithic Human. This one also happens to be a juvenile female.’’

‘’Then, maybe we should try to comfort and reassure her while you wait for instructions.’’ suggested the same young woman, who was a kindergarten teacher by profession. ‘’After all, she risked her life to protect that boy.’’ A number of other tourists nodded and agreed with her suggestion. Then, before Korvan could react to that, some twenty tourists, including a majority of teenagers and young children, started walking towards the Krazts. Afraid that this could scare the wounded Krazts and make her nervous, Korvan hurried to get in front of them and make them slow down.

‘’Please, stay behind me and don’t make brusque movements or shout: it could make that Krazts nervous. Just follow me and stay silent, please.’’ Leading his growing group at a measured pace, Korvan further slowed down before getting really close to Riak and spoke to her while pointing at the group behind him.

‘’Friends… Sardass… Sardass.’’

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That seemingly worked, with Riak simply looking on as a small crowd started assembling and kneeling close to her head. A small girl of maybe five years hesitantly approached one hand, then gently touched Riak’s long beak and started caressing it. Korvan held his breath, ready to act if the Krazts reacted aggressively to that, but it stayed amorphous, weakened by her loss of blood. Encouraged by that, a little boy imitated the girl and also started caressing Riak, this time on its red duvet-covered head. The young kindergarten teacher grinned with joy on seeing that and looked at the preteen children around her.

‘’Hey, kids, what about singing a little song for our new friend? Do you all know ‘Little Kittie’?’’

A good half dozen young children enthusiastically answered her and, watched by a stunned but impressed Korvan and by Mark Donovan, started singing for Riak under the direction of the kindergarten teacher in what a late 20th Century American would have described as a ‘Kumbaya moment’. Mark Donovan’s jaw dropped open when he saw Riak shed what looked furiously like a tear.

‘’Well, I’ll be!’’

Some fifteen minutes later, as Korvan was offering water to Riak, who gratefully drank it, a large anti-gravity cargo platform landed silently next to the group, with two Koorivars and one woman climbing out of the vehicle and going to the Krazts and Korvan. The latter looked with surprise at one of the Koorivars and quickly got up on his feet to greet him with a bow.

‘’Governor Mirkin? I was not hoping for such high-level help. I am Korvan, the guide for this group of tourists.’’

‘’Well, this involves the sole intelligent race that we know of on this planet. I thus consider this as much a diplomatic affair as a humanitarian mission. I brought with me Doctor Kozak, our preeminent specialist in xenobiology on New Shouria, and Doctor Kimi Ideyoshi, a biologist working with Doctor Kozak and a specialist on New Shouria fauna and flora. They brought some special equipment to treat your patient. Could we talk, the two of us, while Doctors Kozak and Ideyoshi take care of our new friend?’’

‘’Of course, Governor!’’

As Mirkin was about to walk some distance away with Korvan to talk privately with him and ask him to describe in detail the incident, the governor noticed that a number of the

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tourists had multi-function data pads in their hands and were filming the Krazts. That made an idea pop in his mind and he spoke out loud to the assembled tourists.

‘’DID BY CHANCE ANY OF YOU RECORD THIS INCIDENT, IDEALLY FROM THE START, WHEN THE BOY WAS GRABBED BY THE BIGGER KRAZTS?’’ To his satisfaction, a good four hands rose from the crowd.

‘’THEN, WOULD YOU MIND IF I VIEW YOUR RECORDINGS AND MAKE COPIES OF THEM?’’

Again, he got a concert of approvals.

‘’EXCELLENT! GIVE ME A MINUTE AND I WILL THEN COME AND TALK WITH YOU, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.’’

‘’What do you have in mind with those video recordings, Governor?’’ asked Korvan as they were walking away together. Mirkin gave him an enigmatic smile in response.

‘’What I have in mind is some diplomacy, my dear Korvan.’’

17:15 (Universal Time)

Roriks family cave, Grand Island

‘’I don’t like this, Rork: Riak has now been gone for too long. Something may have happened to her.’’

Rork gave his mate Koory an indecisive look in response.

‘’Maybe she killed a big prey and is presently busy butchering it in smaller pieces, to bring one piece here and hide the rest somewhere.’’

‘’I don’t believe that. I am afraid that…’’

‘’MOMMY! DADDY! A FLYING BOX IS APPROACHING OUR CAVE!’’ The shouted warning from Kar, the younger male offspring of the couple, then made the two adult Krazts and their older son Koosh run on their hind legs towards the entrance to their cave, where they stopped on the rocky ledge forming a sort of open-air balcony and looked around the sky. As Kar had warned, one of the flying machines of the bipedal creatures now established on their island was approaching quickly. It consisted of an enclosed box at the front, with a flat platform with guardrails at the back. Koory’s blood surged to her brain when she saw a very familiar red and yellow shape in the back of the flying box.

‘’RIAK! SHE’S ABOARD THAT THING!’’

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‘’BUT…WHAT IS SHE DOING THERE?’’ wondered Rork, who could not think of a logical answer to that.

‘’I suppose that we will know soon enough. Okay, kids, stay calm and get back inside the cave. Me and your dad will handle this. Rork, we better take a few steps back as well, to let space for that thing to land on the ledge.’’ Rork did so, imitated by Koory, while both stared at Riak, who was now waving at them from the back of the flying box. The bipeds’ vehicle soon landed slowly and cautiously on the rocky ledge, allowing Riak to come out of it, along with eight bipeds. Strangely enough, the bipeds belonged to two distinct races instead of one. Koory then saw the prominent bandage fixed to Riak’s right wing.

‘’Riak, what happened to you? Why are you coming back like this, with bipeds?’’

‘’It’s a long story, Mother. Suffice it to say, one of those adult bastards from the Klallat Clan intruded over our island, bent on hunting over it. I saw him as he was grabbing a young biped who was playing with a Gendus in the Central Plain. His presence here angered me, plus I was afraid that this could bring some retaliation from the bipeds against us, so I dove on him and attacked him. He was unfortunately much stronger and bigger than me and he was able to wound me and pin me down on the ground. That Klallat would have killed me, if not for a biped who killed him with some kind of terrifying weapon that throws blue thunderbolts.’’

‘’Blue thunderbolts?’’ said Rork, unable to imagine such a thing.

‘’Yes, Father. The bipeds then treated my wound and gave me water after killing that Klallat bastard. The fact that my intervention saved their youngling apparently made them friendly towards me…and us. Since I still cannot fly by myself right now, they brought me back to our cave. They also want to show you something and give us gifts as a thank you for me saving their youngling. Their leader came with me to talk with you. He is the one with the red and white ensemble.’’

Both Rork and Koory snapped their heads towards the biped in question, who was slowly approaching them with three other bipeds, one of them being very different from the three others. To their surprise, that taller biped spoke to them in rough, broken but understandable Krazts words.

‘’We are friends. Our leader on this planet, Mirkin, wants to thank you for your daughter’s actions. First, though, we would like to show you images recorded during the incident involving Riak.’’

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A biped who was carrying a sort of large, flat object, put it down on the ground, atop a sort of tripod. He then touched a part of it, making a video record play, along with its soundtrack. Rork and Koory were then able to see by themselves what had happened, from the moment a Klallat grabbed a youngling biped and started carrying it away, to the moment it was killed just before it could kill Riak. There were also a couple of minutes of extra recording showing some bipeds giving first aid to Riak and with more bipeds singing for her. The whole thing both shook and moved deeply Koory, who understood that she had nearly lost her sole daughter today.

‘’Thank you for having helped my daughter, bipeds.’’

‘’It is us who must thank your daughter, Koory of the Roriks. Apart from bringing her back to you, we wish as well to give you a small gift as proof of our friendship.’’ Four of the bipeds who had stayed near the vehicle then picked up a sort of big box that seemed quite heavy and brought it forward, putting it down in front of the Krazts couple and then opening its cover. Rork and Koory nearly salivated at the sight of the parts from a butchered big Tar, resting on a bed of ice cubes. The tall biped then spoke again.

‘’Please accept this as a gift from us, Rork and Koory. Know that, from now on, we will know how to recognize you from other Krazts and that you will be welcome to visit us at any time. My kind is called ‘Humans’, while my friends’ kind is called ‘Koorivars’. In the name of Governor Mirkin, leader of the Koorivars on this planet, I again wish to proclaim you as being our friends.’’