June 4th

“The forest is thinnest by the river. By following the river upstream, we can perhaps find out if there are any natives on this planet,” I said as I walked to the APC that the captain lent us. While the leadership was in turmoil, we had enough soldiers ready for the recon mission. Other than Scarlett and me, six soldiers were joining us. We didn’t get their real names, so they went by their callsigns.

Firstly, there was Hawk. He was an expert sniper. Unlike Scarlett, who was proficient in dual-wielding pistols, he was best behind the scopes of his sniper rifle. Aloof and quiet, it seemed that he wouldn’t be making any friends anytime soon. A permanent scowl was on his face, which I noticed when he entered the back of the APC.

Second was Wheels. She had a devilish grin on her face as she hopped behind the driver’s seat. With the nickname she had, I had no doubt that she was the driver.

Third was Four Eyes. Named for the glasses that were on his face, he was clearly brought on for his mental acumen rather than his physical abilities. He was not as muscular as his fellow soldiers, which was a surprise to me. It was a sign to me that the military must’ve accepted several people who didn’t meet standards. Not that I met standards myself, but I thought the actual army would be in better shape.

Fourth was Bear. Unlike the former, he was tall and very muscular. So muscular, in fact, that I wondered if accepting him was a mistake. He was too obvious of a target that brought another problem. He wielded a minigun, but that wasn’t very useful in recon. Suppressive fire was only worthwhile in an all-out war. Nevertheless, he got into the back as Four Eyes sat down next to Wheels.

Fifth was Vixen, which was going to get confusing. She wasn’t as pretty as the name would imply. Instead, she carried a radio set with her along with a black jumpsuit. I could only assume that she was here in case we needed someone to infiltrate an enemy position while doubling as the communications officer.

Lastly, there was Mule, named for the fact that he was our quartermaster and medic. While a decent shot and competent in his own right, his medical knowledge doomed him to play a support role on this trip. At the very least, he made sure we had enough equipment to last a few days along with the weapons and ammunition to sustain a limited firefight.

Scarlett hopped into the back of the APC and asked, “Does anyone know why they thought it was a genius idea to lend us a woman nicknamed Vixen on this trip? I swear, people are going to mix the two of us up.”

“Not my fault. I choose the callsign before I even knew you existed,” Vixen replied as she tied her black hair into a bun. “Besides, I’m pretty sure they will call you by your name if they want to talk to you. It’s too easy to mess up that they’ll be careful.”

Scarlett crossed her arms as she sat down facing her. “I hope.”

I hopped in and sat down next to her. I clapped my hands and shouted, “Wheels, start heading off! We’ll be following the river!”

“Roger that!” she shouted back as the APC roared to life. Before long, it started rumbling through the woods.

Looking out, I could see the simple beauty of the land. Despite being an alien planet, the vegetation was Earthlike. Plants were green with flowers in bloom. Bugs buzzed about outside, about the same size as the ones on Earth. We didn’t see many higher lifeforms, but I could see several species with flight abilities. Some were birds, but there were also several batlike creatures that flew around in the daytime. Perhaps mammals were more capable of flight on this planet than ours. If that was the case, it would have to be despite gravity being identical to that of Earth.

Many things about this planet were too coincidental to be believable. The air was perfect while no deadly diseases have made themselves visible. It seemed that my speech that the planet was made for us was a bit too true. However, there was still the fact that most of the planet was cold. We were lucky to land in the temperate region that nestled itself around its equator.

My ponderings were interrupted by Bear asking, “Quentin, what is your battle experience?”

I turned to face him before scratching my head. The question he posed was simple, but it belied a lot. He probably meant it as in the context of small-unit tactics and modern warfare. To be honest, I didn’t have much experience in that department. Most of my battles were too chaotic. To reply, I sighed and explained, “I’ve fought a decent number of battles, but they weren’t conventional by any means. It was typically a desperate affair attempting to get away from the enemies. Not much that would be useful in a war situation.”

“Then it’s time to learn, sweetheart,” Vixen replied with a giggle in her voice. Scarlett growled at her as she scooted against me.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Listen here, woman!” my wife growled as her ears went against her head, “Quentin is mine! Got it?”

Vixen scoffed, “Please! When he looked for a foxy wife, I’m pretty sure he didn’t mean it literally! He’s probably looking for some reason to divorce you! However, I’m too high maintenance for him!”

“Shut up!” I shouted back before pointing an accusatory finger towards her. “Scarlett may look more doglike, but I think I know who the real b**** is here!”

Everyone in the APC gasped as they looked at me. Even Scarlett looked shocked by my outburst. Seeing everyone’s face filled me with shame. Calling a woman the b-word was something I wasn’t supposed to do. I sighed and walked to the door of the transport. “I just need a breath of fresh air,” I explained before opening it and jumping onto the roof of the vehicle.

Once I was on the roof, I looked at the blue sky and sighed. Back on the Odysseus, as I called the spaceship, I let other people fight my battles. I knew I needed to stand up for myself, but now I couldn’t moderate my tone. For some reason, I had a level-head when reacting to General Moore’s horrific plan, yet here I struggled to counter someone arguing that I didn’t love Scarlett. It was infuriating when people treated my wife poorly, but it wasn’t an excuse to demean a woman like that. My mother always told me to never insult a woman, especially with that word.

I took deep breaths to calm myself. The birds singing in the trees along with the hum of the armored personnel carrier helped calm my nerves. Wind rustled the red leaves of the trees and I could even hear something roaring in the woods. The planet was noisier than the wilderness on Earth, but that could’ve been since it was untamed. It was a shame that large amounts of forest would be chopped down to make space for human habitation, but that was the way things went. I just needed to make sure we made some nature preserves to protect the native wildlife from us.

“Quentin, I’m sorry,” I heard Scarlett say. I turned to watch her walking over to me before sitting down next to me. She sighed. “I…I got jealous. I was afraid Vixen was going to steal you, and that worried me. It shouldn’t have. You had a whole year to cheat on me if you wanted to, but you chose not to. It’s just… it’s just that I’m self-conscious about my appearance. I know you find me beautiful, but I’m not normal and never will be.”

I pulled her in for a hug. “Scarlett, I don’t blame you. You have everything to lose if I ever betrayed you. I should be ashamed of myself. I let my anger take over. Vixen is a woman that’s quickly getting on my nerves.” My voice was slowly shifting to a snarl as I continued, “She seems to enjoy ticking you off and flirting with a married man. And then she bragged about being high maintenance. People typically don’t brag about being needy. At least they didn’t before I was abducted.”

“Tell me about society changing,” she replied as she scratched the back of her head. “Those fifteen years I spent in space hid me away from the cultural changes that have redefined the way we live. I still have to be careful that I don’t accidentally insult someone.”

I laughed and said, “Times will do that. For instance, I found out that my best friend before I was abducted had children with two different women. It was especially awkward since he wasn’t dating anyone before I left.”

Scarlett chuckled. “That’s rough.” Her laughter faded before she asked, “Did you get him off-world? I’d hate for him to die.”

I frowned as I rested my head in my hands. “I told him and he agreed to leave with us. I don’t know where he is now, though. For that matter, I’m worried about my family. I didn’t see any of them at our landing spot.”

I felt a soft hand rubbing my back. I closed my eyes as Scarlett whispered, “They’ll be fine. Since they were relatives of an important passenger, they’ll be somewhere nearby. We can search for them on our free time.”

As peace washed over me, I looked forward only to be startled. The APC slowed to a stop, reached a full stop right in front of a large bird. I hopped off and walked towards the creature.

The creature looked like a raven with very dark blue feathers that could be mistaken for black. It stood at four and a half feet tall. Unlike any bird I’ve ever seen, the wings seemed to double as hands since it was carrying a bow in one of them. Such a thing should’ve been impossible, but I’ve seen many things that should’ve been scientifically impossible.

Realizing that my SAD was on, I bowed and announced, “Hello, native of this planet. My name is Quentin, and I’m a human. We’re settling this planet in order to escape the cataclysm that’s befalling our home planet. Can you take me to your leader?”

What I got in response was just a few squawks from the avian alien as it lowered its bow. At first, I was surprised before I remembered the obvious. I facepalmed as I said to myself, “Stupid! Of course the creators of the SAD didn’t know about these aliens! They’re too primitive to register! Not even the ship we took could pick up their presence!”

I was interrupted from my musing by Vixen walking up and saying, “I expected such. Now then, let me show you why I’m the communications specialist.” She pointed to herself as she looked at the alien. “Human.” She then pointed to me and said, “Human.”

“Who… man?” the alien asked as he set down his bow and pointed at Vixen and me.

The woman nodded and said, “Human.”

It seemed that the alien realized what the term meant. It was going to be a long process, but at least there was going to be progress. However, I shivered as I knew what this meant. The planet we landed on was inhabited by a native species. Knowing Earth’s history, this stage meant that countless tribes dotted the world. Combined with all the different languages they spoke meant that communication could be an exercise in futility. While I could get the SADs to register the language these aliens spoke, it would be an arduous process. And there was the ever-present risk of war. That was the most distressing part.

In an all-out war, humanity would emerge victorious. It would lead to the death of millions of aliens. Their fate could be tragic like that of the Native Americans or worse. We could also be the harbingers of extinction. There was also the fact that humans would want to colonize every inch of this world, since there was now a new shot at life.

While our future was bright, the one of the native inhabitants seemed bleak. I would need to take steps to prevent mistakes of the past being repeated.