Chapter 20

..[ MATIVO ]..

I had expected it from the moment I got invited to the third planet’s capital for a banquet. What I hadn’t expected was the amount of banquetness I would be thrust in to. The Head of the Ingu’smans, that was a tough one to come out, had gone above and beyond in his attempt to outdo his neighbors further out. But I had come with a few surprises of my own, which was clear on his vaguely human face from the moment we met. I was just waiting for him to ask me to know what the surprise what. Because, I too, didn’t know.

After the unnecessary lengthy introductions that both sides’ spokespersons argued were necessary, we settled for the feast itself. Because it would be only eating, drinking, entertainment, playing, talking and repeat. Of all those things, I only enjoyed one of them. And not to an extend that I would do it all Day everyDay.

Mondhe stuck to me like she had been tied with a rubber band. Even when Sylvia pulled her away for something or another, she would soon return. I asked her if she wanted to go back. She said she could take it. She never said that even during the most grueling training I had put her through. I just hoped I wasn’t ruining her. But I had seen her complain, if things got too much, I knew she would say something. I just didn’t understand why she thought this was something she had to get through.

At the table, she sat to my left with Sylvia to her left and Jacy to my right. All the other one-fifty members of the crew had brought with me where distributed across tables spread all over the banquet room. There was no high table anywhere; maybe a favorable spot. Our table had ten people and only the four of us were members of my crew.

The rest were the Head, Ngu’mbi, and his family. His wife, Asyo’wi, sons Nzolo and Fuse, and their daughter Lu’mwe. And the translator. She was needed for the few instances our foreign language comprehension failed us. She was also Ngu’mbi’s sister but her name escaped me.

In general, the Ingu’sman had a humanoid appearance. A tall two-meter frame braced by under-feathered wings on both sides, but only if they were sexually mature. It was easy to tell the difference between a wing with no under-feathers and one with them. Even if the wings were furled. Other than the wings, the only other place I had seen with feathers was the head. Maybe they had some underneath their unisex vest and pant clothing; I couldn’t tell. Those came in as many colors and patterns as anyone could imagine. The clothing, and the feathers.

The feathers covering the head where were hair was for a human. Without a beard of course. On the forehead, the feathers narrowed to a thin line dropping between the eyes and ending at what appeared to be a small nose. It was so small I wondered if it sufficiently supplied them with enough air. Especially when in flight. They also had thin small mouths, nearly half the size of the average human mouth. But when they talked and laughed, they opened just as wide as a human’s. I didn’t have the time or opportunity to count or read on them, but their teeth appeared small in size but not number.

I had seen eyes with iris the color of deep red, with the other extreme being a dark green. Any color within that range was equally represented. There were reports of blue eyes, but they were said to be too rare. I hadn’t seen any eye color that could be considered blue. The eyes themselves were circular things with no whites. Only the iris and the black pupil. For the children, they looked too big for them, and on the small side for the adults.

They had no visible ears.

The only time to tell the difference between the sexes was when they achieved sexual maturity. And that was with the under-feathers of their wings. They were big and stretched far back and outward when the wings were extended, but remained compact otherwise. For the males, they were completely black and a bright red for the females. Some females appeared to have slightly larger wings, but it wasn’t really that visible. It could be that they learnt to stretch their under-feathers further out than others.

For the non-adults, they all had smooth heads and wings with no under feathers. Making them incapable of flight. They also had slightly shorter wings. For the adults, fully extended wings were at least three times their standing height. The non-adults couldn’t even make it to two times.

Because of their wings, they kept their arms folded placing the hands at chest level most of the time. They only moved the hands mostly, the forearms only when they wanted to extended their reach. But that was enough to outreach a fully extended average human arm.

“I don’t know you had other species,” Ngu’mbi said, turning his blood red eyes at me. The same color as his daughter’s. His wife and sons shared a light shade of green, though Nzolo’s appeared a tad yellowish.

“What species is she? And the other one with the extra eye,” the translator spoke for him as he pointed at Mondhe and turned to look around the room. Looking for the Sientian I had brought to the banquet, I supposed.

I began with the Sientian, “She is a Sientian, we found them on a planet around eight thousand light-Years from here.”

“How long ago was that?” the wife asked, through the translator.

“Hmm…” I couldn’t remember.

“Eight Years,” Jacy answered for me.

“Took you that long to get here?” Nzolo asked.

“No.” Sylvia answered before I could. “A Year ago, we were around five thousand light-Years from here. But we had to go back and refurbish.”

“Why not continue?” Ngu’mbi asked.

“It would have taken us over fifty Years to get here. We weren’t exactly going in a straight line.”

“Her. What species?” Lu’mwe, the daughter asked. She was the youngest. If she were human, I would put her at around ten Years old.

“Mondhe. She is—” I began.

“The Princess!” the daughter exclaimed. And at the same time our food arrived. As the waiter left, I returned to the conversation by first correcting Lu’mwe.

“She is not the princess.”

“She is your daughter, isn’t she?” the wife asked through the translator. Her manners so good I couldn’t tell whether she had swallowed first or not.

“No—”

Mondhe decided to speak then, “But you are my guardian, that makes me your daughter.”

“That is not how it works and you know it.”

“Don’t listen to them. Ke’a ni ite’nya.” Sylvia spoke over me. And I was sure that the last part meant ‘she is his daughter’.

“She is…”

“A hybrid. Human DNA and a base animal DNA. A cheetah for me,” Mondhe finished for me. I had been trying to come up with a name for the hybrids and it was proving difficult.

“What is a base animal?” Nzolo used the translator this time.

“A less intelligent animal, with way less cognition compared to us. But with desirable characteristics.” I said.

“But she doesn’t appear any less intelligent than the rest of us?” the translator asked for herself. Her English was much more fluent than I had heard from any other translator. She must have been chosen for her linguistic capabilities.

“That’s because she took the best of humans and the best of cheetahs. With a bit of moderation not to go overboard and have an attribute become a hindrance,” I said looking at Mondhe as she tore through a bird leg with no finesse at all.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Though Lu’mwe seemed to be faring no better. But judging by the looks she got from her mother, it must be a habit her mother was trying to train out of her. And Mondhe wasn’t helping at all.

“How long does it take to become a crew at your ships after a new species joins The Empire?” Nzolo asked through the translator.

“Five Years.”

“And then you become crew?” he asked directly, excitement peeking through.

“Not exactly,” Jacy said as I had gotten busy with a leg of my own, and Sylvia was trying to teach Mondhe table etiquette. “Five Years is to qualify to take the Grade Tests that allow you to be part of the crew. Some people get lucky, like Mondhe. She was born on the ship, but when she reached the minimum age for the Tests she still had to take them to stay. If she had failed, she wouldn’t be here today.”

“So you all take this test?” Ngu’mbi asked.

“Yes. Any one you see in this room has taken and passed at least a Grade Three Test.”

“Okay. That should be enough for those curious about exploration. Now, for what concerns me. What is life like under The Empire?” he asked through the translator.

Sylvia perked up at that, leaving Mondhe to her legs. This was her forte, and I wasn’t going to bother pretending I was an expert at it.

..[ JACY ]..

Jacy was strolling the streets of Tan’gta, the capital city of Mu’sma, the home planet of the Ingu’smans. The avian species. The name, at least, was shorter than Kiratakurad, the capital of Komenga, the third planet.

In Tan’gta, things were different. The standard of living was slightly lower than that of citizens of Kiratakurad, but the citizens looked happier. There was open laughter and play compared to the seriousness found all over the third planet. The general mood uplifting.

She got so absorbed in enjoying herself just walking through the streets that she hadn’t realized when it got to night time. The street-lights kicked in early in the late evening to make the transition seamless. Unless one paid close attention. Which she didn’t.

They had accommodation in one of the hotels in the more affluent parts of the city. Her navigator told her she was around two kilometers away, accounting for the turns and roundabouts. She began a slow walk back wanting to get a feel of what the Ingu’smans’ night life was like. As an observer.

But her dream of nighttime observation was a little short lived than she would have liked. During the day, the Ingu’smans had been able to see her from a far and give her a wide berth. Not like they were avoiding her, more like they were afraid they might offend her in some way. She had asked. A consequence of staying with Mativo was that she tended to ask questions more often than not. Especially if it was about something that could concern Mativo.

But at night, they could barely see her. Even in the more than adequate lighting offered by the street lamps. That, and the fact that no flying was allowed during nighttime. They had closed in on her and their two meter frames were just too big for her to see anything over. Packed together like that, it was easy to forget that their wings could stretch to six meters when fully unfurled. She just wished they could unfurl those wings and create spaces between them enough for her to waltz through.

She gave up on her tour and decided to just head back to the hotel. It wouldn’t do for her to be absent for their third and last day of banquet. They had been invited for a three-day banquet at the Head of the Ingu’smans compound. That was where the hotel was located at. It served the Head, and all other senior members who lived within the compound. It was also used for Very Important Guests, which they were.

She got out of the way of the near jostling natives and creeped along the walls of the shops along the streets. Occasionally traversing the mass of overgrown people to cross streets as she got closer to her destination.

At one such crossing, she got carried by the flow of people and watched as her navigator showed her turn a few unnecessary corners before the mass receded, and left her leaning by the wall of a shop. She found herself at an unfamiliar street, but the good news was that she had gotten closer to her destination at least. As she got back to walking, she saw an Ingu’sman suddenly disappear through an alley, twenty or so meters ahead of her. She thought she had seen someone grab them, but she couldn’t be sure. Looking around, the few glances she saw directed at the alley told her some had seen it. It was fine, nothing to worry about, she told herself. But just to be safe, she took a wide berth of the alley as she passed it. A few steps past, she turned for the alley, deeply cursing herself.

The alley was darkly lit, but at the end there was a light from a street there shining through. It wasn’t a dead end as she had thought. But luckily, or unluckily, the ones she was looking for hadn’t made it that far. They were talking fast in their native language, making them harsher to her ears than they truly were.

There were three of them, and a fourth standing with their back against the wall. The lack of any distinguishable features meant that they were all late juveniles. Or at most young adults. They didn’t have any weapons on them, at least not that she could see. They were dressed in the common vest and pant pairing she had noticed. But in the dark light it was difficult to tell what color they were. She still approached cautiously, making her presence known early in advance. After all, she wasn’t looking for a fight, only a de-escalation of the situation.

When she finally got close enough and stopped, one of them barked something at her. Her Ingu’snan was way too rusty to understand what they said.

“Can’t you call this off for another Day?” she asked them as politely as she could master. She knew they wouldn’t understand but she had to say something.

She only got another of those barks. They hadn’t even bothered to look at her. She switched gears.

“Look, leave them alone and I won’t hurt you,” she added a little sternness to her voice for effect. When that got nothing, she spoke one of the only few phrases she knew. “Vetha oi kan’ ong’we!”

It meant: run away or you die. She had been told that in the first day of the banquet. She got a response and from what she picked up, it had words found in two other phrases: ‘Get out of here or we will kill you’ and ‘Come join us in our feast’. They all seemed to fit the situation fine to her. And even mixing up the words would still get her a pretty on context response.

The one closest to her gave two punches to the victim’s torso, somehow still keeping their wings furled. She moved to stop a third from landing, but had to back away as the other two turned to her. Her nanobots were writhing in anticipation of the coming confrontation. She knew it was her brain’s way of letting her know she was primed and ready, but she sometimes found herself thinking of them as separate beings from her. Unlike Mativo’s, her view was clear of any and all Augmented Reality shenanigans. Her chip was only allowed to enhance her surroundings, not tell her her internals.

One of them threw a punch and she went to knock it out of the way. Only, she felt it give away too easily. And they went down writhing, screaming in such a high pitch she thought her eardrums might burst. What had Mativo said? Sixty? No, thirty for humans. She looked at the writhing avian. Maybe less? When she looked up, the other two had taken several steps from her, and were looking from their friend to her and back again.

She motioned for the victim to follow her as she slowly backed out of the alley and onto the street she had come from. She walked hurriedly for a few meters before leaning against a railing and taking in a few breaths.

“Thank you.” She was startled back upright by the familiar phrase in an unfamiliar area. She turned back to find the victim only two steps from her with a face that had taken a few hits. But they were mastering something akin to a smile.

She started to move but stopped when they said, “The’m.”

“What?” she asked in confusion.

Then they pointed to themselves, and said, “Name. The’m.”

“Them?” That was a weird name. But who knows, it was a strange place and strange things happened in those places.

“No. The’m,” he corrected, stressing it more for her.

“The’m,” she said, slower this time, trying her best to get it right.

“Better.”

She decided never to address them, The’m?, by their name ever again. Plus, she needed to know how to tell the gender of not-adults. Sylvia had told her many times. Many many times. But it never seemed to stick. She decided to go with the more assured method,

“Male or female?” she asked pointing at them.

“Male,” he said, after hesitating for a few seconds.

“I’m Jacy.” She decided to return the courtesy. But it wasn’t needed.

“I know.”

“Okay,” she said. She pointed to the general direction of the hotel, “I’m heading back to the Heads’ compound.”

“Walk with?” he asked.

And she didn’t have any issues with it, so she agreed. Unless he decided to attack her. But she was sure she could take him out. Their gravity was at 0.91G, but somehow their bones were weaker than she would have expected. She began walking again, and with The’m by her side, it was as smooth as daytime had been.

“So, why did they attack you?” she asked as they walked.

“Me different. Don’t want you here, unlike most.” His grasp on English was way better than she expected. They hadn’t been in the stellar system for two Months and he could already speak so much.

“Your English is good.”

“Government spread document, media. People study and learn,” he said. “Why English and not Asumbĩan?”

“First, the native language for the Asumbĩ would be Kĩsumbĩ. And second. That is tough. Huh…” she tried to think about the history of the English language and came up blank. “How many languages does Ingu’sman have?”

“Three. Ingu’snan, Sese’snan and Oinan.”

“Imagine Oinan was more common than Ingu’snan. Of course, it isn’t as simple as that. When you learn more about us, you will know.”

“Reading history of The Empire. Very interesting.” He really stressed The Empire part.

“Have you read about the World Wars?”

“Yes,” he simply said.

“Millions died.”

“War means death. More people, more death. It is fact.” There was no emotion behind the statement, like it was just that, a fact.

She decided to change the topic. “Why don’t you want us here?”

“Don’t know you yet.”

“So, if you get to know us, you will want us here?”

“Maybe.”

She liked him already for his straight forwardness. It was a more common trait among the Ingu’sman, but not universal. Sylvia said it is that they were brought up like that. Whatever the reason, she was appreciative.

They continued towards the compound slower, not because of impediment but because she wanted to know more.