The Nature of Predators [Book Chapter #2]

A/N - Happy Thanksgiving! When I opened up about my fatigue, people encouraged me to take the holiday off and to pace myself as needed, and I appreciate the support. I've decided not to post today or tomorrow for Thanksgiving at everyone's urging; phew, that's quite frankly a relief! The home stretch of a marathon is always where the legs want to give out, isn't it? I guess writing 12K words a week in the same universe for three years catches up to even me, especially with real-life BS hitting of late.

I intend to see this thing through to the end, certainly since that ending in sight, and I always want to do right by you guys. I hope you can forgive me for faltering, and that you've enjoyed the first notes of NOP2's swan song: big stuff coming out from the KC!

Memory transcription subject: Governor Tarva of the Venlil Republic

Date [standardized human time]: July 12, 2136

A shiver crept down my spine, and it wasn’t only the frosty breeze carrying from our planet’s dark side. The thought of standing in close proximity to a predator made my skin crawl, but it was too late to turn back now. All I could do was watch, with mute horror, as the human ship powered down, and a landing ramp unfurled. Emblems were painted onto the small craft’s hull; the FTL drive was rudimentary by all accounts.

It was a primitive vessel, but it was enough to bring the humans’ invasion to us. Soon, there would be no screen separating me from towering predators; it would be a miracle if these “explorers” didn’t gobble up the first living creature they saw. I’d confirmed via the Federation’s database that their kind ate flesh, so there was no questioning what they were. The primates marched onto Venlil soil, and I suppressed a whimper. This felt like a nightmare I would wake up from at any moment.

Noah and Sara marveled at their surroundings with wide-eyed fascination. Their gaze lingered on the intricate mansion behind them, then shifted to the city silhouette in the distance. The way they physically rotated their head to look around was uncanny. The menacing eyes of a predator didn’t quite offer the peripheral vision we enjoyed, that much was clear.

There was no way they were appreciating the beauty of our architecture. An ominous thought crept into my mind; were they only landing to scout an invasion? I could picture the chaos unfolding in the wake of these humans’ arrival. Perhaps General Kam had been right to suggest shooting them down, before they could have their pick of the prey. 

A slaughtering race of cruel hunters, at my place of residence. I wish I could pass the leadership token to anyone else, rather than interact with these things.

Noah’s eyes landed on our diplomatic envoy, and he stalked toward us without further hesitation. He…had I really just called that thing he? I guess I was trying to play the part, just as the hunter was pretending to be benevolent. Nobody could look at such a monster, and see anything besides calculated malice and hunger. I wanted to melt into a rock, realizing how tall and muscular he truly was in person. 

Sara was juggling a series of instruments, collecting data on the soil and the atmosphere. While I knew she was mapping the conditions for military action, at least her “scientific” pursuits kept her from stalking toward us. The curly hair blew in front of her binocular eyes, disguising them; the human tried to push them away with frustration. It was a little amusing, though I worried about minor annoyances setting the beast.

There were a mere three individuals present: me, Kam, and my diplomatic advisor, Cheln. I knew it was a pitiful showing, but it had been next to impossible to persuade anyone to tag along. This was far from the standard Federation first contact. What were you supposed to do when monsters, who were believed to kill themselves off, showed up at your world? I was scared witless, yet the chore fell to me.

“Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no,” Cheln sobbed, fighting back tears. “I don’t want to die! They’re gonna eat me f-first.”

“Hey! Listen,” I hissed. “We need to act normally. No fear, and no emotion.”

Kam flicked his ears in disgust. “I can’t believe you invited them here.”

“We are buying time for the Federation to arrive. If we have to fight them, it’s better to have support. To have people know what’s going on, in case it goes awry. This is a war species, Kam, not the masters of running away like us! Not scared, feeling people–this ruse must have a point. I don’t understand predator rituals, but maybe this greeting is testing if we’re prey.”

“My stars, Tarva, how can you even look at them? You want to speak to those…creatures, for hours?”

“Of course not. But the other option is another war with predators, and we see how well that’s worked out with the Arxur. If there is a slight chance to avoid bloodshed, I will take it. Happily.”

“We should’ve blasted that ship out of the sky, while we had the chance. If you expect me to welcome these humans with open arms, that’s not going to happen.”

“You are not to antagonize them. Are we clear?” I growled.

Kam huffed, and I feared that was an answer of itself. There was no time to persuade him though, as the two humans had closed within earshot. I prayed that the advisor would come to his senses, and keep his thoughts to himself. We needed to put our best foot forward, if we wanted to get rid of the beasts peacefully. It would be just like the Venlil general to pull some stunt, such as calling in exterminators or other local outfits to “handle this.”

Kam has been a respected member of my campaign team for years. I hope he wouldn’t overstep my authority, but these are extraordinary circumstances.

Keeping up the appearance of strength was important, if only to discourage the humans from decimating our home. Trying to rile them up was a different story; that was nigh suicidal. Predators thrived on the assertion of dominance, so I doubted they’d turn down a blatant challenge. Cheln presented the opposite problem, about to have a breakdown at their proximity. This contact could go horribly wrong; it took one wrong human for the humans to pinpoint us.

Noah’s cheekbones were defined against his furless skin, tipping me off to the powerful muscles in his jaw. Sara bore softer features, with her delicate nose and chin; then again, that was like saying that drowning was more fun than burning. That is to say, I’d prefer to experience neither. They wore a series of odd pelts with insignias, though it didn’t appear to be a vac suit. They were clever enough creatures to figure out our world was habitable to them through scans.

“Governor Tarva.” Noah stopped a few paces away from our group, and flashed his teeth. Bony structures jutted from the back of his dark brown hands like knobs on a tree trunk. “It’s lovely to meet you in person.”

My heart pounded, fear coursing through my veins like a dreadful cocktail. It hadn’t been a misremembrance; he had actual, pointed canines! There was not a worse visual cue in the galaxy than flaunting one’s fangs, and that was without having the teeth of an abomination. The threat a snarl communicated felt much more tangible in person. I swayed on my feet, trying to fight off the light-headedness.

It took a great deal of concentration to steady myself, with the most primal parts of my brain triggering the flight-or-freeze response. A thud sounded beside me, which I realized was Cheln hitting the pavement. My diplomatic advisor fainting was not a good look, and I knew that. Even Kam had his ears pressed against his head, earlier bluster forgotten. I never thought I’d see the Venlil general afraid.

Wonderful, I thought. So much for behaving normally.

Noah’s eyes stretched wide, and his mistake seemed to dawn on him. He quickly covered his mouth with a hand.

“Um, sorry,” the predator captain muttered. “I didn’t mean to startle you. Are they okay?”

There was no way to salvage the optics of this one; the humans definitely realized we were afraid of them at this point. I don’t think my plan could have collapsed in a more disastrous manner. The initial idea of surrendering crept back into my mind, since pretending to be of equal mettle as predators had backfired. Whatever the Terrans’ ulterior motives were, there was nothing to deter them from taking what they pleased.

The strange thing was, Noah seemed more distraught than amused. This species was slower to pounce on weakness than the Arxur. Perhaps there was still a chance to salvage the meeting, or explain away the behavior?

I flicked my ears, trying to calm myself. “Yes, he’ll be f-fine. This is just—a bit overwhelming.”

“Aliens landing on your planet. That must come as a terrible shock.” Sara exhaled heavily, before scribbling something on her notepad. “You’re handling this quite well, all things considered.”

“I can’t imagine what this would be like without your translator,” Noah said. “Please, forgive us. We’re new to this whole first contact business.”

“Thanks for that insight, Captain Obvious.”

“It’s true, and maybe it’s not so obvious to them! Transparency is important. I don’t want any more misunderstandings to spoil such a historic moment.”

“Then I’ll put it plainly to Governor Tarva. Our first contact protocol is three pages long, and bringing it up in serious company is usually met with childish giggles. In a lot of ways, we’re making it up as we go. Honestly, I think we were starting to believe we would be alone forever. I don’t know why I’m telling you this.”

“I don’t either, Sara,” my military advisor growled.

Kam! You cannot directly challenge them. And…why would humans care if they were “alone forever?!” Do they want exotic prey that badly?

Sara, curiously, avoided eye contact. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to give the impression that we don’t have our act together, I just…right, why don’t I give you a minute?” 

Kam knelt by Cheln’s side, trying to rouse him. Given that the nurturing trait stemmed from compassion, that wasn’t the sort of behavior to exhibit in front of predators either. I had to nip this conduct in the bud, or else the primates would think mercy was commonplace. That answered what I should do, but how could I leave a man to die in the cold? How could I chastise my military advisor for basic empathy? That level of cruelty was beyond my sensibilities.

Noah stooped beside the fallen diplomat, and I braced myself for the worst. Predators placed no value on sentient life, not even their own; the Arxur taught us that much. It was obvious the human thought we should abandon Cheln, rather than allow weakness to tarnish the gene pool. Perhaps he would take the liberty of dispatching the diplomatic advisor for me, or take him as a prize.

“How can I help?” were the only words that came out of his mouth.

I gaped at the human in disbelief, certain I had misheard. Where were the derisive comments, making light of Cheln’s condition? The same, empty look was in his dark pupils, which sent a shudder down my spine. Noah’s hungry eyes gave the impression that he was seeking out the fatty parts of the unconscious Venlil’s form, as those innocuous words came through his guttural voice.

“You’ve helped enough,” Kam spat.

Noah lowered his head. “I’m sorry. It was an accident. The last thing I would ever want is to hurt someone!”

“It’s alright,” I jumped in, before a quarrel could break out. “I apologize for my advisor’s behavior. He’s a bit…on edge.”

“I understand,” the male human said, with a despondent sigh. “I fear I’ve ruined this whole thing. We just want to say hello, and I know we have so much to learn.”

“Noah meant no harm.” Sara patted her companion on the back reassuringly. “Seeing an alien culture firsthand…it’s the opportunity of a lifetime. You have no idea how excited we are. Clearly, that wasn’t expressed in the best way.”

“Yeah. You should do the talking for a bit. I promise, I’ll try not to cause any more offense…low profile, and all that.”

“Noah, relax. Take a breath. You’re doing great.”

The humans’ behavior was growing more baffling by the minute. Everything in the Federation’s database suggested this was a base, violent species. I thought they wouldn’t be able to turn their weapons against us fast enough. While their visual cues aligned with that assumption, their temperament seemed otherwise mellow.

Why maintain this ruse? If they were probing for weakness, as I hypothesized, they had already seen enough to arrive at a conclusion on that front. I was beginning to think I didn’t understand their intentions at all.

Perhaps these predators were capable of higher brain functions than we gave them credit for.

“Can you help us carry Cheln inside?” I took a deep breath, waiting for my translator to catch up. “We’ll give you a tour after that.”

The humans nodded, and positioned themselves to shoulder the brunt of the weight. A faint hope stirred in my chest, seeing the extent of their act. They were in no rush to finish us off! That meant we had time to wait for the cavalry after all. It could also mean their space program truly wasn’t advanced enough to conquer us yet; I wouldn’t signal for Kam to make a move until I was certain of that.

When help arrives from our distress message, we can let them sort through the details of just how these monsters slipped through the cracks. They can gauge the threat, and we’ll decide how to protect the galaxy as one herd.

I knew the Federation’s response would be harsh, when they found predators traipsing about the Venlil homeworld. Their actions would be along the lines of Kam’s suggestions: shoot first, ask questions later. The only reason this particular species hadn’t been wiped out, was we believed them to be extinct already. But the plans to obliterate Earth were drafted centuries ago. Eradicating humanity, in one fell swoop, might still be possible.

We only needed to stall the landing party a little longer. What would happen to Noah and Sara next…well, an attempt would be made to capture them for scientific study. If the task proved too difficult, a special ops team would be sent to dispatch them. It would be absurd to allow predators to continue to roam our world, and defile quarters meant for actual dignitaries. These were bloodthirsty animals, which needed to be treated as such.

A strange guilt tore through my stomach, at the thought of the humans tied up in a lab, or worse. It was a misguided sense of empathy, but...

They are predators! They survive by killing species lower on the totem pole. They literally eat flesh, I scolded myself. These humans slaughter each other, all the time, anyways.

“Thanks for your hospitality, Governor.” Sara cleared her throat, locking eyes with me. “These mishaps are just a stumbling point between two peoples with different customs and sensibilities. We’ll come to understand and cherish our differences, if you let us.”

I cleared my throat. “I, um, appreciate you c-carrying Cheln.”

“Don’t mention it. It’s a no-brainer to help, when one of you is in need. If there’s anything we can do in the name of friendship, just ask. We want to put our best foot forward.”

“W-why would you help?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do. Kindness begets kindness, to quote one of our philosophers. Maybe that’s a human way of thinking—I don’t mean to force my morality on you.”

I fell into noncommittal silence, sensing treachery in her words. From the Federation’s dossier, we knew that humanity’s history was anything but one of kindness. This could be a trap to provoke an admission from me of our empathy, by framing it as common ground. Sara’s eyebrows slanted down, and her jaw muscles tightened. Perhaps the predator was displeased that I hadn’t wandered into her apparent deceit.

“Never mind that. You seem like a civilized people, and you’ve been kind to us both. The rest can follow.” Sara twirled a loose strand of hair around her ears, and cleared the threshold of the mansion. The predators were still carrying Cheln, though they’d paused for a respite. “Regardless, I am hopeful for our future. I can tell our species will be great friends, one day.”

The twinge persisted in my heart, thinking once more of what would happen to the human astronauts. It was a seed of doubt, planted against all logic. What they were saying, apart from their appearances, matched with a normal demeanor I’d expect from a prey species. The mere sight of these creatures disgusted me, but what if we were wrong about them? Wasn’t my intention to avoid bloodshed?

“Yes…friends.” I flicked my ears in agreement, and tried to bury my conscience. “I hope we will be.”