Chapter 3
Wondrous. That was the only word that could describe what I was seeing as I stepped out of the ship.
Like any tropical rainforest the foliage was lush, but the colors varied from Earth’s, some a hue I couldn’t quite name, the shade somewhere between colors I was familiar with.
Cliffs rose above us for what must have been a quarter mile, higher than the tallest skyscraper.
Violet vines interlaced with some type of greenery draped the length of some cliffs while others were left untouched, raw, towering golden rock.
“Wow.” Tatiana breathed next to me. “Is the bark of those leafless trees over there purple?”
Jaron came up next to us. “I’m not sure about purple, almost like an iridescent gray-purple.”
“Let’s go.” I hefted my pack onto my shoulder and nodded at the shrines and massive stones that had my attention. These were what we had come here to study. A part of the vorpyr civilization that had once been on this planet.
Dr. Wu was already walking that way, down the middle of the canyon, and we fell in behind her.
It would take us a few minutes to get there from where the spaceship was parked.
To my right, large birds with reptilian features and blue-green scales and feathers hopped from a cliff ledge and frolicked with one another in the air.
I turned my attention to one of the military officers that had his laser rifle held in front of him, carefully watching our surroundings.
“Are there any known animals that we need to be worried about?” They hadn’t been keen to speak to us during the trip, preferring to stay in their cabins or in what I found out only a day ago was a community room just for them in the belly of the ship, with workout equipment, a kitchenette, and some gaming tables.
No wonder they’d managed to avoid every one of my researchers and our questions for the entire week in space.
He didn’t even spare me a glance. “It’s a vorpyr planet. Of course everything’s dangerous.”
Well, ok then. That was reassuring. I frowned and shook my head. Was there an arrogant asshole requirement to get into the Consortium Military?
My frustration was quickly forgotten as we came to the shrines.
Massive stones shot up from the ground and had areas etched in the vorpyr language, which was a unique blend of swirling letters and hard slashes.
A clear stream, narrow enough to be hopped over, ran through the grouping of stones and shrines, and the monuments themselves were huge and elaborate, with arches and pillars guarding the solid stone slabs that sealed the shrine closed.
I wrote my initial observations and thoughts, preferring the old-fashioned way of documentation with a pen and paper clutched in my hands, and got to work on the language. Time flew by as I focused on my research.
“Dr. Monroe.” The voice sounded irritated, as though this wasn’t the first or even second time my name was called.
I blinked and peered up at whoever was pestering me. “Yes?”
Dr. Rasmussen looked as exasperated as he sounded.
“Can you please tell those clodhoppers not to walk near this area? They’re stomping around on all this beautiful flora and one even broke a precious, vase-looking thing that was possibly an offering.
Who knows how old it might have been? Wildlife in the vicinity erupted and ran away at the noise. They’re disrupting everything.”
I had been afraid this would happen. The dance with the Consortium Military was a delicate one. For one, they were providing the ship and protection, an astronomical cost. Second, they had weapons and surly attitudes. Not that that had ever stopped me before.
“I’ll go speak to the captain.”
I got to my feet, dusting off the soft blue silt and tiny blue and lavender flowers clinging to my hiking shorts, and made my way toward the captain who was speaking to an officer outside a white canvas tent they’d set up in our research area.
I glanced at Dr. Wu as I passed. She wore soft, five-toed shoes and seemed to leave almost no damage in her wake.
Maybe I should suggest those to the Consortium tagalongs.
When I got to the captain the other man glanced at me and left. Keeping all judgment from my voice, I let him know what had happened and asked him to have his group move back so the site could be preserved.
“I will remind you that you and your little posse of researchers are under our command and should be grateful to have us here. Do you want to know how much getting that ship off the ground costs, let alone a week’s worth of travel?” He looked entirely too smug and self-assured.
“And I will remind you,” I said patiently, ignoring the angry heat building in my chest, “that this mission was extended to me. Your people are getting something they want out of this, too. And for all of us to get the thing that has us unified,” I waved a hand to encompass the significant site behind me, “we need to have our processes and the space we’re working in respected.
” I held his gaze as his expression dipped into a scowl.
“Move back from the research area.” he barked so loud I jumped. He gave me a satisfied look before marching away.
“Petty man.” I muttered, going back to my work.
Before making it back to the etched words I was studying, a particular shrine caught my eye.
I changed course and stopped at the base, gazing at the details that had caught my eye.
Delicate petals of some type of flower with white blending out to yellow on the edges were threaded together with what looked like silver gossamer in a complicated weave.
It clung along the stone arch and simply stopped at the base, not growing out of anything.
Turning, I looked carefully at the other shrines. A few had something similar, with variations in the braid work and colors of the petals. One even had colored stones instead of petals entwined in the gossamer thread.
“Marcy?” I called to Dr. Vergara, who was unsurprisingly crouched near a patch of green and taupeish grass with a massive microscope set up on a portable table right behind her.
She jerked her head up and blinked owlish eyes. “Hmm?”
“Would you come look at this for a moment?”
My exobotanist came over, brows raised in interest. “What did you want me to see?”
I pointed. “These aren’t growing out of anything, right? They’re not like moss?”
Her brow furrowed, and she marched up to the stone that was decorated in the beautiful display. “Hmm. How interesting.” she mumbled. “I don’t think it’s growing at all. Hmm.”
Worry wiggled in my gut. “If you see a plant that has flowers similar to this or to the ones decorating any of the shrines, would you tell me?”
“Of course.” she said absently, still closely studying the beautiful creation.
“I imagine you can’t tell how long a flower petal like that could be off of its stalk without dying?”
“Not unless I can study the plant.”
“Ok, let me know if you find one. Thank you.” I walked back to my area, shook off my feelings of foreboding, and immersed myself in learning all I could about this species, starting with their language.
Hours later I called my brother over. He had a sappy smile on his face.
“What are you grinning about?”
“I love this place. Look.” He pulled out his camera screen and an image popped up.
I crowded close as he turned it toward me.
At first I thought it was just huge leaves and thick jungle greenery, but then I noticed it.
A tiny face peered from underneath a leaf.
It was cute, like a sugar glider, only much more colorful, almost like a peacock, and it had feathers instead of fur.
A peacock sugar glider. It wore a curious expression as it stared toward the camera, toward Jaron.
“How precious.” I breathed.
“Isn’t it?” Jaron looked at me and then back at the screen, still smiling. “Look at this.” He swiped and showed me another image, this one of a stunning bird. The same kind as the ones I saw frolicking in the air when we first got here, only this one was up close.
“Unless you’re right up next to it, that thing is big.” I commented.
“It is. It’s like a dinosaur bird.”
I agreed with him. He continued to show me pictures, delicate flowers, other birds—it looked like they also had a version of a parrot here—and he’d even captured the colors of those strange, nearly iridescent purple-gray trees.
“Did you do any actual studying, or just take pictures?” I asked, giving him the side eye and withholding a grin.
“I will have you know that everything I've done has been for research purposes and is of the utmost importance.” he informed me in a haughty tone.
I chuckled. “These will be wonderful to show people.”
He cast his gaze around us. “This place is like nothing I could have imagined.” His voice held a tinge of awe and I had to smile, I felt the same.
“Come here, look at this.” I showed him the images carved into stone. “These hieroglyphs are only included with some of the lettering. Aren’t they interesting?”
“They’re very detailed.” Jaron leaned close, squinting his eyes as he studied them. “Do you see the edges here?” He pointed around one of the images. “It doesn’t seem like any type of chisel was used.”
I studied the edges that he pointed out. “You’re right. There’s a roughness to it. A shakiness and start and stop that makes it unique.”
“Do you think they carved this with their claws?” he asked.
I hadn’t considered it, but from what I knew from my original research, the vorpyr, while being highly evolved and intelligent, were a tactile and warring species.
They liked to get up close and personal in all they did.
It would make sense that they would carve the stones of those they cared about themselves.
“That’s certainly a possibility.” I agreed.
When it was finally too dark for any of us to continue and the officers were getting anxious about being out past nightfall, we all trooped back to the ship.
We discussed our findings over dinner. At one point the co-pilot walked by and I heard a muttered “nerds”. I had to contain my snort of amusement.
My mind drifted to the vorpyr and I regretted that we couldn’t study their language and culture of today.
I was delighted with this project, but I hated that we were at odds with an entire species.
After this I should see if I could get on a ship to visit other aliens.
I’d had a couple of job offers from conglomerates who wanted an expert on culture and language to come along for their meetings and negotiations with other species, but the thought of working for one of them made me cringe.
Maybe it was time to put my pride aside.
It might even give me an opportunity to better help Jaron and his new lobbying endeavor.
All I knew was that a change in my life was needed, and this trip just solidified that fact.
“What has you so lost in thought?” Jaron was sitting next to me and picking over his pack of food.
“I was thinking how nice it would be to study the current culture of an alien species.”
He made a sound of agreement in his throat. “Maybe someday you will.”
Hopefully sooner rather than later.