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Subspecies Chapter 2

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Subspecies



Chapter 2: Takeoff



The port was sheltered in a large dome-like facility which stuck up out of the rock soil like a bulb. Most buildings on 9.2329998470 were built below ground level because they were made during terra forming before the surface was habitable. Currently, outside was safe for Bauralai to walk about and tolerable for humans as long as they wore appropriate clothing to protect them from the excessive UV rays. The weather itself was usually mild, sometimes rainy, but not without the odd catastrophic hail storm which yielded ice stones larger than a human head, or ravaging hurricanes with an eye as wide as a city. It was because of these rare but destructive events that the Bauralai continued to build beneath the surface of the planet.

Amanda and Lawrence's shuttle was parked in a bay near the maintenance hangars; it sat on a pair of railings for support so that it did not scrape its belly; the shuttle lacked an undercarriage, being designed to hover above the ground.

The shuttle was small and roughly delta shaped, with bumps and nodules but conformed to the flowing aerodynamic look of most atmospheric capable spacecraft. It had just enough room for two bunks, pilot and co-pilot seats, and a very squashy equipment cabinet that could barely fit their environment suits and a basic supply of rations. The shuttle was slightly taller than Amanda and about twice her height in length from nose cone to rear. The outer hull had originally been coloured bone white, but had yellowed from exposure and use. The belly, nose and forward-facing edges were particularly browned from the heat of entering into countless atmospheres. It was well used to say the least.

Lawrence was already at the craft; he had the side door propped up and open while he circled about the shuttle doing a pre-flight check to ensure nothing vital was broken or missing. Lawrence had short trimmed light brown hair with specks of grey, though his face didn't look too aged. He was of average height, and had a muscular built, generally larger than Amanda in most ways. Amanda was shorter than Lawrence, and also somewhat beefy; but for whatever reason Lawrence was on a whole other level of beefy. She wondered how on earth he could possibly keep up the muscle with the amount of low-gravity ships and planets they often have to work on.

Amanda had known Lawrence only a short time. The pair originally crossed paths when Amanda had agreed to do work for the Bauralai 1.19s; she never usually stayed in the one place for long, but the 1.19s had satisfied her want for exploration with their planetary shuttle missions. They had been on a total of five assignments together; this was their sixth.  Most of their assignments were classed as scientific, and Amanda had been teamed up with Lawrence when she had first arrived on the 1.19s ship because he was more experienced and could fly small space craft. Seemingly satisfied with the results of Amanda and Lawrence's tasks, the 1.19s had seen fit to continue to team them up.
Lawrence had revealed a broad and relatively short overview of his past to Amanda through conversation. He had worked for different kinds of aliens in his life – not just the Bauralai 1.19s. Lawrence also achieved a level of independence not many humans could boast for themselves; he had gained his own small space craft and worked as a freelance jack-of-all-trades to sustain himself. Apparently though, his ship had suffered a great deal of damage from an asteroid strike, and he was in the process of getting it and the shield which had malfunctioned serviceable again.

"Good to see you Amanda," he said while inspecting a vent. "Get on the shuttle and strap yourself in, we're leaving as soon as I finish the inspection."

"Okay," Amanda replied. She took her environment mask off and hopped aboard; she had a spotty complexion, ginger hair, and a round cheeks. It wasn't mandatory to wear her environment suit where they were, but she preferred to be safe than sorry and so wore it almost constantly. The suits acted as life-support systems which could provide heat and breathable air and protect the user from extreme environments including the vacuum of space, and were for obvious reasons better than wearing plain clothing.

Amanda stepped into the shuttle; she had to stoop to prevent her forehead banging into the doorway. Directly opposite the door, a mere arm's length away, were the pod-like bunks. Amanda sat on the edge of the lower bunk and began to take off her environment suit. It was made up of several pieces: a flexible, soft, insulated temperature controlled body suit; rigid shoulder and chest pieces which interfaced with the body suit and served as the main environment control system; a face mask which could serve as a breathing apparatus in unbreathable atmospheres, and which also contained permanent communications device and visual aids such as a variety of filters including infra red, a HUD and vital signs. There was also the lower back and hip pieces, less rigid but still bulky, which mainly served as a utility belt with spare compartments, and was able to have a waste container fitted for long journeys. Amanda preferred to leave that piece off unless it was absolutely necessary.
She stripped everything off except her body suit and mask; the suit kept her warm and it was quite comfortable for trips in the shuttle, and the mask she wore as a precaution in case of decompression in the shuttle. The mask, even when not connected to the canisters of oxygen on her shoulder pieces, had a small reserve which could last ten minutes. For now, she just had the vents wide open so she could breathe in the air around her.

To prevent the pieces of her suit from bouncing about dangerously during flight, she locked her gear in the storage. Lawrence boarded too, and stripped down to the same outfit as Amanda. He sat down in the pilot's seat, and Amanda too co-pilot; her seat was wedged between the end of the bunks and Lawrence's seat, and was extremely squashy.

"Strapped in?" Lawrence asked, looking over his shoulder.

"Sure am," Amanda replied a little nervously. She hated taking off from planets; the gravity often made it unpleasant.

The engine started, and both crew members monitored the instrument panels in silent concentration. The shuttle wasn't a fully automated craft; it required thinking and a basic level of intelligence to fly in atmosphere.

"The power level is lagging slightly," Amanda spoke, pointing over Lawrence's shoulder to a gauge. "It should be fully charged by now."

"This is what happens when the Bauralai are lazy with maintenance and give us a mediocre shuttle," Lawrence sighed in frustration. "You'd think that if this mission was so important to them, they'd at least ensure we got given good equipment."

Eventually the gauge was reading as fully charged; Lawrence performed a systems check on the computer and everything came up as normal. After fifteen minutes, the shuttle was taxiing to the launch bay; it was released from the rack and allowed to hover. The pair would have usually felt a sense of relief at this point, but Amanda could see that Lawrence was still tense; she wasn't sure if it was the brief engine problem or what they had seen through filter 12 that caused his unease. She continued to sit quietly as Lawrence guided their craft through the large labyrinth of tunnels. As the shuttle gently turned around a wide corner, Amanda could see a tiny speck of light; this was the runway from which their shuttle would shortly be ejected into the sky.

The craft shuddered slightly as a winch attached itself to the underbelly of the shuttle; the windshield tinted to almost pitch black, and the engine hummed into action.

Amanda needed to say something to distract herself from the launch, so she asked Lawrence a question. "Lawrence, do you enjoy take offs?"

And then the light burst towards them, their bodies were forced into their seats and breathing was suddenly difficult. Their stomachs lurched as the shuttle followed the curve of the runway until it was nose-up to the pinkish sky.

"Not really," Lawrence's replied in a strained voice. "I can cope with them though. Mostly."
The shuttle became free of the runway, and the g forces increased as the craft's engine thrust them towards space; the planet's gravity was quite low and the atmosphere a little thin, allowing the shuttle to exit with relative ease.

The wind shield lit up with glowing blue writing and diagrams; it served as the computer screen. Relieved of the g forces, the pair was now in zero gravity; their straps held them in place to stop them floating about. Lawrence tapped the windshield's display, selecting the autopilot to rendezvous with the Bauralai science ship. Though neither Amanda nor Lawrence could see what was happening, they knew that the shuttle outside would be transforming; the wings would be retracting, small guidance thrusters would be emerging from the hull, among other things. When Lawrence was happy that nothing had malfunctioned during the space-flight prep, he and Amanda unstrapped their weightless bodies and began pushing and pulled themselves into their pods, where once again, they strapped themselves down. This time it was for a different purpose; so they could sleep with the feeling of being on a bed even though they were in zero g.

It was going take the shuttle a while to meet with the Bauralai ship; in the mean time, they would catch up on some sleep. Before succumbing to the need to rest their brains though, the pair discussed the mission to Planet 9.23.

"I don't like to admit it," Amanda spoke first, "but I am well and truly glad to be off of 9.23. It's sinister. The locals in the community houses I was observing were like wild creatures – they were nothing like the tame and collected 1.19s. Heavens Lawrence, you should have seen it when I switched to filter 12 - it was like someone had been in the buildings with a hose. There was blood everywhere; it was even on the ceiling, the floor, the walls, and all over the furniture. I could even see it on the people – especially the clothes of the 1.38s."

Lawrence turned his head so his face was almost angled down to Amanda's bunk. He asked in a serious voice, "What would you say if I said that what I saw could make that look like finger painting?"

"No way..." Amanda said in a hushed voice. "... What did you see?"

Lawrence went very silent; he hesitated a moment, unsure how to say it. Eventually, he asked a question. "Did you notice a lack of females?"

"Yeah, I took notes on it," Amanda replied, a bad feeling tingling her solar plexus. "I couldn't help but notice they were outnumbered twenty to one by males. It was very obvious and they didn't offer explanations when I enquired. Both human and 1.38 females were almost non-existent. Do you think they're knocking them off?"

"Yes," Lawrence agreed. "But it still gets worse than that."

Amanda waited for Lawrence to continue his story, but he didn't. So she prompted him. "Well...?"

"Okay, okay..." Lawrence rolled his eyes. Amanda was always asking questions and wanting to hear the gory details, even if it scared her shitless and gave her nightmares. "But no wetting your bed," he joked. "I don't want to have a shower of yellow rain when we return to gravity enabled conditions."

Repulsed by the imagery which Lawrence had described, Amanda booted the bottom of his bunk with her foot in protest. "That's gross. I've never peed myself in zero gravity!"

"Oh, are you implying you've peed yourself under the influence of gravity instead?" Lawrence laughed; he liked to stir his companion up sometimes, it was funny to hear her abusive replies.

"Very funny turd," she griped at him, "at least my poo doesn't clog the waste container's valves!"

Lawrence's face went bright red; he was very glad Amanda couldn't see him. "It's not my fault the Bauralai make such low grade equipment," he replied trying to sound dignified. "They've got interstellar space travel capabilities, but they can't design a portable waste container for human excrement."

Tears of laughter were leaking from Amanda's tear ducts; calming herself down, she returned the conversation back to its original topic. "Anyway... so what is it you were saying?"

"The 1.19s allowed me access the historical records of Planet 9.23," Lawrence started explaining, "including personal information of the locals such as health, for the purpose of assessing and comparing the changing 1.38 strain. When I noticed the disharmonised gender ratios, I specifically made a point of looking up their birth rates and female statistics. According to the data, female 1.38s are being born less, one in six to be specific, and are also spending most of their fertile life spans giving birth. The average 1.38 female gives birth to between twelve and fifteen offspring in their lives. In comparison, the 1.19s give birth to approximately four to five offspring; the 1.38s also have a longer gestation period which is twenty-five percent longer than that of a 1.19 pregnancy."

"Extended gestation is common is larger Bauralai sub species," Amanda commented, speaking her thoughts aloud to help digest the information. "But the high birth rate of 1.38 offspring is, frankly, absurd. A hormonal imbalance could spike such a phenomenon though. The more alarming statistic is their female versus male birth rate. One-in-six is a huge difference between the one-in-twenty that we observed. Perhaps the pregnant females are separated from the general population? In a hospital or something where we did not go. Though... human females were just as uncommon. Did you happen to look up human records, too?"

Lawrence was beginning to sound tired, but he didn't protest. "Yes actually, and they have almost identical figures. Except the gestation period has not changed for pregnant humans. It's very odd. But I've taken a copy of all the records to study further – I only had time to briefly read the information. I believe the 1.19s are actually a bit concerned by the 1.38 mutation, and that is why they sent us down there. I'd like to have some time to analyse the records more thoroughly before divulging my theories."

And that, Amanda knew, was as much information she would get out of Lawrence on the subject. She was inwardly annoyed; she almost thought for a moment there he would tell her everything. Lawrence didn't have to fill her in on the details, she was essentially just a worker that was meant to do as she was told and not ask why, but he had usually obliged her anyway; this time, he was holding back a little. She knew better than to push Lawrence; it was the Bauralai that called the shots.

It was always the same with the Bauralai; all commands, no questions, just do the job and you'll get paid. So many times she'd done just that – followed instructions without question. One time, on Planet 3.99, she was ordered to collect the mutilated carcasses of the local wild life. She was also warned not to get contaminated and had to remain enclosed in protective equipment, different to her environment suit... thankfully, she didn't have to find out what would have happened if she had become contaminated.

"See you when we get there," She called up to Lawrence; it was time to get some sleep.
"Likewise," he replied. Lawrence was snoring before long.

Tired, Amanda's thoughts drifted through her mind halfway between consciousnesses and dreaming when she closed her eyes and let her mind wander. Images of the 1.38 who nearly crushed her formed; it just stared... but there was a subtle expression on its face she hadn't noticed at the time – malice? She wasn't sure, but that particular 1.38 was obviously not a nice alien. Her muscles spasmed and her eyes snapped open, booting her back into full wakefulness; she experienced a sensation like she had dropped off a cliff and hit the deck. It wasn't the first time it had happened, but it was normal apparently. A Bauralai doctor said it was just something the human body did sometimes as it fell asleep. She closed her eyes again and fell to sleep.
This is the story I had previously called "Alien Hunting". I just haven't got to editing the first chapter yet but I will soon.

Alien HuntingAlien Hunting   Chapter 1: Planet 9.2329998470     Amanda had explored since she was very young. Her only requirement for long voyages was her environment suit and mask, which protected her from radiation and kept her body at a stable temperature, and fed her oxygen or filtered the air in less than healthy atmospheres. She had no idea where she had been born, or exactly how long she had been alive. Humans had not counted their ages in Earth years for centuries; it was unheard of in the new age.    Contrary to the luxurious and sophisticated ring to the term 'new age', the new age of humans was not

Changes from chapter 1 to be noted:

The "Quaralle" are now called the "Bauralai".
Lawrence's name is now permanent (I was thinking of changing it but decided to keep it).
And as stated, the story title is no longer "Alien Hunting", it is called "Subspecies". I finally found a title that fits C:

If anyone happens to have read Chapter 1 and finished chapter 2, please let me know if you feel it was anti climatic or if you were dissapointed by something you were expecting that didn't happen. I'm very open to polite feedback - afterall, what's the point of writing a story if no one likes it? It is vital for me to know what you think so I can edit and improve where needed.

Thank for reading! :blowkiss:
© 2011 - 2024 Tundra-Sky
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TranceNova's avatar
Hmmmm I did like it :) Very interesting. Though I am a little confused by why lawerence said 'I'll make what you saw look like finger painting', I guess I assumed that would mean he saw a massacre or something. The difference in Birth rate just didn't seem all that scary like he was making out earlier on, though I could just be being a little picky. Is harder to tell with only a few chapters.

In saying that it is also very well written, good work :)