Alien Cradle, Jeff Inlo [graded readers .txt] 📗

find them? Because they weren't there. That's what your scout proves. But how'd they get there if they didn't colonize?"

The questions did little to invigorate Rath. If anything, the words began to buzz in his ear like the lecture of an uninspired speaker. He didn't care about the Fenrites, or how they ended up on the planet. He just wanted to tell his story to these pirates and move on. Within his fatigued state, he could not fight back a yawn.

Opal smiled again, this time with a little less warmth. She handed back his wristband and his portable. "Here, you can have these back. I see you're getting tired, so I won't bore you with anymore considerations."

At a possible point of conclusion, Rath perked up in his seat. "So what are you going to do? Are you going to issue the information on the coms, threaten Regency, what?

"That's not up to me."

Rath almost slumped in defeat. "You're going to have to talk it over with Angelo."

"Of course. The important point is that the events on Fenrir are being covered up. It's a weakness for Regency and that can be exploited. He'll know what to do. As for you, I'm going to ask that you stay with us, for a while longer anyway. There may be more questions. Angelo may wish to speak with you directly. I'll have someone take you to a private room where you can rest. I'm afraid I can't tell you how long this may take. You understand we have to be very careful in what we do next."

"Yeah, I understand." Rath sighed. He didn't even watch her as she left the room.

Fenrite Progress

Dr. Farmer was perhaps most intrigued by the progress of the smaller Fenrite moon colony. The twenty seven Fenrites showed distinct signs of agitation after they explored the full length of their containment biosphere. Once certain of their numbers, they fell into a state best described as depression. They made obvious references once again to "Mother" and how it would be impossible to find her.

In direct contrast, the Fenrites in the large biosphere displayed no such reaction. They worked furiously. Just as on the planet Fenrir, their advances were near miraculous. Mating and reproduction rates also closely resembled the findings from the original colonies on Fenrir. In a very short period of time, every Fenrite within the larger biosphere was working toward accelerated growth and development.

The smaller population showed no such diligence. They dropped into a state of inactivity and every Fenrite died within a very short period of time.

Dr. Farmer tired again with a slightly larger number, but again the Fenrites found nothing but depression when they discovered their limited resources in both population and natural reserves. Even after increasing the population size one last time, he could not establish a successful colony.

He sent a report to Dr. Sinclair stating he was closing down the smaller biosphere, but he felt that the experiment constituted a finding of some importance.

Dr. Sinclair mulled over the growing status reports. The Fenrite colony was still growing in the large biosphere, but the small one was now defunct. Dr. Farmer offered a few theories, but nothing that explained the accelerated advancement of the larger colony. More disturbing, the moon based colony still in operation was making steady advances beyond industrialization. The engineers that constructed larger biosphere had deposited resources within the sphere similar to that of Fenrir, but most were in limited supply. The Fenrites seemed to understand this almost immediately. They recycled everything, nothing went to waste.

Industrious little buggers.

"And still no explanations," the doctor growled. "They can report all the marvelous progress, but they can't tell me why."

She scanned further down her reports. She nodded confidently at the analysis on the failed nuclear attack on Fenrir. At least something had been accomplished. Tying the success of the Fenrite anti-missiles to the use of the flares allowed for certain assurances, an understanding of how not to proceed with future attacks.

That thought immediately brought her attention to the contingency plan for a quick destruction of Fenrir, if necessary. Biological weapons were an unspeakable horror, their very existence betrayed the will of science, but their ability to destroy the Fenrites with few questions asked made the plan at least palatable.

Security was also a reasonable success. There were a few research techs that had to be dealt with harshly - killing was also a far cry from her perceptions of science, but the results of discovery would be far more disastrous. For now, she felt quite comfortable with those that knew the truth of Fenrir's origin and remained alive.

The matter of Rath Scampion was not as simple, though it seemed to be coming to its own acceptable conclusion.

"It's a damn good thing Jack kept a tab on our little scout," she muttered to herself. She examined a copy of the message sent by the SH-4, the call for an immediate offensive against Semele. That would solve a good many problems. Rath would be removed and the destruction of the pirates would alleviate other problems as well.

The Authority and Regency Govern still locked horns over several matters. Giving the Authority a new target would hopefully smooth over the incensed tensions.

Overall, most of her objectives were being met, that is accept for the one question which proved to be the heart of this very disaster. There remained no answer for the Fenrite advancement.

In large hangars and within underground research centers below Fenrir's surface, the Fenrites applied what they had learned from the invasion of the melees. They utilized a new understanding of flight dynamics and propulsion theory. They had not witnessed the utilization of a Boscon Prop, but they had observed and recorded the melee's use of gravitational thrusters and stabilizers. They worked furiously on adapting their own crude inventions, on modifying their own designs to develop a more worthy space faring vessel.

The invasion of the melees brought them great devastation, but it also brought them greater knowledge. They recovered the downed missiles carrying megaton nuclear warheads. They examined these devices to create weapons of their own.

They scanned the heavens continuously with each new discovery. They could not find the invader, but they could sense them, almost smell them. They knew the enemy was still lurking within their grasp. It was their aim to increase their reach, and to ultimately even the score.

The answer came as an accident. They did not expect to find the Fenrite laboratory. It was a simple chance exploration of an apparent mine shaft. A geologist wanted to ascertain the mining techniques of the Fenrites.

Dr. Farmer raced into the observation room. He eyed the images with equal parts of anxiety and delight.

"Can you sharpen the image?" he asked with a tremble to his voice.

"That's as sharp as I'm able to get. You have to remember, I don't have a direct line of sight. I'm using reflective imaging."

"That's fine, it's alright, I can see clear enough to know what they're doing. Remarkable."

He studied the activities of the Fenrites as well as their surroundings. He was silent for a moment, but he longed for more.

"Can you rotate the picture? Get a view of what's behind here and perhaps closer to this corner."

"That I can do," the tech responded with a hint of pride. "We're bouncing white light through the shaft. The Fenrites can't see it, but it's allowing for a full 360 degrees of vision. We're recording everything so we don't miss anything. We've also located a secondary access tunnel. It appears to be just a ventilator shaft. We're using the light imaging from there to gain a three dimensional perception. That way, we can see behind corners."

"Good, good," Farmer hummed. He watched the view screens intently. He constantly asked for a wider angle. He looked at every component and every apparatus in the lab. He muttered at the inconsistencies, but reveled in the efficiencies. The oversized glass bubbles filled with embryonic-like liquid brought him near ecstasy.

He could not withhold his exuberance. "Can you believe this?"

The tech shook his head. "No sir, I cannot. But it can't possibly work."

Dr. Farmer just smiled. "It won't work, not at this stage. It's just a model. But it is the mark of a beginning. Just like our own beginning, how we started out when we began the process outside a living host. This lab is a remarkable find."

"But why in the ground? Why out of our sight? Do you think they know they're being watched?"

"Maybe, maybe not. They might have just had a natural instinct to dig down. In the womb, so to speak. But that is rather irrelevant. Get a request to the science vessel back on Fenrir. Have them make visual checks of all the Fenrite underground facilities. It may not be working here, but I bet it's working there. The truth is that we've found their 'Mother'."

Two messages at once for Dr. Sinclair. Neither one of them brought a smile to her lips. Her pudgy cheeks shuddered as she sighed heavily in exasperation.

The first note came from her sources near Fenrir. The Fenrites were experimenting with space flight. They had already achieved self-propelled satellites capable of adjusting their own orbit, as well as discovery probes directed toward neighboring, uninhabitable planets. Now, there were reports of orbital shuttles, experimental spacecraft piloted by the Fenrites themselves. Not what she wanted to hear.

It was also not what the Authority wanted to hear. The same message alluded to growing Authority intolerance toward letting the situation fester. If the Fenrites were reaching for the stars, then they were becoming an even greater risk.

The second message offered little solace. Dr. Farmer had transmitted a priority call with little additional information. He wanted her presence immediately at EMOF. Nothing further was included.

"I don't have time for this," she mumbled.

In the end, however, her curiosity got the better of her and she requested an immediate transport from her earth headquarters to the moon-based Fenrite observation post. Before she left, she sent her own message to the liaison with the Authority. It was voiced into a courier directive.

"Don't let them do anything stupid. We knew the Fenrites we're going to achieve space travel. It was only a matter of time. There is no conceivable risk to the Authority Planning Station at this time."

She shook her head, not truly expecting anything of great consequence from the message. The Authority was going to do what it wanted. She just hoped they'd wait long enough for her to find some more information. Maybe it was good she was going back to the moon. She wanted some answers and Dr. Farmer had enough time to find them. If not, there'd be a new geneticist in charge before she returned.

Dr. Farmer ignored Dr. Sinclair's abrupt entrance. He barely heard her bellowing demands for long overdue answers and her curses to assistants that got in her way. His focus remained fixed upon the recordings of the Fenrite cloning laboratories, both the active ones from Fenrir and the model on the moon colony. He requested computer generated comparisons between them and with the cloning facility used to create the Fenrites back on earth. The results were not surprising.

He was blurting out statements to no one in particular, not even truly aware that Sinclair had entered his office. "They're so close. It's like they used our cloning lab as a blueprint."

Sinclair's