Readyworld

fiction by michael werneburg

"ETA fifteen seconds," intoned the soldier through his external speakers. Then we heard the whine of the approaching shuttle. While the soldier scanned the stairs and the paved square that separated the main complex from the nearest outlying buildings in the downtown, Lena and I watched the shuttle come in.

It landed without ceremony directly in front of us, its stern pointed in our direction. The hatch on the back opened, and the soldier commanded, "Board now!"

We made our way down the stairs, past the bodies. On the way, I noticed a different kind of form among the six-legged-predators and odd human. It was one of the aliens, clearly dead. Its suit was scorched with blast marks, probably from a human energy weapon. Only a small part of its body was exposed, and that was the bloody stump of one hand. The exposed skin was grey in the dim red light. The glove that had covered it lay about twenty centimeters from the mangled arm.

As I stepped over the dead creature, I bent over the form and snatched the glove that lay on the stairs. From its weight, it felt as if there might be a finger or two still inside its—ugh—eight fingered shape.

We clambered through the outer hatch, and into the lock.

Inside the shuttle, we found maybe forty people crammed inside the thing's relatively small interior. We found ourselves standing near the inner hatch of the lock, with the soldier and a crowd of hysterical support staff that had obviously been rounded up in the main complex. People were crying at one another, and everyone looked miserable. I pocketed the glove and put my arms around Lena. From the looks we were getting the addition of a screaming baby to the situation wasn't winning us many friends.

When I noticed Alain Hu standing only a meter away, I asked him, "Any idea what happened down there?"

"It's not just what's happened on the surface!" the man exclaimed wild-eyed. "The Inas Dorge has detected a ship in orbit. I heard one of the officers make reference to it! We've made contact; Humanity's not alone."

I shrugged at the geologist. "We always knew we weren't, ever since we found this place. Christ, Alain, you wrote the book on the making of this world, didn't you?"

"Well, I contributed," he muttered, a life-time of cautious professionalism snapping back into the fore.

Which reminded me, I had things to discuss with the man. Some discretion would be required, however. I looked up his profile for any secondary languages we might have in common. Hmm, Japanese. Not exactly a rarity but it would do.

In that language, I asked, "Dr. Hu, did you file your report?"

He gave me a startled look but responded in the same language. "I did. I think my report will generate large revenue. Thank you very much for the suggestion to use a vacation."

Despite Lena's sobbing and Sonia's cries, I laughed. "I thought I saw Dr. Hu making some last minute vacation plans."

He smiled at me. "Does Dr. Neilson have anything more to file?"