Genellan: Planetfall

Chapter 32. Hudson Returns

Weeks went by slowly. Foliage on the margins of the lake thickened into the lush, deep greens of early summer. The humans listened nervously for the sound of airplanes—in vain. No aircraft appeared. But Dawson had a baby, a healthy, black-haired, blue-eyed boy named Adam. Sha

"Lieutenant," Sha

"And for yourself, too?" Buccari replied, watching MacArthur as he supervised the positioning of timbers alongside the rock piles. Cliff dwellers hopped about importantly, providing strident assistance. Her left arm was in a sling. After they had buried Jones and the monstrous alien, MacArthur had relocated her shoulder. Then he had held her tenderly, and she had allowed herself time to cry in his arms.

"And for yourself, too?" she repeated, turning to face Sha

Sha

"Certainly, Sergeant," Buccari responded, realizing there was no other workable answer. The integrity of the group was splitting, but not for the worse. Another emotional priority had emerged, a priority that superseded the essence of team or crew. A family had formed.

"We should build one for Tatum and Goldberg, too," Buccari said.

"And Lee and Fenstermacher," Sha

Buccari turned sharply and looked at the heavily bearded Marine. It was an honest, concerned face, paternal and frank. His implication was i

"Lee and I can still live together, Sergeant," Buccari replied hurriedly, cutting off her thoughts. "Leslie hasn't mentioned moving out of our tent yet."

"Lee's pregnant, too, Lieutenant."

She stared at Sha

She was speechless, but it did not matter; the sound of an airplane engine eclipsed all other thoughts and sounds.

Et Silmarn banked the abat in a gentle curve over the lake. Hudson pointed out the cove, and the massive pilot nervously grunted. The geometry of human construction was more apparent than ever; humans scurried about the clearing like disturbed ants.

Et Silmarn slipped the airplane toward the grassy slopes. Winds were strong and steady, and choppy turbulence rattled the airplane and its occupants about, but the pilot skimmed the tree tops and settled gently onto the hill, rolling to a bouncing halt. The kones moved quickly and efficiently, immediately refueling the wing tanks. Four sealed barrels of fuel were rolled across the open grass and placed within the tree line—provisions for future needs. As the kones worked, Hudson walked down the hill toward the human encampment.

"Huhsawn! Huhsawn! Stuh-hop!" Kateos shouted. The linguist had made remarkable progress. She trotted after him, Dowornobb and Et Silmarn close behind. The other scientists, spare pilots, remained at the plane.

"Huhsawn! Waytah fo-ah meee, pool-leeze," she pleaded, her helmet-amplified voice deep and resonant, but also hinting at nervousness. The titans shook the ground with their footsteps. Hudson smelled their fear.

"Wee go-ah witha yew. Wee see-ah more hewma

"Huhsawn! Look-ah fo-ah b-bears!" Kateos implored. "B-berry danger!"

Hudson concentrated on the phonetics and put them in context. "Right! Very dangerous! Follow me," he instructed. He walked over to Dowornobb and pointed to the laser blaster. "Be ready!" he commanded and pantomimed pointing and shooting the weapon. Dowornobb nodded vigorously, touching the big weapon suspended from a harness on his chest. Hudson turned and headed down the hill at a jog. The kones followed easily, trotting on four legs.

They met a solitary Buccari standing in an open glade of yellow-barked fir. Her jumpsuit was patched and cleaned, but faded stains streaked across large sections of the sun-bleached fabric. Hudson noted her injured arm and wondered why she had come alone, but as he drew closer he caught glimpses of Sha

"Ah, I was so worried, Nash. You okay? You look good!" "I'm good, I'm great!" he blurted. "Your arm. How's your arm?"

"Sore, but getting better. I can lift the elbow a little." She peeked around his shoulder at the colossal beings. "So, huh.. what happened? Are we friends?"

"Too much to tell, Sharl! I don't know where to start. They treated me well, but except for Kateos, they mainly just left me alone. They're suspicious and afraid, but, yeah—they're friendly." He pivoted to face the kones, waving at them to approach.

"You should hear Kateos speak Legion, Sharl!" Hudson exclaimed. "Amazing. You can hold a conversation with her. That's her specialty—languages. She's sharp! Real sharp! Dowornobb's not bad, either."

"So she is a female—did you say Doorknob?" Buccari responded.

"Yeah! Dowornobb. I'm not kidding," Hudson said. "That's his name."

"What now?" she said, checking the sun. "It's getting late." "Yeah," Hudson answered. "They plan on spending several nights here. Kateos says the most important thing is learning to communicate. She wants to talk. I couldn't get any more than that out of them. There are two more kones back at the plane. They'll come down later."

The mammoth, hulking beings towered above them, nervously watching. Their peculiar pungent odor came and went in waves.

"Damn, I forgot how big they were," Buccari said nervously. She squared her shoulders and bowed, holding her hands at waist level, palms upward—the cliff dweller's greeting. The kones replied in kind. The one called Dowornobb fumbled with his weapon, slinging it over his shoulder. They stood erect and Hudson formally introduced them.

"Welcome!" Buccari said slowly.

"Thang-ah yew, Sharl. Wee owe yew b-big thangs! B-big thangs to Sharl!" Kateos stepped forward and extended her hand. Buccari glanced warily at Hudson.

"I taught them to shake hands," he said. "And they wanted to know all about you, but they could never pronounce your last name. You're a hero. They say 'Sharl' real well."

"Yeah," Buccari said, her small hand disappearing in turn into each of the gigantic but surprisingly gentle gloved hands. "Let's go back to camp. We can talk better there."

"Yesss… talk-ah," Kateos said. "We talk-ah with Sharl."

Buccari smiled at the kone and turned downhill. She signaled and Sha

"So, how was the flight?" Buccari asked.

"Tiring! It took two days. I never did get that truck trimmed." "Huhsawn b-ber-ah good-ah…" Kateos struggled for the right word. "Pilot-ah…ver-ah good-ah pilot-ah."

"She is good!" Buccari complimented. Kateos smiled proudly. "And getting better fast," Hudson said. "Real fast!" "How is the injured, er. alien?" Buccari asked.

"They call themselves kones," Hudson replied. "He made it back alive and is doing well, or at least he was when he left the planet. There was an orbital lander sitting on their launch pad when I arrived—not a coincidence it turns out. It had been sent expressly to retrieve Et Avian—that's his name. Guess what, Sharl? He's a member of their nobility. You saved the life of a very important kone. They worked on him at the science station for about a week,gave him a lot of blood. Once he was stabilized they launched him back to Kon."