Return to Krell

"It's alright big guy, I think we're safe for now. Thanks for backing me up back there..."

More than simply succeeding in diffusing the situation with the Broker, her relief was twofold. Now she could explore the planet without the looming threat of retribution hovering over her head, she could do the work that she had been sent here to do without having to play the role of a secret agent. Now that the truth had been uncovered and she had come to an agreement with the Brokers, her real visit could now begin.

Lena took Sleethe's hand and led him back towards the village, the crowd of Krell now dispersing. Just like Sleethe, they had protected her when they had sensed a threat. Far from being a simple ceremony, her induction into their tribe had made her a very real member of their extended family in their eyes, their circle. It gave her a new appreciation for their primitive ways.

"Now that we can put this whole business behind us," she said as Sleethe lumbered along beside her, "what say you and me go find some more specimens?"

***

The suns were setting in the sky when Lena and Sleethe returned to the village. They had spent the rest of the day trekking through the swamps in search of new specimens, and they had come across some choice plants and insects for the stasis containers. Lena was nude, caked in mud up to her chest, embracing her newfound freedom and confidence.

As she neared the forest of mangrove trees and stilts that made up the village's supports, she noticed that the weather drone had returned to its landing pad. The Broker had taken it after all. The alien must have returned it to its proper place and it had made its way back under its own power, exactly as it had been programmed to do. She stopped to collect it, cleaning some mud and dead leaves from the pad before hitting the switch that would collapse it all back down into a portable package. She could transfer the data to her workstation when they got back to the temple.

Something drew her interest as she neared the ramp that led up to the village however, a faint sound that was carried on the wind, almost like a whisper. It was unmistakably music, but where was it coming from? She attempted to find the source of the sound, staring down the beach in the direction that it appeared to be coming from. There was an orange glow down near the border of the forest, it looked like a bonfire, a plume of dark smoke rising from it.

"What is that, Sleethe?" She asked, her translator interpreting the question.

"Ceremony of music," he replied.

"Music? Can we go see?"

He nodded, changing course and setting off towards the shoreline, leaving Lena to wonder what the purpose of a 'music ceremony' was as she shrugged off her rucksack and followed behind him.

Soon the bonfire came into view, large even by Krell standards, a towering pyramid of stacked logs that burned brighter than the suns at their peak. It was giving off an enormous plume of smoke. The wood must have been very wet, as was everything on this planet. How had they managed to get it lit? Around the bonfire were sat two dozen Krell, many of them lying on their sides with their bellies towards the fire, basking in its intense heat.

The closer she got, the louder the music became, until finally the Krell band came into view. They were clustered around the far side of the bonfire, five individuals playing primitive instruments made primarily from carved wood. Due to their lack of lips, the Krell had apparently not developed wind instruments, but there were drums and strings, accompanied by the throaty singing of the giant reptiles. It almost sounded like Mongolian throat singing, guttural and resonating, penetrating her to the bone much in the way that their mating calls did. This was less powerful and deliberate however, and so it didn't titillate her in the same way, but the sound waves still made her feel like her whole body was gently vibrating.

The beating of the drums was loud and powerful, yet placating, their rhythm slow and calming as the aliens beat their fists on what looked like tanned hide that was stretched over a wooden frame. Two of them were drummers, and the three others had string instruments. There was a distinct 'twang' to their tune, like a violin or a guitar might produce, the accompanying melody was soothing.

Due more to the reverberating tone of the music than a catchy tune, Lena found herself almost unable to keep her hips from swaying, it was captivating. The Krell playing the hypnotic song were decked out in full ceremonial gear, much like the village Elder had been during the ceremony in the temple. Dozens of elaborate necklaces were draped about their necks, creating a beautiful display of vibrant colors and decorative shells. Their bodies were painted with all manner of colored dyes, and Lena had to wonder if they were merely for show, or if they described the profession or skill set of the wearer.

The heat from the bonfire grew stronger as she approached it, but rather than adding to the already stifling heat that was common to the planet, it seemed to burn away much of the humidity that usually lingered in the air. It was hot, yet dry and oddly refreshing. The wood was indeed sourced from the mangrove trees. The pale, twisted roots and trunks had been cut with some kind of bladed implement. They must have been saturated with damp, but much like the torches in the temple, the Krell seemed to use some kind of flammable liquid or resin to ensure that the logs caught fire.

Sleethe flopped down on his belly, then rolled onto his side to face the fire, rumbling contentedly as the heat washed over him. Lena sat daintily in front of him, leaving back on his soft underbelly and enjoying the music. Their string instruments were surprisingly sophisticated, and they played them well. It sounded more advanced than what one would usually associate with tribal music, more delicate and measured than that of the Native Americans or the disparate Amazonian tribes whose languages and cultures she had studied.

She no longer felt exposed when she was naked. The Krell didn't mind, and there wasn't a human soul for light years. The feeling of the warmth from the flickering flames on her skin, the cool, wet mud beneath her, the sound of the music and the wind in her hair. It was serene, peaceful. If everything went according to plan, then she might be able to live here with the Krell. If the Brokers built a permanent research base as per their agreement, then she would certainty be offered a position on the team. Barnes would be thrilled with her. Not only would she have brought back a comprehensive record of the planet's entire biological and geological history in the form of the Broker codex, but she would have secured unconditional access to the planet where the UAS had struggled to get even one researcher down to the surface.

A sudden impulse overcame her, a reckless desire to dance. She leapt to her feet, much to the surprise of Sleethe, and made her way through the mud towards the fire. She stopped when the heat became too great, turning back towards the aliens. Lena had never danced before in her life, even during her school prom she had sat and watched the other girls. She had been too afraid, too meek and timid, certain that her classmates would laugh at her attempts.

She began to move, letting the rhythm of the drums guide her motions, the music flowing through her veins like blood. She spun and pranced, waving her arms, shaking her hips to the beat as Sleethe and the other aliens looked on. The Krell could not dance, they were too large and heavy, too cumbersome. How did the old saying go? Dance like nobody's watching. Did it count if the people watching you had never seen someone dance before?

Sleethe seemed especially entranced, following her naked body with his eyes as she shimmied and twirled, the moisture on her painted skin reflecting the firelight.

Lena danced until she could scarcely stand, sweat pouring from her body as she collapsed beside Sleethe, laughing heartily between gulps of air as she caught her breath. The band continued, invigorated by her display, and Sleethe leaned closer to lick her cheek affectionately. She had never felt so alive, so free. So much of her life had been spent poring over computer terminals in schools and offices, doing work that sapped away her time and negated any semblance of a social life. There had been no parties for her, no starstruck romances, but since meeting Sleethe that had all changed. She had changed too, this planet had changed her. She had gained courage, confidence, she had overcome so many fears and boundaries that had once held her back.

She leaned back against her lover's squashy belly, closing her eyes and relaxing, letting the slow rise and fall of his barrel chest lull her. They could sleep here if they wanted to, nude on the beach in front of the bonfire. Nobody would care, nobody would stop them. Lena was starting to think that civilization was overrated.

***

Lena stepped off the docking umbilical of the Broker vessel, leaving the matte white of its featureless interior behind her as she boarded a UNN Courser. The human ship had arrived in orbit earlier that afternoon, ready to ferry her back to the Pinwheel now that her time was up. Her boots left the smooth material of the alien vessel, clanking against the metal grates that served as the floors for many of the UNN's naval vessels. Immediately the scents of humanity washed over her, she had almost forgotten them during her six weeks living on Krell. Oil, stale air, metal. It was familiar, yet somehow strange. Was she already starting to miss the smells of the swamps?

Her clothing was almost intolerably uncomfortable. She had grown so accustomed to nudity that now the fabric chafed against her skin. She was always conscious of it, it was confining, restrictive. She was wearing civilian clothes, a yellow jumpsuit usually reserved for engineers, no underwear of course. She would keep up appearances, but the very idea of wearing a bra now seemed almost offensive to her. The necklace that she had made still hung around her neck, the shells and beads clattering as she slung her rucksack off her shoulders. It was one of the few souvenirs that she had been able to bring back with her that wasn't confined to a specimen jar.

Her pale skin had been darkened by the twin suns, and was now a healthy bronze that could have been mistaken for the result of a tanning bed. While the Krell body paint had eventually faded as her skin had shed its layers over time, there were now very conspicuous bright spots on her body where the dyes had shielded it from the sunlight. Every hand print and symbol was visible, even without their original, vibrant colors. She was going to have to wear long skirts and turtlenecks around her colleagues for the time being.

Sleethe lumbered along after her, and as soon as his long tail had cleared the airlock, the Broker vessel disengaged its bridge and the door slammed shut with a hermetic hiss. The Brokers would be glad to be free of her no doubt, and she watched through a nearby porthole as the silver cigar darted off towards the green planet. Lena had kept her side of the bargain, for the most part. She had shown the Broker the incriminating files on her work station and her wrist computer, then she had deleted them. The aliens were building a research base not too far from the village, the location had been her idea. They had handed over all of their information on the planet and its inhabitants too, and Barnes would soon be receiving some very generous research grants from anonymous donors.

"Welcome aboard Miss Webber," the pilot said, his voice crackling over the intercom. "Take a few moments to get settled in, then please strap in for a jump. I have orders to take you straight back to Fort Hamilton."

It would be a fun conversation with Barnes when she got back to the office, she couldn't wait to see the expression on his face when she told him about the information that she had secured, and the deal that she had negotiated for the UAS's continued presence on the planet. She was going to be hailed as a hero in academic circles.

Sleethe dropped his duffel bag on the floor, eyeing the cargo pallet that Lena would soon have to strap him onto for his own safety. Krell were too big to use crash couches, the best solution was to tie them down and ensure that they couldn't move a muscle during a superlight jump, or the wracking energies could cause them to destroy the whole ship and accidentally kill its crew.

He gave a longing glance out of the porthole, staring at his homeworld as the Courser turned on its axis, reorienting itself in preparation for the jump.

"Don't worry big guy, we'll be coming back soon. Who has two thumbs, and is the only human who's developed a Krell translator?" She gestured to herself, and that seemed to set his mind more at ease. "They can't run the research base without me, and where I go, you go too."

He huffed and brushed his head against hers, an affectionate gesture. The villagers had done the same when they had seen her off, dozens of them bumping her with their scaly foreheads like oversized cats, until she had run out of time and had been forced to give them a tearful goodbye as she mounted the ramp to the Broker ship. She would hopefully be seeing them again soon. While the human scientists would live and work in the habitat that the Brokers were already constructing, Lena preferred the more rustic environs of the village. Maybe she would even get her own hut to share with Sleethe, that would be nice. There were also some ideas floating around in her head that concerned mesh suits and lightweight clothing that might make their stay more tolerable, and wouldn't drive Lena crazy if she was forced to dress for company.

She helped strap Sleethe down onto the pallet, securing his limbs, his tail and his snout with belts. He looked like a captive alligator that was being transferred between zoos. She ran her fingers across his leathery head sympathetically, then returned to her own seat, buckling in and inserting a plastic bit into her mouth. As the pilot informed her that he was about to start the jump sequence, she fiddled with her necklace, upending one of the larger conch shells that she had chosen for decoration. From inside the shell, a small, green piece of plastic that was no larger than a fingernail fell into her cupped palm. Lena held it up to the light, a grin spreading across her face as she examined the soldered metal that linked the tiny memory chips together.

It was still safe, it hadn't fallen out during her trip. The little square of plastic was the expanded memory card that she had installed in her wrist computer in order to give it more room to store vocabulary and sound clips for the translator. It now contained a backup of all of the data that she had accrued on the Brokers. She had removed the chip from her wrist-mounted computer the night before leaving, ensuring that it was well hidden. The Broker had been so paranoid that it had extensively examined all of her gear, even scanning the lining of her clothing to ensure that she wasn't smuggling a storage device somewhere, but it hadn't thought to check this primitive artifact of native culture.

Lena put it back in the shell, checking that her harness was properly fitted as the warping energies of the jump drive began to make the hairs on her arms stand on end. Mysterious, all-knowing puppet masters the Brokers were not, and now she had enough dirt on them to ensure that they could never exploit another species again.

She might give them a year or two first, let them have their chance to come forward and offer the information up voluntarily as she had suggested. But if they tried to cover everything up once more, sweep it all under the rug and deny accountability, she would make sure that this data made it into the hands of every journalist in UNN space.

"See you soon," she muttered, taking one last look out of the window at the green planet. The Courser's hull warped and twisted, then her senses went dark, the vessel leaving the paltry three dimensions of reality that she was used to far behind it.

THE END