by stonygirl Based on characters from The Orville created by Seth MacFarlane
Author’s Note – This story was written before the premier of Season 3.
“They are dying Ed, and no one knows why.” The concern on Admiral Perry’s face was magnified by the size of the view screen in the conference room. Ed could tell this wasn’t going to be a typical taxi run. “We need you to take a group of top Union doctors to Krill. They are going to see if they can find a cure for whatever this pandemic is. And I don’t need to tell you Ed, losing them as an ally, even to a disease would have drastic consequences at this time.”
“Understood.” Ed nodded.
Admiral Perry continued. “You’ll rendezvous with the USS Sullivan at Outpost 23 to pick up the team and medical supplies. The Union is sending its finest minds to solve this problem. Give them all the assistance you can. The mission briefing should be coming through now. Hopefully, we can stop this disease before it kills too many more Krill.”
Ed closed the view-screen and opened the briefing. He looked it over as he walked toward the bridge. One name stood out like cat at a dog show. Ildis Katan, a viral immunologist from Xelaya. Ed groaned. Ildis was the father of Ed’s former security chief Alara. He had little or no respect for Ed or the Union.
The rest of the list was a who’s who of great Union Doctors. Dr. Beverly, a well renowned infectious disease specialist, had cured the Tellurian Plague years ago and received top honors from the Union. Dr. Julian was an expert in genetic re-sequencing. Even the Union Surgeon General Dr. Felix Black would be joining them. There were others on the list some alien doctors with long lists of credentials. Their contact would be a Krill doctor, K’soze.
Ed had made it to the bridge. Kelly was in command. She stood up to give command back to Ed. He waved her down.
“Kelly set a course for Outpost 23 and have the senior staff report to the briefing room in about an hour.” With that, he turned and headed off the bridge.
“Yes sir.” She could see it in his walk. There was only one place he was headed.
The mess hall was empty. Breakfast was over and it would be another hour before crew members began shuffling in for lunch. Ed stood behind the bar pouring a shot, looking less like the captain and more like a bartender.
“A little early for day drinking don’t you think?” Kelly walked up to the bar scouring in-approvingly.
“We’re going to Krill,” Ed said it plain.
“Oh shit,” she said. “Pour me one.”
Ed poured the drink.
In the briefing room, most of the crew sat stunned. Ed was trying to answer questions.
“Krill?” Gordon was first up with the obvious question, “Has the Union ever sent a ship to Krill?”
“We will be the first. This is really important guys,” Ed looked at Gordon and John. If there was going to be trouble it would probably start with one or both of them, “no statue humping or penis drawing. I really want this to all go smoothly.”
Dr. Finn interrupted, ” Until we can verify that whatever is killing the Krill is not transmissible to the crew, I recommend full containment protocol for anyone visiting the planet.”
“I’ll lead a security detail that can go down with landing crew”, Talla suggested, “just in case we run into trouble.”
That’s what Ed admired about Talla, she was always ready for trouble. “Not a full detail, just you, me, and maybe one of the doctors. The rest can work from here until we figure out if it’s safe.”
Dr. Finn nodded. “It would be best to keep the exposure to a minimum. From what we’ve been told, the illness hasn’t spread off the homeworld yet.”
“Captain, we should take this opportunity to get detailed scans of Krill, to assess their combat capability.” the second in command was in charge of safeguarding the ship and that was a job Bortus took very seriously.
“Bortus we are on a humanitarian mission, I don’t want to use this as an excuse to spy on our allies.” Ed had to remind himself that the Krill were now their allies. For generations, the Krill and the Union had fought battles all over the quadrant. Peace was a new concept in Union/Krill relations.
“It wouldn’t hurt to do a geological survey, ” John Lamar suggested. He was definitely the most intelligent member of the crew. “I mean what do we really know about the planet? If we happen to learn a little more it wasn’t like we were really trying.”
Ed reluctantly had to agree, the amount of information on the Krill homeworld was little and mostly just conjecture. “OK, but nothing too intrusive. I don’t want to do anything that could violate the peace. Dismissed.”
Outpost 23 was on the edge of Krill space. It was originally planned as a deep space refueling station but once the Krill were discovered the Union abandoned exploration in that sector and 23 become a listening post for Krill activity along the border.
John Reed was the administrator and lead anthropologist in charge of studying the Krill. He was a tall man with a commanding goatee and very little hair on the top of his head. “I’ve been studying the Ankhanna you brought us. It’s a fascinating culture. They believe all knowledge comes from Avis. All of it. Everything they know.”
He opened the large book to a section that appeared to be less of a religious text and more of an engineering manual for a quantum drive ship. “Here you can see where they believe that Avis designed the first Krill ship.” Reed read from the holy book of the Krill religion, “And lo Avis brought forth the ship Bartok, and sent the Krill on a great journey into the stars.”
He closed the book and placed it on a desk. “You are so lucky. You will be there for Be ‘Aver To’ Ast!”
“Be ‘Aver To’ Ast? What is that?” Ed asked almost afraid of the answer. He remembered too well the last Krill religious ceremony he had witnessed.
“It translates to ‘Feast of the Smuggled Plum.’ We think it might be like Christmas. Legend says that Avis comes down from his home in the sky and brings a large ast fruit for the Krill who have been good.”
“Kind of like a Santa Claus from hell? Maybe they won’t celebrate this year? Ed asked. There was after all an illness sweeping across the planet killing the population.
Reed smiled. “We don’t know. We are fairly certain that the feast will still happen even though there is a pandemic. The Krill are very devout. They believe that their lives belong to Avis. He alone controls their fate. If they die it is the will of Avis.”
A box on the administrator’s desk buzzed. “Yes?” he said as he hit a button on the box.
“The Sullivan has arrived.” the box stated.
“Oh good, are the medical supplies loaded on the Orville yet?” he asked the box.
“They are loading now.” the box answered. “They should be done within the hour.”
“Good.” The news couldn’t come at a better time for Ed “I’d like to get underway as quickly as possible.” Ed heard the words come out of his mouth. He hoped they sounded genuine, but the truth was he was dreading this trip to Krill. Putting it off for even a millisecond would give him a moment to catch his breath. But right now he just really needed another drink.
He exchanged some more pleasantries with Reed before excusing himself to check the cargo.
Issac was piloting the shuttle. Ed was glad to catch a ride back to the Orville.
“Sir, may I ask a personal question?” Issac was still trying to learn about humans and Ed was still trying to teach him as best he could.
“Sure Issac.” Ed waited to see what overly personal thing Issac would ask him this time.
“You were close to Lieutenant Tyler, the Krill spy, is that correct?”
“Yes. We were close for a while.” Ed had not heard from Telaya since he sent her back to her ship. He may have used his captain’s clearance once or twice to check on her posting. But he was totally over her and not at all worried about whether or not she was dead from the pandemic sweeping her homeworld.
“Sir, are you not concerned that your former escort may be a victim of the pandemic?” Issac asked.
For being a compilation of algorithms and robotics, Issac did seem to understand the human experience fairly well. She had been on Ed’s mind since Admiral Perry said the word, Krill.
“Honestly, I hadn’t thought about it.” he lied.
They landed in the shuttle bay. Ed exited the shuttle as crews began to unload and inventory the medical supplies.
“Shuttle inbound,” a voice said over the loudspeaker in the shuttle bay.
Ed looked up, he had hoped to get out of the bay before the shuttle from the Sullivan had arrived. Now he was trapped.
Ildis Katan was first off the shuttle. “Oh Captain Mercer, I see you are still in charge here,” he said with his usual condescending tone.
“Yes. They haven’t fired me yet.” Ed said jokingly.
“I’m very surprised to see you still here.” Ildis continued, “I would have thought the Union would need your talents elsewhere.”
What does that even mean, Ed thought. He was attempting to compose a reply when suddenly he was saved by Dr. Finn.
“Dr. Katan, I’m Dr. Finn. I know your daughter Alara.” she said.
Ildis managed to look impressed. “Ah yes, Alara has spoken about you often. She was very impressed with your work.” Somehow no matter how complimentary the words were they still sounded insulting coming from Ildis. “May I present my colleagues, Dr. Beverly, Dr. Julian and of course Dr. Black.”
Dr. Finn and the doctors compared resumes and exchanged pleasantries. Ed didn’t understand half of what they were saying. He was just relieved to be out of the spotlight for a moment.
The moment didn’t last long.
“Sir,” Talla approached “we’ve secured the medical supplies and are ready to get underway.” “Excellent. ” he hit his wrist communicator, “Mercer to bridge”
“Bridge here” the familiar sound of Kelly Grayson’s voice rang thru Ed’s ears.
“Set a course for Krill and engage quantum drive,” he ordered.
“Aye sir.”
Ed headed to his office.
He barely had time to get a Scotch from the food synthesizer when his communicator beeped, there was a message waiting for him. He hit the button to view the message. It read: Ed, I hear you will be visiting Krill. We don’t have movie night on Krill, but it would be my honor to present you to Avis at Be ‘Aver To’ Ast. -Telaya.
Finally some good news. Ed smiled. Suddenly, he couldn’t wait to get to Krill. What do you get a Krill for Christmas?
Ildis Katan was totally underwhelmed by the medical lab. Every piece of equipment was three or four years old and outdated compared to his lab on Xelaya. “Maybe the Krill will have better equipment,” he mumbled under his breath. Doctors Beverly and Julian were looking over the test results the Krill doctors had sent. He had looked at it, it made no sense. The Krill were calling it a virus, but it lacked all the hallmarks of a virus.
Dr. Julian was frustrated, “I can’t put these test results in context without a baseline for comparison.”
“There is no point in even starting until we get to Krill, nothing personal Dr. Finn,” Ildis muttered. “but I doubt your lab is really equipped to build a vaccine.”
“Dr. Katan, I can assure you that this lab can handle whatever this Krill bug throws at us.” She walked to the main monitor and pulled up a file. “These are the bio-scans we took of the Krill girl along with all the scans of the Krill children.”
Dr. Black piped in, “The head of Krill medical says it affects the motor neurons around the spinal cord. It causes extreme muscle weakness making it difficult to walk, eat, or even breathe.”
“Are we sure it isn’t something environmental?” the concern in Dr. Beverly’s voice. “This just doesn’t look like a virus.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Ildis injected, “there don’t appear to be any antibodies being produced. Of course, we don’t really know what the immune response for Krill actually is. Their biology might fight off viruses in a different way.”
Dr. Beverly, we should test for all known antigens that would rule out a mutated version of a common virus.”
Maybe it’s environmental?” Dr. Julian asked, “Do we know if anything new has been introduced into the planet’s environment?”
“Krill doctors say they’ve never seen anything like this in their entire history.” Dr. Black answered. “But they also say all medical knowledge comes from Avis, so who knows how technologically advanced the medical community is.”
“We’ll get send a landing party to get samples.” Dr. Finn explained, “in case is environmental. we should arrive at the Krill planet within the hour.”
The Orville came out of quantum space into orbit of the Krill homeworld. The planet was unlike anything Ed had ever seen. He knew the Krill homeworld was covered in clouds but the briefing had left out any mention of the giant structures that hovered above the surface and peered out of the tops of the clouds.
“Issac what are what can you tell me?” Ed asked.
“The planet is a Type L” Issac replied, “with a rotational cycle of 40 hours and an orbit of 250 years.”
“That’s a long workday” Gordon commented,
“ Imagine having to wait for your birthday to roll around.” John responded.
“What is this structure? What are we looking at.” Ed asked.
“It appears to be some sort of suborbital construct.” Issac explained, “Our scans can not penetrate it.”
“Sir,” Talla piped up, “we are receiving a transmission from the surface.”
“On screen.” And with that the screen was filled with a perturbed-looking Krill officer.
“You must change your heading to 341.2 at once.” the angry Krill said.
“Yes of course. Gordon change the heading.” Ed ordered.
“Your ship must stay in a stationary orbit at the specified coordinates for the duration of your visit to Krill. You are under no circumstances allowed to bother the Temple of Avis. We will send landing coordinates for your shuttle” and with that the angry Krill left the screen.
“That’s their temple? Kelly exclaimed. “It’s awfully big.”
Gordon speculated “Looks like Avis might be compensating for something if you ask me.”
“Kelly you have the con. Talla have Dr. Finn meet us in the shuttle bay. We’ve got a planet full of Krill to try to save.”
Ed was a little dismayed to see Dr. Finn standing with Ildis next to the shuttle. Ildis was dressed in a contamination suit. Ed knew that Dr. Finn was going to force him to spend time with Ildis. It’s not that Ed didn’t like Ildis. He owed his life to him. Ildis had literally saved his life on Xeleya. But it bothered him the way he treated his daughter, who had also saved his life several times. He didn’t understand how any parents could not support their child’s goals.
He was barely even paying attention to Claire as she explained why Ildis was better suited to be on the away team than her. “Don’t worry I’ll be right here to analyze the data as you send it back.”
Ed pleasantly agreed, at least he hoped it sounded pleasant. Talla was at the helm. Ed was reading the scans. The clouds were sulfur and nitrogen dioxide and were everywhere. They were dark brown and cast a shadow over everything. They couldn’t even see the Krill airstrip until they were right on top of it. The Krill buildings all looked like ancient structures that had crumbled and fallen only to be rebuilt with new technology.
They geared up to exit the shuttle. From what Ed could tell the air was absolutely toxic to humans, probably Xelayans as well. How could anyone live here? What kind of amazing evolution happened to let an intelligent species develop in such a harsh environment.
Suddenly Ed found himself on the ceiling. Talla was holding him. “Sorry sir, just wanted to check my strength on Krill.”
Ed had been startled, but he was fine. “Good idea. It’s always good to know your strength.”
“Dr. Katan if you run into any problems and get attacked by a Krill, just grab them by the arm and sling them like a Felnar bat against the wall.” Talla suggested, “That should break every bone in their body.”
Ildis was disgusted. “I don’t want to break their bones. These people are my colleagues. We’re not barbarians. We’re doctors and scientists. What do your parents think of this lifestyle choice you made?”
“I’m Talla Keyali. daughter of General Tamar Keyali, granddaughter of Admiral Ragnar Keyali.” she proudly stood her ground with Ildis.
Ed wished she had been able to meet Alara. Ed guessed they would have been great friends. Talla could have definitely help Alara with her self confidence. Ed felt a little more confident just standing next to her while she dressed down Ildis.
“So needless to say” she continued, “my family are very happy with my career.”
As she emphasized the word career, Ildis cringed and rolled his eyes.
The shuttle door opened. It was late afternoon, the Krill sun could barely make it through the clouds. It reminded Ed of the summer he spent at his cousin’s house in Kansas. The sky would turn a dark grayish-green just before a storm broke from the sky. He had a feeling the storm was coming.
Instead of a storm, he was met with a Krill security detail. The Krill showed them indoors into a high-security scanning area. “You may remove your helmets. We will need to do a thorough security check.”
Two hours later Ed was finally through security. His ass hurt. He didn’t know why the Krill needed a full body cavity search, but he was not about to endanger the peace by not submitting to one.
They were in the medical lab of K’soze, the leading Krill doctor, listening to him and Ildis prattle on about different viruses and vaccines. Ildis was far more impressed with the Krill lab than he had been with the Union one. K’soze seemed an intelligent researcher.
Talla was keeping an eye on the Krill. She walked the perimeter of the room, taking note of all the Krill, sizing them up for battle. They were all very nerdy and did not appear to be a threat to her or Ildis. Unlike the security detail at the checkpoint, none of them appeared to have weapons. The only one in danger from a physical attack would be Ed.
Ed was bored. He was trying very hard not to show it.
“We were very busy last week after the Feast of Zackfu.” The Krill doctor explained. “ Had a huge spike in cases. Most of those Krill are either now dead or on full life support. We’ve been trying to determine if it is an airborne contagion. It must be something that was brought in on a ship from one of your Union planets.”
“There is nothing like this in the Union database. Perhaps it is in the food supply,” Ildis suggested. “maybe something they ate at the feast.”
“That’s foolish,” The Krill doctor explained. All the Krill laughed. “ Avis supplies the food, it is holy, it can not hurt us.”
Ed’s communicator beeped.
“Grayson to Mercer.”
“Mercer here.”
“We have a transmission for you from the surface.” Kelly said awkwardly, “it’s your girlfriend.”
“Patch her through.” Ed was happy, he was finally getting to talk to her again, but he didn’t want her to know, cause that would be lame, so he tried to play it cool.
He failed miserably. “Telaya, I was just thinking of calling you. How have you been? You wanna maybe grab some dinner?”
Telaya wasted no time and got right to her point, “Tonight is Be ‘Aver To’ Ast, it would be my great honor to present you to Avis.”
“Sure. I’d love to meet Avis. Sounds like a fun time.” The Krill looked at Ed weird and he realized that maybe fun wasn’t a good word to use.
Talla looked at him and mouthed the word “fun” as if to ask if the definition of fun had changed suddenly.
“The feast begins at sundown,” Telaya said, “I will send you the coordinates.”
“I’ll be there.” He turned to the doctors, “If you guys don’t need me…”
Ildis interrupted, “Why would we need you?”
“Alright then, I’m off to a feast.” He moved toward the door. Talla followed him. He turned to her. “Maybe you should stay here with the doctor?”
“If he doesn’t need you, he definitely doesn’t need me.” she said.
“Quite right, both of you should leave, you’re just in the way.” Ildis wasn’t even trying to be polite anymore. His rudeness seemed to impress Ksoze and the other Krill.
Ed and Talla suited back up and headed back to the airstrip.
Back onboard the shuttle, Talla was venting like a broken plasma conduit. “I know everyone on the crew loved his daughter, but man, that guy is the worst.”
“God it was beautiful to watch you put him in his place.” Ed got up to look thru his bag as Talla flew the shuttle. He pulled out a small box.
“People like that just really get under my skin. They like to think that their science keeps them safe, but they forget Xelaya would have been conquered by the Krill long ago, if the Union military hadn’t stepped in.”
“What’s in the box?” Talla asked.
“Its Telaya’s present,” Ed replied.
“You got her jewelry? Bold move.” Talla snarked. “I didn’t know she meant that much to you.” “No, its not jewelry. Do you think I should have gotten her jewelry? ” Ed was now doubting himself, his choices, if coming to Krill was a bad, idea, and mostly if he should continue speaking at all. He did anyway, “It’s a drive with a bunch of old movies on it.”
“Well, that’s sure to win her heart,” Talla remarked.
The coordinates were at an open amphitheater. Telaya was waiting for them near the entrance. She seemed a little surprised to see Talla.
Ed suddenly realized bringing his security chief on a date was probably a bad idea. “Telaya, this is Talla, we’re not dating.”
Talla stifled a laugh.
Telaya smiled. Her smile was beautiful, she was beautiful, even as a Krill.
Talla butted in, “I hope you don’t mind me tagging along, hanging out with the science nerds was getting really boring.”
“Of course not. All are welcomed at the table of Avis. Come we have a special place.” she led them up flight after flight of stairs up to the very top level of the coliseum.
There were many Krill dressed in their finest with baskets of gifts. A grand balcony looked out over the entire coliseum. In the center, was a large round platform with curved edges standing about four feet off the ground. All the way around the edge was a decorative border with a Krill inscription. Ed plugged it into the translator. The result came onscreen: The gifts of Avis feed us. Directly across from the balcony there was a giant chair also inscribed. It read: The Throne of Avis.
Talla did a perimeter sweep of the area leaving Ed alone with Telaya.
“So how have you been?” Ed asked. “ Are you still a spy or did you go back to teaching school?”
“ I have gone back to teaching.” Telaya said, “I see that you are still the Captain of the Orville.”
“ Yes” Ed answered, “everyone seems surprised by that.”
“Have you lost many of your crew in the conflict with the Kaylon.” Telaya asked.
Even the question stung, “Some.” He said “not as many as others, but everyone hurts.” He reached out and held her hand. “I’m sorry again about what happened to your crew and your brother. I hope you understand. I got you something.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the box and handed it to Telaya. She opened it carefully. It contained a simple data disk. “I know you liked the Nazis in Raiders of the Lost Ark. So I got you some other movies that have Nazis in them, The Winds of War, The Producers, Blues Brothers. It’s just a collection of films that remind me of you.”
“Ed, that was very sweet of you.” Telaya seemed so genuine and so beautiful. For a brief moment, Ed could see their entire lives together. He looked into her eyes and could feel the earth move.
It took him a moment to realize the earth was actually moving. The entire Colosseum was shaking.
Avis was arriving.
Floating down from the heavens in a giant beam of light, a giant Avis descended from the sky. Talla hit her communicator. “Talla to Orville. You guys need to see this!”
Kelly was on the bridge, “Patch Talla’s feed onto the main screen.” Avis descending from the clouds appeared onscreen.
“Holy shit. Is that Avis?” John asked.
Gordon sat stunned. “Katness Everdeen indeed.”
Kelly was worried. Ed and Talla were down there with that thing, whatever it was. “Issac, what are we looking at?”
“It does appear to be a unique biological life form that is not in the Union database,” Issac responded. “The being is approximately 20 meters tall and weighs over a ton. I believe this could be the largest species on record.”
Avis landed on the ground towering above the top of the coliseum. In his hand, he held a giant plum looking fruit. He dropped it on the platform. Then he took his place on his throne right across from the grand balcony.
The balcony began to move forward until it was face to face with Avis. The petitioners lined up. The first petitioner approached Avis. “Avis, I present you with this basket of yeddle shells from the coast of Maroosa. I beg of you to end the pandemic and return my daughter to me.”
Avis looked bored. “I am not able to return your daughter, but I gladly accept your shells. Next.” Avis reached out and took the shells and placed them on the ground by his feet.
The next parishioner stood before Avis. He looked familiar to Ed. “My name is Coja, I bring you this potted plant and ask that I be granted permission to go to earth to study the humans.”
Avis looked at him. “Is this earth far away?”
“Yes Avis.” Coja eagerly answered
“Do you fear those who live there?” Avis asked. Seeming more genuinely interested in Earth than the pandemic that was killing his people.
“Not really,” Coja answered. “They are our allies at the moment. They used to be our enemies but they were never really that scary to begin with.”
Avis picked up Coja gently in his hand and brought him close. “Then you should go as soon as possible. Leave Krill immediately, go to this Erp, and stay there for as long as you need to learn all you can about them. Do not return until you have learned all there is to know about them and all their allies.”
Avis took the plant and set it at his feet. He gently placed a happy Coja back on the balcony. Coja started to leave as he did he walked right by Ed.
“Coja!” Ed exclaimed.
Coja looked at him sharply. Do I know you?” he asked.
“It’s me Chris!”
Coja looked at Teleaya. She nodded.
Ed continued “Gosh you must have grown a foot since I saw you last. Congrats on the mission to Earth. If you need any help or special clearances let me know and I will see what I can do.”
“Thank you.” Coja said. “You and Devin are the reason I want to study humans. You are so unlike the Krill.”
He and Telaya were up.
Ed was really nervous. Like meeting your girlfriend’s god nervous.
“Do not speak. Let me do all the talking.” Telaya commanded.
Ed nodded and tried to keep behind her.
Talla hung back, making sure the crew back on board could get a good view of Ed and Avis meeting.
“Oh mighty Avis, I present to you this Union officer from Earth. He is a captain. He killed my brother and my crew. I beg of you to accept him as a sacrifice and return my brother to me.”
Avis picked up Ed and looked at him.
“Talla, what’s going on?” Kelly was worried. It seemed Telaya had just offered up Ed to her weird giant alien god.
“Don’t worry Commander, I am on it.” Talla said headed toward the front of the line. But before she could get there Avis replied.
“I am sorry but I cannot return your brother to you, nor can I accept your offering. Those who lie in the arms of Avis never return.” Avis set Ed down gently on the ground. “Shoo” he whispered to Ed.
Ed stood shocked, staring up at the giant before him. His com buzzed. It was Kelly.
“Ed are you OK?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Are we getting a reading on this? What is it? Is this real or a hologram? Because that felt really real. Are we sure it isn’t a giant robot or a bunch of monkeys in an Avis suit?” he asked puzzled.
“Whatever it is, it reads as a biological life form, not a hologram, or robot, or monkeys.” seriously where does he come up with these things, Kelly thought.
Talla breathed a sigh of relief. Telaya was sitting on a bench looking disheartened. Talla felt the need to give her a piece of her mind.
“What were you thinking trying to sacrifice a Union officer to your God?” Talla demanded, “What if Avis had taken him?”
“Then my brother would have been returned. But that was not the will of Avis.” Telaya began to cry.
Talla felt for her. Coming from a military family, she had lost many family members to wars and skirmishes with the Krill over the years.
She sat down next to her on the bench. “It’s hard when you lose someone close to you. I have lost a lot of friends and loved ones to battles throughout the years.” Talla explained, “ I’m not going to tell you it gets easier because it doesn’t. There will always be that missing part of you. That void that simply can’t be filled no matter how much you try.”
More parishioners approached Avis. More asked for an end to the pandemic and the return of their loved ones. They were all denied.
Finally frustrated Avis stood up and stated loudly in a commanding tone “I can not cure this pandemic. If you wish a cure you must find it yourself. I have spoken. Temeen Emedeen!”
With that, he hit a button on his wrist and the sky opened up. A beam of light shown down.
Ed moved in closer to get a better look and take a scan. Maybe a little too close.
Avis began to rise along with all his gifts from parishioners.
And Ed.
Telaya saw him head into the light and smiled.
Talla was alarmed “Where are they going?” she asked.
“He is going to be with Avis in his temple. I hope he sends my brother my love.”
“When are they coming back?”
“No one comes back from the temple of Avis.” Teleaya said as Ed disappeared into the sky.
“Commander do you have him,” Talla asked
“Nope.” Kelly responded, “He is off our scans.”
“What do you want me to do?” Talla asked.
“Just stand by.” Kelly responded.
With Avis gone the Krill begin to devour the ast fruit. Eating at it hungrily, the crowd mobs it. Some begin filling bags and dishes with fruit to take home.
Talla had to sit down and reappraise the situation. She had lost her captain to a crazy alien god. When her brother found out, she wasn’t going to live this one down. She wanted to do something but in the exact moment, she couldn’t. She just had to stand by.
The rest of the Krill were having a food orgy with the ast fruit, while Telaya just sat and sobbed.
Talla asked, “Maybe you should get something to eat? Maybe that will make you feel better. I know when I’m depressed I eat a lot.”
Telaya responded, “I am not worthy. I must fast until I am. But you should eat. The ast fruit is delicious.”
Talla scanned the ast. It appeared to have a mutagenic compound in it. “I think I’ll pass. I’m on a diet.”
She activated her communicator, “Talla to Finn,”
In the medical bay, Dr. Finn was completely unaware of what was happening on the surface. She was staring at scans of Krill infected DNA that made no sense. It almost looked like something was destroying a specific gene in every Krill. “ Finn here” she responded.
“I’m sending you some scans,” Talla replied. “I think it’s in the food.”
Kelly sat in the Captain’s chair. “Issac tell me something,” she begged.
“I have his last known coordinates. I can pinpoint it for you.” Issac responded. A large diagram of the temple of Avis appeared on the screen. “He appears to have entered the Temple of Avis here. It would seem there is a hatch below the temple that allows access.”
“Talla I need you back here,” she ordered into the comm system.
Talla picked up on the other end, “Do you want me to pick up Ildis?” she asked.
“Yes, both of you get back here on the double,” Kelly ordered.
Talla rushed back to the military medical center. It was getting busier. Waiting rooms and hallways all filled with paralyzed Krill. Some had trouble walking. Others could barely sit up. A few were lying on the floor struggling for breath.
Talla found Ildis in the emergency ward. “Dr. Katan we’ve been ordered to return to the Orville.”
“I can’t leave!” Ildis declared. “ If anything, I need you to bring me more supplies from the ship. These people need treatment. I must find a cure.”
“I am under orders to bring you back,” Talla told him.
“Tell Captain Mercer he doesn’t get to order me around.” Ildis was tired of this foolishness, he was obviously the only person on this planet or in orbit smart enough to figure this out. He needed her to leave him alone to work.
“Commander Grayson is in command,” Talla explained. Ildis was trying her patience. “The captain has been taken by Avis.”
“Avis?” Ildis was surprised. He had heard of the Krill god everyone had but how could a mythological figure take the captain. “ How is that even…”
K’soze interrupted. “Your captain is lucky. He will live forever in the arms of Avis. Temeen Emedeen!”
“ Temeen Emedeen!” the Krill other replied.
“We need to leave,” Talla said. “Right now.”
Ildis surveyed the situation. “It would go against my oath as a healer to leave these people like this. I’m sorry, please tell commander Grayson I need to stay here and try to figure this out.”
“You would defy a direct order and risk beheading just to stay and help us Katan” K’soze said, “You truly are a fearless warrior.”
Ildis tried not to look offended, but he was. He assumed the Krill was complimenting him. A warrior though, that was insulting. “I didn’t do 14 years in medical school getting three different specialties to be labeled a common warrior,” he said with a level condescension even lower than his usual.
“I took some scans of the food Avis brought,” Talla said quietly “and I think he might be poisoning the Krill.”
“That is ridiculous,” K’soze shouted. “Avis is our creator. Why would he poison the Krill? Your scanner is inferior. The Krill are strong, we do not succumb to simple poisons.”
Talla showed the data to Ildis.
“Well this would definitely be toxic to you and me lieutenant, but then again so is the air on this planet. I don’t know enough about Krill biology to determine if this would hurt them. Go back to the ship and see what the rest of the team thinks. I will be fine here.”
Talla started out the door. She looked back. Just remember what I told you on the shuttle. I’ll send the shuttle back with supplies and a security detail once I get back to the ship.”
Ed had to admit the floating was both relaxing and terrifying all at once. His scanner read the whole process as some mix of a anti-grav beam and an atmosphere projector. Even without the helmet he probably would have been fine. As the planet grew smaller beneath him, above him a hatch was opening and he was being pulled inside. He and Avis landed softly. Avis walked off, not even noticing the extra passenger. Ed scanned the area. Unlike the planet below the atmosphere here was breathable. He took off his helmet and set it down. Ed ran to catch up with Avis but stopped suddenly overwhelmed by the size of everything.
“Avis! Where have you been? Get cleaned up its almost dinner time.”
Ed couldn’t see where the voice was coming from, but he recognized that tone. He looked up. The ceiling must have been hundreds of feet high he pulled out his scanner and took some scans. He grabbed his communicator and tried to call the Orville.
No one answered.
He scanned some more. There were four of whatever those were in the immediate vicinity. Ed tried to widen the scan but the place was so big. It would take him hours to scan the whole place. He hiked across the floor. He wondered if he should sneak along the wall, but it seemed sneaky and this was a first contact of sorts so sneaking seemed like the wrong move. “Hello,” he called out but there was no answer. He continued his trek across the entry hall toward the dining room.
Giant feet were suddenly on either side of him. Big feet much bigger than those of Avis. “Hello?” Ed called out again, but the giant didn’t seem to notice him. Instead, he was taking off his robe. A long red robe similar to the ones the priests of Avis wear, only a hell of a lot bigger. It swept across the floor knocking Ed off his feet and across the hallway.
“Dinner is almost ready. How was your day at work?” The female voice asked.
“Terrible. Skeely did not show up and Topo stood around all day flirting with Camirox. Vorpal and I were forced to degauss the power grid by ourselves. Again.”
“Oh D’fogg, can I get you a drink?” A giant motherly figured popped into the room for a moment.
“Oh yes, honey that would be lovely.” D’fogg sat down on a large comfortable chair, he picked up a giant pad and began to read. “Will you look at this, Avis’ spawn made the front page again. Hey, Avis get in here, the latest impact study on your science experiment says they’ve tripled in population in the last cordon.”
Avis appeared in the doorway, “I know. Master Splintire and I talked about it. We’ve got a plan to lower the population numbers over the next 60 days. It should reduce the population by two-thirds.”
“That’s still too many. This says the council is voting tomorrow or whether to eradicate them completely.”
“They can’t!” Avis complained, “ They..
“They will make the decision Avis.” D’fogg interrupted. “Not you. So don’t get any bright ideas kid. Your bright ideas got us into this mess.”
The mom reemerged from the kitchen “Dinners ready. Avis go get your sister and get cleaned up. D’fogg would you like to carve the drenna?” She asked sweetly before yelling down a hallway “ Herz! Dinner is ready.”
The giant alien family sat down to a perfectly normal nuclear family dinner.
Ed had to get Avis’ attention, or maybe his dad’s attention. There had to be a way to keep the giant alien god creatures from annihilating the Krill. With the current pandemic, there is no way they would be able to defend themselves from an attack.
Ed finally made it to the dinner table. He began to climb, up a chair leg to the tablecloth, and finally onto the top of the table.
Herz was the first to notice him. She screamed and swatted him with her napkin. “There’s one on the table!” she screamed.
Avis looked at Ed and said “That’s not one of mine! One of the Krill tried to give it to me. I didn’t want it. It just followed me home. It’s from someplace called Union.”
Ed was running, he suddenly realized that once again he had made a very bad choice. He was dodging D’fogg’s fist pounding on the table trying to squish him. He looked over his shoulder afraid of the next blow when suddenly it was over. Ed ran into a wall.
Avis’s mom had dropped a jar on him. She scooped him up and looked at him thru the glass. “This one isn’t one of yours. He is just as tiny but, look he’s different!”
“My name is Ed Mercer, I’m a member of the planetary union.”
“It talks,” Avis’s mom was impressed. She spoke to him like a puppy. “Well Edmercer I am Geo, this is my husband D’fogg, and our children Herz and Avis. We are from the Conglomerate of Pi. You are so cute. I am totally keeping you.”
“ No you aren’t,” D’fogg demanded. “We don’t need another mouth to feed. You don’t even know what it eats.”
“I’ll figure it out. It can’t eat much, Look how tiny it is?” Geo reached into a cabinet and pulled out a beautiful decorative cage. She opened it and dumped Ed into it. “That should keep you until dinner is over.”
With Ed secured in the cage, she hung it on a hook in front of a window. Ed looked out the window to see a great giant city in the clouds.
Talla headed straight for the bridge. Kelly, looked right at her as she entered and took her station.
“Report,” Kelly said.
“Katan wouldn’t come back, they were overrun with sick Krill all from that feast. He’s requesting more supplies.” she reported.
“We got the scans you took. The science team is looking at them now. You really think their god is poisoning them.” Kelly asked.
“Yes.” Talla said confidently, “ And he has the captain. I want to go after him.”
Kelly smiled. “ I knew you would. Bortus and I have been looking at it. The hatch seems easy enough to trigger but getting there is the problem. We requested information from the government but they just say that no one comes back from the Temple of Avis.”
“That was the general consensus on the ground as well,” Talla added.
“The Krill have made it very clear that any ship that approaches the temple of Avis is fired upon. We need to figure out a way to get you there.”
“Jetpack? “ Talla suggested.
“That’s a long way to jet pack,” Lamar said, “plus the jet pack exhaust is likely to be picked up on a scan. What if we shot out a line and gave her something to slide down, like a zip line? The Krill aren’t likely to pick up anything that small on their scans.
“Bortus what do you think,” Kelly asked. With Ed gone, she was in command and he was her second. Ed always asked her opinion, it seemed logical to ask Bortus.
“I think it is a formidable plan, but you do not know what you will encounter once you get into the structure. A strategical strike team should also go.”
“No. We just need to get Ed back.” Kelly explained “ We can’t send in a strike team. It’s too high profile. Talla you go alone, Get him out with the least amount of attention possible. We don’t want to get the Krill government angry. Or the Krill god.”
Talla stood at the airlock dressed in her EVA suit ready to head out the door.
“Lieutenant,” Issac approached her, “I have made you this. It is a tracking beacon. With it we should be able to get a general idea of where you are in the compound, should we need to mount a rescue attempt.”
“Thank you Issac.” She entered the airlock. Closed the door behind her.
Lamar deployed the zipline. She hooked her harness to it and lowered the forced field. The vacuum carried her down the cable at breakneck speed. She hit the rope break to control her descent. She landed on the roof. No one seemed to notice. She knew the entrance hatch was on the bottom of the structure. She would have to climb down one of the walls. She climbed off the roof lowering herself down one shingle at a time. Clinging to the siding for dear life. She finally reached a window ledge. She sat down to take a break.
Ed was looking out the window when he saw the most amazing sight. It was Talla.
Ed waved.
Talla waved. “What are you doing here?” Ed mouthed.
“Saving you.” Talla mouthed back.
Making her chief of security was probably the best move Ed had made in his time as captain. “There is a hatch” he mouthed and pointed toward…Geo was standing between him and the entrance. She looked fascinated. “Is that one coming to save you? How cute! It has a little helmet!” she opened the window and gently picked up Talla. “Are you coming for your little friend? This one looks different.” She opened the cage door and placed Talla inside with Ed. Then scurried off.
“Sorry sir.” Talla apologized.
“Don’t be sorry, we have a better chance of getting out of this with both of us here.” he motioned to the bars “you think you can get us out of this jar of pickles?”
Talla grabbed the bars and began to pry them apart. They were tough but she would be able to get them. Geo scurried back into the room. She had a handheld scanner. It was the size of a large cargo shuttle. She scanned both of them.
D’fogg entered the room. He sat down in his large comfy chair, picked up his pad, and turned on the monitor.
An announcer was on screen “…while the council will meet tomorrow morning to discuss ways to deal with the infestation on the planet we thought we would take a moment tonight to look back at the origins of this infestation.”
“Avis!” D’fogg boomed. “They’re talking about your rats on the news.”
Geo was looking at the readings on her scanner. She seemed puzzled. She scanned herself to make sure it worked. She scanned and re-scanned Ed and Talla. Herz came running in and jumped on the sofa. Avis stood in the doorway.
The news broadcast continued… “It all began 7 cordons ago when child genius Avis Josanna won the primary level science fair with his creation The Krill, a species capable of living and thriving in the toxic environment on the planet’s surface.”
The video showed a young Avis holding an award in one hand and a tiny Krill in another. Followed by a video of the Krill living in huts, Avis gives them a tiny wheel and shows them how it works. There is more footage of Avis playing army men with the Krill, showing them how to line up in rows and having them fight.
“Without any natural predators,” the announcer continued “the Krill have grown at an alarming rate.”
The picture turned to an older alien. “We were all quite surprised the Krill thrived so well. The toxicity of the environment, the lack of adequate sunlight, or even an adequate food source, but somehow Avis found the right combination of genes to make it work. He truly is a genius.”
Ed was stunned. Avis did create the Krill.
The announcer continued “but after 6 cordons it became apparent that the Krill were expanding beyond their resources. Master Splintire says he and Avis have been working on a plan to reduce the Krill population.”
“We believe that in the next 60 days we can reduce the population by two-thirds thru the use of a special formula we have developed and are injecting into their food supply.”
“Oh my god! Captain, they’re causing the pandemic.” Talla exclaimed. She tugged harder at the bars.
“This is genocide.” Ed was stunned. “Why am I always stuck dealing with genocidal weirdos?” The Kaylon were bad enough with their superior species in the galaxy game, The Krill had their own, everyone else is soulless belief, but these guys they didn’t even consider the Krill inferior or soulless, just some infestation that need to be terminated.
“Critics say reducing the population is not enough. Impact planner Isor Afantani says the damage to the environment could be permanent if the Krill are not eradicated.”
Another old alien appeared on the screen, he appeared to be in a lab. “Our impact study has determined that the Krill have almost used up all the available resources on the surface. They take their tiny ships to other planets in the galaxy and pillage resources bringing them back to Krill. We have determined if we destroy their fleet and we can get Avis to stop feeding them, we should have them all gone within a cordon. It will of course take longer for the environment to recover. I don’t have to tell anyone how it is still recovering from our early forays into combustion and exploration.”
On the screen, there was an image of the Krill planet, overly industrialized and belching smog into the air. The scene dissolved from a smog beauty shot to a crowd of angry protesters.
“Outside the council hall members of the cult of Kar’En protested again today. We spoke with Kar’En earlier.
On the screen, a middle aged alien woman was strong and firm. “We can not allow science to continue trampling on the traditions of our culture and our religion. What gives these scientists the right to play God? Only Balmorra is god. Only Balmorra can breathe life into existence. These soulless abominations need to be dealt with at once.”
“Balmorra, ” D’fogg laughed, “no one believes in that shit anymore. Kar’En is just a crazy crackpot.”
The news continued “the council is expected to vote tomorrow morning. In other news, there is a new champion in fuggle ball, we’ll let you know who it is after the break.” Geo turned off the monitor.
“They’re not Krill.” she said.
Avis looked up. “I told you he wasn’t, wait where did the other one come from?”
“I think it came to rescue the first one,” Geo said. “And look at these readings, they aren’t the same. They are two completely different species. Avis, what did the Krill tell you about them?”
“The blue one is supposed to be something called captain from a place called Union. The Krill asked to go fight with them so I said yes.”
Ed tried to butt in “We’re from a group…” He was interrupted by D’fogg.
“Why on earth would you do that ?” D’fogg had the tone of a dad who was really disappointed in his son’s stupidity. Ed knew it well.
“Getting them off the planet reduces the population here.” Avis explained, “It’s supposed to be a war against a mighty foe, so that should kill a bunch of them. It does a lot of the work for me.”
Ed was stunned. He didn’t know what to think. Having the Krill as allies had saved Earth. It had saved everyone on his entire planet from the Kaylon. The Krill Captain in charge of the fleet had told him it was the will of Avis, but he had thought it was more of a metaphorical thing, not literally the will of Avis. To find out that he only willed it to kill more of them off, Ed thought he was going to be sick.
“We have to do something,” Talla said.
“I think they are communicating, with something,” Geo said, “Herz bring me your micro transmitter from that old radio set.” Geo was fascinated and continued scanning. “D’fogg, look at this! This one has a transceiver that is sending out a signal. I think it’s a homing beacon of some sort. It’s amazing it’s all so tiny.”
Ed tried again “We’re from an organization called The Planetary Union”
Geo nodded at him while she tapped on the scanner.
Ed continued trying to remember his first contact training. “I am from a planet called Earth and Talla is from a place called Xeleaya. Our organization has members from all over the galaxy. We have a treaty with the Krill.”
Herz returned with a speaker assembly.
“ A treaty?” Geo asked. Geo reached into a drawer and pulled out some giant bread ties.
“Yes, they are helping us in our war against a race of killer robots who want to destroy all biological life in the galaxy.”
She placed the speaker assembly to the cage putting it right into the space created by Talla bending the bars. She secured it with a bread tie. Then she scanned it with her scanner. A beam of light hit the speaker and enveloped the cage.
“That should stop that pesky signal and keep you to in place. This planet already has a Krill infestation.” she said, “We don’t need one of whatever you are.”
“You have to listen to me please,” Ed begged her.
“No, I don’t.” She replied. “You should go to bed. You’ve got a big day tomorrow.” she looked around the room, “we should all go to bed. We all have a big day tomorrow.”
Ed couldn’t sleep. Talla was still working on the bars. “Just give it up.”
Talla pulled on the bars but they wouldn’t budge. She scanned them. “It looks like whatever she did has caused a reinforcement in the bars.”
“Get some rest.” Ed said, “That’s an order. I’ll take first watch, we need to be prepared for whatever tomorrow throws at us.”
“OK, just wake me up for second watch.” Talla crawled into a corner and bunched up some giant shredded paper to sleep on.
Back at the medical center Ildis and K’soze were up to their elbows in sick Krill. Ildis examined the readings from Talla’s scanner. This was definitely a mutagen. He compared it to the scans on the Krill. Talla was right. Avis was poisoning the Krill. More Krill were arriving. The medical center was out of space to put them. He called up to the ship.
“We’re a little busy up here Ildis.” Kelly said curtly.
“The medical center is overfull, we need to evacuate some of the Krill to the Orville for treatment,” Ildis explained.
“Dr. Finn, what do you think?” Kelly asked.
“There was no sign of any danger to Talla, and based on what her scans showed I don’t believe there would be any danger to the crew.”
Ildis was pleasantly surprised. Alara was right after all. Dr. Finn was a competent medical professional.
She continued, “I’ll send a team to start prepping Cargo Bay Two as a triage center. “
“We will begin sending Krill to you. Katan Out.”
On the bridge, Kelly was feeling conflicted. They had lost track of Talla’s signal. It had been stationary for some time before it disappeared. It was safe to assume that Avis had found a way to block the signal. She wasn’t about to leave her crew stranded. But the mission had to come first, and the mission was to help the Krill. “Gordon and Bortus take shuttles to the surface help evacuate the Krill. And bring back Ildis Katan. Alara would kill me if anything happened to him.”
“ Yes sir, “ Gordon and Bortus both said leaving the bridge.
“Issac, I want a scan of the entire temple of Avis as detailed as you can get. I need you to find Ed and Talla.” She sat back in the captain’s seat. Out the window, she could see the Krill shuttles approaching carrying the sick Krill to the ship.
Ildis looked again at the data from Talla’s scanner.
“It has to be this mutagenic compound from the food. Someone is poisoning the food supply” He announced very proud of his conclusion. Genetics wasn’t one of his specialties but perhaps after this he should add it. “It seems to be affecting specific genes within the Krill genome. Causing acute paralysis in the nerves along the spinal column.” He was so busy patting himself on the back that he had not noticed the high priest and security guards enter the room.
“You are under arrest for heresy!” the priest exclaimed. The Krill guards moved in to grab Ildis.
“What are you talking about?” Ildis demanded. As he stood with the Krill security on either side of him.
“To speak against Avis is heresy and punishable by death,” K’soze explained.
“But the data shows that the food supply is poisoned.” Ildis declared holding up his scanner. “That’s what is causing your pandemic.”
The security guards grabbed him. Ildis yanked his arm out of one of their grip. They really were quite weak compared to him. He grabbed the other by the arm and flung him like a Felnar bat. Talla was right . He flew against the wall and broke several bones.
“No Krill may speak evil of Avis.” The high priest declared.
Bortus and Gordon appeared at the door.
“It is time to leave.” Bortus said.
Ildis walked up to the priest and looked him in the eye. “I am no Krill.” He said “ Avis is killing you.” And with that, he left.
The cargo bay was organized chaos. Sick Krill were everywhere dying almost quicker than they could be diagnosed. The medical team was trying everything to stop the mutation.
“Has anyone tried a riboix compound?” Dr. Beverly asked
“I tried that on the last one.” Dr. Black responded.
“It’s definitely causing a gene mutation as it progresses. ” Dr. Julian professed, “Does anyone have a sample of uninfected krill DNA?”
“Yes I do but I don’t know how that will help, we’d need the same krill to compare a before and after.” Finn replied.
Dr. Julian complained, “Someone get me a micron scanner.”
Dr. Finn handed a tablet to Nurse Park. “Try amrethizine, maybe that can help boost the fluid retention in the cellular membranes. See if that helps.”
She walked over to the next patient. This Krill seemed less sick.
He was a young man, who smiled at her and said “Hello Dr. Finn. Do you remember me? I’m Coja.”
“Do you know her?” Dr, Beverly asked.
“I was on the ship before. You gave me a scan and told me I was as strong as an ox. I am eager to see one someday. Avis has given me permission to go to earth to study humans. “
“Coja!” Dr. Finn said, surprised to see one of the children Ed had saved on the Krill ship. “My how you have grown. I think you’ve grown faster than Topa has.”
“Coja.” Dr. Beverly murmured as she looked thru the samples. “Here it is.”
“Dr. Finn, what is making everyone sick?” Coja asked sweetly.
Dr. Finn was afraid to answer. but she didn’t want to lie to him. “It appears that your food source is being poisoned,” she explained.
“He doesn’t seem as sick as the others.” Dr. Black announced from across the room.
“You don’t seem that sick, Coja,” Dr Finn said
“I can’t move my arm. But other than that I feel fine.” Coja answered.
Dr. Finn asked, “What have you eaten today?”
“It’s Be ‘Aver To’ Ast, everyone ate the ast fruit. ” Coja said as if it were the most common knowledge in the world. “I didn’t eat that much of it. I was too excited about getting to go to Earth. What kind of food does the earth god bring?”
“I think I’ve got it,” Dr. Julian exclaimed. “Let’s get him to sickbay, I think we can stop this.”
Talla woke first. The sunlight coming thru the window was right in her eyes. The city outside the window looked surreal like some magical floating city in the clouds.
Ed had not woken her up. He had let her sleep. He sat up all night trying to figure out what to do. Not just what to do about the Josanna family or the council of the Conglomerate of Pi, or even the Krill, but how to tell his girlfriend that her god was trying to destroy her entire species. She was never going to go out with him again. That’s for sure.
Geo approached the cage. She had a thimble full of water and a piece of bread. She opened the cage door long enough to slip them inside. “If my scans are correct this shouldn’t kill you.” she closed the cage.
Ed pulled out his scanner to scan the food. It was bread and water. Nothing out of the ordinary. “Oh my god, look at his tiny scanner!” Geo was excited like she had seen a puppy do a new trick. She scanned his scanner with hers, “Oh look it even scans. How cute is that? I could just keep you in a little dollhouse. That is if the council doesn’t kill you. Come off we’re off to a meeting.”
And with that, she threw a piece of fabric over the cage. Talla and Ed were in the dark.
Coja was lying on the bed in sickbay. The paralysis had moved from his right arm all the way down his side. He was beginning to feel dizzy. The whir of people around him was interesting. They all looked so different, not just from the Krill from each other. On a Krill ship, there are nothing but Krill. This place had people of many sizes, shapes, and colors. Coja had to wonder how they could all get along so well while still being so different. The brown one stood over him and the red-haired lady was nearby.
“This won’t hurt at all,” she said to him gently.
“It is fine if it does.” he happily replied. “Avis teaches us that pain shows us we are still alive.” It did not hurt at all, in fact, he began to feel much better almost immediately. The doctors all scurried around a monitor to see if it was working. Coja didn’t need to see the monitor. He could feel it working. Avis was indeed wise to send him to watch humans. They were an amazing species, very smart, and definitely worthy of study.
The blanket was still on the cage. Ed wasn’t sure but they had gone quite some distance. He and Talla were trying to undo the twist tie keeping the dampening field in place. Talla was trying to twist but the ties were huge and awkward to get at around the speaker itself. The cage kept jostling as someone carried it thru what sounded like an open-air market.
“Stand back,” Ed told Talla. Ed pulled out his pulse pistol.
“You brought a pistol to Krill?” Talla was shocked. “We’re on a mercy mission!”
“I was going to see my ex,” Ed explained “I wasn’t sure how pissed she would be. It’s on stun.”
“Well considering she offered you up as a sacrifice to her god, I would say she was pretty pissed,” Talla responded,
Talla backed away from the radio assembly speaker thing. Ed used his pulse pistol to cut the giant bread tie. The mechanism fell to the ground. The cage kept moving forward. From the other side of the fabric, Ed and Talla could hear the protests of the cult of Kar’En.
“Commander, I have found them,” Issac said. It was the first good news all morning. “On screen.” the map of the colony was up on the screen with a moving blip. “Good job Issac.” Kelly said.
“I would love to take the credit” Issac explained ” but I did nothing. Whatever was causing the interference has ceased.”
“Gordon are you back yet?” Kelly asked into the comm.
“Yep,” he answered, “Just pulling into the garage now.” His shuttle had just cleared the quantum engines and was headed into shuttle bay three with another load of sick Krill and Ildis Katan.
“As soon as you are in, I need you to get ready to go back out.” Kelly ordered, “I’m sending you to pick up Ed and Talla.”
The cage finally stopped moving. They had been set down. It didn’t seem like they had gone down far enough to hit the floor. Ed guessed they were on a table. There was a lot of meeting and mulling noises. Many people stopping to both praise and scold Avis for being so smart and so stupid at the same time. Ed felt bad for the kid. From what he could tell Avis was probably only a teenager by human standards.
There was a loud bang and then a voice said… “This meeting of the council of elders of the Conglomerate of Pi will now come to order. We have reviewed all the data on this creation of yours Avis Josanna, and we find no evidence that this species is anything other than a dangerous, invasive species. It does nothing but consume and destroy. Can anyone bring any evidence to the contrary?”
Ed looked at Talla, they both understood. The Union and the Krill had been allies for a short period of time. But before that, Krill attacked Union outposts killing everyone and taking the spoils of war home to Krill on a regular basis. Telaya had even mentioned that their constant expansion into unknown territory were why the Krill were at war with the Choctal.
“I have new evidence to present to the council” a familiar voice spoke. It was Geo.
The cover came off the cage. Ed and Talla sat in the cage on a table in what looked kind of like a ceremonial room. The council sat above them behind a long high desk. There were ten.
“These creatures are not Krill. In fact, they are of two separate species. Despite their diminutive size, they are highly advanced technologically. Their clothes have been made by molecular synthesis, they have tiny scanners and they are currently emitting a homing beacon. The blue one followed my son home. He was an offering from one of the Krill. But the red one came to save the blue one. They can speak, and they say they are allies with the Krill in a great war.”
The room erupted in laughter. “more tiny creatures banning together” one of the elders said.”Just squish him and be done with it.”
“Excuse me, council guys?” This had been a strange first contact but Ed needed to try to salvage something. He couldn’t let the Krill die. The Union needed them as allies and preserving that was his main mission.
“Is this thing addressing us?” a council member asked.
“Yes, I am. My name is Ed Mercer.” He motioned to the high court desk, “Geo can you give me a hand here.” She lifted the cage and placed it on the high council’s desk and opened the cage door. Ed and Talla climbed out. “We are with a group called The Planetary Union, it is a group of space-faring worlds who explore the galaxy. I am from a planet called Earth, and Talla is from a planet called Xelaya.”
“You travel thru space you say? In what, tiny little ships?” one council member was getting a little heated but the others seemed to be genuinely as interested as Geo was.
“How do you expect us to believe that?” another one asked. “It must take you forever to get from one place to another.”
“Well we have developed a quantum drive engine that gets us from place to place a little faster, but it is true, space is really big.”
“What do you care of the Krill? “the council leader asked.
“The Krill are our allies. There is a race of killer robots who are trying to destroy all biological life in the galaxy called the Kaylon. They attacked our homeworld and only with the help of the Krill were we able to win the battle and save our planet.”
“You see,” Geo stated,” They have found a way to get along with other species from the galaxy. Perhaps we have misjudged their intellectual ability?”
The head of the cult of Kar’En spoke up. “They are soulless abominations! They should be eradicated at once.”
“That’s funny.” Ed laughed, “that is exactly what the Krill said about us when we first met them. We’re soulless creatures because we were not created by Avis.”
The room broke out in laughter.
“Its funny how you don’t like the Krill for the very same reason they had trouble getting along with everybody else.” Ed mused. “ I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
Ed’s comm beeped. “Mercer here.
It was Kelly “Ed are you alright?”
“Yeah Kel we’re fine.” Ed answered, “Could you send Gordon to pick us up?”
“He’s on his way.” she replied.
Gordon loved piloting, as the Union’s best pilot he could pilot thru anything. He had no problems getting to the Temple of Avis. Evidently, the Krill either had not found a way to detect the shuttles cloak or they were too busy to notice him. He entered thru a thermal exhaust port and made his way toward the council chambers.
Navigating the city was nothing for him. Dodging the giant people protesting was a bit harder. It was hard to anticipate where they were going to move. He tried to gain altitude to get above the crowd. A protester swiped him with his sign and he went careening off course. Gordon regained control and slid the shuttle right thru the feet of the crowd.
“What if we got all the Krill to just leave the planet?” Ed was trying anything to stop the termination of the Krill and probably himself. “There are plenty of other planets out there that they could live on.”
“You think your Union could convince the Krill to leave?” One asked.
Another wanted to know where the Krill would go.
Ed explained that the Union often did this with planets that were dying or groups that were in danger. He told the story of the generational ship that was to collide with a stellar fragment but was saved. Those people didn’t even realize they were on a ship. They too let religion guide them away from science. “Our Union has done this before so resettling the Krill wont be a problem, but you are right they wont listen to me or the Union. They will only listen to Avis.”
All eyes turned to Avis.
“But what if we just kept a few of them?” he asked.
“Avis,” Geo spoke, “I know you love the toys you made, but it is time to let go of them. You are growing up now. Soon you will reach the age of admission and you too can become a productive member of society, but first you must let these things go.”
“If you love something, set it free,” Ed added, not really knowing what to say and wondering where the hell his ride was.
Gordon de-cloaked the ship as it landed on the high desk of the council. The shuttle door opened and Gordon popped out. “You guys need a lift?”
“That one is orange” a member exclaimed. “My they have such diversity.”
“In a minute, “ Ed responded “keep the engine running. So Avis, what is it going to be? Are you going to let the Krill go so they can stay alive or let your people terminate them?”
Avis reluctantly agreed, “I will give them the order to leave, promise me Edmercer that you will find them a good home.”
“That I can promise.” He turned to the council leader “We would love to set up an information exchange with your culture. Exploration is why we are out here.”
“You have one cordon to remove the Krill from the planet below.” The high council leader said. “After that, any Krill left will be eradicated. We will contemplate your information exchange over the next cordon. If you keep your word to remove the Krill we may consider it.”
“Sounds good,” Ed said. It did sound good. He just had one question. “Out of curiosity, how long is a cordon?”
“It is one rotation of the planet around the sun.” the council member replied.
250 years? Ed was surprised. He had thought they would want them removed immediately He guessed maybe for them that was immediate. “Well, we can definitely meet that timetable. Avis, you let the Krill know and I will tell my people.”
Ed got into the shuttle and the crowd watched in awe as Gordon flew the tiny shuttle out of the council chambers.
In sickbay, the Krill were beginning to get better. The treatment was working not just for Coja but for all of them. Ildis Katan was shocked. He had just arrived to explain to the team that it was a mutagenic affecting the nerves and not only did they already know, They had already found a treatment for it. Some type of synthetic genetic sequence that filled in the gaps of the missing DNA. It was really quite brilliant. Hard to believe a human came up with it.
Coja was up and ready to leave sickbay. “Coja you are all better, you can head home on the next shuttle.” Dr. Finn was so happy to see so many patients making a full recovery. The word on the surface was that those Krill were recovering too now.
“I don’t want to go back. Avis said I could study humans. Who is in charge now that Captain Mercer is with Avis?” He asked.
Dr. Finn smiled, “Commander Grayson is in charge until the Captain gets back. He should be back soon. But would you like to meet her?”
“Yes please.”
Dr. Finn smiled and took Coja down the hall and up the stairs to the bridge. “Commander Grayson, this is Coja” Dr. Finn introduced the young Krill male to the commander, ” I believe he has a question for you.”
Kelly wasn’t sure where this was going, but she had learned to trust Claire Finn. “What’s your question?” she asked Coja.
“I asked Avis, if I could go to earth and study humans. He said yes.” Coja looked at her with big black Krill eyes. “I was hoping maybe your ship could take me? That way I can study humans on the way.”
Kelly started to ask about his parents but stopped herself. Ed had killed all the adults on that ship, and this kid wanted a ride to earth to study humans. He might try to kill Ed out of revenge. He could be a sleeper terrorist or another Krill spy. Or he could be a curious kid who is interested in something other than his own culture.
Gordon entered the bridge. “Coja!” he exclaimed, “It’s me Devon! How ya doin’ buddy. It’s awesome we are all on the same side now. What are ya doing here?”
“He wants permission to come on board,” Kelly said with a sly smile.
“You’re going to give it to him right?” Gordon asked. “Remember how you wanted to see Earth?’ Gordon pressed a few button and Earth appeared on the viewscreen” That’s it.”
“It’s so blue!” Coja said.
“That’s from all the water on the planet” Gordon explained.
“ All that blue is water?” Coja asked. “ Do humans live in the water?”
“ Nah… well some do but not many.” Gordon continued “We all live on the brown and green parts.”
“ OK, “ Kelly said “You have permission to stay for now. Ultimately the Captain and the Union brass will have the final say. Where is Ed anyway?”
Gordon looked awkward, ” he wanted to say goodbye …” He didn’t finish. He didn’t really need to.
This was the place. Ed docked his shuttle and walked up and rang the doorbell. Telaya opened the door surprised to see Ed standing there.
“Telaya please,” he said
“Get off my porch,” she interrupted pulling him inside, “No one can see you here.”
He could see she had been packing. The monitor was on. Springtime for Hitler filled the air.
“No one has ever come back from the temple of Avis,” she said with some shock and a deep understanding of what the Krill finding out someone could come back would mean. “What are you doing here?” she asked. “Did you see my brother?”
“I did not get a chance to see him. I wasn’t really there very long.” He answered. This was awkward he thought. Best to just get it all out in the open. “Look our last date kind of ended a little weird. I thought I should check on you.” He motioned to the monitor, “So what do you think of The Producers?”
“I am confused as to why if making fun of the great leader is considered humorous, the audience in the film does not laugh?” she asked “But the song is very catchy.”
“You’re packing up?” Ed asked.
“Yes, Avis is ordering all Krill to leave this place. We must go to prepare a new place and he will join us there soon.”
“Avis has a funny idea of soon,” Ed smirked. “Do you know where you are going?”
“I tried to kidnap you, tried to kill you, offered you up as a sacrifice to my god, why would you still care?” Teleya asked, exasperated with him.
When she put it like that, she had a point. That was one of the things he loved about her. She always got straight to the point. Ed just smiled. “It’s still one of the best relationships I’ve ever been in.” He kissed her on the cheek and left.
The pandemic was over. Avis had told the Krill to leave. The gods seemed happy or at least contented for the next 250 years. The Union was sending an evacuation ship to help the Krill leave. All in all, it wasn’t a bad date.