Exodus: Machine War 1 Supernova. Read Online Free PDF Page B

first, sporting two very strong looking arms and
manipulation digits similar to those of the human’s.  If they have warriors
like this, we would be doomed even in a conventional fight.
    “And Petty
Officer Hi’tarris, one of my electronics techs.”
    The second being
was also larger than the Captain, about of a size with Lamsat himself.  And
while not as fearsomely armed as the huge Marine, his sharp looking beak was
still a formidable weapon.
    “And this is my
crewmate, Hzzart Nastra,” said Lamsat, introducing his partner.  It still
sounded strange using the translation program the humans had provided.  When
they spoke, they heard the words come out of their own mouths in their
language, yet the aliens seemed to understand them.  When the aliens talked,
they could hear the foreign, incomprehensible words, but they also heard their
own language.
    “How many
species have you enslaved?” asked the female Astronaut, her own primary eyes
moving back and forth between the two alien species.
    “The Phlistarans
and Gryphons are not slaves of my people, but free members of our Empire,” said
the human.  “As are over a score of other species.  And we trade with even
more.”
    “And do you
fight any of them?” asked Lamsat, unable to tell if the alien was speaking the
truth or not.  After all, he could not even begin to read their body language
or voice tones.  It might be years before any of his people could.  He hoped
the same was also true the other way, but had no way of knowing.
    “We try to get
along with the other space going species,” said the human, showing her teeth in
what looked like a grimace, but could have been anything.  “But not everyone
gets along, and there have been wars.  We’ve even started  few ourselves, I’m
sorry to say.”
    The human looked
around for a moment, then motioned toward an open hatchway.  “And if you would
come with us, we have a more comfortable venue where we can talk.”
    Hzzarts wants
to know if you believe them , said one of his siblings.
    Lamsat glanced
at his companion for a moment, nodding his head.  I do believe them, to a
point , he told his sibling on the planet through the quantum connection of
their brains.  That sibling talked with one of Hzzarts’ sisters, in the same
room or by communicator.  Only siblings from the same litter could communicate
in such a manner, but using this method was the next best thing to his having
telepathic communication with his partner.  And they can’t tell what we’re
saying to each other, or even if we’re communicating.   And then a thought
struck that concerned him.  If the aliens also had quantum connectedness in
their mental makeup, they might guess what was going on, and with their tech
they might actually be able to intercept it.
    They walked
through thirty meters of corridor and entered a lift, which whisked them away
from where they entered to somewhere else on the ship.  The lift opened up on
another corridor which looked much like the one they had just left.
    “Did we even
move?” asked Nastra as they stepped out of the lift.  “I felt nothing.”
    “The
compensators in the lift took up all the inertia,” said the human, giving them
another of those full tooth grimaces which Lamsat was beginning to suspect
weren’t such after all.  “It’s the same system we use on our ships when we
move, though nowhere near as powerful.”
    The door to a
room opened as they approached, sliding into the wall smooth and silent, and
the Captain gestured them into the chamber, which had a long table and some
chairs, as well as a bench like thing that defied their understanding.  Until
the huge alien settled himself into it and made himself comfortable.
    “I’m afraid we
don’t have chair configured to your physiognomy, at least yet.  But if you sit
in them for a little while they will start configuring themselves to you.  As
far as refreshments, I have ordered water, as well as a sampling of