Jeff Carlson - The Frozen Sky

The tribe was unlikely to react well to fake metal sunfish. Tom’s stories of the earlier probes and FNEE mecha were litanies of fear and bloodlust.

Would they connect Lam with the machines and attack him?

In the nervous quiet of Lander 04, Vonnie narrowed her eyes when the opposite thought struck her. What if they connect him with the probes and adopt them into the colony, too?

“Lam, you need to intercept the tribe before they reach our probes,” she said.

“I think he should run,” Johal said.

“He’ll never evade the foursomes of scouts. His best chance is to explain. We can give him control of the probes, let them submit to him where the sunfish can see it, then demonstrate their capabilities. The tribe will want superpowered hunters.”

“Okay, go,” Koebsch said.

— I’m on my way.

Lam screeched and signed, urging Brigit, Tom, and Charlotte to bring their new weapons. The savage males bolted ahead of the pack to join the larger tribe in the catacombs above.

The tribe’s sonar echoed capriciously, fading and reappearing as he flitted through ice. Soon there were other noises. Lam heard thudding arms, the clack of beaks, and a rushing sound like birds in flight.

The eight sunfish in his pack screamed. They were answered with the same malevolent cry from thirty mouths. Then the song was repeated on two flanks by their scouts. All four groups of sunfish were on a collision course with the probes.

Lam redoubled his speed, passing the savage males. He signaled danger / wait , but that caused Tom and Charlotte to lag briefly, robbing him of their participation. The males raced to keep up. If he’d sensed a new foe, they wanted to attack.

He entered a new fissure and swung to meet the tribe before they slithered from a gap in the ice, clawing at the faint marks left by the probes.

The rest of his pack shot into the fissure. They blended seamlessly with the tribe like rain magnifying a river as it rolled and crashed downhill. Only one thing stopped their momentum toward the hollow where the probes were hidden.

Lam. He blocked their way, holding onto the floor in postures of supremacy and disagreement.

Like a river colliding with a dam, the sunfish spread apart. They swept up the walls, then washed together again and pushed toward Lam. At the same time, Charlotte, Tom, and Brigit became other disturbances within the tribe, resisting its flow by signing and crying in shapes and tones similar to Lam’s grinding dance. They conveyed what they’d learned from him even as he reiterated those promises himself.

LAM: My tribe is strange and powerful / Far away / We offer truce / Tools / Food / We are no threat to you.

CHARLOTTE: They bring metal!

ALL SUNFISH: Intruders hide behind him / Strange life / Smell of metal / Why?

LAM: I have more to offer you.

TOM AND BRIGIT: He is strong / He brings food.

ALL SUNFISH: He stands against our tribe / He stands with them / He challenges us.

CHARLOTTE: Wait and listen.

ALL SUNFISH: We are Top Clan Eight-Six!

Twelve savages moved to attack, causing the rest of the tribe to snap and feint reflexively. Lam emitted another unnatural howl, deafening the sunfish with his volume.

The stalemate ended when the two probes emerged behind him. Their arms clattered on the ice. The sunfish pulsated with the horrified shapes they’d used to describe the FNEE mecha, but the intelligent females called for discipline and tolerance.

CHARLOTTE: Listen! Listen!

LAM: My tribe has also fought with / We are not them / We can protect you.

ALL SUNFISH: Enemies / Metal enemies.

LAM: Not your enemy / These metal creatures belong to me / They are tools / They obey me.

CHARLOTTE AND TOM: Listen and wait.

LAM: Listen / They obey me.

MALE SUNFISH #1 and #4: We obey you.

“He’s getting through to them!” Vonnie said.

“Lam, let’s show you’re in control of the probes,” Koebsch said. “We might be close to establishing a truce.”

— Yes, sir.

His data analysis agreed with the central AIs. The tribe was flustered and anxious, yet their mood was rising. They were expectant. Vonnie felt the same emotions. She saw pleasure and satisfaction in Metzler, O’Neal, and Koebsch.

Lam rippled his arm tips in the sunfish gesture for welcome or yes as Probes 116 and 117 mimicked his clockwise shimmy. With perfect synchronicity, the trio continued to sign together like three musicians in an orchestra.

LAM AND PROBES: They obey me / Obey us.

CHARLOTTE: They are metal!

LAM AND PROBES: My tribe creates them like children / They never tire / Never eat / Great strength / They serve me and they can serve you.

Vonnie thought he’d seal the promise of an alliance with the sunfish. They respected endurance and might above all else, but an odd hesitation passed among the tribe. It began with a gesture, then a scent. Lam’s sensors pinpointed the change as originating with Charlotte, although it spread instantly to Brigit. Their arms squirmed with bewilderment and a more intense feeling that Lam found difficult to identify.

Like the probes, Charlotte impersonated him, repeating a few hints of information he’d betrayed with his body shapes… an insinuation of human thinking… a perspective outside the ice…

She coiled and screeched in revulsion. Then the tribe erupted.

CHARLOTTE: You are from above the Top Clans?

ALL SUNFISH: Death / Only death above / Close the ice / Close the tribe!

TOM: Kill him.

CHARLOTTE: It’s a trap.

“Oh shit, here we go again,” Koebsch swore as Vonnie said, “They just figured out where he’s really from! They should be scared. We would be, too.”

He tried to soothe them, repeating the same assurances in a steady, sturdy loop.

LAM: There is more than death beyond the ice / Great age and places / I offer truce / Tools / Food / My tribe brings great tools and safety like the Old Ones.

Inevitably, they swarmed him. Four of the savage males lunged in a frontal assault. The others swept up the side of the fissure like a corkscrew. This was not the dual formation of intersecting waves. This was new. In pairs and foursomes, the sunfish launched themselves in eight different angles despite the meager space, peppering Lam with separate attacks.

He told the probes to shield him. As the probes leapt forward, all three of them howled. Their voices shook the ice.

Dazed, the tribe flailed ineffectively. Many of them tangled with each other in the air. They bounced awkwardly, filling the tunnel and hindering the rest of the tribe.

Lam and Probe 117 swatted four males into the ceiling, then clubbed the next pair to arrive. He howled again. Like a tsunami, the sound brushed the sunfish back. Quivering, they scrambled to the upper sections of the ice with attentive postures. The battered males were less alert but utterly silent.

Inside Lander 04, Metzler grinned. “If you can’t join ’em, beat ’em,” he said, earning a look from Vonnie. She wanted to be irritated with him, but she couldn’t stop herself from grabbing his hand and laughing. Dealing with the sunfish was like dealing with bureaucrats on Earth. Sometimes it was necessary to smack them over the head repeatedly to make them see.

“Lam?” she said. “We have one last card to play.”