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  “Cold,” Tatia commented.

  “So, the captain was trying to solve a Packeo social problem. Commendable,” Alex commented. He looked at Renée.

  “I like him. I like him a lot,” Renée replied.

  “Me too,” Alex said. “I think we found who’ll best fill the position.”

  “Just one giant issue to resolve,” Renée commented.

  “Lucia,” Tatia replied, and everyone nodded in assent.

  * * * * *

  Passenger travelers loaded the veterans, the Dischnya, and the Norsitchians and lifted from Quall. They headed for the Rêveur.

  Cargo shuttles took on the necessary number of shadows from a city-ship’s bay and transferred them to the liner.

  Tatia assigned two Earther squadrons with Lucia’s command ship, the Judgment, to provide Jess with a sufficient number of travelers. The Rêveur carried only four travelers in its twin bays. Lucia’s command would provide an additional twenty-eight travelers.

  After a final conversation with Alex, Renée, and Julien, Jess transferred to the Judgment for the trip to the Dontot home world.

  Following the initial transit from the Quall system, Lucia and Jess disappeared into her quarters, and the couple didn’t reappear for two full days.

  Six days later, the fleet emerged from its transit. Orbit calculated the next position, coordinated the controllers, and the fleet made a short movement to appear above Dontot.

  On approach to the planet, Orbit activated the bridge holo-vid. “Unique world,” he noted. “Observe.”

  Dontot’s rotation was displayed at an accelerated rate to illustrate Orbit’s comment.

  “A water world with two large continents,” Lucia remarked.

  “Not ideal for the insectoids,” Jess added. “They don’t swim well.”

  “Status of the ring?” Lucia inquired. She was curious if it was being rebuilt.

  “Unknown, Admiral, the moon is in alignment with the planet and on its far side,” Orbit replied.

  “A Colony shuttle was cleared, correct?” Jess asked.

  Orbit checked the survey records. “Affirmative, Captain,” the SADE replied.

  “If we see that there’s no traffic through the dome, it would be a good time to shut down access,” Jess mused.

  “Captain, launch a traveler and place it in overwatch to monitor the dome,” Lucia ordered.

  The captain, Salomé “Sal” Jelany, ordered a crew chief to prepare a traveler, and she sent a pilot to the bay. Minutes later, the traveler exited the Trident and sailed for the planet’s second moon.

  “What’s known about the Dontots?” Lucia asked.

  “Nothing,” Jess replied. “Not the Sylians, the Norsitchians, Tacnock, nor I have any information about them. I forgot to ask the Crocians before we left Pimbor.”

  “Then I guess we’ll discover them together,” Lucia said pleasantly.

  Jess linked with Lucia and sent,

  Lucia sent in reply.

  Jess understood the message. He shouldn’t try to direct the actions of the command’s superior officer. I tried, Tatia, he thought.

  When the fleet made Dontot’s orbit, the Tridents spread around the planet. There were thick cloud layers, and travelers were launched to drop below the atmospheric interference to scan the surface.

  “The command destroyed nineteen transports,” Orbit reported, as the travelers’ telemetry data flowed to the Judgment. “Utilizing the veterans’ experience, those transports released thirty-eight shuttles, which landed seven hundred sixty adult insectoids on the planet.”

  “Have the shuttle landing sites been identified?” Jess asked.

  “Counting,” Orbit replied. “Yes, Captain. The continents’ vegetation is thick and lush, but the burn marks from the engine flares are distinct.”

  “Where?” Lucia asked.

  “Evenly divided between the two land masses, Admiral,” Orbit replied.

  “Can you locate definitive city centers?” Jess asked.

  “Scanning,” Orbit replied. “Now, that’s unexpected. The urbanite structures are visible on one continent. There’s no evidence of habitation on the second continent.”

  “Why would the Dontots not take advantage of half their available surface?” Lucia asked rhetorically.

  “Orbit, please show us a city center,” Jess requested.

  The SADE directed the nearest traveler to observe the area the captain requested. As the traveler’s telemetry was relayed to the Judgment, it was displayed on the holo-vid.

  “That’s something you don’t see every day. A city above the ground ... way above the ground,” Jess remarked.

  The bridge audience stared at the huge circular platforms hoisted high in the air on sleek tri-legged structures. Transparent tubes interlinked the platforms.

  “Orbit, identify a Dontot shuttle pad,” the captain, Sal, requested.

  “It’s nearby, Captain,” Orbit replied, as he manipulated the scan data in the holo-vid.

  “Hmm,” Sal mused. “It appears to be a standard pad, with tube slots and exit vents to direct engine flares.”

  Jess linked to the controller and shifted the display. The others watched while he investigated the pad and its perimeter. Then he traced the intervening distance between the shuttle pad and the elevated city.

  “Solid vegetation. No surface route,” Sal commented.

  Jess zoomed in on one of the platform’s pedestals.

  “Captain, regard the center of the tripod structure,” Homsaff said.

  Captain Lumley had linked the Rêveur’s holo-vid to the Judgment’s, and the other veterans and he were observing the imagery relayed from the Trident. The audio was also shared for the sake of Menous, who didn’t possess an implant.

  “The Dontots move from their platforms to the pad via the tubes in a pedestal’s center and then underground,” Lucia surmised.

  “Cities in the air. Movement underground. I suspect that the Dontots were uplifted from tree dwellers,” Menous offered.

  “Possibly,” Sal said. “But their aerial platforms are costly to construct. I’d say that whatever creatures are in their forests are deadly.”

  “That might explain the difference in the habitable regions,” Jess mused.

  “How?” Lucia asked.

  “I don’t know,” Jess replied. “There could be a more dangerous environment for the Dontots on the unoccupied continent.”

  “Orbit, are there no other land masses?” Francis asked.

  “The travelers are identifying islands, Captain,” Orbit replied, “but they’re small, merely atolls.”

  “We need a landing site, and I’m concerned about what might be in the forests,” Jess said. “Also, I’d rather not drop onto a platform’s roof. We’ll look a little undignified descending on the platforms by shuttle line.”

  “Speak for yourself, Captain,” Homsaff quipped. “The Dischnya exhibit power and grace however they approach a target.”

  “Point taken,” Jess replied, amid the chuckles and snickers. “I was merely thinking of Aputi.”

  The twin audiences erupted in laughter, chortles, and barks.

  “See who watches your back next time, Captain,” Aputi retorted, as those surrounding him patted his wide back sympathetically.

  Orbit waited until the biologicals had an opportunity to relieve the stress of another impending first contact. He’d learned of this need from an exchange with Juliette. She had the algorithmic nature to help biologicals. He didn’t, but he understood the problem — short lives and vulnerable bodies made every day precious.

  “Captain,” Orbit said, addressing Jess’s original question, “the platforms are constructed in groups of five, and they surround and connect to a sixth platform. This center unit appears to be used to grow food, a
s are the platforms’ tops.”

  “Perfect,” Jess replied. “We’ll drop in there. Captain Lumley, please make arrangements for a traveler to pick up Homsaff, Menous, Tacnock, and Aputi.”

  “Weapons?” Tacnock asked.

  “Yes, but we’ll leave them aboard the traveler,” Jess replied, and he picked up Lucia’s narrowed eyes, which were directed at him.

  19: Aerial Cities

  Jess sent, as he headed to Lucia’s quarters to change.

  Sharon replied enthusiastically.

  Sal signaled the starboard crew chief to ready a traveler for launch and informed him that the pilot was on her way.

  The chief smiled to himself. Sharon Reems had been sitting in her ship’s pilot seat for the past quarter hour. When Sharon strode into his bay, he’d said, “Lieutenant, I haven’t received any orders to launch.”

  Sharon had replied, “You will, Chief.”

  “What makes you so certain?” the chief asked.

  “The assault commander has an allergy,” Sharon quipped.

  “He’s not feeling well?” the chief inquired.

  Sharon laughed and replied, “The captain is allergic to sitting on his backside. I’ll bet you he’ll launch within the half hour.”

  As an ex-TSF sergeant, the chief wouldn’t pass up a bet. He put one hundred credits on Sharon’s offer.

  Sharon sent.

  Jess’s intentions were to take Tacnock, Aputi, Homsaff, and Menous with him. When Lucia invited herself, he kept his thoughts to himself.

  At Jess’s request, Orbit had analyzed the various aerial cities. Three stood out by virtue of their size, and Jess chose the most centrally located. It had the most numerous pentagonal clusters.

  Sharon’s implant registered the boarding of the captain and the admiral, who was unexpected.

  Jess sent.

  Sharon cleared the Judgment’s bay, rendezvoused with the liner, and gained the others. Then she checked her destination, coordinates supplied by Orbit.

  Sharon queried.

  Jess sent.

  Sharon descended the traveler rapidly, broke through layers of cloud, and headed for the land mass over the far horizon.

  Homsaff had acquired a portal holo-vid for Menous, and she linked the device to the shuttle’s telemetry.

  When the traveler reached the second continent, Jess sent,

  Sharon requested.

  Homsaff interjected. She understood what Jess was interested in spotting.

  In the holo-vid, the shuttle’s downward sensors recorded various species of herbivores in small clearings that held plentiful grasses. Some were slender and fleet footed. Others were heavy and armored.

  Sharon cruised the ship slowly from one clearing to the next.

  Homsaff sent. Her keen eyes caught subtle movement in the brush near a small meadow. She augmented the holo-vid display with a highlight.

  “I don’t see it,” Lucia said.

  Just then, the creature, a two-and-a-half-meter tall reptile, sprung from concealment and sprinted across twelve meters of grass on muscular hind legs. It targeted slender herbivores that, sensing the danger, bolted in all directions. A young herbivore hesitated for a split second, and that was its undoing.

  The reptile leapt into the air, as the youngling belatedly made its break. The carnivore landed atop its victim, pinning it to the ground, with long, wicked claws. A bite from lethal jaws broke the herbivore’s neck. Swiftly, the herbivore was eviscerated, and the reptile fed.

  Aputi started chuckling, and he was regarded with frowned faces.

  “Sorry,” he said, waving away the reactions. “I wasn’t laughing at the youngling’s demise. The thought occurred to me that the insectoids who landed on this continent might have met their matches.”

  “An excellent point, Aputi,” Homsaff remarked, “especially if the creature we’ve just seen isn’t the largest or the most dangerous.”

  Jess sent.

  Sharon was happy to gain some elevation from the view of the predation and make for the other continent. The carnivore’s attack had an eerie similarity to her fears of encountering a red.

  When Sharon reached Orbit’s coordinates, she sent,

  Jess sent.

  They didn’t have long to wait. A group of Dontots gathered beneath the traveler.

  “Long-tailed simians,” Tacnock said.

  “Tree dwellers,” Menous added. “The aerial cities imitate their beginnings.”

  The Dontots were a slender species with compact heads and long, slight arms. They wore brightly colored robes, and a slit at the garment’s rear allowed a thick, muscular tail freedom to move.

  The coarse hair on the Dontot’s posterior sides was a muted orange, and the anterior was shaded in either a dun or a cream.

  Sharon sent, She highlighted the individual on the holo-vid.

  A Dontot, whose hair showed signs of aging by its color loss, beckoned to them with arms raised high above his head.

  “Among the nicely attired Dontots, that individual has one of the most attractive robes,” Lucia commented. “Probably someone of importance.”

  Jess viewed the traveler’s telemetry. Plants, fruiting and flowering, occupied nearly every meter of the platform’s space, except for narrow aisles. There was a small space near the edge, where collection boxes were stacked.

  Jess sent.

  Sharon replied.

  Jess sent.

  “If I can?” Sharon mumbled to herself, as if she’d been insulted.

  Jess grinned, having heard Sharon’s grumble.

  Sharon lowered the traveler until it was level with the platform. She dropped the ramp and waited. As she’d hoped, the Dontots immediately cleared the area of their collection boxes. Then she eased the ship rearward until the ramp’s corner was centimeters above the platform. A signal to the controller requested it maintain the ship’s position relative to the platform.

  “I hope no one is afraid of heights,” Jess said, as he led the group to the traveler’s aft end. He eyed the connection. The ramp overlapped the platform by less than a third of a meter, and it was a gut-roiling distance to the ground.

  Several Dontots assembled close to the ramp. They were encouraging the visitors to jump.

  Already, ear wigs were beeping, as language apps were updated.

  Jess heard, “Don’t be afraid. Jump.” So, he leapt.

  Slender but strong arms pulled Jess into an embrace.

  One by one the traveler’s passengers crossed the narrow bridge into the sure hands of the Dontots.

  Aputi was the last to jump, and he stalled at the ramp’s edge. He willed himself not to look down, but he did, and he froze.

  “We won’t let you fall,” a Dontot encouraged Aputi. But he eyed Aputi’s size, whispered, and a third male joined the first two, who had been catching the visitors.

  Aputi mentally challenged himself. If you can face insectoids, you can make this jump, he thought. He took a deep breath, let it out, and heaved his bulk across the space.

  Dontot was a slightly less dense planet than Pyre, which
Aputi was about to discover. His leap sent him sailing into the anxious arms of the three Dontots, and he bowled them over. Aputi was the first to clamber to his feet, apologizing profusely and yanking the lighter Dontots upright.

  As for the Dontots, they were chattering amiably, commenting on Aputi’s size and strength, and patting him on the shoulders.

  Jess sent. His amusement was evident.

  The Dontots who had assisted the visitors stepped aside at the approach of the elder.

  “Welcome to Desterté. I’m Crixtos, one of Desterté’s city masters. We’ve waited and hoped for your return. Come meet with us.”

  Jess sent Sharon a message to lift and wait.

  Crixtos watched his visitors’ sleek craft. The hull mirrored the blues, greens, and creams of his robe. “A marvelous ship,” he commented and then led the way.

  The connecting tube was transparent, which offered a fantastic view of the foliage below. Aputi, for one, kept his eyes forward, refusing to look down. Within the tube were twin walkways separated by a central metal rail.

  Dontots passed Jess and company on the other pathway. They tipped their heads to Crixtos and flashed their teeth at the visitors. When they spotted Aputi, comments were often murmured.

  “One of our members appears to attract a lot of attention,” Lucia remarked to Crixtos.

  “Forgive the females,” Crixtos said. “They’re attracted to his great size.”

  Lucia shared the exchange with those with implants. Tacnock chittered, and Aputi’s ears reddened.

  Despite his advanced age, Crixtos had an easy stride, and his guests matched his pace.

  The connecting tube entered the lowest level of a platform. The visitors were surprised to see there were no guard rails along the edges. It had been the same at the growing platform. A small lip was all there was to warn wayward feet.

  Steps spiraled upward around the central support column, and doors opened in the center of the column at their approach. Crixtos stepped inside, and the group followed.

  “How many levels?” Tacnock asked.