By Patrick M. Fitzgerald
Kay studied her notes while the sounds of the alien planet filled her spaceship. Wind whistled through the sugar reeds, sand blew across the dunes, and water lapped along the shore. Birds called out as they took flight, and a chorus of insects chirped in the background.
“The ambience of Ailuros is beautiful, Ambassador Karr,” Rashet purred, her claws tapping in rhythm on the console. “You play it like a song.”
“Thanks.” Kay blushed. “Music was my first passion. Translating alien languages isn’t that different, really. I just hope I can do the same with the language of nature.”
“I’m honored you chose me to oversee the construction of the audio relays. If you can actually interpret the voice of the planet…” The Ailuran’s catlike eyes widened. “It could tell us of coming droughts or floods. We could end the famines.”
Kay patted the Halcyon‘s databanks. “I’ve analyzed terabytes of data in the past year. I just need solid proof that it works.”
A frantic beeping broke the natural soundscape. Kay frowned and displayed a map on the monitor. “Malfunction of the relay at Dryridge Valley.” She played the clip. The sounds of wind and sliding sand filled the ship. Rapid clicking noises rose up like a hundred snapping fingers. A sharp hiss, a metallic screech, then silence.
Rashet sneered and clenched her paws. “Dust burrowers!”
“They must have claimed our relay tower as a nest.” Kay sighed. “Are they dangerous?”
“They killed two of my best workers.” The Ailuran’s voice seethed with anger. She took a metal cylinder from her jacket. “We keep antivenom with us, but multiple stings can still be fatal.”
Kay glared at the map. “That relay has only been there a few months. We can’t afford to lose it now.”
Rashet leaned over Kay. “Those vermin won’t migrate to higher ground until the rainy season.” She growled in frustration. “They’ll destroy it by then.”
“Maybe…” Kay turned to her other monitor and pored over the planetary sound database. “We just need a good rainstorm to scare them away.”
Rashet sniffed. “There won’t be a drop of rain for months.”
Kay looked up at the engineer. “Can you install loudspeakers on my ship?”
“Of course I can.” Rashet rummaged through her toolkit, but her eyes kept returning to the weapon locker. “But I doubt the burrowers will be so easily fooled.”
“It might not be easy.” Kay raised a finger. “But if it works, it’ll prove my theory.”
Flying the Halcyon over the mountains, Kay looked down at the dusty red landscape. Skeletal, fernlike trees dotted the mountains, with the occasional river flowing below. Tall, golden reeds crowded around the riverbeds in the narrow valleys. Away from those meager stretches of fertile land, sandy dunes spread out to the horizon.
Setting the craft to hover, Kay zoomed the viewscreen in on the relay tower. The lights were out and the door hung open. Two large, hairy arachnoids circled the building on dozens of legs. They swept their tails back and forth, displaying deadly stingers.
She pulled up the catalog of sounds and began to program her phantom storm. Arranging it like a symphony, she started it quietly, with just a hint of what was to come.
The ship released a cascade of wind blowing through the sugar reeds and sand scraping along the dunes. Quiet insectoid chirping rounded out the soundscape. Rashet paced the floor, casting hateful glances at the burrowers. “I don’t think you’re intimidating them.”
“Be patient. It needs to be realistic.” Kay added a couple of thunderclaps, then ramped up the intensity. The sounds of drizzling rain and rivers lapping against their banks echoed into the valley below, building into a crescendo. A flock of long-legged waterbirds took flight.
Kay clasped her hands together. “It’s actually working.” The burrowers scurried faster, digging into the ground with their pincers. Two more emerged from the tower, tearing away strips of metal with their mandibles.
Rashet swiped a claw at the screen and stalked away. “Not fast enough.”
Kay felt a draft and turned to see Rashet at the escape hatch, hefting a massive laser rifle. Kay jolted out of her seat. “Stop! We can’t risk invalidating—”
Gripping the dropline, Rashet jumped from the ship.
Kay groaned and frantically programmed the next stage of the storm, watching her partner through the viewscreen. The Ailuran fired at one of the burrowers, knocking off several of its legs. Another advanced on her.
Kay pounded her fists on the console. After everything we’ve worked for this past year… but I can’t leave her alone down there. Kay pulled on her enviro-suit, slipped the antitoxin into her belt, and grabbed a stun pistol.
She slid down the dropline next to Rashet. Dozens of burrowers charged from the tower towards them.
“We just need to be patient!” Kay shouted over the storm.
A burrower lashed its tail, lodging its stinger in Rashet’s leg. She kicked free and fired, splattering the creature against the sand.
Kay watched the advancing creatures, their deadly tails whipping around them. Her heartbeat raced in panic, as loud as the ship’s broadcast.
“There’s too many!” Kay clipped the dropline to Rashet’s belt and pressed the retract button. The Halcyon continued the transmission of falling rain and thunder, as she and the Ailuran ascended.
A huge thunderclap shook the ground, and a wave of panic swept through the burrowers. They shrieked, scattering away towards the mountains. Kay sighed in relief and hauled Rashet into the ship.
Rashet groaned. Black swelling spread across her leg, visible even through her fur.
“Stop squirming.” Kay jabbed her with the antitoxin.
Rashet’s breathing began to calm. “I could have handled them.”
“You didn’t need to. My plan worked.” Kay flashed her an exhausted, triumphant smile. “Now I have proof that we can understand the voice of the planet.”
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I LOVE how creative that was, Patrick! To fool creatures whose lives depend on how they hear the world around them, that’s impressive. I wonder if anything like has been done on Earth, or if all our human noise gets in the way.
Awesome job on this!
I love how you connected language and music!