On Earth, there are three Triads intending to integrate
not only the three peoples and stop the war that threatens to break loose and
slaughter Humans and devastate their world; but to stop the war that consumes
Kiiote economy and Yown’Hoo moral fiber. All three intelligences hover on the
edge of extinction. The merger of Human-Kiiote-Yown’Hoo into a van der Walls
Society might not only save all three – but become something not even they
could predict. Something entirely new...
The young experimental Triads are made up of the smallest
primate tribe of Humans – Oscar and Xiomara; the smallest canine pack of Kiiote
– six, pack leaders Qap and Xurf; and the smallest camelid herd of Yown’Hoo – a
prime eleven, Dao-hi the Herd mother. On nursery farms and ranches away from
the TC cities, Humans have tended young Yown’Hoo and Kiiote in secret for
decades, allowing the two, warring people to reproduce and grow far from their
home worlds.
“We had nearly fallen into stagnation when we
encountered the Kiiote.”
“And we into internecine war when we encountered the
Yown’Hoo.”
“Yown’Hoo and
Kiiote have been defending themselves for a thousand revolutions of our Sun.”
“Together, we
might do something none of us alone might have done…a destiny that included
Yown’Hoo, Kiiote, and Human.” (2/19/2015)
The young Yown’Hoo sent out by the Herd Mother came back
just then. Dao-hi spoke in Y’eh 2349, one of the oldest and least
comprehensible languages of the Yown’Hoo. It scurried after Retired and a
moment later, dashed down the tunnel the way we had come. He stepped up to me
at what I could only think of as “parade rest”.
We had to move ahead; we had to escape whoever was following
us – whichever species wanted us dead the worst – no matter what I thought of
Yown’Hoo ethics or Lieutenant Commander Patrick Bakhsh – we called him Retired –
going along with those ethics…and realizing that I was reacting like a child,
so I said, “We need to go down the tunnel.”
According to the map we’d looked at, we still had about
three klicks to go until we could exit. The young...I looked at Retired and said
too loudly, “Lan-mai-ti. Its name was Lan-mai-ti and I am also entitled to my
opinion.” I pushed past Retired and started running. A few minutes later, I
heard hooves, paws, and feet behind me.
They stayed behind me for a long time. It seemed logical to
take a rest. I held up a hand and the sounds behind me stopped. I was tempted
to start walking again, but that would have too cliché, echoing movies both
ancient and contemporary that I’d been watching since I was young. That made me
think and I said, “We’re going to split into two groups.”
No one said anything and I was pretty sure they were all
looking at Retired for leadership just then. I spun around. They were looking
at him. Lucky for me he turned to me just then. “You have a plan, Oscar?”
“Dao-hi, Lan-mai-ti is still carrying the tracker?”
“Yes. What…”
“That means there are already two targets for our pursuers
to follow. I can’t believe that just because you removed yours and clear our
bodies, that there are no others.” I looked at Retired and said, “You said that
no one else has a tracker implant?”
“Not that I could detect. Mine was the only one I found.”
“What about in our supplies, packs, in our clothing?”
He opened his mouth, lifting a finger to lecture me. He
stopped. He closed his mouth. “Why do you need to know?”
“If we have others, we need to deliberately distribute them
and then split up in groups of two.”
Dao-hi reared, slashing the air with her hooves. I held my
ground and she didn’t hit me, but I felt the breeze on my face. “Glad you didn’t
shred my face, Herd Mother.”
“We cannot split into such small groups!” she said, her
Spandaringlish barely understandable.
“What’s the smallest group that can still be effective?”
There was long pause. I noticed that Commander Baksh had was missing – presumably searching
the rooms we’d stayed in. Finally the Herd Mother said, “Potentials are fine
when they have a clear and simple goal. But we are discussing subterfuge. We
can break up into smaller ground, but each must have a leader. I will command and coordinate as always. Zei-go will lead,
Hil-hi-el, Jus-hi-el, and Eel-go-el. Seg-go will lead Ali-go, Nah-hi-el, and
Por-go-el. Both have the skills I expect for leadership.”
“Two groups,” I said, nodding.
Qap said, “Quilf and Towt will
come with me.”
Xurf snarled, “Fax and Doj will
run with me.”
“Two more.”
“What about us?” Xio said.
“Commander Baksh will run alone. Xio and me will stay together.”
“Perfect,” Retired said. “I dug up eight more trackers. Some
have a hook-system designed to be picked up by fur or clothing. I can safely
destroy two of them to make for believability – our spies will relax and assume
we only found two of their devices.”
He opened his mouth to keep going, but stopped and looked at
me. “Distribute them, Commander.” I kept talking as he passed out the trackers.
“There are two exits to the surface near here. Group One will be Qap, Quilf, Towt
and Commander Baksh. They’ll exit at the nearest one. Theirs is the smallest
group because they will have to farthest to travel exposed on the surface. Group
Two is Xurf, Fax, Doj and leader Zei-go with Hil-hi-el, Jus-hi-el, and Eel-go-el
they’ll stay in the tunnel until the next exit. Group Three will be led by Xio
who will coordinate the group. I’ll be there, but won’t have command of it. We’ll
go as far down the tunnel as we can to the next exit after that with leader Seg-go
and Ali-go, Nah-hi-el, and Por-go-el.” I paused. No one objected. “Herd Mother,
if you would join us until we pick up Lan-mai-ti, then you can take Por-go-el and
the potential and will split off on their own as Group Four.” I stopped talking,
waiting for objections.
All I head was the rustling of nervous movement, so I
nodded, and said, “Let’s go.”
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