Delphi Embassy (Delphi in Space Book 11) by Bob Blanton

Author:Bob Blanton [Blanton, Bob]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2021-07-05T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

The Galaxy Keeps Spinning

The Roebuck made orbit over the third planet late in the day, ship’s time. Captain Lantaq immediately sent two Foxes out to start the aerial survey. As before, the probe had identified the most likely location for a colony. The air and water samples had come back showing no worrisome pathogens, but it would still be a few days before Dr. Pramar would be able to determine if the planet was safe. When the sun was just dawning over the prime colony site, Captain Lantaq took the first team down.

“Ah, much better than the last planet,” Dr. Qamar said.

Captain Lantaq nodded in agreement. His face was lit up like a child’s, or at least as much like a child’s as a Fazullan with sharpened teeth and knife scars across his face could look. He was reveling at the view of a green leafy forest. The plain they were standing on had high grass that was starting to bend to the increasing wind.

“Yes, this was worth the trip.”

The Fazullans turned to the task of erecting the first structure with gusto. They reveled in the high gravity, occasionally jumping to prove that it was truly like their homeworld. They threw the beams and panels at each other, just daring the other to drop it or complain. Working through the night, they had the building’s shell completed by the end of the second day.

When a herd of buffalo-like animals wandered into the area, Dr. Teltar had to call for Captain Lantaq’s help.

“Why can’t we hunt them?”

“Because we don’t know if you can eat them yet.”

“So?”

“So it would be a waste. We also don’t know how plentiful they are.”

“Look at them, there are hundreds of them!”

“But they could be the last herd. Please wait until we’ve completed the survey.”

Captain Lantaq ordered his people back to work. Even the women looked disappointed at not being able to go out on a hunt, and everyone let Captain Lantaq know how disappointed they were in him.

◆ ◆ ◆

At the end of the first week, Dr. Pramar declared the air safe to breathe. There was a huge celebration, which included the ingesting of large quantities of alcohol. And since the drunks were Fazullans, the revelry resulted in several fights and combat competitions. The next day, Dr. Pramar declared the area a hazardous waste site and had the Fazullans spend the day cleaning up all the blood and disinfecting the soil.

“Security to greenhouse four! Security to greenhouse four!”

Lance Corporal Ruiz entered greenhouse four. Her entry was made more difficult because greenhouse four was the first of the isolation greenhouses. Entry required going through an airlock and a UV sterilization sequence. Once she got inside, she found a Fazullan woman assembling bots and a group of Fazullan men yelling and shoving each other.

“What’s the problem?” she asked the Fazullan woman.

“They’re arguing about who’s the slave.”

“What, there are no slaves.”

“Apparently that has not totally registered with their thick heads. What they are doing would be considered slave work back home.

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