The Planet by Skyler Grant

Author:Skyler Grant [Grant, Skyler]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-07-22T22:00:00+00:00

24

Sylax was back in her armor, as was my drone and a few others I'd brought along. Julasa had given us the location of a nearby human expedition and a guide to show us the way.

We'd taken up position on a nearby hillside where we could look down on a settlement. Ancient stone buildings were interspersed with more modern-looking structures of corrugated metal.

There were fifty-three Sinalara and seven Sedara. The Sinalara were captives of various sorts, most engaged in mining ice. My awareness of my new-found Sinalara subjects let me know that there were two women chained up inside one of the huts. A man with both legs broken was hanging on a post outside, wrists manacled above him and his body showing the scars of frequent abuse and torture.

The Sedara, who were still very much human in appearance, were dressed in spike-adorned leather, going without any sort of atmospheric suits or body armor, and most were festooned with an absurd number of weapons. A buggy and transport truck didn't seem any technological wonder. Each sported heavy armor and a variety of guns.

I'd seen this sort of thing back on Earth when I'd first awakened after the Cataclysm in my laboratory, desert scavengers and barbarians used to living a life of violence. The sort of culture where one was either a victim or a victimizer. The Scholarium was a more elegant version of the same system.

"At least they're wearing clothes," Sylax said, as she peered down. "And guns. Would be boring if they couldn't put up a proper fight."

No doubt. What I was trying to determine was just how much of a fight they could put up. I wasn't able to get a proper sensor-lock on any of them. My effort to figure out just what their guns could do was hitting a dead-end. That was concerning. They might look scruffy, but on Earth that would be a sign of them having a high power rating. Here it could also mean their technology was more advanced than it appeared.

"We should play it cautious," I said.

"Screw that. You need to know if they shoot or talk first, and if they shoot with what they're packing I doubt they have anything that can scratch me. I'm going in," Sylax said.

It wasn't the most sound as plans went, but it wasn't a bad idea either. It wouldn't be the first time I'd used a powerful crystal-holder to draw fire. I set up my Gunslingers as Sylax sauntered down the hill.

Sylax was a sharp contrast to the locals, armor sleek and tooled to perfectly fit her form and obviously not of local design.

It didn't take long for someone to notice her approach, two people pushing aside a crowd of curious Sinalara while another three Sedara approached her. There were two men and one woman, the man in the lead especially muscular.

"Well, ain't you a fizzy gazelle," said the massive man.

Great, the aliens spoke our language better than the local humans.

"The fizziest," Sylax said, taking it in stride.

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