The Biologist's Glory

tropictuco

Member
Michelle tromped carelessly through the jungle on the alien planet Narize, lost in her own thoughts. She couldn't believe this stupid planet. It had seemed so full of promise, so full of...life! But after surveying the planet for months as the Chief Biologist, it was becoming clear that this planet was like so many other things in her life -- a disappointing bust.

She continued down her well-worn trail that she had made several weeks ago with her old-school machete, absently hacking at new growth. She wasn't paying much attention to her surroundings...fear of the unknown had faded after a month or so when it became apparent that there were no apex predators on this planet. The number of people involved in each expedition had dwindled from 10 to 5, to a buddy system, to just one at a time. She understood it, really. When it became apparent that the humans were going to be disappointed AGAIN in finding a sentient alien species on a new planet, the focus had changed to establishing a human colony. Surveying the new flora and fauna had fallen to Michelle alone, a task she didn't mind too terribly much. She was a moderately attractive 5'5" woman in her late 20s, with a few friends and even some boyfriend prospects from among the colonists, but she did enjoy her time alone in the jungle.

The fact that this planet had greenery so similar to Earth's had initially made her excited and hopeful that she had lucked into "The One" -- the planet that would give her the fame she had been craving her entire career. And describing yet another species of edible berry on yet another habitable planet wasn't going to cut it. What WOULD do the trick would be discovering and being one of the first humans to interact with a new sentient species. She had even taken some anthropology classes at a local college on Earth to try to get some background in what it would be like to encounter a new culture. But, it wasn't going to happen. And now she was stuck on this planet for the rest of her life, classifying berries and stupid little rodent-things. What a waste.

Michelle stopped, drank some water, and checked her virtual map one more time, almost absently since she already knew the way. She had several main trails that she rotated through, and by now she knew each one by heart. With 10 km left before she got to the base, she had just a moderate trek ahead of her. She sighed soulfully and tried to steel herself to think of something other than her disappointment. But when one is trekking through the wilderness alone, it can be very difficult to stop the negative emotions from spinning around and around.
 
Cat like pupils dilated and then constricted several times as the man peered through the brush at the woman. She was obviously an alien. Reaching into his pocket he tapped the button a few times to indicate that the alien was near their perimeter. There was no telling how dangerous this race could be. The Warani were typically a peaceful people though they were themselves quite deadly.

His large framed body slipped surprisingly easily along the path parallel to her. If there was one thing that they were proficient in it was stealth. Blinking a few more times he tried to get a better look at what she was holding. His bright green eyes scanned the area. So far he hadn't spotted anyone else in the immediate area. The frown on his face increased as she wandered closer and closer to the barrier that functioned as a wall before the mountains that surrounded their home. If she found the barrier it would be a sure sign that they were here.

This wasn't just a casual stroll on the planet. She was searching for something and he couldn't help thinking that she was seeking for his people. Slipping a small dart from the pouch that hung at his side he slid it into place and aimed the mini cross bow at her. Carefully easing his finger on the trigger he finally heard the twing of the rope releasing the dart and it planted itself into the side of her neck. After a few seconds passed and he was sure it was safe to approach he began to work his way out of the brush. Kneeling at her side he tapped curiously at her virtual map. She had carefully charted much of the land leading to this point. Was she a spy? There were only a few ways to find out.

Digging into her bag at a furious pace he tore every instrument he could find out of it and examined them carefully. It was only a matter of time till she woke. During the rapid search of her person and equipment he found a very interesting object. One that he did not understand and quickly lost track of time while he tinkered with it trying to make the object function.
 
Michelle's vision was gradually returning to her, as she blinked slowly several times. She tried to take stock of her surroundings. She didn't appear to have gone very far from where she had lost consciousness, just now she was crumpled on her side, almost in the fetal position. She almost immediately noticed the creature fiddling with something. Her muscles involuntarily stiffened and she took a sharp breath, then quickly realized it would be to her advantage to not let the creature know she was awake, since it seemed distracted at the moment. She softly let the breath out, hoping the pounding in her heart wasn't as loud to the creature as it was to her. But what was it that the creature was fiddling with? As the blurriness in her vision began to clear, she was able to make out that it was, in fact, her water pouch. Nothing was going to happen to that water pouch unless the creature put the suction end in its mouth and applied negative pressure. She watched the creature play with the pouch for another minute or two, studying its looks, its cat-like eyes. Was it dangerous? Was it...sentient? Michelle had no idea, but she did have a sneaking suspicion that it had some form of higher intelligence, based on its interest in her objects rather than her flesh.

Then the next thought occurred to her--now what? A couple of scenarios flashed through her mind, being mauled to death (less likely since it would have already happened), somehow starting to communicate with this creature, but the worst case then flashed through her mind -- what if ran off? Forever? She would miss the opportunity she had been waiting for every since she could remember. She had to take a risk. Slowly, carefully, keeping an eye on the creature, she outstretched her hands until they touched the ground, then pushed herself into a kneeling position. She kept her hands outstretched, hoping that keeping her hands away from her gear would convince the creature that she meant no harm. She kept her face in a neutral emotional state, wondering if smiling would be seen as friendly or as baring her teeth aggressively. And finally, she looked into the creature's eyes, then to the water pouch, then back to the eyes, as she indicated the pouch with the hand closest to it.
 
While he was busy examining the liquid he failed to notice the female had awakened. That was until it was too late. A little flash of movement caught the corner of his eye and he immediately sprang to his feet. He was still holding the water pouch in his brown hands and he narrowed his eyes at her. When his eyes narrowed the slit pupils dilated again and allowed for more light to come through. Even in the shadows he could see her with precision. There was nothing that she was reaching for that he might have considered dangerous.

She was motioning to the bag he was holding and he squeezed it a few more times before he tossed it to her. Carefully he ventured closer and began to stuff all her equipment into the bag again. It was too late. She'd seen him now and he was going to have to do something about it. His pants were nearly the same color as the brush. Finally, he reached over to her and snatched the bag away from her and stuffed it into the satchel he had shoved everything else into. Grabbing her by one arm he started to roughly drag the woman toward the the middle of the brush where he took several turns and then dropped her near the camp where the other humans were at.

It was best not to kill intruders if you didn't have to. There was no telling if they would take it the wrong way or if this one was someone of importance. Judging by her equipment he could only guess she might be trouble in the future. Giving her a push he started to back away into the brush again, but he took her gear with him. They couldn't have her knowing where and how to find them. Hopefully she would just decide not to bother with trying to find them all over again.
 
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