The Scalian Legacy

Captain Rauug swallowed nervously as he walked towards his superior’s quarters. The mission had not gone as expected. He was not supposed to alert any intelligent life of their arrival on Earth and was supposed to limit any notice of their visit. However, they had obviously been seen, and they had even brought back two specimens. This was unlikely to go over well with Admiral Tarza. But how was he supposed to control this? The expectations were ridiculous. Several aspects of the mission didn’t make sense, and the explanations were limited, when provided at all.

Dressed in his green robe, indicating his rank, he straightened as he reached Admiral Tarza’s door. He did not want to show fear. He had to remain confident, stern and in control. He growled fiercely, but in a low tone, so as to not be heard. It helped him assert his internal aggressiveness. He placed his palm on the security panel. The door slid open.

Admiral Tarza’s quarters were immense, fairly dark and surrounded by windows. He had a wondrous view of the planet Scalia, its two moons and the surrounding stars. Scalia was an m-class planet, but now colder than Earth as was noticeable with the white of the Polar Regions covering nearly half of the planet’s surface. The rest of Scalia was mostly blue where its oceans resided and green where there was land. On this day, both of Scalia’s frozen moons were visible in the distance. Beyond the moons, there was a greenish hue between Scalia and its white star in the background.

Despite the inviting nature of this grandiose view, the rest of Admiral Tarza’s quarters were designed to evoke different emotions. At the far end of the room, just in front of the window, was his large, ornate, semi-circular desk, which surrounded his equally impressive tall-backed chair. Off to the right was a sizable conference table with six chairs and a wall-sized screen towards the end closest to the interior wall. Off to the left was a collection of alien artifacts from civilizations no longer in existence; his prizes. There were statues, weapons and even stuffed alien specimens. The office even had a musk-like smell…just enough to help round out the tone of intimidation.

Captain Rauug immediately noticed that Admiral Tarza was not alone. His two annoying aides, Hargue and Nramal, were with him, as usual. Admiral Tarza was dressed in his typical purple robe, indicating his rank as part of the Senior Council, while his aides dressed in red. In many respects Admiral Tarza was a typical Scalian. Thick hair covered most of his body, except for the sections just above and under his eyes. He had an ugly snout for a nose, an extremely wide mouth bearing large, grotesque teeth and two eyes on either side of his wide face. He would not be considered attractive by human standards. The few exposed parts of his face were wrinkled, and about half of his long hair was grey, a clear indication of his age. Despite his age, Admiral Tarza was a menacing figure, about eight feet tall with broad shoulders and a deep, resounding voice.

In other ways, however, Admiral Tarza was not a typical Scalian. He was the only non-royal Scalian to ever make it to the Senior Council. This was said to be due to his leadership and brilliance, but Rauug had seen many other brilliant Scalians passed up over the years. Still, to Rauug, it was undeniable that something was special about Tarza. While Captain Rauug did not agree or understand the admiral often, he greatly respected and, even, feared him.

The same could not be said of the admiral’s aides. They were a more cerebral Scalian. Not particularly tall for Scalians, and rather thin; not physically imposing in the least. And yet those two demanded the same respect shown upon the admiral. They were arrogant and looked down upon most military personnel. Captain Rauug was not blind to their intelligence, as he was well trained in the sciences, as were all military leaders; but he did not feel their superiority was such that they should dare to look down upon him or his personnel.

“Azee-ra-telran-aquiva,” announced the captain as he entered.

“I know you are here,” the admiral growled in the rough Scalian language, and without looking up as he stared at a holographic display showing some information just to his right. He was sitting behind his desk, with his two aides sitting in chairs in front of his desk.

The captain remained poised and walked towards the empty chair in between the aides. Once he was a few feet from the chair, the admiral growled again. “That’s close enough. I don’t need to smell the stench of failure.”

The captain stopped but couldn’t help snarl just a bit at the comment, and that caught the elderly Scalian’s attention enough to have him turn away from the display. “Did you say something, captain?”

“No sir.” The captain restrained himself.

The admiral turned back towards the holograph and then got straight to the point. “Dare I ask why you failed to notice that there were humans in the area?”

“There were no humans in the area, sir. I brought in the animals to show you.”

“Those are humans, you moron!” the admiral shouted. He pounded his fist on the table, making a thunderous noise that reverberated throughout the room like the clang of a large gong.

Even the sturdy Captain Rauug couldn’t help but to shiver inside. “But, sir, did you see them? They…”

“Please stop talking or I will shoot you down where you stand!”

Captain Rauug did as he was ordered, but he knew very well what humans looked like. The admiral had to be confused.…Maybe he was just getting old?

Admiral Tarza calmed down as quickly as he had become violent, but it was a scary kind of calm. The kind of calm that could turn into something ugly again in a flash. “I do not have the time nor inclination to explain,” the admiral began, “but those are humans.”

“What should we do with them, then, sir?” Captain Rauug decided it was best not to continue to argue.

“We will study them,” the admiral replied coldly. “You claim that our instruments did not recognize them as humans. We need to understand why.”

Because they aren’t human, you stubborn old Scalian, Rauug thought to himself.

“Explain to us what happened and please do not leave out any details.”

While forced to remain standing a few feet away, Captain Rauug explained all had been going as planned until the probe detected a flash of light and, per the programmed protocol, incapacitated those using advanced skills and brought them on board.

“Once you realized that the probe was not properly detecting these beings as humans, what action did you take?” The admiral’s question was clearly an accusation as much as a question.

Rauug was going to add once more that these were not humans, but decided against it. “We continued the mission as planned, until the scientists successfully completed all of their requirements, sir.” Rauug stood firm.

“Really?” The admiral stood and began to walk slowly around his desk, towards the captain. Captain Rauug could not help but to noticeably swallow. “What about the primary directive of the mission that if any intelligent life were to detect you, that life could not remain on the planet? Did you fulfill that critical requirement, captain?” The admiral completed his sentence as he neared the captain and got uncomfortably close to the obviously nervous commander. “Did you verify that these were the only two of their kind out there?”

“No, sir.” Rauug spoke lightly. “But as I explained, the instruments could not detect intelligent life.”

Admiral Tarza glared at Rauug with his piercing dark eyes. His greyish facial hair bristled as he gnashed his teeth and lifted his lips slowly to expose them. Rauug could smell his malodorous breath. His fierce intensity was an indication that if Rauug did not acknowledge his failure soon, he would regret it.

“I suppose we should have sent personnel out to perform a manual search?” Rauug added timidly.

“Precisely.” The admiral finally smiled and backed away. He then turned and started back towards his chair. “Fortunately, your incompetence does not appear to have caused any damage, but it could have been disastrous.”

Rauug sighed, sensing that the worst was now behind him. Then a thought came to him. “Should we interrogate the prisoners, sir?”

“Yes, but we will take care of that, captain.”

“Is there any way I can help, sir?”

Tarza shook his head and sighed with frustration as he sat back down on his chair. “No,” he answered in an annoyed tone. “Now, I need to leave for our monthly meeting with our guests out there.” He pointed out the window. “I will be taking your scout ship in order to allow my staff the ability to analyze the logs thoroughly along the way. I will return to the Seguura afterwards.”

“Yes, sir.”

The admiral began to speak with his aides while Rauug awkwardly remained where he stood. After a few seconds, the admiral finally addressed him again. “You may go now, captain.”

“Yes, sir.” Captain Rauug turned and exited.

It could have been worse, he thought to himself.