Halfkinds Volume 1: Contact Read online

  I see it as a subtle reminder that humans are still the principal species, that we have to speak their language, use the names given by them. Even though they don’t own the lands as they used to, they still have that level of control.

  The battles on Earth may have died down, but the real battle has only begun with the terraformed Moon still in its current state. Politically, it’s a mess. There have already been some colonies set up by different animals, but colonies aren’t a big deal. Territories will cause conflict, large designations of land assigned to different species. We’ve only started to flesh out what that might look like. When animals start stepping over their boundaries there, claim this territory over that one, a new war is going to be at hand.

  I continue to observe my peers. There’s an elephant standing in the corner of the room. I’m actually surprised he is here. I’ve never met an elephant before, as their territory is mostly in parts of Asia. From what I hear, elephants are quite peaceful. But I also hear in battle, they are durable, that their tech makes use of their large size and powerful frame. The elephant I see is quite gargantuan and he already has some armor on, a standard heavy padded plasma absorber that all members of the Elephant Force get issued. It’s made to take heavy fire, especially heat. I suppose he’ll be useful in his physical durability alone. Still, given their soft reputation, the United Species Alliance could have sent a better tank, such as a rhino. But perhaps I’m stereotyping.

  Last but not least, I see the pig. If there’s any other species I distrust more than humans, the pig would be it. Even before the Event, their reputation among humans was that of greed and it is still well deserved today. Their kind has been known to be hard negotiators and gluttons for resources. They take whatever they can from whomever they can and refuse to broker alliances for what they collect. The whole government they have set up in Australia is based on the principal of greed, an every pig for themselves mentality. It is the opposite of what I was raised to believe. I was taught to stick to the pack, to fight not only for yourself, but for each other.

  I am jumping to conclusions. I haven’t talked to this pig yet. Perhaps my prejudice is getting the better of me.

  Through their trading with the humans, pigs have gotten decent at gaining and developing new tech. It shows through this one’s uniform. He’s wearing a suit made of the same strilium the dog is wearing.

  This is the team that I’ve been assigned to work with, handpicked by the United Species Alliance, a group consisting of the leaders of all intelligent species. They could’ve sent others, a different combination of species and personalities, but they picked us. And now we wait for our human commander. He’s the leader not because of his leadership skills, but because this is a mission spearheaded by the Human Council. I will never consider a human my leader.

  Suddenly, two humans walk in. One is a tall, portly man with a mustache, Agent Leons. I had heard about him for the first time when I was briefed earlier and I already don’t like him. He seems like a jerk. The other is a leaner, more well-toned man that I have never met nor seen. He has a shaved head and strong profile. His jaw is square but his head is appropriate for his average height. He looks young. Judging by his appearance, he is probably in his fifties.

  “This is the team,” Agent Leons says to the younger man. “All six of you were picked by your respective councils and governments to undergo this mission, approved by the United Species Alliance. Consider yourself lucky, for you are the elite not only of your kind, but of most animals out there today. You’ve all probably seen me in your briefings, but you haven’t met this man. His name is Simon Trevor, he’ll be heading this mission. He’s a specialist in obtaining illegal contraband and weapons. Simon, meet your team.”

  “Hi, I’m looking forward to working with all of you,” he then turns to the dog. “Good to see you Apollo. When was the last time we caught up?”

  “A month ago?” the dog replies.

  “That long? Well, drinks will be on me after we’re done with this.”

  “Oh, so you two know each other?” Agent Leons asks.

  “Yes, Simon and I worked together hunting down some illegal drug runners a few years ago. We’ve been keeping in contact since,” the dog replies.

  “I would consider Apollo one of my combat buddies.”

  “That’s good!” Agent Leons says enthusiastically, but I can sense his bullshit a mile away. “Always nice to have friends on the same team. Makes cooperation a lot easier.”

  The dog is sucking up to the human. Typical.

  “Well,” Agent Leons says, “since you spoke first, how about you introduce yourself first. We’ll all go around in a circle and give our helloes.”

  “No problem,” the dog says. “I’m Apollo Bradley. Like Simon, I’m a specialist in tracking and finding illegal contraband. I’m thirty four years old and I’ve been with the Dog Alliance for about seven years.”

  “Apollo here is shy,” Simon says, “he’s a rising star over there.”

  I’m surprised at how young the dog is. For a task like this, I would imagine that his superiors would have sent someone much older, maybe in their fifties. Most every intelligent species’ lifespans have been greatly bolstered since we became aware.

  The gorilla speaks next. “Colbo Zuma. I’m a heavy arms specialist and I’ve served a few tours in the Gorilla Lion Conflict. I’ve also done some secret operative work for the Gorilla Government. Classified, naturally.”

  “Of course,” Agent Leons says.

  “Erawan Bornoa, member of the Royal Elephant Service.”

  That is why the United Species Alliance chose this elephant. The Royal Elephant Service is the elephant’s secret service group, protecting the leaders of their government. He’s probably the highest decorated member of this team.

  That is all Erawan decides to say, and that is all he needs to say.

  “I’m Borton Freely,” the pig says. “I’m also a tracker, like Apollo, but I specialize in the tracking of currency. I usually handle covert operations involving money laundering.”

  Borton seems like a questionable choice on this team. He can find things, like me, Apollo, and Simon, but his specialization is currency? C’mon. He probably got assigned to this mission because of politics.

  It is my turn to speak. “I’m Fenrir Snow, member of the Wolf’s Den Task Force. Like some of the others, I’m a tracker, but I specifically hunt wanted criminals. As you know, the Task Force has a reputation for finding the toughest escapees and threats to our society of wolves. I can’t go into the details of my missions, though, they’re classified.”

  I shoot Colbo a wink. He responds with a smug smile. Asshole.

  “Great, now that we got all our introductions out of the way, we can start with the mission,” Agent Leons says. “You’ve been briefed. We suspect that the halfkinds are already on the move, but still in Primm, so we’ll have to come up with our own strategy to hunt and find them. Your orders are to kill. We’ll gather in the war room so you can get your gear and work on your plan of attack. Follow me.”

  I am uncomfortable with being a hitman for these humans, but if the Brotherhood deems this mission is worthy, then I will do it for them. When the hour comes and I stand face to face with a halfkind, I will be ready to pull the trigger. The only thing I will think is that I served my wolves well and nothing more.

  Chapter 6 – Tiago Lawton - Weakling

  November 16, 3040 4:35 PM

  “Do you understand the plan?” I ask Lombardi.

  “Yes,” he responds with a lack of confidence.

  It’s right before sundown, and all of us are gathered around to make sure he knows what to do and where to go. We had gone over it for the last hour, testing him on every detail of his mission. We only have one shot to get the things that we need.

  Luckily for us, Primm is a rundown city and its supply depots don’t exactly have the most state of the art security. Candy was able to use her compcube, a small device that opens up a hol
ographic interface, to do some research on the kind of defense mechanisms Lombardi might expect during his task. She was surprised, as were the rest of us, to learn that the Primm-Phillips supply depot only had a full building sensor installed and nothing else. No security drones, no indoor alarm trips, nothing. They didn’t have the funds to invest in all the bells and whistles.

  Not like they had to. Judging from the Primm-Phillips catalog, the only things that were stored there were food, clothing, and some other essential survival items. It wasn’t where they stored all the good, pricy objects. Most importantly, though, there was an insta-item there.

  Still, if Lombardi messes up and sets off something, you can be sure the next day the drones will be warding the depot floors in droves. He needs to be quick, and silent, as if nothing was there in the first place.

  I don’t have much confidence in Lombardi. I would have preferred Ace to handle this task, as I know he is quick and his skills in stealth greatly outmatch Lombardi’s. However, Ace does not know the outside world too well and he isn’t the smartest sibling. Lombardi tells me he knows this area better than anyone else due to all the sneaking around he’s done. The family seems to trust his claim on this, so I have no choice but to trust it.

  To say the least, I am skeptical of Lombardi. Having grown up with him I know his abilities and personality, like I know the abilities of all my brothers and sisters. Each one of my siblings has something to offer. Alex and Curtis are both huge, providing the strength that my smaller brothers and sisters don’t have. Oscar is a leader, I guess. Ace is quick and light footed, that’s why we always send him on scouting missions. Candy is book smart, able to pick up things fast and is a technical genius.

  The twins are pragmatic, especially Iris. She can see things in others that most of us can’t. She knows how to look into future events and has a sense for what’s coming up. Both of them are also the glue to this family. Their intuition to others’ thoughts and emotions help calm my siblings down in times of stress. They also can talk sense into the most irrational of family members. They are well liked by Oscar and I. Oscar respects their thoughtfulness and compassion, I respect them for the ways they can handle my brothers and sisters. Those kinds of things are invaluable.

  Each of us have certain talents, well at least most of us. I wouldn’t say Maddie is the most useful sister I have. She’s part cow, and like all cows, she’s only good at eating and following. No wonder humans used to devour them by the millions. Fortunately for Maddie, Oscar constantly defends her. Leaders always have a devout follower. Maddie would be his.

  Supposedly, Oscar is a strong leader, but he has too much compassion. He feels sorry for our weaker brothers and sisters, which explains why he takes Maddie under his wing. I am the opposite. While Oscar dreams of a world where everyone gets along, I see the world for what it is, a place for survival. And for creatures like us, we have to fight for it. I am more realistic than he is. He values weakness, I value those who can help contribute to our chances. That’s why I’m better at what I do.

  That has always been the key difference between us. For years, I led the rallying charge against mother and her plans to keep us in Primm. The others looked at me to tell her that we didn’t want to be cooped up forever, that we were not prisoners in her house. I spoke for them because they could not speak for themselves. Oscar, on the other hand, would always try to negotiate and make peace between mother and me. He wanted all of us to be together because we were family. I love my family as much as he does, but I love them enough to fight for them.

  As Oscar has his follower Maddie, I have mine, the ones that I know I can depend on. Ace’s loyalty has never been questioned. I know, and the others know, that he looks up to me, that he idolizes me. And Alex has always been my bodyguard. His size is intimidating; his demeanor is frightening to the others. He’s a bit of a punk, but in a good way.

  I am unsure about where the others lie in their allegiance, but considering our situation, they need a leader who can lead them into battle, not one who is looking for peace. Oscar cannot provide this to them, only I can.

  We live in a world where we are the ones who will be hunted, Leonard’s death proved that. The only chance we have is if we use the abilities given to us to take our lives back. If you have nothing to offer, then you are nothing to me. Stragglers don’t have much use, family or not.

  From what I observe, Lombardi has nothing to offer. He is part bird and the one thing he should be able to do, he can’t. I look at him and I see wings, or at least arms that look like wings. But they’re not hollow and their span is not great enough. Lombardi can’t fly. What use is a bird when its wings have been clipped at birth?

  He has too much human in him and those traits stand out to me. He isn’t graceful like a cat or strong like a rhino. He is uncoordinated and weak like a human. He’s slow like a human, he’s fragile like a human.

  He’s not even as bright as a human. Lombardi claims to be smart. I do not consider being familiar with an area a form of intelligence. He simply knows a few things that we might not because we haven’t been sneaking around like him. The others consider him to be smarter than Ace, but that’s not something to brag about.

  The only thing Lombardi has going for him is that he’s eager. He wants to prove himself worthy to me and the family wants me to give Lombardi his chance. He knows I’m not fond of him because of his inherent uselessness, but the family believes in him. If I didn’t have the family swaying me, Lombardi wouldn’t even be an option. Now is not the time for charity. I’d rather have the people who I know can do their part do their part.

  But I must go with the voices of my siblings. I can’t risk alienating myself too much.

  “So let’s review what your plan is,” I say to Lombardi as the others watch me question him. “After you leave this building, where do you go?”

  “Let’s see, um, the depot is only a mile away from here,” he says. “If I run, I should get there in six to eight minutes. I exit through the west of this building and travel south on Junket Street for half a mile, until I get to Tangerine Road. I am not to take any streets other than Junket. It’s the least traveled, making it the safest for me to go on.”

  “Good so far. Once you get to Tangerine Road, where do you go?”

  “Straight. It leads to the Primm-Phillips supply depot, which should be empty. Business hours have ended more than three hours ago. Security should be scarce, too. No drones, no guards, nothing. It should be easy for me to walk around unnoticed as long as I disable their surveillance sensors.”

  “And what are surveillance sensors?” It’s an easy question to answer, but I want to make sure he knows everything.

  “They are laser scanners attached to the walls. They emit tracking beams that scan the area and create holographic recordings of the depot overnight. In short, if they’re on, they’ll be able to make a hologram of any intruders that walk the premises unauthorized.”

  “Good,” I am actually surprised at how thorough his answer is. “How do you intend to disable their security?”

  “Underground. According to the information Candy was able to obtain on the infospace, there’s a sensor along the perimeter. However, their master command box is hidden deep underground and I can access it there. Before the supply depot, there should be a grating hidden on the floor. The Primm-Phillips supply depot was constructed on top of older land, so there’s a series of tunnels underground that was built there long before. They were called sewers. I can go into them and reach the master command box. Once I’m in, all I have to do is program the surveillance routines off.”

  “And how will you do that?” I ask.

  “With this,” Lombardi says. He takes out a piece of paper and shows it to the group. “This is a list of detailed instructions on how to disable their routines. Candy has made it easy to follow and I’ve gone over with her what to do. Thanks, Candy.”

  “No problem,” she says. “Sorry it’s on paper and not on a data cube or
tablet, I didn’t have the resources. Remember that there is a time limit. If you don’t do it fast enough, you’ll get shut out and the alarms will sound. But don’t worry, my instructions will work, I’ve spent all day researching and hacking. It actually wasn’t that hard to learn how to deprogram a Tang Corporation Phalanx Security System Model 3, the thing is practically a piece of junk. Better secured places are on Model 9.”

  “Don’t worry, Candy,” I say. “None of us doubt your skills.”

  She looks at me and smiles at the compliment given to her. Sometimes it amazes me how smart she is.

  “After I get the security system off line,” Lombardi says, “I can go in. Then it should be easy sailing. I’ll get this list of items and be out in a flash.”

  “Remember,” I say, “we don’t know where the items are held, so you’ll have to do a little bit of exploring in order to locate them. They definitely should be in the warehouses though.”

  “Got it,” Lombardi says. “I’ll have my pack emptied so I can try to grab as much as I can, but I’m not sure how much I can carry.”

  “It’s okay,” Oscar says. “Grab what fits in your pack, but make sure you get enough credits and, most importantly, get us an insta-item. Without that, we are screwed.”

  “Understood,” Lombardi says. “Other than that, so far what I have is clothes, food, and some compcubes.”

  “Yes, you have the list,” I say. “Just remember the insta-item.”

  I take out a small metal container. It is a cylinder, no heavier than ten ounces. It has a clicking device rigged to the top of it.

  “Here,” I say as I hand it to Lombardi. “This is for you. Candy made it earlier.”

  “What is it?” he asks, taking it with his hand. He examines it, but he is still confused in its purpose.