Free Lokians 1: Beyond the End of the World by Aaron Dennis Page B

the
tables and chairs. They were much larger in order to accommodate
Thewlian anatomy. Once everything settled down, the captain spoke
loud enough to drown out the voices of the aliens, who were likely
conversing about the oddities of Humans, and the chatter of Humans,
who conversed about the aliens.
    “ Ambassador, I’m impressed you’ve
mastered our language in such a short time. I’m also in disbelief
that your kind can travel so quickly. I assume this means your
people have mastered faster than light speed.”
    “ As far as language is concerned, we
all find it simple to learn. We have existed for over four, million
years and have learned many languages. We have also traveled space
and time for three, million years, so it is not difficult for us to
acclimate to our surrounding, social environment,” the ambassador
replied.
    The captain was astonished, though his
reports had stated incredulous facts about Thewls, it was another
thing to see them, hear them in person. He remained flabbergasted a
moment, saying nothing. The ambassador’s hue then changed. It was
like his face brightened.
    “ As you well know, Captain,” the
ambassador continued. “The beacons you discovered were left behind
four, thousand years ago. Their arrangement on this planet was
meant to be a signal to any passing travelers, so they might rest
or meet on neutral ground. Was there a need, the beacons were also
meant to be used in unison to signal for help or relay some sort of
message, and there was a need….”
    “ So…no one has attempted to colonize
Eon,” the captain asked.
    “ Ah, Eon, you say; before your time,
many of us were in agreement that this planet remain neutral
territory. No one race dared to seize it, not that we blame you or
your people for erecting a colony. You could not have known such
details.
    “ Alas, there have been no meetings here
in many centuries. There are other such planets, but this is
trivial at the moment. We Thewls are in the throes of a crisis,”
the ambassador said.
    O’Hara stirred in his large seat. It was not
the ambassador’s voice that was earnest, but his words, somehow,
seemed genuine, and again, his face changed; it had grown darker,
grim.
    “ The Lokians,” the captain finally
said.
    “ Yes, the Lokians,” the alien nodded.
“This insect-like breed; over our long existence we have
encountered them on numerous occasions. The first was long before
my time. They landed on our home world just after we began space
travel. Our Element-115 is a very valuable resource, and the
Lokians coveted such treasures.
    “ They came in relatively small numbers,
but we were a peaceful people. We had no real weapons at the time.
They came unannounced and attacked us. Most of them didn’t use
weapons, but their superior, physical attributes nearly destroyed
us.
    “ Fortunately, we drove them back with
our superior numbers. After that encounter, we suspended space
travel for a time to fortify our defenses. We engineered weapons.
They came a second time, centuries later—still before my time—but
we were prepared, or so we thought.
    “ You see, we were not the only ones who
had prepared. We were not the only ones who had advanced. The
Lokians are a strange race. They do not cogitate as you or I. They
do not adapt or acclimate as you or I. No, these Lokians harvest
other races, their technology, mainly. When they attacked the
second time, they had augmented themselves physically by using some
form of robotic technology. They were stronger, faster, and nearly
indestructible. We fought long and hard, but they could not be
driven back,” the ambassador took a pause.
    O’Hara didn’t note any facial expressions.
Thewls conveyed emotions differently, it was something in their
faces, a chemical reaction, he thought, that made their color
change, and darker seemed to connote darker emotions, sadness,
anger, perhaps.
    “ So, the Lokians are on your planet
now?”
    “ No, no, if you’ll allow me to give