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The Tour (2nd part of Final Chapter)
Posted By: Traumatised Marine<rbecalick@hotmail.com>
Date: 29 March 2003, 11:21 AM
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Upon the doors plaque there was engraved:
"Quadrefeacium"
And below it in brackets:
"(Elite)"
The door retracted, and the Chancellor held her breath.
However the creature within was rather an anticlimax.
It was at least eight feet tall, beneath it's iridescent blue armour there was a tough scaly hide. It's legs had an extra joint towards the bottom, giving the creature an aloof, authoritarian stance. The frame of the creature was gangling yet powerful, and it's rib cage was oversized in comparison to it's waste. Most peculiar however was it's face. The Chancellor realised what the Latin name of this creature meant; Four Jaws. The Jaws were slightly open, revealing rows of white shark teeth. And from below the ridge of the helmet she could make out two chilling eyes, like chips of ice. It was physically impressive, certainly, yet it did not look as physically powerful as the previous one.
The Professor looked at the Chancellor's expression knowingly.
"Yes, it may be only second largest, but it does have the largest brain, and from what we have been told, these impressive creatures seem to be the commander race. Therefore, this creature has been decided as the highest ranking of the four specimens we have."
Then the Professors eyes twinkled.
"And it's also my favourite. These creature bodies are designed for a strong level of gravity, there planet, I would calculate, must be about 1.6 times the size of Earth, that's about as big as a rocky planet can be stably. They are the only cold-blooded of the creatures, yet they seem to have an emergency ability to nearly triple their metabolisms to generate heat in cold climates. Their brains are developed differently from ours, while they are lacking in the brain areas that control, say; social interaction, they excel in things such as foot coordination or judging distances. Small differences really, their brains are essentially incredibly similar to our own. They speak a guttural language, due to the design of their vocal chords. Their teeth contain a powerful alkali, while their saliva is acidic, very similar to acetic acid, in fact. They are certainly carnivores, I would assume once they have killed prey the acid in their saliva neutralises any alkali they injected into prey while trying to immobilise it. If you look at their jaws you can see they are impressive predatory tools, you can imagine these creatures galloping on their biped hooves after herds of animals, then latching on to their pray with those mandibles and immobilising it through blood-loss and alkali-induced pain. They have incredibly efficient digestive and respiratory systems. I would assume they would only need to excrete once every week or so, and in a relaxed state they could do on just two breathfuls of air a minute. These creatures also breath oxygen. They are incredibly versatile, tough and hardy creatures, high pain thresholds and difficult to immobilise. Oh, these are also the race that have been the stasis shield technology, similar to that of the Spartans, making them harder still to neutralise in the field.
These are the military leaders, the backbone of the Covenant army."
The Chancellor turned to the Professor.
"But there are other races in the Covenant? Other than these four species?"
The Professor was slightly surprised.
"Why do you ask that?"
Although both he and the Chancellor knew what he really meant was how did you manage to discover that classified intelligence.
"I just think that it would seem logical to assume there could be other Covenant races." The Chancellor replied evasively.
Professor Zolkievich nodded.
"Yes, we have video footage showing a Scientist/Engineer race, would I be right in assuming you've seen it?"
The Chancellor gave a small smile and a brief wink, then said rather audibly; so the ONI spooks who were surely monitoring her somehow would hear,
"You'd be wrong, Professor, I wouldn't be able to freely get access to ONI information like that."
Professor Zolkievich acknowledged what she was doing and continued.
"We also believe from intercepted Covenant transmissions, that there have been references to a sort of 'Prophet' race, so we know there are at least two other races in the Covenant that we don't have specimens of.
And, Chancellor, one last note, if you think about the similarities that these creatures have, not just with each other, but us also. Skulls, eyes, spines, digestive systems, respiratory systems, circulatory systems, skeletal structures, four limbs, the list is endless! I think there is something very deep in all this that we are completly unaware of, something that links all our races at some point in a forgotten and unimaginably distant past. I'm almost certain of it."
Professor Zolkievich and his fellows stood, facing the Chancellor, opposite the shaft lift she had entered the labs in.
"I hope our little tour was enlightening, Supreme Chancellor."
The Chancellor smiled falsely and replied.
"It was very much so, Professor, I am grateful you found the time."
There was an awkward pause, and suddenly, as if the Chancellor had been desperate to ask from the very start, she burst out,
"Professor! Truthfully, what do you think humanity's chances are? Is there anything we can do?"
Professor Zolkievich looked deeply and thoughtfully into the Chancellor's eyes. Those eyes were desperate, pleading. Unknown to the Chancellor, he was pondering something very important, considering if it was worth revealing a monumentous secret for the sake of her sanity.
He decided against it.
"Supreme Chancellor, humanity is over-powered in every aspect; in numbers, in technology, in strength. We have no allies to turn to, and seem on an inevitable path. Countless times in history, civilisations have been faced with more powerful ones, faced with the same dilemma as us, and they fell. I am afraid unless humanity can find a new factor that would grant us an advantage, we are doomed to join those fallen parties, just another forgotten chapter, only this time in alien history books."
At hearing this, so blunt and free of the self-indulgent delusions that everyone else gave to convince themselves that life was worth living another day, the Chancellor seemed ready to break into tears. She managed a weak,
"Thank you, Professor," and hurriedly retreated into the lift.
The doors began to close, and the Professor watched as her sorrowful face disappeared behind the great sheets of cold metal.
Doctor Hobson spoke rather fierily,
"You could have told her! For Christ's sake, she's just one person, you should have told her!"
Professor Zolkievich turned and stared blankly at Doctor Hobson, then said, as if quoting from a protocol article,
"We must keep the persons who are aware of Brutus to an absolute minimum, his being secret is pivotal to the project being a success, we must rule out every possible risk. Every person who knows, is a potential factor for the Covenant finding out. We must make sure Brutus is not discovered until the time comes!"
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