The Nature of Predators

Memory transcription subject: Governor Tarva of the Venlil Republic

Date [standardized human time]: July 12, 2136

A shiver crept down my spine, and it wasn’t only because of the frosty air. The thought of standing in close proximity to a predator made my skin crawl, but it was too late to turn back now. All I could do was watch, with mute horror, as the human ship powered down, and a landing ramp unfurled. The primates marched onto Venlil soil, and I suppressed a whimper. This felt like a nightmare I would wake up from at any moment.

Noah and Sara marveled at their surroundings with wide-eyed fascination. Their gaze lingered on the intricate mansion behind them, then shifted to the city silhouette in the distance. The way they physically rotated their head to look around was uncanny. The menacing eyes of a predator didn’t quite offer the peripheral vision we enjoyed, that much was clear.

There was no way they were appreciating the beauty of our architecture. An ominous thought crept into my mind; were they only landing to scout an invasion?

Noah’s eyes landed on our diplomatic envoy, and he stalked toward us without further hesitation. There were a mere three individuals present: me, Kam, and my diplomatic advisor, Cheln. I knew it was a pitiful showing, but it had been next to impossible to persuade anyone to tag along.

“Listen,” I hissed. “We need to act normally. No fear, and no emotion.”

Kam flicked his ears in disgust. “I can’t believe you invited them here.”

“We are buying time for the Federation to arrive.”

“But how can you even look at them? You want to speak to those…creatures, for hours?”

“Of course not. But the other option is another war with predators, and we see how well that’s worked out with the Arxur. If there is a slight chance to avoid bloodshed, I will take it. Happily.”

“We should’ve blasted that ship out of the sky, while we had the chance. If you expect me to welcome these humans with open arms, that’s not going to happen.”

“You are not to antagonize them. Are we clear?” I growled.

Kam huffed, and I feared that was an answer of itself. There was no time to persuade him though, as the two humans had closed within earshot. I prayed that the advisor would come to his senses, and keep his thoughts to himself. We needed to put our best foot forward, if we wanted to get rid of the beasts peacefully.

Keeping up the appearance of strength was important, if only to discourage the humans from decimating our home. Trying to rile them up was a different story; that was nigh suicidal. Predators thrived on the assertion of dominance, so I doubted they’d turn down a blatant challenge.

“Governor Tarva.” Noah stopped a few paces away from our group, and flashed his teeth. “It’s lovely to meet you in person.”

My heart pounded, fear coursing through my veins like a dreadful cocktail. There was not a worse visual cue in the galaxy than flaunting one’s fangs. The threat it communicated felt much more tangible in person. I swayed on my feet, trying to fight off the light-headedness.

A thud sounded beside me, which I realized was Cheln hitting the pavement. My diplomatic advisor fainting was not a good look, I knew that. Even Kam had his ears pressed against his head, earlier bluster forgotten.

Wonderful, I thought. So much for behaving normally.

Noah’s eyes stretched wide, and his mistake seemed to dawn on him. He quickly covered his mouth with a hand.

“Um, sorry,” the predator captain muttered. “I didn’t mean to startle you. Are they ok?”

There was no way to salvage the optics of this one; the humans definitely realized we were afraid of them at this point. I don’t think my plan could have collapsed in a more disastrous manner. The initial idea of surrendering crept back into my mind. Whatever their ulterior motives were, there was nothing to deter them from taking what they pleased.

The strange thing was, Noah seemed more distraught than amused. This species was slower to pounce on weakness than the Arxur. Perhaps there was still a chance to salvage the meeting, or explain away the behavior?

I flicked my ears, trying to calm myself. “Yes, he’ll be fine. This is just—a bit overwhelming.”

“Aliens landing on your planet. That must come as a terrible shock.” Sara exhaled heavily, before scribbling something on her notepad. “You’re handling this quite well, all things considered.”

“I can’t imagine what this would be like without your translator,” Noah said. “Please, forgive us. We’re new to this whole first contact business.”

Kam knelt by Cheln’s side, trying to rouse him. Given that the nurturing trait stemmed from compassion, that wasn’t the sort of behavior to exhibit in front of predators either. I had to nip this conduct in the bud, or else the primates would think it was commonplace. That answered what I should do, but how could I leave a man to die in the cold? How could I chastise my military advisor for basic empathy? That level of cruelty was beyond my sensibilities.

Noah stooped beside the fallen diplomat, and I braced myself for the worst. Predators placed no value on sentient life, not even their own; the Arxur taught us that much. It was obvious the human thought we should abandon Cheln, rather than allow weakness to tarnish the gene pool.

“How can I help?” were the only words that came out of his mouth.

I gaped at the human in disbelief, certain I had misheard. Where were the derisive comments, making light of Cheln’s condition?

“You’ve helped enough,” Kam spat.

Noah lowered his head. “I’m sorry. It was an accident.”

“It’s alright,” I jumped in, before a quarrel could break out. “I apologize for my advisor’s behavior. He’s a bit…on edge.”

“I understand,” the male human said, with a despondent sigh. “I fear I’ve ruined this whole thing.”

“Noah meant no harm.” Sara patted her companion on the back reassuringly. “Seeing an alien culture firsthand…it’s the opportunity of a lifetime. You have no idea how excited we are. Clearly, that wasn’t expressed in the best way.”

The humans’ behavior was growing more baffling by the minute. Everything in the Federation’s database suggested this was a base, violent species. I thought they wouldn’t be able to turn their weapons against us fast enough. While their visual cues aligned with that assumption, their temperament seemed otherwise mellow.

Why maintain this ruse? If they were probing for weakness, as I hypothesized, they had already seen enough to arrive at a conclusion on that front. I was beginning to think I didn’t understand their intentions at all.

Perhaps these predators were capable of higher brain functions than we gave them credit for.

“Can you help us carry Cheln inside?” I took a deep breath, waiting for my translator to catch up. “We’ll give you a tour after that.”

The humans nodded, and positioned themselves to shoulder the brunt of the weight. A faint hope stirred in my chest. They were in no rush to finish us off! That meant we had time to wait for the cavalry after all.

I knew the Federation’s response would be harsh, when they found predators traipsing about the Venlil homeworld. Their actions would be along the lines of Kam’s suggestions: shoot first, ask questions later. The only reason this particular species hadn’t been wiped out, was we believed them to be extinct already. But the plans to obliterate Earth were drafted centuries ago. Eradicating humanity, in one fell swoop, might still be possible.

We only needed to stall the landing party a little longer. What would happen to Noah and Sara next…well, an attempt would be made to capture them for scientific study. If the task proved too difficult, a special ops team would be sent to dispatch them.

A strange guilt tore through my stomach, at the thought of the humans tied up in a lab. It was a misguided sense of empathy, but...

They are predators! They survive by killing species lower on the totem pole. They literally eat flesh, I scolded myself. These humans slaughter each other, all the time, anyways.

“Thanks for your hospitality, Governor.” Sara cleared her throat, locking eyes with me. “I can tell our species will be great friends, one day.”

The mere sight of these creatures disgusted me, but what if we were wrong about them? Wasn’t my intention to avoid bloodshed?

“Yes…friends.” I flicked my ears in agreement, and tried to bury my conscience. “I hope we will be.”