The Nature of Predators

Memory transcription subject: Captain Sovlin, Federation Fleet Command

Date [standardized human time]: October 6, 2136

Resounding shouts coursed through the air, as the humans rounded on the unarmed enemy. Most were some variant of a demand to lie on the ground. There was no question that this was an Arxur surrender; they were complying with the barked orders, and cuffing themselves without any clear trickery. There was no snarling or sudden movements, either.

Perhaps this inexplicable behavior was because humans earned respect, by whatever their twisted standards were. The primates’ bellowing voices shook me to the core, and clearly left no room for debate. Scaring the boarders away with bloodied fangs and piercing eyes hadn't been a viable tactic, for a change.

All the same, I didn’t think the reptilians were capable of submission. The Federation never managed to capture a predator, or reason with them. Appealing to mercy was an exercise in futility; amusement seemed to be the only motive they needed to destroy our worlds. Accepting the Terrans as thinking people was one thing, but the Arxur were clear-cut in their villainy.

“I wonder what Captain Monahan will do with the prisoners,” I muttered.

Samantha offered a non-committal shrug. “Not my call.”

“Not mine either, and that’s probably a good thing.” Carlos bounded up to us, raising his goggles. “We’re going to have some guys make sure they sit nice and pretty for now. Probably sedate them, take them as prisoners.”

“But if it was your call, what would you do?” I asked.

“I’d put them in the cattle pens. Right where they belong,” he growled, a malicious gleam in his eyes. “I wonder if the grays would taste like gator. Or maybe they’d make a good pair of boots.”

The bold-faced talk of eating another sentient left me taken aback. It wasn’t something I thought humankind would contemplate, even for those monsters. I understood what Carlos was saying, though; that schadenfreude was something we had in common. The guard’s statement was pushing it a little far, but I was happy he was being more open with me.

Maybe Carlos is grateful I saved his life. He seems more friendly toward me.

My eyes studied the Arxur prisoners. “But they would still look hideous as boots. Also, I wouldn’t want my paws touching their skin; how defiling.”

“Well then, what would you do with them, Sovlin?”

As much as I would love to see the grays get a full dose of their own medicine, the stakes were too high. The intelligence a strong-willed military could extract was invaluable. If we could stop the cradle’s fate from befalling another world, that was worth keeping these Arxur alive for a bit.

Besides, they deserved more suffering than a quick execution. Scientific studies of their pain tolerance and responses could offer interesting results.

My lip curled up in disgust. “I would inflict as much agony as I could. And once I had no use for it, I would blow its brain out.”

“You already knew the answer to that, Carlos,” Samantha hissed. “Remember why he’s here? You two have fun with your…chat.”

I lowered my gaze, watching the female guard stalk off. It hadn’t occurred to me that I described verbatim what I had done to the first Terran soldier I found. After recognizing the parallel, Carlos would surely lose interest in speaking with me. It confused me why he didn’t lope after her, but a part of me still hoped we could make progress.

“I am sorry. The irony is, somehow, I think you might be the only species who could understand why I did…that,” I sighed.

The human crossed his arms, a conflicted glint in his eyes. “I understand why, if we were the Arxur. But you didn’t even consider or research Marcel Fraser’s story. Nor did you listen to the Venlil that backed him up.”

“I did research. The Federation’s database pegged you as a species of genocidal conquerors, who do nothing but war.” My spines bristled, as I recalled the atrocities in the original briefing. “Then I watched videos of humans gassing children and nuking your own cities! And you lecture us about stampedes. I still don’t get you.”

“That history makes a lot of us angry too. We’re, um, capable of much of what they are. But the Ven—”

“The Venlil, Slanek, was unconscious for days. What we knew was the Republic cut off all communications, chased off aid ships at gunpoint, and took every Federation visitor hostage, after they met you. It was an obvious conclusion, at the time, that humans coerced them into those actions.”

“But that’s just not true. You know that.”

“Now. In my paws, would you have thought humanity was friendly and empathetic? When you seemed so much like the Arxur, the only other known predators?”

The guard didn’t say anything, but his ocular relaxation showed that my point landed. He pursed his lips, and scratched the back of his neck. It was obvious he was hesitant, to vocalize understanding for the torture of his own kind. Perhaps his concern was that nearby soldiers might overhear.

“Let’s just say, by the time Slanek woke up, it was too late. I had to be right about you, or else, I was a monster.” My voice cracked, and my eyes blinked shut to seal away tears. “I’m not defending…Carlos, I can’t live with what I’ve done. Not since it hit home. I don’t expect anyone’s forgiveness.”

The predator patted my shoulder once, with a surprising amount of gentleness. No words tumbled from his lips, but that was more consolation than I deserved. The guilt enshrouding my heart eased, for a brief moment. I realized how badly I had needed one of the humans to understand.

Carlos cleared his throat, and his gaze dialed in on the Arxur prisoners. A human had a boot planted against one’s tail, with a gun barrel pressed against its skull. The reptilian’s eyes were wild, with what I would think was fear, in any other species. It looked young and scrawny, which might be why it was singled out for intimidation.

“What did you do with the kids?” The UN soldier’s voice was low, charged with a venomous undercurrent. “Where are they?”

“Kids?” the Arxur stammered.

“The Gojids. The ‘cattle’, you son of a bitch!”

“Why didn’t you just say that?! They’re in the cargo bay.”

“And where the fuck is that? Show us, now!”

The gray led us into the kitchen, which was placed adjacent to the cafeteria. The stations seemed more suitable to butchering than food preparation. Carlos gestured for me to follow, since my inclusion was only permitted to pacify the captives. My uneasy brain resented the march into a predator’s lair, and was relieved the human hovered close behind.

A decaying scent wafted into my nostrils, which triggered my gag reflex. A few Gojid corpses dangled from the ceiling, and had been gutted from head to toe. The amount of dried blood suggested their organs were carved out while they were alive. One carcass was noticeably smaller than the others; it looked about the size of my daughter, last time I saw her alive.

That child was dissected, then served to the group as an entrée. Just like my sweet Hania. Those vile predators…they see us as a feast.

Disgust torched a path up my esophagus, and I spewed vomit onto the tile. The way Carlos’ cheeks were ashen and puffed out, I think he was barely keeping his own lunch down. It was a relief to see the clawless predator looking squeamish. Especially after hearing him ponder how the Arxur tasted.

Heaving sounds behind me suggested that disgust was the overarching reaction, within Terran ranks. The UN soldiers bringing up our flank got more of an eyeful than they anticipated. It was baffling, that predators would have such a strong aversion to gore. All evolutionary knowledge suggested blood should serve as the enticing marker of an easy catch, and sharpen their senses.

The male guard wiped sweat off his brow. “Fuck, man. I can’t unsee that. They’re so…brutal. Senseless.”

“D-deep breaths. Don’t focus on it.”

“But the smell…”

“I know. By the way, why did your warriors split up?” I asked Carlos, trying to distract us. “Doesn’t everyone want to secure the civilians?”

Samantha cleared her throat to my right, startling me. “Enemy officers are holed up in the bridge, and we need to sweep the ship anyways. Don’t need a napping gray crawling out of a crevasse.”

“I thought you didn’t want to be anywhere near me.”

“I don’t. But it’s my job.”

The scrawny Arxur staggered to the kitchen’s rear wall, and wagged a bony claw at the partition. The reflective metal formed two double doors, wide enough to fit a few spacecraft side-by-side. I considered that the prisoner was deceiving us, since that was their modus operandi. But it made too much sense, for the prey to be right next to the mess hall.

The Terran handler jabbed his gun barrel into the Arxur’s temple. “Open the fucking door…or we’ll find out what color your brains splatter.”

It swallowed, and waved a paw in front of a motion sensor. I half-expected an automated turret to descend from the ceiling, and start cutting down our ranks. The humans tensed as well, clearly not trusting the beast. Despite their lack of experience with the Arxur, they seemed well-versed in the ways of sapient deception.

The doors creaked open, and the UN soldiers inched forward. There was no reinforcing army amassed inside, for all our misgivings. The cavern before us was devoid of Arxur, on the ground level, which was where my eyes stopped looking.

Of course, the reptiles wouldn’t leave their prized possession unattended. Some instinct compelled the humans’ binocular eyes to turn skyward. Perhaps it was the same madness that made them leap out of planes.

One Arxur camped on a raised platform, which allowed it to overlook the assembled prey. It wheeled around, slowed by the same narrow vision as the Terrans. The gray couldn’t reach for its weapon before it was obliterated by dozens of bullets.

Lots of trigger-happy humans out here. They seem really on edge.

I watched as the monster slumped to the floor. Its skin was perforated everywhere that constituted a vital organ. The life flickered out of its reptilian eyes, as liters of blood dripped through the latticed walkway. It doused any Gojids below in coagulated goo, but I couldn’t bring myself to face the livestock yet.

My gaze instead fell on our predatory captive; I wanted to see how it reacted to the death of a counterpart. A brief gasp slipped from its maw, and those diabolical pupils lingered on its fallen comrade for a full second. A full second longer than they should have.

“No heads up about the guard?” The UN soldier slammed his rifle butt into the Arxur prisoner’s temple. He snickered as its hindlegs buckled, and it collapsed on the floor. “Ah, shit, my hand slipped. That’s what everyone saw, isn’t it?”

The other humans nodded, as they studied the cattle enclosure in horrified silence. My reluctant eyes fell on the scene, and renewed fury surged through my spines. Gojids were packed in a pen like animals, to the brink of suffocation. I could see faces squished up against the barbed wire mesh, and paws scrabbling for a way out.

The guards must’ve fed the cattle by throwing seeds and leaves down from the walkway. Water was available through a few small basins on the rim. Many people seemed to have given up, and were lying unresponsive on the floor. The squealing of the children was what really stabbed at my heart; they sounded so high-pitched and frantic.

“HELP US! Please,” a desperate voice wailed, from the corral’s epicenter.

That individual was shushed by its counterparts, who divulged that the entrants were humans. There was no line of sight from within the throng of Gojids. All they knew was the boarders weren’t Arxur, and that the grays had succumbed to them.

The last they saw of humanity was Terran soldiers, dropping into cradle settlements. If they hadn’t witnessed the heroic sacrifices on the surface, it would be logical to assume humans orchestrated the Arxur raid. These people must think they were going from one predator’s clutches to another.

One Gojid strained his face against the mesh. “Captain Sovlin? They c-captured you?! You should know better…than to let them take you alive.”

My mouth was dry. I was too horrified by the atrocities of this vessel to find words; this felt like a waking nightmare. It was all I could do not to sink against the nearest human’s boots, and break down. The Gojid took my shocked state as affirmation of his fears, howling with despair.

Carlos shuffled forward, kneeling by the cage’s edge. He tugged at the material, which did not budge, and bared his teeth in obvious frustration. The muscles in his shoulders were quivering, with a primal rage that he was struggling to restrain. The predator couldn’t bear the sobbing kids, any more than I could.

A growl emanated from his chest, and his brown eyes narrowed to slits. The compulsion to break the sapient livestock out of the cage all but possessed him. There was a franticness in his motions, as Samantha passed him a cable cutter. Carlos clipped the first strand, and other humans ambled in to help peel back the material.

The Terrans’ haste was enough to snap me out of my trance. If I didn’t get through to the Gojids, they would stampede right over their saviors. A mauling wasn’t the way to reward the gentle beasts for their compassion.

“T-the…the humans are here as allies of the Gojidi Union. Let them help you,” I croaked.

“The warlike predators who invaded our home, and caused the Arxur to capture us, are allies? Tell those demons to make their lies believable, puppet,” came a sneering reply.

So this was how it felt, trying to convince a skeptical audience to see past that abominable appearance. Carlos’ efforts paused for a moment, and he shared a glance with his counterparts. The gash they carved in the barbwire was almost wide enough to rip out an opening. How could anyone read malice into their actions?

Nobody ever just started off seeing humans as people. Nobody accepted their story at face value, or treated them as equals. In that moment, I felt sorry…angry for the alien predators.

I stormed toward the pen. “The ground invasion occurred because we were planning to bomb Earth; I would know. Preventing their own extinction is self-defense. The fact that they risked their lives to save you, in spite of that, shows their empathy runs deeper than ours.”

“Predators don’t feel empathy. The Great Protector teaches they are cursed creatures, doomed to live in eternal hunger and bloodlust.”

The Great Protector? Carlos mouthed.

Arguing with a fairytale wasn’t my ideal scenario, but antagonizing the religious was only going to make them shut down. There might be a shred of truth to that axiom, anyways; I had seen the Terrans tap into their aggression multiple times. Humans used their higher emotions to redirect bloodlust to proper outlets, but sometimes, their agency waned.

My eyes swept over the group. “These predators are intelligent enough to override that. To control it. The Venlil did experiments that proved they can bond with prey animals, and that they feel pain for those of us in suffering. It is irrefutable evidence, by every scientific metric.”

“What? That’s…that’s not possible. You’re saying…”

“Humans use their ‘hunger’ to protect the weak from threats, much like your goddess. They formed laws and morality that are civilized. Honorable, even. If they are cursed and trying to break free, wouldn’t the Protector command us to help?”

The UN soldiers tugged back the spiky wall, and surveyed the traumatized Gojids. My people didn’t rush on their saviors in a panic, though many shoved their way toward the escape. The alternative was to remain in Arxur custody, and the Arxur were a known commodity. Even if the Terrans were just as evil, it was difficult for them to be worse.

Several humans extended gloved hands, hoisting the victims onto solid ground. Herbivore food and clean water awaited the rescued; the special care they gave to the young didn’t escape my notice. Samantha’s eyes glowed as she began to spoon-feed an emaciated infant. I had never seen such a toothy snarl on her face, or heard her speak so softly.

This skirmish hadn’t been to contest the cattle claim, at all. I wondered what the Arxur would think, when they realized the predators they viewed as equals, despised them as much as the rest of the galaxy. Whether humanity’s interrogations turned up anything useful or not, it would be priceless to be a fly on the wall.