Mimicry



The engines of the GA transport ship kicked up a storm of blue dust as it descended towards the sandy desert plateau. Little creatures fled in earnest from the buffeting gusts of wind and the loud rumbling of the engines fleeing out into the dessert on many legs and stumpy wings. Twisted, yellow-barked bulb trees cracked and bent under the powerful gusts of wind swaying gently back and forth as the billowing blue dust cloud came to overtake them.


The GA shuttle landed lightly on the surface of the planet, three-pronged body burying it's struts deep into the desert planet's sandy skin. Dirt continued to swirl up and around the shuttle, until the engines were cut, and the power was stalled.


With a low whirring grumble, the ship whined into dormancy allowing the dust to settle and leaving nothing but the low mournful whistle of wind in the desert.


The shuttle door opened, and the Rundi scientists jogged out onto their home planet's dusty surface, their feet padding softly against the sand. The dark greens and brown of their skin, while not exactly camouflage against the blue sand did help them to blend into some of the lower lying rock-shrubs on the horizon.


The air in the desert was bone dry and dusty blue. The horizon was a haze of wind blown sand against a green/yellow sky.


The slow expansion of the rundi sun had turned their once, yellow star, red. It had been like that for many years now, and not even their most ancient texts remembered the days when the sky was blue.


Boots clattered on the ramp down onto the sand, and the human placed his hands on his hips wide eyes staring out at the strange alien planet's surface.


"Everything alright, Jim."


The human turned coming face to face with the GA ship's pilot. He grinned, "Couldn't be better." Together the two of them walked down the ramp and onto a light dusting of blue sand. The human reached down scooping up a cup of the strange and beautiful sand, letting it trickle through his fingers.


"Thank you, commander, for offering to help." he turned to look at the Rundi, "And thank you immeasurably for giving me this opportunity to help you. I never would have thought.... I mean I am a wildlife expert, but alien wildlife.... That's an entirely different story."


The rundi bowed their heads as was their manor, though they weren't entirely sure what the human had said. He had a strange accent that threw off cheaper translation models. While many of the older models COULD understand the multitude of human languages, deviations in accents was still nuanced and difficult to pick up for even the most expensive piece of equipment.


He turned to look at the commander, "Do you know what makes the sand blue. It is the most fascinating thing I think I have ever seen."


The commander picked up a handful of dirt and let it trail through his fingers, "I think it has to do with the extreme presence of copper in the soil, oxidized copper likes to turn blue, and with bacteria in the soil producing ammonia, i think you can get even darker shades than this."


The human lifted his head smelling at the air, "it's very dry, obviously this is a desert planet, or at least a dessert on a planet."


"A dessert planet." The commander said, motioning to the group of rundi who stood out in the sand examining the plants for signs of wildlife, "Rundi are actually allergic to water, which is why they were making us wear gloves and masks."


"Allergic to water? How do they survive then?"


"They can get moisture in other forms, I guess. Water being as scarce as it is on this planet, at least on the surface. There are vast underworld reservoirs and rivers, which feed the plants you see here. Their roots are extremely deep, deeper than any earth plant. Eating those plants provides the Rundi with everything they need." He motioned onward, "The thoraxes act as a sort of fat deposit so they can go for months at a time without eating."


"That's quite amazing, Commander. You know about as much about other sentient species as I do about our more animal friends."


The commander smiled the skin wrinkling up around his one remaining eye, "I have had plenty of time spent with them."


"Ill bet." All in one moment, he clapped his hands together, forcing the attention of the Rundi who turned to look at the strange human, in his boots, shorts, and shirt, probably the most under-dressed human they had ever seen.


"First things is first." he turned around to look at another group of similarly dressed humans emerging from the inside of the shuttle, "We are here to catch, sedate, and transport the Strangit. We want to make sure that it stays as relaxed and as stress free as possible, which is why we will bate it, and then dart it from a distance."


"How do we know our sedation will work?" one of the humans asked, raising a hand.


"We have done some non-invasive testing with the DNA sequences of these creatures and found that their structure is similar enough to accept the drug in the same way a Rino or a hippo might, so hopefully we won't be proven wrong Also, if you find any other creatures during our tour, just use the little boxes on your hips to catch them, and secure them. We want to relocate as many of these critters as possible, but we want to do it in the nicest way we can."


He turned to look at the Commander who stood to the side of the group, "Do you think you can help us out."


The commander nodded, "Always willing to help. Just tell me what I need to do."


He clapped his hands together. "Excellent, lets get to work."


-


The following Rundi scientists were a little more than fascinated by the pack of humans, and especially their leader as they began a slow movement up through the sand sweeping back and forth for signs of the Strangit, last spotted in this area. They had heard that some humans were capable of tracking their prey over long distances by using nothing more than small changes left in the land by their prey, footprints, or clumps of hair, sometimes the very formation of the land itself.


Their feet were almost silent on the sand, and when they communicated, they did it in a low rumble. Sometimes, they didn't even speak at all, simple motioning at each other, communicating silently over long distances. The lead human kept his eyes to the ground crouched low legs always moving zig-zagging from rock to rock until at one moment he stopped, and called the others in with a sharp piercing blast.


He had no equipment with which to make that sound, though humans were known for their ability.


"See these, right here. Looks like tracks. I'll wager to say it passed by here not too long ago." He motioned upwards at the blowing sand. And with the rate at which this sand is blowing, I would reduce the time even more than before. We should move silently from here."
The rundi held back, watching as the humans condensed down their group slowly moving around each other their eyes forward, their bodies focused on their hunting. The main human spent most of his time in a low crouch, sometimes dropping down to all fours so he could better see the dirt and the ground underneath.


None of the rundi could see what he was looking for, but he seemed sure they were close.


It was just then that a strange warbling chatter echoed up form the other side of a short sand dune.


The humans went very still, and the forward human held his finger to his lips motioning the other into position.


The human with the dart gun quietly padded up the side of the hill concealing himself against the bowl of a rock, cozied inside a divot created by the sand and the wind.


With a wave of his hand, the human motioned the others closer, including the Commander, who knelt in the soft sandy circle about him.


The rundi tried to stay quiet as they approached, ready to hear the plan.


"That first call." he whispered, "Was the male, its a mating call, and the second one was a more distant female. Now the females tend to travel in herds, while the males are generally loners, so if we mimic, the sound of the female, and make it think that there is a larger group of us, we might be able to drawn him over and into our line of sight, without risking it getting startled or agitated.


The chattering sound started up again, receiving a response not a moment later.


He motioned the other humans away, who scurried off to hide themselves, creating a spot for ambush.


Watching from a distance, it was rather unnerving, the way the humans seemed to know inherently how to behave, how to spread out, and how to hide themselves, creating an open break in their circular line for the creature to come.


It was even worse when the sounds came.


The lead human, in line of sight to the Rundi, cupped his hands around his mouth and began the warbling call of a female strangit. Off in the distance a male call answered, following that the other humans began to mimic the sound of the first. A human to their right added in soe of the related huffing noises, their chest raising and falling in shorts bursts.


They did whatever they could to create the noise they were hearing, using their hands, adjusting their tongues and tilting their heads back.


It was terrifying.


A few of the Rundi felt shivers run up their backs as they imagined their ancestors traveling in large groups and hearing a cry for help, running to hear that cry and being pounced upon by a group of humans mimicking their own voices.


Sand shuffled off on the other side of the hill.


Footsteps thudded against stone , and the Strangit crested the horizon, its massive back spikes jutting almost three feet up into the air. Its body was stocky with muscle, its feet were large, round and flat, and from a distance it was at least the same height as a tall Drev, though with much more mass.


A single giant tusk jutted out from the bottom of it's chin nearly scraping the ground as it walked.


As a male of the species, instead of being blue to match the sand, Like a female, they were a sort of ruddy yellow color with spots of green dappling it's back.


When it moved, the sun reflected off those spots of green.


The creature lifted it's head looking around for the female's it was sure it had heard.


One of the humans made one last call, and the great beast turned to face the sound, seeming almost confused when it saw nothing.


The Rundi watched as the armed human gently slid into place on his side, using the sandy hill to steady his weapon.


There was a low pop, and the beast jumped bellowing at the sky before turning around and running in the opposite direction.


"We got him!" Someone yelled, and together the humans broke from their line of cover and went racing after the creature.


Like a pack of wolves they followed the creature at a distance as it galloped through the open sand leaving a trail of dust behind it. The human's feet kicked up dust, and they pulled to a slow stop as the creature slowed, wobbled and then tipped onto its side resting heavily in the sand. The rundi caught up as the humans were speaking with each other.


"Just give it a few minutes."


While they waited the Rundi looked to the humans with concern, "Is it common.... For humans to mimic their prey."


The humans laughed, "Not really, we record things instead. Most animals on our planet can tell the difference. However, we are generally pretty good at somewhat reproducing most noises."


"Go on." They asked


Intrigued.


While the other humans walked off to inspect their prey, a few remained behind and seemed to be having fun demonstrating the different calls animals on their planet make.


One of the sounds a long, drawn out howl sent shivers up the Rundi's backs.


"You know, wolves are fun to mimic, but the one sound I think it might be impossible to make is a roar."


"I mean yes, but have you ever tried to make an Elk sound."


"Oh, I can do an elk."


"No way, lets see it."


What followed was a competition based on who could make the strangest animal noise. The elk was pretty terrifying and screeching repeating call that rose in octave until it was no more than a piercing note on the air repeated multiple times.


"Ok, ok, that is pretty."


"Is it acceptable to use props."


"Why."


"Because if it is, I can accurately mimic a two strike dirt bike."


There was laughing from the other humans, "Ah yes, I forgot about that breed."


"I have an uncle who owns a dirk bike farm."


It took a moment for the rundi to realize that the humans were simply joking. As it would soon come to light, humans could also mimic the sound of non-organic objects.


Looking back and fourth at each other, they collectively decided it would be best if this was never mentioned to the humans.


IT seemed as if they had not evolved to hunt like this.


But if they knew.


If they knew the power of their own voices, the rest of the galaxy might be in serious danger.


Looking over at the Strangit, the Rundi shivered at the thought of hearing a familiar call in the distance just to show up, and be met with the sharp glistening teeth of a hungry, smiling human.


Poor creature. 

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