Challenge #02042-E218: Something's Happening Here
Love your Humans are space Orcs, especially the ones about Ozzies.
Here is one for you, How even without luck, all humans get gut feelings, warning of unseen dangers and how they can drive out decisions especially in rather precarious situations. -- Adam in Darwin
[AN: Never sweat your spelling. If I can grok your meaning, I'll correct that biz for the post. Hope you haven't gone troppo waiting for this post to happen, and have a Gaytime on me :D ]
Certain Human phrases are indicators of doom. Ones like, "Trust me," or, "What could go wrong?" are big winners. The latter because the Universe loves giving painful answers to silly questions like that one. Also on the top ten are, "I've got this," and, "Hold my beer."
Less well-known, but equally portentious, is, "I don't like this," or, "This place gives me the creeps." Or similar attitudes. If a Human is scared, then caution is well-advised. That said, some of the most mundane things can scare a Human. Abandoned habitations, empty malls, vacant hotels, and certain patterns of carpeting have been known to set a Human off.
None of these were present in Thropnak Seven.
It was how the Daknithid learned about the Human phenomenon of Thin Slicing. Humans on the Edge Territories especially learned early to listen to their instincts. Paying close attention to anything 'creepy' and remaining cautious in the face of their own unsourced trepidation.
In this case, the sun was shining, the breeze was gentle, the local bird-analogues were chirping, and Human Rai was ever-so-quietly going out of hir mind with terror. Ze was on edge, flinching at every shadow. Twitching at every moving thing in hir peripheral vision. And, because it was hir job, going first in every place that the Daknathid wished to investigate.
"It is water," insisted Groth. "Harmless."
"Something is wrong," insisted Human Rai, allowing hir livesuit to encounter it first. The quiet-looking stream was, indeed, water, but the sonar sensors read it as far, far deeper than it seemed. A floating probe quickly vanished under the surface and went out of range in seconds[1]. "No swimming," ze said. But it was water. It could be sampled, imbibed, taken aboard for extra supplies... but not swum in.
When the local predator struck, only Human Rai was ready. Turning and firing in barely a breath. Thin slicing had told hir that ze was being watched. Thin slicing said something was stalking them. Working out whether or not ze or the Daknathid crew were worth hunting and eating.
The Daknathid had had no idea. Human Rai hadn't been able to pin it down, either, but hir instincts made certain that ze was ready for anything.
[1] There is actually a stream like this somewhere on Earth. I've only read about it in fact pictures though.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / artfotoss]
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