Monsignor Jones leaned back in his chair and provided Father Parioli with a summary of what they knew, “Before I start, this has already been revealed to Major Tierney and all those in charge of ARRG. Our approach to this whole thing is being reviewed in light of this critical intelligence. I am sure you will be part of the briefings when they are made to the troopers.”

  Father Pacioli nodded and asked, “So why are we having this additional briefing?”

  Monsignor Jones leaned forward and spoke earnestly, “Because while the military and political fellows in charge are concentrating on the very important task of giving these aliens a bloody nose and stopping the attacks, we will help do that but want to think a bit longer term.”

  “The aliens come from a galaxy or galaxies wide ‘Federation of Planets’. The boffins have already abbreviating them as FOPs and that is quickly catching on throughout the organisation. The Federation continually seeks out new areas in which to find planets to join them. An Emperor is in charge, but for an organisation so huge, bureaucracy runs most of the show.”

  Father Pacioli interrupted, “How much information did we get from this communicator?”

  The Monsignor sighed, “Sadly, not as much as we hoped. It appears that a vast range of additional features are available when linked up with their version of the Internet, FedNet, the Federation Network. Without it we just have the still quite impressive functionality of an automatic verbal translator of all languages, a visual translator of written text, ability to take photos, a simple calculator, and note taker. The biggest treasure was a small application called their Common Knowledge Centre or CKC. Basically a cut down version of an encyclopaedia.”

  Father Pacioli couldn’t help himself and started asking lots of question, “Are there any other humans in the Federation?”

  “We don’t know, but we didn’t see anything that could be taken for a human in any of their images.”

  “Are they warriors intend on conquest?” Father asked with a intent look.

  “That’s oddly specific, Father. No. From all we have seen, their news sections have less violence than our nightly news. In fact, throughout their information and news is the repeated claim that the Federation of Planets is the most peaceful organisation ever. For over five hundred years there have been no wars.”

  “Peaceful?” asked Father as he sat back perplexed, “They are awfully well armed for a peaceful civilization.”

  “Ah,” said Monsignor raising his finger in admonition of Father’s rising confusion, “It’s all due to one thing, according to all the data on this device.”

  Father sat up, “Just one thing?”

  “Hunting.” answered Monsignor.

  Father blinked.

  “Yes. Apparently since they started hunting on planets, this has relieved all the stress and all those violent tendencies have been transferred to hunting.”

  Father blinked again.

  Monsignor waited.

  Father said, “So their violent natures are completely soothed by violently killing innocent creatures?”

  Monsignor nodded with a strained grin, “That is according to the communicator. Once our military had run into the blocks about military hardware and capabilities as we were ‘Out of CKC range’, we were able to grill it on broader society related matters. It looks like a well filtered source of information. We suspect that encouraging violence on the innocent is not the best way to maintain a lasting piece. Actually, most of the device is sponsored by one of the largest hunting companies, ‘Hunting Tours Incorporated’. So that may have something to do with the quality of the data.”

  “So, we know more, but that just raises even more questions,” said Father Pacioli.

  Monsignor nodded, “Correct. But everything is good. I think our aims will be to firstly stop the killing, but especially to capture one or two of these hunters. But be quick to get rid of one of those Universe 7 communicators. We were very lucky with this one.”

  Monsignor Jones stood up and shook Fathers hand, “Well done Father. See if you can be a little careful. You are pretty good to have around, you know.”

  Father smiled as he let Monsignor out.

  ****

  John Simmons was on the secure chat with Father Pacioli. The children had gone to bed and Audrey was sitting next to John worried about all the news.

  John said, “There have been hunts happening all over the world, Father. You would probably know more than me, but as far as I can see we are getting about four to six hunts a day. They are appearing anywhere, but luckily have been avoiding larger cities and events with lots of people. I suppose they want a hunt they need some space?”

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  “I can’t confirm or deny anything, you know,” said Father, “But we are seeing the same. It hasn’t all been one way though.”

  “I can see we have killed some hunters and a number of them have gone back injured and with a lot less gear. I am also starting to see weird alien tech coming up in specialised online markets,” John said, scrolling across to one of his screens, “Here is a set of glasses. This is looking pretty common. They are black like a blast shield but they have some tech which would indicate they can change. It looks like most parties take them down and leave them behind. It’s weird.”

  Father Pacioli smiled, “They’re called ‘Danger Glasses’. They go black as soon as they sense danger to protect their wearers from psychological harm from seeing danger.”

  John look surprised and then reached into his drawer and pulled out a set of dark glasses and put them on. The lens were solid black.

  Audrey hit John lightly on his arm, “When did you get those?”

  John pretended to hold his arm in mock pain, “I had to have a look at some alien tech. I mean look at them. They’re cool!” He looked at Audrey around the top of the black lenses.

  Audrey plucked them off his face and put them on herself and folded her arms.

  The lens slowly cleared.

  “Hey,” John said, “They were black when I looked at you and spoke with Father! But they’re clear when you’re wearing them.”

  Father stared at the clear glasses he could see through his screen, “Well there you go! They are environmentally sensitive. When we were talking, danger was high as we spoke about aliens, hunts and the effects. When Audrey wears them - and you look great by the way - they sense she is in no danger.”

  Father peered closer, “With only a little danger as they seem to have a light tint. Here on base we have never seen them clear. Surrounded by soldiers weapons and more I can guess why.”

  Audrey fiddled with a little button on the side of the lens, “Ooh. They have magnification too. I like these.”

  John sighed, “Now I’ll have to track down another pair.”

  Looking up he added, “Father, I’ll send you the information I have gathered. I know you can’t tell me what you know, but can you at least filter out the bogus reports? Also, I am hearing on the chats that there is trend to call the aliens ‘FOPs’, something about them being from the ‘Federation of Planets’ or something.”

  “Yep. It’s out in the open now. We have some limited intelligence that has leaked, so I can confirm that much. The Federation of Planets is the galaxies wide organisation that all intelligent planets belong to. We weren’t invited,” Father said sadly, “But we’ll get more information if we can capture one of the hunters alive.”

  “Well, you take care, Father,” said John with Audrey nodding behind him, “That sounds pretty dangerous when they are so well armed.”

  “Agreed,” replied Father Pacioli, “We’ll catch up later.”

  ****

  Harrick sat with Hendon over a bottle of Fizzy and sighed, “We were too late on the last hunt. By the time we noticed we were one hunter short, the missing hunter was surrounded by Dirtling military forces. There was not a lot left of the hunter and as he had the Universe 7 communicator, that should give the Dirtlings another surprise.”

  Hendon grinned in appreciation.

  Harrick’s personal communicator dinged and he looked at the message. He sat back and looked at Hendon.

  “Everything looks pretty steady here at the moment. I am going to be away for a week,” Harrick said, pointing at his screen, “Hettie wants me home. It’s her time and this looks like the first chance we have had in many years.”

  Hendon understood, “Me and the boys can cover for you here. I know the drill. Protect the hunters. Don’t stir up the locals too much. The hunters are on a hunt, we’re just protecting them. Don’t die.”

  Harrick grinned, “Don’t die. Remember the old adage, ‘Be wary of old fighters. They are old in a dangerous game.’”

  Harrick and Hendon clinked their glasses together and grinned, “In memory,” they said together.

  ****

  X Bear sat with Heron and Byron, ‘You’re going down tomorrow on your ‘Little Hunt’. Are you excited?”

  Byron answered first, “Yes! I have seen all the Tri-D movies and news shows and am pretty experienced with all that knowledge.”

  Heron looked at Byron with a questioning glance.

  “Well, yeah,” Byron answered, “I know real life isn’t the same as the entertainment channels. And I kind of like the Dirtlings from what I have seen. Not sure I want to be up close though. Erggh. Yukky.”

  X Bear was firm, “Lads, Byron is right. This is real and not like the entertainment.”

  Byron grinned at the acknowledgement of his correct statement.

  X Bear continued, “Be careful of the the other hunters in your party. They are less likely to practice caution. They don’t have the knowledge you do. We want you to go down and see what the reality is, but more importantly, we want you to come back in one piece!”

  Heron sighed, “Why do we have to go on a hunt anyway? Can’t you get the information you need without us actually going down?”

  Byron looked sad, as X Bear replied, “We need you to actually experience the hunt. Without you going down, any evidence we gather will have less impact. You will be able to make a case as you were impacted in an actual hunt organised by HTI. Not just in theory.”

  Heron nodded and Byron sighed quietly. He was still going to go on a hunt!

  “I won’t leave you without any protection,” X Bear said, “I will go down in my stealth ship and shadow you at a distance. If you get into trouble I’ll be nearby to help. I spent a year living on Dirt and know my way around.”

  “That’s actually very good to know,” said Heron.

  Byron put up two of his hands for attention like he was in class. X Bear smiled and pointed at him.

  “What about our gear? Did we get the right stuff?” Byron said, proudly showing off all the gear he had gathered and putting on his new glasses, “A laser pistol, a light sword, a medical kit, an anti gravity belt, a projectile rifle, three tangle grenades, danger glasses - they’re very nice - Reflec armour and two door charges.”

  X bear looked over the gear with a disdainful air, “They’re barely sufficient. About those tangle grenades, what is your plan for them?”

  “Well,” explained Byron with an air of knowledge, “I saw them on the X Team. You throw them at your target and Boom! They explode in a table of sticky fibres like a web and everything gets caught. They’re amazing!”

  “If you get stuck on the web yourself, what do you do?” X Bear asked.

  Byron pondered, “Well, I wouldn’t. But if I did get stuck, I would …” and trailed off.

  Heron said, “I have some Tangle Free.”

  Byron looked at Heron in understanding and then at X Bear in chagrin, “And I will have some Tangle Free before we go down tomorrow!”

  “Excellent idea,” said X Bear, “I’ll be off now.”

  He looked at the two friends intently with his powerful stare, “Be careful! I am only nearby, but can’t be seen with you. Don’t get killed. If you do, I’ll be very upset.”

  Byron and Heron looked at each other and looked back at the empty space X Bear had been moments earlier.

  “He is pretty good at that, you know,” said Byron.

  “Show off,” said Heron smiling.