Oculus - Part II

            "...refugees, fleeing from the genocidal war of our home stars. Didn't know these systems were populated and had no way to communicate. We approached with all defensive systems powered down, but your people thought we were a menace. They attacked and wouldn't stop firing at us. We were running out of resources and had to make a decision. But the decision we made was a wrong one..."

            With shaky steps Saide followed the river of blood left behind by his brothers in arms. In the unlit corridor he stumbled upon the cold remains of the being corporal Reeves ruthlessly shot at point blank range. The ideas the alien transmitted to him echoed in the man's mind as if he'd actually heard them spoken out loud.

            "...refugees, fleeing from the genocidal war..."

            The extraterrestrial mistook him for the leader of the squad and tried to establish contact. The creature's thought pattern was strange and infinitely foreign, yet something about the similarities of concepts it operated and hopelessly tried to make him understand felt comforting...  Even endearing.

            But it sent him a lot more than just an appeal to end the hostilities. With painful clarity Saide remembered the animalistic fear and desperation he experienced while watching through the alien's eye as his commanding officer took up his plasma gun. And then came the terrible maddening pain that knocked him out cold…

He crouched down before the fallen sapient and with quivering hands took the universal translator off of it.

            "...didn't know these systems were populated and had no way to communicate..."

            Delirious and with his vision clouded by what the interlocutor was seeing, Saide attempted to stall his squadmates. He shouted and begged them to stop; he tried to find his helmet by touch to use the radio, but all in vain. Was there anything else that could have been done?

            "We fired at them on sight. Never gave them a chance..." Amari heard his own lips whisper. "How stupid... Nothing of this would've happened if we only listened. They were just trying to... Just trying..."

            A lump came in his throat and Saide took a deep breath, bracing himself for what he already knew he was going to find in the next room. The private detached the flashlight from under the barrel of his trusty rifle and hurried along the dark passageway. Soon he found himself at the threshold, but at first dared not to click the light on.

            He strained his ears struggling to make out the sounds of battle still going on in the distance, but everything was silent. Mustering all the courage he had left, Saide turned the torch on and what its dull beam unveiled struck him like lightning.

            A hundred of eyes vitrified by death looked at him reproachfully. The faces of the lifeless aliens were distorted by expressions of agony and dread (how could he not see the emotion in them before?) and in a moment of awful realization Saide noticed that most of those poor things were very short - smaller copies of their adult congeners.

            "...we brought to your planet the last hope for survival our clans have. We implore, we beseech you not to extinguish their flame..."

            The weapon Amari still clutched in his hand slipped from his fingers and fell to the floor with a loud thud. Those people were just trying to protect their young! He became aware of the paths of hot tears that scorched his cheeks like red-hot metal and had to fight the urge to sob. The merciless voice of his own conscience told Saide over and over that it was his fault that so many innocent lives came to an abrupt end today. If only he didn't panic... But what could he have possibly done?

            An overwhelming sense of guilt weighed heavily on his chest making the private gasp for air: alongside the other members of his team Saide partook in the atrocious act of slaughtering barely armed civilians like a cold-blooded butcher. Filled with unbearable self-loathing he wanted to fall to his knees and ask for forgiveness, cursing the higher ups for their shortsightedness… They were the ones who were supposed to know better! Exhausted and sick to his stomach Amari hunched next to a wall suppressing the compulsion to throw up. He stood there tormented by remorse until his tortured psyche couldn't take it any longer and sunk into apathy.

            The private lost track of time, but at the very least several long minutes had passed before a soft rustling caught his attention, returning Saide to reality. Unsure whether the noise was a product of his imagination, the man ignored the sound at first, but then another one joined it: a kind of barely audible whimper or the meowing of a kitten.

            Forcing himself to his feet, Amari searched the room for the possible source of the disturbance and discovered a nook in the corner farthest from him. Saide made his way among the mutilated bodies, trying not to meet their reprehensive gaze. The niche might've been a blocked out ventilation duct or a storage compartment blasted open during the firefight and something was definitely moving inside. As the man crouched besides the aperture and illuminated it with his flashlight, the movement stopped and a single eye the color of amber looked at him wide with fear.

            The little alien's lime skin was very smooth and it wore a piece of fabric that Saide recognized as some kind of protective gear. Judging by the creature's tiny size he guessed that it must've been only a small child... A helpless, terrified child petrified by the sight of one of the monsters that it just witnessed killing its kind without pity.

            Amari held out an open palm to show that he meant the little one no harm, but the kid retreaded deeper into the alcove, retracting its arms and shrinking into a ball. The man felt incredibly sorry for the poor thing, but it was improbable that the aliens with their vastly different physiology understood even the most basic of human gestures.

            Saide backed away, completely at a loss as to what to do, when he remembered about the universal translator he picked up earlier. Producing the communicator from his pocket, the private attempted to put it on the strange child which proved to be a difficult task, not because it protested, but as a result of the violent shaking that took over the petite scaly body.

            The private was afraid that the tiara would be much too big for the youth, but thankfully the device automatically adjusted itself to suit the new wearer the moment he pressed it against its forehead. Instantly the man's mind flooded with extraneous thoughts and the same sensation of joyous familiarity returned, caused by the merging of two fundamentally different, yet inexplicably similar personas.

            Saide sought to soothe the child creating simple images he believe the little one would understand, all accompanied by a simple message: "I will not hurt you". It took a while, but eventually the young alien calmed down, convinced by his genuine grief and regret over what has transpired. Amari didn't know if the notion of gender even applied to the species they encountered, but for some unaccountable reason he assumed that the tender individual he shared his ideas with directly was a girl.

            She inquired about what happened and where all the other weird two-tailed folk like him went and Saide described the today's events to her as well as he could, leaving out the details of what've become of the people she travelled with. He told the youngster that all of this was a result of a horrible misunderstanding, but that now everything would be fine and promised to take care of her. Amari asked for the girl's name, but the mental reply he received puzzled him. Sensing his confusion the other repeated the answer and just like the first time a myriad of teeny appendages on her head wiggled simultaneously. Realizing that it had something to do with the way the aliens exchanged information among each other, Saide dropped the subject for now and instead extended his arm to the little one once again.

            "It's okay. I won't let anything bad happen to you."

            The other hesitated briefly and then slid towards he huddled man and latched her tiny tentacles to his hand. The long tail coiled around his wrist and Amari rose from the floor. He walked back the way he came, shielding the child he carried from the horrible theatre of death his ignorant comrades left behind them. Saide was careful not to let any negative feelings to intrude upon his thoughts under the curios glance of the inquisitive yellow eye.

            The private could hear the Guardsmen calling for him from afar - he's been gone for too long and never rendezvoused with the rest of his squad. No doubt the others will have a lot of questions about his actions... But he was going to do whatever he could to protect the little one who was now his responsibility.