War Machines

13

     "Something I need to explain," Olsen began when we filed into Miller's hospital room to learn what she'd found from the coms. "As I think you all know, prior to joining the Border Guard as an operative, I was in the intelligence division. That's where I learned to speak Creeper. It's not an easy language to learn. The job of translating it was extremely difficult. We were facing the same problem that the Axis powers faced in World War II in trying to decipher the Navajo Code Talkers. When it's an entirely different language, it's hard to even know where to begin." She paused. "Naturally, from my work in intel, I already knew that the creepers were either all from the same place or communicate with each other enough that they shared a common dialect. But my transfer into the Exterminators didn't negate my obligation to protect classified information, and no one here except Matthews had the security clearance to be informed about that. Sorry."

     "We get it, Olsen," Miller called. She negligently waved her hand. Miller was sitting up in a chair with her feet on the wheelchair she was supposed to be using. None of us mentioned it to her.

     "Don't even worry about it," Matthews agreed. "We all understand how little the brass actually likes to share. I'm just glad I was allowed to know you could even speak some of the language."

     "That had to be disclosed as part of the skillset I brought into the squad," Olsen reminded. "I just couldn't let on that they were all speaking the same language. But I digress. As I said, it's an extremely difficult language to decipher. I've been out of intel for a while, so by now, I hope they've gotten better. But what I can translate is going to be a bit choppy for two reasons. First, regular creepers tend to not speak in complete sentences. They're intelligent enough to be dangerous and communicate on a basic level, but it's not like they sit around chatting. There are a lot of words that were exchanged between Zeke and that bear guy that I've never encountered before. One in particular, I took a guess at." She glanced at me before continuing. "Second, the syntax is completely unique. This is the first time we've had any example of an actual spoken conversation, so I had to send it to HQ to be analyzed. They'll send me a more complete transcript. Again, we've never heard this before so we've never heard the way they string sentences together. I'll translate what I can as we go along, but it's going to be very choppy."

     "We're glad for whatever you can give us, Olsen," Matthews declared. "When you're ready."

     "Yes sir." Olsen gathered up her notes and turned on her recorder. She adjusted her reading glasses on her nose and looked up. "I'll translate as we go. This is all from the Pilgrim's com unit, and unfortunately, it starts with McGinty." She paused as the chaos after McGinty's death rang out from the recorder. Then came Zeke's growling voice, almost too low to be heard. She paused it. "This part really threw me at first because it's full of words I'd never heard before. Near as I can translate, and I'll include the word 'unknown' to designate what I absolutely can't translate, this is what he said: 'Killed warriors of unknown, caution the killed warrior.'"

     We all frowned. "What's that mean?" Ashley asked, voicing the question we all had.

     Olsen glanced at Matthews. "Based on my time spent dealing with their communications, I can speculate. But it needs to be made very clear that I am not currently certified nor up to date on this type of communication. What I can provide should not be utilized for any sort of tactical strategy."

     "Noted," Matthews said. "What do you think he's saying, Olsen?"

     She hesitated. "I think... he's praying. This unknown word may represent some sort of deity or god-like entity, or perhaps even an afterlife like Valhalla where the spirits of fallen warriors are sent. I think he's talking to the fallen warriors that are with that god or in that place, warning them that another warrior is coming to join them. 'Killed warriors of Valhalla, beware, another warrior is coming.' In short, I believe he's saying a prayer for McGinty."