by Jacen Aster
“Hey now! Don't complain to the poor minion that your evil scheme has backfired on you, Captain.”
Before she could respond, Lore interjected in a defeated tone, one that spoke of entirely too many such exchanges between her superiors. “If you two would attempt to find some shred of professionalism, we could actually get something to eat.”
Sam and Henry both cracked maniacal grins before pulling her into the mess line.
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Free from troublesome quartermasters trying to limit their supplies, Lore and Henry passed the weeks fixing, and in some cases redesigning entirely, the Nova's systems. For all her frustration with the quartermaster, Sam couldn't complain. Under their care, the Nova was performing well beyond even the most optimistic estimates of her builders. So much so that they arrived in their target system a full day ahead of schedule. Probes were launched, data taken, and the crew enjoyed the spectacular view as they orbited a great deal nearer to the system’s star than would ever be possible in the Sol system. The system’s smaller and more magnetically active star made for a truly breathtaking sight, even behind the safety of view screens and heavily shielded viewports.
Glasses clinked as Henry poured another neat whiskey and passed it over to Sam. Settling into the posh black leather of the couch in Sam's private observation lounge, he admitted, “This place almost makes me want to trade in my wrench for a captain's hat. Trust Jack to take the idea of a captain's quarters and push it to the extreme.”
Sam snorted. “Actually, while that's a reasonable assumption, it was Ernie that designed this place. Not that Jack wasn't positively thrilled with the idea and warped it beyond all recognition when he saw the plans for it.”
Henry looked at her in clear disbelief. “Ernie? Ever-practical Ernie? Seriously?”
“Hey, I said Jack warped it, didn't I?” Leaning back on her end of the couch, Sam half closed her eyes as she swirled her drink. “The original design was super practical. A conference room with a view, suitable for entertaining either senior staff for meetings or hosting visiting guests. Diplomats and such. Jack took one look at that.” She waved at the oversized viewport before them. Shielded “glass” from floor to ceiling, it was currently showing a spectacular view of the star they were orbiting. “And warped it into a private lounge. Still good for entertaining guests of the Captain and such, but not really conferences. He added an entirely separate room for that. In typical Jack fashion, he also added the wet bar and luxurious décor.”
Henry nodded thoughtfully. “Okay, I can see that. I can even see the potential, I suppose, even if it doesn't make much sense on a scout ship.”
“It's unique to the Nova. The rest of the ships in this line will have the original small conference room. As the fastest ship currently in the Amaril Corp fleet, the Nova will probably be relegated to ‘shock and awe’ trips for investors and politicos once this trip is over. Thankfully, I won't be wasted on that. I'll likely take over one of her sister ships when they come online.”
“Ah, yes. Going to lead the charge on to Gliese 667?” Henry asked with a bit of a teasing tone in his voice.
Sam frowned and opened her eyes fully again. Tilting her head in his direction, she asked, “I thought you were just teasing Lore? You don't think Jack's actually planning on heading there, do you?”
Henry paused, leaning over and pouring himself another drink as he considered how to answer. Eventually, he settled back into the couch again and spoke. “I do, as a matter of fact. I'm not sure if it'll be Gliese or not, that's pure speculation. He'll try to find a habitable planet though, that much I'm sure of. Most people see the businessman and forget that Jack's really a dreamer at heart and in this case, the two aspects coincide. A habitable planet would be a huge deal for the business side. Access to easily gathered untapped and unclaimed resources, not to mention providing for the visionaries that would want to set up shop in any place like that. You know people rushed to the domed cities on Luna and Mars. A planet you can walk around on would be much better, and thus draw even greater numbers. Then there's the dreamer aspect, hope for other life, the huge leap it would be for spreading humanity to the stars, etcetera.”
Sam looked surprised, then thoughtful. “Yeah, I guess that does sound like him, doesn't it? He's kinda like a big kid really. All his great accomplishments are just the beginnings of new, bigger, adventures for Jack. Rather than ends in and of themselves as others see them.”
Henry chuckled. “Someone was stupid enough to use that ‘Shoot for the stars, and who knows, maybe you'll hit the moon’ line where he could hear them once. Jack scared the crap out of the poor kid when he took him by the shoulders, stared straight into the kid's eyes, and told him ‘Hell no! Shoot for the stars and tell the moon to get the hell out of the way when it tries to block you.’ Kid couldn't have been more than seventeen, if that. It was during some speaking tour before the infinity drive. Ernie told me about it over drinks.”
Sam cracked a grin. “Now that's an attitude I can get behind!” Stretching out like a cat, she added, “Now, not to be ungracious, but I'm wiped so—”
The comm interrupted her, the strained voice of Lucas Alberstine, the officer of the watch, coming over the speakers. The note of panic in his voice sent both of them to full alert before his second word was out. “Ma'am, you need to get to the bridge. Now! We have a situation here. A really freakin’ big situation!”
Popping to her feet, ignoring the shattering of her glass tumbler as it hit the deck, Sam straightened her uniform as she hit the hatch at a fast walk, in full professional mode and several steps ahead of Henry. “Report. What kind of situation? Is the ship in danger?”
“I-I don't know, ma'am! One of our probes just detected.... Well, I almost don't believe this...but it just reported another ship, ma'am. Er-um nothing like it on records, not that there should even be other ships out here, I mean—”
Sam sped up, grabbing Henry's arm when he tried to split off at a corridor fork towards engineering. Pulling him after her, she cut Lucas off. “Stop babbling. Where is it? What is it doing?”
A deep breath was audible over the comm. “It seems to be heading to an orbit with the planet, ma'am, or it was at least. I think it detected our probe because it's heading straight for it. I...er…I told the probe to head away from us, ma'am.”
“Good. I'll be on the bridge in two minutes. Let me know if anything changes.” She gestured for the computer to shut the comm off and turned her head to Henry. “I want you with me. You know more about ships than anyone else on board. I want you going over the probe data the instant we reach the bridge. Let me know if that ship is human, and if it is, who the hell it belongs to.”
Henry raised an eyebrow. “I'd ask who else it could be, but we both know there isn't supposed to be anyone else out here.”
Sam took a deep breath that had nothing to do with their rapid pace. “You just had to say it, Henry. Why did you just have to say it? I so don't want to be the one stuck discovering we aren't alone out here.”
Henry grinned. “Oh, I don't know. You did say that your little hideaway was supposed to be for diplomatic meetings.”
“Damn it, Henry! This isn't funny,” she snapped. “I'm an explorer and surveyor. I am not the one that should be making contact with alien races. Besides, for all we know, that could be a damn warship.”
Seeing Samantha Matterly, ever calm and often mischievous, looking halfway to a panic, sobered Henry swiftly. Stopping her right before they could enter the bridge, he pulled her around to face him. Ignoring her angry look, he barked at her, “Sam! Get a hold of yourself! They are headed for our probe, not us, so they probably don't even know we’re here. If it's not human, we can relay through the probe’s systems and be ready to go FTL if they are hostile. We have Jack's first contact message and protocol. We activate it remotely and bail out of here if they look even slightly hostile. Even if they can follow us, I seriously doubt they have any weapon that can function at those
speeds.”
Her angry face faded as she took another deep breath. “Okay. Okay, you're right. Now get looking at that ship!” She palmed the door open and shoved Henry towards the probe control console, which he quickly took over from a grateful looking Lucas. The bridge was nearly empty, it was “night” aboard ship at the moment and only the minimum necessary crew was kept on the off-watch. Only one other command crewman, the senior weapons officer, had beaten them there. He was hunched over his console, panting and holding his side.
Henry immediately accessed the probe data, ignoring Sam as she barked orders to get the rest of the crew moving. Within seconds, he was staring at the limited scans in shock. He checked them again. Then a third time. He panned over the image, looking for something, anything. Then it finally set in completely and he froze for a moment.
The captain saw it. “Henry?”
Henry opened his mouth but nothing came out. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Better break out that first contact package, Captain. It's not human.”
The entire bridge, now filled with a half dozen more of the senior crew, stopped their own tasks and stared at him.
Samantha paused, licking her lips and clearing her throat before she managed to get out, “Mr. Harper, are you certain?”
Henry nodded, closing his eyes for a moment and drawing a deep breath, surprised by his surprise. He thought he had prepared for this back in the corridor. “Yes, Captain. As certain as I can be. It's five times the size of the Nova, for starters. Half again the size of even the Exploration class ships. And the energy readings are completely alien, as it were. Stuff I can't make heads or tails of.” He frowned. “It's also moving surprisingly slowly. Our survey probes are barely capable of one hundredth light speed at maximum acceleration. The ship is gaining on it, but it's only going roughly fifty percent faster. I'm not sure if it's caution...or if the ship is really that slow.”
“How long until they overtake the probe?”
“At least an hour, but there is no telling what their weapons range is like. They might already be in range.”
Sam bit her lip and rubbed a knuckle to her forehead, her face contorting through various expressions as she analyzed their options. Finally, nearly three minutes later, she nodded. “Very well. Computer! Spin up the infinity drive for rapid activation. Henry, dump the first contact package into the probe and start broadcasting it in five minutes. Patrick, weapons at standby only, but leak as much power as you can into them to shorten the cycle for bringing them online.”
The autonav beeped as Patrick and Henry echoed, “Aye, Ma’am.” A tense five minutes passed before the computer's monotone alerted them to the ready status of their drive. Henry flipped the last switch and leaned back. “Well, that's it then. Let’s hope they're friendly.”
Sam grimaced. “And that they can work out how to translate our messages from what we sent.”
“Yes, that too.”
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
It was nearly three hours of worried waiting before a message was relayed back from their probe. The alien vessel had long since pulled alongside said probe and simply drifted there, roughly three thousand kilometers off its starboard side.
Henry startled at the new light on his console. “Probe has received a reply!” A few taps on the board. “It's an audio file. Appears to be in English.”
“Play it.”
Henry tapped a command and the bridge was filled with a blatantly artificial voice. Well, probably blatantly artificial, unless it was a super advanced machine race or something.
“This is Captain Xian'x of the Aoreli Second Fleet Research and Survey Vessel Terlian. I offer friendly greeting to Super Luminal Vessel Nova of the unknown race ‘Human.’ I offer apologies if we have encroached on space controlled by your species. Please inform if we are in violation of your space, and whether you will allow us to make contact with you.”
A collective sigh went through most of the crew, with only Henry and Sam remaining on edge. She caught his eye and made a subtle gesture he took to mean “what do you think?” He waggled his hand back, indicating he wasn't sure. She nodded. This could still be a trick, particularly considering the ship title mentioned a fleet.
“Drive and weapons to remain on standby. Computer, begin recording for transmission.” A beep acknowledged her. “To Captain Xian'x of the Aoreli Second Fleet Research and Survey Vessel Terlian. This is Captain Samantha Matterly of SLV Nova. Your greeting is acknowledged and welcomed. We add our own greetings to those included in the standard package, and are happy to inform you that this is, to our knowledge, unclaimed space. We too are a survey vessel and would welcome the opportunity to speak with you. Due to the unknowns of this situation, I ask that you use the probe near your ship as a transmission relay. We can receive in real-time. End transmission. Henry, send it.”
Henry nodded and transmitted the message to the probe. Several minutes passed before they received another mechanical reply.
“Captain Samantha Matterly, your request is acknowledged and deemed reasonable, as you presumably know nothing more about us than we do about you. We will use the probe for relay, but ask that you give us twenty-four of your standard hours to absorb the information you provided before opening a formal dialogue.”
Repeating her previous steps, Sam replied in the affirmative before instructing Henry, “Henry, drop another probe here and move us, as quietly as you can figure out how, to the other side of the star. Hopefully, that will keep us hidden.”
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
The next twenty-four hours seemed to stretch an eternity. Henry and his team caught the worst of it as, in addition to the uncertainty of their situation, neither the infinity drive nor the weapons systems were meant to be held in prolonged standby as they had been for the duration. He, Lore, and the rest of the engineering team fought a grueling battle against the inevitable backlash, struggling to stay ahead of the innumerable problems the brutal abuse of both systems generated.
So overwhelmed was he, that Henry missed the talks that sprung up between Samantha and Xian'x. He knew only that Samantha eventually agreed to meet a shuttle with their captain, first officer, and a Aoreli engineer a few million kilometers from their survey vessel. Once the Aoreli were aboard, they would move in closer, hoping that even if they proved traitorous, they would not fire with their own people aboard the Nova. Henry was asked to attend the meeting with the aliens, to take place in Sam's suddenly sensible lounge. He was to be the answer to their engineer, though Lore was taking the place of Sam's first officer. The Aoreli had sent a copy of their language, and the younger engineer had hastily memorized enough of it to hopefully catch them in any deceit by that vector.
Henry was the last to arrive. Unlike Lore and Samantha, who had met the aliens at the dock, Henry had been tied up making final adjustments intended to keep the engines stable for a few more hours. The weapons systems had been powered down, but the captain was not willing to risk shutting down their means of quick escape. As the lounge hatch closed behind him, Henry took in the appearance of their guests. Humanoid, and in truth, very human-like, both in appearance and biology, according to the data they had received. Their skin was a rich azure blue, varying slightly in tone from individual to individual. Black eyes with green irises and purple lips completed the general picture they presented. The tallest was slightly shorter than Henry's 182 cm, and the female first officer was of a height with Sam's shorter 172 cm. The first officer had vibrant purple hair whereas both men had black. All three were lithe, similar in build to a swimmer, but that was apparently near universal for their race. Tight clothing showed off equally lithe muscle, considerably more of it on one of the males than either of the others.
Sam turned to Henry as he entered. “And this is our chief engineer, Henry Harper. Henry, this is Captain Xian'x.” She gestured to the less muscled male in the middle. “His first officer Litliea, and chief engineer Lanteen.” Despite it being obvious, considering he had already kno
wn the first officer was female, she gestured to each in turn. “Now, why don't we get started?” Gesturing at the oversized viewport and the moving stars visible there, she said, “As you can see, we are already moving in closer to the Terlian.” She sat on one of the leather chairs facing away from the view, allowing the aliens to take the set of chairs facing the viewer, chairs that had been pulled from storage to temporarily replaced the more intimate couch.
The Aoreli sat, and Captain Xian'x spoke, his voice coming out in both the melodious but strangely arrhythmic tones of the Aoreli language, and in English via a small device resting against his throat. Close examination showed another device in his left, slightly pointed, ear. Obviously translators. Well, that was convenient.
“Greetings, Henry Harper. And might I say, Captain, that I am envious of your meeting room. Mine does not have nearly so spectacular a view. I must also commend whoever developed your standard greeting. Using basic molecular structures and stellar phenomena to produce a universal visual language was a brilliant move. Normally, first contact takes weeks to establish proper communication. I have already put in a suggestion that the Aoreli develop something similar.”
The meeting quickly devolved into a great deal of uncertain diplomatic rhetoric. As it turned out, those weeks were usually used by the Aoreli to bring in experts, and Sam was simply reluctant to trust the aliens. She had probably seen one too many alien invasion movies in her youth, given the way she was tiptoeing around them. For just a moment, the interruption from Litliea's communications device going off was welcome. Unfortunately, that welcome quickly fled when the reason an emergency message had been authorized became known. In an effort to be transparent with her hosts, she had put the call through translation.
“First officer Litliea! We have picked up a distress call from a civilian science cruiser studying the gas giant in XTL-14c. They are reporting a critical accident. They have lost main power and most of the ship is open to space.”