by S A Pavli
“We have examined radio transmissions from six nearby star systems,” said Alfred. “Four are the reptilian alien and two are the humanoid.”
“Well this is a turn up,” I mused. “Two different aliens.”
“Yes, somewhat unexpected,” agreed Alfred. “However, the cluster seems sparsely populated.”
“How many radio emissions from different star systems have we discovered so far?” I asked.
“Only eleven throughout the cluster.”
“That’s not many. The cluster has ten million star systems.” I was thinking out loud.
“It’s possible that the ratio of habitable to non-habitable planets may be different in the cluster,” said Alfred. “Perhaps there has been more major cataclysms, novas, super novas, star collisions. The closeness of the stars to each other may lead to a more unstable environment.”
“The HCD. Is it in an inhabited system?”
“Yes, we are seeing radio emissions from that system.”
“Uh huh,” I said. “And…?”
“I don’t understand your question Paul.” I sighed. Alfred may be the most advanced AI in the galaxy, but sometimes you had to lead him by the nose.
“The aliens inhabiting the HCD system. Are they reptilian or humanoid?”
“I see. They are reptilian.”
That was a surprise and I paused to think about it. Could the so called Makers be the reptilian species? That seemed unlikely. So why were they occupying a star system that must at one time have been occupied by the humanoids?
“Curioser and curioser, as someone once said,” I muttered.
“Alice’s adventures in Wonderland,” said Alfred.
“Pardon? Alice‘s what?”
“The expression curioser and curioser, which is not grammatically correct, came from an ancient children’s story.”
“Ah, thank you.”
“Alice suffered what appears to have been a relativistic affect which changed the length of her body, although there does not appear to have been a corresponding time dilation, or contraction.”
“Right. Poor Alice,” I said, bemused by Alfred’s sojourn into the realms of wonderland. Before we could take up the thread again, there was an announcement on the public channel inviting us to a general meeting in the common room.
Chapter 5
The so called common room was the eating and relaxing area. There was a restaurant at one end, a bar at the other and a lounge area in the middle. It was tastefully decorated, with various exotic plants dotted around. The different areas were linked by rustic winding walkways and all the fittings appeared to be natural materials, although I was sure they were artificial copies, light and durable. The whole area was added to the ship after the destruction of the Peacekeeper AI systems. It was, of course, all designed to be secure in battle. Even the bar was fully automated, drinks being dispensed from sealed pressurised containers. All furniture was bolted down and robots would secure the area for battle in seconds if needed.
We gathered in the lounge area, all 22 of us, and the Captain positioned himself so that he was visible to everyone and in front of a 3D screen. Without preamble he described what had been discovered so far. There was nothing I did not already know. The Captain displayed pictures of the aliens and described their level of development, as far as we could determine. There was evidence that they had the Hyperspace switch but not artificial gravity.
We could not yet understand their languages, but there was video evidence of their starship technology which Hamolatonen displayed.
“To summarise,” said Hamolatonen, “the Cluster has only eleven inhabited systems. Six are reptilian, five are humanoid.. The HCD is in a system inhabited by a reptilian species, which is unexpected. We have no idea whether either of these two species are the Makers.” He paused and looked about him, before continuing.
“Options available are as follows. One, we wait for the Human expedition to arrive and consult with them, in the meantime carrying out further investigations. Two, we jump to the HCD location and investigate further, or three, we jump further into the cluster and investigate other star systems to see if there are more than two species. There are advantages and risks with each option.”
There was a pause for a few seconds and then cries of ‘I vote for two’ and ‘that’s what we came here for’ and ‘let’s go and look’. Hamolatonen held up his hand.
“One at a time please.” He pointed to Guardian Commra who was holding his hand up.
“Do we have any reason to believe that the aliens are hostile?”
“We have no information at present. We are guided only by caution,” replied Hamolatonen.
“What risk is there that we will be detected?”
“Very little. Detecting Hyperspace activity is difficult and requires some prior knowledge of the ship’s hyperspace signature before you can track its destination.
“Then don’t you think you are being over cautious Captain?” Commra managed to make the comment sound insulting. Hamolatonen’s face remained impassive.
“We have no idea what we will find at the HCD destination. We may blunder into a heavily armed fortress for all we know.”
“It may be a trap in other words,” said Commra, his eyes hooded. “The aliens sent us a HCD message to get us here… in order to capture us?” He looked contemptuous.
“I did not say it’s a trap. You did.” Hamolatonen gave the Guardian a steely look. “All I am saying is that we have no idea what awaits us.” I put my hand up and Hamolatonen recognised me.
“Can I suggest a compromise. I agree with the general opinion that we should jump to the HCD. It is what we came for. But I suggest we jump to a location well outside the planetary system. We can take a few days to get there at sub light, but that will give us time to carry out further investigations, and perhaps learn to translate the aliens language. We will be better prepared to make contact, if that is what we decide.”
Hamo nodded, but made no comment. There was a number of other nods of agreement. Lanatra put her hand up and after being recognised expressed her agreement. She was followed by a number of others.
“It seems to be agreed then. We will go with Captain Constantine’s suggestion?” said Hamolatonen to widespread agreement, although I noticed Guardian Commra made no sign either way.
The Hyperspace jump into the cluster went smoothly and we again looked with bemusement at the blaze of star light which greeted us.
“Living in here could give you a headache,” I remarked.
“Life must be adapted to permanent light,” said Manera. “I wonder if they sleep?”
“Interesting question. Is sleep an adaptation to the day night cycle? Or is it a physiological need? What does Science say about that?”
“It‘s an open question,” said Manera.
“We may be about to find the answer.”
“The sub Space journey to the HCD will take 3 days,” announced Hamolatonen. “Alfred, what are your thoughts on translating their language? Our… er … reptilian friends that is.”
“Difficult without any cooperation on their part,” answered Alfred. “But we can make some progress by analysing video. We may also find some children’s teaching material being broadcast. I will need someone’s assistance. My instinctive understanding of meaning is not as developed as that of biological entities.”
“Which biological entity would you like to help you?” asked Hamolatonen with a grin.
“I have no preference,” replied Alfred.
“Very diplomatic of you,” said Hamo. “Paul, what do you think?”
“I’m largely surplus to requirement,” I said. “And I have been trained for just such an eventuality. Alfred is being diplomatic by not asking for me.”
“That’s agreed then,” said Hamo. “Manera’s science team will gather as much information about the system we are about to visit.”
“May I work with Paul?” asked Lanatra. “Our combined insights may move things along
quicker.” Hamo glanced in my direction and I nodded agreeably.
“Good,” said Hamo effusively. “The next three days will be interesting and productive.”
And they were interesting and productive, but also, repetitive and tedious. Our job with Alfred was to try and second guess what the aliens may be saying, given the circumstances. Alfred carried out a great deal of basic analysis of the language and identified which words were the most used.. He found some children’s learning videos which gave us a good start. He was able to show a scene, say one alien leaving a room and another alien making a gesture and saying “Cranasta. Pleya can.” This was repeated in many scenes and we translated it as “Goodbye. See you soon.”
It could of course have been “Bugger off. Don’t come back.” which would be unfortunate for our attempts to communicate with the aliens! But it was unlikely. The aliens could not be that rude to each other so often. Could they?
Lanatra and I attempted to lighten the tedium of the job by making up amusing alternative conversations, which Alfred tolerated with patient resignation. Lanatra had a very earthy sense of humour and some of her suggestions were amusingly insulting and rude. But, there was no doubt that having two cultural insights was helpful. We would often come up with different interpretations of the same conversation.
After three days we had accumulated a sizeable vocabulary. We could at least say ‘hello’, ‘how are you’ and ‘take me to your leader’ with reasonable confidence. I grew to like and respect Lanatra for her impish humour and quick mind. I tried to ignore the fact that she was also an attractive female, with unruly blonde hair, and roguish blue eyes.
We hove to within a few thousand miles of the HCD. We were within the systems equivalent to Earth’s Kuiper belt, a huge ring of icy bodies, asteroids and dwarf planets circling the sun. The HCD was on a small asteroid, barely a mile or so in diameter, 6500 million miles from its parent sun, which, from that distance appeared as just another star. A scan of the surrounding area revealed nothing suspicious and we moved in closer.
The asteroid was hardly any bigger than the Settang. It was a black misshapen lump of rock, almost entirely featureless. We gathered on the ship’s ‘Bridge’ to examine the views on the giant displays. The Settang did a couple of elliptical circuits of the asteroid, filming and photographing the whole surface. There were no artificial artefacts or constructions that we could see. But the hyperspace signal was very strong and definitely originating from the interior of the asteroid.
I was standing next to Hamolatonen and Colrania, examining the revolving surface of the asteroid.
“The HCD is inside the asteroid,” remarked Hamolatonen. “But how do we get in?”
“There seems no obvious entrance,” I agreed.
“Down there,” said Colrania suddenly. There was a glint of grey in the blackness of the asteroid’s surface. She made some adjustments and the view expanded dramatically. We moved in closer and powerful searchlights came on to show what appeared to be a grey door into the rock. Next to it, on an open plateau was a small radar dish and a metallic box with cables leading to the radar dish.
“Radar dish seems out of place,” I remarked. “Is it live?”
Colrania interrogated her systems and shook her head.
“No radar signals Paul. For the moment, it’s dead.”
The starship moved as close to the asteroid as was safe, but there was little more information to be gained.
“Someone should go down for a closer look,” I suggested. “I volunteer.”
“Mmm,” Hamolatonen looked thoughtful. “Looks harmless,” he agreed. “Commander, select two of your men to go with the Captain. Take two of the soldier robots with you.” Commander Pariso nodded and pointed at two of his crew who jumped up with alacrity and followed me to the equipment room.
My companions were astronauts Alana and Lentra, who despite their names, were both male. I knew them both as experienced and capable and we suited up quickly, double checking each others suits as we went along. Manera came by for a quick kiss and a whispered ‘good luck’ before we made our way to the small engineering bay airlock. We would use the small open tender to take us across to the asteroid.
Air lock evacuated, we opened the door and floated out. The tender was just a box, which could be sealed or open to space, with harnesses which our suits hooked on to and small jets for manoeuvring. The view was breathtaking, with the huge ship behind us, the misshapen asteroid looming next to us and a billion suns blazing around us. Astronaut Lentra took the controls and guided the tender towards the asteroid to make a gentle landing close to the large radar dish. We floated over and gave it a close examination. Astronaut Alana had a video camera which he used to send close up pictures back to the technicians.
To my eyes it looked like a standard radar dish. The cables led from that to a large metal box which I guessed was the power supply. Alana and Lentra had various hand held devices which showed that the power supply was on, but the antennae was still not broadcasting or receiving.
“Let’s take a look at the door,” I suggested. Our Hianja spacesuits had a cunning device for moving around. There was a small “on helmet” display which was adjusted to show where the astronaut wanted to go. Then press the button and the suits jets automatically took you there. Very neat I thought!
The door was just that; a door. Grey and blank. We pushed it, thumped it and examined its edges with no result. It also looked very solid so there was no suggestion we could break it down. It was only when I turned away that I spotted the glint of something metallic. Embedded in the rock wall next to the door was a small metal box. On closer inspection we could see that the box had an optical fitting. Experimentally I waved a hand at the optical device and was rewarded with a blinking light followed by a rumbling whine. The door was obligingly sliding open.
“Nice door,” I remarked. There was a dark space behind the door but as the door opened lights began to come on revealing a long corridor.
“What do you think guys. Should we go in?” I asked.
“Seems a shame to stop here after coming all this way,” remarked Astronaut Alana.
“Yeah, I agree,” added his colleague.
I looked inside the corridor and spotted an identical metal box on the other side of the door.
“Looks like we can open the door from the inside,” I said pointing. “But still, I suggest one of us stays on the outside until we see what is inside.”
“I’m the youngest and best looking so I suggest I go,” said Alana.
“And the Captain has a beautiful girlfriend, so definitely I should go,” said Lentra. “I’m just a sad and lonely bachelor.”
“And I’m pulling rank on both of you,” I said. “Alana, you stay behind. We don’t want the Hianja female community to be deprived.”
“True,” agreed Alana, reluctantly.
Lentra floated into the corridor first and I followed. As we made our way down the corridor lights came on ahead of us. The corridor came to an abrupt end and we entered a large circular room. It was brightly lit, the walls and floor a pristine white.
“It all looks new,” I remarked. Ahead of us was a long curved window and we floated over to it. The large space behind the window contained a familiar object. “It’s a HCD,” I said.
“Well, that’s not a surprise,” said Lentra. “But that is!” He pointed at what appeared to be a wall covered with murals. We floated over to examine them more closely. I am no art connoisseur but I was impressed with their beauty. There was a 3D depth to them, as if they were impregnated into a deep translucent material layered onto the wall
“Amazing, how beautiful,” whispered astronaut Lentra in awe. The landscape was in parts verdant forest, then farms and open pasture and in part different kinds of structures, from rustic country houses to spectacular cityscapes. There were primitive rockets shown taking off from Spaceports, and huge starships travelling between the stars. It was the story of their technological progress from
primitive farmers to star travellers. And of course, there was the Makers themselves. We stood close to the murals looking with interest at the aliens. They were humanoid and unlike the reptilian looking life forms. But they were also not like the other humanoids in the cluster. They were not as heavily built, being slender and almost child like. Their heads and faces were cat like in appearance, not at all human. We could see small differences between the figures in shape, and superficial facial characteristics, which I assumed were probably sexual.
“Hard to believe that we are related to these creatures,” I remarked.
“If they are not the Makers, then who the hell are they,” asked Astronaut Lentra.
We photographed the murals extensively and uploaded the video to the ship, then re-examined the HCD, but that was enclosed and inaccessible. There was no sign of any power source for the HCD. How long has this been here on this lonely asteroid at the edges of the planetary system I asked myself. It looked as if it had been built yesterday. Had no one discovered it after all this time? The radar installation outside certainly seemed out of place with the level of technology inside.
There seemed little else that we could achieve so we decided to leave. We retreated back along the corridor and found the door still open with astronaut Alana still in attendance.
“Any beautiful alien females in there?” he asked.
“Not your type,” retorted Lentra.
“Can I go in and see the murals?” asked the young astronaut.
“Lentra, why don’t you take him inside while I look at this radar dish more closely,” I suggested.
“Sure, I’ll give him the standard guided tour,” quipped Lentra. They entered the still open doorway while I floated over to the radar dish. The technology here appeared to be much more basic. The metal parts were fairly crudely formed. The dish was sitting on a large metal box and my suit pick ups were transmitting a faint noise from the box. I laid a gloved hand on the box and felt a gentle vibration.