“Oh!” Emma replies. “Are we going to pay them a visit?” Her question is one of innocent curiosity.
“Well.” Cindy says, and then nods to Peter as she says. “With great risk, comes great reward. Right?”
Peter smiles, glances at Robert, and then teasingly states. “Who wants to live forever anyway?”
Robert shakes his head, sighs, and then with a smile creasing his face, says, “You’re not scaring me this time.”
Cindy taps her fingers on her armrest while she ponders the pros and cons of contacting the unknown ship. There are a lot of factors to consider.
John receives an update from the man who is monitoring the Victory’s scanner. He reviews his own estimates, makes a minor adjustment, and then says, “We will pass out of range in six minutes.”
Cindy frowns as an idea comes to mind. “John, is it possible to get in behind them, so that we get a look at that ship?”
Joe’s jaw drops at the idea, and like everyone else, he wonders what John’s reply will be.
“Well,” John replies slowly as he deliberates over the question. “We would have to drop to sub-light in order to change our course, so it will take some doing.”
Joe states confidently, “The Victory could do it.”
“I know,” Cindy replies. “But the Terran is a tough ship, and fast, should things turn nasty.”
Joe then adds, “I don’t even know what we will see at these speeds.”
“We also don’t want to get too close,” John states, “I don’t know what effect that would have on either ship, if any.”
Cindy frowns as her idea suddenly seems far riskier than she first thought. She chews on her lower lip, letting precious minutes tick by. Finally, she makes a decision, “I want to see who that is.”
“Yes ma’am,” John replies enthusiastically.
The Terran slows to sub-light speeds, then turns towards the distant ship. Joe and John work frantically as they calculate their flight path. Fortunately, the Gamin systems make the task much easier for them. John engages the main drive. After a few minutes, he slows them down to sub-light speeds once more. He has to perform the same routine many times before he has the Terran coming up behind the unknown spacecraft. Thirty-five minutes after the initial contact, Joe and John perform one final round of calculations.
John breaks into a huge satisfactory grin, turns to Cindy and proudly states, “The target is traveling at factor four point one, and we are now traveling at four point nine. We will catch them in a few minutes, then I will slow us down to match their speed.”
“Excellent,” Cindy replies.
John adds, “We will be coming in from under that ship, which should give us a fantastic view of it.”
Excitement builds as a pinprick of light is visible in the distance. John begins to slow them down until both spacecraft are traveling at almost the exact same speed.
“Wow!” Robert exclaims as the alien ship comes into view.
The alien spacecraft is about a third of the length of the Terran, slender in appearance, and seems to glow. Its single rear engine looks exactly like one of the Terran’s, and takes up more than half of the ship’s overall length. Its main hull looks like the Terran’s command levels, while its underside is almost flat.
Joe taps on his controls, then smiles and says, “I have scanned the ship!”
“Really,” replies Cindy, astonished at Joe’s statement.
“There are three hundred and seventeen life forms aboard, and they’re not Gamin.” Joe grins again, and adds happily, “And they’re not Effen Raiders either.”
“How can you be sure?” questions Cindy doubtfully.
“I ran the same scan we would on a planet,” Joe replies with a shrug of his shoulders.
Cindy stares at the alien spacecraft, then frowns and says, “That thing looks like it’s made from salvaged parts.” She pauses for a moment as she casts her gaze over the spaceship ahead of them. She then says, “Let’s see if we can talk to them.”
Joe reviews his console, taps a few symbols and then says, “I am pretty sure that’s it. Your console should open up a channel.”
Cindy looks down at her console and notices a slight change to the communications symbol. She touches it, and then says, “This is Cindy Klein, of the starship Terran, please respond.”
A full minute passes without a response. Just when Cindy is about to resend her message, the bridge speakers crackle to life. “Uh, this is Commander Brett of the Pythos ship, Artemis Two. Who is this?”
Cindy grins, she is excited about making yet another first contact with an alien race, and replies, “Are you able to use visual communications?”
“Ah... well... um... Hang on will ya,” comes the rather unexpected reply.
Joe grins, and then says to Cindy, “They are definitely using Gamin technology, and like us in the beginning, I don’t think they’re familiar with its capabilities. Let me see if I can interface with their ship’s computers.”
Cindy watches as Joe taps away on his console. He gives a thumbs-up, then a few seconds later an image appears on their main viewer. The group of beings are either standing or sitting, on what is clearly a Gamin bridge, one which is almost identical to the Terran’s. The man sitting in the centrally raised chair is short. The top of his head comes up to where Cindy’s shoulders are on her command chair. He has a rounded face, with large deep blue eyes over a small button nose. His eyes are the most striking feature, and are almost twice the size of human eyes. He turns his head, revealing small round ears on the side of his head, below his short, cropped brown hair.
The man stands, glances to either side, and then asks, “How did you do that?”
Cindy replies, “Commander Brett, I presume. Perhaps we can show you. Would you like to visit our ship? We would love to meet you in person.”
Brett blinks in stunned disbelief. First, they sneak up on us, then they invite us to visit. He replies warily, “How do you propose we do that?”
“We shut down our propulsion systems, and use a shuttle to bring you over.” Cindy replies.
“Who are you? Where did you come from?” Brett questions with growing concern.
Cindy smiles, and then replies, “We’re a long way from home, a planet we call Earth. It would seem our races have something in common though; the Gamin ships we’re using.”
Brett leans back and smiles widely, revealing a mouth full of rather ordinary looking teeth. He then waves his hand, indicating his bridge, and says, “If you guys are sending a shuttle, how about you come and visit us instead?”
Cindy replies without hesitation, “Perfect.”
Joe nods to Brett’s image and says, “I can synchronize our systems if you like. That way we can come to a stop at the same time.”
“You can do that?” Brett replies with apprehension.
Joe proudly responds, “I can show you quite a bit about the Gamin systems you’re using."
Brett glances around once more, and then replies, “Okay, that sounds good.”
Joe taps a few symbols on his console, then nods to John, who slows both ships.
Cindy considers her options, then issues her orders, “Joe, Peter, and Robert, you’re with me. The rest of you, keep an eye out for any trouble.”
Robert is surprised to hear his name, and stares at the alien ship in wonder. His inquisitive mind is forming dozens of questions. With a frown, he asks Joe, “How is it that we can see that ship so clearly?”
Joe turns to face Robert and replies, “The main viewer is not a window, it’s a complex monitor.”
“But, prior to launch, people could see through it, and there was no power connected to the ship at all.” Robert states, challenging Joe to explain how that worked.
“The outer sensors on the outer hull have numerous micro solar panels built in.” Joe explains, then upon seeing Robert’s confused expression, he continues. “When the screen has no power, it operates on a true view principle. The sensors transfer t
he data received directly to the viewer, instead of to the ship’s computers. In that mode, the display can’t be manipulated.” He shrugs his shoulders and says, “I guess it would be the same as having a window.”
Robert points at the alien ship on the viewer and says, “So, you’re saying that the viewer is generating that image from sensor data?”
Joe nods, and confirms, “Correct. But when the armor plate is raised, we lose the fine resolution, and have to rely on the standard sensors which exist all over the ship’s outer armor.”
George notices Robert’s confused expression, lifts the visor on his suit, and adds, “The Gamin had a number of us make armor and gravity plates, for them. The armor on Gamin ships is not just chunks of metal; it’s interlaced with sensors, power relays, and in some sections, gravity plating. The relays provide power to the navigational shields, and, if we had the right emitters installed, combat shields.”
Robert stares at George and blinks in surprise. He sounds like an engineer, not someone who used to work in a furniture store. He keeps his thoughts to himself however, and replies, “It seems the Gamin taught you a lot about these ships.”
George opens his suit, steps from it, and then states, “Yes, Sharz taught me a lot, besides, having an unlocked suit helps a lot too.”
Cindy is stepping out of the bridge, but stops when she catches George’s comment. She turns to him, tilts her head, and with a frown, asks, “Unlocked?”
George glances back and forth from Cindy to Robert. Upon seeing their blank expressions, he says, “C’mon, I’m sure I told you guys!”
Cindy stares at George while she considers this latest revelation. She points to him and states firmly, “You just decided to mention this now?” She shakes her head, and then adds, “We will discuss this when I return.”
“Sure,” George replies innocently, while shrugging his shoulders.
Joe’s jaw drops. He vaguely recalls something he saw on Cindy’s console some time ago, but he cannot quite put his finger on it. He glances at Patrick, who is in his Gamin bodysuit, and recalls the day he was investigating the command chair’s capabilities.
Patrick stares down at his suit and wonders. Is this suit unlocked?
George sighs, and then bluntly states, “You guys had to know, surely. Sharz unlocked mine, but I don’t know who unlocked Patrick’s. How do you think we do half the things we do?” He finishes with another shrug of his shoulders.
Joe slowly lifts his hand and meekly states, “I believe that was me.”
Everyone turns to look at Joe, who then continues, “I was checking out Cindy’s console a while back, and came across the suits. It showed Patrick’s as being restricted, so I touched the icon to get more information, and unlocked it. I had meant to tell everyone, but forgot all about it until now.”
“Unlocked?” Patrick questions.
Joe nods excitedly as he replies, “That’s why you can craft so many things, and run the suit’s shield at one hundred percent.”
Cindy glances to George as she says, “Well that explains how you survived the Effen Raider attack.”
George grins as he replies, “Yes it does.” He turns to Patrick and says, “I can’t believe you didn’t notice that your suit was unlocked.”
Patrick stares back at George and says, “I just thought I was getting better at using it.”
Cindy shakes her head as she leaves the bridge. Robert, Peter, and Joe follow closely behind. Cindy suddenly has an idea, pauses, and then calls out, “Hey Robyn. Do you want to be our pilot?”
Robyn’s head swings to the bridge opening so fast her neck makes an audible click. Sweat immediately forms in her arm pits. She can hear her own distant sounding voice replying, “On my way.”
“Don’t forget to bring your portable translator.” Cindy adds as she walks away.
The five of them make their way to the main hangar deck. Joe feels a swelling of pride when he sees the sleek and majestic Victory resting on the floor. He is still learning new things about the alien craft each and every day.
The group does not take their new acquisition, but instead, boards their survey shuttle. Robyn nervously flies them out into free space. She is made all the more uneasy by the fact that all five of them are crammed into the front section, and there is only four seats. She glances at Peter, who is leaning up against a side wall next to Cindy, and then returns her focus back to piloting the shuttle. The gap between the two ships is much greater than first appearances, and it takes them a few minutes to traverse the distance.
Joe, who is sitting next to Robyn, points to a section of the alien ship’s underside. It is lowering, “Hey that looks like a drive through elevator.”
Robyn gulps, and tensely replies, “I see it.”
The platform which is lowering is twice as wide as their shuttle, but not much longer. The crew can see what appear to be three more elevators, but as they are closed, it is difficult to tell.
Cindy squints as she surveys the alien spacecraft, and then says, “It’s quite small, really.”
Joe turns to her and says, “Small. That ship is over a kilometer long!”
“I know,” Cindy replies, then adds, “but half of that is the engine.”
“True,” Joe concedes.
Robyn smoothly lands the shuttle on the elevator’s floor. She shuts down the shuttle’s thrusters, and then, along with the rest of them, waits. As expected, they begin to rise a few moments later.
Cradling her translator, Robyn frowns, and then asks, “Why are these things so big?”
Cindy glances at Joe, and then replies, “The original units the Kord gave us are each as powerful as GUS, if not more so.”
Robyn stares at the lunchbox sized computer in awe, and replies, “But if George can replicate these, why didn’t he build a new super computer for the Terran?”
“George is able to replicate the Kord implants,” Cindy explains, “but he is still having difficulty replicating their computer technology. The version that most of the crew uses has limited functionality. It can only converse in known languages.”
Robyn frowns, and then stares at her unit. She cannot tell if it is a copy or not.
Joe quickly speaks up, “Don’t worry, you have a genuine unit. They are able to learn new languages. Once we have the translation matrix, we can update the copies.”
Robert shakes his head, and then with a hint of sarcasm, states, “So, they look the same as the originals, they just can’t do the job.”
Cindy turns to Robert and slowly replies, “Correct.”
The elevator abruptly stops, effectively ending their discussion. Joe stares at his console and is baffled for a few moments. All of a sudden, he understands what he is seeing, and excitedly relays his findings. “An oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere is forming outside, and it’s breathable.”
With a mixture of excitement and trepidation, Cindy orders, “Open up the hatch. Let’s go meet them.”
Stepping out of the shuttle, they all immediately notice the heavier gravity associated with Gamin spacecraft. The first few tentative breaths reveal that the air smells and tastes tropical. There is the barest hint of a strange fragrance, but it is not an unpleasant one.
Peter quickly and efficiently examines the landing bay. The area is large enough to store four shuttles, but is currently devoid of anything, save themselves. The only door to the room is in a side wall, nearest them. Unexpectedly, it opens with a soft swoosh.
Four short aliens stride purposefully into the room. They are all roughly the same height, with the tallest of them only coming up to Cindy’s shoulder. Their large blue eyes are wide open, making them appear as if they have an astonished expression on their faces.
Cindy smiles, steps forward, and says, “It is my pleasure to present to you…” She stops talking when the aliens begin to fidget, and start talking to each other. She frowns as she hears their odd sounding voices, and yet cannot understand a single word they are saying. She turns to Joe and while shaking
her head asks, “What’s going on?”
Joe frowns for a moment as he ponders their dilemma. After a few moments, he begins to chuckle. He shakes his head as he answers, “The Gamin computers translated their language, and we never updated these portables.” He shrugs his shoulders, and then quickly adds, “If we can keep them talking, our translators, along with the Kord units, will hopefully learn their language.”
Keeping the blue-eyed aliens talking is not a difficult task. They do not shut up as they hotly debate what to do with the strangers who are now on their ship.
Cindy’s unit beeps at the same time that her earpiece translates a few words, “Strangers… big ship… Harthos be…”
Cindy smiles and then says, “I am Cindy Klein of the planet Earth. This is my crew, Joe, Peter, Robert, and Robyn.” She listens to the odd sounding language as her translator attempts to relay her words.
The alien called Brett stares at Cindy for a moment, and then turns his attention to her translator. He taps his chest and while pointing to his colleagues, speaks. Cindy grins as her translator relays some of his words, “Commander Brett… Dave… Larry… Tom… Pythos.”
Cindy excitedly points to each of his crew and repeats their names. Brett’s eyes widen in excitement as the translator becomes more effective. Once the basic linguistics are figured out, the rest seems to fall into place quickly.
Joe points to the spot behind his ear and says, “Most of us have translators implanted, which allow us to understand you.” He points to the bulky unit that hangs from his shoulder and adds, “These units translate our words, so that those without implants can understand us.” Joe suddenly feels an odd chill as a thought comes to mind. Jux, and many of the Oglans, seemed to understand us just fine, and I don’t recall having translators with us all the time.
Brett’s face changes expression while he listens to Joe. He turns to his colleagues and begins talking in hurried whispers. After a few moments, he asks, “How do they work?”
Joe grins as he replies, “The implants translate known languages.” He pats his unit as he continues, “While these do all the initial work of learning new ones.”
Initiation Series: Series One Compilation (Terran Chronicles) Page 124
