by Power, P. S.
It wasn't a point in space that he needed, since the whole thing was rushing in a line through space. Instead he simply focused on the ships, and let himself get a feel for what he wanted. When there was a slight visual in his mind of the correct thing, he dropped his hand under the floating control bobble, which he'd made seem like a smooth bit of focus stone, all in white, and imagined the needed dotted line.
There was a point to indicate where he was, and one for the fleet, so far away. The trick of it was just to know about where you needed to go, of course. Dare also wanted to be far enough away from them that they wouldn't get scared and start fighting, as well as matching their speed and direction.
Which all worked pretty well as soon as he engaged the process mentally.
Lenn, and Brice gasped when they suddenly saw the vast array of ships in front of them. It was an impressive sight, but one which they were used to, having lived on at least one of the giant vessels at some point.
Sara and Sam joined Brice, Lyone and Lenn as they moved to the shield window. Blocking the view in places from where he was sitting. Tor smiled at their backs, knowing what was outside, roughly. In the distance, there were dozens of giant ships. Some of them were spheres that held about the size and shape of Earth's moon. There were other ships, including giant things made of what looked like tubes.
Between them, and Dare could see some of them, there were smaller craft. Thousands of them, dusting space like clouds. It was a bit daunting.
"I'll just hold the ship right here? Or should we move closer? I don't think we've been noticed yet." Not that he could tell, but if a ship had appeared that far away from Earth, it wouldn't have even been seen by anyone. Really, that was probably a failure on their part, considering they were getting visitors from space now.
Lyone turned, and glanced at Tor, but then locked eyes with Dare, "would it be allowed for me to contact my people? I sent a message that we were coming, but it will take about nine months for it to get here. Even from here it will take about half an hour."
Dareg thought through it all, glanced at the others and decided that they were there to meet people. If they were going to be captured or killed, then it made sense for them to be alerted.
"That seems like a plan. We can have a meal while we wait?"
Lenn looked up, then moved to his bag, and started digging in it. He didn't turn around, just speaking.
"Can I do that as well? We have different people... I... Really, it would probably be sort of like Lyone being from Austra, and me being from Harmony, if that makes sense? We have different government structures..." He seemed tense about it.
Brice, looking young and a bit annoyed, turned to face the man.
"Wouldn't this be best handled by us? The Forten aren't known for being rational all the time. We don't need an incident." It wasn't spoken in a mean fashion, but Lenn turned and looked a bit pissed off anyway.
Dareg could see that, since his entire people had been insulted.
"Really? This from the people that have been on Earth breaking laws in order to test them for moral quality? That's rational? We managed to do the same as you, without being caught at it. It's called watching. You know, where you go in and just look at what they do? Without threatening people?" There was a sense that he was ready, and willing to fight with the other two, the ones on his own side, for a lot of different reasons.
Lyone scowled at him, her face looking mean.
"We have different ways. That doesn't mean that one way is better than another. It was decided that waiting long enough to get a good overview of the situation on the ground would leave us at a disadvantage with the Adversaries. As it turned out, it wasn't totally needed, but that doesn't mean it was wrong."
Rather than striking her, Lenn made a strange motion, like he was waving her away.
"Fine! My point is that we shouldn't be left out simply because you've been living with these people." His words didn't become more reasonable in tone, but there was some sense to it.
Dareg thought for a bit, and tried to recall what he'd heard about these people.
"Why not..." They actually turned, to look at him. Both faces becoming more polite suddenly. "We could get in touch with everyone here, or at least the three main groups? Your friends, the Ysidril should be invited as well?"
Lyone blinked, and Lenn just picked up something that looked like a tube of metal, about the size of a force lance. Twisting the top, he spoke, no more than five seconds later.
"This is a message for all three fleets. This is for all listening. The scouts to Earth have found aid, and bring visitors. We request an audience with all concerned parties. Our current position is about... Half a million miles away from Planet Seven. We have the capability to move to any point in the fleet rapidly. Nearly instantly, at need. Please advise."
Dareg had to listen carefully, and would have missed what was said, except that Tor touched his arm, and passed the information about what was said to him directly. Hopefully he was getting it well enough.
They waited then, so Dareg got up and started making food for everyone that wanted it. Brice came over to help him do it, carrying plates, and adding a few dishes to the the mix. Mainly sweets.
Grinning, he waved at a tray of plates.
"We might be having guests. It seems right to do this here, really. I'd love to go home, but in a first contact situation like this it isn't a good plan. After all, I already know I can talk to you all, and get you to not go on a planet killing spree. That makes me pretty valuable, doesn't it?"
Lenn, across the room, laughed, but not meanly, earlier tensions aside.
"Correct. Having worked with these people, we need to not let ourselves be pushed to the side now. Holding a meet here seems like a plan that would be functional. Especially since we have all the good food. I swear, if we could offer some of these food magics as gifts we could wrap all three collections around our fingers." He shook his head a bit. "We have power, and light, but it's always hard to keep everyone fed. This project has been going on long enough that we've exhausted a lot of resources."
That just seemed to be the correct, or at least the others accepted it without expression of note. Tor glanced at Sam, then Sara, and finally Alphonse, who spoke for them after a moment.
"You... Probably need a lot of those. So the larger kind would work better? I don't know how many people you have out there, but we can do something. Would... Here, one second?"
No one moved as he got his handheld out, and tapped out a name quickly, used to it, from long practice. After a moment Timon Baker's voice came out of it.
"Problem?"
Alphonse shook his head.
"Our new friends might be able to use some large food units. Probably... Ten to fifteen times what Earth needed? Can we get that going?"
There was a soft exhalation, but one audible to Dare.
"I have a few thousand right now. I can build that up... We, Tor, and I, can probably have enough for them in a few months? Faster if it's an emergency, I just don't want to lose time on other projects."
Tor looked at the silver eyed alien man.
"How much do you need?"
He froze for a bit, and Lyone spoke instead.
"We aren't allowed to tell you what our real population is. It was in the mission briefing, in case we were taken hostage or prisoner."
Tor glanced at her, smiling sweetly.
"About twelve billion beings here. I got that last time. That doesn't say how much you need however."
Dareg had to nod, since it had felt about like that.
"They have food though, they just need more? Are people starving, or is it just that it would be nice to get some extra in?" It was a very personal question, but it came out of his lips, and no one shouted him down or offered to beat him. Yet.
The smaller mechanical fellow waved at the table that he was still filling with food.
"We could use a lot of this. No one starves however, but there are times when everyone
has to go on lower rations. We all need to eat. The Ysidril will let themselves starve before allowing even one of us to do the same. They're... Well, I think they might be the best of us." He glanced at Lenn.
Lenn let his head come up.
"Their way is different than that of the Forten, but none doubt their good will. We need to make certain they're protected, if we can."
That fit with what Lyone had said before, so Dareg nodded, just a bit, not looking at any of the others. That sounded like it should be his part in things, really. Not that he could say why that was. It felt correct however.
"So, call it one large unit per every ten thousand people? That would require them running full time to feed everyone constantly, but we've done that. Then it will require material to make things from, but waste can be used if you aren't picky. That, or... Well, probably anything you find, out here." It was still a lot, on a level that was nearly insane.
Timon snorted.
"So, only a million and a quarter of them? I'll start on that. An organic grow, but large batch. Call it a month? Dareg, can you come get the ones we have?"
"Probably. We'll ask if they want them and do any meetings we have, first, then I'll do that after I return everyone to their places? Or... We can do that now, but I don't want to miss the communications, in case people get in touch with us." Almost like it was planned, a small light headed toward them. It was different than the ones that had come the time before, being a bright white light, that moved very quickly.
Lenn looked at it, and rolled his eyes.
"Well, that's predictable. A mech fighter drone? Would you like to go on about how rational your people are again?" There was a hard look at Lyone.
She rolled her eyes right back.
"Standard procedure. They won't attack unless we offer violence. Unlike what some people might do."
Tor looked at first the mechanical woman and then the silver haired man.
"Did you two used to date or something?" He was a bit sarcastic sounding, and both of the aliens stared at him for a moment, pulled between their angry bickering and being rude to what had to be considered an Ambassador of sorts.
Brice however just laughed.
"That's one of the things I love about the modern Earth people. They do love to point out when others are being silly. Anyway, there are others coming. My bet is that the Ysidril get here first by at least ten minutes. Their ships started further away, but are the fastest. Nothing compared to this one, but... Here we go! I should have taken bets. See the green ones coming, over there?"
Dareg did, but waited, which took about half an hour longer, then as they got about a thousand miles away, there was a buzzing that came from Lenn's silver tube device. It spoke without him picking up.
Again the voice was funny sounding, but Tor didn't give him the data this time, so it was hard to pick up. The language wasn't that far off of standard, but it had a smoother feel to it. Tor seemed to be listening, but Sam and Sara both just looked uneasy.
Lyone, getting it this time, translated for them.
"They're hailing us. Asking if it would be all right to meet. Lenn replied that the plan is for representatives to meet on board this vessel. They countered with an offer of allowing you to land on one of the other vessels, since it doesn't seem that they can dock with us."
Lenn knew the answer there however, and spoke for a bit, then turned to Dareg.
"I suggested that we could increase the space for that? Those ships aren't big. There are six of them, about our own size." It was a question without being one, since Dare was the Captain there.
"Good idea. Could you let them know that we'll be doing that now? When they're ready."
There was more strange speech, and after several returns and replies, Lenn held a hand up in his direction.
"I think I prepared them for it. They shouldn't fire on us for it."
"I'll go very slowly? Please let them know that we're starting... Now." He waited, but when the Forten man looked back at him, Dare focused, and changed the craft greatly. First to the same design that he'd used for the Saturn trip, then stretching it out into a black cube with a lot of windows, all lit from within, so that they'd be visible. It was, as close as was possible him pushing the vessel to its largest possible size.
Which was a lot smaller than a freaking planet ship, but was enough that Lyone coughed.
"That will get their attention. Nothing we have can do that. Can we set up landing bays?"
They could and did, rapidly. Then Lenn, sounding stern, seemed to be telling them which ship got to come in first. Instead of that being his people, in their rather plain metal looking craft, it was the slightly glowing green ones, each coming in slowly. Like they were told.
The squat man took a deep breath.
"The Ysidril are frightening to look at. Some Forten, when they first meet them, lose control of themselves in fear or terror. Even the brave might, so if you need to use a restroom, you might want to do it before the point of exposure? I can promise you, they are totally non-violent. Simply alien. They'll attempt to flee if they feel they are harming you with their presence."
It sounded like a joke, but so far the man hadn't played around a lot, so Dareg stood, moving to the main door, a restroom being one hatch down.
"I'll... Be back in a moment."
It was strange, but most of them took turns in the restroom then. Not the mechanical people, but Lenn did, since they had time.
When he got back, having gone last, he looked out the shield window.
"This is a momentous event. Also a dangerous one. When groups meet it can go very wrong. I feel that this is an excellent starting point, but I don't know who will be coming. Please forgive any minor issues? It's the rule in this kind of thing, but not everyone follows the rules well."
That seemed not to be a dig against the other groups, but rather a warning about his own people.
All the ships seemed to be in, but there was a quarter mile of ship between those bays and where they were. All the food was there however, so Dare was about to make some stairs, when Sara moved to the wall.
"Lift platform? We use them on the Circle. I can do that here."
Tor nodded, being used to that kind of thing it seemed.
"We should go down. Or would it be better to send you three, and wait here? We don't want to scare anyone."
Dareg stood up then, and looked at the others.
"Right. So, I'll go down. Lenn, Lyone? That will give everyone a representative there." He looked at the the two aliens, then smiled a bit. "So if you try to hurt my Ysidril, we'll have an issue."
Lyone bowed a little at that, and didn't smile, and Lenn huffed, just a tiny bit.
"Fair enough. We'll get them and be back in... Call it ten minutes? How fast are these lifts?"
"About five minutes each way. You should go. It doesn't feel like anything." Sara waved them into the round, slightly glowing section. "Just touch the sigil and think about where you want to go."
That was an interesting idea, and he felt it happening after touching the pale green design on the wall. It was made up of two merged arrows, but the wall closed when he did it, and they started to go downward rapidly. The gravity of the craft flexed, so that they didn't feel like they were moving at all. There was no real indication that they were going anywhere, but when he reached out, with his mind, there was a sense of it happening anyway.
When they got close, about four minutes later, not five, he took a deep breath.
"All right. I'll go out first, and attempt not to gibber, or soil myself. If I do, tell the Ysidril not to worry about it. I pretty much can't die of fright. Besides, I've seen them before, if at a distance. They seemed... Pretty."
With a single touch, the wall opened, and there were ten beings standing there, unarmed as far as he could tell. In three separate clusters based on type. There was a group of short people that looked more or less like humans though they were color coded. Well, at least there was red hair a
nd eyes on one, green on another and brown on the last.
Next to them was a collection of youthful looking people that were all wearing vaguely silver tinted jumpsuits. They were regular seeming individuals otherwise, making them the mechanical ones. Like Lyone and Brice.
There were three others, the mechanical folk having brought four with them. Making ten in all. Those last ones were kind of interesting, close up, being truly alien like they were. They were green and purple, but despite their bright colors and odd shape really did seem fearsome. Not enough that Dareg would have wet himself however.
He strode forward, and bowed, going low. After all, this was his ship, but these people were important, or at least expendable and as such valuable in that moment.
"I'm Dareg Canton. Captain of this ship. Please, be welcome. We have transportation to the bridge, where we have refreshments. Also emissaries from my people?"
That got a strange reaction. The Ysidril all bowed back, doing it well enough that, having several extra arms or not, it looked correct. Out of the remaining seven people no one even tried to bow, except the Forten with brown hair.
That meant, by Noram rules that the Ysidril, and this person, who was a firm looking woman, but not vastly muscled or too out of proportion to pass on Earth, were in charge.
He gestured to the lift tube, then touched the wall, in order to make it grow larger inside, so they wouldn't be too crowded. Seeing he wasn't that worried about them, the three green and purple scaled people moved to where he stood.
The one in the middle opened their mouth, showing that it was filled with more teeth than should have been possible.
"Your ship is most flexible. Would it be proper for us to attend this meeting? We have no representative on your world, due to our differences, so perhaps this is not our service?"
The standard was decent, if accented. The sound was a very low rumble, but no worse than the king or Prince Alphonse that way. Count Ward was even deeper, and probably three feet taller, though no wider across the shoulders.
