“It’s wanting to enter the ship?” Skye jumped to her feet and began pulling on her exosuit. Once she clicked on her helmet, Mal lowered the exit ramp.
The Celaenan scurried in slowly, pausing when Skye let out a surprised scream. “Oh, it’s quite alright. The creature within this symbiote suit is your friend who hatched on the bank.” The creature waved its many arms and and let out a flurry of excited clicks and chirps.
“Oh, let me translate!” Mal said excitedly. “First, it wishes to convey their race’s intense regret and sadness at the loss of the colonists.” Skye merely nodded. The creature waved its arms, making more clicking noises, its carapace moving at an alarming rate. “When uninhabited, the symbiotes know only how to protect themselves if they feel threatened.”
“Tell it that we are also saddened by the loss of our colony,” Skye said. “But explain that our goal as a race is to explore, to learn, and to be at peace with other lifeforms in the galaxy.” Mal emitted a pattern of clicks and the Celaenan clicked back in response.
“It says that they also wish to establish peaceful relations with other races. It’s telling me that they have been in stasis for roughly a century, when a probe of unknown origin landed on their planet. When they investigated the probe, it released a neural virus which killed every host contained within the symbiotes that came into neural contact.” The Celaenan waved its two longer arms solemnly. “While the city remained hidden from the intruders on the probe, the population was nearly wiped out. Those that remained sealed themselves off from the outside, entering into stasis, and hoping that one day a group of survivors would reawaken them.”
The creature clicked and hissed once, gesturing with one of its long arms toward the viewing portal.
“Tell him that we are grateful,” Skye said. “Thank him for allowing us to connect to their consciousness and sync with our ship.” Mal projected a series of clicking noises at different tones. The creature leaned into a deep bow, flourishing one of its long arms before it turned and left the ship.
Chapter Eleven
Skye sat down in the seat at the cockpit, grateful to be back. She took a long look out of the viewport at the gas giant, Celaeno IV in the horizon.
“The Council congratulates you on a successful first contact,” Mal said. “They appreciate the depth and breadth of data that you have collected on this new species.”
“I’m glad they’re pleased,” Skye replied, distracted. She gazed absently across the horizon, her eyes settling on the debris of Fori Research Colony. “I’m glad something fruitful came from such a tragedy.”
“Indeed,” Mal said, morosely. “Such a loss of so many great minds, but because of you we’ve established contact with a brand new intelligent race.” Skye stood up from the cockpit and approached the T.A.S.
“Give yourself some credit too, Mal.” Skye said. She relaxed onto the bed-like slab of the T.A.S. “This mission made it clear just how much I need you when I’m out there.”
“You’re too kind,” Mal said. “Beginning the final upload before breakdown,” Mal said, referring to the process that Skye had to undergo after every mission—her consciousness, as well as her body, were broken down and stored until she was activated in some other part of the galaxy through the Swallowtail network.
“Wait—” Skye said, overwhelmed by the fear of going to sleep again.
“Pausing all processes,” Mal replied. “What’s wrong, Skye?”
Skye was silent. She had never felt so conscious of her shortened life span.
“Nothing,” she replied. “I just—.” She inhaled deeply. “See you soon, Mal.”
“Sweet dreams, Skye.”
***
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THE END
***
Be sure to check out Trip's latest novel:
Game Alive
In the near future, virtual reality games are indistinguishable from the real world. Players can take on the role of a star quarterback or rule as the king of a virtual kingdom.
Thirteen-year-old Jake prefers to spend his free time building Xaloria, a virtual world he created from scratch where he and his two best friends, Des and Kari, spend their afternoons completing quests and collecting treasure.
However, all in Xaloria is not what Jake expected. When Jake discovers that the world he built is growing and changing on its own, he and his friends uncover a secret that could change the world forever...
***
A Personal Appeal from the Author, Trip Ellington
My name is Trip Ellington and I have an offer that I think you will find very favorable.
In my continued efforts to improve the quality of my works, I have created a group referred to as my ‘Beta Readers.’ I rely on my Beta Readers to read my as-yet-unreleased stories and provide me with much needed feedback and I keep them informed of my latest releases. There is no charge to become a Beta Reader.
For those of you who would like to help me in this cause and become a Beta Reader, I will send you a digital copy of one of my published stories for free.
To apply for the Beta Reader group, simply click or navigate to this link:
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Thank you for being a loyal reader and supporting an independent author.
Sincerely,
Trip
***
Cover by CoverCharm.com. The Cover Incorporates Images by Euderion (Euderion.DeviantArt.com) and Inadesign-Stock (inadesign-stock.deviantart.com)
The Engineer's Escape: The Swallowtail Voyages, Book 1 Page 7
