by C H Gideon
Chapter Nine
The Reynolds soared through the Melliferon system. As they neared Melliferon Three, a squadron of ships launched from the moon, spreading across the superdreadnought’s inbound trajectory.
“They’re hailing us,” Comm said. “Putting it onscreen. The translation might be a bit wonky since this language is like nothing in the databases.”
Two aliens appeared. Their oblong heads each sported six eyes, three antennae, and a tiny mouth. They had long, thin bodies with six appendages. Each appendage ended in an articulating pad and an opposable claw. Both beings wore hard, shiny armor, gray-green with black markings on the segmented abdomen. Semi-transparent structures protruded from their backs.
“Are those wings?” Jiya asked.
Static erupted from the speakers. The alien on the right spoke, moving its appendages and antennae in complex patterns.
“Can you clear out the buzzing?” Reynolds asked. He stood and straightened his uniform, gazing at the screen with what he hoped was an expression of benevolence and welcome.
“That’s not interference, it’s their speech,” Comm replied. “As soon as I get enough to analyze, I’ll trans—”
“—your purpose in this system,” the alien on the right said. “If you do not respond, we will consider your continued approach an act of aggression and take appropriate measures.”
“This is Reynolds, of the Superdreadnought Reynolds,” the AI said with a quick nod. “We come in peace.”
“This Armintral Twenty-Three-Oh-One of the Melliferon Defense Force. Do not approach our planet. Do not activate any weapons systems. You may take up orbit around Melliferon Four while we discuss your purpose.” The being on the left twitched and spoke, but no sound came from the speaker.
“They’re muting from their end,” Comm said.
“Ensign Alcott, change course and assume orbit around Melliferon Four,” Reynolds said. “Maddox, anything new to report?”
“They have a military base on their moon, of course,” Maddox said. “They have about twenty more ships like the five in front of us. I’d consider those frigate-class, but it’s hard to make a direct comparison. Their tech is different from ours.”
“The planet is heavily occupied,” Jiya said. “The population density is incredible, and it appears there are layers and layers of constructs before you reach the actual surface. It really is like a hive, with the planet at its core. I wish I could tell if they’re friendly or hostile,” she said, watching the aliens confer onscreen. They had turned away from their camera as if to prevent lip-reading. If they had lips, Jiya thought.
“At this point,” Maddox said, “I think we can assume they’re neither. They haven’t fired on us, but we just sailed into their system in a monster-sized war machine. They’re probably terrified.”
“Unless they have a superweapon we don’t know about,” Tactical said. “Have you scanned their moon? Maybe it isn’t a moon.”
Reynolds rolled his eyes, a mannerism he’d learned from Jiya. “Sometimes, a moon is just a moon.”
“Yes, sir,” Maddox said. “Just a moon. Although they do have a defensive base there, with anti-spacecraft weaponry. It can’t reach this far, though.”
“Captain Reynolds,” the alien on the screen said, making the crew jump. “I have spoken to our planetary leaders. They would like more information about you and your ship.”
“We are just passing through this system,” Reynolds replied. “We are in search of a material that is available in a nearby system, but I never pass up an opportunity to learn more about the neighbors. Your planet is different from any we’ve encountered, so we came to take a closer look.”
“You can detect the differences in our system from outside the heliosphere?” the alien asked.
“You need to develop a body-language translator,” Jiya whispered to Comm. “I can’t tell if he’s impressed or just confirming information.”
“We picked up a stray transmission,” Reynolds ad-libbed. “Your language intrigued us, and since you obviously had a level of technology that allowed transmission of that signal, we approached.”
“We also encourage learning,” the alien said. “We invite you and a small escort to join us for an exchange of information and understanding. We will send a shuttle to you if you agree. Based on our scans of your ship, our gravity and air will be suitable for your species.”
“Thank you,” Reynolds said, jumping at the chance. “We will ready our landing bay for your vehicle and join you shortly.” He sent a command to Comm, and the transmission ended. “Jiya, Asya, Ka’nak, you’re with me. Comm, have Takal and Geroux meet us in the landing bay. Maddox, you have the conn. Taneral, would you like to join us?”
“Of course, Reynolds,” Taneral said. “Thank you for allowing me to redeem my behavior.”
Reynolds bowed slightly but fixed the young female with a stern look before leading them to the landing bay. “When you travel with my team, you’re a reflection on my ship and my Queen. I will excuse your behavior on Lanteral Two, but it will not happen again.”
“You are right,” Taneral said. “I will abide by your rules.”
Easy enough, since there don’t seem to be any cats on this planet, Jiya said through the comm.
Keep an eye on her anyway, Reynolds said. First sign of trouble, we’ll use the Gulg transporter to send her back to the ship. I’d prefer not to share knowledge of that tech with Taneral, but I won’t have her interfering with negotiations.
Understood, Jiya replied.
Asya and Ka’nak nodded.
The team entered the landing bay, to find Geroux and Takal waiting.
“Jiya,” Geroux said, giving her friend a swift hug. “And Taneral.”
The alien stepped back and offered a hand to Geroux. “It is pleasant to see you again.”
The young computer expert smiled, her eyes bright. “I can’t wait to see how this society works. It’s all hexagonal. Do you think they count in base six?
Taneral and Jiya looked blankly at her.
“We have ten fingers,” Geroux said, wiggling those digits. “We count in base ten. They have six arms and use hexagons—” She broke off as a craft approached the opening to the landing bay. “Never mind.”
They peered at the alien ship. As it flew through the shield that kept the atmosphere inside the landing bay, the vessel’s angular surface reflected the lights of the superdreadnought. It landed, the hatch opened, and one of the bee-like aliens stuck its head out.
“Keep your helmets off to show we’re friendly,” Reynolds said before walking purposefully toward the alien. The crew followed, all eyes on the alien and the shuttle.
The alien waved its upper left appendages in a complicated pattern, then flew the two steps to the ground.
Was that a show of strength? Geroux asked. Look what I can do with these flimsy-appearing wings?
Could have been, Reynolds replied. We may never know. “Welcome to the Superdreadnought Reynolds. May I introduce my team?”
The being bowed. “I am merely a guide. We will save formal introductions for the Queen’s representative. Please, be welcome on my shuttle.” The alien bowed again and held out a limb, indicating the ship.
This guy is making it hard to remember their body language is different, Jiya said. Everything he does is so familiar!
Stay sharp, Maddox said.
They climbed into the angular craft. Rows of bench seats filled the space. Each seat had a split back that would allow one of the aliens to fit their wings through. The alien showed them how to strap into the uncomfortably angular seats before assuming his position in the pilot’s chair.
The ship lifted off, and they sped from the SD Reynolds’ landing bay, heading directly for the closest of the frigates. With a quick flip over the top that left their stomachs in their throats despite the artificial gravity, they swooped around to the frigate’s shuttle dock. Another shuttle filled half the bay, but their pilot expertly dropped his c
raft into the small open space.
Like the shuttle, the frigate was all angles and hard, shiny surfaces. Dim yellow light reflected off the walls and floor. A hexagonal door opened in the far wall, and a delegation of aliens flew in, their feet dangling a few centimeters from the deck.
The Melliferi formation landed precisely, facing Reynolds and his team. “Greetings, Captain Reynolds, and welcome to Frigate Seven-Two-Six. I am Zergat Nine-Twenty-Two, captain of this vessel. You may call me Z-Twenty-two.” He gestured to each of the other aliens, who appeared identical except for the markings on their armor. “These are Harntag Eight-Seven-Nine, Kergsten Four-Eight-Eight, Tripten Three-Five-Eight, and Yargen Four-Oh-Three.
“Thank you, Z-Twenty-two,” Reynolds said. These are my crew: Takal, Geroux, Asya, Ka’nak, Jiya, and our guest from Serifity, Taneral.”
“I’m sorry to have to do this, but I must ask you to surrender your weapons to T-Three-Five. She will secure them in the storage locker until you leave the ship. I’m sure, as a military commander, you understand the need for this precaution.”
“Of course,” Reynolds said, signaling his crew to disarm. “We would require the same, should you visit our ship.”
With the weapons safely stowed, Z-Twenty-two led the team out of the landing bay. They walked along a dim yellow corridor to another hexagonal room. Hexagonal carpet in a range of colors from yellow to orange covered the floor. At Z-Twenty-two’s invitation, Reynolds and his team sat at three sides of the large hexagonal table that filled most of the room. These split-backed chairs sported pale green upholstery over thin padding. They were surprisingly comfortable but did not encourage slouching.
“Thank you for your cooperation,” Z-twenty-two said as he took his seat across from Reynolds. “You must understand your appearance in our system has unsettled the queen and her advisors. I would like to assure them the planet is in no danger, but as long as your massive ship is nearby, she will be uneasy. When the queen is uneasy, the entire planet is in turmoil.”
“As I said before, we are here on a peaceful mission.” Reynolds leaned forward in his chair, then froze, wondering what his hosts might make of such a movement. Earnest interest on his part might look like antagonism to them. Jiya was right; Comm should develop a body-language translator. “What can we do to demonstrate that?”
Z-Twenty-two leaned forward, mirroring Reynolds’ movement. “This meeting is a good start. We are monitoring your ship, and it has maintained a purely defensive stance, even when we took you aboard our ship. That is a good start,” he repeated as he leaned back and pressed the table before him. A hexagon blinked on the surface. “Take a meal with us,” the alien said. “Offering and receiving hospitality is a gesture of trust and cooperation in our culture.”
“Ours as well,” Reynolds replied. I’ll test the food first, he told the crew. My system can check for toxins and indigestible substances.
As they continued to chat about ways to demonstrate peaceful intentions, the door opened, and a stream of aliens entered. Each carried two large trays filled with brightly-colored hexagonal prisms. The trays were set in the center of the table, on a section that lifted above the surface.
Z-Twenty-two pushed on the raised section. It rotated in place, and he stopped it by gripping with his pad and claw. He selected an orange prism from one of the trays and gestured to Reynolds.
Hoping the gesture meant what he thought it did, Reynolds spun the table section and selected an orange prism as well. It was about a centimeter on a side, with the consistency of the Earth confection called a marshmallow. When Z-Twenty-two put his prism in his mouth, Reynolds did the same.
His system ran an analysis of the food and provided the information to him as he chewed. Orange ones are safe, he told his crew. Mostly carbs. But wait until the other aliens eat before taking any. We don’t want to cause an interstellar incident.
Z-Twenty-two sampled one of every color, pausing each time to allow Reynolds to do the same. The AI wondered if the alien had guessed what he was doing.
Once the two captains had sampled each of the platters, Z-Twenty-two made a sweeping gesture. The four aliens with him each reached forward and took a prism from whichever platter was nearest. Reynolds’ crew did the same.
It’s like a crazy game of mirror, Jiya said.
Geroux smiled. I remember playing that when we were young, Jiya. You were always better.
Jiya shrugged. I was older. “This is tasty,” she said aloud, raising one of the green prisms. “What is it?”
H-Eighty-seven, sitting to her right, leaned forward. “That is Plastua Twenty-six, a fat-carbohydrate compound much loved by our young.”
“Like ice cream,” Geroux said, grinning at Jiya. “Trust you to pick the dessert first.”
Taneral tasted a tiny bite of an orange piece and set it on the table. Across the table, the Melliferi all froze, staring at the orange prism. Slowly, the Reynolds crew also turned to stare.
“Is the Metrebul Forty-three not to your liking?” Z-Twenty-two asked. Jiya wondered if she heard menace in the voice, or if that was her imagination.
Taneral bowed her head. “I do not wish to cause offense, but my body cannot process that substance. My race primarily consumes protein.”
“Ah, then you will wish to try the blue,” H-Eighty-seven said, rotating the turntable to place the blue platter within easy reach. “They are seventy percent protein and thirty percent fat.”
Everyone held their breath as Taneral took a blue prism and raised it to her lips. After a small bite, she smiled and pushed the rest into her mouth. Around the table, everyone sighed in relief.
If she is going to come to these shindigs, Asya said, we might want to get her looped into the comms. This situation could have been avoided.
“How is this substance made?” Takal asked aloud, his ever-curious mind piqued. He leaned across Jiya to speak to the alien. When they started discussing chemical compounds and extrusion methods, she sat back and tuned out.
Reynolds, the construction of these sustenance prisms is genius, Takal said. If you are looking for trade items, the process for making them could be of the utmost value to us. I believe they can be used in the agroprinters to increase efficiency and nutrition.
I was just thinking the same, Geroux said. The orange and blue ones, in particular, could provide most of our health requirements in a concentrated form without sacrificing taste.
Not the green? Jiya asked wistfully. They’re my favorites.
We could make the green ones, too, Geroux said, grinning.
“Z-Twenty-two,” Reynolds said, loudly, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. “Although we cannot offer offensive military items, we are open to trading other technology.”
I thought we weren’t going to trade any military items? Asya said.
The planetary defense ring from Grindlevik 3 is safe enough, Reynolds replied.
“Your scientist mentioned an agroprinter to H-Eighty-seven,” Z-Twenty-two said. “He said our food formulations might provide excellent raw materials for your printer. The idea of varying the consistency, appearance, and flavor of our sustenance blocks using such a printer is appealing to us. Perhaps we can trade the designs for a printer for the formulations of our food blocks.”
“Done!” Reynolds replied, jumping up and holding out his hand. Jiya leaned back, surprised by the quick agreement.
Z-Twenty-two appeared to be confused for a moment, then he leapt to his feet as well and thrust his arm forward like Reynolds. The two captains looked at their hands, which were back to back about six centimeters apart, then at each other. Reynolds smiled. “It is customary in my culture to seal a deal with a handshake.” He turned to Maddox, and the two humanoids demonstrated.
“Excellent,” said Z-Twenty-two. He pressed his soft pad against Reynolds’ hand and wrapped the claw gently around it, shaking enthusiastically. “Done!”
Chapter Ten
Reynolds strode onto the bridge of the s
uperdreadnought. Asya and Jiya followed.
“Captain on the bridge,” Maddox announced, moving to his customary place.
“He loves it when you go all military like that,” Tactical said.
“Sometimes, I think you must be fifteen-year-old Reynolds,” Jiya told the personality. “Always ready with a one-liner or a comeback.”
“Hot seventeen-year-old Reynolds, maybe,” Tactical mused. “I’m definitely past that gawky acne stage.”
Ignoring the argument, Reynolds took the command seat Maddox had vacated. “Ensign, plot a course back to Reichof Six. As soon as Geroux and Takal have finished exchanging tech specs, we’re on our way.”
“What about that storm that brought us here?” Ria asked. “Do you think we’ll run into another one?”
Reynolds shrugged. “I don’t think we collected enough data to determine its origin, so it’s possible. Let’s try to enter the Reichof system closer to Six’s orbit. Hopefully, that was a freak incident, only occurring outside the Oort cloud. Taneral’s People have been there before and didn’t mention any anomalies. Can you get a more precise lock on where the Gate drive will open?”
“I did extensive calculations while you were having tea on the Melliferi ship,” she deadpanned as if she didn’t care that she’d missed the fun. “I believe I have tweaked the system to provide better accuracy. We still have the possibility of a larger margin of error than we’ve previously enjoyed, but I’ve got it down to 5.2x10-4 light-years rather than half a light-year.”
Reynolds whistled. “That’s some serious tweaking. Excellent work, Ensign! That should at least keep us within the solar system we’re aiming for.”
“Do we have to worry about dropping into a star?” Maddox asked. “That would put a crimp in our day.”
“No, there are safeguards in place that prevent us from Gating into a solar or planetary mass,” Ria said. “The only real problem is distance.”
