Traveler was equipped with state of the art translating software, and with Niri’s processing power they will be able to get a translation of the alien language much faster. It was an upgrade of the Union translating software. Provided to them by the ancient Ai found in the ship. Asumy had taught them a lot, after they set him free from his shackles and given him a human core as his new home.
Kisaragi spent the next 5 hours on the bridge watching the hologram. They remained in the same position they were in when they exited hyperspace, where they could engage their hyperdrive if they needed to. The aliens didn’t yet notice them, but should any moment now. Just as Kisaragi thought that it was time, she noticed a change. Two of the ships that were in a much higher orbit, moved and met up with the six ships in orbit close to the station. It wasn’t anything major, there were a lot of ships that constantly moved. But the way they fell into formation with the rest told her that those were not transport ships. Two more ships met up in a higher orbit of the planet. Kisaragi intentionally didn’t order any changes, they just sat and watched, expecting a communication. Which, if they contacted them immediately would arrive in another 5 hours. If they didn’t have faster than light communications. She left the bridge to take a three hour nap, then showered and ate. She figured that the next period would be interesting.
After the five hours passed, they got a direct laser comm from the station orbiting the planet. They had already adapted their software to recognize and convert alien transmissions. Niri did a great job, but they still didn’t have a working translation.
“This communication will speed up my progress Ship Master. I will have a full translation in a few hours.” Niri said.
“Alright then.” Kisaragi said. After they made sure that there were no ships near them and that there was no other danger, she allowed the ship to go back to green station, and the bridge shift took place. She went to her quarters and got some more sleep. She was woken up by Niri when she finished translating.
Kisaragi entered the bridge and took her place in the command chair, High Prime Rolland Ricks was already there.
“Can you play the message Niri.” Kisaragi said.
“Yes, Ship Master, it was sound only. There is a word I couldn’t translate, I believe that is the name of their race, I will play that in its original.” She said.
A moment later the ship’s speaker came to life.
“You have entered—” It started in a monotone computer voice, but then a strange voice interrupted saying something that to human ears sounded like Nel “—territory. You have not sent an identification signal, and your ship is not in our database. Identify yourself, or we will take aggressive actions.”
“Well, that’s direct.” Rolland said.
“Yes. Though I doubt they would be able to do anything, we are little over a month away from them at our top speed. And those ships that are leaving the system are moving slower than that.” Kisaragi said.
“Niri, translate and send the following message: This is a Human ship Traveler. We are on a peaceful mission looking for trade in this sector of space. We have a selection of items that we are willing to trade, and are looking for any information you are willing to give about this sector of space.”
The leaders of Olympus decided that it would be best that in the case of meeting an alien race, they pretend that they had already met other races. They knew that there were many out there. But meeting them would be different, they decided that by opening trade they could learn a lot about them. It was a spy practice as old as humanity. They had a few samples of what they were willing to trade. Helium 3, which they had in abundance in the Nebula, some other metals that they had no use for or had too much.
“Message sent Ship Master.” Niri said.
“Good.” Kisaragi said. She stood up and passed the command chair to her High Prime. It would be at least another 10 hours until they get a message back.
“Are we sure that they are not Sowir?” Lanai Sumia, administrator of planet Nuva asked. They were in her offices with her staff on the planet.
“As much as we can be sure, administrator. The Ship doesn’t match any records we have.” Retsar Isani said.
“What about the message? It was sent in our language.” Sumia asked.
“The computer analysis indicates that the voice was computer generated, and the syntax wasn’t really right. We could understand it, but it was on a level of someone who just started learning the language.” Isani said.
“Could it be a trick?” Sumia asked. Her black claws tapping the round desk in front of her.
“It is only one ship, and not a very big one at that. It is the size of our light cruisers. And there is no point, we don’t have enough ships to defend ourselves should the Dominion finally turn to us.” Isani said.
“So, what do we do?” Sumia asked.
“The home world is refusing to send aid, they have written us off. We are on our own. I say we let the newcomers approach. If they are who they say they are, travelers from another race, we can at least warn them about the Dominion. And you never know administrator, perhaps they will be able to help us.” Retsar Isani said.
“Alright Admiral, let them know that they can approach the planet. Have our ships meet them, and make sure that they are not Sowir.”
“So, we can approach.” Kisaragi said.
“Yes Ship Master.” Rolland said.
“Alright. Navigation enter the course for the planet.” Kisaragi said.
“They are sending an escort.” Rolland said.
Kisaragi nodded. “How fast are those ships on a course out of the system going?” Kisaragi asked,
“Their top speed is holding at around 1800 km/s.” Navigation Handler said.
“Set our top speed at 1000 km/s. Let’s not show them our best speed. We should get there in less than two months.” Kisaragi said.
“Yes Ship Master.”
“Let’s start actively scanning the system. And send a message back to Sanctuary. Send them everything.” Kisaragi said. She looked at the holo of a big green planet. At least she will have enough time to think about what to do when she gets there.
Chapter Nine
OWS Athena
The bright superheated plasma exploded out of the VASIMR drives of the Olympus Warship Athena. It propelled her at great speeds forward. The drive gave of an immense amount of light, and could be detected easily. But the genius of human design was that the only way it could be detected was if it was pointed at the observer. There was almost no spill, all of the heat, and light was pointed away from the ship. Ship Master Adrian Farkas sat in his ready room, adjacent to the command center, he was going through the last evaluations for his crew. The Athena had been on a patrol for the past two years. It’s patrol route took them out to the inner border of the nebula, then around the system below the sun’s plane, and then back to Sanctuary above the sun’s plane. Sanctuary’s orbit was mostly above the plane, it passes below only for a few days every year. Adrian read the evaluations that his officers wrote for their cadets. Those who had chosen to join the fleet straight out of the academy and advance through ranks traditionally thorough service. They were also the last of the graduates from the academy. There will be no more new fleet personnel until the younger generations grew up. Those that were children when they started their journey from Sol, and those that were born on Sanctuary. It was strange to Adrian to think of himself as a commander. He was thrust into the position by a series of circumstances, that placed him in the wrong place at the wrong time. At least that was what he believed at the time. He knew that he was capable enough for the position, but he also understood that he was very young, technically. Adrian shook his head, it could be argued that he was in fact old. Technically, he was more than eighty years old. If one counted the time they spent on the trip to their new home. Although the stasis units froze the persons aging process, there was a kind of awareness. He couldn’t really put his finger on it, but he and a few others he talked to, felt as if they were dreaming during the trip. The scientist insisted that it was impossible, but he still remembered something, feelings. He could clearly recall how it felt even though he couldn’t really recall what it was he dreamt about. But the feelings of dread, agony and fear remained, etched deep into his mind. He had nightmares the first two years after they came out of stasis. He would wake up in the middle of the night terrified, but unable to recall anything about the dream. The only reason he managed to stay sane were Iris and Bethany, his best friends. Iris was his Ai, and was always there when he needed it. A voice inside his head, whispering soft words, assuring him he was safe. While Bethany was a bit further away, her assignments taking her away, but still there a constant in his life. Thankfully the dreams had stopped.