“Is there anything else?” Lanai Sumia asked.
“No Lanai.” Esama said.
Sumia turned to Isani and gave him a small nod, signaling that he can take over.
Isani turned to Hokra Gotu. “Did you manage to uncover the reason for the readings?”
Hokra Gotu made a negative gesture with his hand. “No Retsar, they watched us closely. The only thing I can say for sure is that it was indeed coming from inside the ship.”
Sumia looked at Isani. “Readings?”
“I didn’t want to bother you, it might have been nothing but a glitch. Once our ships came close enough, they started getting readings that matched those of a ship entering hyperspace, only fainter, coming periodically from the Human ship.”
Sumia frowned. “And we don’t know what is the cause?”
“Well, we are sure that it is coming from the Human ship. It is strange, we know that hyperspace transfer within the limit is impossible, yet the readings we are getting match those of a successful hyperspace transfer. Even more baffling is that the readings sometimes come at regular intervals, and sometimes they are irregular. But we did see an increase in them since our ships met the humans.”
“Do you know what that means?” Sumia asked.
“I can only speculate. But my best people have a theory, and after reviewing all of their findings I must agree with them. The most plausible explanation is that the hyperspace bursts are in fact a form of communication.” Isani said.
“Communication? I assume that those communications were not directed at us?”
“No. And as there is no one else here, that brings us to the question, who are they speaking to?”
“And we have no idea?”
“We explored all the answers we could think of, and the one that seems most likely is that those communications are not meant for anyone in this system.”
“But you said that the bursts were regular, and we didn’t detect any comm drones entering the system.” Sumia said confused.
Isani turned his palms agreeing. “Yes, which then means that they are communicating with someone, somewhere directly.”
Sumia and the rest of the people in the room looked shocked.
“Faster than light communications?” Retnor Maret asked.
“Yes, that is the conclusion we drew.” Isani answered.
Sumia looked at Isani open-mouthed. “But that can’t be! Every Consortium scientist agreed that faster than light communications are impossible!”
“They did, but that does not mean that they were right.” Isani said.
“But how? Every report we received suggest that they are no more advanced than the Sowir were when we first encountered them. In some areas they seem even more primitive.” Sumia said.
“They seem that way Sumia. I am not entirely convinced that they are at all inferior to us.” Isani said, which surprised the others. “Their ship is made out of metal and yet moves fast, I doubt that we could have made that ship go as fast as it was moving with our drives. We just don’t know enough about them to come to an informed conclusion. We should not assume inferiority because they do things differently. We made the same mistake with the Sowir, and look where that brought us.” Isani said.
“Perhaps you are right.” Sumia said, after a moment of thought she turned to Esama. “Send for the Human party.”
Hana and Chung-Ah were escorted to a room where they were met with the diplomatic party led by Oferani Esama and three more Nel. Another female who sat at the desk at the end of the room with two males standing around her. Hana bowed her head to them as did Chung-Ah.
The female then stood, and walked around the desk followed by the two males. Early Chung-Ah learned that Nel preferred to talk while standing.
“Welcome, I am Lanai Sumia, these are Retsar Isani and Retnor Maret.” The lead female said, indicating with her head the two males first the one on her right and then on her left. Hana heard the translation almost immediately, but waited a few breaths, still pretending that it was her earpiece that translated rather than her imp.
“Thank you. I am Ship Master Kisaragi Hana, and this is Diplomat Park Chung-Ah.” Hana said and her translator reproduced her words in Nel.
“I don’t know what your protocols are for meeting another race, and starting a relationship, for us, we take the time to learn your ways as we teach you ours, and in time we expand that to trade and exchange of technology. And later introductions to other races in our Consortium, followed by inclusion in the Consortium.” Hana’s eyes widened at Lanai Sumia’s words, Consortium of races. So there are other races in this part of space. Hana thought, she also wondered whether those that attacked Voyager were part of this Consortium. Hana’s thoughts were interrupted by Lanai Sumia.
“Though I believe that there is no time for that now, so I am going to break with a lot of tradition and rules of my people and speak with you directly and honestly.” As Lanai said that, Hana could hear a gasp from Oferani Esama. Intrigued, she turned back to Lanai.
“My people prefer honesty and directness.” Hana said.
“This world is but one colony, a small colony in the Consortium. Or rather it was. The Consortium is no more.”
Hana remained silent.
“One member of the Consortium, the Sowir made a surprise attack on the rest. The four other members were taken unprepared, and since then only a handful of worlds still stand. It has come to the point where every world was on its own. There were two reasons for me asking you to come here. One was to warn you about the Sowir, so that you don’t make the same mistake we did and trust them. And the second was to see if you can help us. You will never understand how much it pains a Nel to ask for help from someone else, we are a proud people, but now this world is on its own. And we have no means to defend ourselves, we have only a few ships to stand against the Sowir, and they will come here, perhaps a few years from now, or a few months. Anyway, it does not matter, Sowir have more ships, and they will take this world in the end.”
Hana thought about the things she planned to say, all the possibilities she went through with Chung-Ah. This was not one of them. She knew that no one back at Sanctuary would want to get involved in the middle of a war, especially one that was between those most likely stronger than them. Olympus had barely 5 years to start their development, they didn’t even have one fleet of ships able to defend themselves, let alone another world. But she also knew that it was not her decision, there were other ways they could help, and she needed to send word back. But telling Lanai that she needed to send word back would entail letting them know about FTL comms. Or she could leave and then come back a year from now, when it might be too late. Hana weighed her choices and then decided. She was Olympus and they didn’t turn their back to those in need.
“I will need to speak with my superiors. And I will need all the data you have on the Sowir.” She said slowly. Lanai looked to the man on her right and then back.