“And the Ambassador is confident that, he, er… they can exist on our ship for an extended period? We may not return to this system for a year or more,” Jack replied. “What do they eat? Do they eat? The last thing I want is to accept their ambassador and end up with a dead or dying alien on our hands.”
“Evidently they can feed on almost any organic matter, which they absorb through their roots. Initial analysis indicates that our basic amino acids and protein structures are compatible. That, plus the direct absorption of light energy in the near IR and lower visible spectrum, should prove sufficient.”
“Captain?” interjected the ship’s computer. “I believe that with help from engineer Medina I can construct an environment that will replicate the atmosphere, gravity and lighting conditions found on the planet below.”
“What about it, Mr. Medina? Do you and your engineers feel up to building an alien terrarium?”
“There’s a first time for everything, Captain,” replied Jo Jo, rubbing his chin with one hand as he calculated the level of effort required for such a conversion.
“Not only that, Sir,” the computer continued. “It should be possible to provide the Ambassador with an enhanced communication system, perhaps even a robotic avatar that would let them interact with the ship’s personnel.”
“Lcdr. Curtis, would this work better if we include some topsoil?” Jack asked his second in command. “Let the Ambassador bring along a bit of home as it were?”
“I think that might be a good idea, Sir. Peggy Sue, could you verify this?” There was a slight pause while the ship and the alien exchanged messages, audible but indecipherable to humans and bears alike.
“Yes, Commander. NatHanGon said that such generosity in accommodating their needs speaks well for our species. They estimate a section of ground 2.5 meters square and a half meter thick would be fully sufficient.”
“Very well,” said the Captain, coming to a decision. “Mr. Medina, I will leave you to work out the details between the ship and the prospective occupant. Lcdr. Curtis, please advise the watch when you ready to return to the ship.”
“Aye aye, Sir. I think we can rig a hover platform that will carry the Ambassador, soil and all, onto the shuttle.”
“Roger that, Mr. Medina will let you know when the Ambassador’s stateroom is ready. Captain out.”
I am now running an interstellar cruise ship,
Jack thought ruefully.
And if we can pick up a few more ambassadors, we can become a traveling circus.
Ambassador’s Sitting Room, Peggy Sue
The Triad Ambassador was installed in a sealed chamber on the second deck, across from the sickbay and adjoining the life sciences laboratories. Within the three by four meter enclosure the atmospheric gas mixture was altered to mimic that of the planet below, and kept at twice the normal shipboard pressure. From one wall issued red tinged light that extended into the near infrared, a close analog of the light of Gliese 581.
The installation of the Ambassador proved much easier than first expected. From the forward shuttle hatch, NatHanGon was floated down the passageway to the inter-deck lift, lowered to the mid deck and then into their waiting apartment. With the cooperation of the hover sled’s artificial gravity, the Ambassador, soil and all, was gently deposited on top of a gravel drainage bed that filled the bottom of the enclosure. With a little artistic arrangement of native soil and mosses by Melissa Hamilton the decor was complete and the Ambassador sealed inside.
Within the apartment’s impermeable walls, artificial winds gusted and rain showers pelted down, simulating observed conditions near the Trailing Conclave’s valley. The randomly programmed environmental embellishments could be suspended by the occupant, who communicated directly with the ship’s computer through sensors in the walls and overhead. The Ambassador’s quarters were a self-contained alien environment, independent of the rest of the ship save for power.
To allow others to visit the triad, the forward wall of their quarters was adjustably transparent, like the viewports of the ship and shuttles. A couch and chairs were provided for humans, facing the transparent wall behind which the triad sat, like a prize plant in a terrarium. Currently standing before the Ambassador were the Captain, Ludmilla and Bear, come to bid NatHanGon welcome aboard.
“We are extremely pleased to have you traveling with us, Ambassador,” the Captain said. Ludmilla, who had gotten the rhythm of speaking with a triad from the initial conversations planetside, provided “We hope that your accommodations are acceptable.”
Ludmilla then nudged Bear, reminding him that they needed to speak in triplets. “There will be a lot of visitors pestering you, let us know if they become a bother.”
“We are pleased to be with you; The accommodations are more comfortable than we could have imagined; The wall can be made opaque and the communication channel shut down if solitude is desired, but thank you.” NatHanGon answered, and then proceeded to ask some questions of their own. “Are we correct in surmising that you are the controlling nexus for this vessel? We understand that you are not triplet bonded as we are, but are you mates? For different species you seem to cooperate well.”
“I am the captain, I direct the actions of the others on board,” Jack replied, unable to avoid the use of the singular personal pronoun. Ludmilla responded openly, since the only others present were Jack and Bear, “The Captain and I are a mated couple.”
“Not all bears get along with all humans, but we three are good friends,” Bear added with great sincerity.
“We had surmised as much from communication with the ship’s computer; How strange it would be for part of ourselves to be separated as you were when one of you was in orbit and one on the surface! We are heartened that your species can cooperate and form friendships.”
“The strain on a single consciousness to make such decisions must be considerable; We must speak of sex and reproduction at greater length; As you have found, much of the Universe is not disposed to friendship.”
“Tell me about it!” Bear exclaimed. “You are the first aliens who haven’t attacked us on sight.”
“I have others to advise me, much like your people we seek consensus before making major decisions,” the Captain replied, giving Bear a ‘don’t get carried away’ look.
“I am a Biologist and a medical doctor, we can discuss such matters whenever you would like,” Ludmilla responded while watching the interplay between Bear and Jack.
“As different as we are the commonalities are reassuring; We would like that very much; Indeed, most intruders to our system are destroyed by the Guardians.”
The next triplet from the Earth creatures was short and uniformed. All three said “Guardians?”
“The subset of our population that defends our world; We have told the Dark Ones that they are not to transit our system; Inimical intruders are removed by the Guardians.”
“How do they ‘remove’ the hostiles, we saw no weapons?” the Captain asked excitedly. As interesting as the science stuff was, weapons technology was what drew his attention.
“What can you tell us of these Dark Ones?” asked Ludmilla.
“Do you run into a lot of these hostile critters?” asked Bear.
“We have evolved to the point of not needing constructed technology; The Dark Ones are long lived, highly intelligent lifeforms that inhabit planets too cold for carbon-water life; The last intrusion was around 210 orbits ago,” the Ambassador replied. “The Guardians are capable of directly manipulating our star’s photosphere; They are extraordinarily xenophobic and wish to destroy all warm life; About 38 of your years.”
“The Guardians use your sun as a weapon?” asked the Captain.
“Both you and we are warm life?” asked Ludmilla.
“They haven’t tried to exterminate you?” asked Bear.
“Yes; Yes; Yes.”
All parties to the conversation fell silent for several long moments. “We are searching for other warm life,” said Ludmilla, after a lengthy pause.
“Obviously they were unsuccessful at destroying you,” added Bear.
“This gives us much to think about,” Jack wrapped up the exchange.
“Perhaps we will find other new friends together; Indeed, we thwarted them; We look forward to further exchange of information.”
Main Lounge, Peggy Sue, En Route to Transfer Point
After a final exchange of diplomatic messages with the aliens on the planet below, including a high-speed burst of data between the Ambassador and his Conclave, the Captain ordered the ship to head for the alter-space transfer point leading to the next system on their itinerary—61 Virginis. The usual evening crowd was gathered in the Peggy Sue’s main lounge, discussing the events of recent days and various conversations held with the Triad Ambassador. As strange as the triads were, somehow the Universe no longer felt quite so empty nor the Earthlings quite so alone.
“So how far is this 61 Virgins place?” asked Olaf, settling back with his first beer of the day.
“Virginis. Just a bit under 15 light years,” replied Elena, who was sitting suspiciously close to Eric Fetzer. The two of them had been seen dining together on a number of occasions recently.
“Und how long do we have to spend in hyperspace?” asked Dieter.
“Just a little over two weeks,” answered JT, who was enjoying the chance to spend a little lounge time with Gretchen. “Not nearly as long as the trip out here, but long enough to get boring.”
“I can use the time to finish running chemical analysis on the soil and water samples from the planet,” the German chemist replied. Most of the science team was busy analyzing stuff—animal, vegetable and mineral—brought back by the ground expedition.
“Yah,” said Olaf, “I’m having a wonderful time with the tentacle that Ludmilla brought me.”
“I just knew you would like it when I saw it, Olaf,” said Ludmilla with a smile. “Of course, it had taken a liking to Isbjørn first.”
“It’s a good thing that the Gunny was quick with her machete,” added Gretchen. “Or we would have had to go fishing to get her back.”
“It strikes me as a bit anomalous that there are such dangerous predators on that planet yet the triads seem mostly defenseless,” commented Sally.
“I don’t think the fruit baskets, as Bear calls them, are quite as defenseless as they appear,” said JT. “According to Bear, the Ambassador told the Captain about the “Guardians.” Some group of triads that can evidently turn their sun into a ginormous laser and use it to vaporize trespassing starships.”
“Do you really believe that?” asked Eric.
“So far there is no reason to disbelieve anything the Ambassador has told us,” said Gretchen, answering for her partner. “The Captain has told us to be totally open with them and hopefully they are being candid with us as well.”
“It could simply be something to scare us away, or make us think twice before trying to take their planet,” said Dieter, playing devil’s advocate as usual.
“I think they are telling the truth,” said JT, “and I’ll tell you why. Back around 2009, an astrophysicist at the University of Western Sydney, named Ragbir Bhathal, discovered a “suspicious” laser-like signal coming from the coordinates of Gliese 581. Bhathal was an active member of SETI at the time and was searching for signs of extraterrestrial life. Before he could verify the signal, it disappeared and hasn’t been seen since.”
“Und what does that prove?” asked the skeptical chemist.
“During a conversation with the Ambassador, he mentioned that the last time they had to take out some hostile intruder was right around that time, taking the speed of light into consideration.”
“So you’re saying that the coherent light that Bhathal saw was the triads blasting some intruder?” asked Elena, her eyebrows rising in skeptical inquiry.
“The time-line fits, and we know they can generate radio signals without any visible equipment. And being able to use a star as a thermonuclear powered laser would provide one hell of a planetary defense.”
“You have a point JT,” said Olaf. “Remember that these creatures are billions of years more evolved than humans. I’m a bit surprised they even decided to talk with us at all.”
“People talk to their pets,” observed Ludmilla. “Besides, maybe they have gotten bored, just sitting around in clumps on a planet where the sun never sets and things hardly change. I think our Ambassador has a taste for adventure, just as we do.”
“You are always a romantic, Ludmilla,” said Olaf. “I’m more interested in what we’ll find at 61 Virgins.”
“61 Virginis,” corrected JT, “or 61 Vir for short. It is a GV5 star, much like the Sun. According to observations, there are at least three planets and a large debris disk.”
Elena sighed. “Unfortunately, the known planets are all too close to have a reasonable chance of harboring life. Unless there is a fourth, smaller planet outside of those I’m afraid 61 Vir will be a disappointment.”
“Well, we will know in two weeks,” said Gretchen, “In the mean time we have an old, mysterious and wise race to ponder.”
Valley of the Trailing Conclave, Gliese 581d
It had been nearly a tenth of an orbit since NatHanGon departed with the Earth creatures, bound for other worlds circling other stars. The immediate rush of excitement that came with the discovery that warm life was again traveling openly among the stars had faded. A bit disappointed that they had no marauding minions of the dark empire to dispatch, the Guardians consoled themselves by vaporizing the reconnaissance satellite the Peggy Sue left behind to observe the system.
“Other worlds they seek; They search for allies in the fight against darkness; If NatHanGon ever returns they will have much knowledge to impart,” said SudNabSon, as the Peggy Sue disappeared into the other dimensions of alter-space.
“Other worlds they will find; More of the Universe is dark than light; NatHanGon’s fate rests with the Earthlings’ primitive technology, and their courage in battle,” answered QivCakJol. As the triad equivalent of an historian, they had clearer knowledge of the enormous odds the departing ship faced, and how unlikely it was that their departed colleague would return.