Chapter 16: Tale 2, Ch 4: An Alien Ship

“No, we finally convinced him to go to sleep,” Commander Jacobson said in the Control Room. A minimal crew joined her at their stations.

It had been two days since they’d engaged the drive. The colors outside the window now reflected a deep purple. Ashley Jacobson had liked the bright green best but enjoyed how the colors changed as the ship passed through space. Variety made this dull time more exciting.

“The man wouldn’t be pleased unless he could be everywhere on Bound at once. Even then he’d be concerned,” Jacobson continued.

The Control Room operators chuckled. It was all in good fun. The captain wasn’t too serious of a man, for all the show he put on, and more a good-natured scientist than a military officer.

The drive was getting boring, but most of the crew was taking it well enough. The science officers they had on board were glued to the scanners night and day. While engaged in drive, they could only get minimal scans, but out this far from Home anything they found was new and exciting. Ashley laughed at the memory of one of the officers jumping and dancing after finding a trace reading of a planet with high life contents. This could mean years of new biological study for them.

“Hourly diagnostic complete, Commander,” Lieutenant Grim said as he closed a panel lining the back of the Control Room. “Nothing to report. The drive has been fully repaired. We passed through a system with two suns a few minutes ago and that’s why the colors went crazy.”

“Excellent,” Jacobson said. “Make sure the captain has that report when he wakes up. And give it to the science officers, too. They always find drive phenomena interesting.”

Some teams were still drilling down in the cargo bay, preparing themselves for whatever wilderness they might find on Alturin. Ashley thought that adventuring group would be as thrilled about the destination if it took a year to get there. They had the hearts of little boys looking for buried treasure.

Ashley’s buried treasure was just being a part of opening a new planet to Home’s people. She had grown up on Home and always wanted to travel to the other planets. She’d lived on Trell for a while and visited the others Home explorers had founded as well. Now she was going to see an entirely new planet that no one had ever been to before.

“Commander,” Dredge Stevens said, closing one of Corrin’s thick books and marking his page. “What do you think we’ll find there? Did the readings show much wildlife?”

Ashley had wondered the same thing herself. “All the readings we had before we left showed only that it was a very green planet. Whether that means it’s swampy or full of trees I don’t know. All we know is it’s inhabitable,” Ashley said. She hoped there was new wildlife.

“What about… people?” Stevens asked, slowly drumming his fingers on the book’s hard cover.

This was the question everyone had. The top officers had discussed it in the beginning and knew that the question of human life didn’t affect their mission. It was nonetheless a tantalizing question.

“Don’t know on that either,” Jacobson said simply. “There could be cities. But there could be none as well. The readings couldn’t tell.”

“But life on another planet. Wow, that’s…” Stevens said, his fingers going click-click-click on the book as he paused in thought.

“You know how much that would change?” Grim said. “We’d have new people, new food, new customs.” Grim whistled. “Sure hope they like us.”

“Then you better not talk to them,” Myers said.

The two shared an uncomfortable laugh.

Ashley thought the remark funny, but didn’t laugh. The conversation put her in an awkward mood. No other planet had ever had intelligent life on it.

Every time a livable one had been discovered, Home anticipated new people to talk with. But every planet had been empty of all but animals. They were all interesting and wonderful, but the question of if the people of Home were alone in the universe was left unanswered. There were the Sevens Prophets, but they acted as if they were a part of Home and only vaguely implied that they weren’t so most people didn’t consider them alien. Ashley didn’t know if she hoped this trip would end the dilemma about life in the universe, but she was glad Home was finally branching out from its solar system.

“Captain,” Corrin said as she approached Chance in the corridor.

“What is it, Corrin?” Chance asked, not stopping as he walked from his bunk to the Control Room.

Corrin forced him to a halt, putting a firm hand on his shoulder. He turned to face the Prophet.

“No matter what happens today, I want you to promise me that you will act with all the propriety you can muster,” she said.

“What?” Chance asked. He had been confused by the Prophet before. Checking his behavior was just weird.

“Promise me that you will act in a professional and wise manner no matter what we encounter.”

“As always, Corrin.” Chance gave her a concerned look and was about to say something. He decided against it, and turned back toward the Control Room, shoving her hand off and saying, “Stop doing that.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Twelve hours later, Chance was back at the Control Room. They would come out of drive soon and he wanted to make sure everything was perfect before they hit Alturin.

Nothing much happened during the drive. Chance had avoided Corrin for the most part, except when he wanted her to scan the ship for problems. She never found anything wrong but she also never lost that eager grin of hers.

“Prepare the drive to disengage,” Chance said, standing at his semi-circular monitor station.

Myers flowed codes into his panel.

“Standard engines are powered and ready. We should have control when we come out of drive,” Jacobson said from her panel.

Chance rubbed his chin as he quickly scanned his half-ring of monitors.

“Good,” he said. Chance didn’t want the ship to careen into the planet. Early drive tests had ended with ships not having power after leaving drive. None of these were near a planet, so they got the knack of it afterwards. But with a drive this long the calculations could have been off, and he wanted Bound ready to avoid collision with Alturin.

He tried to tell himself he wasn’t worried. Mic was at the controls and that eased his mind a bit. What worried him was that conversation with Corrin. Why she was concerned with his behavior was a question that ached his brain.

Chance didn’t know what she had meant but it did not help the situation. Part of him was thrilled with the upcoming event. Part of him wanted to turn back right then because of the danger.

“Drive nearing countdown, Captain,” Myers said watching his readings intently, a trickle of sweat coming down his forehead.

“Signal drive ending,” Chance said.

“Will be, sir,” Commander Jacobson said, and flipped the little switch on her control panel. A low, rising pitch sounded from the ship’s speakers, then stopped.

“Corrin,” Chance said in the brief pause as people began to hold their breath, “is there anything you need to tell me?” He asked it as if he was talking about the ship, but gave her a look that demanded to know anything she hadn’t told him, anything at all.

“Nothing, Chance,” Corrin said with a serene smile. “Strength to your skill.”

Chance turned back to his monitors and ignored her.

“Beginning countdown,” Myers said, and coded for the drive to power down. “Three, two, one, drive disengaging.”

Myers’s stream of codes ended and the drive turned off. The colors in the window froze. This was another drive phenomenon, a beautiful collage painted window. It would only last a few seconds and they’d be out. In these brief lapses entering and exiting drive, Chance always had to question if he was still alive.

Suddenly, the colors disappeared. They didn’t fade but flashed away as if they’d never been there. And in the window the crew now saw a deep green planet. Chance couldn’t help but smile. It was beautiful. It was just as green as it had been in his dreams, and this wonderful moment was everything he thought it could be. They had reached Alturin safely.

The moment was just that, after the half-second of delight it took for the crew to realize they had seen the unknown planet, they saw another ship pointing right at them and looking like it had just slowed down.

The ship was enormous, bulky, and angular with many lights blinking all around it. It didn’t look like any ship Chance had ever seen.

“What is that?” Chance asked, not sure if he was worried or angry.

“It looks like it got here right when we did, sir. Doesn’t look like a Fleet vessel,” Jacobson said, looking no less stunned.

“Check it over. Tell me what it is.”

“Will be, sir” Jacobson quickly activated the ship’s scanners.

Chance caught Corrin in the corner of his eye. The Prophet was still smiling. From the nearly tearful look in her eyes, Chance thought she looked almost overjoyed. He realized he was squeezing a handle on his monitors and loosened his grip.

“I’m reading high power emissions,” Jacobson announced. “But they’re strange. I can’t get a clear reading on what it has, but I know for sure that it’s not anything Home or the other planets have made. This is something new.”

“New life,” Grim said, and fell back into his chair. He had been stiff as a board but now he sat in disbelief with his jaw hanging open, the standard response, it seemed.

Chance hated that he had no way to defend himself. The unknown ship looked like a massive metal throne, wide and strong enough for an enormous king, and if it became hostile all he could do was run. Chance wished he had weapons, now more than ever.

“Comm them. Let’s talk and find out what they want,” Chance said, trying to remain calm. The simultaneous joy of finding new life and fearing they might want to harm them was nearly paralyzing. “And keep Bound still, I don’t want to make an aggressive-looking move.”

“Will be, sir,” Jacobson said.

“Don’t worry about aggression, Captain,” Corrin said, and laughed. “Can’t you see what this is?” She pointed at the ship out the window. “This is a ship from a different world, not from Sevens or Home but somewhere else. Don’t you know what that means?”

The crew turned to Corrin and back to the ship. To them, she was right, and a few began panting in the excitement.

“Can you talk with them, Corrin?” Grim asked.

“The only thing I see, Corrin, is an alien ship. And it is my duty to take all precautions necessary to ensure the safety of this Fleet vessel,” Chance snapped, ignoring the excitement.

“They won’t harm you, Captain, if you’ll just be patient—” Corrin tried but Chance interrupted her.

“Jacobson, what’s taking those readings?” Chance walked over to Corrin. “I have to take into account the most pessimistic thing that could happen. I’m flying blind here, Corrin, and have no choice but to assume—”

“Captain, I’m having trouble,” Jacobson said, trying to hide her concern. “The signal’s going out but it’s not being received.”

“Try again,” Chance said, wiping off a small trickle of sweat that had gotten into his eye. “Myers, code in a drive back to the nearest thing we can get to. I want a way out just in case.” Chance turned away from Corrin.

“Will be, sir. But it will take a while to code it in,” Myers said, and looked intently to his controls as he began coding. “With this being a new entry.”

“It’s not working, sir. They must use a different system than we do. Should I try Bail Code, sir?” Jacobson asked, her voice cracking as the only sign she wasn’t completely calm.

Bail Code was a code transmitted by flashing lights, and Chance knew this would be pointless. “No, if they can’t receive our signal then they won’t understand Bail Code. The lights would only confuse them,” Chance said, and rubbed his chin, trying to think of a way to communicate. He missed the friction of rubbing his whiskers, nearly every day forgetting to shave. Today, Corrin had reminded him. “Have they shown any sign of hostility?”

“None, Captain,” Mic said, now a twitch away from getting Bound far from this new ship.

No hostility, no communication, and no clue what the other’s intentions were. The crew waited patiently and hopingly for Chance’s orders. Chance had just as much an idea what to do as they did. His cautious nature told him to turn the drive on and run away. His coolness told him to wait for a way to communicate with them. And his eagerness to see this new planet told him to fight them off, as foolish as that would be.

The person who looked at him most oddly was Corrin. The Prophet only stared patiently, eager to see what Chance would do. It irritated him to the core. He shook it off and looked to the faces of his crew. They were all fearful, but willing.

“Take us down,” Chance said, and quickly shifted his screens to find a suitable landing spot on Alturin.