Patrol went usual. It always does. They have to patrol all the time, but everyone knows nothing will happen anyway. It’s been a few long hours on the ship, the whole crew made smalltalk, played cards, read books, listened to music, or really did whatever to distract themselves from the boredom. The whole crew… but one person. Venato Alrot Was quite enthusiastic about his job, looking forward to every “boring” patrol mission. He’d always wanted to become a policeman. Even though nothing was really going on most of the time, he enjoyed the thrill of when something did eventually happen. For that, and a track record of a few very successful missions, he had been made captain of one of the ships used to patrol the Luxa-Magna system. As he and his crew were finishing the report and about to fly back to base, Venato noticed something… unusual, just outside the window. He didn’t know it yet, but that day would prove to be one of the most eventful of his life.
Their head hurt… or did her head hurt? It was all so confusing, like waking up from a dream you never had. She tried to focus on everything around her, but found she couldn’t. There was supposed to be something about the drink… the taste, maybe? She centered herself on it’s fruity aftertaste, and found the details of the ship became clear once again.
How do people live like this? It’s so quiet, so isolated. It’s just me and my thoughts to keep myself company.
And she suddenly realized, for the first time in 20 years, she was thinking as an individual.
Huh, what do you know?
The Captain and First Officer were “talking” to each other, which still seemed strange despite pheromones being the primary form of communication in Colonus. The Captain… one of the few Mandi Workers to achieve such a high rank in the military… and she was drifting again. These thoughts that kept distracting her seemed to pop up at random. She’d need to find a way to control them, or else they might never return home.
For the vast majority of it’s existence, the Colonus Pact was stuck unable to communicate with the other powers around it. Refusing to be kept in the dark, the empire’s best scientists and engineers developed the technology to send spies into the other territories to learn about their celestial neighbors.
And then the Purification War happened, and everything changed.
The Captain and First Officer seemed to finish their discussion, and the Captain walked over to her. Unlike the soldier-cast First Officer, the Captain was less than half her height, standing at roughly a meter tall. Like her, he had also been required to separate himself from the hive. He was the negotiator; she was simply the translator. Out there, somewhere, was a Colestian ship.
All they could do was wait.
They didn’t have to wait long. The captain was quick to respond to this strange presence. He hasn’t seen this thing when he was at this spot earlier today, and he’s not one to miss oddities while on patrol, even if they’re slight details. He turned the ship around to see clearly what he had spotted. He was… shocked, to say the least.
"Crew, get into positions! We’ve spotted an intruder ship in territory! - He shouted into the microphone on the control pad, his voice resonating though out the entire deck through the speakers. The others, possibly as surprised and confused as Venato, ran to their positions on the bridge. This was the mission he’d always dreamed of. Real action, not dealing with petty thieves. Hee took up a microphone, a different one this time, and started speaking, sending a message to the alien ship.
"Crew of the alien vessel, you are trespassing deep in the territory of the Common Republic of Colestia. Explain your presence and reveal your intentions immediately, or we will be forced to arrest you."
She rolled her eyes as the message was translated for her. She released the proper communication pheromones, and the Captain seemed to chuckle. If anything, the Colestians had spirit. Vthara had to remind herself that they were there to learn, not to trade insults.
Vthara… my name… it’s been so long…
Vthara shook her head. She had to stay focused. The Captain was relyaying his response to her. And somewhere, deeper in the spy ship, the First Officer was overseeing the vaporization of the cloaking device.
Colonus fully expected Colestia to discover the full details eventually, but wisdom dictated such details be reserved for after the initiation (or failure thereof) of relations.
“Colestian Patrol Ship, this is Second Officer Vthara translating for the Captain of this ship. We assure you, we mean the Common Republic no harm. We understand you’ve also met the Galactyans. Due to our mutual… acquaintance, we were sent to open a dialogue with your Republic. Unfortunately, this ship happens to be a little outdated, and was rendered inoperable after a recent collision. I apologize if our intrusion into your territory seems a little blunt, but I hope you’ll appreciate the different cultures at play.”
Venato was… kind of upset that the aliens were friendly, he had hoped he’d get some action out of this situation, but at the same time, he was relieved, since he knew that the aliens likely possessed weaponry much more dangerous than the ones the police wielded, almost surely ones lethal. Nevertheless, a first contact was still much more than he was expecting from the day, so he was excited and determined as ever.
Well in that case, what would you like to discuss?
Vthara let out a sigh of relief. Older spy ships hadn’t been equipped with any kind of conventional weaponry. If things had gone wrong, they would have been forced to set off enough explosives to make the wreckage of both ships unidentifiable.
The captain must of picked up on her emotions, since he released the caution pheromone; they weren’t out of this yet. The captain signaled to her to resume translation.
“There are some personal questions we have, but that’s better left for our higher-ups, should they choose- argh” Vthara fell to the floor, clutching her head. All the talking, pheromones, and otherwise non-hive behavior was wearing her out, not to mention giving her a horrible headache.
She slowly stumbled back to her feet and continued to translate. “Apologies, it appears I was injured during the accident, nothing our medical officer can’t fix after we finish repairing our ship. Anyways, back to the heart of our discussion; we want to know about you as a people. What are you like? What are your societal tendencies? Anything that would help us decide wether our societies would be able to successfully open relations; anything that would i form us of wether you’re a potential threat. Excuse me for a moment.”
Vthara gestured to the bottle, and the Captain poured them both more of the drink.
How do people live like this? Lord Araknis must truly be a man of strength to survive with such individuality.
Vthara waited for the Colestians to respond.
“Well, to generalize, we’re a peaceful people with culture centered mostly around art and science. We build our cities in the treetops of our native forests, or artificially by building massive walls on which we walk and build, if the body can’t support our flora. We don’t practice agriculture, since we need no food for sustenance. Aside from you, we’ve met four other space-fearing civilizations so far, but we know of the presence of multitudes more. I think that sums up the basics well. Now please, tell us what your nation and people are like.”
Vthara looked at the Captain. She was unsure how much they were authorized to reveal. The Captain, ever practical, didn’t communicate anything. He wouldn’t be taking any blame for this.
“Yes, of course. We hail from the Colonus Pact, a union between two star nations that blossomed into a…” she paused. According to their data, the Colestians had no problem with monarchies. Besides, the form of government couldn’t hurt. “Sorry, blossomed into a constitutional monarchy. We are a proud and secretive people. We keep to ourselves, but try to learn about events happening around us.”
“Ah, I see. Thank you for your information. Now, you mentioned relations before, yes? Would you like to discuss potential pacts or forms of diplomacy? We’re hoping to establish positive relations with your people, and we hope the desire is mutual. I can’t make official decisions, but I can inform the government of your potential proposals to be discussed later. I you are authorized by your monarch to speak on behalf of your state, please state your proposals.”
This was it. Soon, discussions would be over and the crew would be heading home. Vthara would be back in the hive. Or… maybe not. It had been such a long time since she’d taken personal leave, and her parents hadn’t seen her in ages. She looked towards the Captain. He was young, and probably already a father. She doubted he’d ever meet his children, few workers ever did. It seemed so easy to forget about life outside of the collective. Maybe it was time to remind people of that.
“Well, we’re not interested in any mutual defence pacts, and it would be a breach of security to exchange techology. But, how would your government feel about an information exchange agreement? Colonus will provide you with the snippets of information we pick up, and Colestia can tell us about anything you hear. And, of course, we could figure out a typical bartering arrangement.”
The Captain looked like he was going to have a heart attack. This was crazy, she wasn’t authorized to make these offers. She could be arrested for this.
But, Colonus would accept the results. They couldn’t stay isolated forever, not with such influential empires all around them. Whatever happened next, whatever became of her, she had done her duty. She had done all she could
“I will asume these are official statements made representing your government. In that case, I will give these propositions to the Councils for review. The response should arrive in no more than a week. Then, we can see how our relations develop further. I hope our future is a bright one.
So, do you have any other matters to discuss, foreign visitors?”
Vthara breathed a sigh of relief. It was settled then. Her part in this was done. She could go home.
“No, that should be all, thank you. Do we have your permission to head back to Colonian space?”
"Yes, I believe you do. But first, I request a way to contact your government in order to put the agreement of information exchange into effect. When that is done, you are free to depart whenever you like.
The captain visably relaxed as Vthara translated the message. He made his way over to a wall terminal, where he generated a Monitor communications line.
“Alright, sending the line over now. It isn’t direct, but it can connect you through to whomever you wish to talk to. Upon confirmation of your receiving the line, we’ll depart back to Colonus”
“I confirm, I got the channel. You can head out now. May our future together be prosperous.”
“Thank you, I hope to meet you again one day.”
The ship turned back towards Colonian space, building up speed. Suddenly, bright sparks appeared around the ship, and it was gone.
Vthara took a deep breath. Light Shearing always made her think she was about to die, or however it worked in BrightSpace. Maybe the light was sentient, for all she knew.
The rest of the bridge crew started to filter back in. She felt a vague longing to return to the hive, but she couldn’t, not for the time being. It would be a struggle, but she’d learn to live with it.
Heh, the future awaits
It was time to reach out and grab it