Wanderer’s Eyes

 

The captain walked briskly up the corridor of the Wanderer’s Eyes, his arms moving hastily as he tried again to don his captain’s tunic. The summons by the communications officer had sounded urgent indeed. He had thought to get a little rest while the science crew had been put to the task of cataloguing the new planet they had found, but it seemed his work would never end. Reaching the gravlift, he entered his security clearance on the keypad and was whisked downwards towards the bridge to assess this new situation. His hands shook in anticipation as he thought through the decision he must now face.

The ship was a long-range exploration vessel. Simple in size, she’s crewed with a team of only sixty personnel; mostly scientists or military personnel, and used primarily for the search of habitable planets to ease the burden of their overpopulated home world. Everybody that lived on there had greedily exhausted all of their natural resources for the past four hundred years and had reduced the beautiful planet to a mere shell of its former self. These deep-space explorations had been going on for nearly fifty years now and they had not found a single planet; until now.

The planet the crew had found was the perfect place for colonization. It had an atmosphere very much like home with plenty of drinking water and an abundance of new minerals. The problem was that preliminary scans of the planet revealed it to already be inhabited. A plethora of creatures populated nearly every landmass of the planet from the lowest plains to the highest mountains. These creatures appeared very intelligent, but their technologies and sciences were far more primitive. They’ve tried on a few occasions to send four-man shuttles to the larger continents to see how some of the locals reacted to "alien visitors" coming to their home world. They’d had mixed results, as expected, but thankfully no one from the crew have been attacked as of yet. It was hoped that the communications team hadn’t received a call to break that streak yet. They were about to find out.

The bridge is bustling with activity when the captain arrived. He can smell the tension in the air as he stroll over to his command couch to get a sit-rep.

"What have you found out?" he asked his chief communications officer. he knew it was protocol to address the crew by rank, but he tried to take it easy with rank. You try voyaging with the same crew for seven years and see how you handle the situation. He’d made many new friends and got along with his crew better than any other captain could.

The communications officer looked a little nervous, taping his foot to the beat of some silent song only he could hear. "I think landmass three has just launched a spacecraft. I’ve been scanning the craft for transmissions since it broke the atmosphere." He licked his lips nervously. "We may have been found out, but it’s hard to tell. The translators are still shorting out. At any rate, they’re heading towards our orbital position."

Now this was something new. They knew the natives may have achieved space travel but they were never sure. The captain at least knew they could send something into space. The garbage and orbital satellites they had placed around the planet were testament to that.

            "I thought Engineering said the translator was fixed! What’s happened since then?"

            The navigator cleared his throat to get the captain’s attention. "Well, uh, we kind of…accidentally, mind you…destroyed one of their orbital platforms. It happened last week, during the satellite scan."

            Of all the- "Destroyed one of their satellites? How come nobody put it in a report?"

            "Sorry, sir. We didn’t think it would warrant any concern. We just happened to maneuver too close to one and it impacted with our hull, damaging the satellite. We weren’t compromised in any way and-"

"Consider yourself put on report. You may have jeopardized this mission by not informing me the moment it happened." He pointed the blip out on the holomonitor to prove his point. "Now they’ve sent up a spacecraft and will no doubt wonder what we’re doing up here."

            "I’m sorry, sir. It will never happen again."

            The captain looked into his eyes and saw the excitement mingled with genuine fear. The fear wasn’t directed at him, but instead at the growing threat of the possibly armed alien spacecraft quickly closing on their position.

"There’s nothing that can be done now." The captain assured them, trying to keep his wits about him. There was no reason for the crew to see he was just as nervous as they were. "Engage the shroud. We can’t let them see us now."

The shroud was a wonder of technology. It used electromagnetism to bend light waves, rendering the ship invisible to any forms of detection, including visual. The power required left them virtually defenseless, but if it worked, they wouldn’t need to worry about that. The captain hoped that their scanning technologies hadn’t detected them yet.

            The lights dimmed noticeably indicating that the shroud had been activated. All the crew needed to do now was wait and see what happened.

            "All hands to acceleration couches." the navigator said over the ship-wide intercom system. "Gravity field off-line in five… four… three… two… one…"

If you’ve never experienced a complete loss of gravity in a matter of seconds, pray you never have to. Everyone felt suddenly light-headed, as if they was falling. Some of the bridge crew felt worse but, thankfully, had remembered to don their null-G breathers. They wouldn’t get sick, but they would have an awful headache once they removed them after the gravity was restored. The captain prayed they would still be able to perform their duties when this was over.

The science officer was the first to break a seemingly endless silence. "The craft is in visual range, captain. Switching science display to main holoscreen."

The holoscreen flickered for a moment and was replaced with a three dimensional view of the space around the alien spacecraft. At first, no one saw anything. Then the twinkle of sunlight on the starboard side of the Wanderer’s Eye touched something metal and caught the captain’s eye.

"It looks almost…avian." he said in bewilderment. The craft was rounded and streamlined. It was hard to make out all the details, but it looked like it had wings. "Is this species avian in nature, in any way?"

            The science officer answered quickly. "Nothing to indicate that, captain. They share no traits with any of the flying creatures that share their planet."

            "Maybe they pay some sort of homage to one of them." The communications officer looked around at the crew as if hoping someone else shared his revelation. "It’s not unheard of. Some of our ancestors used to do the same thing."

            The captain smiled. "It’s thinking like that that brought us to the stars in the first place. Don’t worry. I see your point."

            "Sir, I’m picking up a signal on one of the higher frequency bands. I think it originates from the spacecraft."

            "Let’s hear it." Finally! They waited in anticipation to finally hear the language that this species spoke. They had thought they were telepaths (the garbled trash picked up from one of their satellites when they first arrived didn’t sound like a language they knew of; it had sounded too mechanical), but they were never sure.

The sounds that came over the comm system began a little garbled. Communications worked frantically to filter out any background noise and interference before he finally had it. The language sounded guttural and harsh, almost threatening. A different voice answered back almost immediately. The captain’s skin tingled at the sounds as a sudden thought came to him.

            "Is the transmission directed at us?"

            "No, sir. They seem to be transmitting back to the planet. The other voice you hear is originating from landmass three. I think the continent may be the ship’s home base. Sort of like it was when we first attempted space travel."

I should have known that, the captain thought. "It’s been so long since we’ve needed a grounded control crew to monitor everything that it must have slipped my mind."

            Angrily, he slapped the console to open a line to engineering. "Engineering! Where’s my translator?"

            "I’m working as fast as I can, sir. The system’s sun flares up so bad that the electromagnetic bombardment fused most of the circuitry together. It’s going to take a while."

            "Make that translator your first priority. I want to know what these guys are saying."

            "Aye, sir." His voice sounded weary. He had been working his crew diligently to compensate for the assault of a multitude of radiation and interferences coming from this system’s sun. Electronic components had been malfunctioning all over the ship since they got to this system. A majority of the primary systems were back on-line but the translator was everything to this mission. All of the engineers had to be tired. Still, the captain couldn’t let things fall behind. They had to have something to send back home. Command didn’t like unanswered questions in their reports. He thought they were too fussy, but they just called it being meticulous. What’s the difference?

            The ship on the holoscreen was getting closer.

            "Back the ship away slowly. I don’t want to risk them hitting us."

            Moments later, an alarm sounded. That doesn’t sound promising, the captain thought.

            "Sir, the engines have gone off-line. We’re dead in space and not going anywhere." The navigator called nervously from his station.

            "Then give me a short burn on the momentum thrusters. We have to back away from here."

            "I can’t sir. The shroud is taking power from all thrusters. If we fire them, we’ll be seen."

            If anything could possibly go wrong, it will. Who had said that? It didn’t matter now. The spacecraft loomed over their starboard side and was nearly on them.

            "Looks like we don’t have a choice. Disengage the shroud and prepare to fire momentum thrusters."

            "Sir?"

            The captain  never did like anyone to hesitate when he gave an order, especially when time was precious.

"You heard me! Disengage the shroud and fire the momentum thrusters. Either they see us and help us to avoid a collision or we sit here and let them tear a hole in our hull. Now disengage the damned shroud!"

He hesitated for only a moment, and for a while they all wondered if that moment really mattered.

The lights brightened again as the shroud was disengaged. The ship rumbled as the maneuvering thrusters on the Wanderer’s Eyes slowly began to back the ship away. A little too slowly.

            "Captain, the transmission from the craft has increased. I think they see our ship and are panicking."

            "Have they altered course?" Now the captain was getting panicked.

            "They’re trying, but their forward momentum is too great." His voice rose an octave. "They’re going to hit us!"

            "Collision shields, starboard side! All hands, brace for impact!"

            The moments seemed to stretch forever. The familiar blip coming from the helm told the navigator that the shield had been activated. Almost instantly, the ship lurched violently as the alien spacecraft slammed into the shield. The hull groaned as the shield tried to compensate for the speed of the alien ship. The collision shield was really only meant to protect the Wanderer’s Eye from stray meteorites or small asteroids too quick to avoid. It wasn’t meant to stop another ship. Lights flickered. A dull boom sounded from somewhere above, in the habitat. The smell of fried circuitry seized the senses. They knew they had taken damage; the captain only prayed it wasn’t too catastrophic. A bright flash lit up the holoscreen, then nothing. Everything was quiet.

            "Damage control. What’s our status?"

            Silence.

            "Damage control! Give me a sit-rep!"

            The science officer seemed almost dead. With a start, he opened his eyes and began moving his hands quickly over the control panel.

            "Sorry, sir." His voice quivered nervously. "Hull breach in hydroponics. Long range communications are down. Starboard side maneuvering thrusters are off-line." He breathed an audible sigh of relief. "Other than that, we appear to be okay."

            "Any word from our friends out there?"

            The comm officer was lost in concentration as he listened for any report from the alien ship. "All I hear is the same voice from landmass three. The craft is not responding to them."

            "Give me a visual on the alien ship."

            The comm officer struggled for a moment with the sensor panel. "I…uhh…I can’t, sir."

            "Is the holoscreen off-line, too?"

            "No, sir. I mean I can’t. The craft no longer appears on sensors. It’s been completely obliterated."

            Oh no!, thought the captain. This couldn’t be happening.

"Scan for life pods. Check for any signs of survivors."

            He worked diligently on his console, using every means at his disposal to find any sign of life.

            "Nothing, sir." He finally said. "The craft used fluid-based fuel for their engines. The ship was completely vaporized."

            This really changed things. They all  were hoping they could just sit back and gather information on these creatures, but now it seemed they would have to speed things up.

"Send all senior personnel to the officer’s mess in one hour." The captain  croaked, his voice cracking from obvious stress. "We have things to discuss."

            "The crisis that happened today has everyone, myself included, very edgy so please bear with me." The captain began.

            On a ship this size it seemed that most of the crew were senior members. It felt as if the entire ship were gathered at the table as the captain tried to come up with a new plan now that the old one had been thrown out the airlock. He only hoped what he had in mind wouldn’t cause the crew to mutiny.

"I feel that this tragedy is our fault and we need to reconcile with the aliens as soon as possible. I think we need to initiate first contact as soon as possible. A scout shuttle will be launched to landmass three where contact will be established within the confines of one of their military bases. From there, we’ll speak with some of their chief officers and try to establish some sort of initial agreement."

The murmurs around the table proved that not everyone was in agreement with this idea. The navigator looked a nervous wreck, his fingers drumming steadily on the tabletop. The chief engineer just seemed exhausted. He had been working the hardest to get everything fixed onboard and it was showing. What he needed now was everyone’s approval. It was going to be hard to convince some of them, but he hoped he had anticipated their questions and could give everyone the answers they needed.

"Why should we initiate first contact now? Wouldn’t it be prudent to study them a little longer to learn what their reactions to us could be?" The science officer spoke in a near whisper.

"Normally, yes. But now things have changed. If we don’t go to this planet and convince these people that the deaths of their star pilots was an accident, we could be allowing ourselves to inadvertently create a race of xenophobes. We have to let them know we mean them no harm."

            "What if they are naturally xenophobic anyway. Then what?" Communications asked honestly.

            "Then we report our findings to Command and try again in another century or so." the captain answered, rubbing the exhaustion from his face. "Sooner or later they have to realize, as we did, that they aren’t alone in this universe and accept it. Once they believe that, then they surely will be ready to accept a cooperative agreement between our two races."

Everyone was silent as they pondered what they hoped was the solution to their current problem. Preliminary scouting had assured them that the entire race was already divided on petty issues. If an alien existence proved to them that there were more lucrative issues than just their petty squabbling, maybe they could finally unite the entire planet for a common cause. Only time would tell, but the captain believe that with their help they could guide these people to the right path.

            "If there’s anyone here that has a better idea, I’m listening." he asked.

            The navigator squirmed in his seat. "I don’t have any other ideas, but I don’t think what you’re asking us to do is the only way to solve this. I don’t recommend this at all."

"Duly noted. I would need someone here just in case something happens to me anyway. You’re to be in command of the Wanderer’s Eyes in my absence. Should anything befall us on the planet, I want you to get my ship out of here and report everything we have so far to Command."

The communications officer sat back and crossed his slender arms over his chest. "I don’t like the idea either. But if you think you’re going to that planet without me, you need to rethink your plans."

            "Why should you go? Can’t you just assemble a team and observe from here?" The science officer asked, concerned.

            "This is my ship and, therefore, my responsibility. I take full liability for our actions here today. Sending down a team without including myself would be foolish at this point."

            "I don’t like this." the chief engineer mumbled.

            "We will take the scouting shuttle to the surface. I’ll need one of  your engineers and a junior science officer to accompany us. Only volunteers, though. I’m not going to force anybody into this. Send them to my operations room tomorrow morning, about nine hours from now. Once they’re briefed on the mission, we will meet the senior officers in the docking bay to prepare for launch. We’ll all need a little rest before we disembark."

The captain turned to his engineer. "I’m giving you two hours to jury rig the translator for a short term use. I’m taking an uplink with me and I want to know what these people are saying. Afterwards, I want you in your quarters and sleeping soundly or I’ll throw you in the brig doped up with sleep enhancers. Do I make myself clear?"

            Despite his professionalism, he couldn’t help but smile at the captain’s concern for his health. "By your command, sir."

            "I’ll see you all in the launch bay in ten hours. Dismissed."

            After only five hours of rest, the captain sat alone in his operations room, going over every detail of the coming mission. He was just too excited to sleep and figured he may as well be sure everything he needed was ready. It was times like this that he really loathed being the commander of this starship. It wasn’t that he feared the responsibility of command. To hold the lives of his crew in his hands and make a wrong decision could dip the morale of the ship dangerously low. They all trusted him. They believed in him. He couldn’t let any of them down.

It wasn’t all that long ago that the captain sat in the high grasses of his backyard, dreaming of the day when he would travel the emptiness of space, searching for that one small planet that would prove to everyone that there was other intelligent life amongst the stars. He had hoped someday to find someone who, just like him, sat in the grasses of their backyard and dreamed the same dream. He would love to just sit and talk with him, learn all he hoped to accomplish in his life and help him live his dream of traveling the stars. If all went as planned, that person may be on the planet below, waiting for their arrival. He couldn’t be late.

The alert from the door woke him from his musings. He stood and straightened his tunic and checked the chronometer on the desk. Morning already? He hadn’t realized he had been thinking for so long.

            "Enter." He called towards the entryway.

Moments later, two crew members that were known quite well walked through the door. First to enter was the assistant engineer. The captain had hoped for merely a subordinate to follow him to the planet. He didn’t expect the engineer’s right hand. Following him was the life sciences tech. The communications officer was last to arrive, only seconds after the others entered the operations room. They spent the next hour going over their mission and reassuring themselves that everything had taken every precaution. When all questions had been answered, they suited up and took the short walk to the docking bays.

As the captain and his entourage entered the docking bay, he noted that nearly all senior personnel were standing by the scout craft awaiting their arrival. They were all decked out in their formal grays, medals and awards decorating their colored sashes in neat rows. The captain habitually checked himself, always conscious of how his appearance affects my crew, and gave up when he realized that he wasn't even in dress uniform. He had on a dark blue ablative suit that was nearly form fitting. Although he knew they probably wouldn't have to worry about these aliens using any form of light amp weapons, it was always best to come prepared. He carried also the standard issue force gloves. They were best used in emergencies, but he didn't want any of the team to have visible weapons. There was no sense in allowing the aliens to believe they were here to conquer their planet and a show of superior weapons would only hurt their chances in the long run.

The other senior officer was wearing a nearly identical suit except colored green. He carried the translator that, as far as testing had gone over the past few hours, had only been working 60% of the time. On his belt pouches, he also carried our miniature holobroadcaster and amplifier. As long as they stayed within five kilometers of the scout craft, everyone aboard the Wanderer's Eyes would be able to witness their first contact with an alien species via a direct laser ship-to-ship uplink. The way the captain saw it, the entire crew should be allowed to celebrate their greatest achievement.

The final two members of the team carried up the rear wearing identical red skinsuits. The engineer carried with him his toolbox and numerous personal holorecordings of their home planet, to show these beings how similar in appearance the two worlds were. The science tech held his field science kit close to his chest, as if daring someone to take it from him. It was hoped the mutual sharing of information with this new race would begin here with the sharing of sciences and anatomies.

As the four approached the scout craft, the executive officer pushed through the other officers and stood at the forefront, waiting for the team’s arrival. As they walked to stand before him, he turned to each of them and inspected all of the equipment thoroughly. When he finished, he turned to the captain and quickly began going over the checklist for planet-side landings. Although everyone onboard knew them by heart, the captain always allowed him to quote them to. It seemed to ease the worry from him quicker that way.

"...If you encounter a species that has not been catalogued by the science team, stay a safe distance away from it...Should a firefight break out, seek shelter immediately and enter the safety of the scout craft as soon as possible... The armoring of the ship should be sufficient protection in the case of a small arms attack, but you must flee if large bore weapons are being prepared for use...If you fear you may be having an allergic reaction to something on the planet, leave immediately..."

When he was done, the captain smiled and laid his hand on the officer’s shoulder. He smiled back slightly, then turned back to the gathered officers to join them. The captain decided a reassuring speech was in order to calm some seriously frayed nerves.

"I know some of you don't approve of what the four of us are about to do. I want you all to know that we will take every precaution necessary to ensure that we all make it back here without injury. Although this mission is noted as being very dangerous, I feel we can create a lasting impact with what we do here today. When we return, we will surely have a celebration of the grandest scale. A celebration of a new and lasting peace between our two races."

With that, they all bid their farewells to the senior staff and climbed aboard the scout craft. The two junior officers strapped themselves into the passenger couches and secured their equipment. The captain sat at the pilot's couch while the communication’s officer took his station. The two of them began the preflight checklist and, seeing everything was in perfect order, signaled the bay chief.

            "This is Contact requesting opening of the docking bay doors."

            The reply came almost immediately as the doors opened. Two lights over the bay doors began to flash, alternating between red and orange.

            "Contact, you are cleared for departure after green-lighting. Safe voyage to you, captain."

            They waited for what felt an eternity. Finally, the doors ground to a halt and the two lights held a steady green. The captain activated the thrusters and accelerated the small ship through the doors and towards the planet below.

The flight to the outer atmosphere was short and uneventful. Once the atmosphere was reached, they realized that they would need to enter the outer atmosphere at an angle to help control descent. Sometime during entry, one of the Contact's thrusters winked out. Without both thrusters, it would be hard to escape the gravity of this planet and, worst than that, it would make maneuvering very difficult. It was agreed they would need to set down outside of the scheduled landing zone so they wouldn't have to take the chance of crashing the ship and ruining their chances of a good first impression with the chosen representatives on this world.

As they neared the surface of the planet, the landscape seemed to blur by. They spent a large part over the water until finally reaching the coast of landmass two. The first rendezvous was to be at the launch site of the spacecraft that had been destroyed, but it was decided instead they would land at a small military base a few hundred kilometers north of that position. Now it seemed they would have to try for a spot somewhere in between. The captain was finding it harder and harder to control the descent of the Contact and felt it necessary to land as soon as possible.

They reached the edge of a small city and slowed to get a better look at the structures that was only a couple of hundred meters below. The engineer thought he saw a group of creatures gathered below watching them, but couldn't be sure from this altitude. As they reached to opposite edge of the city, the captain noticed a large area of flatlands that had more than enough room to set the ship down. Trying his best to control his descent (with a little help), he was able to set the rattling craft down at the edge of the flatlands, the skid digging up a section of some sort of road paved with silver and yellow rocks that led into and out of the city. They finally stopped just a few dozen yards from the road and was anxious to get outside to try the air. But first thing's first.

They all checked that the personnel equipment was in working order. The only problems noted was a drained cell in a repair spanner and the life science tech had to slap the bottom of the cylindrical translator uplink to get it to come on. With a few short tests, they were satisfied everything was working as it should. When the airlock display assured them that the outside atmospheric gases were safe for breathing, they began to cycle the lock for pressurization and allowed them to take their first steps on an alien world.

The plains they had landed on was much larger than it appeared from the air. The tall amber grasses dipped lazily in the comfortable breeze blowing from the direction of the road. The captain inhaled a strangely sweet scent on the winds that had him grinning like a child. The sky appeared gray and smoky above them, indicating a storm was forming. Soon the gray, smoky clouds would dump liters of rain onto the thirsty soil of the planet. Oh to dance in a rainstorm on an alien world would make this whole trip all the more worthwhile, the captain thought. The science tech was analyzing everything, a look of sheer delight brightening his face.

"That darker green area to our east is a copse of very dense trees. That's where this sweet smell is coming from. According to the temperature readouts, I would assume it is planting season."

Planting season! Sowing the fertile lands with seeds and fertilizer. Observing as all your hard work grows to help feed your starving people one more year. I wonder what the aliens call their planting season, he thought?

Over the gentle whisper of the winds could be heard a sound unlike any they had ever heard. It must have been some sort of animal call. A wailing noise rose and dipped in pitch repeatedly. Curiously, the captain turned towards the noise to see what could be causing it.

            "I hear it too, but I don't have a clue as to what it is. It could be some creature we have yet to see."

            "I don't think so. It sounds too perfect. It's almost like it's mechanical in nature. It sounds a little like our alert sirens, except in a different octave and pitch. Kind of like a different variation of it."

"You know, I think you're right." the engineer agreed. "I hope they're getting all of this back at the Wanderer's Eyes. There's going to be a lot to study when we leave."

            He paused for a moment and listened a little closer to the noise. "Uh, sir. The noise is getting louder."

            "I know. Can you tell where it's coming from?"

            The engineer scanned the area a little before coming to his answer. "It's just beyond those trees to our east from within the copse. Whatever the noise is, it's big, very fast and being followed by several more roughly the same size."

As the wail broke through the copse, several ground vehicles similar to hovercars approaching at break-neck speed. One was much larger than the rest and appeared to be a ground transport of some sort. Anxious, they checked our equipment one more time. It looked like this was it. They were about to make first contact with this alien species.

As a group, the vehicles and the transport squealed to a stop. Aliens began to pour from doors in all of the vehicles, the most coming from the large transport. They were all dressed in dark colors and all of them were carrying weapons of some kind. It was hard to tell what kinds of weapons they were, but the crew hoped they weren't the fusion type.

All of them gathered in a semicircle around them at about four meters distance. All of the weapons were pointed in their direction as if they were expecting a fight.

            Of course! That was it!

            They were still remembering that we destroyed their spacecraft, the captain thought. If the situation were reversed, I wouldn't trust them either. I have to find some way to explain what happened and hope that their leader is nearby.

Cautiously the captain took a step forward, his hands before him to show that he was unarmed. As he stopped, one of the aliens waved his weapon menacingly and barked a quick command in the crew’s direction. The translator started working frantically, trying to decipher a language it had only heard from radio transmissions. The thing seemed to spark once but that didn't stop it from continuing to try. Finally, it spoke.

            "Zzkzp…zikk…you are!"

            The captain looked towards his fellow officer, his palms beginning to sweat. The translator wasn’t translating everything, only part of the message. The rest was lost in the harsh voice of static. The officer shook his arm as if believing rattling the cylinder’s delicate electronics could help to adjust the frequency. He shrugged at the captain, his expression telling his commanding officer to keep trying. The translator would need more than just that short sentence to work properly.

The captain turned back to the soldier that had spoken and noticed him glaring at the translator curiously. He looked towards one of the other soldiers and began to speak rapidly. Seconds later, the translator continued.

            "Ziikkp…Kxzzzik…think these…zzikkzr reekkzz…playing with…sstzzzi."

            At least they were starting to get somewhere. If they could get these beings to speak a little more, it would help immensely. They had to try.

            "We mean you no harm. I am Captain Arkellia, captain of the scout ship Wanderer’s Eyes. We were sent on a mission to find a planet suitable for colonization. I wish to speak to one of your superiors."

The translator worked on the short speech and, as before, translated a little more than half of what had been said. This language they spoke must have been more complex than they had originally thought. The captain watched the faces of the aliens carefully. As the translator spoke, they all looked at the communications officer, as if believing it was he who was translating the words. They still looked puzzled, but now I saw a different emotion touch their faces that I had not expected: Fear. The communication’s officer brought the translator up from his side and peered at its display, trying to figure out what could be wrong with it. As he did, all of the soldiers stiffened and trained their weapons on him. The clatter of readjusted firearms caused him to look up at them. The blood rushed from his face as he realized all weapons were now aimed straight at him.

            "Captain, why are they looking at me like that? What did I do wrong?"

            Before the captain could answer, the cylinder began to translate what he was saying. The soldiers began to tighten their grips on their weapons as the translator spoke. A sudden thought occurred to me.

            "They don’t use translators here. They think the uplink cylinder is a weapon. Turn it off slowly and drop it. We have to try something else."

            As the cylinder began to translate what the captain had said, the officer removed the translator from his belt. "What’s wrong with this thing?" he asked. The next few moments happened all too quickly.

As he flipped the power switch, a spark of electricity arced over the top of the cylinder. One of the soldiers screamed something incoherent which was immediately drowned out by the loud blasts of multiple weapons fire. The comm officer’s body convulsed as he was riddled with small explosions that sprayed his blood everywhere. The captain gasped in horror. The rounds are tearing through his ablative armor!

"No! We’re peaceful! We mean you no harm!" he screamed. Something slammed into his shoulder, tearing at flesh and pulverizing bone. The impact spun him off of his feet as he fell to the ground. Looking up, he heard the two junior officers scream as they too were hit with round after round of ammunition. The captain heard a sharp buzzing and felt searing pain as a round tore through the cartilage in his left ear. His face hit the ground as he clutched his wounds, screaming in pain.

Bleary-eyed, he looked towards the soldiers, who had ceased firing. The one who had initially spoken walked quickly towards the captain. When he reached his side, he kicked him hard in the side of the head and barked a harsh sounding command.

"Alien scum!" the translator answered. Leveling his weapon at the captain’s head, he pulled the trigger. The captain’s mind raced with thoughts of home before everything went black.

The executive officer sat in the command chair, his face in his hands as he wept for his fallen comrades. He had lost a good friend in the captain and would sorely miss him. The bridge was deathly quiet as crew members sat in shocked silence at what they had just witnessed. Although the translator had been malfunctioning, the holobroadcaster had been working perfectly. Everyone saw the slaughter of their beloved commander in vivid detail on the central projector. Composing himself, he cleared his throat so he could issue his next orders.

"Activate the self-destruct onboard the Contact." He paused, the temptation of revenge weighing heavily on his mind. With one word, he could obliterate half of landmass two. The scars a chain-fusion explosion would cause would leave a lasting impression with these murderers. No. The captain wouldn’t want me to do that, he thought. I have to do only what is necessary.

            "Initiate destruct level one. Proximity only. No one will die, but there will be no evidence of our visit."

            He looked one more time at the holoprojector, at the unmoving form of his captain and friend. Silently saying his goodbye, he punched the button that shut down the projector.

            "Navigator, set a course for home."

            He continued to look at the now darkened holoprojector.

            "This planet is uninhabitable."

            "Explain yourself, soldier! Why did you give the order to fire."

            "Sir, one of the aliens was carrying what looked to be a weapon. I gave the order in an effort to protect myself and my men, sir."

            "You know your actions brought about the self-destruction of their ship. Not a single piece of evidence was left. We could have learned a lot from their technology."

            "I know, sir. As I said, I acted in self-defense. I didn’t know they could destroy their ship so quickly, sir."

            "I want you debriefed A.S.A.P. I want to know everything they said before you gunned them down. Dismissed."

            "Yes, sir."

            "Gail, send a memo to the Secretary of Defense. Tell him NASA can rest easy now. We know who destroyed their shuttle."

            "Yes, general."

            "And get me a bagel and some coffee, would you. It’s going to be a long night. I need some time to think, so I’ll be outside looking at the stars. Meeting aliens from another planet was a dream of mine once, you know. I just always thought it would turn out differently somehow."