2.
Captain Ji-eun Moon was standing in the area that she was thinking of her ‘bridge’ aboard the Toormonda vessel The Keeper of Dreams , a gift from the Yonohoan people to the people of Earth.
She stared through the transparent exterior at the vastness of the hyperatomic plane through which they were traveling, allowing the ship to reach a maximum speed of three hundred times the speed of light. It was slower than the Tunnel Drive of her previous ship, The Seeker of New Discoveries , which had been constructed entirely by the governments and corporations of Earth. But the Tunnel Drive, the only method of faster than light travel that Earthlings knew how to utilize with their own technology, was damaging to the human body.
In fact, Captain Moon and a number of her former crewmates were beginning to suffer brain damage before meeting the Yonohoans, with a few crew members suffering psychiatric symptoms. Captain Moon’s own case was at the stage where symptoms might begin to appear, causing her to question her fitness for command and stepping down from commanding the Seeker .
Her former executive officer, Anthony Anders, was now in charge of the overall mission of the exploration team from planet Earth, and she was relegated to his support staff.
She did not regret the decision to step down. Anders would handle the political situation with the Yonohoans better than she could, now that her diagnosis had introduced a crisis of self-confidence into her every decision.
She sometimes questioned whether she was even fit to command the Topokan vessel. However, she mostly felt that she could continue to lead the crew in the completion of their scientific objectives.
The Keeper of Dreams was a type of vessel known as a Toormonda. An egg-shaped spacecraft, Toormondas were widely known and recognized throughout the universe, having a long reputation for their safety and reliability. More importantly, they were designed for scientific inquiry and exploration. The Yonohoans had, upon hearing the mission of the crew of the Seeker , immediately seen the similarities between the Earth vessel and the Toormonda, and had promised to give Earth a small fleet of the vessels for their scientific and exploration efforts.
The larger community throughout the universe was laughing at the exchange. While the data from Toormondas were considered legitimate in scientific circles, they had a particular reputation.
They were used for field trips for children.
The most advanced spacecraft ever constructed by the people of earth was less advanced than a glorified school bus.
It would be humiliating if it were not for the fact that the rest of the universe had the advantage of billions of years of intergalactic collaboration for their scientific and technological advancement.
Earth had about ten thousand years of recorded history.
She sighed. Learning of her place in the universe had been humbling, and she was still coming to terms with it. The fact that, to many aliens, humans were seen as ‘uplifts’ added to the difficulty of the situation. While humanity had contributed explosively to the technological advancement of the universe, all of their accomplishments were attributed to those who had come before them.
Her crew had just finished collecting the last steps of their scientific mission, having successfully modified its parameters in a way that allowed then to incorporate the use of the Toormonda ship to fulfill their original objectives instead of continuing to expose themselves to the harmful effect of the Tunnel Drive that the Seeker utilized. They were presently returning to planet Totola in order to begin collating the data from the probes while Captain Anders, with Captain Moon and the other command staff supporting him to conclude the initial diplomatic talks with the Yonohoans.
There were several significant questions which the original crew of the Seeker would be forced to answer.
Do they dare reveal the location of Earth to the Yonohoans? That was the most important question. Once the location of Earth was revealed, there was no putting the cat back in the bag. While the Yonohoans and their Topokan allies had shown no signs of hostility, aside from a slight misunderstanding during the initial attempts at communication, billions of lives were at stake.
Captain Moon had zero doubt that in a military contest, the technological superiority of the Yonohoans would drown out any advantage that Earth might seek to gain for themselves.
The Yonohoans claimed to have Earth’s interests at heart. They had gone so far as to offer it aid and protectorate status.
In fact, the ceremony between Eolai, the Last Son of Eodar, and Sergeant Cruz, meant that Yonohoan was required by their sense of honor to protect Earth from any incursion or threat for the duration of the lives of Sergeant Cruz family living on the planet.
That these decisions had been made without the input of the governments of Earth would be viewed with criticism when they returned home, she was certain. Politicians always liked to second guess the decisions made in the field. But the fact remained that the Seeker lacked any ability to communicate with its home planet due to the simple fact that Earth lacked faster than light communication capability.
They couldn’t call home.
They were on their own.
The future of Earth was at stake.
The stress was immense, despite the fact that she had deliberately taken herself out of the equation by securing the records of the location of Earth and passing the command to Captain Anders, who was now the only person who could reveal Earth’s coordinates to the Yonohoans.
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Interstellar law and precedent was on their side, if they wanted to hide. Darkworlds had well established rights, including the right to secrecy. Once their location was revealed, however, all bets were off.
She continued to reflect upon the situation, staring out at the shifting fog of the hyperatomic plane, filled with smoke and auroras. She was contemplating going to get something to eat from the ship’s food forges when abruptly the ship made the translation back into normal space, the view transitioning into a vast and unfamiliar starscape.
She frowned. They were expected to be in transit for a few days yet.
“Ship? Why did we drop out of FTL?” she inquired.
“I have received military override codes. We are about to be boarded. Cooperation with the incoming military force is suggested,” the ship’s sexless voice informed her.
“Can you put me in contact with them?” she asked, adrenaline spiking in her veins. “I wish to negotiate the peaceful cooperation with whatever investigation they are performing in exchange for the safety of my crew.”
“Your intentions have been communicated to the boarders,” the ship informed her. “Response is incoming: Do not resist. Resistance will be met with force.”
The ship delivered the last instructions in a mechanical voice that dripped with malevolence rather than the benign sexless voice that she expected from it. She swallowed. “I will instruct the crew to assemble in the common areas. Signal to the boarders that we are unarmed except for the default weaponry of this class of ship and that we will cooperate.”
“Message sent. Reply incoming. ‘Prepare to be boarded.’”
“Can you send out a distress signal?” she asked the ship
“I am under military lockout,” the ship answered. “Communications are sealed.”
Nervously, Captain Moon helped the crew gather in the common area, trying to keep herself from panicking. She instructed them to remain calm and cooperate with the military. She stressed that she didn’t know who was boarding them, but that they were unable to resist, and the incoming force had been very clear that they were willing to use violence.
She emphasized that everyone was to remain calm. Outwardly, she was following her own instructions.
The airlock opened, admitting a figure in black powered armor. The figure’s helmet was ugly and hostile, containing no facial features. Despite that, Captain Moon’s first thought was ‘aren’t you a little short to be a stormtrooper?’
The figure lifted its arms before it and stepped forward. Captain Moon didn’t see a weapon, but she was fairly certain that this person was a weapon.
A voice from the suit spoke in the same mechanical and hostile voice which had come over the speakers earlier.
However, the voice was in a language that Captain Moon recognized, but didn’t speak.
High Yonohoan.
A dead language, like Latin.
The crew didn’t respond, and the figure made an annoyed gesture. The speakers on the Toormonda abruptly translated the words.
“Query: Identify yourselves,” the sexless voice of the AI said.
One by one the crew listed their names. The figure demanded their ranks and affiliations. The crew reluctantly gave their status as either a military officer or as a civilian contractor in service to the government of earth.
“Point of Origin of this vessel is Planet Totola. Query. Why are Earthlings in possession of a Yonohoan craft?” the figure demanded, the ship translating his unrecognizable words for them.
“This Toormonda vessel was a gift from the government of the Yonohoan people to the people of earth,” Captain Moon explained.
“Demand: State your mission.”
“Scientific exploration and research as well as diplomatic relations with the Yonohoan people,” Captain Moon explained.
“Query: Affiliations of Earth.”
“We’re unaffiliated except for the fact that we are in the initial stages of diplomatic talks with the Yonohoan people,” she admitted. She swallowed. “We’re a darkworld.”
This got a surprised jerk from the figure. “Query: Location of Earth.”
“I am not at liberty to share that information,” Captain Moon answered.
“Demand: Location of Earth.”
“I do not currently possess the stellar location of Earth,” she clarified. “And I am not at liberty to share it if I were.”
The figure was silent for a while. Abruptly, the lights of the ship flickered. It was the first time she had seen anything other than stolid reliability from the ship, and Captain Moon wondered what it represented. Abruptly, the figure turned and left without further explanation.
Captain Moon swallowed nervously. “Ship? What just happened?”
“I am unable to answer that, Captain Moon,” the ship responded. “I only understand that we were boarded and questioned by a figure possessing military credentials.”
“When the lights flickered, what was that?” she asked.
“I was forced to transfer a large amount of data from my datastores to the military personnel. I was forced to perform a full memory duplication. The processing of the command took 95% of my power for 3 seconds,” the ship explained. “A full duplication of my records were made.”
“Including our research data?” Captain Moon asked, feeling sick.
“Yes Captain.”
“Are we able to move now?” she inquired.
“Military lockout has been lifted. We are able to get underway,” the ship answered.
“Make for Yonohoan space at full speed, Keeper .”