The Many

Earth's first encounter with the space-faring races took place eleven thousand years ago. If anyone noticed, they didn't write it down.

The Many sent the usual twelve ships. It was a standard recon patrol of a system, suspected of having life. Initial reports were ecstatic, reporting sentient beings on one planet, signs of early life on many of the moons.

A prime candidate for development and uplift.

The probes were deployed and committees were assembled. The well-greased wheels of an infallible system designed to add to the Many. Perhaps they were a little enthusiastic. Perhaps a little careless.

Initial reports showed the enthusiasm that infused most of the fleet.

Reconnaissance Patrol, Sol 3/4/7. Logs: All (Classified)

Xenobiology Committee, Evaluation Ship Three, Sol 3

"We can say with certainty that the inhabitants are sentient. They are currently Hunter/Gatherers, with signs of developing agriculture. They demonstrate language and artistic skills and they form strong social groups.

They are currently recovering from an ice age environment. It is spectacular down there! We have no record of this level of adaptation in a species, they appear to live in practically every biome. We plan to begin landing teams shortly."

Military Assets Committee, Evaluation Ship Two

"The dominant species show remarkable abilities in hunting. They face megafauna in every recorded environment. They have overcome these threats through ingenuity and teamwork. They are outmatched by much of the fauna, battered by environments that would defeat us and they thrive. We would welcome such an addition to our forces. Reconnaissance squads will begin deploying shortly "

Science Assessment Committee, Evaluation Ship six

“ We are faced with an unprecedented environment. Despite its recent cold weather biosphere, we see massive and complex ecosystems. It is unrivaled in its underlying hostility. This planet breeds predatory behavior unknown to any of the Many worlds.

This world is pushed farther and faster into change by its varied and dynamic atmosphere. Species fail, new species fill their position, again and again. Prey and predator engage in an arms race that can, and has, killed off both species. That the inhabitants have achieved sentience and prospered here is astounding.

We await our results with interest. Our Forward teams will deploy shortly.”

Medical Assessment Committee, Evaluation Ship Seven

“ Despite our earnest warnings, all committees are intent on deploying staff on this planet. It is the unanimous advice of this committee that no-one should land until we have a much clearer understanding of the biosphere. While we understand the fleets’ enthusiasm, indeed we share it, we suspect our existing biohazard systems may not be adequate for this project.”

Evaluation Fleet, The Many

Deployment day 90

Central Coordination Committee, Evaluation Ship One

“ Thank you all for your contributions to this astonishing project. Without a doubt, this is the most amazing discovery of our time. All Committees are generating a massive amount of data. Our homeworlds are studying the results as we speak.

They encourage us to continue this extraordinary work. Bonuses have been issued to all staff. We have been offered an unlimited budget and new support ships will be deployed to aid us in this endeavor!”

Medical Assessment Committee

“Thank you, Chairman. If I may make a separate and important point to the crew. We are encountering increasingly hostile microbes on the planet.

Although our biology is utterly different from the native ecosphere we cannot assume it is unable to adapt. That is, after all, one of the characteristics of the planet. Please continue the full decontamination protocols we have put in place.

I know it can be tiresome but too many teams are taking shortcuts or outright ignoring the biohazard systems. That must end.”

“Thank you, Doctor, I am sure that everyone will take that on board. However, we must increase our pace. Perhaps you could streamline the process somewhat?”

Evaluation Fleet, The Many

Deployment day 240

Medical Assessment Committee

“ It is with alarm that we must report that several members of the planetary staff have come down with symptoms of an unknown viral infection. They are undergoing treatment and are expected to recover quickly.

We once again remind crews to follow the full decontamination protocols. Please speak to your leadership if you feel unwell or require further information.”

MAC Confidential Report, CCC Only

“ Traces of these unknown viral infections have now been found on all ships. Our medical staff is confident that we will overcome them but we suggest all staff be recovered from the surface until further notice.

Those already infected are showing a huge variety of symptoms but all our species are affected. We suggest a quarantine ship be designated to prevent further infections and centralize medical support.

It may also be necessary to halt all further interactions with the Many planets until this matter is resolved.”

CCC Confidential response, MCC Only

“ Our thanks for the efforts given by your medical staff. We will authorize a quarantine ship for your patients. I'm sure your findings will be fascinating to the medical community.

We are also restricting staff from remaining on the planet and increasing enforcement of the biohazard protocols. Teams will be monitored for any infection and will report to your hospital ship until you clear them for deployment. I cannot authorize any interruptions to travel to the Many-worlds at this time.

I will, however, pass on your concerns to the relevant authorities that they can take appropriate measures.”

Evaluation Fleet, The Many

Deployment day 390

Emergency Medical Assessment Committee

“ Under the established procedures, this committee assumes command of the fleet.

We Hereby order:

All Officers are required to disable FTL onboard until further notice.

All Staff are to be recovered from the surface. No exceptions.

Quarantine conditions are to be imposed on all ships, with full Military enforcement if required.

We will be receiving no further support from the Many-worlds until such time as this emergency is declared over. Please ration accordingly.

All samples of any type from the planet are to be jettisoned immediately.

Reporting of symptoms is required and failure to do so will be treated as a dereliction of duty, with appropriate penalties applied.

Orders given by Medical staff, of any capacity or rank, are to be obeyed immediately regardless of your rank or station. Failure to do so will be treated as insubordination and result in immediate arrest.

Evaluation Fleet, The Many

Deployment day 480

EMAC Confidential Report to The Many Worlds Medical Directorate

“ It is with deep regret that I must report that the mortality rate of the Fleet has now surpassed eight percent. Most of the medical staff have succumbed to these viruses.

I attach as full a report as can be provided under the circumstances. We are now moving the fleet to hospice care, so that those remaining may pass peacefully. There is no way to combat the number of new illnesses that we face. We counted over three hundred different types of infection before the staff involved died.

Despite standing orders to destroy the ships, we have decided to simply open them to the vacuum of space. In that way, you will be able to recover the data and samples to overcome this horror. I understand that some of your staff are reporting illness throughout the Many world's. Perhaps your resources will achieve what I could not.”

The Many Worlds Medical Directorate, Confidential Report on Evaluation Fleet designated ‘Quarantine’

“ Under no circumstances are these records to be released to the public. We have reported the fleet lost in a spatial anomaly. A tragic accident.

Our staff continues to battle these new infections. The data from Quarantine has been useful. We still project a twenty percent mortality rate among the infected on the Many worlds. Records of this planet have been classified at every level and redacted where possible.

We have prohibited travel to that quadrant of space and discontinued funding any further exploration of the galaxy. The risks are too great.”

Sol System, 2246 CE

ESA Deep System Survey Ship 'Troubadour’

Captain Rowan McMahon commanding

The navigator was trying to understand what he was looking at. The objects were only visible when they passed, briefly, in front of the distant sun. He couldn't be sure about how many there were yet, but they formed a straight line.

"Captain, there is something out there. I think we should take a look." There was a slight tinge of something in his voice that made the Captain walk over.

The Captain looked over his shoulder. The readings were uncertain, but she trusted his instincts," take us over there. Put the Astro scanner on it, with my apologies to the Science Officer. Get him up here, just in case."

The powerful telescopes of the Astronomy scanner were turned on the distant objects. She could almost hear the squeals of outrage from her scientists. No doubt the Science Officer would arrive shortly.

She heard her navigator swear softly," Captain, you need to see this. Now."

Silence filled the bridge as he put the images up on the main screens.

The Science Officer arrived on the bridge, breathless and oblivious. "Captain, what the hell are you doing? My work cannot just be interrupted like this…"

He became aware that no-one was listening," What the hell?" Then, he too looked at the screens.

The Captain looked over at him," I need you on this. I want a report in an hour. Get everybody updated. I need to make some calls."

Outside in the dark, a line of Alien ships quietly continued their slow orbit of the far sun.

“Contact command immediately. They are not going to believe what we have found out here.”

Captain McMahon regarded the dead ships quietly sitting in space. By her count there were fifteen of them, ports open to space.

“ We need to find out what happened here.

I want the drones prepared for deployment, put the ship on alert. I think those ships are dead, but they might not know it."

She was reading the provisional report from the Science Officer when Command called. She was too far off the grid to speak directly, at least not without a lot of uncomfortable pauses.

To no-one's surprise, it was the Agency Director himself that appeared.

"Well, Captain. I think it is safe to say that you have certainly changed things around here. Congratulations, you have handed us the answer to one of our oldest questions.

You are on the spot, so regardless of any other demands, military or governmental, you are the boss. You are a civilian, in a civilian ship. Feel free to tell them to fuck off."

Rowan had a pretty good idea that none of this was for her benefit. The Director was putting down a marker for everyone else listening.

It would take a while for her reply to reach him. She sent for coffee.

"Of course Director. Would you like me to pass on my provisional report?"

She sent for more coffee, rereading the report. Mostly it stated the bloody obvious.

The Director nodded," Send it straight to me. I await it with interest. I have authorized support ships, they will be on the way shortly. Be safe, Captain."

Even without the long pauses, Rowan understood the message. Encrypt everything, Directors eyes only. Expect a call from someone's military, probably more than one. Maybe a prime minister or two. She was very glad she was out of reach right now.

She deployed the first drones simply to record these wonderful ships. Unless she had too, she didn't want to enter without support. It was a toss-up in her mind if her support arrived before someone's navy.

In the meantime, she just watched as history unfolded outside.

Her Comms Officer interrupted her musings.

" Captain, you have messages from, well, everyone. I prioritized the ones from presidents, prime ministers, and popes. Then its military, then the press. Also, your mother called, not related to the aliens, just something about your cousin."

"Just issue a blanket statement, saying we await developments, thanks for the interest and they need to go speak to the director. Except for my mother, I'll take that one."

Sol System, 2246 CE

ESA Deep System Survey Ship Troubadour

Captain Rowan McMahon commanding

“We better start getting as much info as possible. Start scanning for emissions, plot a course around the ships, and begin recording. Get our science team on the live feed. They have permission to give bridge commands. If they see something I want to know it.”

Initial Report European Space Agency, Nice, ROF

Agency Director J.B DuBois

For Internal Circulation Only

We can confirm the ESA Troubadour has encountered Alien vessels in our solar system. Our ship reports no activity on board. They appear to have been deliberately left open to space. At this point, we have no idea why.

Mission command is directed to assemble a support team here on the ground. We need biologists, physicists, language experts, engineering, and ship designers. Anyone you think can contribute.

Fleet command is directed to assemble any available craft to move in support of the Troubadour. Captain McMahon remains On-Site Command. Keep her fully informed of all ship movements for her approval.

Government and Agency Liaison is directed to inform the relevant authorities. Use the pre-existing list, we will add to it as necessary. All relevant agencies are to be informed and allowed full access to our data unless previously excluded...

The Press office is directed to compile a short summary of the events. We need to emphasize that we believe the ships are empty and abandoned. Edited pictures and videos will be made available. Please check with your office director before releasing anything. Absolutely no speculation. We can rely on the press to do enough of that.

“When will we have the relays up and running? We need a full bandwidth connection to the Troubadour.”

“Sir, the ESA Janice is en-route. She will begin placing a direct line to the site. We estimate it will take four weeks if there are no issues. If.”

“Understood. Keep me and Captain McMahon informed.”

The unidentified ships were a marvel to behold. Unlike mankind's prosaic and blocky builds these were sleek, arrow-shaped vessels. ‘Closer to how we build boats.’ thought Cpt. McMahon. ‘I wonder if they come from maritime civilizations? I must ask the science team.’

“ Prepare an EVA, if we wait too long Mission Command is going to start doing a Health and Safety audit. I guarantee that someone down there will object that those ships aren’t properly certified.”

EVA Team. Captain McMahon, Science Officer Kowalczyk, Engineering Specialist Weber

“I have selected the ship designated US01. The door is wide open. Take this slow. Scan everything. Cam check and mike check now.”

“Check.”

“Check”

“Check”

“Bridge reports all good. Let’s go.”

The team moved quickly to the target. This was a huge step for mankind and they were all aware of it. This would be a part of human history alongside the Moon landing and the Mars expedition. They ran a hard line from the Troubadour to ensure data transfer.

The opening was obviously a doorway. The interior was only lit by their own lights, but it was clearly an airlock of some kind. The inner door was also open.

Engineering Specialist Weber “This must be deliberate. No-one engineers an airlock that can’t independently close. If I tried this on our ship every alarm would go off, every interior door would seal shut”

Captain McMahon “And then I would order you shot.”

Weber “There is that, of course”

Science Officer Kowalczyk “There are no traces of atmosphere, of any kind. This was done a long time ago. This place is dead.”

Weber “Can we not use that word?”

Kowalczyk “Fine. This place is inert. Better?”

Weber nodded “Yes. Much. Now let's go find some ghosts.”

Captain McMahon “Begin deploying the mapping and lighting drones”

Weber “Yes Captain.”

He released a sequence of micro-drones. They began moving through the ship as the crew watched. Lighting drones deployed every five meters, scanning drones continued on, mapping the structure across the spectrum.

“Captain, Sending you a map. Science and Engineering suggest that target eleven is probably the bridge.”

“Acknowledged. Moving now.”

With the corridors lit, the ship seemed less unwelcoming. Following the path laid out on their HUD, they moved deeper into the ship. All doors were open. They passed rooms that were clearly science, some engine related, and some crew quarters. All empty. Randomly shaped furniture with no readily identifiable use filled the rooms. A mystery for another day.

Target Eleven was clearly command and control for the ship. Large screens dotted the walls. Banks of equipment surrounded a central station. The only thing that looked out of place was a low table placed awkwardly in the center. On it lay several containers, each marked with unknown characters.

Weber “Someone left this for us. They expected someone to come and they knew they weren’t going to be around to explain.”

Kowalczyk “ I get no active readings. The containers are a composite, obviously durable. Do we move them?”

Cpt. McMahon “No. Not yet. I want feedback on what those symbols mean first. Begin searching the other areas for anything text or symbol related. Perhaps context will help. We will return to the ship for now and review the footage. I need to talk to Earth.”

ESA Mission Command

Troubadour Site, US01 Review

Agency Director, J.B DuBois

Science Director, Dr. L. Travio

Language Specialist, Dr. S.O’Brien

Engineering Director, Dr. R. Henri

Astrophysics Director, Dr. F. Schmidt

Government and Agency Liaison Officer, T.Smith

DuBois “So, What do we think? Is Weber correct? Those boxes are for us?”

O’Brien “It’s going to take a while to read the language. Unhelpfully it’s what's in the boxes that could probably help. My team is scouring over the footage, looking to find any correlations between ship markings and the containers. If we find similar symbols on the equipment that may help.”

Henri “How so?”

O’Brien “ Well, warnings tend to be prominent. Glassware might be marked fragile, on and off is probably universal, base ten math may give us numerical symbols if they use them but we don’t know yet. We’ll just keep looking.”

Travio “Same here. Gravity seems to be structural on the ship. No clue how they did that. This is a goldmine even if we never read a word. I suggest we risk opening at least one of the containers in place. If they meant us harm, there are easier ways to do it than hide a bunch of ships in the dark and wait until we open a box”

Smith “The pressure is going to mount on this agency unless we provide something quickly. A little risk here would buy us a lot of time.”

DuBois “I’ll speak to the Captain. She agrees with you. I’ll authorize it, now go and pick a box.”

ESA Deep System Survey Ship 'Troubadour’

“Captain, ESA requests that you recover the box on the far left. They say it correlated to the symbols found on science equipment. They suggest opening it under lab conditions, using the med-bot. Also, health and safety have lodged a complaint against you.”

Captain McMahon, Science lab, Troubadour

"Begin recording. We have recovered the designated container from US01. The room is currently in a vacuum. We are using the med-bot to examine the box.

The cover has been removed. Scanning contents. Reports the contents are composite, identical to the container. Extracting sample now."

This was important. If the contents could not withstand the ship’s atmosphere then they were badly equipped for this opportunity. The sheet of the composite was placed in a sealed chamber. The container was placed in an identical chamber on the other side of the room. Not ideal.

"Seal the container. Re-establish atmosphere in the room. We are going in."

There was a slight crush as the science officer tried to go through the door at the same time as the Captain. He would be limping for a while.

"Begin recording. The sample shows no change. We detect no oxidation. No color change. It is certainly a text document. Scanning now. Even if this goes wrong we have a copy. We will wait for twenty-four hours and re-examine."

Troubadour Science Officer Kowalczyk Initial Report to ESA, Captain McMahon

"The document is stable. No detectable change in composition. I recommend we begin scanning all the contents of the container and return it to vacuum for preservation."

"Agreed"

"Make it so."

It took less than an hour to scan all three hundred pages. They were quickly dispatched to a waiting Earth.

Each page contained unknown languages, at least three according to the experts. They also contained an illustration of a microbe. The first one was quickly identified as salmonella.

ESA Mission Command, Dr. S. O'Brien

"This is fantastic. This is the Holy Grail. Better. This is a Rosetta stone."

Office of Agency Director J.B DuBois

"Sir, are you aware that Space law is based on Maritime law?"

"Vaguely, why?"

"Sir, technically Captain McMahon is due salvage. One-third of the value of the recovered ships."

"One-third of the most important find in Human history? Do we have a value for that?"

"Well Sir, we could offer to sell US01 and see what people offer. Then multiply that by fifteen and divide by three."

"Fuck"

Final Conclave of the Many

"The evil persists. Our best efforts have saved some, not all, and certainly not enough. I am declaring a quarantine between the Many worlds. All ships attempting to land will be met by force. We leave you this horror, this false promise of unity. We will remain here. The many have become the few. Stay away. By whatever you hold dear. Stay away."

Throughout the Many worlds, the plague was followed by famine. Urban planets had nowhere to go. Agricultural planets had no medical staff. Ships starved in the void. There was no way out. No-one came to help.

It took seventeen more generations to rebuild. Years lost to despair. Then more to recover the knowledge of their ancestors. Finally the Many moved into a new age. Old friends reunited. Lost civilizations remembered.

The galaxy had become an older and wiser place. Lessons learned. The entire arm of the galaxy that brought down the first empire was shunned. Dark fears awoke when it was mentioned. Each and every one of the Many placed patrols on the edge of this Killing Dark. No-one ever asked why.

Imperator Surveillance Ship Many Eyes, Killing Dark Patrol

"Sir, something is coming out of the Dark."

ESA Mission Command

"Thanks to the efforts of the Troubadour we have a treasure trove of information. Our thanks to the crew. Be assured all of you will be rewarded. However. All details of your mission and ours are now classified.

Secure channels only.

Captain McMahon, for the duration of this mission you are accorded the rank of Vice-Admiral. This will be adjusted upwards depending on who turns up. I am aware that this is a leap in your position. Congratulations. You cannot be outranked under any circumstances. Please continue your work."

ESA Janice, en-route to site Troubadour

'Hardline to site established. Requesting new orders from Vice-Admiral McMahon."

ESA Troubadour, Flagship, Unknown Ships Site

Vice-Admiral McMahon commanding

The bridge crew quickly picked up the gossip. The comms officer had loudly wondered if anyone had brought their dress uniform or a spare set of stars. By the time the Captain arrived at her station they were all standing to attention and grinning at her. The comms officer handed her her orders and saluted.

"Wait, I'm a fucking Admiral?”

The confidential orders made the position clear. Every space-going nation or organization was on the way. Anyone who could fly was on the way. If a ship could be bought, leased, or stolen it was on its way. The ESA had no intention of being pressured off the site. It was clear that she needed to secure the ships, make clear that she controlled the site, and prevent unapproved incursions into the ships.

“Tell the Janice I need a list of personnel. Get our security teams on board those ships. I want full satellite coverage of the site. Tell Engineering to get started on production. Begin building our drone network. I want all ships mapped and lit up before anyone else shows up. Also, tell the Quartermaster I need three stars from somewhere.”

Agency Director J.B DuBois

“I need a report from Fleet Command. We need to send whatever we can as soon as possible."

“Director, Fleet Command is rerouting the Mars support fleet, ETA is ten days.That should give our new VADM the muscle she needs.”

“ Inform the Troubadour, give them time to work out the deployment”

“How are we doing on translating the documents?”

“Well, half the planet is studying them. Mission control says they are ‘encouraged’ by their progress. Not quite sure what that means. The Troubadour is sending box five later today, perhaps that will help.”

“ Or confuse them more.”

“ There is that.”

ESA Troubadour, Science Officer Kowalczyk

"The drone reports from US12 are concerning. We detect a signal. Inform the Captain. I mean the Admiral. I need to send our team out immediately."

VADM McMahon

"Get our people over there now! Maneuver the ship closer and begin scanning. I need to know everything and I need to know it yesterday. Get me ESA Mission Command."

ESA Mission Command,

Emergency Meeting re. US12

"What do we know?"

"There is a signal leaving the ship. We don't know where it's going when it started or what it says."

"That's not helping."

"Director, our people are on the way. Once we have a copy of the signal my people can begin plotting its direction and content. All we can do now is speculate and prepare."

"Tell Fleet Command to prepare for the unexpected. This may end up as a first contact situation. I want US01 recovered and brought here before that happens. We need to see what we might be dealing with. Tell engineering to prepare Mars Orbital to receive the ship. This is no longer an archeological mission. This is now our best chance to find out who's on their way."

ESA Janice

"Our orders are to take US01 in tow. We are to bring it to Mars. On no account are we to allow interference with this mission. The Mars support fleet will meet us on the way and provide escorts. All communications are to be minimized. Tell no-one. We are leaving now."

ESA Mars Support Fleet, en-route to US site

Captain Fleming commanding

"Captain, we need to rendezvous with ESA Janice. We are to provide escorts. She is carrying something important."

"Anything more than that?"

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

"Sir, we are to go to full alert. We may encounter 'unexpected events'.

"Shit. Go to General Quarters."

The Janice secured US01 to itself and began accelerating towards Mars. ETA six days. In the meantime, the facilities on Mars Orbital were secured. ESA diplomats, engineering, and military began the trip from Earth.

The Mars government was surprised with a 'payment' from the ESA that would cover the budget for the next two years. The trade negotiations that had dragged on for years were suddenly concluded by Earth conceding everything, even things Mars hadn't thought about.

Now they were really worried.

ISS Many Eyes, Killing Dark Patrol

"Commander, we are receiving a signal. It's in archaic language. One of the lost races. We can only give you a rough translation at the moment, but effectively it says that 'Quarantine is broken', then repeats."

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know but something is awake in there."

"Inform the Many."

Conclave of the Many

"Someone is in there. We have received a transmission from our darkest past. The ghosts of the first empire tell us "The quarantine is broken". We don't know if it was a warning or a plea for help. I ask that the Many increase their patrols. Never again will we be struck down. Prepare for war. Nothing is permitted to move past our border."

The Conclave did not panic. Every member had seen the despair and pain documented when the first empire fell. This time they would be ready. Delegates informed their worlds to prepare wisely. Ships were needed. Secure medical facilities must be everywhere. Food supplies must be protected. Full satellite defense grids built and installed. Ground troops recruited and trained.

This time they would defeat the Killing Dark.

ESA Troubadour, Engineering Officer Weber

"Inform the Admiral that we found the on-switch."

"What?"

"Admiral, I am happy to report that we can fly these ships. We ignored all the crap mission control told us and looked at it as an engineering problem. Turns out that the ships were simply turned off. Plenty of power. They had a multi-species crew. Everything was explained four times on the controls. Want me to turn one on?"

"If you do that I will pin a medal on your corpse, just after I have you shot. Send me your report. Brief your engineers. We may need to move in a hurry. If they say a word they can hang on to the outside of the hull when we leave. Also, you have my never-ending gratitude. For a week."

"I draw your attention to speed. We can be in Earth orbit in nine minutes. I don't need a week."

"Contact the ESA. We need to talk."

We are moving the flagship to US08, all crew prepare for transfer. This is only for a brief transition. The Troubadour will follow at best speed.

Director J.B. DuBois, ESA Command Center

"Hello Rowan, how does it feel to be an Admiral?

"Not so strange now that I have a fleet."

"Did Mars turn up early?"

"I can now report we have control of the ships. Where would you like me to park them?"

"Fuck what? You can fly them. Good God.

Put them in Mars orbit. I'll call ahead. They might panic if a fleet of alien ships suddenly turns up. I'll call Fleet Command. They will let you know what they want you to do."

Science and Engineering, ESA Troubadour/ US08

"Look. It's like gears. We have three, they have seven. I don't need to know how it works, I just need to change gears."

"We don't know what we're doing! Anything could happen."

"What happens is that we go faster. You can figure out how after we park in orbit in five minutes."

European Space Agency, Nice, ROF

Press Release

.This agency has long promoted the peaceful use of space. Our networks have long provided us with a profound understanding of where we come from. Of where we are going. We have all been astonished by the recovery of the Alien ships. We hope this discovery will lead mankind into a better, greater future. As I speak we are bringing those ships to Mars Orbital. We can, and are, flying them. This is a gift to mankind. All the technologies we will uncover, the strange history that led to their presence in our system will be revealed.

We have no reason to fear. We estimate the ships have been quietly sitting in place for over nine thousand years. The documents our scientists and academics are studying were boxed and ready for us. They even left the doors open. They are a gift. We will study them in the spirit they were offered.

ISS Many Eyes, Killing Dark patrol

“ Sir, the signal has stopped. We have a location. Orders?”

“ Inform the many we are sending a probe into the Dark. Set the probe to maximum output. We need to kill off any plagues that it might encounter."

Throughout the Many-worlds the pressures grew. Each species dealt with it differently. Some poured resources into military power, some on massive medical support systems. Some just assumed that the end was nigh and began to pray or party.

Earth was oblivious.

The probe headed straight to the last recorded position of the signal. In what turned out to be an unfortunate coincidence, the Mars Support Fleet turned up in time to meet it.

ISS Many Eyes, Probe report

"No trace of any Many ships. We count sixteen Unknown Species ships in the area. We will attempt to scan.

Scanning. Unknown Species ships confirmed as Killing Dark Sentient. Moving to evade. Confirm Fleet Hostile.

Unable to evade

*End of transmission*

Mars Support Fleet, US site

Captain Fleming commanding

"Pity our new VAML didn't let us know what she planned. Scan the area, see if we forgot anything. The Troubadour will return with us."

"Captain, I have an incoming craft. It's not ours. Speed is way off the charts."

"Go to First Contact protocol. Begin transmission. Inform Fleet Command."

"Sir, that thing just flooded the ESA Median with radiation. Our people would be glowing if we weren't military grade. We are getting no response to our transmission."

"Close up. Arm weapons. Keep transmitting. Try the signal lasers, maybe it doesn't do audio."

"Sir, the craft is evading laser communication. It's moving to ESA Supply Ship Ester. That ship is civilian. It will fry them."

"Kill it. This thing is hostile. So much for 'unexpected events'.

The fleet fired it's EMP guns on the alien craft. It floated dead in space.

"Recover that ship. We may have some explaining to do. Plot a course home."

Conclave of the Many

"I regret to inform you that we have discovered that the Killing Dark Sentients are real and hostile. They have seized the probe we sent to investigate the Ancients transmission.

They are a space-faring race. Now they know we are here. I fear for our future. I ask the Many to assemble a fleet and prepare for battle in the Killing Dark. Better we fight them there than here "

Rowan stood on the deck of her new ship. She loved the Troubadour but this, with FTL? The first human to break the light speed barrier? This was why she went to space. Ok, it felt like she stole a car to go joyriding but still awesome.

"What does Weber have to say? Can he make this work? I hear there's a Scottish engineer on Mars Fleet, perhaps I should call him."

"Tell the Admiral that if she wants to come down here and push random buttons, she's welcome. I'm sure she'll get a state funeral."

"Call Fleet Command. Remind them that I know about salvage law. Suggest I get this ship, for science obviously. Tell them it's called the Herald. That's what happened to Troubadours when they got promoted."

ESA, Mission and Fleet Command

Report on the recovery of Alien Ships

"Thanks to our new Admiral we now possess fifteen FTL ships. Our science and engineering are reverse-engineering them as quickly as possible. My thanks to the language specialists that finally broke the barrier. Since we expect to meet them shortly it will be profoundly useful."

"Director, I must report that something attacked the Mars Support Fleet. They have disabled and taken over the offending ship but perhaps the military needs to be here."

"Call them in. They need to hear this and in the meantime, we are awaiting the full translations of the recovered data. Can I ask Mission Command to tell us what you know at this point?"

"Thank you, Director. I am afraid it makes for sobering reading. The ship's crews perished following a series of epidemics caused by contracting a multitude of Earth's pathogens. The ships were not left for us but because they were plague ships. We believe they carried some of the pathogens back to their homeworlds. We can only imagine what happened, however since the ships were left abandoned, we imagine it was severe.

On the plus side, these were mostly science vessels. We have recovered an incredible amount of information. Their technology, maps, languages, social structure. We are only held back by the sheer amount of work for us to do and the number of people that can do it."

Mars Support Fleet

After Action Report

The Alien vessel is automated. No crew were hurt in the incident. Engineering reports they have recovered the contents of the data core. We are confident we can revive the craft. I suggest we disable it's emitters and engines first. Our ETA is thirty-six hours. We await your response."

Captain Fleming left it at that. The ESA had told him to stay secure and had forgotten to mention the risk of being attacked by some lunatic robot. He was still waiting to hear from his new commanding officer. Now he was on escort duty. He was beginning to feel like an NPC.

"Get Scotty to start figuring out this shit before someone else tries to kill us"

"Yes, Captain."

Chief Engineer Omar Donnel hated being called Scotty, but he enjoyed being a Scottish engineer. Officers love that shit. The moment he used the accent they did what he told them.

Fleet Command

"Vice Admiral McMahon has requested that she be allowed to retain US12 as her flagship. We agree. It seems that that ship had a military purpose. An experienced crew can provide us with a much better assessment of the ship’s capacity than any number of science reports.

It has been designated, ESA Herald. She intends to begin ship trials as soon as full translations are made available to her."

ESA Herald, VADM McMahon

"We have received orders. Captain Fleming has recovered the origin point of the alien probe. He says the craft is remarkably close to the design of our new ship. We are to move to those coordinates and attempt first contact. Failing that, we are to assess the threat. We leave in four hours. Secure your stations. This will be a big day, one way or the other."

The Herald was awash with sticky posts. Every surface had a dozen or so listing things the crew thought you should know before you pressed anything.

Everyone's HUD had the translation app running constantly. It was being updated every few minutes as Mars worked its way through the data.

Despite the mess, the alien tech, and the odd-shaped toilets the ship was remarkably simple to fly.

Form follows function. Maps were based on light speed from the central star. Every coordinate was an X, Y, Z-axis plus distance. Navigation stations send a stream of data to the command console and engineering. Science stations send scan results to both. Weapons were controlled by the commander. Other ancillary functions went to the Second Command console, then to Command if required.

ISS Many Eyes, Killing Dark border

"Sir I am aware that the probe reported that those ships were hostile but I see no evidence of it"

"They shot it out of space! How was that not hostile?"

"Sir, respectfully, we shot first. We missed that the ships were transmitting. They use frequencies unused by our Comms. As far as they knew we just washed their ships in hard radiation. Perhaps they were responding to the same message we were?"

"Those transmissions could be anything. Nothing we recognize as a language. In any case, the Many are on its way."

"Sir, this Species lives among things that crushed the First Empire. Even that was so far back in history we forget who's fault it was. Do we really want to go to war with them?"

"Just write a report. File it with Medical and Comms. If they were trying to talk to us they better get ready to talk really, really quickly."

Emergency Meeting UN Joint Military Command, Geneva, Switzerland

Confidential Report

The first contact has resulted in a direct attack by an alien craft.

We have recovered significant military assets from the derelict fleet. Attached is a breakdown of the language, military capacity, and culture of the ships.

We must assume that something out there is hostile. We may have been coming out of the ice ages at the time, but they seem to bear a grudge.

I suggest we engage the Angel program.

The Herald will assess the risk if possible but assume that we lose her on contact. Vice Admiral McMahon may be optimistic but her ship is ten thousand years old.

Motion passed. Angel program activated.

Mars had been hard built. Every breath a struggle. Every brick a triumph. They had dug deep against the sun, they had built resilience and multiple redundancies into their philosophy as well as their home.

Project Angel came from this background. Following two near misses with meteor impacts, meteors that would never have penetrated Earth's thick atmosphere, they decided to use the relative ease of launching from the planet to begin building a response.

The “Angels” were autonomous missiles carrying a simple payload designed to shatter incoming objects. They were placed in a distant orbit from the planet and then switched off. They were only awoken when it was clear an incoming object needed to be smaller. A lot smaller. After several successful interventions, it became good practice to add to the Angel arsenal whenever a ship was in the area.

Earth decided that it might be a useful tool to have. The shadow of extinction-level events still impinged on popular culture. Mostly the History channel. They began a program themselves. Much of the earth's obsolete missile arsenal was repurposed and redeployed. A chance to clear out inventories with a clear conscience and bury some serious overspend was gratefully received by the world's militaries. As the project gained speed, several new treaties were signed as nations found a face-saving way to rid themselves of unwanted weaponry.

It turns out that not a lot of people are happy to have thousands of missiles orbiting the planets. After some serious political pressure, both programs were handed to the UN as the responsible body for asteroid defense. Then people forgot about it.

This program has now been running for well over a century. No-one is quite sure how many Angels are up there and no-one wants to wake them all up to count them.

ESA Herald, VADM McMahon

The ship prepared. Less than an hour remained before they left. Stocks and crew were still arriving from Mars Orbital.

Mission Command had identified the frequencies used by the probe and provided the ship with rough translations of the first contact protocol. In four new languages on top of Earth's five. This should be fun.

“Attention all crew. Today we go to work. If we encounter what we expect, then this is a day all Mankind has waited for. We are ambassadors to the universe. In that spirit, I remind you that drinking on board is forbidden, except for officers with the rank of Vice-Admiral or above. Hide or delete your furry porn. In the event that they demand sacrifices, we will begin with the engineering crew.”

“ Admiral, perhaps you should use the prepared speech.”

“ Fine. It's boring though.”

As the Herald left the system looking for peace, everyone that she left behind turned their thoughts to war.

Mars Orbital was the largest object mankind had ever built. Since its initial design, it had been the largest shared project ever undertaken. Celebrated first for its pure science, then its microgravity industrial production, and finally for the most cost-effective and innovative ship and satellite design production. Mars orbital generated most of the colony’s income and all of its prestige. It now resembled an office park in space, if you covered an office park in solar panels and armor.

ESA Mission Command, Mars Colony

“Director, our deep space satellites are picking up incoming ships. We have no idea who they are or where they are going. There’s a lot of them is about all we know. Orders Sir?

“ Begin broadcasting the new First Contact protocols. Direct them to Mars Orbital. Make sure it sounds friendly. Offer them coffee or beer”

“ All satellites broadcasting now.”

“Sir, they shot the satellites.”

"Attention Fleet Command. All vessels are ordered to accept and obey UN Military Command. Codes to follow."

"All personal will go to Angel protocol immediately. Send the FTL ships to Earth orbit immediately. Perhaps they can give us a second chance.'

Angel protocol wasn’t difficult. Encrypt everything, turn off stuff that blows up if you don’t watch it - of which we build quite a lot- and then hide in the deepest hole you can find with as much food and vodka as you can grab in six minutes

UN Joint Command, Angel Command, Mars Orbital

"We are clear to go. Someone pressed the big red button. Suck it up and let's live today because no-one promised you tomorrow. If we fail there won't be one'

The Herald arrived. A first for mankind. Over a thousand light-years from home. Rowan began broadcasting the First Contact protocol. Nothing. Yet.

ISS Many Eyes, Killing Dark border

"Sir, receiving a transmission. Locally. It's the Dark Sentients. They're here."

"Can we understand them?"

" They are broadcasting in multiple languages. Three are First-Empire. One is Lost. We cannot identify the others. Perhaps this is not their first contact?"

"What have they got to say? The Many fleets are already on the way."

"Sir, they probably don't know that. Should I contact them?"

"Yes, but don't mention the fleet. Do we have the first contact protocols on hand? We are the Many. This is what we do. At least it used to be.'

ESA Herald, designated origin point

"Admiral, we are receiving a transmission. It appears to be in the Alien:3 language. Translation underway."

"Send them our dictionary. Maybe they would like to speak English.'

TRANSLATION...DARK SENTIENTS. PURPOSE..?... THREAT LEVEL INTENTIONS. MOVE STAY?

"We really need to work on that interface. Ok, so.. purpose is welcome. Threat level none. The intention is peace and speech"

ISS Many Eyes, Killing Dark border patrol

"Are we sure about the translation? They are flying a fucking antique. I know entire civilizations younger than that ship."

"Sir, they sent us the word map. Without their help, we would be here for years. They are alone and broadcasting to the universe. Not a stealth mission of doom. Perhaps we should forget they're from the Killing Dark and just talk?"

ESA Director J B DuBois

"I have given you full authority over our assets. You have no idea how much that hurts. We are civilians."

Director of UN Military Command Angel protocol

"We are normally civilians too. Just not right now. The Angel protocol comes from a war, a long time ago in a place called Mons. When the earth is burning, your comrades are dead in the trench beside you, then only an angel can save you. We are that Angel."

The fleet of the Many moved into the Sol System.

"We have no idea what we will find here. Begin scanning for life signs."

"Admiral, we are picking up transmissions. There is a deep-space satellite system in here."

"Find them and destroy them. We will give no warning. This cursed place destroyed the first empire with only a breath. We will not fall again."

" Transmission is translating. Sir, they are sending coordinates and wish for a peaceful encounter. They say they are delighted to meet us."

"Follow my orders."

"Sir, we have First Contact protocol for this."

"Ignore it. We are here to crush an infection, not make friends."

"Sir, that order is a violation of the Many edicts. We took an oath. I will not carry out these orders."

"Place yourself under arrest and leave my bridge. Anyone else who feels the same can join you."

Several bridge officers left their posts. Not enough to change anything but enough to make the crew uneasy. Someone would be called to account for this. On the other hand, disobeying an Admiral had fairly immediate consequences.

"Move to those coordinates. I want this over with."

UN Command, Mars Orbital

"Attention incoming fleet. We are not hostile. Your probe was disabled after it flooded a ship with hard radiation that could have been lethal to our people. You are welcome to recover it."

"We are aware of the unsuccessful attempt by the Many to study the Earth in the past. You have no reason to fear us. Our medical science has disposed of those threats. We are willing to send you that information.

We are willing to remain out of Many space until you are satisfied that it is safe."

"Please engage with us. No rational species engage in battle without discussing the necessity. Please respond"

The Many Fleet, Sol System

"Continue the attack."

The Comms officer broadcast the Mars transmission to all ships, then left her post.

"I resign my position. I'll be in the brig if anyone needs me."

Throughout the Many fleet officers and crew stepped away from their posts. Captain's sent urgent queries to the flagship. Some stopped advancing.

"Admiral, the fleet is disintegrating. We need to talk to these Sentients. They clearly pose no threat to us."

"They are not a species. They are a disease that will destroy us all. I will do this and you can wallow in your fine sentiments afterward."

More and more of the fleet withdrew. Some began broadcasting a warning to the Mars Orbital.

UN Command, Mars Orbital

"We seem to have some division in the Many fleet. Continue broadcasting. Call the Angels. The enemy is coming here.

The Many Fleet, Flagship

Less than a third of the Many fleet advanced on Mars Orbital. Some species shared the admiral’s view. Some just obeyed orders at all costs. One or two just wanted to heroically blow something up. Fleet discipline was gone. Now they could see the target, half the bridge crew was now refusing to fulfill their roles.

“ This is your Admiral speaking. We are doing what needs to be done. We will safeguard the Many at all costs. Those who have failed me today will pay a terrible price for their insubordination. We are the true heroes of the Many. Destroy that Orbital and move on to the third planet. We will reduce them back to the savages they were when the First Empire fell. All ships will move independently. Follow my orders. Follow my lead. Attack.”

UN Command, Mars Orbital

The staff listened as the Many Admiral called the attack. Comms and Intel designated one hundred and eleven targets. The Angels, quietly accelerating throughout the system, were divided up accordingly.

“ Estimated time for engagement with the Angels is just under an hour. We are going to take a beating in the meantime.”

“Alert the repair crews. We just need to hang in there a little longer.”

"Attention Many Fleet. This is a civilian Orbital. We have no offensive capability. Unless your laws have substantially changed this is an unlawful attack. We are willing to surrender. Please respond."

More of the Many ships halted their attack, returning to the outer system.

"Redesignating targets. Incoming fire detected."

A relentless rain of plasma began hitting the Orbital.

Mankind is a strange beast. They hadn't designed the Orbital for war but that would be hard to spot.

When asked to engineer something new, something important, the old lessons once learned in darker times are remembered.

In space, fire is a horror.

So they designed against fire.

Atmosphere is the most precious resource.

So they guarded it carefully.

People are dangerous and fickle.

So they designed against madness.

In those first few minutes of fire, with atmosphere venting from a thousand holes and the sheer madness of the attack all those design choices began to work.

ISS Many Eyes, First Contact, Killing Dark border

"I am declaring this a First-Contact. Inform the Many. We have made contact with a sentient space-faring race. We have established communication. We have established peaceful intentions."

"Sir, that's not going to go down well. We just sent a fleet to genocide these people."

"Maybe we can make them turn back. Maybe it's too late. But it's not going to be me that pretends that this is not happening. I want this on the record. It might stop us the next time we try to avenge the past. Contact the Herald."

ESA Herald, First Contact, Many space borders

"Admiral we have an incoming contact. It's live. Guess we get to see what they look like."

"Lucky I'm wearing my Class A's. Put them through."

The alien was tall, thin, and grey. Bipedal, two eyes. No tentacles. Rowan thought that Star Wars did it better.

"Admiral human form dark species Rowan we need require to demand your attention"

"Hello, Captain."

"Declared First Contact legal binding Many sorrow sadness loss. Other Many fleet fear. The fleet attack kills attack injures destroy surprised homeworld. Now, currently, unstoppable, inevitable end. Sorrow"

"We need to work on that dictionary. Is he saying what I think he's saying?"

"Suggest requiring to ask Many Eyes return accompany Herald escort defend protect explain Homeworld"

"All hands, returning to Earth. Battlestations. Prepare for war. Our new frenemies are coming with us. Prepare targeting solutions. Just in case "

Mars Orbital began to melt. Interior seals activated, hidden heat sinks dumped into space. People were guided to clear areas while bands of emergency crews sealed anything they could find. Drones flew throughout the station, patching, recovering, repairing. First aid drones followed the crew deep into the station.

Many died. Not always because they had to, but sometimes because they needed to. They held doors open. Rebuild network connections. Kept the Angels on target. They fought the fires, welded the holes, and carried the dead.

UN Command Center, Mars Orbital

“Nine minutes before the Angels arrive Sir. We are going to lose the atmosphere in forty minutes. This is going to be close.”

“As soon as the Angels engage launch the evacuation pods. I want as many as possible back on the surface. Pass Command back to Mars. There is nothing else for us to do up here.”

When the evacuation alarms went on everyone knew the end was near for the station. Very few knew that the Angels were coming. They grieved for their home, they grieved the dream of the first contact. They grieved for the dead. Then they started to get angry.

The Evac pods were simple things. Effectively they were single-use dropships facing the planet. With most of the population already evacuated by the conventional shuttle, there was plenty of room.

The drones found and guided everyone, updating the routes as damage reports flooded in. Soon everyone was on board. As soon as the light went green they began falling towards the surface.

Now only the dead and the drones held the Orbital.

"We can't win this. Get everyone ready. Prepare the relic ships. Every bioweapon we have. I want them to launch the moment the Earth falls. Maybe next time we will reach space first."

In Earth orbit, the FTL ships were loaded with the worst creations of mankind. Even the hardened soldiers trying to buy a future for the world were sickened. Old diseases, new ones. The brightest minds of man wasted on this evil. Still, Mars was burning and Earth is next. Fuck them.

The Angels had arrived. The first wave was over six thousand strong. Simple beyond belief they slammed into the shields of the Many Fleet. Some armed with nukes, some ceramic tungsten rods, some just old fashioned chemical explosives they flew in from the dark.

The Many Fleet, Mars Orbital

"How is this place still in one piece? Increase your fire!"

"Sir we are using everything we have. It just doesn't want to die. I don't know how they built it but we might need to study it."

"Burn this out of space!"

The Angels had arrived.

"Sir, multiple incoming..objects. We cannot identify them. They appear unpowered. Traces of chemical burning. Impacting now."

Some of the ships hadn't bothered powering shields. The briefing had been clear that this species had nothing in space to threaten them. Each ship was targeted by over six hundred missiles.

Several exploded outright. More were hit with a massive series of electromagnetic pulses and simply stopped working. Some were so startled they moved to the safety of the ships on the edge of the system.

The blinding glare was visible to Earth.

"Get those ships back here! I am ordering every ship to engage or face charges of treason. You will move to attack or face exile. You will never return to the Many!"

They didn't move. The worse it got, watching Many ships burn a civilian Orbital that had offered surrender was enough.

One Captain responded "Admiral, I would rather die with these innocents than fire on them. Stand down or we will stop you. You have forfeited your office."

The Many, as the name implied, was a coalition. Although they enjoyed a prosperous and beneficial alliance, there were many strands in the fabric of their government. When that Captain spoke he knew that his people would stand behind him.

"We will finish this. Your mutiny will be your death. Traitor!"

That was the moment that the ESA Herald and ISS Many Eyes arrived in the system.

"ESA Herald to Mission Command, please update."

"ISS Many Eyes to the Many Fleet we have declared an official First Contact. This Species is protected by the Many edicts. Ceasefire."

Then the second wave of Angels struck.

All attention had shifted from the Orbital. The drones continued to repair, the Evac ships landed safe and unnoticed.

UN/ESA Command Mars Colony.

"Director, we are recovering our people. We estimate that sixty percent of the enemy fleet is still engaged."

"Inform the Earth. Make sure they understand that the enemy is not taking surrender as an option."

"Mission Command to the Herald. Do not engage. Go to Earth. Grab as many as you can and flee. We do not expect success here."

ESA Herald VADM McMahon commanding

"Damn, I didn't understand a word of that. Must be in a tunnel. Move to attack."

This time the Many ships were ready. Old technology remembered and hardened the electronics. Shielding strengthened across the spectrum of damage inflicted. Apart from those floating unpowered by the first attack no-one was damaged.

ISS Many Eyes had an immediate effect

The Rebel ships began moving to Mars Orbital. Over half the attacking fleet ceased fire and moved to meet them. The others resumed firing on the Orbital.

Rebel Fleet, Incoming Mars Orbital

"To the Many Fleet attacking. You are committing a crime. A First Contact has been registered. You must withdraw. We will fire upon you. Join us. You know that it is illegal to fire upon a surrendered enemy. This is a civilian facility. There is no glory here, only shame. We will fire on you. Withdraw immediately."

The Herald accelerated towards Mars Orbital. Rebel ships identified the Admiral's ship.

"Attention attacking fleet. This is the ESA Herald. Surrender or die. Ceasefire immediately. You are committing a war crime. Your Admiral has lost his mind."

Translate and send

The third strike was futile. No effect.

The Angels had failed.

What was left of the Many Fleet continued its attack on the Orbital. Broken and burning, it held its place. The drones continued their repairs. The atmosphere poured from every new injury. The drones didn't care. They carried on with the same brutal determination as the men who built them. They would burn together or not at all.

ESA Herald continued to broadcast.

"Attention Command, Attention all ships, this is ESA Herald, we have agreed first contact protocols with the Many. Please cease-fire. Take no further offensive action. No more Angels today"

'They think I don't know what the other plan is. Everyone is going to regret this day. We will be the poison they think we are.'

ISS Many Eyes continued to demand an end to the conflict.

"Sir, most of the fleet is with us. They cannot bring themselves to fire on their comrades. We are so close. At least some of the Humans may survive."

"Better we kill each other than continue this horror. We were lied to. Sent to guard the Many from monsters in the dark. Tell me, who are the monsters here?"

The Many Fleet Admiral lost patience with them all.

"You refuse my orders. You do not understand. The moment this diseased species move among us, the Conclave will fall again. We must cull them now or die screaming at home. I have seen what happened. They must never reach the Many again. How many will be Lost this time!?"

The Rebel fleet continued to grow. The tide had turned.

"All ships fire on the Human occupied vessel. They have stolen it from our ancestors to spread their filth among us. Destroy it!"

The Herald shuddered under the attack. Rowan was beginning to regret moving into the fight with an unfamiliar ship. "Keep the shields up. Don't open fire. Leave that to the rebels. Keep broadcasting. Whatever happens today, you are the best I could ask for. Hold. Hold until the end."

The Rebels watched as the human admiral continued to plead for peace. Their ancient ship didn't evade or return fire. They were going to die looking for peace with a madman.

"Who are these Humans? They will die. They will join our Lost. What will they tell them of us? We crept into the Killing Dark and slaughtered them."

The Many, Flagship, Weapons Officer

He disabled every system he could. He quickly sent bridge orders for the release of prisoners and took control of Comms. He had seen enough.

"All of the Many, if you value life, if you value what the Many is at its best, the oaths we swore, the service we promised, and the honour we hold, you will end this. They offered us peace. They offered to surrender and now they offer their lives. The only evil I see here is us. Ceasefire."

"You heard. That's the Admiral's ship. Stand down. Enough."

A certain Comms officer, freshly released from the brig, arrived in the company of several security guards.

The Admiral was incensed.

"This is not the time! Return her. The traitors will be dealt with later!

"No, Admiral, they will be dealt with now. You have betrayed everything we stand for. You have ordered us to commit genocide. You have led us to damnation and exile. We will pay the price to end this. Our complicity in this murderous plot has cost us everything. You will be returned to the Conclave for trial."

The security guards made a point of raising their weapons at the Admiral.

"Contact the Herald."

The Herald was a battered wreck. Rowan waited for the casualties to be counted. Her crew glanced at her, wondering why they didn't shoot back. Wondering how much longer this ancient ship would last.

Time to speak to them. To everyone.

"Put this out on all channels, all languages"

"My gallant crew. Honored guests. Misguided enemies. Today we are called to embody the name we gave this ship.

We may die here. We cannot defeat these invaders. We can only speak for mankind. It is not a job we chose. It is the job we are here to do. Mankind is more than us.

Today we are its voice. I will not return hate with hate. Perhaps we are justified in trying to kill these strangers. I will not lift my hand against them. If this is to be the end of us, we will finish as the best we can be, not the worst. I do not know if we herald our end or a new beginning, but I ask you to show what we truly are. Hope."

She nodded to Comms and the broadcast ended.

"Prepare to evacuate the ship. I won't be joining you. I will attempt to surrender to the Rebel fleet. Might work. They may take prisoners."

"Sir,... Rowan.. you could come to.."

"To your stations."

"Admiral McMahon to Comms" appeared on her HUD. That was for one specific reason. If the Aliens were calling and she was.. occupied. She quickly returned to the bridge.

"Sir, Incoming call. It's the enemy flagship. We are no longer under fire."

"Open a channel."

Many Fleet, Flagship, Mars Orbital

"Admiral Rowan Human Ship. We talk, discuss surrender. Agree with accord? Yes No?

'Keep working on that dictionary. This is kind of important.'

"Flagship of the Many we welcome discussion of surrender. We accord. Yes."

"Then accord is reached. The Many Fleet surrenders to Admiral Rowan."

"Cut Comms. Get me Command and a physiatrist. Can anyone tell me what the fuck just happened? Tell them the battle is over. Tell them we won. Tell them we need whiskey. Vice Admirals only."

UN Command, Mars Colony

"Seriously? Inform our new Admiral that I will be sending whiskey immediately. Along with unicorn tears and a pot of gold. This is what happens when the Irish get promoted. Find out what's happening. Now."

The Herald requests that the Many Fleet be allowed to orbit Mars. They have agreed to begin repairs on the Orbital.

The Exile Fleet, Flagship, Mars Orbital

" Attention Admiral Rowan. We have processed the translation information. Language capacity is now sufficient.

I am Acting Command of the Exile fleet.

It is with sorrow that I must explain. This fleet may never return to the Many. Our actions contradicted the will of the Conclave. That is forbidden. We have chosen Exile rather than participate in the genocide of your people.

The Conclave may resume it's offensive.

The previous Admiral of this fleet was carefully chosen by the Conclave. He is a Germaphobe. They showed him the footage and reports from the fall of the first empire. It called to his deepest fears. That led to his shameful behavior.

The ISS Many Eyes is exempt from this exile. They will have to defend their decision to issue a First Contact edict and we will use them to transport the Admiral back to the Many. He should face charges. However, that is up to the Conclave.

We understand that you may imprison us. Our brief study indicates your rules of war are applicable to us. Please advise your intentions. We will accept your decision."

UN Command, Mars Colony

"Admiral McMahon, our thanks for your actions. Mankind will be forever grateful.

However. What are we going to do now? We are not equipped to intern eleven new species. We don't even know how to intern one. We cannot let them roam around while the Many still intend to attack. Not all of them rebelled. You took the surrender. Do you have any ideas?"

Admiral McMahon,

"Sir, I suggest we give them refugee status. They can't go home. They are already in a prison they chose in order to save us. It would be petty and stupid to punish them.

I agree we can't let them roam around. It would probably kill them anyway.

Mars Orbital is empty. It is sterile. I suggest we give it to them. Let them rebuild it as they wish. In return, they can serve us. We need their technology. We need to figure out how not to infect them. It's the best solution I can come up with."

"Thank you, Admiral we will let you know our decision."

The Herald, Admiral McMahon commanding

"Attention Acting Command of the Exile fleet.

This is the formal decision of the United Nations of Earth.

You are not prisoners of war. You are accorded Refugee status. We are granting the Mars Orbital to you. You will be provided with all the necessary materials to rebuild it as you wish.

Other than a peace treaty and the understanding that we both obey your First Contact protocol, there are no restrictions. We will establish an Embassy and medical facilities on the Orbital in order to facilitate our cooperation.

You may govern as you wish, provided it is not any form of government banned under our laws. Please feel free to establish a Conclave quickly. We will appoint a suitable ambassador. We also ask that you appoint an ambassador to the UN. We will need your assistance in our relationship with the Many. You are not required, and will never be asked, to enter any future conflict between Earth and the Many.

Acting Commander of the Exile fleet

"Admiral Rowan. I am deeply grateful for the welcome your world has offered. I will inform the fleet. Speaking for myself and my ship, thank you."

First Conclave of Mars Orbital

"We hereby ratify the treaty with the United Nations of Earth."

First Minister of the Mars Orbital

"I don't understand these Humans. We tried to kill them. They granted us the greatest construction their species has built. We resigned ourselves to prison and exile. We have more freedom here than at home. Why?"

Ambassador to the Earth, former Acting Commander of the Exile Fleet

"They dream of a welcoming universe. Our attack was the worst injury we could have inflicted. Not the dead, they live with death always in their world. It was the dream we attacked. To them, giving us the Orbital gives them back the dream. They can hope again."

First Minister

"We have not been alone for a long time. Then we sealed the border and called them killers. The first empires fall was our mistake, not theirs, yet we punished them for thousands of years."

Ambassador to Earth,

"I have read the ship reports from the derelicts they found. I would have shot the crew. Sloppy, self-centered, and irresponsible only begins to describe it. No wonder they buried the reports and blamed some monsters in the dark."

The reconstruction of the Orbital continued. The drone workers followed the new designs provided by the Conclave.

The Earth began construction on its own Orbital. The first FTL ships Mankind had ever built began construction. The whole world turned its production to the project. At the back of everyone's mind was the fear of a new attack. One less inclined to surrender.

The Herald, Deep Space Surveillance fleet

"Admiral, we have a contact incoming. They request contact. Identified as the ISS Many Eyes."

"Put them through."

"Welcome back. I hope you bring good news?"

ISS Many Eyes

"Greetings Admiral Rowan. We are pleased to meet you here. Our news is for the Exile Conclave.

However, we are willing to share with you in the spirit of the first contact. The Conclave of the Many has disowned the Exile Fleet. They are forbidden from returning to Many space. The Admiral has been promoted and retired. He will never serve again. No further action will be taken against Human space.

You are forbidden from entering the Many space. We will act as unofficial Ambassador to the Exile Conclave and Human species. We will resume guarding the borders.

Speaking frankly, this whole episode has severely embarrassed the leadership. I would expect the Conclave to remove them shortly. Many of the exiled are connected to powerful factions in the government. I advise you to wait.

Do we have your permission to approach the Mars Conclave?"

ESA Herald, Admiral McMahon

"Thanks for the update. Your approach isn't up to me. We have a representative of the Mars Conclave on board. They will let you know."

"So it's true that you gave them independence? We heard rumors, but it is difficult to understand. Do they not pose a threat to you?"

"It was their honor that saved us. We have no doubts about our alliance. The Conclave Ambassador says you are welcome to approach the Orbital."

Mars Orbital, Human Suite, Exile Conclave

"Welcome, everyone, to the first Christmas celebrated with our new friends and allies."

A crowded room of diplomats and translators, civil servants, and navy veterans held glasses of a variety of liquids. The only requirement the humans had insisted on was that it was 'fizzy'. This was a new experience for many of the crowd. Several weeks of work with human chemists had resulted in success. In many cases, it also resulted in a new branch of science.

"Human Ambassador, we have attempted to understand this festival. When does the entity called Satan arrive?"

"I think you will find the correct name is Santa."

"My apologies. I was informed that Satan punished the wicked and gave unpleasant gifts to those that displeased him and pleasant ones to those deemed good."

" A separate mythology. Well, the same story but unrelated to the existence of Santa."

"I find this most confusing. Is it related to tree worship? I find it remarkable that Earth would send us such a large specimen as an act of goodwill. My colleagues were wondering if it is edible?"

"Traditionally no, but it is decorated with edible treats. We have secured small local delicacies for all our guests. Please note which species may consume which treat. The rather nervous Officer standing beside it will guide you."

The Christmas tree formed the centerpiece of the room. Beneath it lay the ambassador's gifts to the Mars Conclave. Months had been spent working this out. Trying to keep it a surprise had caused a certain tension between the respective security forces.

At least one agent of the Many had firmly told his superiors that the humans intended to wipe out the Exile Conclave using a toxin known as 'Mistletoe'.

"Ambassador, we are familiar with gift-giving. We also had ancient winter festivals. My people ceased celebrating them thousands of years ago. Why do you persist? Our understanding of your people is lacking and we do not wish to cause offense."

"We will not take offense, it's Christmas. A mix of traditions from our past. We were just hoping to create a new one. Ah, it seems Santa is here!"

A slightly uncomfortable naval rating, whose sole qualifications were a dramatically white beard, and a weight problem arrived at the Christmas tree.

The representatives of each species were invited forward.

"To our esteemed Ambassador of the Mars Conclave, a small gift"

The Ambassador stepped forward. The strangely dressed human handed him a box. It was decorated with curious images. Human effigies built from snow. Strange plant patterns, a toxic plant at that. Perhaps a warning?

It was obvious that he was supposed to open the package. Praying to long-forgotten gods of luck, he opened it.

Inside was a beautiful glass sculpture of the Orbital.

The human Ambassador spoke

"We hope you find it fitting. It is a precious thing to us, this Orbital. Our first effort to live in the darkness of space. We asked our finest craftsmen to capture its spirit. We gift you both the sculpture and the Orbital itself. Take care of both of them for us."

The Many Ambassador carefully lifted it from its case. The room crowded in to examine it. If they had held doubts about this unlikely alliance they were silent. It truly was beautiful. It represented the hope of these strange people. It represented the dream they had tried, so many times, to express in words. It held hope. It shined with earnest sincerity.

"It was made by Waterford crystal. Please don't drop it."

More gifts followed. Fabrics, paintings, jewelry, ceramics. All handcrafted and all with the same sense of hope. Humanity at its best.

The human Ambassador chimed his glass and stepped forward.

"I am here to offer you the best wishes of the human race. It is with gratitude that we welcome so many new faces to those we call friends. This is the season of goodwill.

Just over a year ago we faced each other as enemies. In honor of that, I will recall a small event that came to define mankind. In our first global war, the protagonists wielded poison, the first industrialized weaponry, and only one of many terrible new technologies that were born and used in that war. Millions died."

Silence filled the room. This was appalling. They had been brought here to celebrate death.

The Ambassador continued " When this festival, this Christmas, arrived at its appointed day, the soldiers laid down those weapons. They walked out into the battlefield. They sang and they talked, they recalled their families waiting for them at home. They cried, played games, and celebrated this day with their enemies."

The confusion deepened amongst the Many. Laid down their weapons? Walked onto the battlefield? Never in any species had such behavior occurred. Anyone attempting it would have been attacked by both sides, traitors to the cause.

"When tears had been shed, when the night drew in and the shadows filled the battlefield, both sides returned to their trenches. The war resumed. The next day they were shooting to kill.

But on that day they showed us a future. A dream. Mankind has always wanted to put down the guns and live in peace. We have tried to build that dream. So it is in their name we welcome you. Merry Christmas."

Many hours later, the two ambassadors sat looking out at Mars as it passed beneath them.

"We came here to kill you. Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why ..well everything. You treat us well. You listen. You care. Either you know something we don't or you are the most naive species in the universe."

The Earth ambassador paused.

"You were never alone. We were. Until you understand that, you will never grasp how important this is to us. Happy Christmas, my alien friend."