(BSS Heartseeker, Unnamed System 32)
“Coming up on the system now, Captain.”
Slave-Captain Drah Sross yawned, and pulled herself out of her bed in the crew quarters of the Heartseeker. Sure, it wasn’t strictly proper for her to be taking a nap while they were on approach to an unexplored system, but this was the fourth system that they had explored since Coldana, and Adam was watching the sensors. She knew he would let her know in plenty of time if there was something that needed her input.
When she’d been given the task of going out and exploring, she’d thought that it would be full of excitement, going and finding strange new worlds and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one had gone before. And maybe catching sight of the X’thari homeworld, or whatever passed for a homeworld for them, so that they could work on ridding the universe of their threat.
Instead, there was boredom. Lots, and lots, and LOTS of boredom. Oh, it wasn’t like her mechanic, Chakizo, and AI, Adam, weren’t pleasant enough to be around, but there was only so much you could talk about when it was just three people in an enclosed space for weeks on end.
Thankfully, the Master had thought of those problems. Or, more likely, one of the people who worked for him thought about it, and, when it was brought to his attention, he agreed to that person’s solution. The Master was many things, but it was common knowledge within Black Star that he was not omnipotent, nor did he pretend to be. He just got good people to work for him, and listened when they told him the solutions to problems that were in their specialization. That’s why he hired (or sometimes acquired) them, after all.
The Starhunter ‘fleet’ (fleet was really pushing it, since there were still only ten of the ships in service with the Nomad AIs, and the new five were still in ‘shakedown’, as their crews got used to their new AI partners) had changed their operating methods following some of the lessons learned at Coldana. Further research into the Gateway codex left on Nuevo Edo had revealed that the gate symbols could be converted into coordinates, allowing them to map the possible Gateway systems without actually sending someone through to see if it was a real address. This significantly changed how they had been exploring systems.
Currently, each Starhunter ran on four ‘phases’ of their mission cycle. Phase one was ‘Gateway Hunting’, where they would go check possible Gateway addresses, to see what was there. Phase three was ‘close exploration’, which was pretty much the same as Gateway hunting, but instead exploring systems that were adjacent or near to Known Space, either in the Orion Arm or in the Norma arm of the galaxy. Phases two and four were ‘rest’ phases, where the crews would have a month of leave time at Star’s Reach, Nuevo Edo, Madrigal Base, or Dimiya, depending on their personal preference.
Regardless of whether they were Gateway hunting, or exploring ‘local’ systems, standard practice was to launch from Star’s Reach, and use the X’thari drives to reach an area well outside sensor range of the target system. Then, they would spend the next several days to a week on a ballistic course into the system, being as stealthy as possible, while their passive scanners painted as much a picture of the system as they could. The thinking was that, by the time we got into the system itself, we would already have a basic idea of whether it was inhabited, and by whom.
If the system was uninhabited, then, once we were sure of our readings, we would spend the next couple weeks conducting a detailed survey of the system, mapping the major celestial bodies, doing basic resource checks, and so on. Planets that were life supporting, or potentially life supporting, were a priority, of course. However, gas giants and rocky airless worlds full of raw materials were still worth checking out.
If the system was inhabited, our job was to stay in stealth, get as many sensor readings as we could, and map the system. If we were detected, then we would bug out, using the X’thari drives. The lab coats had figured out how to shield the drives much better, allowing us to keep them charged without lighting us up on any scanners designed to pick up X’thari ships.
If we weren’t detected, well, then we got to try and find out as much about the inhabitants as we could. There were still colony ships, from various different races that had ‘disappeared’, either by accident or on purpose, and never been found again. But the presence of multiple sentient species in the galaxy meant that others could be out there, too.
If the Starhunters found new civilizations, or even isolated colonies belonging to old ones, then the job was to gather as much information as possible. We weren’t initiating first contact with anyone if we could possibly help it. That was firmly a job for someone else. We were just there to get the information needed to decide what kind of group to send, if any was sent at all.
That suited her just fine. No one signed on to a Starhunter if they wanted to be sociable and be in the middle of crowds all the time, after all. Better for the people who liked diplomacy to go and deal with the ‘fun’ of first contact and diplomatic missions. And, if the people she found turned out to be needing a more… instructive first contact, then better for the Navy to handle that.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Of course, this was the thirty-second system a Starhunter ship had explored. The vast majority of the systems they found were dead, and lifeless. Oh, there was the one system where an alien wreck was floating, full of monsters. The Navy had set up a research station and shipyard there, but other than that there wasn’t anything worth talking about in that system. Just dead worlds and gas giants. Plenty of raw materials, though.
Unnamed System 25 had been another interesting one, an unexplored system near the borders of the Terran Empire and Ihm Imperium. Flux Capacitor had been scouting that one when the Eye of Despair opened in Ihm space. The ripples of the Eye’s opening had been felt even in that system. Which was a pity, since the system had been found to have two life sustaining planets, as well as some plentiful resources. Scuttlebutt said that the Master and his advisors were still trying to figure out what to do with that system.
For Unnamed System 32, Heartseeker was on a Gateway hunt. They were in the Sagittarius arm of the galaxy, closer to the core from where the Orion arm split off. So far, the preliminary readings had not indicated any kind of warp signatures, or other indications of advanced civilization. That meant that, if any locals existed, they were either too primitive to be considered spacefaring, or they were far more advanced than the current state of the powers in Known Space.
Walking onto the bridge, Drah slipped into her pilot’s seat, which helpfully had a slot designed into it didn’t cramp her tail. She had enjoyed her nap while they were coasting on approach to the system, but now that they were starting to get into range of more of the passive scans, it was time to focus on her work. “All right, Adam, give me what you got.”
“Local star is a main sequence star, type G, roughly analogous to Sol in size and mass. Ten planets, including four gas giants, the largest of which being a super-Jupiter on the verge of being considered a brown dwarf. Other planets of note include a binary planet group second out from the system primary, and two planets in the ‘green zone’.”
Drah nodded slowly. That matched the data they’d been collating as they approached the system. “Still no signs of intelligent life?”
“Not at this distance, just by using passive scans. Current projection is that the system is devoid of spacefaring civilizations that are still amongst the living. I am continuing my analysis.”
“All right. Standard protocols. Take us into a standard survey pattern, outside in. Map the current orbits, and focus scans on the green zone worlds as you can. If the green zone worlds are life sustaining, then this could be a valuable colony site.”
“Of course, Captain. Also, Engineer Chakizo has finished with the maintenance on the dual X’thari drives, so they can be safely charged.”
Drah smiled. She had been trying to forget that Chakizo had found a fault in the secondary charge relays for the X’thari drives. It was one of the techno-organic pieces in the ship, and suffering through the psychic scream during the Coldana incident had likely shortened its lifespan considerably. She had already forwarded Chakizo’s report to Starhunter Operations, so they could check ships as they came in for their rest phases.
“Begin trickle charge, then. I know it will take longer, but if there is anyone out here being sneaky, I’d rather keep them in the dark for a little while longer if we can.”
“As you wish, Captain.”
(Two weeks later)
“Are you certain?”
“Available evidence matches projection within 34.5% margin of error. The system shows clear signs of artificial tampering. The larger of the binary planets shows clear signs of civilization. However, the planet is currently too close to the sun to be habitable, and the lack of atmosphere makes it inhospitable to life as we know it. In addition, the large gap between planets 2A and 2B and planet 3 suggests that 2A may have once occupied a more habitable orbit.
“In addition, planets 3 and 4 both show signs of civilization. Planet 4’s civilization appears to be mostly ruins, as the planet has turned to desert, but you can clearly see several pyramid shapes in the middle of the desert, with lines far too regular to be natural. Also, the black, stone-like material the pyramids are made of do not match the surrounding geology.”
“What about planet 3, then?”
“Planet 3 looks to be inhabited by multiple civilizations, all in the early to mid Iron Age, from visual scans. No evidence of advanced technology, however scanners are detecting high levels of energy associated with the chaotic dimension that Psy powers are now believed to draw from. The cause for this is unknown, but could indicate a population with a high number of active psy users.”
Drah sighed. “And if we got any closer to look at things, then there is a good chance that whoever is down there might sense us, even if they don’t have tech that can see us. All right, summarize your findings, and attach the raw data. We need to bring this in to Ops, so they can decide whether to contact these people or not.”
“Why would Black Star not contact a new civilization?”
That brought a grin to Drah’s face, her tail twitching in amusement. Adam had improved a lot in the short time she’d known him. Apparently, being a ship’s AI was therapeutic for the Nomad. He certainly was talking better now than he had been when they first started working together, and he was even asking questions when he was curious, which was a change.
“Well, Adam, the problem is that if we make contact with them, we could end up doing a lot of damage.”
“But Black Star has made contact with previously unknown populated worlds before.”
“Yes, but in both those cases those were colonies who were in the space age, and both were colonies of races that had already been contacted, so there was less issue with possible cultural gaffes resulting from a truly alien mindset. And then there’s the tech difference. If Black Star descended from the sky in ships, in front of a bunch of people who were still using bows and arrows, then they would seem like literal gods to the people. Even without trying, their entire culture could be warped, if not wiped out.”
“I see. So, it is to prevent cultural contamination?”
“Exactly. Which is also why we have a few explicit exceptions to the ‘no contact’ orders, like if we come across technologically advanced raiders attacking these people, or if there was a comet on a collision course with the planet, or other things like that. Then we can take steps to resolve the immediate issue, and let the diplomats talk it out later. Cultural contamination is a moot point if the people are dead, after all.”
“Very well, I have my report ready for Operations.”
Drah checked over the summary, and attached a brief cover letter, signing off on her crew member’s analysis, and recommending that it get forwarded to people who could make contact decisions. That done, she slipped the file into the comm buffer. “All right, Adam. Send that along using the buoy we dropped at the edge of the system. And file a request for additional orders.”
“Yes, Captain.”