Even though Sara had a background in linguistics, she had taken some courses during her university education, she struggled to make any sense of what the young woman was saying. Sara guessed that the woman, probably a fellow soldier from her clothing and the way she carried herself, was around thirty years old. She had brown shoulder-length hair, and Sara thought she was likely conventionally beautiful, although it was hard to tell how she looked as her face was encrusted in dirt and grime.
Looking behind her, the others in her party didn’t look any better, even though the people she had tentatively identified as soldiers did their best to look prepared and dangerous. But she thought they didn’t do a great job at it. They all appeared incredibly drained, like they hadn’t slept or eaten for days and had had no rest at all.
Finally, the marine returned with Greer, the middle-aged man’s eyes darting around the room as he took in the situation.
“Alright Greer. I think we don’t have the luxury of getting better at their language.” She nodded towards the people. “Please tell them to drop their guns and ask them who they are and what they want.”
Greer answered without taking his eyes of them. “I’ll try, but you do realize that we can’t be sure if it's really their language, right? And I’ve only ever read it. I really don’t have more than a passing idea on how it should sound like.”
“Have any better ideas?” She retorted.
“No.” He licked his lips and spoke: “Hello.” He extended his hands with his palms forward, as if to show them he was unarmed. “My name is Julian Greer”, he pointed at Sinclair,”this is Commander Sara Sinclair. We mean you no harm, but for both your and our safety, we would prefer if you gave up your weapons.”
He spoke extremely clear, gesticulating slowly, as to not threaten their guests accidentally, but still confident at the same time. At least Sara was sure that he talked clearly. It almost felt like she had heard the language before, but she couldn’t really place it. And realistically it was impossible, Greer would have known more about it. She filed the weird sensation in her steadily growing mental WhatTheHellisGoingOn list before returning her attention to the situation at hand.
Sara thought that his performance was quite impressive, considering that this was literally his first time speaking the language. Of course, she had no idea if their counterparts actually understood any of it.
Sara could feel the tension in the room as they waited if the strangers had understood Greer. After a few seconds of hesitation, the woman in front said something to her people, and they slowly put their weapons down. She then turned towards Greer and Sinclair, obviously aware of their hierarchy.
“We understand, Commander.” Before Sara could really register that the woman had spoken in perfectly understandable, albeit slightly accented English, she continued on. “We need your help.”
Before Greer could overcome his surprise at the perfectly spoken English and answer, Sinclair put her hand on his arm to stop him from speaking.
Sara inspected the strangers. They all seemed injured in some way, albeit none of the injuries looked immediately life threatening. She felt like she had seen the looks in their eyes before and she didn’t like it. The hardship she saw in their eyes reminded her very much of the one she had seen in the exhausted faces of refugees years earlier.
“How can we help you?” Sara asked after a long pause. “And who are you?” Sara motioned for the marines to stop aiming at the… strangers. Or were they aliens? They certainly didn’t look like aliens to her.
The woman, by now Sara was certain that she was in charge of the ragtag group, made a step towards Sara. “My name is Milin. I am the,” she hesitated, as if unsure of her position,” leader of this group.” Sara nodded, beckoning her to continue. “We never thought that this address would actually work. We tried many times before, but it always failed to connect. Had it not worked now, we would all have been killed or, even worse, enslaved by the Arcadians. I fear that the rest of our people are awaiting the same fate as we speak.” Sara and Greer exchanged worried looks before Milin continued. “We came her to ask for asylum and help.”
—
“Julian, what do you make of this?” Astor asked the scientist. Sara was thrilled that she hadn’t asked her first. She wasn’t really sure of anything anymore and she had to admit that she had seriously entertained ordering a marine to shoot her in the foot. Just to make sure that this was really happening.
Greer stopped playing with the pencil in his left hand for a moment before he answered her. “I guess we just opened the door to the rest of the universe.” He started playing with his pencil again. “Or rather, the Lareen opened it for us. I know what your next question is going to be: Do they tell the truth? And I have to admit that I am not sure, but I also have to admit that I do not have any other explanation for them and their appearance.” Astor nodded, apparently satisfied with his answer. “And what about you, Sara?” Sara took a deep breath before answering.
“I have to agree with Dr. Greer. As much as I would like to tell you that this is all just one elaborate hoax, I can’t.” She gave Evelyn a sad smile. “And we should admit that compared to an island appearing out of thin air, this is very low on the ‘have we all gone nuts’ scale.” Astor and Greer smiled at the answer. Sara did not know how to continue after learning more about Milin’s people and their enemy during the last hours.
Milin, and all the other Lareen that had come with her, had all pretty much said the same thing during their interrogations. They came from a planet about 13 000 light-years away. They had traveled here using what they called the network. And, most importantly, they had done so, because they and most of the rest of the galaxy were at war with a species called the Arcadians. And it wasn’t going very good for them. Why they had come here? Milin at first didn’t want to give a straightforward answer, but one of the others in her group, a man called Fristed, admitted that they came here, because their legend mentioned that this was where the constructors disappeared to. Thousands of years ago. Sara didn’t even want to entertain the thought of what that would mean for earth’s history as she knew it.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“Well, in that case, there isn’t much we can do except feed them, give them medical care and wait for the orders that will filter down through MARCOM.” Astor said, before she took a sip from her tea.
Sara looked at her. “Any guesses on what these orders are going to be?” Astor grimaced as she sat her cup down again. “There really are only two options, aren’t there? We either close the gates permanently and hope that no one comes calling. Forget about this entire affair. Or we prepare. Build up our military potential to defend ourselves when they come knocking at the proverbial door.”
Sara had to admit to herself that she didn’t like either of these. She glanced at Greer for help, but he was busy examining the pencil in his hands. She pursed her lips as she gathered her thoughts. “I think there is a third option.” Astor sat up straighter. “Oh? Do tell.”
“We could adapt a more… proactive approach.” Astor quirked an eyebrow as she looked at Sara. “Elaborate, please.”
“We send teams through the gate. Work our way forward through the hub, hoping to capture technology that might advance us fast enough to have a chance. Meanwhile, we send small teams farther away through the network.” Greer sat up as if he wanted to say something. “Yes, Dr., I know that we have to make multiple stops at gate hubs, such as ours, because the gates don’t have the range. But I’m confident that Milin or one of her people would be more than happy to show us the way.”
Astor sat back in her chair as she stared at the wall in thought. “It is risky.”
“So is waiting.” Sara replied. Greer seemed to be remarkably receptive to the idea. “And just think about the things we could learn. About our history and the galaxy's history.” Sara thought she could see a glint in the young scientist's eyes. She was pretty sure that Julian didn’t exactly care about the Arcadians or the war. But with the opportunity of learning more about history, he would probably be in favor of venturing out into a hostile galaxy.
Not that it mattered very much. They would have no say in the decision. She just had to hope that the higher-ups would make the right decision for a change. Because to her, sitting on their butts and praying for a wonder didn’t seem like a very rewarding course of action. Especially considering that it was only a matter of time before the Arcadians found out about earth and the legends surrounding the constructors retreat. If they made a beeline for earth, it was entirely possible that ignoring the problem would be no option.
—
Sara walked down the ancient corridor that led deeper into the building that housed the Lareens’ accommodations. She had had little time to talk with Milin and the others after the hectic talks of the first day. But after over four days without new orders, she was growing impatient, and she feared that the slow-moving politics of her homeworld would prevent a response to the new threat. Maybe, she thought to herself, I can get more intelligence from the Lareen and send an updated report to command. The Lareen woman might just have the tidbit of information that could tip the scale in favor of an intervention from earth.
Sara Sinclair turned the corner to the corridor holding the Lareen quarters and found Milin’s door. A few seconds after her knock, Milin opened the door and beckoned her inside. “Commander! Please enter.” Milin and Sara walked to a small seating arrangement next to the spacious suite's windows. As the once hundreds of thousands of people strong city currently only held the relatively small mission’s personnel, everyone had the luxury of relatively spacious housing. Even their off-world guests.
“Have you heard anything from your leaders?” Milin asked hopefully as she offered Sara coffee. “I have to admit that I have grown quite font of this drink.” Milin chuckled to herself.
“Thank you, but I have already had my fair share today. Drinking to much of it is not a good idea.” Sara answered.
“Oh,” Milin seemed worried, ”Uhm, is it dangerous?”
Sarah eyed Milin suspiciously. She seemed unusually antsy today. But she only knew Milin for a few days, so she wasn’t sure. “Depends on the person. If I have over 4 cups a day I usually get quite, how can I describe it, jittery? Anxious? Worse effects are possible, if you drink a lot. How many did you have?”
Milin put down the cup immediately and looked at Sara, worried. “Thirteen.”
“Thirteen!!?” Sara almost jumped from her seat. That was fascinating. How in the world wasn’t Milin running up and down the walls right now? She’d have to talk to Doc Jensen about it. Maybe he had an idea. “Intriguing.” Sara said carefully. She didn’t want to worry Milin.
“But back to the reason for my visit.” Milin sat up straighter. “I fear we need more information about the Arcadians. It seems as if my leaders are still discussing if we should intervene.”
“Well, I already told you most of what I know. Remember, I was just a Sub-lieutenant in the Lareenian military. I wasn’t privy to all intelligence.” Milin shrugged her shoulders. I know they wear armor, are bipedal, and seem to be bound on utter destruction. As far as I am aware, they have never taken the time to even tell anyone why they attacked us. They just arrive, either through the gates or with their ships and tell everyone that they should lie down their weapons or suffer the consequences. It’s been like that since they first appeared a few generations ago.”
Sara nodded understandingly. That wasn’t really anything new. Milin and the other Lareenians had told her the same when they first arrived.
“Anything else? Anything could help.”
Milin obviously struggled to remember more. Then she suddenly jumped up and started pacing through her room. “There is one thing. I read about it during my time at the academy. We usually lost all contact with conquered worlds. But once, before I was born, someone managed to send a message through their gate. The Arcadians killed everyone who dared to resist and enslaved the rest. But some technicians working on the gates for them saw something unusual.”
Sara had leaned forward. “What did they see?”
“When an Arcadian interacts with constructor technology, they have better access than we do.”
Sara furrowed her eyebrows. “I don’t understand. What does that mean?”
Milin stopped her pacing. “Well, when we want to open a gate, we can only see a very limited part of the network on the dialing device. And most of the ancient hub technology built by the constructors recognizes us, but it gives only partial access. We can only see the next two or three gates in the network. And some are completely invisible to us.” She continued pacing through the room. “When we arrive at an abandoned hub and trust me, there are a lot of them on the way here. Only part of them comes online. As if it's running in a simplified mode.”
Sara sat completely still. A simplified mode? Like a child-safe mode? “Thank you, Milin! You might have helped us very much!” Before Milin could answer, Sara dashed out the door and radioed Dr. Greer.
“Julian, meet me in the arrival hall.”
“Already there.” Julian replied through the link.
“Good, I’ll be there in a minute. I might have found something significant.”
—
“Julian?” Sara came dashing into the arrival hall.
“Over here!” Dr. Greer stood next to one of his assistants at the main console, controlling the gates.
Sara ran over to him and began pulling up the network overview on the console. When she found it, she zoomed out and found herself looking at an overview of the entire network.
“Shit.”