Blyyn opened their eyes slowly.

Dried rixba leaves greeted them.

That was good. It was all a dream. A nightmare, but a dream all the same.

Blyyn rose, stretching their wings, looking around the room, the dream wariness still hiding in their joints.

The room was the same as it always was.

Blyyn decided to head up to the command station, just to re-assure themselves before eating breakfast.

The command station was in its normal state except… there was a ship docked. And the time readout had to be wrong.

Blyyn’s hearts began to race. Had it actually happened? Had they seen what they’d actually thought they’d seen? A giant mammalian predator with teeth perfect for tearing apart a being like herself? The stuff of the nightmares of naughty children of every house?

The communications station pinged and Blyyn glanced over.

‘Good to see you awakened,’ the text read and the runes for ‘genuine concern’ and ‘social happiness’ flashed with it.

“What… what happened?” Blyyn wanted to reconstruct all of what had occurred.

‘You collapsed upon seeing Captain Rix. He (translation note: dioecious/gonochoristic physionomy) took you to your resting quarters after a basic scan revealed yourself to be under a stress-induced blackout.’

“What is this Captain Rix?” Blyyn asked.

‘Species Designation: Terran.’

“You said that, but what is he?” Blyyn pressed.

“I believe this will go faster if you tell me what you are wanting to know,” came the mechanical voice.

“Firstly, where is he?” Blyyn’s eyes darted to the door to the command deck.

“He is aboard the Esperanto. He does not mean to harm you,” Munto said.

“But he fixes loaders by hitting them extremely hard?” Blyyn recalled.

“Percussive maintenance is a known skill of Terrans,” Munto said, flashing a rune for ‘making a statement that appears to be a joke, but is established’.

“And… and… those eyes…” Blyyn wanted to puff their feathers and go after this… Captain Rix talons first.

This was an unusual feeling for Blyyn as Quinn are normally peaceful. But there was something about this… Terran that made Blyyn instinctively want to fight.

“That is the standard appearance of a Terran,” Munto said. “He can wear an appropriate head covering it would cause you less stress.”

Blyyn thought about it for a moment and flexed their feathers.

“No… it wouldn’t do much good. I’d still know what that face looks like underneath at this point,” Blyyn said.

“Understandable. Please state your next inquiry.”

“How did you know I had one?” Blyyn asked.

“You’re an organic in a predictably off-putting situation without resorting to baser instincts. It is a reasonable assumption,” Munto said.

“I thought TACITs were self piloted. Is that not true?” Blyyn decided on trying to stay away from the Terran in the metaphorical room.

“Due to an unfortunately series of events, my core was relocated to the Esperanto from myself. I am currently operating sub-optimally as a result,” Munto replied.

“Does this have anything to do with whatever tech you used to get here from your origin point? It must be some kind of super secret tech if it can go that far in one sprint,” Blyyn wasn’t hopeful for any information, but tried anyway.

“The technology is outside of my understanding, but is considered legacy technology due to its age,” Munto replied.

“How come I’ve never heard of any drive being capable of something like that then?” Blyyn asked.

“Because the society to which the technology belonged no longer exists and the species to which the technology was invented was declared erroneously extinct approximately 300 years ago.”

“So it’s a kind of… archaeo-tech? I think that’s the right term,” Blyyn tried to think back to the last round of books they had read about searching for advanced technologies in scientifically improbable settings.

“That is a reasonable approximate term, particularly given the age of the Esperanto,” Munto said.

“How old is it?” Blyyn asked, in a patently obvious follow-up.

“957 years, 2 months, 3 days since the first initiation of the fusion core for service,” Munto said, spelling it out in text as well.

“I didn’t think TACITs got that old…” Blyyn’s voiced trailed off, staring at the number.

“We don’t. I only recently discovered the TSS Esperanto approximately 4 weeks ago according to shipboard chronometer, 12.5 weeks ago according to stellar chronometer counts,” Munto said, listing out both time approximations.

“How is that possible? It doesn’t even make sense,” Blyyn thought back to their FTL course they had taken in order to become a Station Master.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Temporal Compression as an artifact of the… archaeo-tech,” Munto displayed a normal temporal compression diagram for sublight speeds and the associated equations.

“So… what’s this ship and this Terran been doing for 900 something years? Is this Captain Rix that old?”^^

“Captain Rix was a part of a colony fleet headed to this system approximate 955 years ago. Due to issues experienced underway, the Esperanto did not reach this system. Captain Rix has been in stasis since the accident.”**

“That’s not possible. Hibernation chambers are only rated for up to 150 years.”^^

“Correct. Captain Rix was in a stasis chamber, not a hibernation chamber.”**

“Is that more archaeo-tech?”^^

“Technically, no. It is a known technology that relies on less reliable components and it is only due to the durability and reinforced nature of the Esperanto that Captain Rix was able to survive.”**

“So… what does he want?”^^

“To meet you. Due to the differences in galactic society between when he entered stasis and currently, he has never met a xeno-species.”**

Blyyn shook their feathers twice and then laughed, their beak hanging open slightly to coo slightly in amusement.

“An unknown nightmare of a xeno-species from across time and space wants to meet me?” Blyyn managed after an almost full minute of laughing.

“That is correct. For what it’s worth, you’re taking it better than I did,” Munto flashed the rune for ‘truthful statement’.

“Ok. But I’m trusting you, TACIT Munto.”

--

The large figure Blyyn now knew to be a Terran was lounging on a pad next to the medical field generator. It… he looked smaller than he had when he was in that pressure suit, but he was still comparatively massive.

Perhaps Terrans appeared bigger, but didn’t actually weigh as much as Blyyn guessed they might in that configuration. Maybe the clothing was cut to make the Terran appear bigger. That would make sense.

Blyyn relaxed as they approached the Terran to see the Terran was manipulating a device of some kind. It was a simple interface, but it appeared to be providing some kind of feedback to the Terran.

The Terran looked over at Blyyn and fixed them with that same intense look.

Knowing it was coming, Blyyn fought the urge to screech and flee again. It still took all of their hold to not spread wide and appear to be as big as possible.

The Terran Rix pointed at a device on the floor near the device and Blyyn looked away from the Terran momentarily to see that it was their heads-up display. It appeared to have been modified slightly, the computation pack having an additional module connected to it.

Blyyn looked to Rix and noted the Terran was holding the device they had previously been manipulating in both hands. This… Rix was still seated on the pad.

Rix looked down at the device and appeared to touch something. A blank screen on the Terran’s garment flashed the rune for ‘polite greeting’ followed by ‘calm patience’.

It wasn’t perfect, but Blyyn understood. If the Terran really was from that far back, then of course they couldn’t manage anything without some kind of translation help.

Naturally, that was one of Blyyn’s major nitpicks about so many interspecies novellas. They all were able to perfectly communicate all of the time. Even with the help of the TACITs, interspecies communication was still almost staggeringly difficult. At least between species who were enough different. Between similar species, it was a bit easier, but even then, it was still difficult because of cultural context.

Blyyn felt a flash of sympathy for the xenophiles who had to figure out how to manage without any kind of real translation help like a TACIT.

Watching the Terran, Blyyn donned the heads-up display and switched it on while sitting down near the Terran.

‘I will try and assist with translation between you two.’ the text read out.

“Greetings Terran Captain Rix,” Blyyn decided on the most formal opening.

“Uh… Fair winds Quinn Station Master Blyyn,” Rix tried, tapping the rune for ‘formal greeting’.

The voice modulation in the heads-up display accompanied by a matching text read-out helped Blyyn.

“What brings you to my station from across time and space?” Blyyn asked, having jokingly.

“I’m looking for a colony of Terrans who are supposed to be here. Have you seen them or any signs of them?” Rix tapped the rune for ‘mission statement’.

Blyyn was confused.

This Terran was looking for other Terrans? Did this Rix not know where their species’ territory was?

“Are the members of your species supposed to be in this system?” Blyyn asked.

Rix consulted the device he held and looked back at Blyyn.

“Yes. Approximately 900 years ago, I was part of a colony convoy aiming for this system. I am looking for them,” Rix replied.

“Well, there are no Terrans here. I’ve never even heard of a Terran, so they wouldn’t be in one of the other local systems either,” Blyyn answered.

Rix made a kind of chuffing sound that made Blyyn’s pins feel fuzzy again.

Rix noticed this apparently and tapped a rune. ‘Fatalistic humor experienced’ flashed.

“You’re not the first person… being to mention that to me.”

“Is that the only reason you are here?” Blyyn asked.

“It’s a start. There’s a lot I don’t know, but I figured I’d try and locate some Terrans or at least figure out what happened. Nobody seems to know why they’re listed as extinct,” Rix said, gesturing vaguely.

‘Correct Statement. TACITNet provided no particular references regarding reasons for Terran extinction,’ scrolled the text across Blyyn’s heads-up display.

“So you’re looking for a species, sorry, your species except it’s supposed to be extinct but nothing says why?” Blyyn asked.

Rix looked at the device and appeared to smile.

“It sounds like a strange kind of mystery, doesn’t it?” Rix continued smiling.

“More like impossible,” Blyyn said, flatly.

Rix looked at the tablet again before continuing.

“Never the less, it’s all I have. Well, that and the Esperanto, but that won’t do me much good unless I can figure out what else to do,” Rix said, tapping a rune for ‘resignation of attitude’.

“I do not believe that I can assist you, but I will try. What manner of assistance do you require?” Blyyn prompted, falling back on their profession roots.

“I could use a… uh.. Em, what’s it called again? Galactic net connection?” Rix started speaking to Blyyn but appeared to trail off in talking to the listening TACIT.

Blyyn had momentarily forgotten the TACIT was facilitating this conversation.

“You mean a GALNET link? You don’t have one of those?” Blyyn looked at the Terran rather incredulously.

Rix looked back at the device and looked back at Blyyn.

“That’s right. Post-dates me by a few hundred years, don’t you know?” Rix flashed ‘hilarious rhetorical’.

‘Standard Quinn autofabricators should possess access to cargo vessel grade GALNET linkages,’ scrolled the text to Blyyn from Munto.

“Yes, but it’d probably be easier to just get one from further in system,” Blyyn muttered.

‘Due to the aforementioned quarantine needs and lacking adequate medical data on impacts to both Terran and other species as a result of interactions, particularly biochemical and microorganisms, it would be most advisable to limit Rix’s exposure to others at this time,’ the long worded text spelled out, filling the whole of the HUD, nearly making Blyyn’s eyes cross.

“Ok… Ok… fair. We’ll see what we can do. I don’t hardly use my autofab except for mandatory equipment,” Blyyn said, rising to their feet, stretching their wings.

‘Pending inquiry from Rix – Are you a Quinn Tyb (Terran equivalent male) or a Quinn Byr (Terran equivalent female).’

“So… are you a female or male of your species?” Rix asked, also rising and immediately towering over Blyyn.

Blyyn was uncertain as to how to process this. The split second text from Munto had given them enough time to begin to process the query mentally before the Terran asked it.

It wasn’t an unreasonable question, or so Blyyn’s stories included, but it was strange to have it posed to yourself compared with a book character.

“I am a Quinn Byr – Terran equivalent of a female, but I am house-less,” Blyyn said, rather more affirmatively than she’d felt for most of this conversation.

Rix flashed a rune for confusion.

“House-less?”

“Do you Terrans not live in houses?” it was now Blyyn’s turn to be confused.

“We do, well, some of us,” Rix said.

Munto appeared to flash the same rune to both Rix and Blyyn – ‘cultural misunderstanding’.

Both Rix and Blyyn started their own versions of laughter. Apparently, translating between the two organics was a bit harder than Munto had realized.