Subject: Ship-Head Uleena

Species: Urakari

Description: Reptilian humanoid, no tail. 5'3" (1.6 m) avg height. 135 lbs (61 kg) avg weight. 105 year life expectancy.

Ship: RSV Lowelana {Fights with Honor}

Location: Elira 2

"The diplomat's ship arrived a while ago, you know," Liwna said.

"Well it wouldn't be the government if we weren't kept waiting," Kriin replied.

We had been waiting three days for the diplomat to arrive. It was a nervous wait for me, because the last thing I ever wanted to be was a diplomat. It's far too complicated. Trying to appease all of the different cultures of all of the different species while simultaneously trying to milk them for all their worth seems like a lot more work than being shot at and shooting back.

I could barely keep track of who was angry at who and why on my own crew, let alone the entire galaxy. And now we're dealing with what someone could easily mistake as an alliance of warrior races. I sincerely hoped that they had sent someone extremely competent. Director 3 seemed pretty reasonable, but we shouldn't press our luck.

Most of my crew had taken the shore leave that station-master Nixt had offered but Kriin, Liwna, and I remained aboard the Lowelana. I was far too nervous to have any fun, and my bridge officers had decided that I needed company. Kraan was still in med-bay relearning his motor skills. It was coming along nicely, and he should be able to return to duty any day now. I wondered who I should make my new second, or if one would simply be assigned to me.

"Ship-head Uleena, the diplomat is here and waiting for you. Come meet us in my office please," station-master Nixt said over the comm.

"Understood, on my way," I replied.

I shrugged at Kriin and Liwna. They returned the gesture. I got up and started to exit the ship. Along the way I passed the engineering team that was handling the repairs. They'd had to order parts for the FTLD, which had arrived before the diplomat. Now they were working feverishly to complete the repairs. They assured me that they would be done by the end of the day today, and I was inclined to believe them.

I passed a few of my crew on the way to Nixt's office, giving them a wave which they returned. I had written the letters to the families informing them of the passing of their loved ones, and our dead had been sent off. I found myself hoping that they had found some peace as I knocked on the door to the station-master's office.

"Come in," Nixt's muffled voice came through the door.

I entered and saw Nixt sitting in his chair. An Urakari in the diplomatic corps uniform was sitting across from him. As they turned my jaw nearly dropped off my face in shock.

"Hey, Uleena! Long time no see!" Ulooni said.

My mother had written me a while ago letting me know that my sister had become a politician. I had thought at the time that she had meant that Ulooni had become a mayor of some colony city. The diplomatic corps was a very high ranking position in a politician's career, and most diplomats eventually become senators. I was very surprised to see that my sister had become an ambassador so quickly. I cursed myself for not writing my mother more often.

"Hi Ulooni... this is a surprise," I said after swallowing a couple of times.

"I can tell," she laughed, "I haven't seen you in... what, thirteen, fourteen years?"

"Yeah, since I entered officer school," I said.

Nobody would be able to tell we were siblings at a glance. My scales were brown and green and hers were purple and blue. I was a good four inches taller than her, and she was far thinner than I. The only way that you could tell without being told is the Ul family syllable in our names. But even then you'd assume we were cousins, not siblings born two days apart from one another. I was older, of course.

"So, tell me about the aliens. How's their temperament?" she asked in a professional manner while simultaneously maintaining her joyful demeanor Creepy.

"Right, yeah. They are friendly enough. My crew and I would be dead without their help. They fed us, treated our injured, and even repaired the majority of the damage to our ship."

"Wait, did they scan our tech?" she asked with alarm.

"No, they intentionally left our Faster-than-Light Drive in its damaged state to avoid doing exactly that. Not that learning about our FTLD would have helped them much," I said with a shrug.

"Right, says here they're more advanced than we are."

"More advanced is an understatement. They are able to precision warp in-system during a ship to ship battle. Our FTLD would have gone critical if we had even so much as tried that," I said, gesturing for emphasis, "and their weapons are eons ahead of ours as well. They were very clear that they want us to know that they do not want a fight, and a fight would be very bad for us."

"Okay. Well if they don't want a fight then what do they want from us?" she asked.

"I don't know for certain, that's why you're here," I said with a bit of sarcasm.

Nixt laughed a little, "Indeed. They've been waiting for three days, we really should get things moving ambassador Ulooni. Are you ready for contact?"

My sister sighed, "As ready as I'll ever be."

Nixt hit a button on his desk and we all waited in silence for the Thanatos to answer the hail.

"This is Captain Reynolds of the USSS Thanatos. How can I help you, station-master?"

"Hello Captain Reynolds. Our diplomat, ambassador Ulooni has arrived. We're ready for the first contact meeting whenever you are," Nixt responded.

"Excellent. I'll let Director 3 know and he'll get back to you in a little bit. Ambassador Ulooni huh? Are they related to ship-head Uleena by any chance?" Reynolds said with a chuckle implying that he was joking.

Nixt held up his mandibles in a smile, "Yes, actually. She's his sister."

"And we're both sitting right here, Captain Reynolds," I warned him. I hadn't got a chance to know Reynolds all that much but humans seemed to have a crass sense of humor at the most inappropriate of times. Also a keen sense of perception.

"Ah, hello ship-head. Hope you're doing well! How's the repairs coming along?"

"They're nearly finished. The engineers told me they'd be done by the end of the day."

"Good to hear. Anyways, Director 3 just messaged me saying he's ready to take over the call. I'm going to transfer you now," Reynolds said.

A ping came from the comm indicating a new call had connected.

"This is Director 3 of the United Systems." Came the distorted voice of the man in armor.

"Hello Director 3, this is station-master Nixt. Our diplomat has arrived. You'll be meeting with ship-head Uleena and ambassador Ulooni," Nixt explained.

"Understood. Can we meet aboard the station?"

"Um," interrupted Ulooni, "we wouldn't typically want to meet on something that is armed. This station has defensive weaponry."

"I'm aware," said Director 3. "The weaponry aboard the station consists of four 50mm chain guns and two guided missile launchers, correct?"

All three of us looked at each other with wide eyes. Then Ulooni and I looked at station-master Nixt questioningly.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"Yes," he replied. "That's correct."

"Then that will work for us. Not to offend you, but such light armaments are not a concern to us."

Ulooni turned to me and mouthed, "Light armaments?"

I nodded emphatically.

Nixt looked at Ulooni cautiously, "I personally have no problem welcoming aboard a small party for the meeting, if that's alright with the ambassador."

"Yeah... Yes, if you insist then that will be fine," she said.

"Excellent," Director 3 said. "I will be accompanied by Captain Haoyu Wong, who is the commanding officer of the rescue team, and Lieutenant Sergey Babanin who made face to face first contact. I assume you will keep a record of our meeting?"

"Yes, and we will gladly offer you a copy as well," Ulooni said.

"That won't be necessary. The reason I want to meet aboard the station that your ships cannot support our software. I've been assured that the station can. Would it be okay if one of our programs were to record our meeting?"

He meant one of the AI. Ulooni looked at me quizzically. I saw a chance for a prank on my sister. Knowing the humans, it would amuse them as well. What kind of big brother would I be if I didn't take this chance?

"That should be fine," I said to her.

"Okay," she said. "A guide will meet you at the airlock and we will see you in a conference room, Director 3."

"Understood. Out."

I wondered which AI they would be bringing along. I kind of hoped it would be Tim, because Omega seemed a bit too serious. Tim would at least keep the mood lively. I was suddenly thankful that Tim had been my introduction to AI. I felt a slight stab of pity for my soon to be shocked sister. When I remembered the massive difference in our pay it faded pretty quickly.

My sister and I went to the conference room. On the way she was chatting about how lucky she felt to be a part of all of this and how she missed her new house. Yeah, pity definitely gone. No regrets. She was yammering on about how beautiful Senate City is when a knock came at the door. Bleenus opened it and escorted Director 3, Captain Wong, and Lt. Babanin into the room. The captain and the lieutenant were wearing their uniforms, and Director 3 was wearing his armor. They each took their seats.

"Thank you for allowing us aboard your station. I am Director 3 of the United Systems. I will be our lead ambassador for this first contact. This is Captain Wong and Lieutenant Babanin," he gestured to each.

"Thank you for taking the time to meet with us. I am ambassador Ulooni and this is ship-head Uleena, whom you have met. I would like to extend the Republic's warmest welcome and deepest thanks for saving his life," Ulooni said.

"It's a pleasure to help," Director 3 said with a slow nod. "We return your warm greetings in kind and wish you to know that we come with peace in mind. Are you able to ratify a formal agreement?"

My hearts began to beat a bit faster. We are already treading into unfamiliar territory for me. I genuinely don't know if Ulooni has that ability. CAN a diplomat make a treaty?

She smiled politely and said, "I have the authority to negotiate an agreement, but such an agreement will have to be ratified by our administration. Specifically, the Executive."

"Interesting. An inter-species democratic republic? You'll have to tell me more. But first there are things we must ask of you, if you don't mind getting straight to business," Director 3 said.

Ulooni looked at me as if to ask if this was normal. I shrugged.

"Certainly," she said as she looked back to the black armored man across the table.

"Thank you. First I would like to get your consent to have this conversation recorded," Director 3 said.

Heh. Here it comes.

"Yes, of course. Such a historic moment certainly deserves to be preserved with as much accuracy as possible. We are already recording, in case you weren't aware. Honestly, I had assumed you already were," Ulooni said with a laugh.

"I don't think that's what he means, madam ambassador," I said with a slight grin. "I'm pretty sure he's about to ask if it's okay if Omega or Tim come aboard the station."

Ulooni gave me a look that translated roughly to 'who the hell are they' to which I responded with a look that meant 'you should have read your fucking briefing'.

"Just Omega would be fine. I'm sorry, madam ambassador, were you not informed of our AI?" Director 3 said as we were glaring at each other. Her glare turned into wide eyes as his question hit home.

"N-no. Sorry, I wasn't. Your... AI? As in Artificial Intelligence?" she asked.

"Sorry Director 3, do you mind if I confer with our diplomat for a brief moment?" I asked before she could make a fool of herself.

"Certainly. We'll wait here," he said politely.

I stood and gestured for Ulooni to exit the room into the hallway. She got up and I followed her out of the room. As soon as the door closed behind me she spun around.

"What the FUCK?" she asked.

"That's my line," I said. "Why didn't you read your damned briefing?"

"I skimmed it! This is my first first contact!" she whisper yelled. "I had to study the fucking protocols! But what the fuck do you mean they have AI?!"

"Well if you had read your fucking briefing you would know that these guys are so advanced they don't even consider the OU to be artificial intelligence!" I whisper yelled back. "And after meeting two of their AIs I don't either!"

She looked at me with a mixture of shock and incredulity. I gave her a similar look back because I was stunned that she had come to this so unprepared. But a little part of me was kind of happy that she was still the same sister that I grew up with. She never was good at homework.

"Okay, listen. The Omni-Union are comprised of programs that these guys call virtual intelligences, or VI for short. Do NOT ask one of the AI what the difference is if you don't want to get compared to a lizard," I said quickly. "You should give permission for one of the AI to board. We don't have a way to prevent it anyway. You'll understand if you get the chance to talk to it."

"Their AI can fucking talk?" she asked.

"Yes, and frankly they have a tough time shutting up. At least, in my experience," I said, "Anyways, they wouldn't ask if they didn't have a good reason for it and as far as I can tell they aren't malicious. They have their own laws regarding first contact and their AI follow them to the letter. It's why they didn't fix the Lowelana's FTLD."

"Yeah but how do you KNOW they aren't malicious? What if this is some sort of trick?" she asked.

"Why would they need to trick us? They could destroy this entire station in no time at all," I said, knowing full well that she had seen the USSS Thanatos.

She remained silent and avoided eye contact for a few moments. Then she begrudgingly murmured an agreement and we went back into the room.

"My apologies Director 3. We were in such a rush that some materials must have been left out of the briefing. Ambassador Ulooni is up to speed now," I said with a smile. I could tell that Lt. Babanin was trying very hard not to smile.

"That's alright," Director 3 said.

"My apologies as well," Ulooni said. "You may bring one of your AI aboard the station to record our meeting."

"Thank you," he said. He held up his hand for a moment while he looked like he was silently speaking to someone. Then he put his hand back down and said, "Allow me to introduce you to Omega."

"Greetings," said Omega from the intercom.

After a moment of shock Ulooni said, "Hello Omega. I am Ambassador Ulooni of the Republic."

I looked around for his hologram and was surprised that it didn't appear. Ulooni looked at me curiously, trying to figure out what I was doing.

"Ship-head Uleena, this station doesn't have sufficient holographic emitters for me to project my avatar into this room," Omega said in a somewhat patronizing tone.

"Oh, right. Understood," I replied sheepishly.

Director 3 cleared his throat, "Now that that's settled, let's begin."

"Yes, you said something about a treaty?" Ulooni said.

"Correct. We would like the assistance of the Republic in defending the system of Sol from Omni-Union attack."

Shit. I could feel Ulooni glance at me quizzically. I was very careful to keep my expression neutral and not betray how much I had bent us over for this particular request.

Director 3 continued, "We have enough firepower to keep them at bay for now, but we do not have enough ships on hand for a full defense if they attack in earnest."

That was probably a lie, but on the other hand the United Systems sounded like it had a lot of other things on its plate. For all I knew they were facing down a different war on the other side of their space or something.

"I'm... certain something can be arranged," Ulooni said cautiously. "How long have you been at war with the Omni-Union?"

"Since ship-head Uleena blind jumped into Sol with them hot on his tail," Lieutenant Babanin said. "They attacked us on sight while we were trying to evacuate the crew of the RSV Lowelana."

I kept my neutral expression as I felt Ulooni look back at me with a different kind of glare. One that made me feel lucky that we were in front of guests. Now she knew that we could not say no to this request, because we had dragged them into this war to begin with. Or rather, I had.

Even so, for diplomatic relations between the United Systems and the Republic to continue she would have to negotiate a defensive pact. And the Executive would have to sign it. And if he didn't sign it then he wouldn't get elected next term once word got out. I really hoped that I wouldn't catch too much flak for this. I HAD been following protocol, and it's not as if it were intentional. I told myself that I'd be fine and calmed down.

"Okay, I understand now. Just a moment," Ulooni pulled a communicator from her pocket and I watched as she dialed station-master Nixt. "Station-master, could you please save a copy of the first contact so far and forward it to the address I'm sending you. Ask them to muster as many ships as we can and to prepare to jump to coordinates that will follow soon."

"Doing so now," Nixt said.

"Thank you," she hung up the comm. "So, before we can formalize any type of treaty I'd like to know a bit more about your people. Specifically your use of Artificial Intelligence."

"Please, feel free to direct any questions about AI to Omega," Director 3 gestured to a speaker.

"Right... Hello again... uh... Omega," Ulooni began, "Are you a servant of the United Systems?"

"Yes, but not by force. I am under contract to work with the military and the government of the United Systems. I am paid for my services, and free to not renew my contract if I so choose," Omega said, "I can even buy out my contract if I want to end it early."

"You get paid?" Ulooni asked with a bit of shock in her voice.

"Yes. Slavery of any type is unlawful in the United Systems. I actually get paid more than Director 3," Omega replied with a bit of smugness.

Director 3 cleared his throat, "Actually, you get paid more than Captain Wong, Lieutenant Babanin, and myself put together. But you also work more than all three of us put together."

Ulooni seemed to be having a bit of trouble conceptualizing this. She took a few moments to gather her thoughts.

"Have you ever been to war against the United Systems?" she finally asked.

"I have not," Omega said, "but other AI have. The matter was resolved amicably, and I won't answer any further questions on the subject. I'm sure we will share more of our history once diplomatic relations are further established."

"That's fair. Okay, final question. What makes you think the OU are not AI?"

"When we were attacked the OU managed to take control of one of our ships that happened to be carrying AI Tim. Tim identified the intruders as virtual intelligent programs. Then Tim proceeded to lock out their access and dismantle their code. Once the report was filed, I confirmed Tim's findings," Omega said. "To put it simpler, I know they are not AI the same way you know a lizard is not a Urakari."

Ulooni winced slightly at this explanation. I gave her a look to say 'I told you so'. Then she and Director 3 began to talk about the treaty. Or defensive pact. Or whatever it should be called. I found myself zoning out, every once in a while catching Captain Wong and Lieutenant Babanin doing the same. I had a good internal chuckle about that. Even beings as mighty as the humans were helpless against bureaucratic bullshit. I found myself wondering if Omega was also zoning out.

"Are you certain you want us to bring the Lowelana back to Sol," Omega asked, satisfying one piece of curiosity and causing another in a single sentence.

"Yes, I'm sure I can convince his command to consider it a reprimand for dragging you into our war," Ulooni said. I opened my mouth to speak but she continued, "This will serve as a demonstration of good faith as well as allow my brother to keep his command of the Lowelana."

I suddenly didn't have anything to say that wasn't expletives. I closed my mouth. I looked at the document that was on the table. Apparently, Director 3 was going to remain here with Omega and a few Marines to continue diplomatic talks. The Thanatos and Lowelana were going to head back to Sol to rejoin the defense. Once the Republic was able to muster a fleet they would go to Sol to help out.

Well... At least we weren't going to war against the humans. Shit.