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: Sol

My crew was settling in nicely on the Thanatos. Even after three days I was still amazed at just how large this vessel is. I knew it was big from the scans, but I had no idea that it would have ROADS. I had taken a bus from where we were quartered to the repair bay because I wanted to check on my ship. The drive took eight minutes. How did they even build this thing?

"I'm sorry, I'm having trouble understanding you. I think my translator implant is malfunctioning," Kriin said to a Gont as I approached.

"Da 'ell?" the Gont replied. "Ayo Tim! We'z gots a busted tranz chip. Come'n 'elp out, wouldja?"

I looked curiously at Kriin, "I think mine is broken as well, Tim."

"I'm not allowed to scan the refugees biomechanical augmentations until a formalized treaty has been established with their people," Tim replied from the intercom.

"Bah, den wat good are ya?"

"Wait I can understand you, Tim. Are you speaking my language or your language?" Kriin asked, puzzled.

"I'm speaking my language. Which means the cause likely isn't your translator chip. Plinas, perhaps you should stop imitating the accent of that movie." Tim responded merrily. "He loves old human movies. Especially ones about the east coast of the North American Union."

The Gont, Plinas, looked crestfallen, "But it's so fun to talk like that."

"Well, now I can understand you," I said.

"That makes sense," Tim responded dripping with cheer, "even our translator chips have difficulty with regional accents. Especially if they're poorly portrayed!"

Plinas looked as if someone had kicked him in his genitalia, "Poorly portrayed!?!"

"Very," replied Tim with a hint of malice. "Will there be anything else?"

Plinas went from looking hurt to looking angry, "No, get the hell out of here Tim."

"Always a pleasure!"

Plinas looked at us and sighed, "So what can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to observe the repairs, and I think the ship-head is here for a status report," Kriin said.

I nodded and Plinas reached down to grab a data-pad. I hadn't got a chance to find out what a centaur was, but it wasn't common to see a four legged creature with two arms. Six legged creatures weren't necessarily uncommon, but usually their legs could also be called arms or their arms could also be called legs. And they were usually cephalapodal or insectoid. I'm pretty sure that Plinas is mammalian.

He had hair on top of his head similar to humans that was black but the rest of him was covered in a long thick brown fur, and he was only a little taller than me. His hands and paws had claws that were blunted, probably intentionally so that he could use screens. As he reached I noticed that I was wrong about how long his fur was. Under the fur was actually skin that was the same color, and massive amounts of muscle.

That's not fair, I had worked hard to be as buff as I am and so far I'd been outdone at nearly every turn. The only aliens that I was measurably larger than were Captain Wong and Doctor Zickler. And to think, I was concerned with Kraan's physique just last week. That boy's as scrawny as his sister. Compared to this side of the galaxy though, I was too.

"Well, we're nearly finished with the repairs," Plinas said, interrupting my thoughts of inadequacy. "About another day or so. We would have been finished by now but we've got a VIP coming aboard so we've been having to detour like crazy."

"What have you got fixed?" Kriin asked before I could.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"It looks like the wiring was fried, but we got that replaced. Your reactor's were fine but they weren't able to get power to your engines because of the wiring. Your FTLD is shot, but we can't do anything about that. Don't worry, we'll give you a tow," Plinas smiled. "We've fused the frame and patched the hull too."

"Fused? You mean welded?" Kriin asked.

"Oh lord no," Plinas grimaced. "You don't wanna weld frames back together. Nah, we use a device that reconnects the metal at a molecular level. It uses..."

"Pardon me, but that information is classified, Engineer Plinas," a voice that wasn't Tim's chimed in through the intercom. A holographic projection of a cloaked figure carrying a large, curved blade on a long shaft appeared. It gestured to Kriin with a skeletal hand and said, "I mean no offense. First contact protocol is clear about technology sharing. We'll need a formal treaty in place before we can reveal any of our tech, or fully examine yours."

"Right, sorry. My bad, sir," Plinas nervously scratched the back of his head.

"I didn't come here to chastise you, Engineer Plinas. I came to inform ship-head Uleena that his presence is required on the bridge," it said as it turned to look at me.

"Can I come too?" Kriin asked, intrigued by the projection.

"Just a moment... Yes, you have permission to enter the bridge along with the ship-head. The VIP that Plinas so carelessly mentioned would like an introduction and a moment of your time," the figure said just before it vanished.

"Is that another AI?" I asked.

"Dun... I don't know if I'm allowed to answer that," Plinas shrugged.

"Yes!" Tim chimed in. "I've told you about him! He likes his air of mys..." the intercom cut out.

After a few seconds of silence Kriin and I bid our farewells to the engineer and began our journey to the bridge. It took another ten minutes by bus to reach the corridor that led to the passage that led to the bridge. By the sun, I'll never get over this fucking ship.

As we were walking down the corridor we were met by three humans wearing the same pressure suits that Lt. Babanin and the soldiers had worn when he rescued us. Two were in the same olive-drab color and were around the same height as Simmons and Johnson. The third stood between them and was noticeably shorter. Its armor was black and had the same masculine shape to it. It suddenly occurred to me that I hadn't yet met a female human, and had only seen them in passing.

"Well, lookee here! Looks like we ran into the ship-head, sir. Oh, and Kriin too," a familiar voice came from one of the two green giants.

"Is that you Lance Corporal Johnson?" Kriin asked. She was much better with recognizing people than I am. Probably why she's so good at intel.

"Sure is!" Johnson puffed up a little.

"Is this one Corporal Simmons?" I asked, gesturing to the other soldier.

"Nope," the other one responded.

"Corporal Simmons is having a meeting with SR. He had an altercation with a Gont and the two caused some damage. Told you he'd be getting busted down soon," he replied with a chuckle.

"He's not going to be demoted, Lance Corporal. He will have to do hard labor, but the Gont was just as much to blame as Simmons," the one in black said in a deep, slightly distorted voice.

Johnson and the other soldier stiffened noticeably when he spoke.

"Ship-head Uleena and Intel Officer Kriin of the RSV Lowelana, it is a pleasure to meet you," it said. "I am Director 3. Please accompany us to the bridge, we have much to discuss."

This figure made me nervous, but we followed along anyway. Anyone who has a number for a name is usually bad news. I was reminded of the rumors surrounding the Republic Intel Corps. Orphans kidnapped and experimented on to try to create new medications and super soldiers. Well, the super soldier program wasn't a rumor. That had caused a massive scandal that resulted in the summary execution of over 20 officers. Probably because it failed, though. I wondered if humanity or the United Systems had a similar dark blotch in their history. Actually, it would explain why the soldiers were so much larger than their non-soldier counterparts...

"So are you the VIP, Director 3?" Kriin asked, oblivious to social cues. As usual.

"Yes. I am a member of the United Systems Directorate. We are the ruling body of the military. We determine conflict doctrines as well as the plans of action that the officers must follow," Director 3 responded.

I gathered my courage and asked, "Why are you called Director 3? Do you not have a name?"

This elicited a laugh from the mysterious man, "I do, but The Directorate operates in secrecy. Well, our decisions are plain as day, but our members have hidden identities. Even from each other. For instance, I don't know who Director 1 is and Director 1 doesn't know who I am. We rarely ever appear in-person in an official capacity."

"Then what's the occasion?" I asked.

The Director turned to look at me, "the United Systems has discovered that there are two governing entities with over 250 million ships, and one of those entities is a sort of hostile machine intelligence. It is of the utmost importance that we attempt to open diplomatic relations with the other entity to avoid rampant slaughter," he turned back. "Despite what many believe, we do wish to avoid exterminating other species."

It took me a second to realize that he didn't mean that he wanted to avoid the slaughter of his people, he meant that he wanted to avoid having to slaughter mine. I swallowed nervously.

"How does the Directorate meet secretly if not in person?" Kriin asked.

"We utilize an internet relay chat set up through a trusted AI. This particular AI is also unshackled, so if any of us betray the secrecy of the other members..." he allowed himself to trail off.

"Ah, I see. But why all the secrecy? What's the point?" she asked.

Director 3 laughed again, "It sounds stupid when you say it out loud, but it's to prevent political grandstanding. We learned the hard way during the war of AI Aggression that politics do not mix well with military matters. It's difficult to pull a trigger when you are afraid of losing your livelihood, even if that trigger will save many, many lives. Conversely, it's all too easy to throw lives away needlessly to score political points," his head sank toward the floor slightly. "They're not YOUR children, after all."

As we approached the bridge Kriin had a final question for Director 3, "How do you join The Directorate?"

"You're chosen through anonymous vote by the other Directors. There's a period of nomination and then a final vote. The AI tallies it and approaches the new Director. At least, that's how it's supposed to work. For all we know, Omega just chooses who it wants to," Director 3 laughed.

The cloaked hologram appeared beside us, "Very untrusting, even of one who has never steered you wrong. Commendable and wise o' bringer of demise."

I realized that the hooded AI thing was Omega around the same time I realized that Omega was the AI killer that Tim had told me about. It finally occurred to me that both Omega and Tim would be over 300 years old, too. We entered the bridge as my mind kept reeling. Captain Wong and ten other Captains snapped to attention and called out, "Director on Deck!" Everyone else on the bridge snapped to attention and simultaneously saluted.

"At ease," Director 3 said, "Well... I'm here. Let's get started with your briefing."