I had about an hour to give the station’s deck crews my list of essential repairs and refits, as I wished for the Warden of Eternity to be up to par with its present day counterparts. Whether or not I would wish to stay as part of the ship I had yet to decide, however, I at least wished for it to be ready for either myself, or whomever happened to take my place.

With that out of the way, and as I watched Ula get escorted off, I received my summons to appear before the top brass of the navy in the middle of the Atlantic, an idea that set the Terran Alliance navy up as a collaborative effort between the various countries, rather than under the singular control of any one nation. I was to bring with me all logs from before and after my departure from the planet upon which I had crashed, and knew that it was going to be a grueling ordeal. I did not hold much excitement at what was to come, but I knew it was needed and so when the time came, I appeared before the assembled council of admirals and generals.

The room was vaulted and large, the top brass arrayed in a semi circle around me and sitting at a neat, if simple desk. Several were holograms, as they were elsewhere in Alliance territory and unable to appear in person. Considering this was a Terran Alliance affair, there were only humans present, save for the one Ph’Kari Admiral, one of the saurian species that happened to find itself as part of the Alliance.

They briefly conversed with one another in whispered tones, as I took the time to organize everything and prepared myself for whatever may come. But finally, the lights came on and I noted there was a bit of an audience behind me, and I got a strange sense of deja vu.

“Please state your name and rank for the record.” The lead admiral spoke, an elderly woman of middle eastern descent. I nod and straighten up.

“Intra, A.I…. H.I. for the Terran Alliance Battle Cruiser Warden of Eternity.” I correct myself, and they seem to notice. But it must have been expected of me, as I had only recently been freed from corporate shackles. The admirals nod, and the lead, or High Admiral Keramati shuffles a few sheets of holo paper around before pressing a button.

“Thank you, now this debriefing may commence. Please, H.I. Intra, recount in your own words the events leading up to and after your disappearance on July 18th, 2264, which is approximately two thousand, four hundred and sixty eight years ago to this day. Please also send us your sensor and combat logs for that time period.”

I nod, and begin the transfer, waiting for them all to receive, verify and then open the files I have given before I speak. It takes all of a few seconds for this to happen. I recount the events of the battle on that specific date, and answer questions as they come, though they are few and far between. They all seem content to simply let me talk and explain what had happened.

I reached the part where I went offline, and they glanced at the logs briefly, to ensure that yes it had been recorded that I went offline practically right after the Captain’s life-signs had flatlined. And I had stayed offline till a little over a month prior. It was here that the questions came more steadily.

“It says here that you were accidentally reactivated by a native of the planet you had crashed on, is that correct?” High Admiral Shesh asked, the saurian blinking all four of his eyes rapidly.

“Correct. At the time I was in survival mode, unaware of what was happening around me. Tectonic instabilities had, as they say, irritated old wounds and caused me to express my pain vocally. This drew a native to investigate and attempt to make me stop… screaming.”

“Screaming?”

“Yes sir, screaming. I was screaming at the time as it felt that someone had amputated my arms without pain killers, exposed every nerve they could and then subjected them to extreme stimulation. I feel anyone would be screaming in such an instance.” The gathered admirals looked uncomfortable at the mental image I had just planted in their heads, and they quickly moved on.

“How was the native able to reactivate you and stop your screaming?”

“Further tectonic instabilities, or more simply put, minor earthquakes, shifted my superstructure enough to reconnect data lines and systems to my main reactor, allowing for access to my self repair systems. Ula, the native, accessed my Intelligence Core and activated said self repair systems, which triggered a cascade of consciousness to begin and eventually brought me back to full awareness.”

“I see. It also says here that you forcibly introduced nanites into this Ula’s body? Is this true?”

“It is, at the time I was only aware of an unknown alien life form within my deepest and most vulnerable areas. I wished to verify that said unknown life form was not hostile to me, and also such access to an organic mind would allow me to learn some of what was happening around my hull, as at the time all external sensors, both internal and external were inoperative, rendering me effectively blind. The only sensors I did have were made to detect generic signs of life, nothing more.”

They nodded and murmured to one another, and I waited patiently.

“What did you use the nanites for?”

“I mainly used them to at first assess the nature of the alien life, determine what it was and what it could do, then I used the nanites to create the appropriate cybernetic implants that would allow me to converse with Ula on an equal footing, the same standard implants that my Captain and crew carried at the time. This was for ease of conversation only.”

Again they nodded.

“Describe for us the first real conversation you had with Ula.”

“It went about as one would expect from a comparatively primitive species. At first she attempted to lay worship at my feet, as she assumed that I and by extension the Warden of Eternity was a goddess. I explained that I was anything but, and it took some convincing, but I eventually was able to get her to stop seeing me as a goddess and more like… Hmmm… A companion, a friend I suppose would be the best way to put it.”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

This seemed to meet with approval, after all it wouldn’t do to have one of their H.I.s play god.

“It says here you discovered you had some part to play in their evolution?”

“Correct, if you look at the bio-scans I took of Ula at our first real meeting, and the scans of her people afterward, it is noted that I detected somewhat significant amounts of my hulls' organic components within their DNA structures. I attribute this to the catastrophic wounds I had incurred in battle and also during my crash landing. I noted that it was the addition of my unique organic DNA that gave them the spark of proper intelligence, like what you and I share. It also altered them enough to be able to survive on land, rather than purely underwater. Beyond that, I cannot say how much my presence influenced their evolution, though I do note in my reports that I was often seen as some sort of deity before my awakening. The Slumbering God, is what they called me according to Ula. At this time, my mere presence was enough to warrant worship.”

This earned some soft hmms and more muttering, before they seemed to come to a consensus.

“And after? What did you do?”

“I kept my interactions with the Imrani to a purely one on one basis. Namely with Ula, who had apparently become some sort of divine emissary between me and her people. I did nothing to change this perception, as to do so could have caused strife of a religious sort and that would cause more problems than it’d solve.

After around a month of continued talks with Ula, I detected the incoming warp signatures of the Yil’kaa attack force, and it was then that I decided to lean on my ‘divine’ status to effect a rapid relocation of the native populace.”

“Yet you had deigned to not play god up until that point? What exactly made you change your mind on that matter?”

“I weighed my options. I knew the Yil’kaa were only coming to this out of the way planet for me, and having witnessed their tactics firsthand during the war, I knew I had several options. Firstly, I could sit back and do nothing, let them destroy me, the planet and everyone on it without resistance. This violated all of my standing directives as dictated by Terran Alliance Wartime Doctrine, which I considered still valid as I had no idea at the time whether the Terran Alliance was either the victor of the war, or had been defeated. So I defaulted to the stance of a still ongoing conflict and treated this as a combat situation. The second option was that I could flee and leave the natives to fend for themselves, which was also in violation of all my standing directives, namely the desertion of innocent civilians in harm’s way. Thirdly I could stand and fight, and hope that I received some form of reinforcements without relocating the civilian population, but that was impossible as I was at the time, the only detectable allied force and would have easily been overwhelmed by a concerted enemy push, the civilians wiped out and all objectives failed.”

I paused, to take a simulated breath and to allow it all to sink in.

“Which left me with only one reasonable and viable option. To fight and relocate as much of the civilian population as I could to allied territory, if there was any still around. I had a month to do so, and so I leaned on my ‘divinity’ to spur the population into action. I brought Ula in on my deception and she understood the severity of the situation after some in-depth explanation on my part. I maintain that it was not only the only course of action I could reasonably take, but that it was utterly necessary as well.”

I stopped then, and waited, they chewed on what I had to say for what felt like forever, before focusing on me again.

“Based on the testimony you have provided, and the unique situation you found yourself in, plus the corroborating evidence held within your personal logs, reports and combat data and the data gleaned from present starships and spy drones, we find no reason to hold you in violation of Terran Alliance law, or the law of the larger galactic community. In fact, we have recommendations from High Admiral Kirkland that you receive several commendations, a promotion and a renewal of your military contract, amended of course after the H.I. Independence Trials, which states you are your own person, just like any organic, and are therefore subject to all the rights and freedoms of an organic being.” High Admiral Keramati said, and I felt a sense of pride rising within me.

“I see no reason to deny such recommendations from High Admiral Kirkland, and I think we’ll even throw in four months of mandatory leave, should you wish to continue your service within the Terran Alliance Navy. We shall send over the pertinent documents and you may fill them out at your leisure. I must warn you however, that the… civilian government will want to go over all of this with you at a later date, and may not be as charitable as we are in this matter. That said, the actions you undertook to not only ensure your safety, but the continuation of an entire species is not only commendable, but downright inspiring. You deserve every bit of praise and respect you earn from here on out. We ask that you remain within the Sol System at this time, as you will be called upon frequently.”

I swear I was nearly crying, but to my credit I kept my composure, save for the rich red blush on my holographic cheeks.

“This debriefing is concluded, all present are dismissed.” She raised a gavel and smacked the table twice, before looking me in the eye. “You did a damn fine job sailor, a damn fine job indeed. Expect a big check to be heading your way as well, you have two thousand years worth of back pay coming to you after all.”

I was speechless, and so I just nodded, and snapped off a salute, which must have looked silly considering my attire. And as the last of them swept out of the room, the audience filtering out, I remained rooted in place, unable to really think before I vanished and returned to the station and my ship, left to think.

I am glad things went so well, and yet I couldn’t shake this feeling that something bad was going to happen.

I wonder how Ula is doing?

⫷⟪∞⟫⫸

Alice was an… Interesting woman. As we flew over a place that was rather mountainous she would point out all manner of landmarks and points of cultural significance. It was a bit much for me to process, but I did my best to follow along as much as possible. She didn’t seem to be the type of person to talk simply to hear her own voice, though she had quite a way with words. The shuttle suddenly banked sharply and began to descend, and I caught sight of a city that’d been hidden behind a mountain.

But we didn’t exactly head for the city itself, instead we flew past it, and settled down on a section of flat ground by a very nice looking house, at least, that’s what Intra said it was, a place to live, eat, sleep and even work if you could manage it. My guards were the first to exit the shuttle, weapons rising slightly as they looked around and then one made a motion with their hand, Alice taking that as a sign for her to exit and that I should do the same.

I stepped out of the shuttle and then it hit me, for the first time in my life I was standing on another world, one so deceptively similar to the one I had been born on. I don’t think I handled it all that well, I couldn’t really remember what happened next, only that firm arms wrapped around me as my legs gave out and my tears flowed freely. It passed in a blur, a blur in which I released all my grief, my fear, my sorrow for a home now lost forever, that my life had taken such a drastic turn for the worse and there was nothing at all that I could have done to prevent it.

I woke, several hours later to find myself tucked into a bed, soft sheets wrapped around me, like some sort of nest. My pillow was soaked with tears, and there was nothing else but darkness around me. Night had clearly fallen, and through a floor to ceiling window I could see the lights of the city twinkling before my very eyes.

But there was something else in the room with me, and I found a familiar sight sitting beside my bed, a gentle, comforting hand upon my back. Intra was here with me, just as she said she would be, and I felt nothing but a deep assurance that all would be well, so long as we stuck together.

I closed my eyes, and fell asleep on an alien planet.