Jasmine stared back at the first human face she had seen in months and he was glaring at her like she was the enemy.

“There is a lot to explain, I know, but I bet you guys need a drink, how about I serve you a cold one on the boat?” Both the men seemed to brighten at the mere mention of a cold drink, “You guys hop in the Pajero and I’ll take us up after I speak with the lieutenant first.”

The humans shared a look and Jasmine could feel the distrust kick her in the gut, she did her best to hide the hurt.

“Lieutenant,” she turned to the stiff standing Nako, “where did you find them?

“They were at a Progenitor company, and they were not treated well,” Nako replied unusually formally “If you could ease their misconceptions, it would be of great benefit to our cause, if you will excuse me Namegiver,” Nako excused himself rather quickly

Xant stood by her side, observing the interactions of the newly arrived humans.

“Jasmine?” he asked, noticing her uneasiness and awaiting her orders.

“Somethings wrong, Xant, I need you to find out what happened from Nako,” Jasmine instructed as she pulled the car keys from her pocket, “Take Rynard with you,”

“But what about you?” he asked concerned.

“I don’t think they’re ready for more human-alien relations, and if anything happens, I’m sure you’ll know about it,” she smiled at her companion, the one she gave him when she was trying to assure herself more than him.

Xant was hesitant, but he trusted her.

“I will speak with the lieutenant, but please be careful.” he rested a hand on her shoulder, Xant could feel the hostility blaring from the young man with the translator. Jasmine nodded, patting her friends hand before gently pulling away. It would be the first time they had been apart since the deep space journey, she wasn't sure she liked being away from her alien companions.

Jasmine jumped into the driver seat, and her glaring counterpoint sat himself in passenger, thankfully the American in the backseat with all the dogs still clamouring over him shone enough happiness in the car to overcome whatever awful feelings he was projecting at her.

She started the engine and let the music blare her nerves away.

Old school rock blasted from the speakers as the engine turned over, bagpipes and electric guitars drowned out whatever doubts she had, filling instead with pride and hope, excitement returning as the chorus screamed:

“... I’ve got a message and it comes for free! there’s another way, that way if free but You just won’t get it till the walls fall down!-”

Tragically cut short as they reached the loading bay of the yacht.

She quickly jumped out, and began pointing and directing the newcomers to her home amongst the stars.

“The bars on the upper deck, we can make our way through and up the ladders, I’ll lead the way,” she crouched down to be eye level with the dogs, “I’ll race ya!” she egged on. Sieglinde and Kimiko were up for the challenge, but Spade wasn’t leaving Beau’s side for anything.

Beau whistled at the sight of the yacht.

“You live here? Tsk, man, we got a raw deal Ryo,” he laughed, elbowing Ryo playfully.

Ryo, who was still slowly walking up to the ship gave a grunt but no words.

“Well, I didn’t start off here,” Jasmine explained, making her way into the loading dock “I started off on a research station, in an animal enclosure,”

“That’s still a step up from us,” Beau said off handedly, following her, Ryo following a ways behind that.

Jasmine gave a short impromptu guide as they scaled the stairs.

“There’s a few free bedrooms, I’ve got the master up near the bow and Xant sleeps opposite, the dogs sleep where ever, so we can pick you guys out a room after.”

Jasmine joked, racing the last few steps up to the deck to get behind the bar, she picked out three crystal glasses and picked out a whisky for herself.

“So, Beau, Ryo, what’s your poison?” she waved a hand at the dazzling selection behind her.

Beau quickly made himself at home, picking a couch and sitting in the corner, Spades taking his seat next to him.

“Well, I’ll have what you’re having for starters and then we can examine our possibilities,”

Ryo ignored the question and the seats to stand in the doorway, seemingly suspicious of everything.

Jasmine plonked two clear ice cubes from the bar’s draw fridge into the crystal glasses, poured two whiskies on the rocks and iced water for Ryo. She offered him the glass and he took it with hesitation.

“ありがと(Thankyou,)” he replied awkwardly, the spoken word and the translator clashing. His mind’s voice was clear in her own mind, perfect English without any denoting accent, even when he was clearly speaking Japanese. She wondered if he was getting an echo if she spoke, or if his translator had even been properly calibrated-

“(It’s fine)” he answered curtly “(There’s no feedback on your end,)”

“Right, good to know,” she replied, taking a big gulp of her drink before handing Beau his.

She sat down in the armchair, looking back at them, there was so much she wanted to say, but where to even begin?

“Mmm, mmm!” Beau licked his lips after his first sip, “That’s the good stuff,”

“Right?!” Jasmine jumped at the chance to just talk. “I swear to god if it wasn’t for this shit I would have lost it ages ago, I was drinking straight iso’ before this.” she laughed nervously, and it only earned her more strange looks.

Beau put his drink down on the coffee table.

“Look, I appreciate what you’re trying to do, so let me break the Ice. I’m Beau Mathews, Former U.S army, Lousiana.” he reached over to shake her hand, and a weight lifted off her shoulders.

“Jasmine Howe, 3rd-year apprentice Chef, Western Australia.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

She looked over to Ryo, who remained in the doorway, folding his arms.

“(Ryo Sugawara, university student, Yamanashi Prefecture,)” He answered, but something wasn’t right, it was like there was a disconnect between what he was saying and the emotions surrounding his words. Jasmine didn’t even know you could feel that from someone with freq.

Beau sighed.

“You doing that mind talk thing again?”

“It’s easier, (so much easier)” he replied to Beau.

“We can calibrate it for you?” Jasmine offered again, wanting to help them get accustomed to the weirdness around them, “Whoever did it didn’t put it in right, they don’t have translators that are suited to humans on hand, we got to get ours special order…” She felt the glower from Ryo returning, and the worry and dread was all over her face, “... but I’m guessing they didn’t give you a choice in the matter.”

Ryo’s replied was an emphatic, “(No,)”

“What happened?” she asked, stomach twisting in concern.

“(We were attacked and humiliated)-” Ryo answered, but Beau, without his own translator and connection to the network began with more context.

“Well, my buddy Spades, myself and a few other guys from the not so good days were sitting out, minding our own business with some beers when we were accosted by a bright light,”

“Yep, right there with you,” Jasmine concurred.

“And when I woke up, I was butt-ass naked, in a white-tiled room with this asshole,” Beau threw a thumb over his shoulder at Ryo in the doorway “I start thinking government abduction or people traffickers then five giant crickets with taser swords come into the room and hose us down…”

Jasmine’s eyes went wide with shock, as they began recounting the details,She knew the aliens didn’t seem to understand the basics of autonomy or consent without a strong Freq presence. It was one of the more worrying aspects of the culture she’d witnessed so far, she was hoping it was isolated, but she feared her suspicions proved right.

“We jumped a bunch of guards and made our way through the vents, nasty man, it was like the station was alive, all sweaty and gooey on the inside,”

“What?” Jasmine blurted as she began pieced together her own experiences with theirs, “The the aliens- I mean, The Galactic Council do genetic engineering, but I didn’t know they used it to that extent…”

Ryo grunted dismissively and shook his head as Beau continued.

“Genetic engineering, that explains the monster vats,”

“Monster Vats?...” Jasmines face began to pale.

“An entire freezer dedicated to human on alien experimentation and judging by your reaction you didn’t know that.” Beau proposed, in her silence Ryo took the opportunity to focus his suspicions.

“(You did know, didn’t you?)” He hissed.

Jasmine felt the accusing hammer against her chest, and she wasn’t about to let him insult her like that.

“I didn’t know,” she shot back, still sickened by the revelation, “but I know why they would do it, they reproduce with clones, and any new genetic material is a godsend to them,”

Ryo shifted his stance, desperate to look anywhere but at her.

“So they were experimenting on us,” Beau nodded to himself, “They were super keen to get us back in a prison cell too, send a bunch of braindead guards to get us, Ryo and I introduced them to a couple of Molotov’s before they decided to stop messing about and send in the heavy-”

“Wait you threw fucking molotovs?!” Jasmine exclaimed, “how the hell did you get your hands on- ah shit the isosoprophol… You homebrewed molotovs on an alien spaceship?!”

“(Yeah we did,)” Ryo replied smugly, Beau chuckled through a sip of whisky.

“Wasn’t enough though, Bastard flighting cricket stabbed me through the collarbone and lung before I passed out.” he involuntarily rubbed his shoulder. Jasmine listened to Beau’s story but could feel Ryo recalling the events, the heat, the pain, the adrenaline-fueled rush of rage.

“and then, I wake up for a second time and everyone’s dead and Ryo’s got his skull open with an alien probe pulsating inside.”

“Freq bomb,” Jasmine muttered under her breath, “you would have decimated everyone when they connected the broadcaster,”

“(They cut open my head while I was still awake, I felt everything, )” Ryo relayed, folding his arms aggressively.

“God… I’m so sorry,” Jasmine empathised.

“Ain’t your fault, or is it?” Beau asked leaning forward in his chair, “how does a girl go from an animal enclosure to sitting pretty with an alien lieutenant on a superyacht?”

“It’s a long fucking story,-”

“We got time,”

“Right, it’s mostly thanks to Xant, he was the one who saw my scribbling in the sand was communication,” She looked into the whisky glass, there was barely a mouthful left, “he was the one who got me clothes, gave me a room and a tablet to write with, then convinced his higher-ups to get a translator for me, he, he helped me a lot.”

“(and then?) Ryo prompted when she trailed off.

“Right, the Lieutenant was the one who found me originally, in the black stasis pod, the ones they probably transported you herein,”

The men looked at each other.

“We didn’t get in no stasis pods,” Beau answered, taking back his whiskey and waiting for her reply.

“What? but, I mean, you should be alright cause you don’t have a translator but it shouldn’t be possible to travel consciously with a translator,” Jasmine stated confused.

“(we were awake for the entire journey)” Ryo confirmed.

Jasmine sat there a little dumbfounded.

“That, shouldn’t be possible, they put me through a bunch of tests and the ship’s freq had me in a coma for nearly a week,” she explained.

“Freq?” Beau asked, “ Is that what they call the telepathic squid?”

“It’s complicated really, think if you crossed the force with telepathic and empathic powers,” Jasmine explained, “apparently we humans are supercharged with the stuff but we don’t have the organs to ‘broadcast it’, it’s super weird and hard to get used to,”

“(I can handle it fine,)” Ryo replied off the cuff.

“It’s not a competition mate,” Jasmine shot back, his attitude starting to rub her the wrong way “point is, humans, as far as I know, are Creator level intelligence and produce military-grade Frequencies, which means we cant interact with ‘citizen-grade’ aliens without Freq-frying them. Thankfully, the Lieutenant brought me to Branch where I can move freely without worrying about stiffing anyone else. Last thing we need is to have you guys set anymore bombs off and have ourselves branded as rouge,”

“Just how long have you been with aliens?” Beau sat forward, taking a slow sip of his drink, judging her answer. “Cause you’re throwing a lot of alien talk at us,”

“Nearly 4 months,” Jasmine answered quietly, had it really been so short a time? It felt like forever.

“And do you trust them?”

Jasmine blinked.

“I trust Xant and Rynard with my life,” she answered, “Nako is a little scary, but he’s helping humans become registered with the council, once were registered we’ll get a contribution credit score and can start real human-alien relations.”

“Question,(I have a question)” Ryo stood from his doorway leaning, “(Why are you so eager to please the bastards who abducted us?)”

Jasmine shook her head and waved her hand in front of her frantically.

“No no, you got it all wrong! Nako didn’t abduct us, The Rajava did,” she protested.

“The what now?” Beau asked incredulously.

“The Rajava, genocidal alien brain balls, want to recycle all life that isn’t them, they’re the reason why the council needs clones and more genetic material,” she pleaded with them “They're the reason were in this mess at all, we’d still be on there ship if we hadn't been attacked by pirates…” even as the words came out of her mouth she realised how ridiculous it all sounded.

“(tsk, and you actually believe that?)” Ryo scoffed.

“Yeah, I do believe that because I fucking remember it alright?” Jasmine snapped back, a fire in her gut, she did not work so hard to be treated with contempt by some asshole who just arrived.

Both spades and Beau stood up to keep the peace.

“Hey hey hey, we aren’t about be enemies, clearly, a lot has gone down on both sides, but we’re all just wanting to get on the same page. Now, we’ve just come off a really bad cruise and its clear its been a while since you’ve talked to another human being,” Beau lifted his glass, shifting his gaze from one then the other, “so how about we finish our drinks, take a breather and come back when emotions aren’t running so high hmm?”

Jasmine slumped back in her armchair, nodding her head.

“Yeah, okay…” she conceded, holding her glass tightly.

Ryo emerged from the doorway to put his untouched water on top of the bar before heading, wordlessly, below deck.

Beau groaned, shot the last of his whiskey before standing.

“Ryo, hes got problems, but he’s a good kid,” he apologised before chasing after his companion with Spades shadowing his every move.

Jasmine sat in her chair, disappointment souring the reunion. After all this time, she wasn’t alone, but the news of what had transpired with her fellow humans had left her even more concerned with the future. Were there others who had fallen a fate such as Beau and Ryo? Were their other humans suffering because they didn’t have the means to communicate?

Jasmine looked out at the sea of empty cars, hundreds of them.

Guilt welled inside her, if the Rajava hadn’t recycled her, Beau or Ryo, How many others were still out there?

Jasmine finished the last of her whisky, the ice cubes clinked around in the bottom.

‘Well, it would be a waste to let them melt…’ she thought to herself, reaching for the bottle of Absolut.