And there it is, Malati smiled to herself as the first hint of dawn light touched her face. It was blue and somehow made the air feel fresh around her. This was all she wanted; to witness one last real star rise before she went into space. She turned on the spot and strode across the barren metal balcony to the lift that would take her to her shuttle, which in turn would then transport her on to the orbiting Leviathan Class Battleship: Enyo.
Rear Admiral Mishra had been given command of the Enyo and its support fleet. It was the Enyo that would be the sole ship sent to the meeting. The support fleet would remain close, but out of the star system.
There was no stipulation as to what sort of ship the humans should send, so they sent one of their most powerful, top of the line, flagships. It had been already under construction in the Martian shipyards when the alien transmission was received. After the transmission it was selected to be the official Event One contact ship. Its schematics were upgraded. So much so that other ships were cannibalised to finish constructing the upgraded Leviathan. It was given the name Enyo: the ancient sister of Phobos and Deimos. This name had been saved for a ship that was considered to be a true daughter of Mars.
The shuttle docked and Mishra made her way to the bridge and gave the order to take them at full speed to the coordinates. The crew had gladly entertained her quirk: a brief planet side visit to see a true sunrise. She had a command style that was respectful and in turn respected; with a personality that gave no one the impression they should mess with her. Her sentimentality for visiting the surface of every planet they were sent to, gave most of the crew what they thought of as an insight into her otherwise reserved and considered personality.
Her rank was a product of the mass recruitment drive the military had under taken. The vastly increased population of the military meant new command positions had to be created and filled. In her mid forties, some would have considered her five to ten years early for the rank of an admiral. Those under her could not understand why her promotion had not come sooner.
Mishra knew she had been given early promotion and she knew why they had given her this particular role: an officer of substantial skill and standing was required for the command. Though the officer must also be one who had not dabbled in politics or sat on a corporate board of directors, or even both. Said officer must not also be too high up the chain of command, where the waters of authority became increasingly muddy. Besides, there came a point when people knew too much, and what if the aliens could read minds?
Several weeks later the Enyo dropped out of superluminal speed. It left its support fleet to orbit the local star cluster, ready to swoop in should there be trouble. There had been no mention in the transmission as to how close the nearest human ships could be.
The meeting place was a star system with no planets. Instead the star was orbited by millions of asteroids and comets. It was decided that no other human ships should enter the system. This decision had been a particular bug bear with some: as yet further comprehension of the alien transmission revealed that the aliens would be sending thirteen ships to meet humanity’s one. The use of the massive Enyo was partly to placate these grumbling, but powerful, people.
Mishra gave the orders to have the ship primed. Much in the same way the Eir had done years before, though in many ways far more complicated and exotic. She stood still, maintaining her composure. So this is it.
Together, Mishra and her crew had undergone training for hundreds of scenarios, with the intention that nothing should to be able to take them by surprise. Maybe it was because of this that she was not feeling any emotion. There was no apprehension, doubt, excitement or anything else she thought she would be feeling by now. For some unknown reason, back on the last planet they visited when she was stood on the balcony, she had been oddly convinced that she had witnessed her final star rise. Now that she was standing on the Enyo, just before Event One, she felt nothing.
Maybe her cynicism had won; she was coldly dismissive of the way this second alien contact would be, and already was being used for propaganda. Oh, but you're part of it too. Though who could honestly say they would have passed over the opportunity given to her? she thought and smiled to herself. Those nearest saw the smile and mistakenly took it for excitement in their superior officer.
'Contact! Repeat, contact! Confirmed! Definite Admiral!' came the information bellowed by a genuinely excited communication officer.
'Thank you Lieutenant Maguire. Keep to standard protocol.'
Thirteen ships appeared simultaneously in the solar system and rapidly formed an equidistant line in front of the Enyo. To an observer looking downwards, the scene looked like a leviathan of legend about to consume tiny ships of ancient mariners. The Enyo had at least filled one part of its brief. For a fleeting moment Mishra felt embarrassed for the aliens.
'I think they're different races. I think, no I'm sure they're as alien to each other as we are to them,' a different officer announced.
'Can you confirm?' Mishra asked.
'Yes. Different gravities, different configurations, looks like there could be different atmospheric systems too. Well, just look at them ma'am!' she replied.
'Zoom in on each one, and divide the main screen,' Mishra ordered.
The screen had been showing the entire line. Now it split itself into thirteen portions, each filled with a unique craft. Data feeds occasionally flashed up showing theorised differences. Without any training at all, anyone would think these ships were from separate races Mishra thought.
This finalised her next decision, 'This has every indication of an alien union or alliance, shift to Protocol Two.'
Apart from looking intently, the crew and the Enyo did nothing. There had been nothing in the alien transmission that indicated who would initiate contact.
After twelve hours of waiting Mishra ordered a shift to Protocol Seven; they would now be initiating contact. The majority of analysts had believed and interpreted the alien transmission to be the opening to a conversation, so it would be down to the humans to reply. It now appeared that this was the case.
'Give them the reply greeting,' she ordered, and a series of transmissions were sent, all similar to the Eir's first attempts.
The aliens replied in unison with a broadcast that was audio only, 'Hello humans. Welcome to interstellar travel. Please read and observe the following information. You should find all examples in this system. Please read and please observe,' the voice had been male and softly spoken with no emotion, though clear to understand.
The first alien broadcast was immediately followed by a second, this one was pure data. It was compatible with the human ship's systems. They downloaded it and immediately dispersed it to the ship's many analysts. It was not long before the first interpretations of the data were reported.
'It looks like a collection of contracts, territorial rights, resource allocations, maps, that sort of thing Admiral, ' one of the science officers reported.
Rear Admiral Mishra's mind raced, 'This has to be information of their alliance.'
'More information, it actually refers to the system we're in. The asteroids floating about contain examples of all the elements and compounds referred to in the data. That's about it for the moment ma'am.'
This must be the terms and conditions for humanity’s entry, she thought. Malati ordered the science officer to, 'Look for any hint of an invitation in there,' then to a communication officer, 'And open a direct channel for me to talk to them.'
'Channel ready ma'am.'
'On behalf of the human race I greet you and thank you for the information we have received. We are incredibly grateful and humbled for you to have organised this meeting.'
'Admiral,' a lieutenant monitoring the alien craft whispered, but Mishra had already also noticed the movement herself.
'This, this meeting. Please, if you stay we can learn from each other. We have much to offer, a great friendship can be made, with any of you. Please, no.'
Ev
eryone who could watched as one by one each alien craft turned and left faster than light. Before leaving each craft dropped a small probe. As soon as Mishra had started to thank them for the information the alien's started their exit. Despite her attempts at communication they showed no more signs of acknowledgement and within a minute they were gone.
Admiral Malati Mishra burst out laughing.
2519 AD - The Leviathan Rises
The crew of the alien freighter had no idea they were being stalked. They had arrived in a solar system to pick up minerals mined from the moon of a gas giant. The alien freighter's contact signals were sent out and duly replied to. That was as far as normal routine went for them. The mining station itself showed no signs of life, but the freighter noticed too late to react.
Beams of pure energy lanced through space and neatly carved the engines away from the freighter. A shadow fell across its hull, the light from the local star was blacked out by a great beast risen from the clouds of the gaseous planet.
Though a large freighter, it was dwarfed by the hulk now moving towards it. When a specific distance was reached various tubes and arms grew out of the beast that was bearing down on the alien ship. The protrusions from the beast attached themselves to the smaller stricken alien ship. A small passage of time later they withdrew, leaving the alien freighter crew-less and relieved of its cargo. The vast beast turned and disappeared into the ether of space. The leviathan Enyo had eaten its first meal and Malati wept.
2531 AD - The Reapers Cometh
'I will have nothing to do with this!' He may have been old but he could still roar with the best of them. 'Refuse them. Again!'
'Sir, their commanding officer is now requesting personal one to one communication.'
The old man paused, then decided, what the heck, what more can they do to me? He nodded and grinned, suddenly looking forward to having it out with some pompous superior. The screen flashed on at his personal desk.
'So it is you, it really is. It's an honour sir,' she said.
He looked back, not knowing what to say. Then he recognised her, 'Well hello.'
'Hello Richards,' she replied, smiling.
He smiled back, amused at the situation, 'Hello there Admiral Mishra. Is it Admiral? Privateer, rebel... Pirate Mishra?'
'Any, I don't care. Look, we're suffering here, the ship is badly damaged. Please let us dock.' Mishra adjusted her stance, it caused the screen to momentarily flicker. Richards instantly recognised this a change to a secure encrypted channel. He briefly raised his eyebrows to confirm this with Mishra. She continued, 'On docking I can board and meet with you for an operational debrief.'
'Very well Admiral,' he replied. So, she did not even fully trust a secure channel.
He gave the orders to allow the Enyo to dock and to ready the Nav-station for casualties and repairs.
If it had come to it, and it almost did, the severely crippled and now outdated Enyo, and her crew could still have taken over his space station. Despite his treatment, Richards had remained a man of honour and would not have allowed what he considered to be a pirate ship to dock with the station, even if it would have included human on human combat. Mishra's behaviour had raised just enough curiosity in him to allow the docking. It could have been a ploy, but after having almost forty years of boredom forced on him, a superior officer acting suspicious was plenty of action for him. Going down in a fire fight had suddenly become very unappealing.
An hour later they were sat opposite each other in Richards' ready room.
After the formalities he initiated conversation, 'No need to ask, we are private, my most trusted men have seen to that. One of the few perks I have is my reputation. I'm luckily able to inspire some rather helpful loyalty.'
'I'm surprised you still have your command.'
'They can't exactly retire me, and any death other than one in old age of natural causes would raise too much interest. It may even make a martyr of me! Heaven forbid! Anyway, I could say the same of you.'
'Oh in many ways they retired me years ago. I'm just a figurehead now. The real command lies with the executives. Government, military, corporate, they're all the same thing now,' she said looking defeated, staring at the corner of his desk. Then her face brightened, she raised it and met his eyes, smiling, 'And that is exactly why I want to speak to you, I have a plan for a nice little bit of subversion with a hint of revenge.'
He was now very interested.
Mishra officially invited Richards on a tour of the Enyo the following day, which he accepted, much to the surprise of his crew. To ease any suspicion he carried himself in the hours leading up to the tour with an air of grim reluctance.
Mishra met him at a pre-arranged docking platform and they set off with no support officers. She took him straight to the hanger that contained the most recently captured alien craft. Unlike their first mission, as so called pirates, their most recent mission had been to capture an entire alien ship, as well as the cargo and crew. Most missions had involved destroying any looted craft: to give the impression that they were out of control pirates. But every now and again they were to bring back an alien craft for analysis. However, humanity had not learnt much from the alien technology.
The first pieces analysed had been the probes left after Event One. They had just turned out to be hard copies of the transmitted data, and were equipped with lasers to point out specific asteroids mentioned in the data.
All alien technology was either on a par or less advanced than what the humans already had access to. So too were most of the alien craft they abducted, the only unexplained parts being masses of apparently redundant computer circuitry.
After showing Richards where the spoils, of what the aliens considered to be a war, were, Mishra took him to a cargo hold. She showed him the latest vital metals they had, as she put it, stolen. He knew then she felt exactly the same way about the current state of affairs as he did.
Unofficially the Enyo was now a "privateer" vessel. It had been ordered by the highest authorities twelve years after Event One to give every appearance of going rogue and becoming a pirate ship. This was done because humanity’s expansion in space had reached a crisis point. For just over a hundred years humans had been expanding exponentially into interstellar space, ever since the discovery of faster than light travel in the early twenty fifth century. Initially it had been a boon; asteroids, moons and planets were mined to build more ships and space stations.
As the expansion increased certain important types of mining decreased. There were plenty of common ores and elements, but there were also a very rare select few types of exotic minerals and metals. Newly explored systems were mysteriously devoid of these vital and extremely rare materials. These special materials were required to make faster than light engines and shields work, their strange properties allowed amazing feats.
The time after Event One called for desperate measures. A golden era never came; the great shift was abandoned, along with the new dating system. Instead there was frustration and anger. The aliens had left them with almost nothing. The alien data indicated star systems yet to be mined but also which alien race or alliance already had the rights to them. Specific punishments had not been defined, though it was made clear that the humans should not access these systems under any circumstances.
In one respect the alien data had helped humanity. The maps contained within had given information far beyond humanity’s furthest explorations. They showed unoccupied, unclaimed and more importantly unmined star systems. The downside was, it would take years to travel to these regions and any return journey would use up pretty much all resources gathered. A select few saw this as an opportunity; the maps were top secret so the opportunists' numbers were very small. They argued for humans to continue colonising the galaxy, to create pockets of humanity which would then grow independently across the stars. The plan never took off because of a certain word: independence.
The excuse was made that too many resources would be use
d getting to the distant regions and any mined resources would be used up on a return journey. It was countered that giant colony ships could be created from existing fleets, but no, that plan would not go ahead in any form. Most of those who held real power did not want any more human civilisations out there. They wanted society to remain centralised, despite the massive expanse of space. Any new space stations built or planets populated were referred to as outposts or bases, never colonies. It had been learnt from history that a colony always eventually sought independence.
The proto-colonists as the opportunists became known either silenced themselves or were silenced by other means. Though they may had quietened, the sentiment remained, the idea was there and some continued to work in secret.
With colonisation stopped before it even started a darker path was taken. The humans officially developed a problem with piracy: a problem meant to appear as if it had always been there. Within only a year of Event One, pirate attacks were being faked in human territory and over the years military ships were increasingly ordered to become privateers or, depending on your point of view, pirates.
Each privateer vessel was transferred from the military to the control of a shadow corporation. The corporation would in turn send out executives to "advise" on missions and strategy. The command crews of each ship would remain in place, though they had to follow, without question, the "advice" of the executives. Ships became prison-like for these crews as they were unable to leave.
The executives had a high turnover rate. This was to stop any one executive from building their own power-base and to ensure everyone at the high corporate level had some blood on their hands. Despite this there were plenty of volunteers for the executive posts, all eager for promotion. The latest in the long line of these to serve on the Enyo was Mr Bentley. He did not reveal his first name, they never did.
'You know, he's probably older than either of us two, maybe even both of us put together,' Mishra told Richards as they walked along the corridor that took them to the command officers' private mess. They were to have lunch with Mr Bentley. He rarely left the private quarters and few on board knew who he was or even that he existed. Officially he was not there. The few who did, mostly Mishra's command crew, knew he was now the real authority on the ship and they resented it. They were powerless to mutiny, there was nowhere to go, no other human states to seek asylum. There was only one state now.