Ascending, Descending

The room was silent, save the occasional sounds of heavy sighs and cracking joints that usually accompanies uneventful stretches of time. The captain sat at the rear of the bridge, his back to the rest of the crew as he studied rapidly changing figures on the screen in front of him. He blinked rapidly, forcing his watering eyes to focus. After a few moments he gave up, allowing his mind to wander even as he watched the numbers flitter across the screen. His reverie was snapped by a soft sound of uncertainty from the front of the bridge.

“Uh…sir?” a crewman said, and then nothing. For a moment Nikolas did not move. Something in the tone made him hesitate, if only for a moment, and the fact that no actual information followed made him clench his jaw. He stood and turned quickly.

The large viewscreen at the front of the bridge was filled with the inky blackness of space. A sliver of the seventh planet of the unnamed solar system in which they currently resided filled a small corner of the screen.

“What? What’s wrong?” Nikolas asked, forcing annoyance into his voice that he did not feel. When he received no answer he looked at his crew. All were focused on the screen, seemingly oblivious to him. Nikolas forced a rising feeling of electricity down back into the floor.

He studied the screen and stopped when he reached the lower right corner of the display. Something stood against the stars, blotting out their inevitability.

“Disable all communications immediately, power down all non-essential systems, order everyone on alert, regardless of current schedules or status,” Nikolas ordered calmly. He spoke without thinking and without identifying the purpose behind his actions. His eyes never left the object that was hanging motionless before them. After a moment he heard a slight rustle of fabric and a quiet, shaky voice carried out his orders. Irrationally, the only thought that entered his mind was the quiet joy of successful military training.

“Sir? What should we do?” someone asked. After a few moments Nikolas tore his eyes from his screen and looked at the crewman who spoke. The man was the only one on the command deck that was not staring at the screen. Nikolas idly wondered if he was the one who had carried out his orders while the others remained motionless. He struggled to recall the crewman’s name and failed.

“Magnify,” he ordered, returning his eyes to the screen. The object grew slowly until it filled the entire wall in front of them. Numbers and text floated around it, providing information on size and distance. Unbidden, the crewman opened a new window that displayed the unseen emissions surrounding the ship. Nikolas breathed in sharply. The object was devoid of heat or motion or any of the other usual properties of a modern space-faring ship.

“First contact,” someone breathed, giggling slightly and then falling silent. Nikolas ignored the intrusion, completely enraptured by the ship. It was smooth in some places and jagged and harsh in others, its design asymmetrical and completely foreign. There were no patterns, no way to visually identify the purpose of each portion. While human ships were still designed to be streamlined in an environment that cared nothing for aerodynamics, this ship was built entirely to fulfill some space-born purpose. There were no vestigial ideas attached to it.

“Sir? Orders?” the same crewman asked again, this time not turning away from the screen. Kolkins, Nikolas thought suddenly. That was his name. Bernard Kolkins. He pulled his gaze away from the ship and turned his back on it as he rubbed his hand roughly across his face.

“Order all executive officers to my conference room. Do not transmit anything without my express consent. In fact, do not perform any action without my say so. Understood?” Nikolas asked. A few nodded absently but most remained completely enraptured and stared at the viewscreen without moving. Kolkins nodded, throwing a glance at the others and then looking back at his captain.

Nikolas stared down at the floor and attempted to corral his thoughts. His mind was buzzing slightly, forcing him to close his eyes and once again rub his temples. After a few moments he opened his eyes and turned to walk into the meeting room attached to the bridge, careful to avoid looking at the screen as he moved.

Once inside he waited for the door to close fully behind him and walked towards the cabinet built into the rear wall. It opened as he approached, revealing row upon row of bottles. He hesitated as his fingers encircled the cool class handle of his favorite whiskey.

His reflection stared at him from the window that lined the wall on his left. His tall and wiry body was visibly tense through his uniform and his face continued to inadvertently jump through a wide range of emotions. He pulled his hand away from the bottle and shut the cabinet. He walked towards his customary seat at the head of the table to wait for the arrival of his officers.

I need to think this through, he thought, I need a plan before the others arrive. He sat down and slowly sank into the plush chair. He placed his fingertips on the cool surface of the table and began to think.

II.

The others arrived in small groups or alone, seeming to wander into the room and nearly all carrying a dazed expression of disbelief as they entered. Nikolas studied them all, one by one, noting the demeanor of each as they took their places. His face was now unreadable as he rested his lips on the tips of his fingers.

The last to enter was a short, stocky woman in her mid-thirties. Her dull, reddish hair framed a face that conveyed no doubt or worry. Nikolas nearly grunted with satisfaction.

“Okay, so, what now?” Josephine asked. She plopped down in her seat next to Nikolas and leaned back slightly. Her wide shoulders looked relaxed, appearing at odds with the palpable tension filling the room. Nikolas chuckled. She was the ship’s head engineer, and he knew that he could count on her as an ally in the coming crisis. He removed his hands from his face and placed them together in his lap. He cleared his throat and addressed the others at the table.

“As you have no doubt seen, there is an unidentified ship approximately one and a half million miles from us,” he began, inadvertently lapsing into the old imperial measurement from his youth. He paused for a moment and then continued. “I do not think there can be any doubt that it is alien in nature for three reasons: first, the ship is unlike anything that humanity has ever produce; second, we are farther away from a human colony than any other known human spacecraft in our logs….we are alone; and third, because it is emitting no recognizable signature of any kind. No heat, no electronic signatures, no movement. Our instruments are picking up absolutely nothing, as if it was a black point in space devoid of any physical characteristics.”

He stopped again and watched the reaction of the others around the table. Most looked at him, their eyes locked on his face and their expressions a mix of terror and excitement. A few stared down at the table in front of them with expressions of disdain and fear. One, his chief tech officer, sat with his eyes half-closed and a small smile beginning to form on his lips. Nikolas indexed and stored all of this information in its rightful spot.

“I have ordered that all transmissions be cut off and all non-essential subsystems disabled. I have also ordered that no action should be taken without my express consent. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss possible avenues of action. While we do not have much concrete information, I am treating this as a first contact situation,” he concluded. He waited for the information to settle, leaning forward slightly and gently placing his elbows on the edge of the table. Unprompted, one of the officers spoke.

“Why have you ceased all communications? That seems counter to our goal,” the head tech said, staring directly at Nikolas.

“Our goal? What would our goal be, exactly?” Nikolas wondered aloud.

“Obviously we need to alert our government and, more importantly, alert our fellow humans. This is too big of a discovery for us to attempt to hide it,” Jason responded quickly. Nikolas studied him for a moment. Jason Klinsmann was the ship’s head technician. To Nikolas, Jason’s head gave the first impression of being slightly misshapen, but upon further study he could not understand why that was his initial reaction. Jason’s shoulder-length blond hair appeared to Nikolas to be an attempt to obfuscate his unfortunate birthright.

Nikolas waited a moment until the feeling was gone, quickly glancing at those around him and counting the reactions. Now is no time to allow for personal likes or dislikes to cloud my judgment, he thought. His heart was fluttering inside of his chest.

“I ordered all communications cut off because we do not know basic things about the alien ship. First, we do not know if they are hostile,” he began, shifting his gaze from one officer to the next. A snort from the left side of the table stopped him momentarily. He decided to ignore it and continued.

“We do not know if they are hostile, and so I am assuming for the moment that they are. We also do not know their capabilities. It is entirely possible that this vessel can follow our transmissions to the target. If we were to open a direct channel with Earth and continually transmit data then this ship could know the location of our home world. This, combined with my assumption that they are hostile, leads me to act cautiously. I do not want to risk the annihilation of our species.”

“Well, if you do not want to contact Earth, then why not transmit to all colonies at the same time? That would get the information out without putting Earth in any perceived danger,” Jason challenged quickly.

“Then this would simply give them the location of our colonies. Any transmission has to be viewed as a beacon. If we give them any location and they move towards it, we can only assume that whichever location they visit will continue to transmit even after noticing the presence of the ship. One location given is the same as giving it the location of all humans, everywhere,” Nikolas answered calmly. He locked his eyes with Jason, forcing the younger man to turn away and sit silently.

“Why are we assuming that they are hostile?” Rachel asked quietly. Her golden hair obstructed her eyes and hid much of her face.

“We should assume the worst,” he answered, raising his eyes and slowly looking around the room. “We should assume that they are an alien species, and we should assume that they are hostile. We should also assume that, given the chance, they will destroy all of humanity. We should also assume that they possess the technological capabilities to completely wipe us out without much effort. Anything less would be grossly irresponsible.”

The room fell silent. He watched each of of them in turn, measuring their reaction to his blunt assertions. Each averted their eyes from everyone else, no one willing to make contact and admit their fear. Only Josephine met his gaze without looking away.

“Well, captain, if your aliens are as omnipotent as you make out, why are we even bothering with these useless precautions? If they can read and track our signals and will overwhelm us with their military might, why bother doing anything? What if they have been watching us for days and know everything about us? What if they can look back in time and see our old signals, or what if they can read our minds?” Jason said quietly.

Nikolas shook his head slowly.

“If this ship is simply toying with us then I have no answer for you. All I can do is assume that whatever power they have is short of that of a god. If they are as powerful as you suggest then there is nothing you or I can do about it. So, in order to keep my overwhelming fear in check, I will assume that they are bound by the same restrictions as we are, that they have not cracked the mysteries that keep us in our current technological state,” Nikolas answered dully.

Once again silence stretched on in front of them. Nikolas stared at his fingers, planning his next move and wondering idly if the alien ship had moved or performed any action since he had left the bridge. He suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to view it again.

“Okay, so…what are our options, sir?” Rachael asked finally, brushing back her hair and revealing an average face that contained brilliant green eyes. She was the head scientist, responsible for all study of foreign or anomalous materials. Government Law stated that she was to have taken control of a situation such as this, but she made no indication of exercising her right. Nikolas understood her refusal.

“I will outline each option I see in front of us, even if I strongly disagree with quite a few of them,” Nikolas replied, sighing deeply before continuing. “Our first option is that we immediately contact Earth to inform them of our situation. As I have stated, I believe this to be unsafe. If we assume-”

“You have no right to keep this to yourself! How can you sit in your chair and act as if you would not want to be informed of such a monumental discovery if you were back on Earth!” Jason said loudly, his face flushed.

“Be quiet, Mr. Klinsmann,” Josephine said quietly. She was now sitting upright, her posture rigid and uncompromising. She stared at Jason without blinking. “We will outline each option and discuss each one like rational adults. Also, you will address Captain Panov as ‘Captain’ or ’sir’. I believe he has earned it.”

Jason stared back at her and flopped his lips in frustration. After a few moments he sat back harshly in his chair and averted his eyes, muttering quietly to himself. Nikolas waited a few moments before continuing.

“Ruling out contact with our government, we are left with few options. We can attempt to somehow make contact with them on our own. We can also sit still and hope that the aliens will attempt to make contact with us. Other than that I cannot see any other options,” he said. He forced himself to stop talking.

His skin felt prickly and hot under the scrutiny of his crew. For a few moments silence filled the room. It was Kim Grimes, the Security officer, that eventually broke the deadlock.

“Captain, I feel it is my obligation to point out an option that you did not mention,” she began. Her slim, smooth face was still, betraying no emotion and giving no indication of thought. Nikolas knew better than to underestimate her. “We must to entertain a military option.”

Nikolas did not respond, sitting motionless and staring a spot on the wall above the door to the bridge. The other officers waited, eying him expectantly.

“Kim, the omission of that option was intentional. I do not believe a military option is a valid choice,” he said cautiously. Kim nodded, lowering her eyes for a moment.

“I understand your hesitation, sir, but we need to explore every option,” she said.

“I will not order an attack,” Nikolas said forcefully, “I cannot imagine a situation where it would be beneficial, for multiple reasons.”

“Such as?” Rachael asked expectantly. Nikolas raised his eyebrows slightly.

“We are not a military ship. This is essentially an exploratory vessel. We are not representative of our military might,” he explained hesitantly.

“Actually, sir, that is an argument for defending ourselves in case of attack. If we defend ourselves and are destroyed then the alien ship will have a mistaken idea of our species’ true capabilities,” Kim responded, her voice was flat and calm. Nikolas nodded slightly.

“That is true. That is a very good point. However, I will not initiate an attack. We will need to judge any situation that might pertain to an attack as it arises. This is why I did not bring it up as a valid option for us to follow presently. We will not attack, but in the case of an attack we will need to respond accordingly,” Nikolas said.

“Then this brings us back to square one,” Josephine said, “We will not initiate an attack, and we will not contact Earth or our colonies. That leaves us with waiting for contact or attempting to initiate contact.”

Nikolas forced himself to sit still, fighting the urge to continue talking to fill the void in front of them. He wanted for someone else to take over the discussion so that he could more carefully study the positions of his officers. His eyes were drawn to the ship’s political officer. Paul Rudd looked thoughtful, his lips pursed and his eyes clear. Almost as if on cue he cleared his throat and began to speak, seemingly unaware of the contempt directed at him by his peers.

“Captain, with all due respect, I must agree with Mr. Klinsmann. This is simply too big of a decision for one man to make. Our Government must be informed and we must acquiesce to their wishes. We ultimately serve our fellow humans, and our Government represents the people. It would be…negligent to delay a report to our superiors,” Paul said carefully. His eyes eventually found Nikolas, holding him and forcing Nikolas to suppress a shudder. Viewing such unbridled idealism always made him uncomfortable.

“Do you disagree then, Mr. Rudd, with my earlier arguments? What if the alien ship can follow our transmissions and is waiting for us to lead it to our home world?” Nikolas asked.

“Sir, in all honesty what indication do you have that this is possible? If we are going to assume that they are omnipotent, as Mr. Klinsmann suggested, then why bother taking any precautions?” he responded forcefully, leaning forward slightly in his chair.

“For fuck’s sake, this is insane. How much more clearly can he explain it?” Rachel said loudly, leaning back in her chair and rolling her eyes. “If we assume that they are all-powerful, then why bother taking any action? Anything we do will be countered. We need to assume that they are in the same league as us technologically and that they are hostile. I will not support a course of action that will in any way endanger our colonies or home world without knowing for sure that they are peaceful.”

“Is that your decision, then?” Paul asked quietly. He glanced at Nikolas. “As I am sure you are aware, Miss Anderson, according to Government Order 114-A you are authorized to take contr-”

“No! No, I do not exercise that right! It is an insane piece of legislation, purely driven by politics and not by sound reasoning. I don’t know how to run a starship! Why should I be put in charge?” Rachel cried, hunching over slightly in her chair.

“It is the Law. This is undoubtedly a scientific situation, therefore you are in charge,” Paul said calmly. His eyes remained locked on Rachael’s face.

“She has the right to refuse. Everyone here knows that the only reason you want her in charge is because you think you can manipulate her more easily than you can the Captain,” Josephine said angrily. Paul reacted predictably, feigning innocence and shock.

“How dare you? What do I have to gain out of this? Why would I want to manipulate anyone? Why, this is an attack on my character and I will not stand for it!” he replied indignantly.

“You worm. We all loathe you and everything you stand for. Your ‘government’ is bloated and useless, only tolerated because apathetic citizens have no reason to fight against it! You have so thoroughly blinded everyone that you get away with everything!” Josephine yelled, slamming her fists down on the table and causing her hair to fall haphazardly around her face.

“Captain! I demand that you place her under arrest! Her accusations are a direct violation of Order 1! She may not defame someone in my position!” Paul cried shrilly, half-rising from his seat in outrage.

Nikolas remained silent, his lips pursed in a thoughtful manner. Paul stared at him unbelievingly. Silence once again filled the room. Paul seemed to shrink a bit, retreating temporarily into his chair. After a few moments Nikolas cleared his throat.

“It seems that, so far, we have two courses of action to consider: first, that we immediately contact Earth; and second, that we do nothing at the moment and attempt to contact the alien ship to discern their intentions. So far I have not heard any viable alternate suggestions. I would like to hear formal arguments from each of you,” Nikolas said.

Nikolas stood, turning his back on the table and walking towards the glass window. This side of the ship gave him a full view of the yet-unnamed planet in this yet-unnamed solar system trillions upon trillions of miles away from Earth. He studied it, his eyes running over the dark brown smudges that he was told by his science staff were oceans. The planet could not support human life, and preliminary scans had not shown any life form recognizable by human sensors.

The voices behind him rose and fell like a wave. This was part of his plan. It served him to let them fight each other to remove a little of the heat from their arguments. He stared at the planet and allowed his mind to wander over it.

III.

“You know, when my father was on a ship like this we never had the officer quotas that we have now,” Josephine said quietly. Her head was thrown back against the chair’s cushioned headrest, her eyes glued to the ceiling. The room was empty now. Nikolas had sent them all back to their quarters and now only Josephine remained. He eyed the wall panel that hid the liquor cabinet and shook his head.

“Yes, that’s true. What’s your point?” he asked tiredly. He was already drained, emotionally and physically.

“I’m just saying, even one generation ago we wouldn’t have these children for officers. Hell, look at Jason. Or even Rachael for that matter. I know she had this assignment forced on her by the government, but they act like children. There is no way that they ever would have been allowed into their positions with how they act. They are in their twenties, for christsakes,” she said angrily.

“Do you think that ridiculous government intervention is some kind of new phenomenon?” he asked, smiling wistfully and shaking his head. “No, Josie, people like Jason or Paul have always existed. Governments like our government have existed before and will exist again. I think it is human nature,” he sighed. He paused a moment before continuing and then frowned. “Maybe you are right, though. I wonder if I would have a whole group of them at once like this. It doesn’t really matter now, does it?”

“Christ, you are one of the calmest motherfuckers I’ve ever met. If I was in your position I would be so angry that I could barely sit still,” she said, laughing. After a few moments she stopped, her smile slowly disappearing from her lips as she turned her head to look at him. Nikolas looked away quickly and they sat in silence.

“This whole situation is scary. How in the hell did this happen?” she said softly, her voice heavy and venomous as she leaned back again in her chair and stared upwards.

“It’s…complicated. You look at the quota laws as a childish piece of ridiculous ‘legislation’, but they managed to get everyone behind it. Or at least not fighting it,” he said somberly.

Josephine once again pulled her gaze from the ceiling and looked at him.

“Wait, you are saying it’s not because the people in the government are stupid but because they are incredibly smart?” she asked incredulously. Nikolas shook his head slowly.

“I don’t know what I’m saying. I’ve just spent some time looking back in history, at previous governments. I don’t think this is anything new, but it is definitely not a good sign that things like this go unopposed. At the very least it shows just how apathetic and uncaring most people are, even supposedly driven military-types,” he said.

“Like you,” she said with a wry smile. He smiled sadly in return.

“Yes, like me. I don’t know why I didn’t fight it. It almost….” Nikolas groped for the appropriate words, glancing down at the table. “It is almost as if it wasn’t worth the fight, not for this. But, I told myself, in the future…if they cross the line, I’ll fight it.”

He waited for her response, swinging his eyes up to her face in time to see her finish nodding.

“I know the feeling. It’s like amortizing for the future, though. Some secret well of courage to fight the good fight, right? It’ll never happen,” she said dispassionately. She rubbed her hands on the table, leaving streaks of sweat on the matte black surface. “This isn’t even really like the military anymore. We basically serve with civilians. At some point we will end up accepting whatever they throw at us. I guess that is the scary part.”

The beep of the door shocked Nikolas and made his heart flutter wildly.

“Enter,” he said coolly, watching the door slide open. A young man walked into the room with an uncertain stride. Nikolas breathed evenly, trying to calm his rapidly beating heart.

“Uh, Captain, I…I’m sorry to bother you. I know you’re busy and…uh, well, I think this is important,” the man said with a wavering voice. Once again Nikolas tried and failed to remember a crewman’s name, which bothered him.

“What is it?” Nikolas said.

“Well, sir, I…I could get in trouble, sir. In fact, I should be in trouble.” The crewman stopped talking and stared at the ground. Nikolas sighed.

“Out with it, son. If you were really worried about getting in trouble you wouldn’t be here, would you?”

“Uh, no sir. I guess not. This is too important,” the man said, licking his lips. “This ship, sir…it’s….well, almost everyone already knows about the discussion that just went on in here.” He waved a hand vaguely at the table and chairs. Nikolas sat up a little straighter, a bead of sweat breaking out on his forehead.

“What do you mean, ‘already knows’? What are you talking about?” he asked cautiously. He glanced at Josie. She was staring at the man in disbelief, her mouth slightly agape.

“Well, sir, Mr. Klinsmann has made certain…modifications…to the ship’s computers,” he began. “He pretty much controls the entire system and it is open to pretty much everyone. Part of his belief structure, I guess, that everyone should know everything. You know, ‘information wants to be free’ and all that.”

Nikolas sat very still, forcing his hands to remain glued to the table. Josephine jumped out of her chair.

“What, you’re saying he controls everything? That he is in control of the ship?” she yelled, nearly screaming into the stunned crewman’s face.

“No! Well, in theory, but not in practice. He thinks he is, but…no, it doesn’t work that way. He has this secret information ruling society that governs how the network is run, but when he tried to block it off so he would have total control of the entire thing the others shouted him down. No, it’s open, and that means that there are still back doors all over the place,” the crewman explained quickly, involuntarily taking a step backwards. Nikolas motioned for Josephine to sit down and took a deep breath. He indicated for the crewman to join them at the table.

“Sit, please. What is your name?” Nikolas asked.

“Hiron, sir,” he replied as he sat, leaning forward slightly in his chair as if afraid to lean into the cushion behind him.

“Hiron…that is an odd name. What is your first name?” Nikolas asked. He could see Josephine swivel her head to look at him out of the corner of his eye. The crewman stared back at him, obviously put off balance by the unexpected question.

“Uh, sir, I technically only have one name. I, uh, had it legally changed before we left so I only have one name. My first name at the time,” he said unevenly, his eyes swinging back and forth quickly between Josephine and Nikolas.

“What? Why in the hell would you do that?” Josephine asked angrily. Nikolas frowned and motioned for her to be quiet. She snapped her mouth shut and leaned back in her chair.

“That is a pretty gutsy protest, Hiron, what with the charges that so easily fly around these days.” Nikolas said, swiveling his head slightly to look at Josephine. “Think about it. Back home the big push is for identification and genealogy. He basically made it difficult for anyone to track his ancestry based solely on his name. Very interesting tactic, don’t you think?”

Hiron stared at him for a moment, not seeming to comprehend the conversation. As Nikolas watched he could see the understanding gradually flow over his face. Hiron snapped his mouth shut and set his jaw, his posture now upright and firm.

“Well, then. That is very interesting indeed. Has Mr. Klinsmann taken any action since the end of the meeting?” Nikolas asked.

Hiron brightened, leaning forward a bit and shaking his head emphatically.

“No, sir. I stopped him. Well, not by myself, of course, but a few of us listened to the whole thing and locked everything down as soon as we realized that he would probably try something as soon as the meeting was over,” he gushed, leaning forward onto the table.

“And did he? Try something, I mean,” Nikolas prompted gently.

“Oh, definitely. As soon as he made it back to his quarters he attempted to send out a signal to Earth. We had already locked everything down, though, so right now he is trying to fight his way through the blocks,” Hiron answered quickly.

“I don’t get it. Why is he trying to fight through the blocks? Why doesn’t he just call a meeting of his secret club?” Josephine asked.

“Well, I think part of it is pride. He’s the head tech, even if it is just a title. How would it look if he had to go ask for help?” Hiron asked, finally leaning back in his chair and casually scratching the underside of his chin. “Also, it’s a challenge, you know? I mean, our shit is pretty tough. Jason is nothing, honestly, without his rank. I know more than he does,” he boasted. He suddenly caught himself, realizing who he is talking with and snapping to attention in his seat. Nikolas smiled and chuckled softly.

“Don’t worry, Hiron. I think, with what you have just told us that we can consider ourselves friends,” Nikolas said. He stood, returning to his place at the window to look at the planet below them. “You know, this whole situation has gone pretty much as I expected. I did not think that the command structure would really hold up very long under this kind of stress. Besides, ‘command structure’ is a pretty loose term nowadays, don’t you think?”

Josephine grunted loudly and shifted her weight. Hiron remained silent. Nikolas made him wait, carefully mulling over each course of action in his head.

“Hiron, how much time do we have? And is there any other way that Jason could take control of our communication system?” Nikolas asked suddenly.

“Well, to be honest, we have the comms system locked down from a software perspective. Only myself and two others have access to it, and we all agree on this. But I think he could manually reset and remove a lot of our blocks if he had physical access to the main system down below,” Hiron said.

Nikolas quickly walked to the table and pressed a button embedded in it. Kim’s voice floated into the air from a speaker hidden in the room.

“Yes, sir?” Kim asked, her voice smooth and warm.

“Kim, I need you and ten people that you trust to go down to the main electronics hub of the ship, kick everyone out, and not let anyone in unless I specifically say so,” Nikolas ordered tersely. “This includes Jason. On the double, it’s important.”

“Yes, sir. Right away,” she responded. Nikolas stood up straight, already envisioning Kim’s long, purposeful strides as she moved to carry out his orders. He sighed heavily and plopped into his chair. Hiron cleared his throat respectfully.

“Uh, sir? Can we, uh, know she can be trusted?” he asked hesitantly.

“We can trust Kim Grimes as much as we can trust anyone,” Nikolas said, glancing for a moment at Josephine. “She’s a good person, and honestly she may be one of only a few people on this ship that truly believes in the chain of command.”

“She’s trustworthy. End of story,” Josephine said as she rose from her seat. “Captain, I’m going to go down and organize a defense in Engineering. We have no idea how this is going to play out, so I’ll put some physical locks in a few key areas and make sure a few important members of my crew are brought up to speed. I’ll be in touch.”

Nikolas nodded in agreement and watched as she walked out of the room. He could see that she did not even glance at the viewscreen at the front of the bridge before the door shut to obscure her from his view. Nikolas turned his thoughts and gaze to Hiron.

“Hiron, I know that you have no reason to trust me any more than Mr. Klinsmann, and so I won’t ask for your trust. I don’t want it. All I want is the same thing that I think you want, and that is to fully discuss this situation and make sure we make the best choice that can be made. Right now you don’t have to do anything that I ask other than keep anyone from making a choice for the entire ship. That includes me, if need be,” Nikolas said.

“Yes, sir. I’ll do just that. For the record, though, I’ve always thought you were a good captain. For what that’s worth, coming from a hacker,” Hiron said with a smile. Nikolas grinned and stood, prompting Hiron to do the same.

“Good, good. Now, I do have a proposal. I have no idea how this is going to play out, but I’m betting that Jason is going to realize who is responsible for his problems and know exactly where to look for you. What do you think about moving yourself and your two associates into this room here for the time being? I’ll have Kim post some guards that we can trust so Jason cannot get to you,” Nikolas said, struggling to keep an expectant tone from his voice. Hiron seemed to think it over for a moment before nodding slowly.

“Yeah, sure thing, sir. I mean, I don’t think Klinsmann is really a physical threat, but I get where you are coming from. Better safe than sorry,” Hiron said. Without waiting to be dismissed he turned and walked out of the room. Nikolas stood next to the table, unsure for a moment on how to react to the breach in protocol before sighing and sitting down in the nearest chair.

“Three hours after first contact and I am playing politics,” he said wearily. “Disgusting.”

IV.

Nikolas leaned heavily on a chair at the rear of the bridge. His eyelids felt droopy and solid and his shoulders ached. Barely six hours had passed since the meeting with his officers and already the situation had deteriorated at a rapid pace. Nikolas spent the intervening hours attempting to appear to be everywhere at once, knowing that the appearance of absolute control would be more important at this fragile stage than actual control. He felt guilty taking a break when there was so much to be done, but he knew that he would need most of his strength in the coming hours. Any opportunity to recharge his batteries was a welcome one, no matter how small.

He stood slowly, his knees cracking as he straightened. He swept his eyes over the bridge. It was eerily quiet. Only a handful of his crew had decided to stay at their posts after the initial spread of the news of their discovery. He fixed his eyes on the ship. It continued to hang motionless against the black backdrop. Nikolas turned and walked into the officer’s meeting room.

Hiron and one of his partners sat at the table, completely enmeshed in the computers that were their trade. The final member of the threesome was sitting on the couch that lined the wall behind the table. The obnoxious clacking of Hiron’s ancient keyboard filled the room, overpowering the subtle sounds of fingertips tapping on plastic and rustling fabric.

Nikolas slowly walked to the table, careful not to make too much noise lest he disturb his three saviors. As he sat down Hiron ripped off his goggles, grinning as if he knew Nikolas was trying to avoid disturbing them and feeling pleased that he had gone to the effort.

“Hiya, captain. Any news?” he asked brightly. Nikolas forced an enthusiastic expression onto his face that he did not feel.

“No, not yet. I have been making the rounds, trying to ensure order and doing all of the things that a captain is expected to do in times like these,” he answered jovially. He did not fully understand why Hiron treated this entire situation as if it were not one of the most important in human history, but Nikolas knew Hiron’s worth at the moment. If he wanted to act like this was a grand adventure then Nikolas would act like it was an adventure. “Do you have any updates for me? What is Mr. Klinsmann up to at the moment?”

Hiron snorted and leaned back in his chair.

“Nothing, that’s what. He’s pretty much given up on trying to get through our blocks, and as far as I know he hasn’t tried to gain physical access to the machines themselves. It’s been pretty quiet for the last hour or so.”

“What is he up to, then? I doubt that he just gave up,” Nikolas said to himself.

“Oh, we know, sir. Whatever he is doing is a ploy or a trick or something. We’re ready for him, whatever he tries,” Hiron said. Nikolas nodded absently and glanced around the room, his eyes eventually settling on the keyboard in front of Hiron.

“I’m no technology expert, but that thing looks absolutely ancient. Is that what we used before the touchpads? How in the world did you manage to find one?” Nikolas asked.

Hiron nodded proudly, picking up the wireless keyboard and displaying it like a proud parent.

“I prefer the tactile feedback, you know? I like the clicking and the physical feel of the keys. It feels more precise, not like the touchpads. And I built it myself. How else do you think I could get it to work with the goggles?” he explained, pointing at the pair of goggles covering his cohort’s eyes.

Nikolas looked at his companion at the table. He did not recognize her and could not ever remember having met her, although he knew that at some point he must have come across her during his duties as captain. Hiron introduced her as Shelly, without a last name, and Nikolas did not have the time, energy, or inclination to dig through crew records to find more information. She had not spoken since entering the room, and Nikolas found it difficult to even remember what she looked like underneath the large goggles that she wore. She seemed quiet and unassuming and quite happy to let the more social Hiron do all of the talking.

“I come from a family that was not very technically inclined, Hiron, and so I’ve never been comfortable with the goggles. They give me headaches, so I try to avoid them,” Nikolas explained.

“That’s unfortunate. They are so much better than looking at a screen. It is like being inside the data. I mean, how useful is that? It would be crazy for people in our position to use anything else. The screens are just so much slower,” Hiron said.

“That’s why I keep people like you and Shelly and Julius around, so I am not forced to wear goggles for efficiency reasons,” Nikolas replied. He turned his gaze to the man sitting on the couch behind the table. He was tall, so tall that he looked uncomfortable with his legs draped over the edge of the seat cushions. The man’s eyes were open but unfocused and he had a glassy expression on his face. His mouth moved silently, as if he was reading a book that only he could see. Hiron followed Nikolas’ gaze, glancing over his shoulder for a moment and smiling.

“I suppose Jules is a bit ahead of the game, then. With all of my talk of efficiency I don’t seem to have the guts to take the next logical step,” Hiron said.

Nikolas looked at Julius with apprehension.

“He has implants, then? How does it work? Can he hear us right now?” Nikolas asked quietly.

“I can hear you, although I understand your asking. I also have audio implants,” Julius said suddenly. He smiled broadly, flashing brilliant white teeth and focusing his eyes on Nikolas.

“Aren’t the implants illegal, though? And aren’t you fully scanned during the required medicals here on the ship?”

“Yes, they are illegal. And yes, I am scanned during the medical exams. But technology moves too fast for this government to effectively track it. What I have is not yet detectable by any current methods,” he explained. “My implants are illegal because they are misunderstood. Back home the general population seem to equate body modification with altering your humanity. My question is this: is a tattoo morally reprehensible? Does it make you any less human? What if you have a prosthetic leg? Two prosthetic legs? An entire fake body? At what point do you stop being human? There are many, many arguments on both side of the issue, but most people have no idea what they are. The politicians are using the entire thing as another wedge issue to drive support to their side, just like religion or protecting children. I know I am still human, and I am more better at my job than someone who doesn’t have the implants.”

Shelly snorted from the other side of the table but continued to tap rapidly on the small slab of plastic sitting in front of her. Nikolas turned, hoping that she would explain herself and was slightly disappointed when it was clear that she had no intention of doing so. Julius laughed from the couch in response.

“Shelly obviously doesn’t agree that it makes me more efficient than she is, but I say that she cannot know until she has tried it,” he explained.

“So how does it work? What do you see and hear? How do you control it?” Nikolas asked.

Julius stretched lazily, obviously enjoying the opportunity to explain himself.

“The implants allow me to bring up a display much like the goggles. I can toggle any feature on or off by thinking about it, and I can control the opacity of the screens that I see. I can toggle audio levels by thinking about it, so I can bring up any music or videos that I would like to see, or conduct searches or check the status of anything I am responsible for at my job by simply bringing up the appropriate display. Have you ever been involved in a discussion and reached a point in which you wanted to pull up some fact to support your argument? I can do that instantly. This is the future, Captain. One day everyone will have these implants,” he said with fervor.

“Are there any side effects? I know that we know much about the brain, but is it safe?” Nikolas asked.

The smile on Julius’ face momentarily faltered.

“Yes, there are…side effects. Just like any other part of evolution there are kinks that need to be worked out,” he said softly. “I sometimes have horrible headaches, but they are pretty infrequent, and a small price to pay for what I now have.”

“I wish I had the guts to do it,” Hiron interjected. “The entire idea is awesome, but every time I have the opportunity I chicken out. I just don’t like the idea of having foreign objects embedded in my brain, no matter how safe it is. It weirds me out.”

“It is entirely worth it,” Julius reiterated firmly. “It is one of the few decisions in my life that I do not in any way regret.”

Nikolas shook his head.

“I think I agree with Hiron. I do not like the idea of sticking something inside of my body that was not put there by nature,” Nikolas said slowly.

“What is ‘nature’, Captain? I think it can be argued that ‘nature’ and evolution have given us logic and the ability to use our brains to solve problems. This is one of the reasons we are so successful as a species. Our adaptability is paramount. So if we use our logic to improve ourselves, is that not ‘nature’ working its magic, so to speak?” Julius said.

Nikolas silently pondered the query for a few moments before shaking his head again.

“I don’t know. I would need to think about it. You may be right. I do know a few things, and one of them is that even if I would not personally do it I would never tell anyone that they could not do it to themselves. I do not have the right,” Nikolas said, causing both Hiron and Julius to smile in quiet delight. “I also know that, as interesting as this conversation is, I do not have the energy to give it the proper attention. Could we perhaps continue it when our current situation has been diffused and we have more time? And after I have been allowed to catch up on my sleep?”

“Of course, Captain. I will readily admit that it is exciting to meet someone in a position of authority that is as intellectually open as you are. I would never turn down the opportunity to wax philosophical with anyone in your position,” Julius said quickly.

Hiron, with his back now to Julius but facing Nikolas, rolled his eyes. Nikolas suppressed a smile and nodded in Julius’ direction. They all sat quietly for a few moments. Nikolas contemplated using the other available couch in the room to catch a quick nap while he could.

Suddenly Shelly grunted loudly and began to tap even faster on her pad, causing Julius to once again become unfocused and put is fingers out in front of him as if typing on an imaginary keyboard and Hiron to quickly throw on his goggles. Nikolas waiting patiently and tried to force down the rising bile in his throat, his acid reflux coming on strong due to lack of sleep and anxiety. He waited for a few moments before the urge to be updated overwhelmed him.

“What’s happened? What is going on?” he asked quietly.

“Trouble,” Shelly responded. Nikolas stared at her, surprised that she had finally spoke and irrationally attempting to decipher her cryptic response. Hiron slowly took off his goggles and placed them gently on the table, a pensive expression on his young face.

“Interesting. It’s really an interesting tactic. I’m surprised it didn’t occur to us before, given Jason’s history,” Hiron said to himself as he chewed on his upper lip. Nikolas ground his teeth, fighting back the frustration he was feeling at being left out of the loop.

“Can someone please tell me what is going on?” Nikolas grated, allowing anger to seep into his voice. Hiron looked up, surprised, and then stood quickly.

“Oh, sorry. I was thinking, I’m sorry. Jason is basically campaigning now for the position he gave during the meeting. He is appealing directly to everyone on the ship, telling them that we shouldn’t listen to the officers and that everyone should have a vote on our course of action regarding the aliens,” he explained.

Nikolas stared at him, dumbfounded.

“A vote? What are you talking about?” he said angrily.

“Yeah, a vote. He set up a little application on the ship’s network that allows each crew member to vote securely and only once, and everyone can change their vote whenever they want. He also published some kind of document or manifesto or something that outlines his view that every decision from now on should be handled this way and setting some ground rules for the entire process. Here, I’ll send it over to the screen on the wall so you can look.”

Hiron placed his goggles back over his eyes for a moment and typed furiously on his keyboard. Nikolas closed his eyes tightly and forced himself to take several deep breathes before opening them. Looking around he saw that Hiron was now waiting for him near the viewscreen embedded in the wall. Nikolas stood and joined him, watching as the words on the screen fluttered and changed rapidly in front of them.

“What is happening? Why is it changing?” Nikolas asked.

“The document can be edited by anyone before it is put to the vote. Once the vote on the manifesto is final it looks like Jason will call for a vote on the course of action with the alien ship. I think you can bet what his position is. I didn’t read the entire document, but I think you can guess what it basically says. Everyone should have a vote and all information should be free, etcetera etcetera, whatever. The fucker needs to start living in the real world,” Hiron said.

Nikolas smiled absently and stared at the screen. The rapidly changing document mesmerized him, both with the interesting visuals caused by the changing text and with the realization that hundreds of people were all working together to produce a final version of the document. It’s like the words and ideas are alive, he thought.

“Uh, Captain, what do you want us to do? I’ve been poking around and it looks like the defenses on both the voting application and the document are pretty weak. Do you want me to bring it down?” Julius asked. Nikolas thought it over and shook his head.

“No. I know that not everyone in this room holds Mr. Klinsmann in the highest regard, but Jason is not stupid. He has to know by now that you are working with me and that you are holding him back. He also knows that most of the ship isn’t reporting for duty anymore, and that the command structure has been stretched to the absolute limit. He is right. This is now going to be mob rule. The only power I have is what is given to me by the crew themselves, and if he can convince them that I am a power-hungry tyrant then he will win support. Tearing down his applications will just give him more ammunition, which is probably why he made it so easy to take down. No, what I need from you is continued vigilance against any attacks from him or his camp and also some campaigning of our own. Get into these discussions and tell people our position. Tell them why Jason’s ideas are dangerous. Win me some support. Also, get involved with this manifesto or whatever he is calling it. Make sure the rules being discussed are fair and won’t skew things in his favor,” he said.

Nikolas shrugged slowly in an attempt to release some of the tension in his shoulders and leaned heavily against the wall next to the door. Hiron looked down at his feet and then glanced up at Nikolas before returning to his seat and putting on his goggles.

“Yes, sir. We’ll contact you if anything changes,” Hiron said quietly. Nikolas nodded, forgetting that no one was looking at him and walking out of the room onto the bridge. Now only Kolkins remained at his post, tapping away at rapidly changing icons on his console. Nikolas put an upbeat expression on his face and walked confidently over to join him. It was time to begin campaigning, he thought.

“So, Bernard, what do you think?” Nikolas said, pointing to the ship still display on the main screen. “I never in my life thought I would live to see first contact, and now we are right smack dab in the middle of it. What do you think of the whole thing?”

Kolkins looked up at him with a blank expression. He did not look tired but he also did not look particularly enthused or excited. After a few moments he turned back to his console.

“Sir, you don’t need to waste any energy trying to convince me to join your side. I think Mr. Klinsmann has a child’s view of how society should work, and I think he is incredibly short-sighted when it comes to this situation. I don’t know for sure if you are right, and I don’t know if he is right, but I do know that I do not want mob rule and I do not want to in any way be responsible for the destruction of my species. That is why I support you, and that is why I want you to stop talking to me and go out and prevent Mr. Klinsmann from potentially dragging our species down with him,” Kolkins said quietly.

Nikolas stared at the back of his head, stunned, the smile disappearing off of his lips and his heart beating loudly in his ears. Kolkins continued to tap on his console as if no one was standing behind him. Nikolas returned to the rear of the room and leaned once more against the wall and closed his eyes. He heard a door open and the sound of multiple sets of footsteps coming in his direction. He opened his eyes to see Josephine and a few security personnel walking quickly towards him.

“Captain, we have trouble. Jason, he-” Josephine began. Nikolas stopped her with a raised hand.

“Yes, Josie, I know. I know what is going on. Are these Kim’s people?” he asked. Josephine nodded.

“Yes, sir. They already know what to do,” she replied. The security crew took up positions around the bridge and avoided looking at the officers, acting as if they were deaf and mute.

“Are you all right, Nikolas?” Josephine asked quietly, reaching out and gently touching his arm. Nikolas smiled and nodded.

“Yes, I am fine. I am just tired. I need you to campaign for me. Go out there and get me some votes so we can beat Jason at his own game. I’ll do the same. I have the brain trust in there fighting for a fair set of rules for the voting, so all we can do now is make sure that more people agree with us than with him,” Nikolas said.

“Okay, sir. You got it,” Josephine replied. She turned and walked out of the room. Nikolas waited a few moments and glanced at the ship before following her.

The time for the final tally of votes was nearly upon them. Nikolas sat at the head of the table in the conference room, his back rigid in his chair and his face blank. Fatigue weighed down heavily upon him, but he knew that the end was almost here. He just needed to hold out a little longer. He had been awake for a little more than thirty-four hours.

The room was hot, almost unbearably so, and Nikolas could feel beads of sweat forming on his forehead and running down his back under his uniform. Someone had broken into the climate control software of the room and fiddled with the temperatures. Hiron had offered to take care of the problem but Nikolas had ordered him to ignore it. The perpetrator was most likely in this room and the act was most likely a ploy to distract them from some attack that would come as the voting neared its conclusion.

The conference table that previously was used only by officers was now seating multiple members of Jason’s clique along with Hiron, Shelly, and Julius. Everyone at the table was monitoring the results of the voting, leaving Nikolas as the only one without a computer interface before his eyes. Nikolas glanced at the door leading to the bridge. He knew that the room outside was packed with people hoping to be close to the power struggle. He forced himself to take a few deep, even breathes. Now was not time to lose his focus, he thought.

Nikolas reached out and gently touched Hiron’s arm. Hiron removed his goggles and grinned, giving a silent thumbs-up and replacing the goggles over his eyes. Nikolas looked across the table at the goggled Jason and cleared his throat amicably. Jason raised his goggles a fraction in order to identify the intrusion before returning to his monitoring.

“Yeah? What?” he asked. Nikolas took a deep breath and smiled.

“Jason, there is still time to talk this over. As you know my only position at this point is that we should not make a decision until all avenues have been discussed. I feel as if your position is to rush into a decision as quickly as possible, but the difference in your case is that you have the technological power to make it happen without a consensus from either the officers or the crew. Please, I am asking you to slow this entire process down so that we can more calmly discuss it,” Nikolas said.

“I don’t have time for this, the voting is almost over,” Jason responded coldly. Nikolas stifled a frustrated sigh and continued.

“What harm is there in more discussion? Why do you insist in pushing this so quickly?” Nikolas asked.

“Because every moment we wait is more reason for the government back home to punish us for hiding this discovery. Because maybe we are pissing off these aliens by not reacting. Because maybe I am tired of being told what to do by people in charge that only got there because of age and not competency. What do you think of that, you asshole?” Jason yelled, tearing off his goggles and smashing them down on the table.

“I’d say that you are wrong, Jason,” Nikolas responded calmly. “First, the government will not punish us for waiting to examine the evidence before us, and if they do then it is a small price to pay for making sure that we are not endangering our species. Second, the alien ship has not taken any actions, either. It is just as likely that any rash responses might be taken poorly. And third, the very fact that I am involved in this voting process shows that I am willing to allow every member of this crew to have a voice. Come now, Jason. We have spent the last twenty hours or so going round and round on these very arguments, and you still do not have a valid response to any of my counter-arguments. Try again.”

Jason stared at him for a moment and then looked away, muttering to himself quietly before looking back at Nikolas with smoldering eyes.

“You are wrong, captain,” he said venomously, “This is not our decision to make. It is past time to push this decision to the entire human race and allow them to guide us. We should start moving as a species instead of individuals. It starts here.”

Nikolas was silent for a few moments before deciding that he could not wait any longer to antagonize his opponent.

“Jason, we both know that you do not really believe in giving a voice to the people on this ship, and that you are orchestrating this entire charade so that you can find a moment where myself or my techs are not able to stop you from sending a message back to Earth,” Nikolas said blandly. Jason reacted with a predictable fury.

“Of course I believe in it, you prick. Just because I do not believe in the same things that you believe in does not mean that I don’t have a vision for the future. This kind of society is the way things are going to be, fucking deal with it,” he responded angrily. “Of course, most people are idiots, including the morons that are voting right now. In the future people will need to actually use their goddamn minds instead of blinding accepting the word of politicians or back room power mongers that think that it is okay to deceive the people to meet their goals.”

Nikolas blinked, unsure on how to respond.

“But isn’t that exactly what you are doing?” he asked incredulously.

“Of course. I didn’t say that what I am doing is morally right,” Jason sneered. “But in order to move in the correct direction as a species we will still need some people to play by the old rules. Think of it as jump-starting the system. In the future actions like mine won’t be necessary, because everyone will be educated and will vote rationally and logically on every issue. But until then, people like me and you will need to try to use every trick that we have to deceive people into following us. What I am doing makes me a monster, but the ends justify the means.”

“That’s disgusting,” Nikolas said vehemently. “You are a hypocrite of the worst kind. I am not anything like you. The only thing I am arguing for is that we do not act rashly as you propose. We can still talk it over, and in the end we may end up contacting Earth anyways, but we don’t need to rush into anything. You are the one that pushed the time line for the vote and played up the fears of the crew, telling them that the longer we wait the worst things would get. Don’t lump me in with you.”

“Shut up,” Jason said calmly as thrust his goggles back over his eyes. “I don’t have time for this. The voting timer is almost up.”

Nikolas glanced quickly at Hiron and suppressed a desire to extract an update from him. He sat quietly, placing his hands in his lap and hoping that his final ploy would be enough to guarantee a victory. A few moments passed without incident, until finally Hiron removed his goggles, smiling broadly and sighing happily.

“That’s it, Captain. In about ten seconds the voting will be over. There’s no way it could swing back to his side now, so I think we got it,” he said loudly. He stood and stretched languidly before laughing and almost jumping with glee. “We did it!”

Nikolas slumped down into his seat and allowed relief to wash over him. He watched Jason tap furiously on the pad in front of him and then rip his goggles off in a rage.

“You son of a bitch! Everyone just heard our conversation! You planned the entire thing, timed it so it would occurred right before the voting ended so I wouldn’t be able to recover! And all of that bullshit about being different than me, it was all a lie!” he screamed.

Nikolas smiled sadly at him.

“Yes, Jason, we did remove the blocks on the room. I apologize that I did not announce it as soon as you entered, but I was rather distracted. If I had left the room locked down then I would have been accused of being secretive. From the moment you agreed to this meeting I ordered that everything taking place in here be transparent. I am sorry that you did not think to check for this before running your mouth off like an arrogant child,” Nikolas said with satisfaction. “No, I am not like you. At all. I am not attempting to deceive anyone. And for the record, I think that your ideal society is grand. I would love to live in a universe that worked that way. But until people like you are gone it will be impossible.”

Jason stared across the table in disbelief as his cadre of supporters silently removed their goggles and left the room. Nikolas felt very tired and alternated between eying the couch and the liquor cabinet in the wall. It’s over for the time being, he thought, now I can rest for a bit.

Suddenly a high pitched squeal came over the speakers. Nikolas jumped up, trotting out of the conference room and pushing his way through the stunned crowd until he reached Kolkins.

“What is happening?” he asked calmly. His heart thumped inside his chest and his vision doubled for a moment before returning to normal.

“The alien ship is emitting information in every measurable way. It is overwhelming our sensors and causing some audio feedback,” reported Kolkins calmly. He was staring at his console screen, viewing the flow of data and frantically pressing his sweaty fingers over the surface. Nikolas glanced at the others on the bridge. Most were watching the ship on the viewscreen with barely concealed terror.

“What are they doing?” Nikolas asked involuntarily. Why flood the area with information? Why, after staying silent for so long?

“Perhaps they finally figured out what we can measure with our instruments, and are now attempting to contact us? Or maybe they could always monitor us and were watching the results of the vote. I mean, it just ended about a minute ago,” Kolkins said, his voice cracking slightly.

Nikolas thought quickly and came to a decision. It is now or never, he thought wildly.

“Transmit the following across all measurable spectrum in our immediate area and repeat it,” he ordered, waiting until he received the signal from Kolkins. He had to fight down a nervous urge to giggle before speaking.

“Hello. My name is Nikolas. We are a peaceful species that wishes only to co-exist without conflict with others in the universe. This message is intended only as a way for our two species to calibrate our communication. I am honored, beyond the capacity for words, that I will be the first of my species to communicate with you,” Nikolas said, groping for more words. “We come in peace.”

He stopped, forcibly shutting his mouth before he could spout more asinine, meaningless phrases.

“Transmit that and begin trying to analyze their transmission any way you can,” he said, looking down at the floor. Was that the first speech that an alien species would hear? Would they comprehend that he was nervous, out of sorts, and that it was not representative of humanity as a whole? He shook his head. He decided to shut his mind off and wait. He could feel movement behind him and turned to see Josephine and Kim pushing through the crowd until they were standing next to him. He shrugged at Josephine and smiled weakly, prompting her to smile in return.

Nikolas turned back towards the screen in time to see the ship disappear. He blinked and his mouth dropped open.

“What in the hell just happened?” he asked loudly, hunching over the console. Kolkins pressed on the console screen rapidly and his eyes darted left and right as he tried to process all of the data before him.

“The alien ship is accelerating away from us, moving very fast but not so fast that we could not catch up. Should I follow?” he asked quickly. Nikolas nodded and watched as he moved to carry out the order. He straightened and stared at the now blank screen, thinking furiously.

“Kolkins, can you tell where they are going?” he asked suddenly, fear creeping into his voice. Kolkins punched a few icons and then visibly paled. He turned and looked up at Nikolas.

“The-…they are heading towards Earth, sir. A tr-tr-transmission went out while you were recording your message. I can’t tell right now what it contained, but I’m betting that someone managed to break through and send a message out c-c-c-concerning the situation,” Kolkins stammered.

Nikolas whirled and frantically shoved his way through the crowd. He felt Josephine and Kim following him as the mob began to murmur and buzz with anxiety and fear. The door opened in front of him and he saw Jason on the floor with Hiron standing over him. Blood was streaming from Jason’s nose. Shelly’s goggles were off as she sat next to Julius on the couch. Both wore stunned expressions and did not respond as Nikolas entered. Hiron turned quickly and Nikolas could see the rage on his face.

“The fucker embedded something in the voting application! I can’t believe we didn’t find it, he even put the source code out for everyone to look over and everything, and as soon as the voting was over it set off a series of…oh, who fucking cares, he sent out a message to Earth! Goddamn you!” he screamed, turning and planting a kick into Jason’s midsection. Nikolas rushed over and grabbed Hiron before he could strike again, throwing him against the wall where he collapsed and began to sob loudly.

Nikolas looked down at Jason, who was wearing an satisfied expression underneath the blood and darkening bruises.

“I won, you bastard. You thought you beat me, but I won. Now you can’t keep this to yourself anymore. I won!” Jason screamed as he attempted to wipe the blood from his face.

Nikolas blindly groped for a chair, falling into it and placing his head in his hands. He fought down an urge to vomit before lifting his head to stare at Jason with blank eyes.

“You goddamn arrogant bastard. I hope you were right, Jason. I hope you were right all along. The alien ship is heading towards Earth, as near as we can tell,” Nikolas said. Jason’s triumphant smile disappeared and his head drooped down towards the floor. “We’ll have a while to plan our next move as we travel, but it is heading towards human space. I hope that they are not hostile, for your sake and mine.”

Nikolas could hear voices from the bridge, and knew that it must be very loud out there for him to hear anything inside of this soundproof room. He felt very tired and hoped that Kim and Josephine could control the situation without him, at least for a few minutes. He leaned back and emptied his mind for the first time since the beginning, enjoying the feeling and ignoring the sounds of sobbing and despair coming from all around him.

“It will be all right,” he said quietly, trying as much to convince himself as those around him. “It could still be all right.”

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