Letnor’s ship appeared near the orbit of the planet where the signals originated. Their emergence point was well clear of any type of detection sensor he was aware of. It was probably overkill for such a primitive planet, but he wanted to remain undetected.
The third planet in the system was nothing special. Just a typical oxygen-rich world with slightly above average gravity, and too much disgusting plant life. It probably had just as much disgusting animal life, but the ship wasn’t close enough to get a detailed view.
“Any signs of advanced technology outside of the relay?” Letnor asked as he studied the rotating image. There were plenty of signs of cities on the surface, indicating a large population.
“The passive scans haven’t picked up anything yet, sir.”
That was both good and bad. If this were the human world, the lack of some sort of advanced detection network would allow them to get much closer and scan the surface with impunity. It would also make linking the planet to the station much harder. They would have to wait for the AI to verify the results.
That proved unnecessary a short while later.
“Sir, the sensors have detected trace amounts of Concord Imperium materials on the surface, along with material signatures belonging to a borganian vessel. I’m adjusting the sensors to get a better view.”
The ball of blue and green vanished, replaced by clouds as the optical instruments adjusted their focal length to zoom closer to the surface. It appears their target was near one of the continental coasts. The detail wasn’t great, thanks to their distance, but once the cloud finally passed, it exposed a large craft sitting on some sort of landing pad.
The AI beeped as it highlighted the ship in recognition. “Borganian diplomatic cruiser. Strong shielding, minimal weapons. Threat level, nominal.”
Letnor didn’t need the AI’s confirmation. He had been briefed on what to look for, and Representative Chalto’s missing ship was high up on that list. His scout ship could saturate the area in weapons fire, eliminating the ship, but his job wasn’t to take out a single vessel.
He now had confirmation that this was indeed the human’s home world. The question is, what did he do with that information?
It would take him well over a month to reach the nearest Astryx comm relay, and he knew time was of the essence. His benefactor, Supervisor Sael, hadn’t said as much when he recruited Letnor for this mission, but it was clear in his tone.
His mind turned back to the FTL comm relay in this system. There was no way it wasn’t being monitored, but if he could use it to establish a link to the greater Astryx network, it would save time.
Letnor weighed the pros and cons of his plan. On the one hand, it would ensure his information got to his benefactor as quickly as possible. On the other hand, it would expose his presence to the humans.
Unless he disguised the signal. “Has the AI decoded the human signals yet?”
“Yes, sir,” the sensor operator replied. “They are radio signals. The AI is still parsing their languages, however.”
Of course, they had multiple languages. It confirmed that the humans hadn’t ventured past their planet for long. Most of the other races had individualistic dialects and languages as well, but the longer they were in space, the more they gravitated toward Trade-Common for any outward communications. The t’uk was the exception. Their language had been unified since before they formed Concord.
“Are the humans sending signals through the relay?”
The sensor operator bent back toward his terminal to look over the data. “Yes, sir.”
“Can the ship’s comm gear mimic their signals?” Letnor didn’t know for sure if this comm relay linked to the Concord Shipyard he had been briefed about, but if it did, he knew for sure that the shipyard had a relay that connected directly to Astryx space.
“I would need to confer with the engineer, sir, but I believe it could be modified to mimic the human signals.”
“Get started on that. And pilot, move us closer to that relay. We won’t be able to hide our transmission, but if we are close enough, we can reduce the signal power. That should reduce the chances of humans detecting it.”
***
“Captain,” the station AI interrupted Jacob’s AI reprogramming efforts. “You requested that I monitor all incoming transmissions from Earth and alert you of anything that looked out of place.”
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Show me,” Jacob said, dismissing his programming space and reappearing in the apartment, where a floating window was already waiting for him.
“Um… What am I looking at?” he asked as he took in the jumble of symbols on the screen.
It certainly wasn’t any language he was familiar with, which meant it was probably encrypted.
“That is t’ukian, captain. It is the language of the t’uk.”
Jacob’s spine crawled with cold certainty. The t’uk had found Earth. He considered taking Abyss Pearl out to hunt the vessel, but quickly discarded that idea. He had no clue what sort of ship they had, let alone if it was still in the solar system. He also thought it was a better idea to hide the fact that he was aware of their presence.
It had only been a matter of time until one of the alien species got curious and went looking. The fact that it was the t’uk who found them first wasn’t all that surprising. Whatever was going on with the eiraxins, the Astryx, and the fall of the Concord Imperium had the t’uk firmly in the center of that web. And when you poke a web, the spider’s gonna come looking.
Jacob alerted his avatars on Earth as he replayed the AI’s report. “Any ideas what the message is about. And I thought all Concord races spoke eiraxin?”
“They did, Captain, but that doesn’t mean each species gave up their own language. They only agreed to adopt eiraxin because the eiraxins were the stronger of the three races during the Imperium’s creation, thanks to their mastery over merging. As for the message, it seems to be heavily encrypted.”
Jacob knew from experience that the AI would not decrypt the message. Thankfully, Jacob didn’t need the AI’s assistance; he had his own. He pulled the comm buffer log and found the message. There weren’t all that many messages coming from Earth or even getting sent back after he notified the humans on the station about the new connection, so it was easy to find.
It didn’t take long to decode the short message.
“Target located. Delta 3-5-7-2.”
Jacob had no idea what the numbers meant, but it sounded like a location designation. Militaries used those so they didn’t have to transmit actual coordinates.
Jacob waited for one of his avatars to finish interviewing the military recruit General Roberts had recommended. He would have cut the interview short, but this man was one of the more promising applicants.
He popped into the drone. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Major Guiterrez.”
“You can just call me Javier; I’m no longer a Major. And the pleasure is all mine.”
The Major had decided not to reenlist with the US Marines when his time came up due to how the General was treated after the crash. Jacob couldn’t blame the man. The pair shook hands.
“Something has come up, but before I go, I believe you would be a great fit for our operation.” Jacob held up a hand before the man could protest. “I know you said you weren’t interested, but please speak with General Roberts before you decide.”
Jacob pulled out a cell phone and handed it to the major. “This works just like any other cell phone on the planet, but it has unlimited data and calls to anywhere on Earth. Oh, and it also lets you connect to the FTL comm relay.”
Major Guiterrez eyed the device in a new light, making Jacob chuckle internally.
“I took the liberty of loading it with the General’s contact information. He is still running on Eastern Standard Time, so call whenever you feel it’s practical. The phone’s yours to keep, whether you agree or not.”
The major gave a slow nod and tentatively accepted the device. “I will hear the general out before I give you my final decision. I owe the man that much.”
With that complete, Jacob left the major’s home and told his escort to take him to his ship, then they needed to have a meeting with the president as soon as possible.
The Secret Service agent nodded and started driving. They had become much more comfortable around him during his week-long visit. He still hadn’t introduced them to Xing’che, but it looked like it was time, because he didn’t want to be the one to explain why Earth was now under threat from the t’uk.
Jacob pinged Barry, letting him know that all three of them were going to meet with the president. The guards, blocking off their ship from all the gawkers who had assembled, let them through. Barry and Xing’che walked down the ramp and met them at the edge of the shield just as the SUV rolled up.
Xing’che was squinting her eyes as cameras flashed incessantly upon her appearance. Her skin tone wasn’t all that alien, but her clothes were, which had to be a deliberate choice on her part.
Jacob sighed as Barry opened the door for the woman and gestured for her to step inside. She took a quick look around the interior, pausing momentarily at the shield generator in the back before climbing into one of the seats.
Barry climbed in behind her, and the SUV made its way toward the White House, picking up a security detail along the route. Apparently, there was some sort of protest outside the White House.
Xing’che rubbed the leather seats. “I must say, this is much nicer than the public transport of my world. The material is this?”
“Leather,” Barry replied. “It’s made from the hides of animals.”
She quickly pulled her hand away from the seat, making Jacob chuckle.
“You turn animals into seats?” she asked.
“Seats, boots, hats, all sorts of stuff really. Why waste the material? I’m sure your people do the same.”
“While I am intimately familiar with using everything available to you, we do not do as you do. Our world no longer has any native wildlife. And the animals brought to reinforce the ecosystem are protected. If you harmed one, it would be a death sentence.”
“The Astryx really enforce such a harsh penalty?” Jacob asked in surprise.
Xing’che shook her head. “That is an eiraxin law. It came into being after our ecosystem nearly collapsed. That event is what forced us off our home world and out into the stars. It also started our research into terraforming. I do sometimes wonder if my people’s situation would be different if my ancestors had just learned to tend to the environment instead of destroying it.”
“It’s a delicate balance to maintain,” Barry added.
Xing’che nodded absently as she fell into silence, watching the strange world of glass and concrete zip past the window.