THE KOSTROMA SAGA by Michel Poulin - HTML preview

CHAPTER 49 – A SHOT AT DIPLOMACY

06:15 (Universal Time)

Friday, December 24, 2320

Hangar Deck of the A.M.S. KOSTROMA

Drifting at the outer edge of the Ross 128 System

Tina, near tears and watched by her husband Michel, gently pressed her son Misha in her arms while speaking softly to him.

‘’I will be back soon, my little treasure, I promise. Be nice with your father.’’ She then gave her toddler son a last kiss before handing him to Michel, who also got a last kiss from her.

‘’I should be back within five or six days, seven at the most. Have faith and believe in my legendary luck.’’

‘’I will, Tina.’’ replied Michel, his voice nearly strangled with emotions. He then watched her as she boarded her used yacht, now renamed ‘FRIENDSHIP’. Hoshi Advisor Ibi, Koorivar Administrator Sheraz and Gerald Holmes-Robeson were also on deck to watch, along with a number of crewmembers of the KOSTROMA. They observed from a pressurized gallery as the yacht cycled through an airlock, then was launched into space.

‘’There goes a damn brave girl.’’ said softly Gerald Holmes-Robeson while following the departure of the yacht on a video display screen connected to an outside camera.

15:33 (Universal Time) / 08:11 (Drakan City Time) Saturday, December 25, 2320 (Earth calendar)

Bridge of the Drazt patrol cruiser TARASK

Main Asteroid Belt region, Ross 128 System

‘’Shipmaster, we are detecting an unidentified echo at maximum radar detection range, in the Venora Sector. It is seemingly heading towards Kadosh.’’

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Shipmaster Dozna Wiss was immediately alarmed by that report: the Venora Sector was the one in line with the distant but troublesome Sol System, which was the home world of the Humans, while Kadosh was the Drazt home world. She thus gave at once a series of orders.

‘’Pilot, adopt an intercept course to that unidentified contact and go to maximum acceleration. Master Gunner, man our batteries and place them on combat alert. Electronic Officer, do you detect any emissions from that contact?’’

‘’Not yet, Shipmaster.’’

‘’Still, keep an ear out for anything from that contact. Sensors officer, how fast is that contact going? Is it maneuvering?’’

‘’It is on a straight, steady course towards Kadosh and is coasting along rather than accelerating constantly, Shipmaster. Its speed is presently 0.6 percent of the speed of light.’’

‘’Hum, not exactly what I would call ‘rushing forward’. We will still intercept and identify it while being ready for anything. Communicator, send a message to Navy Headquarters to advise them that we are going to identify an unidentified contact in the Venora Sector.’’

‘’Yes, Shipmaster!’’

As her cruiser changed course and accelerated, Dozna Wiss thought about what that contact could be. It still could be a simple, natural object, like a comet or a wandering asteroid, but the probabilities for that were low, as such objects would normally approach Kadosh in an elliptical trajectory. This unidentified contact behaved much more like a spaceship…or a missile. That last thought made her tense up in her command seat, as she remembered what had happened to her old Naval Academy classmate Lem Doz, who had been the first one to face a ship from Earth.

‘’Sensors and Electronics Officers, whatever happens next, do not record any electronic message or transmission from that unidentified object. If this is a Human ship, then it could try to infect our computers with a virus. Stay in strict passive listening mode.’’

‘’Yes, Shipmaster!’’ replied the two bridge officers, who knew too well what had happened to the bridge crew of the MURKAN after its catastrophic encounter with a Human ship: Shipmaster Lem Doz had been far from being the only one to have been severely disciplined following that incident.

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Some two hours later, the sensors officer reported again to Dozna.

‘’Shipmaster, I can now start to distinguish the size and shape of the unknown contact: it is definitely a ship of a small size. It is also of alien construction.’’

‘’How small is it actually?’’

‘’About the size of one of our shuttles, Shipmaster. It could most probably fit through our craft airlock.’’

‘’Very well! Communicator, send another message to our Navy Headquarters: tell them that the unknown contact is a small alien ship of approximate shuttle size. Send also the present position, course and speed of that alien ship.’’

‘’Right away, Shipmaster!’’

‘’Pilot, how long still for interception to occur?’’

‘’About seven chu, Shipmaster.’’ answered the pilot, quoting the Drazt equivalent to 140 minutes.

‘’Good! To all the crew: go to combat stations now! Make sure that you are wearing your spacesuits, in case of a sudden decompression from battle damage.’’ The sinister blare of the combat horn followed her words, prompting her crew into running to their combat stations and then donning their spacesuits. Dozna herself put on her spacesuit as soon as the rest of the bridge crew had suited up. Now equipped and ready for combat, she nervously waited while her cruiser approached steadily the alien craft.

Six chu later, Dozna was finally able to visually examine the alien craft as her cruiser took a cautious station to the left of it while keeping some distance.

‘’Sensors Officer, I can’t see any visible weapons on that craft. Does your sensors detect anything of the sort?’’

‘’Negative, Shipmaster. Even if it has some kind of laser battery, which is still a possibility, it would have to be of quite a small size, judging from the modest dimensions of this craft. I however can confirm it is a Human spacecraft: there is a name in Human symbols painted on the bow.’’

‘’Can you read and translate that name?’’

‘’Our translation program makes it out to mean ‘friendship’ in the Human language named ‘English’.’’

‘’Friendship, eh? Communicator, retransmit the image of this craft to

Headquarters and request permission for us to board and capture this craft.’’

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‘’Right away, Shipmaster.’’

A few minutes later, as Dozna was still waiting for an answer from Kadosh, her communicator suddenly spoke up, alarm in his voice.

‘’Shipmaster, the alien craft is transmitting a video signal. I believe that it is trying to communicate with us.’’

‘’Do not answer that signal and do not record it!’’ shouted at once Dozna. ‘’Stay in passive listening mode! Electronics Officer: make sure that our computers and systems are kept isolated from any signal from that craft.’’

‘’Yes, Shipmaster!’’

Dozna then switched her command chair viewing screen so that she could watch and listen to the Human transmission while avoiding a direct signal exchange. What she saw was the head and torso of the same Human female who had been in command of the huge ship that had attacked and disabled the MURKAN. A Navy-wide advisory had disseminated a warning about that Human ship and its captain shortly after that incident.

‘’HER? HERE? WHAT KIND OF FUCKING GAME IS SHE TRYING TO PLAY? COMMUNICATOR, ADVISE HEADQUARTERS THAT THE CAPTAIN OF THE HUMAN SHIP KOSTROMA IS ABOARD THAT ALIEN CRAFT, AND MAKE IT QUICK! SENSORS OFFICER, DO YOU DETECT ANY OTHER SHIP NEARBY?’’

‘’Negative, Shipmaster! We are alone with this craft in this sector.’’ Now more cautious than ever, Dozna listened to the video message from the craft, which was in English. Since she had ordered that her ship’s computer systems be kept isolated from that signal, she could not use her computer translation software. Then, the Human female repeated her message, this time in Drazt language, using her own translation software.

‘’Drazt cruiser, this is Fleet Captain Tina Forster, sent on a peaceful diplomatic mission to discuss our mutual relations. My craft is unarmed and I mean no harm to anybody. Please respond.’’

Dozna was left stunned for a moment by that message. However, she still did not reply to it, fearful of collecting a software virus in exchange. Instead, she looked at her systems operations officer.

‘’Koban, grab that craft with a tractor beam and pull it inside our shuttle hangar. Any discussion with that Human will be done face to face, without using electronic means in order to prevent a software virus infection.’’

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‘’Right away, Shipmaster!’’

As Koban started operating their tractor beams, pulling the craft towards the TARASK, Dozna spoke on her intercom system.

‘’Security, send at once ten armed guards to our shuttle hangar, ready to board, search and secure a Human craft with at least one occupant on board.’’ Dozna then returned her attention to the Human female, who was repeating her message on her viewing screen. She couldn’t help admire her courage for having come this way to the Drazt system: it took lots of guts to make such a move, considering her involvement with the MURKAN. But again, such audacity and resolve were precisely parts of what made these Humans so potentially dangerous to Dozna’s race.

Squad Master Kosh Tar was entering the shuttle hangar of the TARASK with his squad as the Human craft was being cycled through the shuttle airlock.

‘’DEPLOY IN A SEMI-CIRCLE AROUND THE LANDING PAD! HOLD YOUR FIRE FOR THE MOMENT, UNLESS WE ARE ATTACKED.’’ With his own disintegrator rifle at the ready, held by his two upper arms, Kosh Tar took position on one side of the landing bay and made sure that his Drazt guards were deployed correctly before speaking in his radio microphone.

‘’Squad Master Kosh Tar to Bridge! Armed squad ready and in position in the shuttle hangar.’’

‘’Excellent, Squad Master!’’ replied the voice of the shipmaster. ‘’We want that Human alive as much as possible, so do not fire unless you are attacked. Also, do not record any electronic signal or data from that Human craft: it could then transmit a computer virus to our systems. Make sure that there is only one occupant in that craft and search her for weapons. I am going to come down to the hangar to manage the situation in person.’’

‘’Understood, Shipmaster!’’ replied Kosh Tar before returning his attention to the Human craft, which was now being pulled inside the hangar proper by tractor beams. Examining its hull visually, Kosh didn’t see any sort of weapon on the craft, something that reassured him a bit. Still, he kept his guard up as the craft was finally put down in the middle of the landing bay. He tensed up at once when a sort of access door with integrated steps started opening and lowering, revealing one alien silhouette inside.

‘’REMEMBER, SOLDIERS: HOLD YOUR FIRE UNLESS ATTACKED. WE WANT THAT ALIEN ALIVE.’’

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As Kosh Tar started slowly advancing towards the now fully lowered access staircase, the alien raised both of her hands high, showing that she was not holding any weapons, while starting to slowly come out of her craft. Kosh couldn’t help detail with interest what was for him the first alien creature he had ever seen. The curve of her breasts under the sort of blue coverall she was wearing distinctly made her to be female. However, she had only one pair of arms, contrary to the Drazt, who had two superimposed pairs attached to their torso. The pair of legs of the Human was proportionally much longer than those of a Drazt but were also much less muscular. As for her face, her pale skin and thick, long hair flowing down to her shoulder made her distinctly alien to a Drazt. Still, Kosh Tar had to concede that this Human female had some graceful shapes to her body and had a smooth face. She then spoke a few words in her own language, with her words translated at once in Drazt language by a small box suspended to her neck by a cordon.

‘’I am unarmed and I come in peace. I will ask you not to remove the box I carry around my neck: it is a portable translation unit and I will need it to talk with your leaders.’’

‘’Stop once on the deck and then stand still with your arms up, Human. We are going to search you. Is there anybody else inside your craft?’’

No! I came alone.’’

To Kosh Tar’s satisfaction, the Human female did as told and stopped two paces in front of the access stairs of her craft, her hands held high, then stayed immobile as Kosh and his three of his soldiers cautiously approached her with rifles at the ready. Once close to her, it became evident to Kosh that she was much shorter than himself, while being leaner and less muscular. Physically, she was not very dangerous-looking for a Drazt male like himself but he still stayed two paces away from her and gave orders to his guards.

‘’Kren, Dook, you stay here with me to watch her. The rest, enter that craft and make sure that nobody else is hiding inside.’’

Kosh waited until seven of his soldiers had entered the craft, then made a motion with his pointed disintegrator rifle.

‘’You, take off your clothes: we will need to search you.’’

The Human female frowned at that demand but, after a short hesitation, obeyed and started to slowly take off her coverall and boots, ending with a set of underclothes covering her breasts and groin area, plus socks around her feet.

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‘’Remove your underclothes as well, Human.’’

This time, irritation showed up on the alien’s face.

‘’Is that really necessary? I would like to preserve some dignity here.’’

‘’DO AS YOU ARE TOLD, OR WE WILL GET ROUGH?’’ Clearly displeased, the Human female took off one by one her underclothes, ending fully naked in front of Kosh Tar and his two soldiers.

‘’Kren, check her clothes for any hidden weapons or electronic devices.’’

‘’Yes, Squad Master!’’

Taking a couple of steps forward, the guard grabbed the clothes now lying on the deck and pulled them away from the Human before starting to carefully search and feel them. Kren soon looked up at Kosh.

‘’I found nothing except some sort of small leather holder with a number of papers and plastic cards in it.’’

‘’Then hand me that leather holder, Kren.’’

Kosh was grabbing the wallet handed to him by Kren when his shipmaster entered the shuttle hangar, two of her officers following behind her. Kosh immediately came to attention and saluted his commander the Drazt way, by tapping one hand to his chest.

‘’The Human said that she was alone and unarmed, Shipmaster. We searched her and effectively found no weapons or electronic devices except for the translation unit she is wearing around her neck. The rest of my squad is inside the craft, searching for any possible hidden occupant. Here is a leather pouch we found on her.’’

‘’Well done, Squad Master Tar.’’ said Dozna, taking the offered wallet before looking at Tina, examining her body with interest. Anatomically, she was not that much different from a Drazt female, if you excepted the single pair of arms, and could even be said to be physically pretty. However, that Human would definitely stand out in any Drazt crowd.

‘’You may now put your clothes back on, Fleet Captain Forster.’’

‘’Thank you!’’

As Tina slowly dressed up, Dozna sifted through the leather wallet, which contained what looked like some kind of thin plastic film currency and a few plastic cards with photos, plus a small color picture. Dozna couldn’t help smile on looking at the apparently happy and smiling tiny Human shown on the picture.

‘’Your offspring, I suppose?’’

‘’Correct! My son is now fifteen-months-old and his name is Misha.’’

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Dozna nodded her head at that. Somehow, to send the mother of a very young child on a sabotage or spying mission seemed improbable to her. Still, that Human female had proved in the recent past that she could be quite dangerous, especially when aboard her giant ship.

‘’I am Shipmaster Dozna Wiss and you are now aboard the patrol cruiser TARASK. What is the precise goal of your trip to this system, Captain Forster?’’

‘’I came as a diplomatic representative of my government and wish to speak to your Supreme Conductor about establishing peaceful relations between our two people. As a proof of my good faith, I brought in my shuttle a relic that will most probably prove very precious to your people.’’

‘’A relic? What do you mean exactly?’’ said Dozna, her interest suddenly boosted further. Tina then explained herself in a calm voice.

‘’A few months ago, while my ship was searching for two lost Koorivar refugee ships, we visited the Gliese 625 System, situated some 23 light-years away from your own system, to the Galactic Southeast of here. There, we found an ancient crash site dating some 6,000 of our years. While digging down in the impact crater, we found the remains of an alien astronaut and of its spacesuit. It was a Drazt spacesuit.’’ Dozna, like her three soldiers and two officers present, was stunned speechless by that last sentence. Her mind now in turmoil, she stared at Tina and spoke firmly to her.

‘’Where exactly is that relic inside your craft?’’

‘’It is contained in a large carrying crate sitting in the middle of the crew lounge. Before you ask, I can assure you that the corpse inside it was treated with the utmost respect by us.’’

‘’By the stars!’’ said softly to herself Dozna before looking at Kosh Tar. ‘’Squad Master, find and bring out that crate she is talking about.’’

‘’At once, Shipmaster!’’

As Kosh Tar ran inside the craft with one of his soldiers, Tina spoke up again, addressing Dozna.

‘’Shipmaster Wiss, please understand that we could have easily hidden that discovery on Gliese 625 from your people. In turn, we fully understand that revealing that relic to you may well help you find more quickly your own way to travel through the stars, something that would in turn put my own star system within easy reach of the Drazt Empire. The political decision to reveal that relic to your people was a hotly debated one, but I was finally able to convince my government to let me carry it for this

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diplomatic mission. Please believe me when I say that my government wishes only for peace with your people.’’

Dozna could only stare in silence at Tina at first, overwhelmed by her words. This could indeed be considered a strong argument in support of Forster’s claim to come in peace, as any Human government bent on hostilities with the Drazt would have done everything to keep the news of such a relic’s existence most secret. If this was a calculated move to make the Drazt lower their guard, then it was a most dumb move indeed. She then heard a brief call on the radio, coming from Squad Master Tar.

‘’Shipmaster, we found the crate and are now carrying it out.’’

‘’Good job, Squad Master!’’

Dozna then turned to look at her sciences officer.

‘’Vorn, use your data pad and start searching through our classified archives concerning our past projects for an interstellar drive. I want to be able to quickly vet that ‘relic’ this Human brought with her.’’

‘’Understood, Shipmaster!’’

Dozna’s attention was then caught by Squad Master Tar’s exit from the Human craft: he was holding one end of a large container, with one of his soldiers holding the other end as they went down the access stairs. The crate was then put down on the deck, in front of Dozna. With her two officers looking on with intense curiosity, she slowly undid the latches holding the crate closed and opened the lid. Her heart made a jump in her chest when she was able to see the evidently ancient remains of a spacesuit with two pairs of arms. Falling to her knees, she had to contain a wave of emotions while examining the remains.

‘’By the stars! You were saying the truth, Captain Forster.’’

‘’And I am honored to be able to bring back to his people the remains of this brave astronaut.’’

The science officer, on a signal from Dozna, then approached the crate and scanned it with a portable sensor device.

‘’These are definitely the remains of a Drazt, Shipmaster. Their preliminary dating also corresponds with the time period of one of our last attempted tests for a prototype interstellar drive. I can now identify a patch on that spacesuit: it is identifying it as being the spacesuit of the late Squadron Master Bar Lov, one of the test pilots assigned to our old program.’’

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With a big lump now blocking her throat, Dozna got back on her feet and stood at attention while shouting an order.

‘’ATTEN…TION! SALUTE TO SQUADRON MASTER BAR LOV!’’ All the Drazt present stood at rigid attention and saluted the remains inside the crate. Dozna noticed that Tina Forster also came to attention and saluted in the human fashion, something she felt grateful for.

‘’AT EASE! Squad Master, have this crate moved with all the respect due to it to our medical section, where these remains will be autopsied.’’

‘’Yes, Shipmaster!’’ replied at once Kosh Tar before ordering two of his soldiers to close and carry away the crate. As the crate was leaving the hangar, Dozna looked at Tina Forster with a new outlook.

‘’Thank you for bringing Squadron Master Bar Lov back to his people, Captain Forster. Know that, personally, I consider this a significant gesture of good will on your part.’’

‘’And I was pleased to do so, Shipmaster Wiss. What will happen next?’’

‘’I will probably be ordered to bring you to Kadosh at best speed, so that my commanders can interview you in person. You will however have to excuse me for still showing caution towards you. Squad Master Tar, escort Fleet Captain Forster to a holding cell, but avoid any brutality and make sure that she is properly treated.’’

‘’Yes, Shipmaster!’’

Tar, along with two of his soldiers, then led Forster out of the hangar, closely watching her. Once the group was out, Dozna turned towards her two officers.

‘’Vorn, Mat, I want you to go inside that craft and examine it in detail. Find its interstellar drive, but be also leery about possible computer viruses lying as traps. In the meantime, I will return on the bridge: I now have a very important message to send to our Navy Headquarters.’’

Some two hours later, as the TARASK was heading towards Kadosh at maximum acceleration, Dozna got a piece of news that she didn’t appreciate one bit.

‘’What do you mean, you didn’t find an interstellar drive in that Human craft?’’

‘’I am sorry, Shipmaster, but we examined carefully the systems of that craft and found only a low-power thermonuclear rocket engine, a sort of primitive directed gravity drive meant as a secondary propulsion system, plus an artificial gravity system. However, the crew accommodations are quite comfortable and were visibly designed for

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long trips in Space. That craft is strictly an interplanetary one, Shipmaster. It must have been dropped off at the edge of our system by a Human ship equipped with an interstellar drive, with Captain Forster probably planning to rendezvous back with that ship for her return trip to Earth.’’

Dozna sighed in frustration, guessing easily which ship was going to pick Forster back.

‘’Her ship, the KOSTROMA. It will most probably be the one waiting to pick her back.’’

‘’I concur, Shipmaster. I must say that Captain Forster planned rather well her mission.’’

‘’Too well to my taste, actually. I have to give her that: she is no fool, on top of being brave.’’

‘’Uh, there is one last thing, Shipmaster. While searching her craft, we found a personal effect bags in the main cabin of the craft, a bag that contained some spare clothes and what must be personal hygiene items. Should we bring that bag out of the craft?’’

‘’Please do that. However, have its content carefully checked and analyzed, in case it contains some nasty surprise for us.’’

‘’Will do, Shipmaster.’’

Closing her intercom link, Dozna sighed again before giving an order out loud.

‘’Communicator, we have to send another high priority message to Navy Headquarters…’’

09:56 (Drakan City Time) / 16:38 (Earth Universal Time) Sunday, December 26, 2320 (Earth calendar)

Tarmac of the Drazt Navy astroport, Drakan City

Kadosh (Ross 128b)

Dozna Wiss chose to accompany Tina Forster out of the TARASK and down to the concrete tarmac of the Navy’s astroport, where an aircar was waiting near the foot of the cruiser’s access ramp. Tina was not handcuffed but two Drazt soldiers followed her closely. Dozna looked down at Tina with mixed feelings: she should consider and treat her as a potentially dangerous enemy of the Drazt race, yet had demonstrated a level of courage, resolve and strength of character which Dozna could only admire.

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‘’As you can see by yourself, Fleet Captain Forster, your yacht is being offloaded on the tarmac as we speak. It will be left on the tarmac until your departure back to Earth. As for you, this vehicle will bring you to an office where some of our top leaders will meet you and discuss with you. I sincerely hope that we will have peace between our two races.’’

‘’I hope so as well, Shipmaster Wiss. War is a horrible thing and should be avoided at all cost, unless one acts purely in self-defense.’’

‘’Yet, your race seems to have a very long, intimate experience of war, if we can judge from the radio and video signals emanating from your home world.’’

‘’True! That is in fact something I am not proud of. However, as much as we had warmongering people in our history, we also had plenty of peace-seeking individuals. Let’s hope that peace-seekers will win their case today.’’

‘’Indeed! Good luck with your peace talks, Fleet Captain Forster.’’

‘’Thank you! I hope that we will be able to meet again in the future…in a peaceful manner.’’

Tina then offered her right hand for a shake. Dozna, not familiar with that alien gesture, hesitated a bit before taking her hand and pressing it lightly. Once that was done, Tina picked up her travel bag from the tarmac and walked to the waiting aircar, where an armed officer opened one of the doors for her and invited her to sit inside. Dozna watched the aircar lift off and fly away for a moment, then went to supervise the unloading of Tina’s yacht. While two of her officers had already examined it closely, she was sure that a crowd of navy engineers was going to soon descend on it, to learn all they could about the present state of Human space technology.

In the aircar, Tina observed with intense interest the astroport and city she was overflying. To do that, though, she had to climb on the huge, deep rear bench seat and kneel on it in order to be able to see well past the lower sill of the door’s window. The average Drazt was proving to be much bigger than an average Human and they were certainly more powerful in terms of pure physical strength, thanks partly to the 1.1 G gravity felt on this planet. Thankfully, the atmosphere of Ross 128b, or Kadosh in local parlance, was perfectly breathable and even had a higher oxygen content than on Earth. The one thing that instantly reminded Tina that she was on an alien world was the red sun in the sky. The officer escorting her had not said a single word to her yet, only passing directives to the driver of the aircar. Thankfully, Tina had been allowed to keep

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her portable translation unit, after it had been carefully examined for any trace of a possible computer virus, so she could understand what was being said around her. Her flying trip actually proved quite short, with the aircar landing on top of one of the tall skyscrapers built around the astroport. There, four armed Drazt soldiers were waiting for her and boxed her in as her escort officer led her to a roof access hut. The few Drazt they met on their way, all wearing naval uniforms, threw looks of mixed curiosity, hostility and suspicion at Tina, who responded to them with a friendly smile. Her group met more Drazt once out of the elevator cabin they had used, walking down a wide hallway with multiple doors on both sides. Tina finally arrived at a set of large double doors guarded by two soldiers, who opened them and let her and her escorting officer in. The latter made ten steps, then stopped at rigid attention in front of a long bench behind which sat four male Drazt, saluting them.

‘’Sirs, this is Fleet Captain Tina Forster, who claims to have come to hold peace talks with us.’’

‘’Thank you, Unit Master Kort. You may now leave and wait outside this room.’’ replied one of the sitting Drazt. That Drazt waited until the escorting officer was gone, with the doors closing behind him, before addressing Tina.

‘’Fleet Captain Forster, I am Grand Admiral Tok Tharn, commander of the Drazt Navy. To my left are Security Minister Buk Mon and Defense Minister Muron Kha. To my right is seated Chief Advisor Gorat Vorka, principal advisor to His Majesty, Supreme Conductor Bar Kosh. First off, I must warmly thank you for returning to us the remains of Squadron Master Bar Lov. Your gesture was most appreciated by the Supreme Conductor, who is a distant descendant of Squadron Master Bar Lov.’’

‘’I did it as a simple gesture of good will and compassion, Grand Admiral. All heroes deserve to eventually rest in their home place.’’

Tok Tharn nodded his head at that, liking her words. The three other officials however stayed mostly impassive then. Security Minister Buk Mon was next to speak, staring rather coldly at Tina, who had not been given a chair and had to stand in front of the bench, some five paces away from it.

‘’You said that you came to discuss peace, Captain Forster. Yet, in your first encounter with one of our ships, you attacked and disabled our cruiser. Why would we believe your claimed wish of coming in peace?’’

‘’Because I acted strictly in self-defense during that first encounter outside of your star system. Your own cruiser tried to infect our computers with a software virus and I

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simply replied in kind. Also, your cruiser was about to break inside a Koorivar refugee ship full of hibernating Koorivars, and this against the objections of a Koorivar officer traveling aboard my ship with the mission to rescue that derelict refugee ship. Everything would have stayed peaceful and civil if your cruiser’s captain would have listened to us and left alone the SHANIZAR, which was in effect sovereign Koorivar territory.’’

‘’Talking of the Koorivars,’’ cut in Gorat Vorka, ‘’how come that your race is now working with the Koorivars? How did you get to meet at first, despite the distance between your system and their system?’’

‘’Easy!’’ replied Tina, smiling. ‘’Just before Shouria was destroyed by a

wandering brown dwarf hundreds of our years ago, the Koorivar sent out three spaceships filled with Koorivarese citizens kept in cryogenic sleep, with each ship heading towards different star systems close to Shouria and deemed to have potential as resettlement worlds. Those spaceships were however subluminal ships with trips planned to last centuries. One of those ships flew towards our Solar System but arrived in it with partly failing control systems. That ship, the VEON SHOURIA, landed in one of the icy planetoids orbiting our outer system and was then encased in ice for decades. My own ship, which had come to explore that icy planetoid, found the VEON SHOURIA, dug it out of its ice tomb and helped the Koorivars inside to wake up and come out. That happened a mere three years ago, so you could not know that from the Earth signals you have been listening to for centuries. Since then, Humans and Koorivars have forged a solid bond of friendship together.’’

The four Drazt looked at each other while nodding their heads: Tina’s story explained many things, on top of being quite plausible. However, Gorat Vorka was not yet completely satisfied and bent forward a bit while staring hard at Tina.

‘’That may well be, but it still doesn’t excuse your act of aggression against the MURKAN.’’

‘’An act of aggression?’’ shot back Tina, some irritation showing in her voice. ‘’Know that, on another Koorivar refugee ship we went to rescue before coming to the edge of Ross 128, that ship was already in an advanced state of dereliction, with a number of cryogenic sleep pods having failed, killing their occupants. We found on that ship, the SHUNDAR, that 391 of the Koorivars aboard had already died following their pods’ failure. As for the SHANIZAR, we found out after rescuing it that a number of cryogenic sleep pods aboard it had partially failed already and were on emergency

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backup systems. If your cruiser’s crew would have breached the SHANIZAR’s hull, it would have most probably caused a complete failure of those pods, potentially causing the deaths of hundreds of Koorivars. The Koorivar officer traveling on my ship repeatedly warned your cruiser about that danger, but your cruiser commander did not listen to him and in turn tried to insert a computer virus into my ship’s computers. That in turn forced me to retaliate in a non-lethal way, both to defend my ship and to protect the Koorivars in cryogenic sleep aboard the SHANIZAR. So, excuse me if I reject your accusations about that incident, Chief Advisor Vorka.’’

Vorka did a doubletake, taken a bit aback by her forceful reply. Grand Admiral Tharn grabbed that chance to reinsert himself in the discussion.

‘’On that point, I am ready to give you the benefit of the doubt, Fleet Captain Forster. I…’’

‘’The benefit of the doubt?’’ interrupted Tina. ‘’Grand Admiral, know that, in the space traditions of the Solar System, interfering with the rescue of a ship in danger, wherever it may happen, is considered as a criminal act. By all rights, the Koorivars would be justified in pursuing a legal claim against your government. Despite what you may say or claim, the SHANIZAR was still well outside your star system when we caught up with it to rescue it.’’

Defense Minister Muron Kha then slammed two of his fists on top of the bench.

‘’WE DECIDE THE BOUNDARIES OF OUR STAR SYSTEM, CAPTAIN FORSTER, NOT YOU OR YOUR KOORIVARS! BE RESPECTFUL AND WATCH YOUR WORDS, OR I WILL HAVE YOU PUNISHED FOR YOUR INSOLENCE.’’ The look he got in return from Tina was icy, without a trace of fear on her face.

‘’Minister Kha, let me make myself very clear about one point. If I don’t return to my ship free and in good health within a set number of days, then my government will consider that my peace mission will have been rejected by your government and will then consider itself at war with your government. We truly don’t wish for war, but consider the possible consequences before you continue with your grandstanding. Do I need to remind you all that we Humans can travel through the stars, while you can’t?’’ That deflated Kha in a hurry, while dismay and alarm showed on Tharn’s face.

‘’Are you truly threatening war on us, Fleet Captain Forster?’’

‘’No, Grand Admiral! I am simply reminding you and your government about the possible consequences of rejecting our peace offer and of threatening me, who came under a flag of diplomacy.’’

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‘’And what exactly is the peace offer from your government?’’

‘’A simple one indeed, Grand Admiral: we sign a mutual non-aggression treaty and possibly exchange embassies. If that happens, we could eventually establish a commercial exchange counter in your system, which would give you the possibility to buy or exchange goods with us. As one would say, ‘peace is good for business’.’’

‘’And since you would be the only ones to possess interstellar ships, you could charge us about whatever you want and rob us blind in the process, is that it?’’ replied Gorat Vorka. Tina made a smirk on hearing that.

‘’I suppose that we could do that. We also could act like a fair business partner and do honest trade, Chief Advisor Vorka. Why are you so sure that we wish ill to the Drazt? My government showed good faith by sending me and by returning the remains of Squadron Commander Bar Lov. We simply ask in return for some good faith on your part.’’

‘’Because your race has a long, continuous history of wars and atrocities. Because of that history of violence, we simply have no confidence in your government’s promises of peace.’’

‘’Then, should I assume from your answer that you are rejecting my government’s peace offer, Chief Advisor Vorka?’’

Grand Admiral Tok Tharn winced on hearing Tina’s rhetorical question. He personally had been ready to favorably consider her offer of peace. Unfortunately, his word counted for less than that of Vorka, Mon or Kha, who had the ear of the Supreme Conductor. Still, he tried one last thing.

‘’Please, let’s not take such a weighty decision harshly. I propose that Fleet Captain Forster go wait outside for a moment while I and my colleagues confer together.’’

‘’Suit yourselves, gentlemen!’’ replied Tina. ‘’I can wait. If you will now excuse me.’’

She then turned around and walked to the double door, opening partly one side of it and slipping out before closing back the door. Vorka couldn’t help bang his fists in repressed anger once she was gone.

‘’What an insolent female! How could she expect us to bend to her government’s demands?’’

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‘’And you truly find her demands excessive, Chief Advisor?’’ asked Tharn. ‘’Signing a treaty of mutual non-aggression and exchanging embassies sounds to me like reasonable things.’’

‘’I just can’t trust these Humans: it’s that simple! These barbarians know only war, violence and exploitation. The only thing I am interested in them is their interstellar drive. Once we have it, we will then be able to dictate peace with the Humans on our own terms. We already discussed a plan to get that interstellar drive. I say: let’s execute that plan!’’

‘’I agree with Chief Advisor Vorka.’’ cut in Defense Minister Muron Kha. ‘’We know from masses of intercepted data that the Humans’ main space weapons are lasers, missiles and kinetic energy cannons and that their ships are slower and less maneuverable than our ships. Our force shield generators can stop their missiles and kinetic projectiles, leaving the Humans with only their lasers as weapons that can hurt our ships. Right now, our ships would easily win a fight with Human ships, especially if we have surprise on our side. We would then be able to retrieve parts and data of their star drive and copy that technology.’’

‘’Have you forgotten that those Humans stole the secrets of our own weapons and propulsion systems when they hacked the MURKAN?’’ objected Tharn, trying desperately to inject back some common sense in the discussion. His objection was however waved away at once by his defense minister, who was his direct superior.

‘’That happened only a short time ago. The Humans will never have had enough time to study our technology, let alone copy it and install it aboard their ships. I say: go with Operation Storm!’’

‘’I say go as well.’’ said Security Minister Buk Mon. A grinning Gorat Vorka nodded his head in approval.

‘’As I do! Let’s call the Supreme Conductor to seek his approval on this plan.’’

When Tina was readmitted in the interview room some fifteen minutes later, she found the four Drazt officials sitting behind their bench and with benevolent smiles painted on their face. Tina, who was a good judge of personalities and moods, still detected Grand Admiral Tok Tharn’s smile to be somewhat forced and went on full mental alert as she stopped in front of the bench. Chief Advisor Gorat Vorka was the one to speak first.

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‘’Good news, Fleet Captain Forster: Supreme Conductor Bar Kosh has decided to accept the peace offer of your government and will soon start to select an ambassador to be sent to Earth. You will now be able to return to your ship and we will ask you to return to this system in three of your weeks, with an ambassadorial team of your own and firm commercial exchange proposals.’’

Tina did her best to hide her instant skepticism at those words: this ‘good’ turn of event was truly too good to be true and smelled of a trap. Still, she bowed her head politely to the four Drazt.

‘’I am pleased to hear that, Chief Advisor Vorka. I will thus certainly return to this system in three weeks, with an ambassadorial party and a trade commission panel. I would however have one request to present before I leave for my ship.’’

‘’And what would that request be, Fleet Captain Forster?’’

‘’To meet with the shipmaster of the MURKAN, so that I could present to him my sorriest excuses for the way I handled his cruiser.’’

That totally unexpected demand left all four Drazt positively stunned. However, Grand Admiral Tok Tharn felt more than simple surprise: he also felt instant remorse at being forced to lie to that Human, who had just offered a gesture of pure contrition. He thus hurried to reply to her before the three other officials could turn her down.

‘’Shipmaster Lem Doz is not part of our navy anymore, Fleet Captain Forster: he was court-martialed and booted out of the Navy shortly after the incident with your ship.’’ The genuine look of hurt and indignation that then flashed on Tina’s face only made Tharn feel even worse about himself.

‘’But…but he couldn’t possibly have done better, considering the odds against him. He was not at fault.’’

‘’He failed in his duties and was punished for that, Captain Forster.’’ replied Muron Kha, who only succeeded in making Tina more vehement.

‘’Shipmaster Lem Doz did not fail in his duties! It was your computer technology that failed him!’’

‘’Why do you wish to defend ex-Shipmaster Lem Doz like this, Fleet Captain Forster?’’ asked softly Grand Admiral Tok Tharn, genuinely touched by her reaction.

‘’Because I am a ship captain and know what it means for a captain to lose his or her command. I had nothing personally against your shipmaster and still don’t. I thus reiterate my request to be able to meet with him so that I could present my excuses to him.’’

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‘’He could very well fall into a rage at your sight, rather than accept your excuses, Fleet Captain Forster.’’

‘’I am ready to run that risk, Grand Admiral.’’ said softly Tina. Something then broke inside Tharn, who nodded his head once.

‘’Very well! Give me a moment and I will arrange a meeting between you and Lem Doz. If you will please go wait outside in the meantime.’’ Tina agreed to that at once and left the room for a second time. Tharn then got up from his chair, watched by his surprised colleagues.

‘’You really are going to make her meet our ex-shipmaster, Grand Admiral?’’ asked a bemused Gorat Vorka.

‘’I will, yes. Such a request of hers cannot hurt our plan, right?’’ Tharn then left the room as well, using a backdoor so that he would not encounter Tina in the hallway.

10:48 (Drakan City Time) / 18:08 (Earth Universal Time) Bridge of the Drazt patrol cruiser TARASK

Tarmac of the Navy Headquarters Astroport

Drakan City

Having been told on arrival in Drakan City to be on standby to escort back Tina’s craft out of the system, Dozna Wiss, on receiving a call from Grand Admiral Tharn, was expecting to be told that Tina Forster would soon depart. Tharn’s opening question to her thus left her more than a bit confused and surprised.

‘’Uh, yes, Grand Admiral: Lem Doz was effectively a good friend of mine at the Naval Academy.’’

‘’And do you still consider him a friend, Shipmaster Wiss?’’

‘’ We met on occasions until he was court-martialed and booted out of the Navy, sir. However, I have not seen him since his departure from the Navy. May I ask why you are asking me this, sir?’’

‘’You may, Shipmaster Wiss. Fleet Captain Forster is about to return to the astroport, but she had a special request for us before departing the planet: she wants to meet with Lem Doz, in order to present to him her most sincere regrets for manhandling his MURKAN. I believe her to be sincere about this, so I want you to escort Forster into town, so that she could meet with Lem Doz.’’

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Dozna was left speechless for long seconds before she could reply to that.

‘’Knowing Lem Doz the way I do, sir, I suspect that he may well shred that Captain Forster to pieces the moment that he will see her.’’

‘’Captain Forster acknowledged that risk but still wants to meet him. Are you ready to escort her around town, Shipmaster Wiss?’’

‘’I am, Grand Admiral! Do you know where we could find Lem Doz these days, sir?’’

‘’I was able to get his present home address, plus the address of his place of employment. I am now sending you those two addresses via text. Fleet Captain Forster should arrive back at the astroport in about one chu. Be ready to meet her and then use the aircar she will be in to carry her into town.’’

‘’Yes, Grand Admiral!’’

The video link proper was then cut, followed by the arrival of a short text message. Dozna was dismayed when she read the two addresses sent to her by Grand Admiral Tharn: one was a public residential block in the poorest, most crime-ridden district of Drakan City, while Lem Doz’ place of employment was a garbage recycling plant. Dozna felt sad on seeing how low her old friend and comrade had now sunk. She then debated whether she should be armed during her escort mission. She finally decided to take a stun pistol with her, not to protect herself from Forster but rather to be able to face any of the numerous thugs infesting the District of Vesna.

As promised, an aircar wearing the livery of the Drazt Navy landed at the announced time near the TARASK. Dozna, who had been waiting for it on the tarmac, immediately got inside, sitting next to Tina on the rear bench seat and smiling to her.

‘’So, Fleet Captain Forster, how did your peace mission go?’’

‘’Reasonably well.’’ lied Tina. ‘’I was told to return to this system in three weeks’ time, Earth time that is, and to bring an ambassadorial party and a commercial trade commission along.’’

‘’But, that’s good news!’’ replied Dozna, sincere, before looking at the driver and giving him a small printout. ‘’Could you please drive us to the second address, the industrial one? You will then wait while we go inside.’’

‘’Yes, Shipmaster!’’

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The aircar then took off and started flying at a low altitude, mingling with other aircars flying around under a centralized air traffic control system. As Tina watched with interest the city panorama they were overflying, Dozna couldn’t help ask her a question.

‘’May I ask why you insisted on meeting with Lem Doz, Fleet Captain?’’

‘’Because I am a deeply compassionate person at heart and also because I am a ship captain and fully understand how devastating it is for any captain to lose his command. Lem Doz did not deserve to be court-martialed, but he was apparently made a scapegoat for the incident involving his ship, my ship and the SHANIZAR.’’

‘’And you don’t consider him like an enemy, for trying to oppose your ship?’’ Tina gave Dozna a sober look at that question.

‘’No! He was doing his duty, while I was doing my own duty. I have no reasons to hate him at a personal level. What I hate instead are the policies which forced him to attack my ship.’’

Those words struck Dozna, who also noticed that her driver had twitched slightly, probably from simple surprise. The driver was however a well-disciplined male who continued to fly the aircar without further ado. Still, as an extra precaution, Dozna closed off the transparent partition between her rear bench and the forward driving section, on top of disactivating the intercom system.

‘’I thought that you Humans were more hateful than this during your various wars.’’

‘’Oh, don’t get me wrong, Shipmaster Wiss: most of our past wars have been marked by collective interethnic hatred and violence, seasoned with massacres, mass genocides and mass destructions. However, I believe that we Humans have started to turn the page on such senseless violence and destruction. Even in some of our biggest past wars, especially those involving whole nations against other nations, individual soldiers did not hate per say enemy soldiers, unless some racial factor worsened things. It is not uncommon in our history to see ex-enemies reconcile in peace at the end of a war, to then become good friends. Take me and my ship, for example. We fought in a war a few years ago, yet am now in very good terms with some of the men and women I fought against.’’

‘’You, in a war? You look quite young to have been in one.’’ Tina then remembered something and smiled to Dozna.

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‘’You forgot that you get all your news about us with a delay of eleven of our years, thanks to the distance between our two stars, so you still would not be aware yet that a large-scale war was fought in the Solar System a mere five of our years ago.’’

‘’So, your KOSTROMA must be a well-armed ship, no?’’

Tina nearly answered her but, instead, pointed an index at Dozna while grinning.

‘’Nice try, Shipmaster Wiss.’’

Tina then concentrated back on watching the city below her, leaving Dozna wondering what Tina was hiding from her.

11:06 (Drakan City Time)

Metal triage section, Municipal Recycling Plant # 8 District of Vesna, Drakan City

Lem Doz was getting both hungry and tired as he used a pair of hand electro-magnets to catch the metallic objects mixed with the other solid waste going by him on a rolling carpet. Each time he saw what appeared to be a metallic piece of domestic garbage, he simply approached one of his electro-magnets to it and pressed a button on the handle of the magnet, catching the piece of garbage before dumping it into a large container beside him. It was a dirty, smelly and disgusting job which he hated with a passion, but at least it paid enough to barely sustain his family above the poverty line. Since he had been booted out of the Navy, most of the prospective employers he had visited or applied to online had treated him like a pariah. That was what he had effectively become now, the dishonor of his court-martial making others look at him with disdain or even plain revulsion. He had finally been accepted in this job for the simple reason that no self-respecting Drazt would normally accept to do such work. Lem had read years ago in some documentary paper that the Humans of the Solar System were using robots and machines to do this kind of dirty work. However, robots were not favored on Kadosh, with many specific types of robots having been banned a long time ago by an Imperial decree, following an attempt by a would-be usurper to program robots into supporting his failed coup. Thus, here he was, wearing a work coverall, a mask and gloves, sweating and hungry. His attention was then grabbed by a loud announcement via the speaker system of the plant that resonated around his section.

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‘’WORKER LEM DOZ, PLEASE REPORT TO THE METAL SECTION MANAGER’S OFFICE. WORKER LEM DOZ, PLEASE REPORT TO THE METAL SECTION MANAGER’S OFFICE.’’

‘’Aw, what now? Don’t tell me that they are going to fire me!’’ Putting down his electro-magnets, Lem then left his station and walked towards a lift that would bring him up to the overhead observation gallery containing the offices of the managers and supervisors of the plant. A couple of his co-workers threw at him looks of commiseration as he passed by them: the firing of employees was a frequent and often unexplained affair at this plant. With dread growing into him as he got closer to his manager’s office, he finally knocked on its door. A muffled answer came through the door.

‘’ENTER!’’

Already resigned to what was possibly awaiting him inside, Lem entered the office and was about to close the door behind him when he froze: his old friend and comrade, Dozna Wiss, was in the office, standing next to the sitting manager’s desk. Then, his eyes caught on another person standing a few paces to the side of Dozna Wiss and instant rage filled him.

‘’YOU? HERE?’’

Lem was taking his first furious step towards the female Human present in the office when Dozna quickly stepped in front of him to block his charge.

‘’No, wait, Lem! She came to apologize to you.’’

It took a second for him to comprehend that and froze in both disbelief and confusion.

‘’Her? Apologize to me? And she came all the way from Earth to do that?’’

‘’Please listen to her, Lem. She came to Kadosh on a diplomatic mission, to offer peace between us and her race. When she heard about your court-martial and demise, she asked to see you, so that she could apologize to you.’’ As the metal section manager watched and listened on with utter disbelief, Lem eyed Tina Forster, who had stood her ground and was looking at him. Lem thought that he was having visions when he saw what appeared to be tears forming into her brown eyes as she examined his dirty work coverall.

‘’You, you truly wish to apologize to me? For what, exactly?’’

‘’For having indirectly caused you to lose your command, even though you were not at fault. For having to handle roughly your cruiser in that past encounter between our two ships. It pains me to see a fellow ship captain reduced to this.’’

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She then slowly went down on both knees and spoke softly while looking up into Lem’s eyes.

‘’I am truly sorry for what happened to you and wish that we never needed to fight each other, Shipmaster Lem Doz. Please accept my sorriest excuses for causing you such personal grief.’’

As Dozna Wiss looked on while swallowing a big lump in her throat, Lem’s rage vaporized nearly as fast as it had appeared. Staring down at the kneeling Tina for a moment, he then took four slow steps towards her and stopped directly in front of her before offering one of his right hands to her.

‘’Please get up, Captain Forster. I accept your apologies.’’ Taking Lem’s offered hand, Tina got back on her feet and looked softly into Lem’s eyes.

‘’Please believe me when I say that I regret having to fight your MURKAN. However, we were both doing our respective duties as ship captains and I won, while you lost. That does not mean that we have to stay enemies of each other. I came to this system to bring a message of peace from my government. Hopefully, things will go better between our two races from now on. I have one thing left that I would wish to do now.’’

‘’What is it?’’

‘’To go to your home to visit your family and to apologize to them as well.’’ On hearing that, Dozna looked at the section manager.

‘’Can you spare Worker Lem Doz for the rest of the day, mister?’’

‘’Uh, no problem, Shipmaster Wiss. I can make sure that his pay won’t be docked for the missed hours this afternoon.’’

‘’Thank you, mister. Lem, I have a Navy aircar waiting on the roof landing pad. I can fly you and Fleet Captain Forster to your home and wait there.’’

‘’Thank you very much, Dozna. You were always a good friend. I accept your offer with pleasure.’’

The trio then left the office, leaving the section manager still stunned with disbelief.

The air trip to Lem Doz’ residence was actually a short one, the recycling plant being close to the group of tall residential towers in which Lem lived. However, ‘tall’ did not translate into ‘nice’ in this case: the six 22-storey buildings had evidently been built on the cheap, on top of being quite old. Dozna took the time to describe them to Tina as their aircar approached one of the towers to land on its roof pad.

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‘’These public residential towers are part of the Vesna District, the poorest one in Drakan City. They are occupied by low-class citizens working at unskilled or semi-skilled jobs and who can’t afford better. Let’s say that this neighborhood can become rough at times.’’

‘’I have seen my share of similar neighborhoods on Earth, Shipmaster Wiss. Now that I possess a new world of my own in another star system, I have started building it up as a resettlement place for refugees and destitute people from wars and disaster-stricken regions on Earth. My world is now called ‘New Haven’ and I am very proud of what it represents.’’

Both Dozna and Lem, who were sandwiching Tina on the rear bench seat, looked down at her with disbelief.

‘’You own a world of your own?’’ asked Lem. ‘’How did you manage that?’’

‘’By helping the Koorivars find and rescue their two lost refugee ships and by discovering and exploring at the same time a number of habitable planets and moons among the region’s star systems. I was then rewarded by the grant of a large, habitable moon with a good climate and perfectly breathable atmosphere.’’

‘’And how many such habitable new worlds has your race found to date?’’ asked Dozna.

‘’Seven, up to now, but we are liable to find many more in the near future alone. However, not all of those worlds were up for the taking by us: you are actually the ninth sentient race that Humanity has already encountered within a radius of forty light-years from Earth. Along with all the non-sentient species and varied flora that I have encountered during the last year, I can tell you with assurance that the Universe is full of life.’’

‘’And Gliese 625, where you said that you found the remains of Squadron Master Bar Lov, was it a habitable world?’’ asked Dozna, making Lem’s head snap around in shock.

‘’She found what?’’

Tina took on her to tell Lem about that discovery, also telling him that she had brought back those ancient relics to Kadosh as part of her diplomatic visit. At the end, Lem was looking at Tina with a new set of eyes.

‘’You decidedly are nothing like what I thought of you before, Fleet Captain Forster.’’

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‘’Thank you! To answer Dozna’s question, Gliese 625b is not what I would call a nice planet. It is hellishly hot, with a barely breathable atmosphere, is as dry as a rock and is populated by some nasty bugs.’’

‘’Damn! When I think how crowded this planet is becoming…’’ said Dozna in return, making Tina nod her head.

‘’I know the feeling. However, if peace can be formally achieved between our two races, you may then gain access to some of those habitable worlds and profit from trading with us.’’

That left the two Drazts quiet until their aircar touched down on the roof landing pad of one of the dilapidated residential towers.

Leaving the aircar under the guard of its driver, Lem led Dozna and Tina into the roof access hut, where they took place in an elevator cabin that had seen better times. Lem then punched the button for Level 16, where his apartment was. When the doors of their cabin opened on Level 16, two Drazt females who were about to step in in backpedaled at once on seeing Tina, with one of them screaming in near panic.

‘’THERE’S AN ALIEN IN THE ELEVATOR!’’

Resigned to having the mere presence of Tina cause a public commotion wherever they went, Dozna slapped one hand over the mouth of the screaming female, staring hard at her.

‘’This alien is being escorted around by me, on orders from the Navy, so shut up and calm down.’’

The female Drazt did shut up but still looked fearfully at Tina as she followed Lem down a corridor. The trio soon arrived at an apartment door, which Lem opened with his electronic access card. He nearly immediately encountered his wife Zar inside, who gave him a look mixing surprise and dread.

‘’Lem? Why are you back from work so soon? Please don’t tell me that you lost your job.’’

Her tone changed radically and she took a step back when she was able to see Tina, who had been hidden from her by the massive hulk of Lem.

‘’An alien?’’

‘’A Human female actually, Zar. She asked me to visit our home after she came to my workplace to apologize to me. Zar, this is Fleet Captain Tina Forster, the captain

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of the Human ship with which my old MURKAN clashed recently. She came to Kadosh on a diplomatic mission. Captain Forster, this is my wife Zar.’’

‘’Pleased to meet you!’’ said Tina before looking quickly around her. The apartment looked tiny and was sparsely furnished with second-hand items and a few personal souvenirs. ‘’Do you have children, Lem?’’

‘’Yes: a small daughter. Where is Riza, Zar?’’

‘’Sleeping in her corner.’’

‘’Good! We will be careful not to wake her up. Please follow me, Captain Forster.’’

Following Lem to a small room, Tina was shown a sleeping Drazt infant wearing only a sort of diaper. She eyed for a few seconds with intense interest the infant while keeping quiet. Drazt infants, with their two pairs of arms, flat nose, squarish jaws and short hair, were not exactly beautiful by Human standards but, as many said, ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’. If anything, little Riza was still quite cute while sleeping peacefully in her padded sleep corner. Tina took the time to take a picture of the infant with her data pad.

‘’She is really cute. You are lucky to have her, Lem.’’

‘’Thank you, Captain Forster.’’

The group then backed out of the child’s room, so that their talking would not wake up little Riza. Lem looked questioningly at Dozna while keeping his voice low.

‘’What now, Dozna?’’

‘’I bring back Fleet Captain Forster to the Navy’s astroport, where she will board back her craft and depart Kadosh. We are actually on a rather tight schedule, as the Navy wants her to depart as soon as possible, so that she could come back in a few cycles with an ambassadorial party.’’

‘’I wish that I could have stayed longer, so I could talk more with you and your wife and, possibly, playing with your little Riza, but my mission is a most important one.’’ further explained Tina to Lem. ‘’Maybe there will be a next time for that.’’

‘’I hope so, Captain Forster. Meeting you in person was a pleasure. Have a safe trip back to your home.’’

‘’Thank you! It was a pleasure to meet you, Zar, and to look at your cute Riza.’’

‘’You are welcome, Captain Forster.’’

Tina then left the apartment with Dozna, leaving Lem with his wife, who looked up at her husband.

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‘’A truly intriguing person, that Captain Forster. Somehow, I imagined Humans as being more fearsome and barbaric than this.’’

‘’Me too! However, it seems that appearances did not correspond to reality in her case. If most Humans are like her, then peace has a real chance of happening between our two races.’’

11:41 (Drakan City Time) / 19:01 (Earth Universal Time) Tarmac of the Navy’s astroport, Drakan City

Once out of the aircar, Tina offered her right hand to Dozna, who took and shook it.

‘’Thank you for escorting me so that I could meet Lem Doz, Shipmaster Wiss. I sincerely hope that we will be able to meet again…in a peaceful setting.’’

‘’I wish so too, Fleet Captain Forster. You are a truly remarkable person and I admire your sense of compassion.’’

‘’Compassion is in my nature, I guess. So, how do we proceed now for my return trip?’’

‘’You will take off first in your small ship, then I will follow you and escort you into deep S pace, until you can reach your waiting ship.’’

Tina threw a cautious look at Dozna on hearing her last words.

‘’Then, I would strongly counsel you to stop following me closely after we pass the outer limits of your system’s asteroid belt: if you come too close from my waiting ship, it could consider that as a hostile act. Once out of the asteroid belt, I will ask you to keep a distance of at least two light-seconds between my craft and your ship. That is approximately twice the distance between this planet and your nearest moon.’’

‘’If you wish so. Have a good trip, Fleet Captain Forster.’’

‘’And have a good life, Shipmaster Wiss.’’

The Human and the Drazt then parted, each walking to their respective ship. Walking up the lowered access ramp of her patrol cruiser, Dozna soon entered the bridge of the TARASK. There, she found a senior officer from Navy Headquarters waiting for her. Before she could ask why he was aboard her ship, the male Division Master handed her an old-fashioned paper envelope.

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‘’Shipmaster Wiss, I came aboard to bring you a set of special orders pertaining to your escort mission. Please read them carefully and then acknowledge their content to me.’’

Somewhat surprised by this procedure, as Navy orders were normally transmitted electronically, Dozna took and opened the envelope offered to her, extracting and unfolding two sheets of paper attached together. After only a few seconds of reading, Dozna snapped her head up to look at the division master, shock on her face.

‘’But, those orders…’’

‘’Are to be followed to the letter, without deviations. If not, there will be severe consequences for you, Shipmaster Wiss.’’ replied the division master, his voice cold and firm.