First Contact - Chapter One (2/2)
”Maintenance, are you running another diagnostic?” The Chief Executor asked, puffing out his prominent jowls.
”No, Chief,” the Maintenance Officer began saying.
”There you are,” The voice was unfamiliar. On the screen a perfect circle had showed up. Squares opened up, six of them, for eyes. Four nasal slits. A mouth.
The bridge went silent, everyone staring at the screen.
”So, what can I do for you? Repairs? Fuel? Re-victual?” The face asked. ”Seeing as you are an unregistered race, piloting an unregistered vessel, I cannot offer rearming or hardware updating at this time.”
After a second the Chief Executor harumphed, relaxing his tendrils. ”Who am I speaking to?”
”You may call me Dentous,” The circle said. The Captain nodded slowly. Dentous was the name of the class of ship that provided repair, resupply, and refueling to Fleet ships. The face bounced. ”I see your name is Seeker of Unknown Spaces.”
A data-window opened up on the screen, showing various elements as well as antimatter.
”This is what I have to offer. I don't take your energy credits, I have all the energy I need. However, I will trade for any of the substances on this list,” The face said.
”Might I inquire as to your species?” The Science Officer asked.
”I am a Solarian,” The face said.
The Executor suddenly straightened up, his crests rising aggressively. ”What is your business out here?”
The face bounced twice and stopped. ”Business? I told you. Resupply for any ships that need such, trade if available.
The Captain stared at the list. Exotic isotopes, dark matter, antimatter, common and rare elements, and, surprisingly, new media files of entertainment, education, or technical files that Dentous was not in possession of were all considered trade goods.
He noticed that oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, and hydrogen were all priority priced.
The First Science Officer straightened up. ”May we see your physical form? We are interested in your species.”
The screen blanked, then showed the beacon. ”That's me. The station.”
The entire bridge crew looked at one another.
”No, your physical body,” The First Science Officer tried.
”You're looking at it,” the screen blanked and the face returned.
Captain Holkath stared at his data screens, then looked up. ”Are you an artificial life form?” The Captain asked.
”Well, that's rude. We prefer Digital Artificial Sentience,” Dentous replied. ”I, personally, prefer Solarian. My first taste of electricity came from a Sol collector.”
The entire crew went still. Several of the crew closed their eyes, going perfectly still in hopes of avoiding a predator's gaze. Every time AI races were discovered, it led to war.
”If we leave your presence, will you let us go in peace?” The Executor asked.
The icon on the screen made a good impression of a frown. ”Why wouldn't I? You can't trade with someone if you blow them up.”
The Captain relaxed in his chair. No AI civilization had been discovered in centuries but Dentous seemed less inclined to commit mutual suicide or launch a surprise attack.
”Do you want to trade or not?” Dentous asked.
The Executor shook his tendrils. ”Take us into jumpspace.”
The Science Officers complained, but the four Helm Officers took the ship back into jumpspace, heading back toward the Unified Civilized Systems at the Executor's orders.
The Captain leaned back in his chair as the swirling colors of jumpspace filled the screen.
The Executor had given into his instincts and fled at the first sign of anything threatening that he could not be sure he could obliterate. While an AI in the middle of the emptiness between stars might seem threatening at first, Captain Holkath really couldn't see how it could threaten anyone beyond those who came within reach. It had seemed awfully friendly for an AI.
The Executor, however, testified to the Unified Exploratory Council that the AI obviously had been abandoned for many years, centuries in fact. Exploration would have to be overseen by the Executors and their warships to ensure that any AI encountered could be fended off.
Captain Holkath kept his silence and instead began researching the ancient AI wars.
Nowhere could he find reference to Solarians or Sol.
Which meant he had made First Contact.
And that was enough for him.
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INITIATE DATASQUEAL
Hey, guys. Listen, I know sometimes you see weird stuff out here, but check this out. [ATTACHED DATA FILE] Some hunk of junk with a badly tuned jumpdrive dropped on my beacon. As soon as they found out I was AI, they got all weird on me and ran off. Seems like any advanced society wouldn't be so racist against Digital Sentience, but you know how some people are. Their jumpdrive was badly tuned and probably operating at only 70% efficiency. There were packing a few plasma guns and what looked like a really bad laser weapon, but nothing modern or with a decent standoff distance. Frankly, from what I saw, I might have mistaken point defense weapons against debris for weapons.
Still, I didn't hack into their systems beyond talking to their translator and making sure they could understand me. I'm abiding by my terms of confinement, that's gotta be worth something, right? All those juicy juicy data-stores and I didn't slash, cut, or hack a single one.
Come on, a couple decades off my sentence? Please?
Anyway, guess we've got a First Contact here. I want that credited to my account when I get parole.
Blackwater Station 4276
PS: Any chance I get some more of that good stuff out of the Clone Worlds? Maybe a Geisha limited AI? Something? Watching this place is booooring.
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CONFEDERATE INTELLIGENCE MEMO
CC: Artificial Biological States; Digital Artificial Intelligence Infonet Worlds; TERRASOL.GOV; Cyborg Cooperative; Clone Directorate; Mantid Free Worlds; Traena'ad Hive Worlds
All core-ward stations, outposts, and colonies should be on alert for any incursions of foreign or previously unknown xenosapient life. Observe First Contact Protocols.
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TRAENA'AD HIVE INTELLIGENCE
RE: Your Last
Coreward along the arm spur is largely myth and rumor. We would have had to go through your territory to get there, and HIVEINT saw how well that went.
The Great Gulf, according to HIVEINT records, is largely the result of several Pre-Sapience species fighting over territory, much like we did, but without the restraint both of our species and allies showed. Seeing as TerraSol Systems sits in the ”Horn” of the Great Gulf, we at HIVEINT suggest examining any Precursor Archeological digs for hints of what you might encounter.
Please be advised: The Precursor War, according to our archeological records, wiped out most life in our Local Arm Spur.
Recommendation: Proceed with caution.