Intergalactic

[Ch. 1] A New Galaxy

"—and article 239: the Andromeda Galactic Security Council shall determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression and shall make recommendations, or decide what measures shall be taken with accordance to articles 241 and 242, to maintain or restore galactic peace and security."

The speaker, an astute Glophis, droned on with no end. His blue, angular head reflected light in a mesmerizing way, each tiny scale moving flexibly to form waves as his audience, a myriad of aliens, fought themselves to pay attention to his words instead.

Celia Lin watched, entranced. None of the aliens in the Milky Way even came close in terms of beauty—not to her, anyway. As an alienbiologist, and a general appreciator of different lifeforms, she couldn't be happier to be chosen as the representative of humanity for their neighboring galaxy, Andromeda.

"Hey, you know when this is over?"

Oh... right. She turned towards the source of the whisper, Allan Thompson, the other human representative.

"In a few minutes, I think."

Celia is usually pretty good at judging a person's character and qualifications. For Allan, though, she has absolutely no clue why he's here. He seemed to be just a random nobody you'll find walking on a West Continent street. He's got short, messy brown hair and dark blue eyes, with a distinctive pointy nose, in contrast to Celia's sharp, straight black hair reaching just below her chin and black eyes, with a flatter East Continent face. At least he's very friendly. But she has reasons to believe he got here through connections, which was rare nowadays but not uncommon. Still, she was surprised they would send someone so casually for this mission. This involves intergalactic peace, for god's sake!

Turning her eyes back to the alien speaker, Celia started to ponder. The main purpose of this Galactic Gathering was the socialization of various intelligent alien members of the Andromeda Galactic Society (AGS), all living in the Andromeda galaxy—up until humans joined, of course. This event was the best way to keep unity among the chaotically different members, and why it was as often as once a year.

As for why humans decided to join AGS in the first place, well, it was complicated. As humans progressed through their initial spacetime travel technology—deemed as the "Spacetime Era," they speedily conquered other planets like an infestation, resulting in "The Great Resource Rush." Unlike Andromeda, the Milky Way possessed only a handful of sentient species, most of which are still developing. Humanity had shown its ugliest, greediest side, leaving no stones unturned in their takeover of resources and peoples. It didn't help that this era was before world peace was achieved on Earth, so countries were competing for dominance.

Now, afraid of making enemies outside the Milky Way (especially with their brutal reputation), humans could only look for external help first in the neighboring galaxy, Andromeda.

Of course, it was not as easy as it sounds. The upper members of AGS took them in begrudgingly, perhaps for their potential to be a strong ally, but most members did not take them, an outsider, kindly. They were a group of aliens residing only in Andromeda, and so remained an intragalactic group until recently. Ironically, the other intergalactic alliances that had aliens from several different galaxies dismissed them as brutal savages, so there was no other choice for the humans but to accept.

Back to the present, the meeting came to an end. The various colorful races around the large round table dispersed, the scene akin to splattering paint.

Following them, Celia and Allan strode out of the meeting room to what looked like a futuristic amusement park. Areas are dedicated to different alien species, with lodging, food courts, and entertainment spaces. The whole place was covered with a transparent ceiling, showing the clear, starry sky that was only possible without an ozone layer.

"Woah, this is awesome," exclaimed Allan.

"The technology here is definitely more advanced than ours by a light year," agreed Celia. However, Allan's behavior was confusing. With the way he looks around in wonderment, you'd think this was the first time he's stepped out of Earth.

"Light year... right. Uh, how many years are in a light year again?"

She took a deep breath. This must really be his first time traveling outside Earth. And there goes her attempt at socializing and being humorous. Immediately she switched back to business mode.

"I have already contacted back home. Our galaxy is too far away, so it would be more productive if we moved people and resources to form a base here. We need to ask for accommodations... how about you go back to the spaceship first and we'll meet at the new base?" The Galactic Gathering lasted around a week. They could set up base and come back without missing anything important.

"Sure, I'll just look around first."

"..." she eyed him skeptically. He probably won't cause any trouble, right? No... As her teammate, she needs to believe in him. Although he looked unreliable, he didn't do anything detrimental so far. She needs to give him a chance. With this thought, she strode away in fragile faith.

On the bright side, it seems getting accommodations was easier than she thought. AGS already expected them to need a base, and assigned them the planet NE-203. All she had to do was sign the paperwork, though the service alien was kind of rude. In fact, most aliens she encountered were either rude, or curious about the humans from another galaxy. They had become the talk of the gathering, as a member joining from a different galaxy was unprecedented.

Back to the accommodations, NE-203 was a small, terrestrial planet to the East of AGS in the Wres star system, though nobody refers to planets with their star system here. The E in NE-203 simply stands for East, and N stands for "no substantial resource." So basically it was just a piece of rock, perfect for a base.

Once the task was over, she walked back to the free activity room. Holding out her arm, Celia turned the head of her latest version of TecWatch thirty degrees: "Alex, set coordinates to NE-203 and move main body there. I'll go using the secondary ship."

"Yes Captain," a mechanical voice replied, "and Allan?"

"He's not at the ship yet?" Celia furrowed her brows. He said he'll just take a look around. It wasn't too surprising, since she finished her task so fast, but where could he be?

"...It's fine, he'll come with me."

"Yes Captain."

After the call was over, she immediately started another one to Allan. Two consecutive tries and a lot of foot tapping later, there was still no response. Celia was starting to get worried.

Just as she wondered where best to start looking for him, a large group of aliens caught the corner of her eye. They seemed to surround someone...

Celia blinked in surprise. Allan was surrounded by aliens!