Our ship was surrounded as we entered the hanger. There was a single area open for landing. I skillfully guided the ship and set it gently on the deck. I turned to Shahae and asked, "Are you sure you are up for this?"
"I think it is a little late to have second thoughts" she replied.
"Shall we then?" I held my hand out and she took it. I led her to the rear door. "Looks like atmospherics are present and consistent with those on the ship. Air pressure is a little higher than normal, but that shouldn't take long to adjust to."
"May I recommend leaving our helmets on for the time being?" she asked.
"I really wasn't planning on taking it off unless I have to" I admitted.
I hit the button to release the rear hatch and watched as it slowly dropped, forming a ramp. Armored troops were arrayed before us. As expected, they appeared human, at least in shape. The armor hid any distinguishing features. Shahae and I slowly made our way down the ramp. My heart was beating rapidly and my hands felt clammy. I forced myself to breathe normally. I was in unknown territory and had to trust in my basic diplomatic skills.
We stopped at the base of the ramp. "Now what?" I asked Shahae. The soldiers in front of us parted before she could reply. An armed escort formed on either side of us and guided us through the opening. The trail ended in what appeared to be a prison cell. We were shoved inside and bars dropped from the ceiling. I was about to grab the bars when I noticed a distinct hum emanating from them. The bars were electrified.
The soldiers walked out, leaving us alone. "This is going well" I said sarcastically. "Please tell me this is normal behavior when making first contact with an alien race."
She looked at me and said, "Nothing has been normal since your arrival. In a very short span of time you have advanced our technology beyond what we thought possible, discovered at least one other sentient race, and have upset the balance of power throughout the galaxy. To be truthful, I have no idea what to expect now."
Several minutes later, a nearby door opened and a man wearing a two piece uniform walked up to our cell. The first thing I noticed was his ears, or lack thereof. Where his ears should have been, there were two recessed holes instead. He stood in front of us, staring. Feeling brave, I disengaged the seal on my helmet and removed it. Some expressions seem to be universal. His face clearly expressed shock at seeing how similar in anatomy I was. Shock quickly changed to confusion as he noticed my ears.
"If he's shocked at your looks, wait until he sees mine" Shahae said as she started removing her helmet. The man's expression was almost comical as he took in Shahae's white appearance. He stared at us more intently than before. I got the distinct impression that he was somehow attempting to communicate with us. As the seconds passed, he seemed to grow more agitated.
Hoping to ease the tension, I introduced myself. "My name is Admiral Jack Ryan. I am the captain of the Unity, the ship you fired on for no reason. This is Shahae, she is a diplomatic representative of a people called the Tuleeriri." I waited for some kind of response. The man grew increasingly agitated and stormed out of the room. "I think that went well" I said to Shahae, trying to ease the tension.
"This may be more difficult than we originally thought" she said, ignoring my failed attempt at humor. "I'm beginning to think that they don't communicate in the traditional manner."
"What other ways are there to communicate?" I asked.
"I don't know. As I'm sure you noticed their ears are underdeveloped compared to ours. It could be that they use something other than sounds to communicate. If they do, we might never be able to bridge the gap." Her words hung ominously in the air.
I lost track of time as I stared at the bare walls. Several people observed us, but any attempts communication failed completely. "I think I may have a way to establish communication" Shahae eventually said.
"Why haven't you brought this up before now?" I asked feeling slightly irritated.
"Because it may just get us killed."
"What do you mean?"
"It's only been done once before on a diplomatic mission, but I feel that it may be necessary now." She pulled out a vial attached to a hypodermal needle. The vial was filled with a silvery solution.
"What exactly is that?" I asked.
"This is a nanites injection" she explained. "The nanites in here are a special variety. They don't reproduce and they self-destruct after a certain length of time. If they can integrate into the host's brain, we will have a means of communication."
"What happens if they fail to integrate?"
"The host dies." I suddenly understood her trepidation in using it, but unless something changed, we just might be forced into using it. We heard the sound of a door opening, and Shahae quickly concealed the vial. Our original interrogator was back, but this time he was flanked by two guards holding long staffs. After a moment, one of the guards rammed the staff in between the bars. The point of the staff arced wickedly and the smell of ozone permeated the cell. The point of the staff was aimed directly at my chest. Out of pure instinct, I sidestepped the staff and grabbed it a safe distance from the end and in one fluid motion, pulled as hard as I could. The guard was caught by surprised and was slammed against the electrified bars. The contact was momentary, as he was blown backwards by the charged bars.
The now crumpled figure in the far end of the room let out a low moan. I felt relieved that he was still alive. The remaining guard kept a wary eye on me, as if waiting for me to make a mistake. I didn't move a muscle. I stood with my feet apart and my hands out to my sides. I tried to look as non-threatening as possible. "Now would be a good time to use those nanites" I said to Shahae.
Shahae slowly approached the bars. The guard quickly switched his focus to her. She slowly pulled out the vial, being careful to shield the needle with her hand. She slowly put her arm between the bars and offered the vial to our interrogator. Cautiously, he walked towards Shahae. As he reached for the vial, she grabbed his hand and yanked him closer. In one swift move, she hammered the needle into his back and injected the nanites. Mindful of the electrified bars, she yanked her arm back through as quickly as she dared. The guard dropped his weapon and caught the man as he fell. Within minutes, the room was filled with guards who were armed with deadlier weapons. We backed as far away from the bars as we could while a team of medics attended to the two downed men.
Without warning, the bars were retracted into the ceiling. We were swarmed by guards who bound our hands. We were then hauled away. "How long do the nanites need to integrate?" I asked Shahae.
"The only other time these have been used, it took several hours."
"I hope this is a more potent variety then" I whispered. "I don't think we have more than a few minutes." While my guess wasn't quite correct, their intentions were clear. We were led to a large, circular room. The walls were covered with screens, each one displaying a different face. There must have been hundreds of them. The room remained eerily silent. We stood in the center of the room while hundreds of faces stared at us, seemingly without emotion. The effect was unnerving to say the least. After what seemed like an eternity, the screens went black and we were led out of the room.
"If your little friends don't make their appearance soon, we may have to bust out of this place" I whispered to Shahae.
"I'm afraid you may be correct, but why are you whispering? Even if they could hear us there is no way they could understand what we are saying."
We were led back to our cells and left alone. "This is our chance to get out of here. We should be able to sneak out without significant loss of life."
"I would prefer not to kill anyone" Shahae replied.
"I agree, but their 'shoot first, ask questions later' policy might not allow us that luxury." I reached over my shoulder and grabbed my rifle. It was in its compacted form and hardly resembled a weapon. After a few moments of moving parts around, it was fully functional. I made a cut near the top of several bars, interrupting the flow of electrons that made the bars so deadly. Once the bars were inert, it was easy enough to push them aside as walk out of the cell. I grabbed my pistol and held it out to Shahae.
"Please don't make me use that" she pleaded.
"If it helps, I made sure the power level is below lethal levels."
Armed with that tidbit, she grabbed the pistol, handling it like a veteran. The door at the end of the room slid open with a slight hiss. We verified the hallways were clear and headed towards the hanger. We had gone less than ten feet when two figures in white robes strolled into view. They had hoods pulled over their heads, partially blocking their view. It gave us just enough time to slip through a nearby door. My suit had been mapping out the ship as we were moved around, so I had a fairly good idea of how to get back once my helmet was back on. Like wraiths, we silently made our way back.
I was certain that our absence had been reported, but it was impossible to tell without any kind of audible alarm. However they communicated, it was beyond me. Our luck ran out as we approached the doors to the hangers. Knowing we had only one way off the ship, all personnel had been moved to the hanger. Staring us down was a wall of armed guards. They stared us down for several seconds before leveling their weapons at us. I flicked off the safety on my rifle and opened fire.
I was forced to take cover as hot plasma was shot our way. The walls seemed impervious to the substance, but as my suit found out, we were more than vulnerable. One of the rounds had grazed my shoulder and took part of the armor with it. The nanites in my suit automatically started repairing the damage. Raw materials were taken from the surrounding environment. Consequently, the hole was patched with the same plasma resistant material the bulkheads were made of.
I had a flash of inspiration. "Shahae, I don't suppose your suit has built in nanites, does it?"
"Why wouldn't it. We were the ones that developed the nanites after all."
"I have an idea." I paused and fired off several rounds before ducking out of the way. "The walls are protected against whatever they are shooting at us. If we can graft a coating of whatever this is on our suits, we should be able to protect ourselves."
"You're a genius" she shouted.
"Start grafting it onto your suit. I'll keep them occupied."
I pulled out a handy flash bang grenade. I had no idea the effects it would have, but anything would help at this point. If something didn't change fast, I would be forced to resort to more lethal measures. It took Shahae less than two minutes to coat her suit. "Your turn" she said as she blindly fired several shots.
I programmed the nanites and watched them fly into action. I slowly paced around my little alcove, providing fresh areas to harvest from. It took a well over two minutes to coat my larger bulk. I heard Shahae yelp out. "This stuff certainly did the trick. That last round didn't damage my shoulder at all."
"Do try to be more careful. I'm not sure just how much abuse this stuff can take. When I give the signal, we're going to charge their location. If we can break through their defense, we just might make it to our ship."
"Then what Jack? How are we supposed to stop them from destroying us while en route?"
"We'll cross that bridge when the time comes" I replied.
I started counting down from five. I tensed my muscles as I neared the end of the countdown. As I said two, I saw Shahae grab her head and collapse. I dashed across the open hallway and dropped to my knees. "Shahae!" I yelled. There was no way they could have hit her. I peered around the corner and saw the two figures in white robes. I couldn't explain it, but I knew that they were responsible for what had happened. I set my rifle to its highest power and took aim. I was about to pull the trigger when I heard Shahae yell out.
"No!" she bolted upright. "Jack stop right now. I think I've made contact."
I was instantly by her side. "What's going on?"
"I don't know. I was fine one moment, then my head felt like it was being torn apart" she started shaking. "I was starting to black out, but then I heard a voice. The nanites successfully integrated. I'm talking with them right now. We did it." She then passed out. We were quickly surrounded and relieved of our weapons. I picked Shahae up and was once again escorted through the ship.