“Hello, Beta 690. Ready for our mission?”
“I am, Commander. However, I have not yet been cleared for departure.”
“I’m aware I arrived early. I wanted to familiarize myself with your capabilities before take-off, as well as run some system checks.” Jaspar knew the ground crew would have already verified the vessel as being spaceworthy, but he liked to do his own inspection. Never knew what they might have missed. He’d once piloted a very rickety Golgian tri-wing that had an infestation of bugs that bypassed organic scans due to their metallic exoskeleton.
“A system diagnostic has been run, and nothing is amiss.”
“That your sensors could detect,” he pointed out. “I’m going to perform a more visual inspection.”
“Will ogling my parts really allow you to find fault?”
The sassy reply surprised and didn’t. He’d heard of Alpha 350 and the way its innate learning module allowed it to develop a personality. He’d just never experienced it before, having only ever used early and very basic AI models.
Before he could reply, Cade, his partner on the mission, also entered the bridge. “Can you blame him for wanting to admire how well put together you are? You are one beautiful ship.”
“I am.” A reply with a hint of smugness. “I have many enhancements that will make our voyage together pleasurable.”
“I can’t wait for you to show me,” Cade purred in reply.
The control module glowed briefly red before returning to its previous flat gray.
Jaspar glanced at Cade. “Hello, again.” This would be their first mission together, having only met earlier that day. He knew nothing of the other warrior. There hadn’t been time to speak, since they’d needed to prepare for immediate departure.
“Hey.” Cade flashed him a smile. “Looks like we’ve got quite the mission.”
“Indeed. Do you have any experience with Earthlings?” Jaspar had seen a few from afar on his brief visits to Xaanda, but he’d never spoken to one. What he did know he’d gleaned from a few articles and rumors he’d run into over the years.
“Never met one, but my understanding is they’re not as advanced as us. They’ve barely achieved space travel and have yet to even leave their solar system.”
“Which would explain why they’re unaware of other species.” The Oracle had stated they’d have to reveal their existence to humanity. Hopefully it went better than the beings on the planet Kneeanderfal, who’d decided the Xamian were evil entities trying to kill their imaginary gods.
“Any ideas on how we should introduce ourselves?” Cade asked, flinging himself into one of the commander seats.
“Carefully. We need their cooperation.”
“Nice and polite is one way, although, given I’ve heard they can be a violent bunch, I’m wondering if a show of force might work better.”
“Threatening them isn’t likely to make them want an alliance,” Jaspar pointed out.
“Being too nice might make them think we’re weak.”
The argument went back and forth even after they left their home world, and it proved to be the first of many disagreements. Given their very different personalities and views, the voyage was spent mostly avoiding each other. Jaspar followed a routine during his rotation. Wake. Exercise. Cleanse. Eat. Go over Beta’s reports to see if anything interesting happened on Cade’s shift—nothing did. Research the planet Earth—and wonder how much of that was true. Surely humans didn’t actually strap blades to their feet to dance on ice?
He studied the file on the female whose aid they needed to enlist. Stared overly long at the images provided. Got annoyed with himself for his fascination. Make up for it by doing some more training in the physical fitness chamber while trying to think about how they could convince the many governments on Earth to ally with them.
The daily repetition on the voyage soothed Jaspar, who liked a set regime, unlike Cade, who tended to play a lot in the simulator and, when he didn’t, declared himself bored, which led to him wanting to talk.
“How much longer until we get there?”
“Hey, want to stop off at that little planet with the bug infestation and stomp a few multi-legged critters?”
“What do you mean we don’t have time to pop into the Cosmic Bordello?”
Jaspar really had to wonder why the ancestors, via the Oracle, had chosen the two of them for this mission. They agreed about nothing, especially when it came to how to handle the Earthlings, and, more specifically, the female that was supposed to help them.
Jaspar thought they should exercise caution, initially introducing themselves via a virtual conversation. Cade, though… “We’re here to sway her to our side. A bunch of emotionless messages will hardly do that.”
“Humanity has odd, and violent, notions about those not from their world.” Beta 690 had shown him many video clips of how Earthlings treated visitors from other galaxies. True, most of those came from fictional movies and depicted species that didn’t actually exist, but Jaspar knew for a fact that humans thrived on conflict. Just look at how they treated each other!
