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David blinked and then blinked some more. He took a half step towards Khoth as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. “A universal translator?”

“Yes, the Alliance is composed of hundreds of different species. While the Thaf’ell learn most languages, the universal translator is used by most,” he said.

“How… how wonderful!” That beam was back on high. “A universal translator will be so helpful and so enlightening!”

“I am surprised that you find it so, because it makes your particular specialty much less needed on the Osiris,” Khoth said.

But David did not lose a step. He shook his head. “On the contrary, Khoth, I think you will find that I am more useful to the Osiris with such a chip! As I said, language is more than just verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, but it also reflects the thought process of the people whose mother-tongue it is! To understand a language and all its layered meaning needs a translator who is digging into those species’ history, background, all of it! Sometimes meaning is not one to one. I can assist in improving the translator!”

Khoth frowned. The translator he had did the one to one translation and there always had been some kind of mismatch at times, normally during sensitive discussions where the translator was not to be trusted. His sister had learned the Inghari language simply to speak with the species’ queen about a mining dispute.

“You are going through a lot of trouble, Daesah. In addition to the injected translator, we will have a local translator there as well,” Khoth had said to her as she’d been studying the staccato-like language.

“The Inghari communicate with complex body language and scents, which we cannot recreate to get our point across. Therefore, the language, dear brother, is all we have and it must be as accurate and respectful as possible,” she’d explained.

Seeing David’s eager face he was reminded of Daesah’s words. The man did have a very good point. Suddenly, his nametag was highlighted in green. David saw this and did a little hop of joy.

“Green? That’s go, right? I’ve been selected to be part of the crew?” David asked.

Khoth had decided that he was a “yes” and either the Osiris had guessed that from his reaction to the linguist or it had decided on its own that Dr. David Hayter was someone it wanted aboard the ship.

Khoth showed none of this, but instead simply inclined his head and said, “Welcome aboard, Dr. Hayter.” The floor lit up with a greeting to the doctor to follow the flashing lights. “We are still waiting on various physicians to arrive, but the Osiris has a room prepared for you.”

“Thank you, Commander! So good to be aboard the Osiris!” David looked like he was about to explode with excitement. He saluted smartly and with another nod from Khoth, picked up his duffle and followed the lights, practically skipping.

Jace will like that one, especially the idea of perfecting the translator through better understanding of the cultures that created the languages, Khoth thought. Not something the Thaf’ell would have bothered with.

Realizing how long it had taken to interview Dr. Hayter, and that there were 99 left to go, Khoth set his shoulders back and went onto the next person in line. The next 8 people were all greens. The included soldiers who had seen combat, specifically combat against the Khul in Sunrise, who hadn’t hesitated to fire upon seeing the creatures, but didn’t look upon himself or Thammah as the enemy too. The Khul were the enemy, not different species in general. He was glad to see older soldiers rather than green recruits as well, because the Osiris’ tech would make them far more effective than ever, but tech couldn’t replace judgment and coldbloodedness.

There were also two scientists. One a botanist and the other an exobiologist. Like Dr. Hayter, their enthusiasm and excitement to be on the Osiris was practically palpable. They were slightly more subdued but Khoth swore the two of them levitated, more than walked to their quarters.

But then he came upon the 10th person in line. A former Lieutenant Martin Davies who had served in the military and then for an independent contractor in every hotspot on planet Earth.

He was sturdily built. Scars criss-crossed his left cheek and separated his right eyebrow down the middle. He had cold gray eyes that never left Khoth yet it was clear that he knew everything that was going on around him. He was a Navy Seal. His missions would have been classified except for the fact that the Osiris was able to break into any system that humanity had created. The missions showed that Lieutenant Davies was a brilliant tactician and an expert in sniper rifles with over 200 confirmed kills.

He had a sister and two nieces. He had never been married. His work was his only mate. The people in his squad were closer than family. Going into the stars to fight the Khul on alien planets would suit him down to his bones.

Problem was?

Osiris informed him in big, red letters that Davies was a spy for Intoshkin.

It was no surprise to Khoth that there was at least one spy--he anticipated far more--in this group. What annoyed him was that Davies was the strongest of the applicants in terms of martial prowess. Khoth knew the man would fight like the human’s idea of a demon with no fear.

Abruptly, the screen before him started filling with Thaf’ell writing. It was the Osiris. Talk to him. And this time not about some terrible plot of his mother’s that had to be stopped or he would be watching her destroyed. No, the Osiris was actually communicating with him.

It would be wise to allow one of Intoshkin’s spies to be allowed aboard, the Osiris wrote.

Khoth’s brows furrowed as he sent back, Why?

To control how we are perceived by Earth, the Osiris answered.

Khoth’s brow cleared. This way we tell him what we want him to know and we learn his thoughts on it as Davies attempts to report in?

Exactly.

Though the Osiris sent no smilies like Gehenna, Khoth could feel the Osiris grinning.

We must run this past Jace, Khoth cautioned.