I recommend doing what scans we can to the approaching vessel and continue to monitor the transmissions that we can translate to see if we get any clues about what to expect, but otherwise, it seems we only need to have contingencies in place in case they turn out to attempt to capture or attack us.
Agree with Rix, since they forgot to give us any drones...
"This is exciting!" Olivia says. She has a hard time sitting still, pacing about and fidgeting with things as they wait. Every so often, she goes back to the instrument panels to get a new look at the incoming ship as it gets closer, trying to see what she might conclude about the aliens from the design of their ship.
Boomer says, "In any event, we can rest assured that we have purged our origin from our databases. It is imperative that all of us do not give up that information under torture."
"When it comes time for the meeting, I will be suited up in my battlesuit, just in case things go wrong. I will not be present, but will be hanging back, so that my aggressive-looking presence does not hamper diplomatic efforts."
Your sensors detect a ship leaving the orbit of the fourth planet and heading in your general direction after about 6 hours. Sensors report that the planet's atmosphere is much like Earth's.
For the next 3 days, your sensors and radios monitor the ship, detecting nothing unusual, except someone on the ship is talking to someone on the planet whom they call "father".
The ship slows down as it approaches the fifth planet, and you detect their sensors actively looking for you.
From their engines and sensors, you'd place them at TL 8, maybe 9. But their ship is much larger than yours.
They seem to finally locate you, and head towards you. Your sensors report that their weapons are armed, altho they do not have a lock on you.
The radio suddenly bursts "Greetings, strangers! We seek to talk with you face-to-face - would you be willing to come over to our ship, or shall we come over to yours?"
Derek says to his shipmates, "A neutral meeting point would be better. But, failing that, ask them to send a very small delegation to our ship. I will be waiting below in my battlesuit."
Olivia scowls at Derek. "Don't be so paranoid! This is first contact! This is a historic moment, when the horizons of humanity are going to be expanded forever! It's a time of wonder, and of making new friends. Don't ruin it by assuming they're just going to try to kill us!"
"Still, perhaps we send half our crew to their ship, so if there is treachery in their hearts, we have some who might be able to get to safety or come to the rescue. I volunteer to go with the crew, in case my skills at telepathy are useful. I'm also not much of a threat, even with a weapon, so I can go unarmed, if that will help them trust us."
Olivia says, "I will go too!"
Terra pipes up, saying "I'll go too - because I *am* a weapon!" and she winks devilishly.
Guess that mean's I'll hold the fort down.
"We should keep an open channel so everyone gets to witness things and we, of course, need to make a recording of it. We should have a gift for them, something symbolic of our desire for peace. We'll have to explain the symbolism, of course, but what do we have that might serve? An olive branch would be one idea, but perhaps we'd need to settle for an image of an olive branch."
Rix will spend some time to look as nice as possible while not sacrificing her bioplas body suit and nanoweave jacket, for armor in case it is needed. She'll add a colorful sari that can be placed over her normal togs and she'll add a jeweled bindi decoration (middle of forehead mark). She leaves her weapons behind, but takes her med scanner.
In whatever time remains before they meet, she meditates to center her mind and prepare for the moment of first contact.
"I will also stay here," Boomer says, "But I am ready in case of a call for help."
So someone contacts the other ship, saying you'll be sending over 3 representatives, to which they agree.
The two ships' locks aren't compatible, so you'll have to suit up and make the short crossing thru space with jet-packs.
You wait in anticipation while the airlock fills with air and you get out of your bulky suits. Finally, the airlock opens!
What you see before you is like nothing you could have imagined - the creatures are best described as "lion-men" - they are bipedal, and have two arms, but their large, muscular bodies (all a head taller than you) are covered in fur, and their heads are distinctly feline in nature (parallel evolution, perhaps?).
There is one female (no mane) dressed in fine, loose, flowing robes, standing in front of a large group of males in armor, holding what look like pistols in their four-fingered hands, all aimed right at you. The female speaks in the hyperwave language (you can take it as given that everything is translated either by the box EarthGov gave you, or by Terra) :
"Greetings,...strangers! What do you call your race? We call ourselves"...the translator pauses for a moment here..."Leeunids. Welcome to our ship!"
"Wow," Olivia says quietly.
After a pause, when she realizes that she's staring, her mouth slack, her eyes goggling, she says (the translator will go the other way, too, yes?) "We call ourselves 'humans'. We are from the disk of the Galaxy. You are the first species we've met that did not evolve on our planet. My name is Olivia Boardman."
She looks to the others, assuming they will introduce themselves as well.
Terra, not knowing really what to do, especially with all those guns pointed at her, steps forward and bows, and says "My name is Terra, and I'm...uh...what is your name?" and steps back.
Dr. Rix puts her palms together and bows and adds, "In my culture, what I just did is a sign of respect and a wish for peace. In other cultures, we extend our hand, this one," and she extends her right hand, "and invite the other to do the same and we grasp hands and shake up and down gently. This is meant to indicate we have no weapons and we greet the person with good will and peace."
She gives the woman a chance to respond and shakes her hand if she is willing.
"My name is Doctor Rix. Doctor is a title that indicates I am a scholar and I can treat injuries and illness. Now that we know a little about each other and now that we've indicated we mean you no harm, we would appreciate reciprocity. There is no need to point weapons at us. We are vulnerable in a way you are not."
She then removes a colorful scarf from her neck and holds it so they can see that it has an abstracted image of a lotus blossom on a water lily. "It is also our custom to offer a gift at such moments. This is an image of a plant on our world which symbolizes wisdom and peace."
She offers the scarf.
Okay, she thinks. "Let's see what we've gotten ourselves into. "
I figured since recording the meeting was Rix's idea, she has a video camera "button" placed somewhere discreetly on her clothes, with a radio transmitter that those on the Styx can pick up.
I'm going to say that you're all wearing your "earbuds", which can easily traverse the several hundred feet between your ships, so you can all talk to each other. But no one mentioned allowing those on the ship to speak publicly with the aliens beforehand, so no equipment was brought that would allow them to do so.
The lioness listens to all of you patiently, then says "My name is Lady Roaora, only child of Pride Leader Raoor. You are obviously not a warrior race - we always greet strangers with a show of force, even if we're not intending to use it." She turns her head slightly, and in a different language speaks to the guards, who sheath their weapons. Those of you on the Styx notice the ship's weapons powering down.
She steps forward to accept Rix's scarf, thinks a moment, then draws a jeweled dagger from her belt, and offers it back. "We believe that peace comes from strength, which this knife represents. May you use it well.
So, you have not met any alien species before, eh? Well, you're in for a treat - practically every star in this cluster has a habitable planet on it, with its own race!
Please, come back with me to Leeunid and meet my father - he is one of its greatest leaders! I'm sure there is much we can learn from each other..."
April should be a hole card.
Dr Rix takes the gift and inspects it thoughtfully and appreciatively.
"Before we developed better tools, doctors like me used very sharp knives called scalpels to cut into the bodies of injured or sick people to try to heal them. So I accept this as a tool that can both hurt and heal."
"Our race cannot be classified as a warrior race, but make no mistake, we have our warriors and we have weapons and are prepared to use them. But we don't have an interest in controlling anyone else or taking things by force."
"We will need to confer first but I we came a long way in order to meet you and so we look forward to seeing your home world. But first, your system captured our attention because you are transmitting signals that we recognized as containing information. Some of those signals, however, we have not been able to decipher, even through we are very good at cracking codes. May we know what those signals contain and why you are transmitting them and to whom? Are you in communication with other intelligent species elsewhere in the galaxy?"
Roaora pauses for a moment, then says "Well, every planet has its secrets, even if it's just a merchant trying not to be undersold by a competitor. And, yes, we communicate with many of the other species in this cluster, altho not all of them."
Olivia says, "How many species are there in this cluster? And why don't you communicate with some of them?"
Aster groans and face palms really? we're good at taking your secrets... He looks up at the nearest lens April, you are trying to get into their ship systems?
"There's about 55 different species in the cluster, and...some of them are friendlier than others - we trade with the friendly ones."
Over comms, Boomer says, "Make sure to get intel on the unfriendly species. And, if we find ourselves in a ceremonial meeting with other members of this species, I should go along in my battlesuit. It will show them honor."
Olivia says to the aliens, "Oh! We'd like to meet the other friendly species as well! Maybe there are things we have or know that can contribute to your cluster here, and we can become trading partners as well. I know we'd be fascinated to meet all of them!"
Hearing what Boomer says over comms, she adds, with considerably less enthusiasm, "Is there anything we should worry about with the unfriendly species? We saw one planet that was sending nearly all of its communications encrypted; that you sounded more open and looked like you were involved in trading is why we came here first. We really don't want to get into hostilities here."
Aster sighs and puts his feet up on the console, he really didn't care that it wasn't his console, he was stuck babysitting the ship after all.
So April, want to play a game? Aster says in a poor imitation of an old synthesized voice.
Just how small a device can you reside in?
[i]I wonder if she could fit into PC databank...[i] Aster started fiddling with his wrist PC, interfacing with the ship systems to display various status screens on the bridge.
Dr. Rix looked at the others in the ship with her. "We have many more questions, of course, but I am satisfied that we are safe to take the invitation to visit, once we determine the protocols for avoiding the spread infectious diseases and parasites in either direction. Does anyone have any other concerns to address?" she says, knowing the question will be heard by the people still back on the ship.
Turning to Olivia, Roaora says "Most of the unfriendly species are isolationists, and stay on their own planet - they just don't like visitors. Oh, and of course there are pirates of all species that prey on those who travel between the stars. Vermin." She literally spits on the floor.
She looks at Dr. Rix and says "We resolved that problem ages ago, what with all the trade between systems. We've discovered that while we all have DNA, every species' proteins are different, and so diseases don't travel between species. You should be safe from infection from us, and we from you."
Facing all of you, she says "I am glad to hear that you will come with us back to Leeunid! Let us take off immediately, once you are back in your ship."
Olivia nods, excitedly. "Good! We are also looking forward to meeting more species, and learning more about you!"
She decides not to worry about how they will find food if the proteins are all different. After all, their ship is able to provide enough human food to keep them all going. Just don't lose the ship....
"Before you come back to our ship," Boomer says over comms, "Ask them for any information they have about these pirates, so that we may avoid them. In fact, if they have a database of known pirate ship signatures they could send to us, please ask them to do so."
"As a doctor, I'm most interested in how biology is similar or different on our worlds. We will probably need to eat our own food until we can establish what is safe and nourishing. Are pirates a problem within your system? That is something we had to worry about in our own world. Are we at risk of attack during the journey in?"
Once the exchange of assurances and information is complete, Dr. Rix bows again and looks to the others to see if we are ready to head for the airlock, checking her suit for system status before suiting up for the return.
"Pirates are mostly a problem between solar systems. I'm not sure what you mean by 'signatures', but there are no records, because most ships do not survive a pirate attack."
FWIW, if the pirates' TL is the same as these guys', you won't have any problems with them...
"As soon as you are back on your ship, we shall begin the journey home."
From above : "From their engines and sensors, you'd place them at TL 8, maybe 9. But their ship is much larger than yours."
Nobody's asked them if they have FTL travel, but even with only a few light years between stars in this cluster, they probably have *some* kind of FTL in order to trade...
So, the PC's suit back up and space-walk back to their ship.
Both ships take off, and you can tell right away that the Styx has a much greater acceleration than the Leeunid's ship. So you throttle back, and settle in for a long trip back to their home planet.
Anybody doing anything during the trip?
Aster works on routine ship maintenance and studying a language primer in his spare time.
Dr. Rix mainly writes notes about the first meeting, reviews the recordings of the event to double check details, and preps it for eventual coded transmission and makes a copy that she keeps in her personal gear. She is concerned that this important historical milestone should be documented accurately for posterity, considering how such things sometimes get embellished by spin doctors and publishers anxious to boost the appeal.
Aster - in talking with the Leeunids, it's come up that the language you're using, the one received over the hyperwave by Earth, *is* the common trade language. Every race in the cluster speaks it, as well as their native tongue.
So, after a month's journey, you get close to the Leeunid's home planet, and see that it looks much like Earth, with oceans and large continents. Altho perhaps there's more savanna than forests...
Roaora contacts you over the radio and gives you landing instructions, and lands first. You land at a small (by your standards) spaceport, where well over 100 male Leeunid armed and armored warriors line the walkway to your ship. At the head of the line is Roaora, standing next to a male Leeunid even taller than her, and bedecked in what is obviously ceremonial armor, with a large sword strapped to his side.
What do you do?
Dr. Rix prepares for the moment of landing by putting on all her normal gear, including weapons, such as she uses, with her medical smock adorned with some patches of the places she worked on earth, her psionic identifier patch, and some tasteful jewelry accents. She adds a scarf similar to one she gave on first contact.
She walks out with the others, greeting those waiting with what she has observed to be the equivalent of a formal greeting gesture the Leeunids would recognize and respect. She follows that with a bow with palms together as her Hindu ancestors did, saying, "Greetings. May all the benevolent powers of the universe bless you for welcoming us with such warmth."
Boomer will suit up fully in his battlesuit and go out in full battle readiness. If this is what they expect for respect, then hopefully they will react positively to it.
(During the downtime, Boomer will drill himself on the cluster trade language, so that he can speak it in a broken manner if it should come to that.)
Olivia will also put a point into the cluster trade language for spoken.
She sets her mouth in consternation as others come out fully armed, but she accepts that that is what the Leeunids seem to expect. She will join the delegation heading out of the ship, carrying her usual equipment. (The closest thing to a weapon she carries is a mini plasma torch, but she really hopes not to get into any firefights.)
Terra wears her prettiest dress, but with a sonic stun pistol on her hip.
As you all march down the ramp of the Styx, the finely dressed Leeunid barks an order, and the hundreds of soldiers draw their weapons and hold them at attention.
Once you reach Roaora and the leader, and Dr. Rix offers her greeting, the tall leader says with great pride "Greetings, to those of you from beyond this cluster! I am Lord Raoor, father of Roaora, and leader of my people! I look forward to talking with you of life beyond the cluster, and the possibilities of trade between our people...and perhaps more. Will you accompany me back to my home, so that we may feast there?"
Despite being asked as a question, you get the impression that he is not used to being turned down...
"Yes!" Olivia says with enthusiasm. "We are eager to learn more about you, and about this cluster, and to share with you information that we have about ourselves."
"Excellent! Come with me..." and he turns around, heading out of the spaceport. Most of the guards disperse, but about a half-dozen accompany him and his daughter.
After about a 10 minute walk thru the village, filled with small round wooden houses, you come upon a much larger structure, consisting of one large round building with smaller round buildings touching tangentially to the large one. The whole structure is surrounded by a large brick wall, and is patrolled by guards.
"Welcome to my home! Is it not the finest in the land? Come in, and make yourselves...comfortable" he says, looking at Derek.
Rix does as the host requests, strolling in and trying not to gawk at anything, but takes in what she can, curious to see if he has pictures of family, artwork, or books. She takes a seat once it seems appropriate. "Thank you for your hospitality," she is careful to say before asking any questions.