The Chronicles of the Milky Way Galaxy : Gaia

Chapter 12 : Neighbors

Y:5 D:18

Argos

Albert, one of the guards stationed at the wall, heard approaching steps during the
night hours. Accustomed as he was to these sounds coming from animals, he gave
no attention to it. As the steps started approaching the wall, he heard whispers.
Something outside of the wall was clearly talking to its partner in some sort of
language. His immediate reaction was to take cover, continue to listen, and record
without making any noise. He knew those were the Goblins, but this was the first time
they approached the wall. This was his chance to see one up close, as the order was
not to approach them by any means. After they reached the wall, they began
touching it. Then they moved away. Albert unsuccessfully tried to get a clear view
through his weapon's scope. He then immediately set a drone to follow the creatures
and notified Bara about the event. In his turn, Bara woke Alex up to discuss the
situation. By the time Alex was checking the monitor, the drone had lost them in the
vegetation.

Next morning at the agora.

"I understand that most of you want to start venturing further out and that you are
eager to meet our Goblin neighbors," said Alex. "This will happen soon."

"I for one would like to start exploring this world. We don't have anything to
fear from those creatures," said Jonah.

"Yeah, I don't understand why we can't go further than the perimeter," said
Maria, adding to the argument.

"We have a protocol," said Alex. "Before we left Earth, we made scenarios to
prepare us for many different threats. One of those was for the existence of a
preindustrial species."

"And these protocols dictate for us to be closed into this small area?" said
Maria, frustrated.

"The protocols increase our chances of making it here," said Jain. "Your
failure to understand why we have not made contact or entered their territories yet is
no argument, Maria."

"As Jain already mentioned," continued Alex calmly, "we should not make
moves that might be considered hostile to them. That is why Clive is not flying his
Eagle over them. This kind of technology might trigger responses we do not expect."

"And what could the worst-case scenario be?" asked Jonah. "I am honestly
trying to understand this. Most of you had training before you left Earth, but Maria,
myself, and many more here were born in the Hera. We do not see things the same
way as you, so you should make things clearer."

Alex looked at Jonah with understanding. "The worst case is hard to imagine.
But an army surrounding us might force us to use a Cerberus, one of those war

machines the Hera has in it. A massacre against a primitive species would not be the
best way to begin finding our place in this world."

"I get it yes," answered Jonah. "How will we approach them once the time is
right?"

"We do not know yet, but last night, they made the first contact themselves.
This might be a sign for either direction, so we must be cautious. Soon we will have a
plan ready and proceed to meet them and make sure we can coexist here."

The following nights, more and more of the Goblins were approaching the
wall. The expedition required a detailed map of the planet, and the Hera was not
optimized to make detailed maps. Just subterranean imaging and basic surface
mapping. The details were supposed to be made with the instruments on board the
Eagle that Clive was piloting, but it was grounded until the natives were approached
calmly.

"Alex!" said Jain. "The meeting is in five minutes."

"I am coming." Alex looked at himself in the mirror and got prepared for the
meeting.

"I think we should start with Konoya's observations," said Jain. Alex nodded in
agreement.

"As you all know, we have become very slow," began Konoya. "Since the
invention of our immortality vaccine, we have become slower and slower at an
alarming rate. We sleep a lot; we don't rush almost anything. We like to walk, and we
enjoy taking everything as it comes. This is changing here. We have been here for
over a year on Earth time, and we want to explore more. We have seen the Goblins,
as we came to call them, and we have seen that they are not alone. There is another
species that has briefly come close to us. The people are eager to explore and see
new things."

"I have to agree," added Gakuto. "There is so much diversity here that I feel
imprisoned. I want to explore and learn. It feels like we don't have a clear plan yet."

"I want to add to this," said Steve. "We really are starting to wake up from our
slumber. The city's progress is much faster than anticipated. Most people are
working hard because they feel that when the city is done, they will be able to go out
and explore."

Alex calmly raised his head. "The time to start exploring is indeed now. Some
of you are aware of the protocol. For those who are not, the protocol is simple. We
wait for them to make first contact. It has been so long since those protocols were
made that I have forgotten the logic behind them. Those creatures must fear us. I
never expected that after so long, they would have not made an effort of making
contact. Albert even volunteered to stay out in a visible location one night, but they
steered away from him."

"However, we have managed to gather a lot of intel about them," added Bara.

"We have indeed, but not of their bigger cousins," said Gakuto with a smile.

"Yes, they seem more cautious," continued Bara.

Margaret raised her hand to say something, and everyone looked at her.
"Before we decide on going to meet with them, I need to inform you. As of today, a
few hours ago, we have the terrain maps from the Hera. They are not detailed, but
they pave an image, which is," she paused for a second, "expected perhaps. Helen
has more info about it."

With all eyes on her, Helen said, "We need the Eagle to fly and give us
details, but from the first analysis, it seems that deltas and big rivers host a plethora
of cities. As you can see from your maps, there is deforestation and zoning, which
indicate a preindustrial civilization."

"This is strange," added Konoya.

"Why is that?" Alex asked.

"Well, they are nocturnal and live underground. They also don't seem to like
water so much. They are mountain dwellers. At least the profile we have made of
them is that they should have no intention of settling next to rivers."

"It is clear that we have a lot to learn. Let's organize the first expedition to
meet our neighbors. There is what seems to be a city not too far from here," said
Alex.