Every day the foursome had a meeting in the dining area to discuss their research. After Jake was reasonably educated, Jang, who was obviously in charge of the mission, made a decision:
“The TV programs I’ve been watching strongly indicate that there are three distinct governments on Replin. I’ve also deduced that all three governments are very close to hereditary monarchies. Since they use distinctive colors on their tail-horn patterns to indicate their affiliation, we’ll refer to them by those: the Black Kingdom, the Red Kingdom and the Yellow Kingdom. The Black Kingdom is concentrated on the second largest continent that contains the South Pole, where they have located their capital city. I propose that we tap into their communication network and send a message to the Black Emperor. We are in the early spring in the southern hemisphere so it should be relatively cool there, only 80 degrees, if we decide to visit.”
It was agreed that visiting the Black Kingdom a better choice than the others since the weather would be more tolerable. Jang sent the message directly to the Emperor’s account. She explained that they were visitors from another planet and wanted to learn about them and their culture. They requested his permission for the visit but no response was returned. It appeared based on monitoring of other communications that the Emperor’s staff believed that the whole thing was a hoax and they were working to increase the level of encryption on their communication network.
Jake had found that quite humorous. He thought Jang was naïve to assume that they would believe that an email was coming from aliens. He proposed a proof. The Replini had not figured how to make room temperature superconductors. The humans would provide a sample that would materialize in a specified closed room.
The space station’s inhabitants had access to quantum computers that made quick work of the Replini’s best cryptography and they were ready to send another message to the Black Emperor. They used an orb to teleport a package of Nuxalkalite, the superconductive material, as they had promised. Very soon afterward they got a response from the Emperor inviting them down to a courtyard in the palace. Jake smiled as he imagined all the fuss and fear that the Black Kingdom VIPs would be making about the visit. Jake also sent them a specification for Lajbon, some basic information about human biology and an apology that they didn’t have a firm grasp on the Replini language.
