The Journey of North

Alien Among Aliens

Approximately 93 years later, according to the ship's chronometers, alarms start to sound aboard an alien station. Beings start to scramble around checking holographic system tables rendering a three dimensional representation of their solar system. A snarled question echoes across the bridge. A sector of space is magnified and a red flashing icon shows an incoming approach vector for their home world. Hails and messages are sent out on all known frequencies with no reply. The individual sitting in the command chair watches the screen intently and snarls out a command. A ship breaks away from the station on an intercept course. The ship is only a third of the vessel's size, but much more sophisticated. The ship reaches its intercept vector and parallels the vessel examining it with scans as well as the naked eye. The alien ship identifies a docking port and manages a soft dock with the vessel. A boarding crew of seven foot tall armored bodies opens the docking hatch and quickly moves to positions inside the vessel like smoothly trained warriors. Slowly, following behind the larger boarding crew, came a group of smaller beings, also in suits. Bright eyes took in every direction as the lead of the smaller group motions the larger party forward. Magnetized boots make hissing thumps with each step taken as both parties make their way through the ship. The boarding parties make their way to the bridge searching; the smaller group finds what they believe is the computer interface for the ship and sets down a small box. Depressing a button, the box lets out a beep and a hiss as tendrils snake out and find access ports on the computer system making contact with the computer core within. Data is quickly copied over for later translation, but the box manages to stream a bit of data to the lead's visor. As the lead watches the information scroll by, it signals for the larger group to shoulder their weapons. It motions for everyone to follow it, and makes its way back towards the engine room and to the one remaining cryo couch there. Looking down at the sleeping alien, it looks back up to the rest of the boarding party, and with a few growled orders, starts to disconnect the cryo couch.

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I sat up in the cryo couch groggily, my brain barely registering anything except for the fact that I was awake again. How long had I been asleep? Removing the breathing mask, I got out of the couch, dripping goop all over the deck plating; God how I needed a shower. Finally my brain managed to kick into gear and I said, "SAMP, status report." To which there was no reply. Focusing my eyes I looked around and froze. I wasn't on the ARC... I was in, what was perhaps, a small 10 x 10 room. Lighting recessed in the ceiling gave a soft greenish glow and illuminated the cryo couch which had lines running from it to a wall. There were readouts on the wall that I couldn't make heads or tails of that pulsed in various shades of green. The walls were relatively smooth with a couple of glowing interface panels spaced at various distances on each wall. As I turned looking around the room, I never heard the sound of a portal opening in the wall behind me. As I was examining the interface panel with its odd glowing symbols, three beings entered the room. Two of them, the largest of the three, stood on either side of the portal, while the third, and smallest of the three, stepped forward. I was deep enough in curiosity mode that it took the smallest of the three clearing its throat three times in a growling cough to catch my attention. Spinning around, I let out a yelp of surprise quickly backpedaling to the wall flattening myself against it.

My mind managed to categorize what was standing in front of me even if a part of it was gibbering in fear and trying hard to climb the wall behind me to get away. The thing was about five feet in total height and wearing a loose fitting robe of an indeterminate color due to the green light filtering into the room. The first noticeable thing was its eyes; bright green with odd side slitted catlike pupils. They almost seemed to glow in the light of the room. The head was vaguely reminiscent of a canine back on earth, but more reptilian in its elongation and wider jaws. Large bat-like ears stood up at an angle on either side of the head and both were perked far forward towards me in curiosity, at least I hope it was curiosity. The face tapered into a long muzzle with nostril slits at the end. The whole thing was covered in what looked like thick fur of two different colors, one black and the other unknown due to the lighting in the room. There was an arrangement of, what looked like horns, on the crown of its head extending back from just above the eye ridges curving gracefully backwards with a third in the middle doing the same but slightly further back. It held up its hands in a universal sign of placation and I could see that the hands had three digits, two fingers and a thumb of sorts. The disturbing part was that there were four hands total. Twelve fingers tipped with long, shiny claws. It made an odd cooing sound as it held out all four hands in a calming gesture. The two larger beings behind it were of the same design, just on a more massive scale and since they were not wearing robes, I could see long, sinuous tails behind them which wrapped around their feet loosely. They wore armor of some kind with a matte finish and had various weapons attached to their personage. In their hands was a larger weapon that one hand was inserted into from the rear and it looked quite vicious. They were obviously the guards while the shorter one in front of me continued to make, what I guess it assumed, was calming noises, hands held out showing they held no weapons.