Chapter 4: First contact
The whisk of the doors that froze Eli in place was followed by the sound of a human voice asking a question in an unknown language, and that mobilized him. Eli swiveled around, knocking the console askew in the process, and then he froze again, tense.
He stared, eyes wide. Staring back at him were a man and a woman, both dressed in chocolate brown tunics and trousers. They appeared to be Ancients, but they also seemed familiar. He didn't know it, but the darker colors they wore signified that these were early Ancients. Both appeared to be in their mid-thirties. The man was about five-ten with chin length blond hair tucked behind his ears. The woman was a knockout, drop-dead-gorgeous redhead.
He got it! She looked like a redheaded version of Samantha Spade and he looked like Carlisle Cullen. Eli's mom was a fan of both Twilight—the only vampire story she liked—and Without a Trace. He processed all this in a couple of seconds while everyone continued to stare.
Eli made the first move. He raised his left hand, palm out, divided his fingers into the doubled-finger vee of a Vulcan salute, and said, "Pax." He remembered that that was Latin for peace and hoped it was the same in Ancient.
The man dissolved in a fit of laughter and Eli relaxed slightly. The woman switched her stare to her companion and then she, too, started giggling. But she pulled herself together and asked Eli a question in Ancient.
He smiled and shrugged. "I don't have a clue what you're saying, but I'm so so happy you're friendly."
The woman smiled at him and patted her companion, still laughing, on the back. Then she strode over to one of the consoles and removed three devices from a drawer. They looked like large medallions threaded on a cord. She plugged the medallions into ports on the console and typed rapidly on the keyboard. Lines of flowing text filled the screen. Must be data banks of some sort. She cleared the screen and typed rapidly again. Whatever she read there made her smile, and she made a quick comment to the man. It sounded like "filet benny."
The man had mostly sobered up by then, and was only chuckling intermittently. He smiled back at her and said what sounded like "nose Ellis post."
Right, Eli thought, and what are we so happy about? But he was relieved that they didn't seem wary of him.
The console dinged and the dataflow stopped. She disconnected the medallions and handed the devices around. Then she passed out three earplugs.
The two Ancients hung the medallions around their necks and put the plugs in their ears. Eli followed suit.
"Now we can talk," she said. "These are universal translators." She smiled. "One of my inventions. Not as good as truly knowing a language, but adequate for communication. They've been programmed with a limited vocabulary of about five thousand words and a basic syntax of your language, but the device will learn as we speak. And so will we."
Eli got the gist of what she was saying, but it was a bit like playing "pass the secret" through Babblefish. He completely missed the fact that she was an inventor. "How do you do? I'm Eli Wallace. Of Earth."
The man, now under control, manually and awkwardly arranged his fingers into a Vulcan salute. "I'm Pax Adham, and this is my wife Mens Sana. Also of Earth. We're Altera. Do you know of us?"
"I do," Eli replied, "though we call you Ancients. I'm . . . speechless. We've been on Destiny for almost two years and had no idea it was already occupied."
"We? You're not alone?" Mens Sana cocked her head as she asked the question and crossed her arms when she finished. Waiting, and not too patiently, either.
"At the moment, I am." Eli said. "Everyone else is in stasis. We have power and . . . other issues. I'm only awake because we were one pod short and I'm best qualified to solve that problem. Which I've figured out how to do, even if I haven't done it yet.
"Look, this is a long story. I'm not our spokesman and I'm going to have to wake up several people who thought the next time they opened their eyes would be in three years, in another galaxy."
"Who does speak for you? Ours is a long story, too. And you're on our ship." Pax Adham's humor had vanished. He sounded stern. He and his wife exchanged a significant look. He leaned toward Eli, waiting for his answer. If Eli hadn't heard him laugh, he would have been intimidated.
Eli's plan may have encountered a major roadblock. He didn't know much about the Ancients, but he had heard a few stories. Most of the Ancients he'd heard about were arrogant without cause, and that arrogance had greatly contributed to their downfall. Replicators. Wraith. For two examples.
These two had seemed friendly enough . . . but now?
He looked at the countdown: 330.86. Though he'd probably have to recalculate it, and soon. "Would you like something to eat?"