Soulhunters
The sound of alarm drew Dukhat attention from the talk with his favourite acolyte to the matters of his fleet. They were, after all, going to mysterious home of the Ancient Enemy, who according to the ancient prophecies was about to return, so members of warrior caste tend to be more paranoid than usual. Fortunately it was not attack of the Shadows, nor any of their known servants. As Minbari Chosen entered the bridge, followed as usual by Delenn, he saw small fleet of something which could give lethal heart attack to every Minbari designer. Whatever it was, it was ugly. It looked like bunch of bricks put together and it has no regards for aesthetics whatsoever. But it also beamed with confidence and shown pragmatism of it's creators.
"We detected these alien ships approaching our space"
"I have never seen these marking before, who are they?"
"I believe they are the humans" answered Delenn "I have studied their culture"
"As it is our custom, we are approaching with the guns port open" added young Satai from the warrior caste
"By who's order?"before this question was answered Delenn pointed something at the edge of the projection screen.
"There … soulhunters"
The screen zoomed so everyone could see fleet of small ships floating in the space far above the human scout group and every Minbari froze and tensed at that view. Soulhunters were the most hated beings, hated even more than Shadows and their presence was considered the worse possible omen. However they were doing nothing, they simply hanging there as waiting for something, until single ship broke formation and went straight for a leading human ship.
"Sir, alien ships have opened gun ports"
"Sir, Minbari warrior caste ships used to salute each other this way. They find it to be both gesture of strength and respect" added young communication officer, the same who has tried to understand their transmissions for several minutes.
"Are they preparing to fire?" I asked
"I can't tell sir, alien scanners are extremely powerful. I can't get clear reading on their tactical system"
The situation was getting tense and it could erupt any moment. Every second of silence was making it worse. We couldn't know if we are under attack or was it simple greeting and this was the worse part. We could stay and wait, but that would put entire scout group in danger. We could attack, but if we were wrong, that could be even considered as declaration of war. Or we could flee and it seemed the best idea.
"Activate jump sequence and lets all get out of here"
But Murphy decided hit us one more time, when my first officer Allan Chaffin came with another bad news:
"Negative sir, the alien scanners are disrupting our equipment, I can't open the vortex."
"Damn" the only consolation was that the other ships of the scout group has entered hyperspace without any problem. That gave me idea. If we could somehow increase distance between us and the Minbari fleet.
"Hail them"
"Sir?"this time I ignored Allan Chaffin
"Hail them, in their language, tell them that we are on exploratory mission and we are coming in peace. And that their scanners are affecting our navigation systems so we ask them to deactivate it. And keep repeating it until you get answer. Full speed ahead, we will try to sneak behind them and get some distance. It may be enough. Engine room: keep me posted. I want to know when we are ready to jump."
Communication officer started slowly to speak in alien, let strangely melodic language, clearly doing it for the first or second time in his life. He was doing this with difficulty but still better than any other member of my crew. The moment later the answer came:
"Incoming transmission"
Main screen has come to live again, this time filled with angry face belonging to the unknown humanoid species. But the creature, clearly older male, was not a Minbari. He was bald, but he lacking head bone, he had very human facial hair and its skin was almost red. He was looking at us with the madness in expression, his forehead decorated with jewel, which looked like third eye, and suddenly he screamed in perfect English:
"Not like this! Not like this! You supposed to fight them!"
And the "Prometheus" shuddered as his armour took first shoots.
"They are leaving" Coplan said when two human ships opened the vortex and disappeared in hyperspace. He was disappointed, somehow he expected more from the race who has just defeated "mighty Dilgars"
"Have we changed our course lately?" as usual Anla Shok Lennon wasn't noticed until he spoke. The silence this Ranger was moving, his age considering, was envied by all members of warrior caste.
"Yes, when we noticed that we are followed, we set course to intercept"
"Let me guess, our scanners are set to maximum and the last one is now accelerating"
Before Coplan could answer Dukhat explained with sigh:
"They are young race, they don't know what to expect from us. Look at this ship, modular construction, function over the form, but also no artificial gravity beyond rotating sections. Our scanners must be blocking their jump engines."
"But why leave? We have done nothing to them"
"They don't know us and our gun ports are open which almost every race in this galaxy would consider the threat. They could stay, but this could endanger all of them, they could attack but they are not barbarians to initiate bloodshed, so they decided to leave to avoid confrontation when possible, before we get too close"
"Leaving one of them behind, cowardly"
"Rather unexpected, we have trapped them. And don't call them cowards, look at their fighters, how they placed themselves around the ship ready to protect it. If we attacked them they would return fire." Lennon has checked something and smiled:
"They are increasing speed, they want to pass us, get some distance and probably to jump in the hyperspace beyond the range of our sensors"
Everyone at the bridge was studying the human ships with fascination, finally Coplan made a decision:
"Change our course to give them more space and do not follow them"
Dukhat noded with satisfaction, his lifetime friend has a little regard for a younger races, but he also has his moments of pure genius. Suddenly young warrior guarding the communication console spoke:
"Incoming transmission, it is the language of religious cast, well sort of it"
What they heard next was clearly attempt to communicate, full of static, spoken slowly like by someone who has started to learn language and is just trying to use it. Accent was strange, vocabulary poor and the grammar was almost non existent, but the effort was there and the meaning was clear:
"Unknown ship Minbari …. peace, exploratory … "Prometheus", scanners yours effecting … ship ours, deactivate … please. Come in peace"
Everyone present exchanged amazed but also amused looks. And then the cataclysm struck, because the single soulhunter ship, the same who has broke from its fleet, ignored by everyone due to fascination with newcomers, opened fire at the exploratory human cruiser.
"Master" Delenn spoke "I know their language. I could speak to them"
"Do it and offer them our assistance" Dukhat nodded and has turned to the main screen, but now his voice wasn't gentle as usual:"While we will deal with these damned soul thieves, all ships target their fleet and fire, I repeat: fire"
"Prometheus" was under attack, but I knew it wasn't Minbari. Their fleet has turned to the left as giving us space to pass, then they changed their course as aiming something far beyond us. They were no longer after us. So who was it? Could that be that strange, mad looking alien?
"Damage report"
"Direct hit to the after section, armour is holding"
"Put the fire cover and try locate the bastard"
Gun of the "Prometheus" and every Sturfury available opened fire to the direction attack came from, trying to chase away invisibla attacker. The only result was another energy spike, this time from another direction and another hit"
"Evasive maneuvers and start rotation"
"Sir, the gunnery is asking for permission to open fire on Minbari"
"Denied, it is not them"
"Sir?"
"Denied, haven't you heard this crazy alien? Someone wants us to fight them. Transfer all non critical power to scanners and targeting systems"
"Partial lock at the stern board, definitely not Minbari, energy spikes again!"
"Lock and fire"
We could see bastard and "Prometheus" was now giving back all she had, just like his escorts, which greatly decreased attacker performance who could not approach us without taking heavy punishment from our Starfuries. Minbari were also shooting at someone and soon we have seen their target. The fleet composed from thousands of ships like the one attacking us, were towering for beyond us, trying to evade the share power thrown at them by the Minbari. They simply stood there frozen and after few seconds they all started to run. Funny, but the further they were from us, the better lock we had on our assailant. Finally after taking few more hits, crazy alien once more appeared on the screen:
"You have made a great mistake today: you supposed to fight them. You are dead, do you understand? You are all dead and we will not come to save you." and he was gone too.
"Burn in hell, the next time we meet..." I could not resist,
"Sir, another incoming transmission"
"If it is crazy alien..."
"No Sir, it is from Minbari and it is in English, audio only"
What we all heard next could be described as a young female voice:
"Humans, Delenn of family Mir of Minbari speaking here, greetings, you are attacked by our enemy. This is not our doing, we mean no harm, do you need help?"
"Casualty and damage report, initiate recovery operations and" I turned to communication "It looks like they were studying our language too, but perhaps we try find better way to communicate. Initiate first contact protocol."
The battle was over and soul hunters were fleeing in desperation much to the great disappointment of the warrior caste. All it took were just few shoots. Coplan was murmuring under his nose and what ever it was it was not a blessing. Delenn was standing at the communication panel, Lennon next to her, both engaged in conversation with humans. The rest of the crew were trying to hide their agitation and perform their usual duties. One thing was sure: everyone was safe. Dukhat sighted with satisfaction and relief:
"Well, that was interesting, soul hunters attacking us?"
"They attacked humans and it was one ship only" Coplan corrected, but he his interest was clearly picked.
"Has these soul thieves ever attacked any one so openly?"
"No, they are cowards, they always avoid fight"
"And what of the humans?"
It was Delenn's turn to answer:
"They took some damage but they are all right. They have chased attacker away, and right now they are tending to their wounded while repairing their ship. They thank us for our assistance with this unknown enemy"
"They activated something they called first contact protocols. They are sending us their language file and basic culture data." Anla Shok Lennon turned his head with amusement "And it is big, the language is … complex and the culture data are very diverse, but since they had dealings with Centauri, Narn and Markab they suggests that we discussed what happened in one of these languages."
"Put me through then" Chosen of Minbari decided to take matter in his hands and spoke in Centauri so fluent like all his life was spent at the royal court of Emperor Turkhan.
"This is Dukhat … of the family Dalzhan ... commander of the Minbari scout fleet, greetings, do you know any idea what has attacked you and what he wanted?"
The answer came few seconds later, with male voice:
"This is Captain Michael Jankowski, commander of Earth Alliance scout group. No, we have seen such creature first time in our existence and have no record of them. But what ever it was, it was crazy. It clearly wanted provoke us. Do you know them?"
"Unfortunately yes, they are know to us as Soulhunters. They steal essence of dying to imprison them for all eternity. They are dark creatures native to this part of galaxy. By the way, what bring you here? From what we know, you are far away from Earth."
"The same we could say about you. From what we have heard this area is far beyond your transfer points, so it looks like we both far away from home"
Coplan cursed under his nose clearly offended by such dismissive answer, these young ones clearly needed to be taught respect and proper manners when addressing their betters, but Dukhat only smiled. These humans were trying to hold their ground, and he was tired with constant worship, so such directness was quite refreshing. After the while human commander decided to add:
"Besides it is a long story, short version: we have been sent to investigate our borders for any unusual activity"
"In that case, perhaps we should discuss this in person, on board of my ship. Because it looks like this part of galaxy has become more unusual than we both could expect. Please, consider your self our guest"
There was moment of silence, human commander was clearly considering his options, but they were too few of them. Minbari has just helped him, their attack on "soulhunters" somehow let him to lock on attacker, and they were known as the honourable species. Refusal was not an option, it could be interpreted as offence, and the share power of fleet they have just demonstrated was making it even less desirable. Finally his answer came:
"We are honoured by your invitation. But first I would like to tend to the needs of my ship and my crew and inform my HQ what happened. Lets say in one standard hour I will depart in shuttle."
"As you wish Captain, I will tell my assistant to make necessary arrangements"
The connection was cut, and Dukhat has turned to Delenn
"Well, it is time to meet Captain Michael Jankowski"
Two standard hours later the entire human scout group was reunited again, keeping respectful distance from Minbari, while I was aboard their flagship. And I must admit, I felt like transported in the future. Their ships were enormous, luxurious, and advanced beyond imagination. To put it simply, these were more than ships, these were marvels of technology, pieces of art and five star hotels in space put together equipped with artificial, slightly weaker than Earth, gravity. The amount of power needed to keep it must have been truly astronomical, yet they seemed not to care. After I left shuttle I was very politely welcomed by tree of their kind. One wearing the white robes of religious caste, one wearing as worker, and one wear as warrior. On the other hand I have decided to wear black, light environmental suit. This was first contact after all, so percussion needed to be made. I was led to one of the chambers and there he stood. He was tall, all dressed in white, his right hand holding the staff of some kind, clearly the sign of high rank. But what was most impressive was his face, almost human, if not the headbone. He smiled, bowed a little and extended his right hand which I automatically accepted.
"I believe this is proper welcome among the humans" he stated in perfect centauri, while the group of nine standing behind him, everyone in grey robes, has exchanged looks.
"Yes and it is called a handshake" I admitted while returning bow, he seemed to be quite comfortable with our behaviour, which could not be said about the rest, to gain some time I added "Open hand given to shake carries no weapon, therefore it can not strike, this is sign of peaceful intention. Besides to be able to shake it you are required to expose your front side to the other person. Therefore it is considered a sign of trust"
"And if someone would approach you while caring the weapon?" I got impression he he knew the answer but wanted to make a point.
"That would be interpreted as a threat. The one holding weapon is going to use it, sooner or later. There are of course exceptions from these rule, but that is general idea. I know it may sound strange, but these are our ways."
Dukhat has turn back, looking at his grey company knowingly:
"Please forgive us then for our ignorance. We are not accustomed to deal with outsiders. Most of us prefer solitude so our knowledge of others is limited. But we meant no harm. When we saw your ships, we decided to open our gunports in an ancient gesture of warrior caste. We show this way all what we got, that we do not hide our weapon to strike suddenly."
"Water under the bridge"
"Water under the bridge?" he was clearly amused
"It is a human expression, it means it is all in the past and it is forgotten. Our language is full of them."
"So I have been told, and it is fascinating"
He smiled, but the rest his company suddenly tensed once again. And not the grey once only, but all of them. They were looking at me with visible shock. Maybe not only at me, some of them were looking at the staff Dukhat was holding. When he turned to their grey companions, he accidentally put is closer to me, giving me opportunity to study it. This thing seemed to be made from something similar to Ivory, and was beautifully sculptured. It was narrow at the bottom, quite handy in the middle and at the top it created something resembling the crown, well sort of. In the middle of this "crown" there was triangular object, and every time it was close to me it was glowing with steady, white light. Entire room froze and everyone was holding is on hers breath, as if Elvis Presley appeared in the centre of EA headquaters and started to sing "love me tender". I did not know what to think about their reaction, did I make offence? Certainly not, beside Dukhat has made it clear that our ways were different and no offence was intended. He also seem to be shocked with their company reaction as well as I was, then he looked at the staff he was holding, then at me, then at the staff, and me again and his eyes brightened with a recognition. Whatever has happened I did not know what it was, but it had a monumental meaning for all of them. And of course he was also the first one to recover and to recompose himself:
"Thank you, whatever happened between our people during our first contact, it seems we got a lot in common. For example the creatures who attack you are our enemies too. I cant wait to see my people learning more about yours."
Whatever he meant, he was curious and clearly meant no harm.
"The feeling is mutual"