Mass Effect is the property of Bioware, Alien is owned by 20th Century Fox.

Made an adjustment at the suggestion of koper. I had overstated the survival time for humans in space.

A/N Although communications are improving, there are still two groups of people speaking fundamentally different languages. I found that I had trouble avoiding confusion as to who could actually understand each other, so for convenience in scenes that contain bot ME aliens and humans, I'm using "..." for human language and [[...]] for the ME galactic standard.

!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!

USCSS Calypso'

Meredith Vickers kept her eyes on the three aliens as she activated her computer and called up the first of the preparations she had prepared. The whole experience was somewhat surreal. She had tried to refrain from making too many assumptions in advance as to the nature of the aliens. Still, it had been almost impossible not to think in terms of a a more or less humanoid appearance. Centuries of science fiction shows and movies that had imprinted themselves on human culture were not so easy to overcome. Besides, there was some evidence that evolution favoured that particular shape. The pilot of the alien ship on LV-426 had been much bigger, of course, but had still seemed to have the same general body structure as a human being; and in their own way even the xenomorphs were somewhat humanoid. However, she had not expected to see an alien, who seemed to have walked out of an old science-fiction story, let alone two distinctly feminine-looking creatures that appeared to have escaped fom the horny fantasies of some teenage boy.
Still, in many ways it might be a good thing. Surely, the more they had in common, the easier it would be to establish some sort of communication. At the very least, these aliens had eyes, which meant she hadn't been wasting her time putting the presentations together.

-o-o-o-

Shiana looked inside the flat bag that the alien had placed on the table. When folded open, the upper part appeared to be a screen, similar to the ones on the bridge of the ship. The lower part contained a control panel. The alien quickly pressed several buttons and the screen came to life.

[[Some sort of omnitool? Visual presentation?]] Mordin Solus wondered out loud. [[Clearly prepared for first contact. Hopeful sign. Wouldn't have bothered if intentions hostile.]]

[[Hopeful, yes,]] Shiana said. [[Still, it will only be of limited use, unless...]]

Slowly, keeping her hands clearly in sight, Shiana reached for her omnitool and activated it, resulting in a sudden flash of light as the haptic interface appeared. Immediately, several of the aliens raised their weapons. Shiana, carefully refraining from any sudden movement, she pointed at the alien's screen. Then at her omnitool. Then, back at the screen.

-o-o-o-

Vicker observed the alien's movements carefully. The sudden light show was a bit startling, but she -at least that was how her mind instinctively classified the alien- didn't seem to intend any harm.

Vickers raised a hand. "Some sort of holographic interface. Calm down everyone. It looks like she's activated some sort of instrument. Let's give these people the benefit of the doubt and assume that it's harmless until proven otherwise."

"Could she be trying to hack your computer?" Sergeant Zim asked.

She shrugged. "Possibly, but if so, she isn't being very subtle about it; and I don't see how that could work without knowledge of our technology. Anyway, she's welcome to try. I removed all sensitive information before we boarded. Most likely, she's attempting to record what I'm showing, or wants to apply some sort of analysis. There is really no way to tell, but let's not assume the worst."

-o-o-o-

[[Captain.]] Shiana saw that T'Soni had nearly reached for her own gun when she saw the reaction of the aliens. [[What...?]]

[[If we're the only ones to see this package it won't help Levarn and the others. But, if I can establish a connection, they can correlate it with what they're receiving. Besides, if something goes wrong, they'll know it right away.]] Still moving slowly and deliberately, so as not to startle anyone, she activated her communicator.

[[Lucinus?]]

[[Yes Captain.]]

[[We're in contact and the aliens seem to have brought some sort of first-contact package. Pass my signal through to the Light of Dawn. I want them so see and hear everything that's happening. Don't let them send anything back for now. Things are a bit tense, here.]]

The screen now showed an image of a bipedal creature. It resembled the aliens around them in general shape, but without weapons or an environmental suit. beneath it was a line of five symbols. The alien who had activated the device pointed at the image, pointed at itself then traced a finger along the symbols.

"Human," it said.

Shiana hesitated a moment, then pointed at herself, then at T'Soni

[[Asari,]] she said.

At Solus.

[[Salarian]]

Council survey vessel Light of Dawn.

"Mr. Levarn, we're receiving a message from the captain. She's keeping an open channel from her omnitool. Both visual and audio. It seems that she is communicating with the aliens."

Levarn blinked rapidly. So far first contact had proceeded better than expected, considering the rather unusual circumstances. Still, it was going very slow and they were coming up against the practical limits of the signal 'on-off' approach. Somehow they had to find a way to fascilitate the electronic communications and this just might give them an opportunity.

"Very good. Compare the aliens' voice patterns with the original message that we received from that vessel. If we can match them, we should be able to reconstruct their communication protocols. That should speed the process up enormously."

USCSS Calypso

The screen changed, this time showing two bipedal figures. They were similar in appearance, but whereaso ne bore a disturbing similarity to an asari in figure as well as face, the other seemed taller and blockier in built. The alien gestured again, pointing at the asari-like image.

"Female" She pointed at herself. Then she pointed at the second figure and at one of the soldiers. "Male"

The pressed a button and the images disappeared, only to be replaced by a bewildering range of similar creatures. All followed the same general pattern, but they displayed a wide rang of skin-tones.

"All human"

[[Solus, can you take a closer look?]] Shiana said. [[I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking at. Are they all one species?]]

Mordin Solus studied the images for a moment.

[[Most likely, Yes. Seems great variation in coloring, but follow same pattern. Only two body-types. GMost likely genders.]]

The alien pressed the same button again and the image changed once more.

-o-o-o-

"How are things going, ms. Vickers?" Anderson and Zhong walked back into the mess hall, where Vickers seemed to be engaged in a sort of interstellar kindergarten with the three aliens.

"I think I'm getting at least some information across. I have a problem though. I'm the only human whose face they can actually see. I've shown a series of images and there seemed to be some confusion about them. Multiple races, two genders... I'm not even sure if they have genders. I mean, the blue ones look female, but that may just be our interpretation."

"So?"

"So... lieutenant, I don't like to ask this, but would it be possible for some of the marines to remove their helmets, give them a better understanding of the variety among humans."

Anderson looked at the medic. "Zhong? Your opinion?"

Zhong thought for a moment. "It should be fine captain. We're already breathing the air, even if it's through filters. I had advised to keep the helmets on for protection, but so far this area of the ship seems clear of face-huggers. Otherwise, if there is any kind of dangerous contaminant in the air, I haven't found it and neither has the ship's environmental system."

"Alright then, here we go."

-o-o-o-

One of the soldiers removed he front of his helmet, showing a dark skinned face. The others followed his example.

[[Quite fascinating,]] Mordin Solus remarked. [[Obviously same species, yet much variety, especially for small sample. Wonder how many more posibilities.]]

-o-o-o-

They were somewhat fortunate in that the marines present represented a decent cross-section of human fenotypes. Anderson was dark skinned, Corporal Zhong had clearly Asian features. Sergeant Zim was white. So were the two marine privates, one of whom also happened to be a woman.

"Thank you, lieutenant, that seems to have made things a bit more clear."

"Well, I'm sure we're all glad to contribute, ms. Vickers, but we have another problem."

"Yes?"

"The corpse in the storage area? Definitely a chestburster. And we think it may have gotten the rest of the crew as well."

Vickers closed her eyes for a moment to stay calm. It wasn't really a surprise, but still...

"Any idea how many, lieutenant?"

"No. There were eight hybernation pods. Probably at least one or two were spares, but still. That leaves us with six or more potential xenomorphs aboard this ship, if the eggs in the cargo hold were compromised. From what we know, they could still be alive. Even after all these years."

"Yes, of course." Vickers thought for a moment. "How can I help? I suppose I can show these people that they should leave. They might take it as an unfriendly act, but I suppose that would be better than having them stumble into a xenomorph.

"If it isn't too late already. Ms Vickers, we need information. We have to know if they ran into anything that looked like sign of xenomorphs. Most of all, we need numbers. I need to know if they brought anyone else on board. If any of those people may have been taken."

"Very well, I'll try. But, I cannot promise anything. They could misunderstand completely."

-o-o-o-

The female-looking human turned back to them and quickly manipulated the controls on her device. Images flashed by, too fast to follow as she appeared to be searching for something. When she stopped, the images had been replaced by a series of symbols that looked vaguely familiar.
The alien raised one hand, fingers spread out. she tapped one with a finger of the other hand.

"One."

She tapped the next one.

"Two."

Another tap. "Three." and another "Four." and another "Five."

Then she pointed at the first symbol on the screen

"One" The next symbol. "Two"

Shiana felt, more than saw, Liara T'Soni lean forward. [[She's counting, captain. Look, those are the same symbols we saw on the bridge.]]

The human waited for a moment. Then, she pointed at Shiana: "One", Liara: "Two", Mordin: "Three". She gestured around, her arm seeming to encompass the entire ship.

"Four?" This time her voice seemed to become higher at the end.

[[Captain, I think she wants to know, if there are more of us on board.]]

Shiana swallowed, thinking of Moryala and the others. Then she leaned forward and pointed at the screen, moving past the symbols that the alien had indicated, until her finger came to rest on the next one.

-o-o-o-

"Six!"

"Well, at least they seem to understand," Anderson said. "But does that mean, six in total, or six more than these three."

"I think I can clear that up." Vickers tapped a few buttons, closing the presentation. Then she opened a new image, an outside view of the Calypso. She pointed at the aliens and held up three fingers. "Three" She pointed at the front of the ship, then moved her finger along the image. The blue-skinned alien -an asari, if she had understood the initial exchange correctly- who seemed to be in charge, leaned forward. She held up two fingers and pointed at the rear of the ship. Then she pointed at the top and held up one finger.

"Okay," Anderson looked at the image. "Two in the rear cargo area, where they docked their shuttle, and one more, where? On top of the ship?"

"Sir, if I may?" Sergeant Zim took a step forward. "I think she means the passage along the top. That's the only practical way for them to have walked here."

"You're right sergeant." Andrson activated his communicator. "Corporal Ishmael?"

"Sir?"

"Take O'Connor and check out the top passage. There is supposed to be at least one of these aliens there, so watch what you're shooting at. If you find it, try to bring it here. But, be careful. There's probably at least one xenomorph out there. Don't take any chances."

"Will do, sir!"

USM Anzio

"Captain, we're receiving a new message from the aliens."

Ramirez looked up from the report that he had been reading. The situation aboard the Calypso seemed stable for now, but the news wasn't good. Anderson and his people should be able to handle the relatively small number of xenomorphs they expected, but in the cramped confines of a ship battles were often fought at minimum range and despite all technological advantages, going hand-to-hand with a xenomorph was not something anyone wanted to try.

"Well, what is it? More line drawings"

"No, sir. It's a copy of the distress signal from the Calypso. Sir, I think they are trying to copy our communication protocols."

USCSS Calypso

"Lieutenant Anderson?"

"Yes, corporal?"

Even through the communication link, Anderson thought Ishmael's sounded somewhat rattled. "Sir, we found a dead xenomorph in the passage."

"What?" How did it die?

"Looks like gunfire, sir. Individual holes are very small, but there are a lot of them. It bled out pretty badly and melted halfway through the deck. The passage looks pretty beaten up, too. I mean some of the wall plating looks like it's been twisted, or warped, or something."

"I understand. Get out of there immediately, corporal and come to the mess hall. We may need your help , if we have to discuss this with our alien friends."

-o-o-o-

It took only a few minutes for Ishmael and O'Connor to get to the mess hall. They, too opened their helmets when they entered and both looked shaken.

"No doubt about it sir, that thing got shot. A LOT of times."

"I believe you, corporal. The questions is, who did it? That one alien that was supposed to be there, or these three."

"Let's put it to the test." Vickers opened a second image and this time the reaction of the aliens was unmistakable. None of the humans present could really blame them. No matter how often you saw those images, there was something about the xenomorphs that seemed to cause fear on a very deep level. Vickers pointed at the creature, then moved her hand toward the image of the Calypso, but the asari was already moving, her hand briefly brushing Vickers' as she pointed at the xenomorph, than at the same spot that she had indicated before.

"That seems pretty clear," Anderson said.

"Perhaps. Let me try one more thing." Vickers pointed at the xenomorph again, than at the weapon that the asari was carrying. The message seemed understandable. The asari pointed at herself, then at her companions, then formed her hand in the shape of a gun, aiming it at the picture of the xenomorph.

"Definitely clear. So, they came across one of them in that passage. They shot it and either one of their friends got taken in that passage, or had already been taken-"

"-Or they left one of their friends there on watch, who has been taken since then." Vickers agreed. "But that leaves us with a problem, lieutenant. Under different circumstances, I would advice you to evacuate and destroy this ship, but if these people believe that their companions are still alive and on board, that might not be such a good idea."

"So, what do you suggest, ms. Vickers? I'd prefer not to search the cargo holds of this ship for missing aliens, while under attack by xenomorphs. DO you think there is any way that you could explain, what has most likely happened to their friends?"

"Shouldn't be too hard, " O'Connor spoke up for the first time, since he had entered the mess hall. "Look, the facehugger goes like this:" He pointed into his open mouth. "and then the chestburster goes like this:" his hands moved forward from his chest.

There was a moment of absolute silence.

-o-o-o-

[[Captain, I'm not sure I wish to know what that is supposed to mean.]] Shiana heard T'Soni whisper.

Shiana hesitated for a moment, then said, [[I... am not entirely sure either. Their species seems to have two genders. This individual would seem to be male. Males of other species are often fascinated by the shape of our breasts. But ... to indicate it in such a fashion and under these circumstances...]]

Vickers' face had remained completely expressionless: "I don't believe our new acquaintances completely understood, mr. eh. O'Connor, isn't it? And I must admit to some confusion myself. I can think of several explanations for your gestures. The least disturbing of which is the concept that you're taking hormone treatment to enlarge your breasts."

There was general laughter and everybody seemed to relax a bit.

"You're alright Vickers," Anderson said. "I never thought I would say this, but you're alright."

"Does that make me 'one of the guys'"

Anderson grinned. "Only if we get to call you Vicki."

"It's Meredith actually."

"I know, I think I prefer Vicki."

"Have it your way. In any case, now that we've had the layman's view on first contact. Back to the xenomorph. I have images, of course. Even an instruction vid. The problem is, I'm worried about the impression it will make. It makes it look, as though humans just stood by and watched while this kind of thing happened-"

"-which they did." Anderson reminded her.

"Yes, lieutenant, but that is not something we need to tell these people right away. Still, I don't think we have much of a choice."

She turned back toward her computer.

-o-o-o-

Whatever had just been said, it seemed to have caused a great deal of amusement among the humans, if Shiana had judged their reaction correctly. Still, it seemed that the joke was done. A new image appeared on he screen, a recording of something that resembled an egg, but made out of leather. A second image appeared next to it, the same egg, but half open as a strange, many-legged creature crawled out. A third image. This time one of the humans, lying on a bed with the same creature wrapped around his head, covering his face; the same human, his chest covered in what appeared to be red blood, as a small head burst out of his ribcage; and, finally, the creature that they had encountered in the passage.

!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!

Wow, a lot of interesting suggestions for new ME-xenomorphs. Thanks everyone. This will definitely help me work things out.

As I promised, no mind meld. Shiana nearly got shot just switching on her omnitool.

Midweekcomic13: Heheheh, thanks for the suggestion, I've tried to do it justice without losing my T-rating. Also, thanks for the idea on biotic xenomorphs ending up eating each other. Restricting their numbers would go a long way toward evening the odds.

Mr guy: Xenomorphs are pretty tough individually, but not THAT tough compared to properly armed soldiers. They need numbers. (in Aliens the marines killed lots of them before their defences were overrun and in AvP the predators had deliberately handicapped themselves by going in without guns.) The problems is that biotics could make them very strong as individuals and would give them a ranged ability. If I let that happen, it will be difficult to come up with a good reason why anybody can defeat them at all, short of orbital bombardment, and that would really limit the possibilities for story telling.

A Mountain Sage: Yes, stargate (the movie) was great in that respect. They still made it too easy, of course, but it was one of the rare occasions that people actually put thought into it, let alone made it a major plot point.

AVoiceOfReason: The person who said that prime-numbers were only a curiosity was a salarian. Using prime-number factorization as an encryption algorithm is a human choice, it doesn't have to work that way. I've worked this out a bit more in my parallel story: Intelligence reports

Kaioo: Well, right now it is mostly a matter of complete astonishment that evolution could play a trick like that on two species. There is some sense of attraction, but keep in mind that everybody is in environmental suits, though the ME types may be somewhat form-fitting. (I think of the one Vickers is wearing as the type shown in Prometheus and the marines are in full body armour, which hides the figure completely.) Of course the entire concept is a silly, but at least in ME they actually tried to come up with an explanation how it could work and considered the possible personal and social consequences, rather than just dumping it on us and expecting us to believe that everything works just fine, like in most franchises.
Xenomorphs are indeed supposed to be able to survive almost anywhere (Though, to be honest, surviving vacuum for a few seconds doesn't actually mean much. Humans can survive in vacuum as long as they can stay conscious, holding their breath. With an oxygen supply we can actually survive in space without protection for a few minutes, before we begin to boil.) Still, the flexibility with respect to environment would seem to make the xenomorphs ideal if you had to fight, say, the rachni.