Chapter 15

The spacefarers were absconded into the depths of New Berk after the whole sheep incident. Stoick had several of his men escort the newcomers to the first level of the facility where they were given several spare rooms that they would need to share since the population of New Berk was expanding and they also had to house the delegates from the other tribes. The rooms were all connected to the common area and that was where Mala's team met up again.

"This is….." Davis mumbled.

"Incredible?" Luna interjected.

"Suspicious," The man corrected. "It's all too suspicious. How could our data have been so wrong?"

"I would think this to be a joyous occasion," Telmia now added her two cents. "Instead of three scientists we have encountered a civilization that against all odds is starting to thrive again. From the data on this facility we might infer that these people are directly responsible for the flora and fauna that is returning to the planet. Them hosting several delegates from other areas also shows that they are open-minded to negotiations and possess some measure of diplomacy."

"Yes but where are the three scientists that were supposed to reside here?" Davis then muttered "When I asked that every one of them clammed up."

"I'm willing to give these people the benefit of the doubt," Mala stated as eyes fell on her. "They've given us that by not shooting us on sight. We might be missing some vital information and if we can come to a mutual agreement it would benefit both sides."

"I couldn't have said it better myself," The sliding doors to the common room opened with a hiss to admit Hiccup, Astrid and the one they seemed to call Toothless. Only Toothless seemed to be armed and took his place by the door right behind Hiccup. Astrid was carrying a tablet and the group just realized that they had been overheard.

"So you heard us," Mendia asked with a frown. "Granted this is a common area so no privacy is expected, I'd still want to know why."

"Wouldn't you have done the same if the tables were turned?" Astrid raised a brow. "We have no idea of your motives and seeing as that little ship of yours was probably just for scouting then there should be an even bigger one up there." Astrid pointed at the ceiling but everyone got the picture. "It's a logical conclusion as the ship we salvaged doesn't seem to be made for long term travel."

Luna was watching the exchange as her Captain now said something. Though she didn't hear it as her eyes were drawn to the black-haired soldier by the door. He seemed very protective of the one they called Hiccup she noted but she could also see him glancing at her at times. This caused the woman to frown. Sure she had landed on him but that wouldn't have been enough to draw so much attention.

"... we come to some agreement?" She managed to catch the tail end of Captain Mala's question as both Hiccup and the blond woman nodded.

"A question for a question," the woman said. "If you appear to be honest and have no ill intentions then you will receive the same clearance as the visiting delegates."

"Are you allowed to make that decision?" Helia now asked with a frown.

"I am," Astrid said but she didn't elaborate on it further.

"As a show of good faith why don't you guys ask the first question." Hiccup suggested as he and Astrid took seats opposite to Captain Mala. Luna could still feel eyes on her but tried to focus on the discussion.

"Our data indicated that there were three scientists originally inhabiting this facility." Mala stated. "What happened to them?"

"Dead," Astrid huffed. "And we are all better for it."

Shock rang through Mala's group and it was Larana that spoke up with the question "How can you be so blase about it?!"

"Sadly as their daughter I can be as indifferent about that as I want." Astrid huffed. "You have no clue of the events that happened five years ago."

"Then please enlighten us," Mala now said. "I know you don't have to but we would like to know how Council sanctioned scientists met their end." Astrid scoffed at Mala's use of the term 'Council sanctioned' but Hiccup stopped her before she would say anything more. He inclined his head to the blond and told her that he would explain it a bit. The following twenty minutes were the most incredulous of Luna's life. She had heard of a lot of atrocities but that the three scientists were responsible for the deaths of their colleagues while experimenting on them by taking out their brains and the subsequent creation of Johann and Astrid as well as the murder of Drago and that they consciously, and with the knowledge of the Council, were ready to wipe out all life on Terra was the most shocking. Her hands clenched and she might have drawn some blood as she was thinking that there could be no possible way that her grandfather would have approved such a plan. She however didn't voice any of this because she felt that them knowing that her grandfather was on the Council they appeared to hate would only enrage these natives more and may even stop any further sharing of information. So Luna kept her mouth shut and looked at the others. All wore incredulous expressions and even Captain Mala seemed to have lost her composure at the news.

"Do you just ask us to just believe that story?" Davis then asked.

"No, of course not," Hiccup sighed. "We have managed to retrieve most of the original recorded data of the events five years ago from the computer mainframe. If you don't believe us then you can watch the events yourself and then judge us."

Mala nodded stiffly. She of course would request the footage though she didn't think these two were lying. The blond seemed to have visibly relaxed when Hiccup took over and Mala realized that it must either pain her to talk about the events or cause her immense stress.

Astrid seemed to take a deep breath as she looked at the assembled space crew. "Now I have a question for you. The Prolium, how did you acquire it?"

"It was a gift from my people to the humans," Telmia answered. "We gave the gift in good faith though not enough for them to power their bigger starships. We had no use of the Prolium anymore and given the Terran's situation we agreed to help."

"Telmia is right. The Prolium is mainly used on our smaller vessels and to supply the colonies with power." Mala stated. "Our scientists have not been able to reverse engineer it to power our larger ships."

"And rightly so," Astrid huffed. "Humanity should not have had access to that technology. At least not yet on such a large scale. Hearing that you lot acquired FTL drives was shocking enough."

"FTL drives?" Captain Mala now frowned in confusion. "We have no access to such technology. Our vessels are still equipped with the old EM drives. If we possessed FTL drives it would not have taken a five-year journey back to Terra."

"Then how do you explain the destruction of the Mars colony?" Astrid lifted a brow.

"Historical records indicate a disease," Mendia stated. "Though we have no clue which one was so prolific as this is the first time humans have returned to this sector of space."

"I call a pile of crock on that," Astrid huffed. "The records we managed to salvage from Johann after someone's EMP grenade scrambled his rather antiquated modules….."

"Oye! He was going to take over one of our bodies!" Hiccup defended. "Besides you beating it into a pile of scrap metal could also have scrambled the harddrives!"

"As I was saying," Astrid huffed but elbowed Hiccup while rolling her eyes, "The data we managed to salvage indicated that it was a military strike by the Rhea colony. We know that the ship that did the deed had been deployed from Titan."

"The Council is on Rhea," Larana muttered "And one of our shipyards is above Titan." She then turned towards her Captain. "Ma'am it's highly impossible that these people who have never left the planet would know this information if they did not have the data to back it up. There may be truth in their accusations."

"But to go from a disease to a surgical strike?" Mendia muttered. "How can our history archives be so wrong?"

"History is written by the victors," Luna spoke up grimly. "Who would be able to contest history if the losers were all dead." This brought silence to the room as everyone digested the implications. They were left with more mysteries than they wanted and perhaps more distrust at their governing body.

"May we ask for a recess to properly digest all that you've said?" Mala asked. "This alone is more than what we had thought we would find here."

"I think that would be wise though there are several things we still want answers to." Hiccup stated.

"We've answered a good deal on our part yet we know very little still of your intentions," Astrid added "So for now we will ask that you stay in this area and your rooms. They will be monitored."

"Then may I ask just one more thing that has been bothering me?" Mala said and when both Hiccup and Astrid nodded she asked "Why were you all so shocked when the name Haddock was uttered. Surely you all couldn't have any data on first contact with the Talarians." Mala had pondered this for a while. That data was highly classified and the name Haddock itself was not one used frequently in the colonies. There should have been no way that….. Her musings were interrupted when Hiccup sheepishly said while rubbing the back of his neck nervously "I guess we should have handled that tidbit first, huh?"

Mala and her crew looked at Hiccup when he then said "I should probably introduce myself fully. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the 3rd at your service. My father and I believe that your sergeant might be a distant relation." To say that everyone was shocked was putting it lightly. It was Toothless who spoke up for the first time since the talks started.

"Well now you gone and done it Hiccup. Break all the spacefarers into speechlessness why don't you." The black-haired male grumbled. "Now I owe Hookfang a fish."