Chapter 14

After Griselda left, Grimmel sat in his office deep in thought. When he reached for the tea he had made and took a sip he found that it had grown cold. Looking at the clock on his work console he noted that he had been debating his thoughts for nearly three hours. He also noted a communique had come in from the Council. Clicking on it he came face to face with the pre-recorded image of Grand Admiral Excellinor.

"Greetings Commander Grimmel," The message began. "I hope this message finds you well. The contents that will be discussed are for your eyes only and will not be repeated. Protocol 31 will be in effect."

Grimmel nodded even though it was a recording. No one could observe him anyways. Protocol 31 was considered to be used only in the highest classification of documents. It basically meant that the message never happened and that the UTF operating system would be scrubbed completely of any logs containing this message. There was no pause in the message as the Grand Admiral gave her customary congratulations for reaching Terra. When that was over the real information started playing. "The Council has come to an impasse. Our original goal was to deliver Terra to the hands of the Talarians in exchange for the Slipstream technology they currently possess. Your investigation here is critical." The Grand Admiral stated. "If no intelligent lifeforms are found on the planet, as I suspect they won't be, then the Talarians get Terra to rebuild their civilization. If intelligent lifeforms are discovered then humanity will take control of Terra and guide it into the new age. You know which results my faction hopes for Commander Grimmel. See that you do not disappoint me. Humanity must never settle back on Terra for they will become complacent and devoid of ambition to chart the galaxies."

Grimmel knew what was at stake. He had often had this conversation with the Grand Admiral and he agreed with her. Over the centuries since humanity stepped into space on the Genesis ships there had been a sort of desperation. At first there was panic from the populous that had made it into the great vacuum but slowly they acclimated to life in the vast unknown. The humans that went into space had a sort of drive to them that made them strive to be their very best. It was not the will to live but the will to survive. The people had put their lives on the line as to their knowledge they were the last of their kind. Science reached new heights during that age as the people settled into the colony worlds.

Yet there was unease. There were failures to life support systems, crops withered, drought at times had been imminent. There were times where social unrest was at its highest yet the people that took the journey into space banded together to solve their problems. Many colonists dreamed of returning to their homeworld. Centuries passed and the return to Terra slowly faded from people's minds. They had other things to worry about and the planet of their ancestors began to slowly fade into myth. This had been the strength of their forefathers. The strength they had cultivated.

But like all governing bodies, there was a difference of opinion. Within the colony worlds there existed two factions. One faction yearned to go back to their home planet and rewrite the wrongs they had visited upon it in history. This faction believed that there must have been survivors that had had enough resources to survive and possibly thrive. That they were intelligent and hopeful of change. The other faction also believed that there were survivors but that these 'natives' had devolved into savage creatures that only went with the creed of 'survival of the fittest' and practiced barbaric rituals. It was the most prevalent hypothesis among the masses of the colonies. The natives of Terra were no longer considered sentient and part of the human race. This faction also believed that returning to settle on their home planet would make humanity weak and thus unable for future generations to bear the harshness of space exploration.

Grimmel was about to initiate the erasure protocol when he noted that there was a postscript added to the message. He clicked on it and watched the Grand Admiral appear again. "There has been a recent shift in ideology within the colonies that cannot be tolerated." The Grand Admiral expressed with a grimace. "The other faction seems to be gaining in popularity as the expedition to Terra had been made public. I will not stress this more. We need to show these heathens the folly of their ways. Prove to all that we must rid ourselves of the chains of Terra. I have managed to keep the other faction at bay for now by discreetly transferring the granddaughter of the faction's leader to your ship. Grand Admiral Senna will not make a move against us as long as his granddaughter remains safe." Grimmel gulped as he realized that he should have recognized that last name. "Commander, you have my full trust. I expect you to prioritize the safety of Lieutenant Senna. While she is our secret hostage she is also our opportunity. If you can convert her to our faction then hefty rewards await you upon your journey home."

Grimmel sat alone in his office and gulped heavily as the message finally ended and erased itself. He had realized what he had done and how he had screwed himself over. The only thing now for him was to pray that the Exploration team hadn't perished.

"That Grimmel person is pretty dumb," One of the girls remarked, interrupting the story.

"And what was with that lady doctor of his? She seems really scary," The other added. "Granny was she worse than the Hoffersons?"

"Now now," The old woman sighed. "I can't just go give you guys spoilers."

This caused the girls to look at each other, nodding simultaneously, and coming to the conclusion that, yes, this Griselda was equal if not worse to the Hoffersons.

"Now do you girls want me to stop here or should I continue until we land?" The grandmother asked with a mischievous grin. Of course, the girls wouldn't want to stop the story and she was right when one of them exclaimed: "Granny come on! We want to know what happened to Hiccy and the rest!"

"Yeah, Granny!" The other girl also spoke up. "You made it seem like the Talarians were bad guys just now! That can't be true right?!"

"Well, then why don't we take a look at what happened on Hiccup and Astrid's side." The elderly woman said. "Now I've heard many versions of what happened next. A lot of historians had embellished the events over the decades, making it seem like some grand ceremony was held when the spacefaring and Earth-inhabiting humans met for the first time. True, this meeting was the turning point for the destinies of both types of humans but it wasn't a grand affair. In fact there was much more mystery surrounding the appearance of another Haddock."

"So what happened next granny?" The girls asked as they eagerly awaited the next part of the story.

Hiccup stared for a moment at some of the spacefaring humans. Honestly, he thought that they were weird. And he knew he was weird as he apparently was the base model for other Berkians on 'being weird'. Sure his inventions over the years raised eyebrows, mainly Mildew's, but they worked….. Sometimes. This was just…

"Hiccup ya sure about these people?" Stoick asked as he put a hand on Hiccup's shoulder while watching. They had used two of the Jeeps of the salvage crew to transport their guests to New Berk where the ambassadors of the other tribes were also curious to meet them. Word had gotten around after Gobber radioed in. Of course like any sane leader Stoick wasn't about to trust them immediately. If living in the wastelands taught you one thing it was to have a gun ready even when facing a friend. Especially when food was involved. No these people were weird, with their clothing, manners, speech and even behaviour. The reason everyone was watching them right now was because three of the guests had latched themselves onto Mulch's sheeps and were stroking, squishing, floofing the wool with so much gusto it threw the Berkians off. Mulch muttered that his poor sheep must be traumatized by now.

The people in question who had been taken with these animals were none other than Mendia, who wanted to feel a sheep from a purely biological perspective, or so she said, Helia, who thought they were adorable, and Luna, who didn't actually want to feel the sheep but was dragged into it by Mendia. Captain Mala watched her team and let out a groan. This was not the time to be hugging animals but it did catch the natives off guard as well and it gave her some time to observe.

"Fascinating," Telmia observed. "I had not known that humans would be so fascinated with these soft creatures." The Talarian took a step forward, approaching a stray sheep that had been munching on some grass. However the sheep startled, taking notice of her, and backed away. "I wish to feel these creatures too,"

"You don't have them where you're from?" Heather, the first one at the camp to speak to the Talarian, asked in curiosity. She and the others had been shocked when they were introduced to Telmia as they never imagined there to be much life brewing outside their planet. Though, the ambassadors as well as the Berkians saw past Telmia's race and observed her. When in the wastelands you didn't have much time to ponder if a person was trustworthy or would stab you in the back at a moment's notice. Her non-aggressive actions were enough for them to calm down.

"I have not," Telmia admitted. "On Titan we now live deep within it's crust. The atmosphere cannot sustain us anymore and all surface creatures perished. This was mainly due to our own actions which we now realize had been a grievous mistake. Only the deep Kiirion moss in the caves saved us from starvation."

Heather was quite shocked to hear that. She hadn't expected the first aliens' humans met to have such a tragic past. It seemed almost parallel to what happened on Earth and it tugged at her heart a bit. She too took joy in seeing the animals New berk brought to life so she rolled up her sleeves and stared down at the lone sheep. Heather took one last look at Telmia who was also looking at her in curiosity. With a smirk she said "Well if you want to wrangle a sheep I will show you how,"

"BAAAAAA," Was the last thing the sheep said as Heather dove towards it while Stoick facepalmed.

AN: I've been getting cabin fever. This may not end well for any of the characters *waves axe*