Espial Space Station, Mission Day 13
Mila finished off the drink she had poured for herself. She barely slept during the night and mid morning was fast approaching. Mila's latest message to Elias tried to explain the situation as detailed and as vaguely as possible. She barely wanted to lift her head when she heard his reply come in.
New Message from Elias Volante
Re: Male and Female Humans
What do you mean, 'there's been a complication?!' The Senate is going to need some more details than that. And which orders did you violate in your interactions with the specimens? They need to know if the mission is at risk or compromised.
Mila sighed. She closed her eyes, wishing the situation would fix itself. She slowly typed a reply, hoping the words would come to her as she wrote them.
To: Elias Volante
Re: Male and Female Humans
Yesterday I got trapped in the observation room with the two of them and tore a hole in my suit. Silas did blood and saliva analyses while I waited in the observation room, in case I was exposed to their bacteria or pathogens. They were clear, so I was able to get out after a few hours. The female… might have caught a glimpse of me without my helmet as I left the lab, but I'm not too worried about it, and neither is Silas. Our biggest issue is their sentience level.
Not knowing what else to say, Mila sent her message to Elias. She leaned back in her desk chair, waiting for the incoming reply, which she suspected would be full of seething anger.
New Message from Elias Volante
Re: Male and Female Humans
Yesterday?! Why didn't you report this immediately?! You are looking at some serious reprimands, Lexa. You'd be getting a court martial if it weren't for your father. And you better hope the female didn't see you. The Psy Prime inhabitants are so savage that even one look at our species would send the planet into a riot, making large landing parties impossible. Be more specific about their sentience levels. Reporting the details of this mission is in your job description. Try to do a better job.
Mila let out a shout of anger, the book closest to her hand falling victim to her emotions as it flew through the air and hit the wall. She kicked her chair as she stomped away from her desk. She put her finger to her ear, opening a comm link on her A.R.M. to Silas and Aiden.
"Crew meeting in the Maintenance Office," Mila ordered.
Aiden sighed over the line. "When?"
"Now."
"On my way," Aiden answered.
"On my way," Silas added.
Within three minutes, the three crew members of the Espial met in the Maintenance Office, just off of the Hangar Bay. Aiden and Silas looked to Mila with concern as she paced the small space.
"Why did you summon us here, Mila?" Aiden asked with a sigh, sitting down in the lone desk chair.
"I need everyone's honest, truthful opinion. Alright?" Mila looked back and forth between her two crewmates. Without an answer, she raised her voice. "Alright?!"
"Alright, alright." Aiden held up his hands, rolling away in the chair.
"Of course, Mila." Silas nodded, leaning on the edge of the desk.
Mila took a deep breath. "So ethically… morally… how do you feel about this whole situation with kidnapping and studying and doing experiments on those two humans?"
"Horrible," Silas answered first. "I mean, it's wonderful to know there is other intelligent life out there that's so similar to us. But, in good conscience, I can't do what the Senate's asking us to do."
Mila let out an exhaled, feeling relieved that Silas was with her. She looked to Aiden, raising an eyebrow in anticipation.
He crossed his arms. "It's completely fucked up."
Mila nodded. "Yes, it is. I'm glad we're all on the same page here."
"So what do we do now? Drop 'em back off on the planet?" Aiden asked.
"No, we can't." The captain shook her head. "The Senate will know if we take them back. And they'll be angry enough to send a team out here to arrest us, especially now after I've told Elias what's happened."
"Wait, you told them?!" Aiden cried out, exasperated. "Why don't you invite the entire Senate over while you're at it?"
"Aiden." Silas held out a hand to calm him. He looked to Mila. "What's the plan?"
"Clearly, we need to keep Elias and the Senate in the dark about the humans' true nature."
Silas nodded. "I can slow down my reports. And falsify whatever data they want to see."
"Good," Mila agreed. "Just make sure that you don't make Earth sound too easy to take over."
"Of course."
"Aiden," Mila started.
"Yeah?"
"We need to take out the cameras in the entire ship. Or at least disable their relay back home," Mila explained.
"No problem. This floating rust bucket has so many problems that fried cameras would have happened sooner or later." Aiden spun around in the swivel chair.
"Alright, so that deals with our Senate problem," Silas spoke up. "But how do we explain… everything to the humans?" He fiddled with his hands. "What about the female? The woman? She's seen you without your helmet on. I'd imagine she's probably in shock about the situation."
Mila ran her fingers through her hair. "Yeah, I know." She paused, thinking. "I think we just have to be forward with them. Tell them outright."
"And you expect them to understand?" Aiden chuckled.
Mila sighed. "I sure hope so. At this rate, all we can do is try."
"I agree." Silas nodded.
Aiden rolled his head around but eventually nodded. "Alright."
"Good." Mila stood up straight. "Aiden, deal with the cameras first. Then we'll all meet outside of the lower lab so we can go in and talk to them. Agreed?"
The two men nodded, but didn't immediately move.
Mila clapped her hands. "Let's go!"
Silas and Aiden quickly rushed out of the Maintenance Office with Mila close behind them.
Mila, Silas, and Aiden walked into the lower lab, watching the humans carefully as they lined up in front of the glass holding cell. They watched as the two humans stepped closer to the glass, the man stepping in front of the woman. The woman gave the man a brief look of annoyance before focusing on the crew.
"The fuck you freaks want?!" The woman yelled.
Mila sighed. "Helmets off," she ordered.
The three crew members took their helmets off at the same time, tucking them under their arms.
The man tried to hide his shock but was clearly surprised and confused. The woman only narrowed her eyes in anger and suspicion. "I said, what do you want?!" The woman repeated herself.
Mila answered for the entire crew. "We wanted to apologize."
The two humans froze, unsure of how to take this news.
"To start at the beginning, my name is Mila Lexa. I'm the captain here and this is my crew. Silas Haze, science officer. Aiden Vyse, engineer and security officer." Mila hoped an introduction would quell the initial anger and confusion the humans felt.
"Nice… nice to meet you," the man answered first.
The woman punched him in the arm. "What the hell are you doing? Being friendly with the fucking aliens that kidnapped us?!"
"That's what we wanted to talk to you about," Silas started. "Back on our planet, our governing body, the Senate, ordered us to conduct reconnaissance and research your planet. They were just as interested in other intelligent life in the galaxy, as I'm sure you are. Initially, we were just supposed to conduct geological research, mainly flora, fauna, soil, air, water, the like. From our positions as observers, we saw, or rather we thought all humans were… savages, barbarians. Fighting just to fight. Destroying whatever remained on the surface. But then…"
"But then when the Senate forced our hands," Aiden lifted up a hand, "literally, they forced our hands. I had to tranquilize you… capture the two of you, based on Silas' search for good human representatives. And now the Senate wants us to study you so they can find out if they can…"
Mila, Silas, and Aiden all looked at each other, unsure if Aiden's thought should be finished.
"Well?" The woman crossed her arms.
"If they can take over your planet," Mila finished.
"Take over? Like invade and conquer?" The man asked, concern bunching between his brows.
Mila nodded solemnly.
The woman huffed, holding her head in her hands, walking around the holding cell. The man went up to her, putting a hand on her arm to calm her down.
"But we promise that's not going to happen, so long as we have something to do about it." Silas stepped forward.
"Which is?" The woman looked over to Silas, clearly angry.
Silas remained calm. "We don't know yet, specifically. At the moment, we're just trying to keep the Senate in the dark about you two. And how humans aren't crazed savages always searching out a fight."
The woman snorted. "Maybe some, but not all. Some of us are still stupid idiots who feel the need to kill and destroy all the time."
Silas narrowed his eyes, taking a mental note of her comment.
"So?" The man went up to the glass, getting as close as he could. "Now what?"
"Well, if you think it prudent, telling us your names might be nice," Mila inquired as politely as she could.
The man looked to the woman, sensing her distrust. He opened his mouth to speak but she shook her head, staring at him intensely. He turned to face the crew, regardless of his companion's reservations. "My name is Marco."
The woman seethed with anger, crossing her arms.
"It's nice to meet you, Marco." Silas smiled.
Marco gestured to the woman. "This is Valerie."
"Seriously?!" Valerie shouted.
Mila stepped up to the glass. "Valerie. I hope you can believe me when I say, for the three of us, that we want to make this right by you. We don't want to invade, we don't want a war."
Valerie moved towards Mila, a few inches of glass the only thing separating them. "'Make this right?' How about you make it right by letting us out of here."
"We can't do that," Aiden adjusted his grip on his rifle. "Not now, with what you know."
"Was that threat supposed to scare me?" Valerie lifted an eyebrow at Aiden, unimpressed.
Aiden narrowed his eyes, trying to hide the brief smile that flashed across his face.
"Please," Mila took a deep breath. "You'll only have to stay in there just for tonight. We'll get you better living quarters while we figure out how to explain everything to the Senate."
"Hm, so we'll be upgraded from prisoners to being under house arrest. Nice, great," Valerie rolled her eyes.
Marco put a hand on Valerie's shoulder. "Try to make the best of a bad situation, alright?"
Valerie took a deep, calming breath. "We need food and water."
"I, uh… we…" Mila stuttered, kicking herself over something she should have prepared for.
Valerie cut in. "I have food and water in my backpack, if you were so inclined to bring it here."
Mila looked to Silas and Aiden, who both eventually nodded back at her. "Sure, of course. We want you well taken care of."
"And how about getting our clothes back?" Valerie gestured to her nearly naked body.
Mila felt flush with embarrassment, still shocked at herself for letting Silas de-robe them. "I'll see what we can do."
Valerie rolled her eyes again, turning her back to the crew, clearly signaling the conversation was over.
Mila waved at Silas and Aiden, the three of them leaving the lower lab. Once the door shut, Mila sighed.
"Well that went great," Aiden spoke first, his voice lacking sarcasm.
"Aiden," Mila answered sternly, "Aiden, can you just-" She calmed herself. "Could you please get the food and water from Valerie's backpack and bring it to them?"
"How am I supposed to know what their food looks like?" Aiden asked.
"I'll help," Silas offered.
"Thank you," Mila nodded.
"Anything else?" Silas inquired, hopeful.
Mila slowly shook her head. "No."
Silas swallowed his disappointment. "Alright."
The crew split, with Aiden and Silas moving to get Valerie's backpack from the hangar and Mila heading towards her room to strategize their next moves.