Traveler by S E Anderson

Author:S E Anderson [Anderson, S E]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bolide Publishing Limited
Published: 2018-04-26T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Crash Course In Space History 101

We sat on the stairs of the justice building staring into the empty city, not saying a word.

I don't know how long we stared over that stoop, but it felt like hours. Maybe it had been only minutes. My sense of time was warped, and I was exhausted from planet-lag. Not to mention all the crap we had been thrown into in the past few—how had it only been hours?

"So, let me get this straight," Kork said, letting out a long, strenuous breath. "They want one of us to stay here while one of them goes back to Pyrina? What do they want to negotiate, exactly?"

"This is not the correct first contact protocol," said Two. "You have skipped one hundred seventy-three preliminary steps."

"Where were you an hour ago?" Kork grumbled.

"At your side," Two replied. "Assimilating."

"I think you'll find I did not start first contact on behalf of the Alliance," said Zander. "I did it as a private citizen, and not even an Alliance citizen at that. I talked to them earnestly as me, a private enterprise looking for a way off this planet. Kork will not be held accountable for how disastrous that went."

“Not that disastrous,” I said. “I mean, we’re alive, aren’t we?”

"Still, we have to decide who's staying and fast," the captain urged. "I would vote on leaving Two, but he doesn't speak a lick of whatever they do."

"But Zander and I do, that's what you're saying," I said. "You don't, so it's not worth you staying."

"Well, when you put it like that."

"Logically, I would be the best person to leave. I'm useless to the crew," I said, surprised at how calm I was when I pushed out those words. They hadn't hit me yet, I guessed. Everything about space travel was about delayed reaction, and I was still processing the bit about not finding Earth, let alone the time thing, and the fact we had crashed on this stupid planet.

"No," Kork said. "This mission is between the Alliance and the people of—what did they call their planet? Aeros? Area? This mission is between the Alliance and the Aorians. You don't have to put yourself in here."

"What are you suggesting? That you stay?" Zander asked. "The captain of the Traveler? With a crew waiting for you to save them?"

"It's not the best solution," said Kork, "but if I have to, I will. I'll learn how to speak their language. I'll represent the Alliance. I'll ... I don't know. I don't even understand what just happened. Human colonies? What were you going on about?"

"Ancient history," said Zander. "It's complicated."

"Well, spill," I said. "How did we find humans on the other side of the galaxy? Who are they to us?"

"Distant relatives." He chuckled like he was in on some inside joke. "Oh boy, this takes me back. Long, long ago, humans evolved to their advanced state on a large, nurturing planet named Kalhuta. But you know humans. Their curiosity got the better of them.

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