Part 20: Concern
bintananth
behind a desk
Low Earth Orbit
Captain Anewe of the Chizoban destroyer Constel was annoyed.
He was on a diplomatic courtesy call to Earth and The Chizoba Academy of Sciences had just sent him another request for scans of the Llyrian stealth shuttle his ship was hosting. There was also a large Terran warship keeping a very close eye on the Constel.
The Chizoban diplomat he was ferrying was on Earth to discuss trade agreements. The Llyrian captain he also brought along was also on Earth. The reasons she was there were so classified that the Admiral who ordered him to take her to and from Earth simply said "That's above MY pay grade." when he wanted to know why.
He was ignoring the Science Academies' request because the six Constel-class destroyers each mounted a 50TW Llyrian resonance cannon designed for all-axis close-range point defence which were pulled from museums and provided free of charge.
Turning that on would redline his reactor and he wasn't going to do something which might irritate an ally who gave his people a weapons system designed to provide a two light-second shell of "you don't want to be here" around his unshielded ship that small children used to see while on school field trips.
He'd also seen the stern lecture The Chizoba Academy of Sciences got from a Llyrian toddler after they dissassembled one of the provided ones despite being told don't do that by Llyrian adults.
He was very relieved when a member of his crew "repairing a malfunctioning shuttle bay door" came back inside and said "it's repaired".
****
"Captain Anewe, permission to come aboard."
"Granted. I pray your mission was a success?" was the reply.
"Only if they listened. I fear they won't." was Lindiwe's reply.
****
FTL Propulsion Laboratory, Seita, Ceres
"What's this?" Asked Dr. Cortez
"A second set of sensor logs."
Dr. Cortez plugged the drive he'd been handed into his workstation. After a bit he turned to his boss and said. "This is amazing. It matches our readings but is far more precise. Who recorded this?"
"That's classified, and that's what I was afraid of."
"Why?"
"It was hand delivered by an alien two days ago."
Captain Anewe of the Chizoban destroyer Constel was annoyed.
He was on a diplomatic courtesy call to Earth and The Chizoba Academy of Sciences had just sent him another request for scans of the Llyrian stealth shuttle his ship was hosting. There was also a large Terran warship keeping a very close eye on the Constel.
The Chizoban diplomat he was ferrying was on Earth to discuss trade agreements. The Llyrian captain he also brought along was also on Earth. The reasons she was there were so classified that the Admiral who ordered him to take her to and from Earth simply said "That's above MY pay grade." when he wanted to know why.
He was ignoring the Science Academies' request because the six Constel-class destroyers each mounted a 50TW Llyrian resonance cannon designed for all-axis close-range point defence which were pulled from museums and provided free of charge.
Turning that on would redline his reactor and he wasn't going to do something which might irritate an ally who gave his people a weapons system designed to provide a two light-second shell of "you don't want to be here" around his unshielded ship that small children used to see while on school field trips.
He'd also seen the stern lecture The Chizoba Academy of Sciences got from a Llyrian toddler after they dissassembled one of the provided ones despite being told don't do that by Llyrian adults.
He was very relieved when a member of his crew "repairing a malfunctioning shuttle bay door" came back inside and said "it's repaired".
****
"Captain Anewe, permission to come aboard."
"Granted. I pray your mission was a success?" was the reply.
"Only if they listened. I fear they won't." was Lindiwe's reply.
****
FTL Propulsion Laboratory, Seita, Ceres
"What's this?" Asked Dr. Cortez
"A second set of sensor logs."
Dr. Cortez plugged the drive he'd been handed into his workstation. After a bit he turned to his boss and said. "This is amazing. It matches our readings but is far more precise. Who recorded this?"
"That's classified, and that's what I was afraid of."
"Why?"
"It was hand delivered by an alien two days ago."