8.19 - First contact | Stuck Station

8.19 - First contact

Jan 20 2012 Published by under Chapter Eight

There was a blast of that wonderful perfume — the same odor Trak had detected when Tour Guide teleported him for the first time — and a flash of light.

A creature appeared, floating in front of Trak about three feet off the ground. It looked like a cross between a blue balloon and a soda can. It had two thin arms and a series of metal lids attached to the top of its body.

Trak couldn’t be sure, but it also seemed to have no visible eyes.

“Hello?” it said.

Trak was surprised. He could understand its speech.

Unlike the Tour Guide, which oddly enough spoke a dialect of human,  the floating creature spoke in warbles and tweets.

The station's systems may have uploaded its language into my translator, Trak thought.  I hope it did the same  for Daniel and Rachel as well. It makes first contact easier.

Meeting a new species was always ... interesting. Especially for Trak.

Trak's datacore contained a number of contingency plans in the event of a first contact situation.

Unfortunately, most of them involved crushing pieces of the recently-discovered species until the creature was a smoothie of blood and bone.

Since couldn't do that anymore, Trak had to wing it.

Turning his full frame toward the floating creature, Trak introduced himself in what he hoped was a nonthreatening manner.

“Hello,” Trak said. “I greet you –

The creature flinched and spun 180 degrees, revealing its face.

It did have eyes. It had just been looking in a different direction.  It looked Trak up and down with its three white orbs.

“… in friendship,” Trak continued. “My name is Trak. It is an honor to –”

"Greetingsh,” it said, the sound coming from its sharp, curved beak.

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