All That Glitters Ch. 02

"We think the previous inhabitants of this system have been returning periodically to intern significant members of their society. The last one having taken place 360 years ago. That means they are still somewhere close by. Please note, this is a cemetery that is still being used. So, any work on these people will have to be done in a manner that doesn't disturb them. That is paramount.

"And this is why." Clark flipped up the images of the other station. "What you are looking at is my approach to what turned out to be an alien mining station." As he approached the station, it became obvious to the military personnel that it had been attacked.

The view turned to the inside of the station and the second big shock of the day, as the staff of the NS Wimple were introduced to the second example of alien life in as many minutes. "Holy Shit!" Cdr Bright blurted. More images appeared and it was obvious that serious injury had been imposed on the bodies. There was silence in the room as Clark flipped through his images.

Clark reached down and pulled something from a box on the floor, placing it on the table. A large grey metal object rested on the table. It looked something akin to a musical instrument, with tubes running in circles around it and a small bell-shaped aperture at one end. There were several buttons on the instrument, but they were not placed in any manner that would be uncomfortable for a human to hold or to work.

"I have no idea what it is, what its purpose is, or how it is powered," Clark said to forestall any questions. "There is a vessel out there almost as large as this platform, with many bodies on board that we can dissect. My belief is that this station was attacked approximately 200 years ago, some forty years after it started working in system. It was completely destroyed and left as it was after the fact. The attackers have, apparently, taken any of their own bodies with them. Nothing was left behind to indicate who the raiders were.

"I think that they were attacked by the original inhabitants of the Piscium system. But that is only a guess.

"Liramor-23 has been operating here for twenty-four years now. If they hold true to form, then we can expect the original inhabitants back within sixteen years. This is the reason we need TUSN protection," Clark finished looking directly at Capt. Whatt.

Whatt was nodding his head. If the scientists confirmed what Clark said, then they would indeed be needed. "That means they don't have FTL capability," Whatt stated.

"My thoughts exactly. FTL is not intuitive. We discovered it by accident. I think the aliens on the mining platform did as well. Humans have had no contact with them as we moved outwards. So, they likely jumped into the system. They might have better jump capability than we do as they would have to have jumped more than seventy light years into this system or we would have encountered them already.

"The original Pisciums, however, are likely within a twenty-light year radius. Not all the systems around us have been explored. The star survey from the original exploration of this system indicates a couple of possible habitable planets within twenty light years off tangent to our direction of exploration. Had we checked those out, we might have stumbled on the Pisciums before now," he concluded.

"One last shock, people," Clark said with a smile. He called up the vid of the pod.

The guests looked on as they watched the oddly shaped vessel get closer to the camera. Then they were looking inside.

"Shit!!" Dr Hitron exclaimed.

"My best guess is that it is in suspended animation. In other words, it is alive. Anything that can keep something alive for a couple of hundred years is of significance to us, if it is compatible to human physiology.

"You now understand why this system has become important. You now understand the potential threat to the system. You also have an idea of some of the potential benefits to humankind.

"Any questions?" he finished.

It took him a further two hours before they finished the brief.

End of Chapter two.

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