Chapter 6

Inside the room in the stern of the craft, Noaha and the Mini didn't see anything but an empty room, until Noaha decided to stand on the deck.

When Noaha's feet touched the deck a ripple began to shimmer outward and a portion of the deck began to bulge upward at the other end of the room.

As they watched, the bulge became a rounded form filling the end of the room, which then stopped. After a moment, noises began to issue from the general direction of the form.

The sounds stopped, then began again but sounded the same as the first time. Noaha began to wonder if the craft was attempting to communicate with them.

Noaha turned to the probe and said, "Can you translate what it is saying?"

The Mini, which until that moment had no clue that anyone was in the area, sprouted sensors, and focused them on the location Noaha's voice, seemed to emanate from. After a moment it said, "Who is there?"

Noaha realized that he was still bending light and stopped, allowing his form to become visible. "Just me," he replied.

"Noaha, how did you get in here?" It asked.

Grinning impishly Noaha replied, "Followed you and Father in from the entrance."

"Where is Patti?" The probe asked.

"With Father at the bow," Noaha replied.

"I might have known," the Mini replied. "Well, to answer your question ... maybe, if I had some reference with, which to work."

"Let's get a little closer and see if it reacts differently," Noaha said. "With my telekinetic shield I shouldn't be in any danger if it becomes aggressive."

The Mini pondered that statement for a nanosecond and could see no fault, but paused and said, "We should contact Hoot and Patti in case something does happen."

"You're correct of course," Noaha replied, "I will contact them now."

In the bow, large strings of symbols had begun to scroll across some of the surfaces. Then images of odd-looking humanoid objects in strange scenes began to appear, followed by unintelligible sounds emanating from the air.

Patti, have you and Father discovered anything at the bow or is anything happening? Noaha inquired.

Yes, Patti replied, The whole of the bridge surface seems to be a hologram that is showing the surrounding space, is currently showing a script of some type along with graphics, and is emitting sounds that could possibly be an attempt to communicate.

We don't seem to have all the fancy special effects back here but it does appear to be trying to communicate. The Mini and I will attempt to translate and get back with you, Noaha said

Okay bro, catch you later, Patti replied.

Hoot had been monitoring the communication between the two siblings and studying the text and graphics at the same time. He decided to try mirroring the text. As he did, he was able actually to read some of the text. Turning to Patti, he said, "It is a repeating message stating where it is from and the history of their race. Would you relay that to Noaha, Patti?"

In the stern, Noaha received the report from Patti and wondered, since the text appeared, mirrored could the verbal message be the same? "Did you receive the transmission from the bridge?" Noaha asked the Mini.

"Yes, I am recording the sounds emanating from the ship, and will mirror them back to you," The Mini replied.

A moment later, the Mini began to verbalize the message, "We were the Metloto, a peaceful race, our primary is dying, and since you are aboard this vessel, our primary has gone nova. This vessel contains the history of our race and is the storage container of all of our accumulated knowledge.

"We placed the vessel in a facility at the farthest reaches of our solar system to await the time when out primary was near collapse. The collapse of the primary would provide the catalyst for launch of the vessel but the propulsion system would be lost from the vessel in the process.

"The drive used on this vessel caused living tissue to invert and was unsuitable for transport of living organisms. We were unable to develop a variant that would allow our race to leave our system and decided that at least we could attempt to allow our legacy possibly to benefit another race.

"To access the knowledge and story of the Metloto, simply ask for the information you wish to study in you own language, the vessel should be able to understand, and provide it for you.

We hope it is of some use to you. Farewell."

"Well, that solves that mystery," Noaha said.

"That is true," Mini, answered. "Now the investigation of the knowledge contained in this vessel begins."

Joda analyzed the entirety of the ship but found nothing hazardous, so the decision to envelope the ship in a shared telekinetic bubble, and fold it in conjunction with Joda to Creator Earth for study became fact.

Once parked in a geostationary orbit, the ship became the Mecca of Alliance scientists of all disciplines, and promised many months, if not years of research.

KS-9620-Cheetah, commissioned after the Wave decimated the Fleet, as the number indicated its place in the 10,000 ship strong revitalized Fleet. One-hundred-nine folds to new sites of interest under its belt, with maybe 1% of those viable, and with no hostile life forms encountered, had just dropped out of fold headed for one-hundred-ten.

The Crew of five on the AI controlled vessel was alert; the insertion was seamless as usual with all sensors, senses, and shields at maximum.

Nothing noted at first but within a few moments, a faint return appeared, and steadily grew closer. Greetings sent in all known languages, with mental messages as well received no reply.

Several hours elapsed; the return arrived within 1,500 miles, and stopped. No communication, no movement for a full cycle, and then an energy signature became apparent.