Date: May 3rd, 2235
"My what?" Tom asked, completely confounded.
Surrender? Is this alien actually asking for my surrender? The poor thing is shaking like a leaf, He pondered.
"Y-Your surrender. I'm here to accept it... Accept it from your leader or leaders specifically," Teresh stuttered, the device around their neck blinking blue with a robotic voice delivering it in sterile English.
"Okay, well... can we talk about that after you get medical attention? You look to be wounded," Tom explained, seeing a bit of dark red on its neck.
It looks more superficial than anything, not a deep cut. That knife though, did he try to stab himself? Tom analyzed, falling back on some of his training.
From what Tom could make out, the creature before him was bipedal like himself. Looks to be around four and a half feet tall, tops. Almost no muscle to speak of, clearly not a very physically strong species; or individual at the very least. The alien resembled a large avian in many ways, though it had two arms in addition to two sets of wings. What really stood out to him was the aliens face. It was shockingly human in many ways; in that it was able to express itself with the movement of its eyes and shorter beak. Tom was clearly able to see fear in its eyes, the slight shake of its feathers. Even more interestingly, it had a crown of feathers around the back of its head that dipped up and down, with its green feathers even shifting colors on occasion. He had thought it was the lighting at first, but it seemed this alien possessed some kind of camouflage ability or similar. Good lord, the biologists were going to have the discovery of the millennia when they got to him.
However, for now, he needed to assess the situation. Starting at the beginning:
The alien hailed all available frequencies and made no attempt to hide itself. It wasn't aware of the local electromagnetic fields so it's message was garbled and self-contained. The craft it arrived in didn't look to possess any weapons, and it freely complied to relinquish its ship. It is terrified of me to an extent, that much is obvious. At some point recently it had cut itself, either accidentally or an attempt to take its own life. Lastly, it is here to accept my surrender, or the surrender of humanity.
With all this in mind, Tom came to the most probable conclusion: Wherever this alien is from, it was sent here to perform this task but without any aid or support from armed forces. Meaning that it is considered expendable in some way or belonging to a pacifist organization. If I can discern what entity or government sent it here, we can begin to form a strategy for the defense of earth if need be.
While he was thinking, the alien was still shivering and terrified. Mustering a weak, "I will accept aid if you offer it. As a diplomat, I simply ask that you do not maim, brainwash, or torture me. It will not reflect well on your species."
He seems to think that we're a cruel, violent race for some reason. He's not entirely wrong, but I doubt he knows our history, Tom surmised.
"Again, not going to hurt you. If you'd allow, I'd like to take you to our medical ward. I can take care of that wound for you, if you'd allow," Tom relayed, keeping his tone calm and steady.
"W-What of the others, how do I know you will not attack me once I'm surrounded?" Teresh chirped.
"I'll get them to wait in the bridge. All I ask is that you put the weapon away. I won't be armed either," he replied.
He could see the gears in the alien's head turning. Building a rapport with Teresh would help make the process easier. He'd could get Ally and Maxim to head back to the bridge, but man the comms so they could record and monitor everything. Cleaning and helping them with their wounds should build a level of trust, one that he can use to discover more about the alien.
YOU ARE READING
Negotiations Underway
General FictionThe Valaxi Empire has sent an envoy to Earth to accept their surrender on the Empire's behalf. It's supposed to be a simple diplomatic mission. What could possibly go wrong?
