Mindshard (ON HOLD)

Meet and Greet

  “They’ve got to be out of their minds.”  Finn muttered as he and Vaughn stepped through the Ops entrance and into the corridor beyond, walking briskly as they made their way to the closest shuttle train access.

  “Sending just the two of us, a colonel in the marines and a xenobiologist as the First Contact team.”  He glanced over at a determined looking Vaughn.

  “The brass have their reasons.”  Vaughn countered without looking at him.

     Finn snorted.

  “Yeah, they want to make sure we fail so they can have a scapegoat when everything goes to hell.  The Directorate wants to be able to deny culpability.”

     That earned the wiry scientist a stabbing glance.

  “Not only an egghead, but a conspiracy theorist as well, hey?” Vaughn hissed as she returned her eyes to the front.

  “Better than some goose-stepping neo-nazi.”  Finn retorted.  “That has no problem blindly following orders.”

  “Best be careful with your words, my good doctor.”  Vaughn rasped coldly.  “Or you’ll find one particular neo-nazi’s goose-stepping boot up your ass.”

     Finn almost couldn’t help the smile that touched his lips at the marine officer’s taut reply.  It hadn’t taken long to get under Vaughn’s skin which either suggested she was sensitive to begin with, or she had questions of her own about this assignment.  Going by the look on her face, the latter appeared to be the case.  And for good reason: the theoretical protocols going into a First Contact situation were extensive.  He should know; he collaborated with some of the protocol authors while at Carson in formulating the damn things.

     Not only were government representatives supposed to be in attendance, including specialized diplomats trained in dealing with alien cultures and societies, but scientists trained in various disciplines dealing with non-terrestrial life as well.  Finn frowned as the two of them strode around a corner and stepped into one of the main corridors feeding out of the DESE sector and into the station’s heart.  The access point to the transit tube was only ten more metres, there, on the left.  At least they were making lip service to the second condition.

     But the presence of a military officer, that was something the protocol authors definitely wanted to avoid.  There were too many variables introduced into a volatile situation when a show of force was made to an unknown party.  Of course, that was assuming the unknown party recognized the show of force as such.  For all they knew, these aliens could be so far advanced they could consider such a display as pathetic and primitive.  Or they could be threatened and decide to bring some of those massive battleships in from the system fringe to deal with it.

     Almost as if she was reading his mind, Vaughn spoke.

  “We need to make a slight detour before the docking ring, doctor.  I shouldn’t be showing up to this little meeting in my uniform.  It could introduce a variable into the situation we may have difficulty diffusing later.”

  “Uh, good idea.”  Finn favored the dark skinned marine with another look.  As tall as he was, she was more than imposing in her uniform.  And, in one swift gesture, made him believe there was much more going on behind those chocolate brown eyes than he first thought.

     The ride to the docking bays via tube train was quick, barely enough time for Finn and Vaughn to mentally put themselves together for their meeting with an alien species.  As the tube blurred by the car’s window, the wiry xenobiologist struggled to determine what he’d say and do if the situation deviated from expected pathways.  Hundreds, if not thousands of things could go wrong and he wanted to be at least a little prepared for each one of them, as impossible as that seemed.

     Vaughn, on the other hand, worked on keeping calm.  As a marine, she had made jumps into hot LZs with enemy fire spraying all around her, had gone house to house hunting terrorists with nothing left to lose, and had faced mechanized infantry rolling down a hill on her position with nothing more than a shock rifle in her hands.  But she had never faced the type of situation she was about to.  First Contact was so far outside her realm of experience, she couldn’t comprehend what she would do if things suddenly went awry.  And that uncertainty, in a woman who had everything in its own separate box for her life, was causing not a little nervousness.

     That nervousness continued well after the tube had let them out in the docking bay area, she had changed into civilian clothes and they had made their way to Bay 1 to await the shuttle’s arrival.  It affected her behavior so much that finally Finn looked over at her, a frown on his face.

  “Are you going to be all right?”  He asked, genuine concern in the wiry scientist’s voice.

     Vaughn kept her eyes on the toes of her shoes.

  “Well enough to see the mission done.”  She rasped, using force of will to push her nerves and fear into the back of her mind.  Her concerns alleviated for the time being, she straightened her shoulders and looked up.

  “Although I have to admit I’d feel better in several kilos of hardened combat armor with a shock rifle in my hands.”

     Finn grimaced.  As much as he hated to say it, so would he.

     At least they had plenty of places to hide here, in the waiting area.  An extensive chamber, the Bay 1 waiting area was a good twenty metres by twenty, and three high, rows of plastic seats marching up one side, and a computer terminal and check-in desk standing by the heavy doors marking the entrance.  Ceiling to floor windows along both walls looked through heavy plastic out into clean, hard space, providing a view of the bay itself, on the end of its boom and any vehicle that was drawing up to, or into it.  The back wall, through which they had stepped to enter the waiting area, was full of storage bins, both with doors and without for luggage and other belongings passengers didn’t wish to take with them.  If he squeezed, he could fit into one of the lockers with a door.

     Then Vaughn tensed, the movement enough to pull Finn’s attention to her.

  “What?”  He hissed.

  “They’re here.”  She tersely replied and Finn felt a wave of nervousness wash through him.  No matter how many times they had talked about it in the Xeno Sciences Department at Carson, nothing prepared him for this: the actual meeting of an alien species.  ‘Damn, I hope I don’t puke.’  He darkly mused, eyes hard as they stared at the entrance.

  “Attention, the bay is now sealed and passengers are disembarking.”  A pleasant woman’s voice noted from speakers built into the ceiling.  “If you are waiting for a passenger, they will be arriving in the waiting area shortly.”

  “Groovy.”  Finn muttered.  The butterflies in his stomach abruptly became Andean condors.  A step away Vaughn fidgeted, her unconscious mind flooded with anxiety that her conscious mind was working to suppress.  Finding no other outlet, that anxiety was now sending ripples of nervous twitching through the lean colonel’s muscles.

  “Waiting for someone?”  A soft, cultured voice asked from behind them without warning, making Finn jump and Vaughn swear out loud.

  “Sir.”  She began as she turned towards the speaker, expecting to find some station personnel that had wandered by accident into the area.  “I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to, . . .”

  “Leave?”  The voice finished when Vaughn’s failed, her eyes flying wide at what she found standing in the waiting area’s entrance.

     Hearing his erstwhile partner stammer into silence, Finn glanced at her with a frown before twisting around to see who stood there with enough surprise to have shocked a marine colonel into a mute.  And almost immediately found his voice missing as well.

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