Vines
The closest thing this little incident had to an upside - other than no harm having come to anyone - was that Admiral Serrat had been on the line when Williams was notified. There wasn't any down time in getting this new information looped back to command in Sol, and the brain trust they were supposed to filter every action regarding the alien technology through could get right to interpreting what this meant.
The flow of light that errant touch started didn't turn off afterwards, so it was another piece of the puzzle they were supposed to be figuring out.
Alex had thought it quite obviously meant they needed to have people matching the rest of the carvings come on over and touch the pedestal too. But Command wanted to avoid making these decisions off the cuff, even if it felt like the decision making process was being made as convoluted as possible.
Sure, he understood the why of it. Having a dedicated team that was remotely located poring over their data and advising action did make sense. They were removed from any potential influence on the Artifact, and this also put a roadblock up to keep anyone from making rash decisions on purpose.
They did agree with his assessment of what the Artifact wanted them to do, and that they should do it. That was nice.
Neya, being the only Zeshen in Sol, was immediately tapped and put in the express lane through the process to get her cleared to go to the Artifact. Apparently she was going to be getting a physical and then shipped over later that day.
Carbon had kept a straight face the entire time that conversation was ongoing. Alex had mentioned at dinner that he and the Zeshen they were sending over had met in passing at one point. Just to add some cover, because this had not been discussed as part of the plan. In theory, if other Tsla'o had to be dispatched, they were supposed to be aware of Alex, but not really having much knowledge of him.
Neya had a lot of knowledge about him, and while she did an excellent job of acting like Carbon when taking her place, well... This wasn't the same thing. If she acted like she didn't remember him specifically, it had just been a brief meeting. If not, he had been memorable in some way. Easy.
In the meantime, they were having him finish putting the Corvin back together. The untampered parts had finished printing, and Carbon had replaced the nose ribs, so it was just down to putting the cockpit back together. All the parts to the instrument panel were plug and play so it was easy enough for the guy who undid most of it to reverse the process.
He had gotten it all done that morning, and the Hokule'a was running diagnostics by lunch time.
"Yes, for fuck's sake. It was an accident. Oh my god." Alex had reiterated that at least a hundred million times since he had touched the pedestal, on accident. He was getting a little exasperated - particularly since it had started off as command being upset, but had quickly grown into everyone giving him shit about it once they found it it was the second time he had done this exact thing.
"I'm just busting your ass, man. Relax." Crenshaw chuckled as he dumped his lunch tray into the recycler. He'd never accidentally touched anything made by aliens, apparently, so it was real funny when someone else did it.
Alex grumbled in response and ate his sandwich. He'd gone for a ruben, but was eating with an aggressive amount of frustration right now and not tasting it. Maybe it was good. That was something to find out another day.
Amalu watched Crenshaw depart, lips pulled thin, antenna shifted down. Conflicted as he glanced at Zheng sitting beside him, and then to Alex across the table. It was clear that he wasn't used to feeling stuck between people he was friendly with - or had a duty to. "I have heard the Empire is only sending the Zeshen for a day. Is that true?"
"That's what I've heard, too." Alex said around a bite of corned beef and rye bread.
Carbon had told him the plan thus far was to get Neya over, touch the thing, and then send her back to take a run through the modified quarantine system. It had been shortened significantly, apparently they were running sensors on this side of the portal to keep an eye out for things the Navy would prefer not come back through with anyone. No hits meant they weren't exposed to anything, in theory, and some advanced bioscanners from the Tsla'o had been set up on the other side of the portal.
Apparently those could do a full body nanometer scan so fast they were walk-through. A machine analysis of that scan took longer, but it was a small price to pay. Explained why they had so many servers set up over there.
That bit of news was fine by Alex. A week in quarantine had sucked.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
"Do you think I will be able to meet her?" He sounded curious, more than anything.
Come to think of it... Despite being on Alex's security team, Amalu hadn't met Neya yet. He had been invited along with their party for Winter's Nadir, but had gravitated to Keta and Desaya more than anyone. They were a little older but from similar backgrounds, so the three had hit it off pretty well. "I assume so. Didn't Williams say you were cleared to be the Tsla'o male for this stage of the puzzle?"
Alex didn't know for sure that it was a puzzle but it really felt like one.
He shrugged and looked a little sheepish, scooting noodles around in his tray idly. Of the three Tsla'o males on the expedition, he was the one that stepped forward first. Williams wanted volunteers, not people ordered to grope the alien hardware on a guess. Alex had been fine, so that may have bolstered his confidence. "Yes. I just did not know if I would be allowed to speak to her."
That statement got a weird look from Zheng. Mostly confused, and perhaps a brief flash of jealousy as well. "Why would you not be allowed to talk to her? Is that translation accurate?"
Alex nodded. It had been, according to his immersion translator, which should be running the same dictionary, less the custom items he had added. "Yeah. There's not that many Zeshen, they're kind of secretive."
"Yes, they have a place in our society that I am told Human society does not have, while they are low born they often work with nobles and are elevated into the highest levels of our government." Amalu left out a lot of details there. "I have seen her before, but at the time did not feel confident enough to actually speak to her."
Nadir had been like two weeks ago, had this assignment really bolstered him so much already? It still left Alex curious. How did the actual regular folks see Zeshen? The little circle of ladies Neya had been sitting with during Nadir had seemed comfortable, and the kids hadn't given treating her like any other adult a second thought. Hell, that toddler used her tail as a pillow. "So would you say it's kind of like meeting a famous person for you?"
"Yes, I suppose it is? One is not afforded the opportunity to see them often, let alone have the chance to introduce one's self." The more Amalu spoke about this, the more formal sounding his speech became. He looked like he wanted to keep talking, his gaze shifting from Alex and Zheng before a little bit of resolve crystalized in him. "A few generations ago my bloodline had a Zeshen. I am told she passed a few years after I was born. She met me, but I never met her... and I carry the recessive gene."
There was a strange amount of shame in the way his ears and antenna drooped, a very, very fast glance over at Zheng after that admission.
"That is... interesting." Linda Zheng had no idea what he meant by that. "I'm sorry you never got to meet her properly. And that gene, it is not harmful to you, is it?"
Alex had almost no idea what Amalu meant by that and he was the Tsla'o whisperer as far as the other Humans were concerned, but he was picking up some unspoken feelings from both of them here.
"No, it has presented no issues as far as my health is concerned." Amalu looked like he was fresh out of that new confidence already, and the way he jumped when his comm chimed said the tank was actually empty. He checked the message, and took a moment to compose himself as he clipped the lid back onto his mostly empty tray. "The Zeshen is enroute to the artifact. I am expected to be there for her arrival, I should prepare. Thank you both, I hope we will speak again soon."
He bowed to both of them before bussing his tray and leaving.
Alex shook his head, a quiet laugh at how unnecessary that was. "It's funny how formal he gets when he's nervous."
"It is pretty cute." Zheng replied, getting her dishes in order as well. "If the Zeshen is about to arrive, I need to go help Carbon with the wayward power cells."
The biggest piece of news that had come from the meeting with Admiral Serrat was that he didn't react in a suspicious manner when the smuggled power cells were revealed to him. He was used to secrecy, being in Naval Research, but appeared disturbed that some part of the supply chain was being tampered with so deeply that an engine that shouldn't exist and a bypass had been installed in the Corvin somewhere before arriving on their side of the portal.
Serrat had requested the power cells be sent back now, because they had been more clearly sent with intent to bypass checks - the items on the pallets could have been accidental, and he was fine with those being secured or destroyed as Williams saw fit out of an abundance of caution. The Falcatas were grounded - Zheng had taken a couple of sensors off each engine so any attempt to start it would fail. Two big grav sleds were being sent through to retrieve them with Neya, untampered units would be forthcoming shortly.
Alex checked his watch. Forty minutes until his diagnostics would be done.
Might as well go meet Neya too.
He scarfed down the rest of the sandwich - it was pretty good now that he was actually tasting it - and zipped his jacket up before cycling through the airlock and stepping back out into the cold, blinding noon-ish sun.