“We are being hailed.”

Finally. Kelsie jumped up from the oddly uncomfortable captain’s chair. The Zetans seemed to have beaten them in contacting the battleship first and now their delegations have apparently been engaged in a very long talk. The suspense was killing her, she wished she had at least some information about who the people on the big ship were. Or if they even were people. “So, how did they respond?”

“Um…,” Parker hesitated, “the transmission is not coming from any of the ships. It seems to be coming through the Gateway.” He re-checked the screen. “It’s the Grand General.”

Awesome. Just awesome. [i]Maybe he will just order someone to execute me and so I won’t get another chance to screw up with yet another technologically more advanced society,[/i] Kelsie thought. “Good, I will take it on my personal comlink. Meanwhile, transmit every piece of data we have obtained so far - scans of Earth, all the ships, the security footage, everything. Make sure it is encrypted.”

[hr]
[right][sub]([i]Addressing: [@Sigma])[/i][/sub][/right]

The call seemed to have taken forever. Pawlowski wanted to know all the details, they went through the security footage together, debated about every word the foreign delegations had said. Surprisingly, at the end of it, not only he didn’t order her execution, but he actually praised her for making the right choice. Apparently, his stance on the Zetans was even more strict than hers. Officially, there was no business to be done with them.

Just as she ended the call and thought she would get a moment's rest, she got called back to the bridge.

“So, the ship is called Alamo and belongs to a state called the United Republic of Columbia. They have agreed to accept our delegation on board and sent us docking instructions.”

Alamo. Columbia. Those names had some vague meaning to her, something from Earth’s history. Hopefully, they won’t be another old Earth fanatics like the ECU. “Can we even do that?”

“Well, fortunately, someone thought to add an extendable airlock bridge to the ship. But whether it will work… no idea.”

“That’s just perfect.” Kelsie rolled her eyes. “Call Miss Petrova, she is coming with me. You are in charge, while I am gone. If anything happens, and I mean [i]anything[/i], you immediately detach and make a run for it. If these guys prove to be hostile, we need to warn the high command.”

Parker saluted her. “Good luck.”

Julianna was already at the airlock, and so was Harding. “Surely you will not take my assistant on this vital diplomatic mission,” he said with a threat not very subtly hidden in his voice.

“Commander Harding, I would never endanger the life of such an important scientist as you by taking you to a potentially hostile situation on board an unknown ship. I was just telling Major Parker that if anything goes wrong, he is to take the ship back through the Gateway immediately, leaving us behind. Your research is too important for Ellara, we cannot afford to let you fall into enemy hands,” Kelsie explained as calmly as she could. She has about had it with this guy.

He stormed out, gritting his teeth, knowing exactly what she was doing, but couldn’t say a word about it.

“You should be careful around the Commander,” Julianna said quietly. “He is a powerful man.”

“Honestly, unless he is blowing the Grand General on a daily basis, I don’t care. And maybe even then.” Kelsie has worked hard for her position, so she could afford to be a bit arrogant about it.

Julianna giggled. “As you think.”

A series of soft thumps signaled the airlock connecting to the other vessel and the green light that a stable pressure was achieved. The two women slowly walked through, entering the Colombian ship.