[hr][b]SOL SYSTEM
MEETING PLACE
EARTH ORBIT[/b][hr]

Drifting between the NHS Hopeful and the station were a number of shuttles containing the surrogates of several New Havenist diplomats. At least that’s what they are now, before this they were simple advisors to the board of directors making sure that the flow between different departments of government ran smoothly. Now they’re being plunged into a situation they’d never faced before.

“Pilot, how long before we dock with the-” the young diplomat brings out holographic instructions before continuing her question, “the Undefeated! Yes, that’s right. What a peculiar name.”

The pilot simply replied, “We’ll be there in thirty minutes. We’ve already received docking instructions and are making preparations for the final approach.”

“Good, good…” His eyes darted around the cramped shuttle craft only to see the surrogate of none other than Dick Wazzinski who already had his hair frayed in all directions on his monitor.

“Alright! I think the connection to this surrogate is working! Are you excited Bobby?”

“More nervous than excited sir.”

“First contact with colonies other than our own and possible alien contact? How could you be nervous! This is amazing!” Dick’s surrogate excitedly clapped its hands before the holographic components calibrated to graft the appearance of Dick onto his surrogate.

“Well, I don’t want to bungle this up sir.”

“Don’t worry Bob! We’ll be fine.”

“I hope you’re right sir. I really don’t wanna get into a political incident with people we barely know.”

Kelsie was standing in the docs, awaiting the arrival of the New Haven Directorate delegation, dressed in her typical black uniform with just a simple symbol of the Undefeated on her shoulder. She took Julianna along, not wanting to be alone during the negotiations. Plus it was useful to have someone smart and inconspicuous to eye the technology of the newcomers to see how advanced they are.

“They are just a few minutes away,” the young scientist reported after checking a datapad in her hand. “Nervous?”

Was it that visible? “Well, you remember what happened after our glorious first meeting with the Zetans. Of course I’m nervous, I don’t want to screw this up and start a new war.” Kelsie took a deep breath and put on a neutral face. Somehow talking to people made her more nervous than killing them. Probably not a good thing for a diplomat.

The shuttle cruised in slowly and made it’s approach on the dock. It looked alien among the ships of the Undefeated. When it finally touched down, it extended its ramp to allow the holographically disguised androids to disembark.

Bobby, did the most obvious thing that came to his mind when he first laid eyes on the Undefeated welcoming party. He raised his hands, made the Vulcan peace sign and said, “Live long and prosper!”.

Dick of course, promptly dinged him in the head and disturbed the holographic projection enough for Bobby to notice.

“Ahahaha! Don’t mind my colleague, he’s very nervous! My name is Dick Wazzinski and I’m the Political Science Director of New Haven. The dunce with me is Bobby Cavenaugh, my advisor. On behalf of the New Haven Directorate, It’s a great pleasure to meet you.” Dick tried his best to act a little more professional for the sake of all New Havenists. He was determined not to allow Bobby and Hubert ruin its reputation any further.

Kelsie tried to mimic the gesture one of the men greeted them with, which proved surprisingly difficult. She stopped upon noticing Julianna chuckling quietly. When the second man smacked the first and his image blurred for a split second, revealing an android body underneath it, she instinctively reached for her gun, which of course wasn’t there, she couldn’t have come armed to a diplomatic meeting. Seriously, more robots? They didn’t look as dangerous as the Zetans, but you never know.

She took a deep breath. Robots or not, the Undefeated were supposed to be friendly towards everyone now. They couldn’t afford another open conflict with a new nation, not with the Xandalians peeking over their shoulders like some self-appointed peacekeepers. These guys at least seemed quite friendly.

“Welcome aboard the Meeting Place. I’m Guardian Kelsie Blackwood, a representative of the Undefeated nation. This is Miss Julianna Petrova, my science advisor.” Kelsie waved in Julianna’s direction and the girl bowed her head respectfully. “We are glad to meet yet another descendant of former Earth colonies. I imagine that you must have been swarmed with messages from all the representatives here. We don’t get new arrivals every day.” Kelsie smiled and tried to look friendly, constantly keeping an eye on the android guy. 

Julianna stepped a bit forward. “I have to say I commend your ingenuity, the thought of using a [i]remotely controlled[/i],” she stressed the words and gave Kelsie an important look, “android for negotiations never occurred to us.” 

Kelsie was relieved. Great, so no people turned into murdering machines, just a guy who is probably only being careful and sends a robot as a proxy. That made sense, he was most likely a big animal in their hierarchy and didn’t want to get killed or captured in case the talks took a wrong turn.

She quickly regained her composure and continued talking. “We have prepared a room for our meeting. I’m afraid that this section of the Meeting Place is not very eye-pleasing, but we build strictly for purpose, not aesthetics.” Kelsie pointed the New Haven representatives to one of the hallways leading out of the hangar.

“As expected of course of such forward thinking individuals.” Dick replied, trying to sound as pleasant as possible. It wasn’t lost on him that the woman appeared to have wanted to grab a gun but did not have one and he promptly followed up his reply, “Oh, and my apologies if we startled you with our technology. Lead Director Hubert was incredibly vague about how we were to conduct this.”

Bobby then looked at Dick then at the Undefeated and then back at Dick and said, “I think we were quite clear Dick.”

Dick then promptly smacked him in the head again. “You don’t mean that Bobby, the fault was clearly ours.” he slowly turned his head to look at Bobby and grunted the words, “Right Bobby?”

To which Bobby stiffened straight and said, “Y-yes whatever you say Director Wazzinski!”

Dick then turned towards the Undefeated and said, “Please lead on and feel free to ask us any questions about our humble nation. We have a lot of questions ourselves.”

Kelsie started walking, making sure the two guests were following her. There was really no need for any armed guards - it sent the wrong message and also there were enough soldiers moving through the hallways to assist them in case the delegation turned hostile. “I have to say you have made quite an impression with your initial message and especially the song around here.” Yes, she still remembered the brutal headache she got from it. But she tried to sound as serious as she possibly could, just in case these guys were some sort of musical fanatics and would take belittling that awful cacophony as a mortal insult. The Undefeated didn’t want another war, especially not a war over such a stupid thing as [i]music[/i]. “Is music such an important part of your culture?”

Wazzinski was taken aback by that question and he grimaced at the thought in his head, “That… That was the Lead Director’s idea, not mine. He’s… [i]a colorful[/i] man”. The thoughts of what they may imagine of New Havenists - not scientists, but morons who love music a little too much. For Wazzinski, it’s something he has to quickly correct.

Kelsie tried to maintain a polite smile. “Well, it was certainly the most original introduction of a new nation we’ve had here since the start, I can tell you that.”

They arrived into a meeting room with a large table in the middle and several chairs around it. “Please, make yourself comfortable.” There was a bowl with a selection of fruit grown on Ellara. A few kinds were the same as the originals brought from Earth, some were mixed up with their Ellarian counterparts, several were completely new, indigenous only to the Undefeated homeworld. 

Kelsie and Julianna seated themselves at one side of the table, patiently waiting for the guests to look around and sit down as well. “I understand you must have lots of questions,” Kelsie smiled at Wazzinski. “We hope to be able to answer all of them to your liking.”

Wazzinski and Bobby looked around for a bit, trying to take in the sights. Wazzinski was the first to take a seat then Bobby himself took one.

“Well, it certainly is different to what we’re used to. Very utilitarian, we’re more of a scientifically driven people but we still try to work aesthetics into our utilities.” Wazzinski took up an indigenous fruit from the bowl and inspected it. “... What kind of fruit is this and what are its properties?” He then looks to Kelsie and quickly explains himself, “I- I mean, our agricultural sector has been working with our other branches to increase crop yield and nutritional value. It’d be nice to know if we could ask for some specimens for study”.

Kelsie wasn’t overly eager over the New Havenists introducing themselves as people of science, but Julianna’s smile got wider and more sincere. Kelsie was less excited, because the meeting was probably going to end up in lots of technical blabbering she wouldn’t understand, but will have to sit through and smile politely.

“We call it a golifruit, it’s roughly similar to what was known on Earth as blackberries, only larger and slightly more sour.” Julianna explained, also picking a piece of the pink fruit from the bowl. 

Kelsie passed on the fruit, she preferred the sweeter kinds. “It is ingedenous to our planet. The natives probably have a word for it, they just didn’t bother to share it with us.”

“I can send you some more scientific data later if you are interested.” Julianna put the thing in her mouth and puckered her lips a bit. “Fortunately we haven’t had problems with crop yields after we’ve solved the initial problems with adapting plants brought from Earth to the Ellarian environment, so I’m not sure we would be able to assist you in that matter.” Yes, also the whole scientific department of the Undefeated was focused more on better methods to kill other creatures, not feed them.

“That would be much appreciated.” Wazzinski smiled at the thought of already being able to bring new specimens back to New Haven for further study. However, another thing caught his attention, “You also mentioned ‘Natives’ on Ellara? Would you care to elaborate?”

Bobby then said out loud, “Aliens? Real, sentient life? That’s already a ton more interesting than whatever we may have in New Haven.”

“Interesting is one word to describe it,” Kelsie tried not to scoff. Of course the science geeks would find aliens ‘interesting’. “We’ve suffered greatly from their relentless assaults. Even despite our huge technological advantage, they still pose a serious threat to our nation. Or at least used to, especially in the first months after the colony ship landed.”

Julianna nodded with a sad smile. “Yes, the natives are sentient, but very primitive. And they have resisted every attempt we made at communicating with them.” She pressed a few buttons on her datapad and an image of Screecher appeared on a screen mounted on the wall. “We call them ‘the Screechers’ due to the typical sounds they use to communicate. They are large, muscular, and quite strong, able to move on two legs as well as all four. I can forward you some more data if you are interested, but I’m afraid there can be no actual research on the issue due to security issues.”

“So, I take it your planet didn’t have any inhabitants before you moved in?” Kelsie tried to shift the conversation back to getting some information about their visitors.

“No local inhabitants, it seems we’ve caught our planet before they could cultivate such complicated lifeforms. However, we did have to battle foreign diseases for quite a long time. Perhaps our medical technology may interest you...” Dick leveraged the conversation to get on the Undefeated’s good side.

Bobby followed up excitedly, “Y-Yes! We have the nanoshot, a nanite injection that hunts down and destroys harmful pathogens and repairs damage whether external or internal. It’s extremely effective!”

Dick continued, “Aside from that, our environmental suits are bar none, one of the most sophisticated technologies we have. That is if you’re not interested in advanced robotics and drone technology.”

"We've actually had an outbreak of a serious disease that nearly wiped out our colony soon after landing, so we understand your struggle very well," Julianna nodded. "The fear of bringing in a foreign contagion is one of the reasons we do not allow many visitors to our home planet, and even we have to go through a strict quarantine and decontamination process when visiting."

Yes, one of the reasons. A quite minor one, Kelsie thought. The major one being the strict censorship concerning other planets and nations. All information was to come through controlled government sources. But that had nothing to do with the current negotiations.

Kelsie tried not to sound overly excited about the nanoshot injection the visitors mentioned. You can't let the seller know how much you actually want the item before you start bargaining about the price, right? The truth was it sounded amazing, especially for field medicine. "We've already made some arrangements with another nation concerning drones and advanced mining technologies and have no need for environmental suits. However," she continued carefully, trying to sound nonchalant, "the nanoshot you mentioned does sound interesting. If you would be able to provide a small sample for our scientists so we can assess the effects it has on people… There might be a possible trade contract between our nations in the future," Kelsie finished with a smile.

“Of course, I’d be happy to oblige. I’ll inform our science vessel to send a sample as soon as possible. We’d like to continue having friendly relations with Earth’s remnant colonies.” Dick pushed his glasses up and smiled in return. “I can also arrange future meetings with Lead Director Hubert. He’s retired for now after talking with the Zetans and the Columbians.”

Dick wanted to gauge the relationship between the other colonists. He was subtle in his approach, masking his intentions using Director Hubert’s natural curiosity to talk to other people and experience things for himself as a means to see how the Undefeated would react. Poking very carefully around the topic instead of tackling it directly. Hubert’s more heavy handed approach isn’t exactly his style anyway.

Kelsie didn't even blink an eye at the mention at the NHD meeting with the Zetans. She might not have been a great diplomat, but she wasn't stupid and knew Dick was probably poking around to get some more information. After all, there was the word 'political' in his title. Plus, the Undefeated were officially friendly towards everyone these days, which included the Zetans. No matter that there were virtually no diplomatic relationships between the two countries.

"Director Hubert was the one performing the song during your initial message?" She asked with a polite and curious smile. "We would certainly be honored to welcome him here." As long as he keeps the terrible screeching to himself, Kelsie thought to herself, making sure no trace of that thought would show up in her expression. "I hope your meetings with other nations have proven fruitful?" She poked a bit as well, not really expecting to gain anything, just to show she could play the game as well. No matter how much she hated it.

Bobby felt a little out of place, it seemed he knew Dick was already playing the game he trained for a long time to do. Without hesitation, Dick replied, “Of course, it seems we’re already in the process of setting up a tech exchange...”

Dick thought that this much wouldn’t really hurt the NHD, after all, there was no sense in keeping secrets to an openly friendly nation. “... Lead Director Hubert was especially excited about seeing large mechanized technology from the Columbians. He saw some potential in it and wanted to exchange technology for some help on the matter. Of course, military advancements aren’t the top priority at the moment. We’re more focused on exploration and scientific advancement.”

Bobby looked to Dick, noting down every detail he could. He was, after all, Dick’s favorite for becoming the next Political Director.

Dick continued, “... Oh and how could I forget, shall I send you a file of the NHD’s history? It’s quite a read, we’ll also include our biological studies and list of medical advancements. It helped us in the past with our Epidemiology department in controlling infectious diseases. Perhaps you may find some use in it.” 

Kelsie was glad the NHD claimed not to be interested in military advancements. There were already enough advanced nations with dangerous military to go around. Plus these guys, despite their almost goofy appearance, could prove surprisingly difficult enemies, Kelsie was pretty sure of that.

"We would love that, we are very interested in the fate of other colonies. After all, we are all related, and while Earth is no more, it is still our common ancestral home." Julianna noticed the Guardian was a bit distracted and continued the conversation. "Our nation currently has an immunity to the disease that nearly wiped us out in the past, but with this level of interplanetary exchange… You never know what the future will bring."

“Delightful, I think this was quite the fruitful exchange.” Dick and Booby both stood up. “Well, our remote controlled androids will be missed. If you wish to meet with us, the science vessel will be staying in orbit nearby as our temporary presence in the Earth system. If there’s nothing else we’ll be returning now.”

The two made their way back to the NHS Hopeful. It was as Dick had predicted, there were many different kinds of people from the colonies. Colorful, arrayed, and potentially dangerous. He quietly hoped that trouble would not come to their door, but Kelsie was right - [i]you never do know what the future will bring.[/i]