"Instruments indicate that it is 10:14 AM, May 11th, 2296 UTC. I, Admiral Mark Perin of the Colonial Administration, confirm that the sixth fleet has established orbit over Delta Pavonis B. Stellar activity, atmospheric conditions, and system composition are 98.7% match to projections. I have authorized final preparations for landing. Today, man will bring another world into his fold."
Pausing, he looked around the cramped space. Only two men were observing this piece of history; a fresh-faced junior officer and the Daughter of Gaia's chief communications officer, Joe Kead. Alone among the crew, Kead had served alongside Perin long before he'd stepped aboard the Gaia. He offered a nod of reassurance.
The pause ended. Perin launched back into his report, but his fire was gone. History, the history he'd spent twenty years flying towards, had been made. Now the admiral dealt with dry business. Every minutiae demanded by the Colonial Administration was recorded, from the millisecond of arrival to the status of surface preparations.
And then it was done.
Within seconds, the record was on its way towards more than three dozen signal stations in four star systems. Travelling in the form of light pulses, it would arrive in the Sol system in just shy of twenty years.
"I wouldn't worry too much." It was Kead speaking, breaking the silence that had fallen over the room. "You'll be dead when that arrives."
"Cheery thought."
Tired, but satisfied with his work, the Perin rose to leave. He was thinking of his bed, of sleep. Landing-week was a hectic time, but it was short. Soon, he'd sleep in a rustic lodge up in the hills, the house he'd pictured every day for the past twenty years. The struggles of command would be at an end.
These pleasant thoughts were jostled from his mind as he opened the door. One of his staff, visibly nervous with excitement, stood outside.
"I think you need to see this, Admiral."
...
The video reel played again in his mind. The camera had swung low towards the ground, borne on an unmanned probe. Foliage, startlingly earthlike, rushed by below. He, together with the command staff, had been engrossed in the world's beauty.
The angled shifted, and that's when Perin had noticed it. Smoke was rising on the horizon.
The drone had ascended to safely distant height before making a single pass. Far below, the trees cleared. Large, thatch-roofed houses dotted the landscape. Whatever had built them was no doubt intelligent and social. These were not small family shacks. They were communal dwellings. Dozens of humanoids could be faintly seen, milling around each.
Still lost in the shock of this discovery, Perin turned to technical questions to steady himself. "Indigenous?"
"Considering the lack of orbital activity or broadcast signals, it's safe to say they're local," responded the intelligence officer, Lieutenant Areli.
"How many? What's their distribution?"
"It's too early to confirm hard numbers, but we've identified cities across the central and northern continents."
"If we land we'll destroy them. It will be like the Americas. We will take their world and make it ours."
Concerned, Joe Kead chimed in, "Admiral, you can't-"
"If we land." Letting his tiredness seep into his voice, Perin added, "We can't do that anymore. I will not watch the destruction of the first intelligent race we've met."
Turning to his gathered command staff, he continued, "We're returning to earth." Over low rumbles of discontent, he went on, fast and in-command, "Baran, have your men secure the engine compartments and Nereids. Areli, recall all probes. Kead, open comms with the Saratoga and Ljus. Some presence must be left here. Inform all other Captains that we are reentering drive. Have them take the same precautions with their propulsion and landing craft."
As he turned to face another Lieutenant, he came face to face with a gun.
"What the hell is this, Baran? Drop the gun."
"I'm not spending twenty more years in this tin can. For what? Some other species, down there on that rock? They're smart enough to build cities, but not smart enough to build starships. They're subhuman, Admiral. Why let them have this world?" As his soldiers streamed onto the bridge, Baran paused. "Arrest Mark Perin and any who protect him."
"My crime?"
Cooly, he replied, "Treason against fleet, nation, and species." Done with the Admiral, Baran set about reversing his commands. "Kead, do not dispatch that order."
"Already have." He replied, full of defiance.
"Retract it."
He did not.
Baran knew the order must not be enacted. He reached to push Kead from his station, only to receive a solid swing to the chest in return. A fuse had been lit. The brawl spread throughout the room. The handful of loyalists stood and fought. In the chaos, Perin attempted to run. Shots rang out, followed by more.
It would not be noticed until minutes later, when the skirmish had come to a bloody end, but Admiral Perin was dead.
...
"This is Captain Baran speaking." Began the transmission. It was the first to leave the ship's arrays since the admiral had sent his final words off into space.
"I have assumed command of the Daughter of Gaia and the fleet. It is my regret to inform you that the Admiral and several of my fellow officers were involved in a treasonous attempt to subvert our colonization of Delta Pavonis. Garan paused as the drone's video played, letting the captains see what the admiral had.
"There is thinking life on this world. The admiral was unwilling to take this world for humanity. I am not. We have not travelled twenty-three years to travel twenty three more. Colonization will proceed as-"
Static swept over the transmission. In some far corner of the ship, Joe Kead had not only escaped capture, but managed to take control of the system he had operated for twenty years.
Barely above a whisper, he gave his own account. "This is a coup. This is the beginnings of genocide."
Banging interrupted the recording. Kead was discovered. Speaking loudly now, he added, "You never saw him. He wasn't your shipmate. But your admiral was a good man. Do not follow his killer. Take this ship and return to earth. Leave the barest vanguard, to protect and observe this world until relief arrives."
Loud shouting and struggle drowned out any speech. Static returned, followed by Baran's channel.
"We have captured the last of the admiral's co-conspirators. This world is green and pleasant. There is no reason why we should not settle here. Do not follow your late admiral into his foolishness, his crimes, or his grave. Resume preparations for landing."