Shoot for Earth: MedSci Missions 3

Every breath was held as Chiron entered Octopoid space. Tensions were too high to appreciate the beauty of the region. As they entered orbit, the planet swirling with pale blues, greys, and white highlights shone like a giant Christmas ornament. Second officer Jack Henson had his finger on the trigger, ready to defend the ship from the only race in the region besides the Tasla that they’d had violent encounters with.

Ambassador O’Bien came down from above to join the Captain on a bench circling central holographic screen on the lower bridge. She turned and watched Panther as a section of the split screen zoomed in on him picking up a transmission.

Beside her, the Captain leaned forward, and after reading for a minute, said, “Broadcast to the bridge, Panther.”

“Hello, it’s Above. We’re peaceful Poids. What are your intentions?”

Everyone looked at O’Bien, who was holding her breath. She was momentarily confused. What was above? Then she remembered the Poids had descriptive names given at birth, that sounded odd when they were older to someone outside of their culture. She took in a deep stream of calming air before she spoke.

“I’m Ambassador O’Bien, representing Earth. I’d just like to check that your name is Above. Is that how I should address you?”

“Yes. I’m registered as Born Above the Water, if you want the complete name for some reason. I’m the Planet Passer. That can be confirmed by the registrar’s office. It’s public, you should be able to confirm via face recognition if you want to capture my likeness.”

“No, that’s all right!” O’Bien said quickly. “I trust you’re who you say. Just to be clear, Planet Passer is a title? What does it mean exactly?”

“You must pass by me to get to the planet, or contact it. Tell me, how did you find us?”