Chapter 44
Havali
“Then, we’re all ready?” Havali asked, looking around at the gathered members of the conference room. First Voice Survii had joined them by voice comm just to listen, and he added his call to the mix of agreements that replied to his question.
It had taken a few days, but their plan for contacting Earth was in place. There was already a Standard plan for contacting an uncontacted species, so most of the groundwork had already been done, they needed only adapt it to their specific situation.
And now, it was time for the first part of their plan.
Everyone who could had gathered in the room for this.
Those that couldn’t – Survii and Atem – were on their own comms to still be involved.
In a room nearby, an entire team were already performing the complex subspace calculations and engineering to connect them to Earth.
They were all waiting for their success.
Havali looked to his left where Alanna sat – smiling as usual. She didn’t seem to have a nervous bone in her body. Facing each moment as it came without fear or hesitation. She nodded, ready to go.
He looked to his right where Scarlet was waiting.
She was on the edge of her chair. Unlike Alanna, she never wore her emotions plainly for others to see.
To anyone else in the room, she looked calm and confident and in control.
Only Havali could see the faint tightness around her lips, the way her hands sat so stiffly on her lap, or the rigid straightness of her spine.
She was nervous. But when she looked at him, she smiled, assuring him that she was, in fact, ready.
Across the table, Haviss sat, leaning forward on his folded hands, elbows on the table.
His tail would occasionally sweep across the floor, but he had a determined look on his face.
Resolute in their decision and his choice to help them.
On a holodisplay in the center of the table, Atem and Peony were watching from their nest. Havali was still acting as the official representative since it was required that all Coalition tasks be performed in person, but he was constantly deferring to Atem as his ‘advisor’ since, by Turv standards, Atem was still First Domini.
Peony was biting her lip, gently rocking a softly sleeping Viktor, as Atem looked on, quite serious. He grunted in affirmation.
Overseeing them all, the High Imperium was either sitting, standing, or floating – it really was impossible to tell – at the front of the table. They were wearing a long robe in pink, purple, and gold today, emblazoned with symbols Havali did not recognize.
“The connection to the communication satellites around Earth through the temporary subspace network channels has been established,” they said. “We have the comm number from Alanna to her uncle. Everything is ready.”
Scarlet smiled at Alanna.
Alanna beamed and looked forward. She nodded once. “Let’s do it!”
The connection was not quick. This kind of technology was very difficult to establish and took a great deal of power to maintain.
Only the High Imperium could wield the resources necessary to make this comm.
Alanna and Scarlet called it a ‘phone call’.
The number they had provided was like a patch signal, unique to the person it belonged to and would connect them directly to the person through radio wave technology – and old and reliable method of communication that, while not popularly used, could still be utilized.
The hardest part had been finding the Earth satellites they needed, then adapting the subspace signal into an electrical signal then to a radio signal.
The distance alone made it a challenge, but then doing so through unfamiliar, alien technology made it a truly impressive feat.
They were fortunate indeed that the humans put their communication relays in space.
Trying to do the same thing on the planet’s surface would have likely been impossible.
The humans shifted in their seats – Alanna with excitement, Scarlet with nerves.
It had been nearly a full Turv year since they had seen their homes.
According to them, it had definitely been longer than an Earth year.
Scarlet would not get the chance to speak to her mother.
Only Alanna would get to speak to a member of her family, but even she could not allow herself to be distracted by sentiment.
Because this call would take so much power, it had to, by necessity, be short. Just long enough for Alanna to alert her people as to what was going to happen, so they didn’t cause mass panic by showing up in their solar system unannounced.
This was the first contact.
For the Coalition, it was a remarkable event.
But for Earth, it would be legendary. History making. Such a thing wasn’t lost on Alanna and Scarlet who waited with tense anticipation as the comm was linked to the satellites.
The signal chimed, alerting them to the success.
There were a few moments of fuzzy, indistinct noise as the signal was altered and adjusted to fit itself to the human technology.
Then, a series of high pitched, tonally distinct beeps. They meant nothing to Havali, but the females gasped in recognition.
A shrill, ringing sound echoed through the chamber. Alanna laughed, tears in her eyes as Scarlet covered her mouth.
Havali couldn’t keep himself from smiling as he put a hand to Scarlet’s neck. He messaged the tense muscles there, gently reminding her that she was okay. That she needed to breathe. She gave him a quick look, her eyes misty and filled with joy.
The ringing stopped.
For the first time, Havali heard the slightly deeper tones of a male human as he responded – speaking words Havali didn’t understand but recognized as their Earth language.
Eagerly, weeping even as she smiled, Alanna replied.