11. Words
11
Words
G rixxa and I made our way back through the ship, both lost in thought. Finally, she broke the silence. "Well, that was... enlightening."
I chuckled at Grixxa's understatement as we walked away from the library. "That's one word for it."
"What are you going to do now?" Grixxa asked, her ridges flashing with curiosity.
Before I could answer, the ship's intercom crackled to life. "Captain," Jorixx's gravelly voice echoed through the corridor. "We're approaching the debris field."
I'd almost forgotten I'd ordered us to return to where we'd found Nova. "Acknowledged," I responded. "Take us in slow. I'll be right there."
Grixxa and I exchanged glances before hurrying to the bridge. The timing couldn't have been better - it would give me a legitimate reason to delay my next interaction with Nova while I processed everything Zalira had told us.
As we entered the bridge, the vast debris field spread out before us on the viewscreen. Fragments of Nova's ship tumbled slowly through space, glinting in the light of distant stars. Looking at it now, knowing what I knew about the bond, about Nova, it felt different. These weren't just interesting pieces of alien technology anymore - they were the remains of something that had brought my mate to me.
"Launch the collection drones," I ordered. "I want every piece we can salvage."
Jorixx's three eyes blinked in sequence. "All of it? Even the obviously damaged sections?"
"All of it," I confirmed. "Every piece might help us understand what happened here."
As the drones deployed, their energy nets casting a soft blue glow across the debris, I found myself wondering what Nova would think about us collecting the remains of her ship. Would it upset her? Comfort her? There was still so much I didn't understand about her.
"Captain," Jorixx called from his station, his ridges pulsing with excitement. "I'm picking up an intact data core."
My tentacles twitched with interest as I moved to his console. "Show me."
The screen displayed a small, rectangular object tumbling slowly among the debris. Unlike most of the wreckage, it appeared largely undamaged. My hearts quickened at the possibility of what information it might contain.
"Bring it in first," I ordered. "Priority retrieval."
As we watched the drone carefully maneuver toward the core, Jorixx cleared his throat. "Captain, may I speak freely?"
I turned to face him, noting the tension in his stance. "Of course."
"I understand returning for salvage, but..." he paused, all three eyes fixed on me. "This seems personal. The way you look at the debris, your insistence on collecting everything... this isn't just about profit anymore, is it?"
I considered deflecting, but after Zalira's words about trust and openness, I decided on honesty - at least partially. "No, it's not. Nova deserves to know what happened to her ship and her crew. This might help us understand."
Jorixx's hide rippled with surprise at my candid response. "Her crew?" His voice lowered. "There were others?"
The question hit me like a physical blow. In all our focus on Nova, we hadn't properly considered the implications of her arrival. Had there been others? Had they...? I pushed the thought aside, unable to bear the weight of it.
"That's what we need to find out," I said firmly.
The drone's warning chirp interrupted any further discussion. The data core had been retrieved and was being transported to the analysis lab.
"Keep collecting everything," I ordered. "I want regular updates on anything significant you find."
As I entered the lab, the data core sat waiting on the analysis platform, its unfamiliar design a stark reminder of how little we truly knew about Nova and her people.
Jorixx manipulated several controls, his ridges furrowing in concentration. "The technology is different, but the basic principles seem similar. Give me a moment..."
The lab's screens suddenly flickered to life, filling with strange symbols - human writing, I assumed. Jorixx's fingers flew over his console as he worked to decode it.
"It's heavily damaged," he reported, "but I'm getting something... It looks like ship's logs, personal records, maybe some navigational data..."
My tentacles curled with anticipation. "Can you translate any of it?"
"Working on it. The universal translator is having trouble with the syntax, but..." He paused, his ridges flashing with triumph. "There!"
The screens cleared, and suddenly we were looking at what appeared to be a video recording. A recording I could suddenly understand.
The image was grainy and distorted, but I could make out a room filled with humans, all wearing similar clothing. I searched the faces until I found Nova, standing near a stern-looking male who appeared to be in charge.
"Captain Rodriguez," Jorixx identified, reading from the data streaming across his screen. "And there's the little alien - ship's xenobiologist."
The captain was speaking, his voice garbled by static but his authority evident in his bearing. Nova stood attentively, occasionally nodding or making notes on some kind of device.
"Can you clean up the audio?" I asked, my eyes fixed on Nova's face.
He tried, but most of the sound remained distorted. However, a few phrases came through clearly enough:
"...dimensional readings off the scale..."
"...unprecedented opportunity..."
"...risk is worth..."
Then static, and the recording jumped forward. Now Captain Rodriguez was alone, his face close to the recording device, his expression urgent:
"...if anyone finds this... Earth Science Command... emergency protocols... tried...crew in stasis... dimensional breach... no choice... please..."
The recording ended abruptly, leaving us in stunned silence.