Gob, Kar and Mul stand waiting in a field not too far from the Stargazers HQ, waiting for the Kom to arrive. They had sent the site’s coordinates to them some time ago and the Observer stations reported that one of the smaller capsules was on its way to the planet. They had all agreed that as the seniormost ranking member of the Elders, Mul would be the one to approach and speak to the Kom with Gob and Kar standing by to assist.

They didnt have to wait long, as one of the smaller capsules entered the planet’s atmosphere. It slowed as it came closer and descended exactly at the coordinates that were sent. The capsule seemed larger than Gob imagined based on the data they had collected, it was almost as high as two floors of the HQ building and wider than any field on the planet. Even though it was late in the day, the smooth white surface shined in the light. It rested on small but sturdy metal supports that has slowly been extended from the capsule’s surface during its descent.

“I think we should wear the communication devices Drak provided us” said Kar.

Before arriving at the field, everyone had gathered to discuss the Kom’s arrival. One of the matters of discussion was how they planned on communicating, to which Drak provided a solution. The Observers had been busy studying the objects from space to understand how they transmitted data to the Kom, and had developed communications equipment capable of translating for them. They had also transmitted this information to the Kom capsule so that they can understand the local language.

Gob equipped the device, it felt as if a small round object had been pushed into their skull. It would take some time to get used to it, but a small price to pay Gob though. Gob looked around to see if everyone was ready and then followed Mul as he stepped towards the capsule.

Before they got too close, a panel swung open from near side of the capsule’s surface. It opened slowly and some sort of gas hissed out of it as the door swung wider and wider. The inside was dark with a small red light flickering at the top of the opening, after a few moments the flickering stopped. Another door on the inside of the capsule opened revealing a bright light, Gob had to focus a little bit to realise that there was a silhouette of a large creature standing in front of the light. A small ramp extended from the first door down to the surface, and a large creature walked down slowly. It had a big round head with a dark crystal in the center, the crystal reflected light back at Gob who had to look away for a second to avoid being blinded. For a moment Gob thought there was something behind the crystal, but chalked it up to reflections and ambient lights. The Kom has loose and wrinkled greyish-white skin that seemed to fall of their bones and move with a mind of its own ad the Kom walked down from the capsule. Their feet large and heavy, making low thuds against the metallic ramp it walked on. Gob had seen all the data about the Kom and knew what to expect, but seeing them in person was a different feeling entirely. Maybe it was excitement, maybe it was fear. It was, Awe.

It took a few moments before Gob realised there were two Kom standing outside the capsule, not saying or doing anything. Waiting for us? Or Observing Us? Gob thought silently. Mul was the first to come to his senses and approached the Kom, gesturing to their communication devices Mul said “Welcome! Can you understand me?”

The Kom were silent, they looked to each other and then looked to Mul again.

Mul looked confused, glancing at Kar and Gob in hopes for a suggestion. Kar pointed to the power button on the device, trying not to verbally call out Mul. Mul, looking embarrassed, switched the device on and tried again.

“Welcome, friends! We hope your journey was not too harsh. If you can understand me, please acknowledge” said Mul

“Acknowledged. We understand.” replied one of the Kom. Their voice was strange and heavy, almost sounded metallic Gob thought. There was no tone, nuance or intent in their speech, it was simply words without thought or emotion. The Kom stood silent again, as if they were waiting to be spoken to. They didnt move or twitch or show any signs of normal life, they simply stood and stared.

Mul looked to Gob, visibly feeling uncomfortable with the Kom’s mannerisms. “We understand you must be tired from your journey, would you like us to find you a place to rest or give you some time before we meet again?”

“No. Continue. Much to discuss” replied the Kom

“Discuss what?” inquired Mul, “We are still not sure what it is you expect from us”. Gob sighed at Mul’s tone, There’s that Elder arrogance again Gob thought

“We mean no insult” Gob said, “We want to understand the purpose of your journey”

“Your planet is rich in a mineral. Rock. that is precious to us. We call it gold. Mineral data suggests there is an abundance of gold on your planet. We would like to mine. Mining site coordinates can be provided for assessment. We have been studying space for centuries. Many Cycles. We have gathered significant data about Kuiper. The belt. And about space on both sides. We offer all our data as trade in exchange for permission to mine gold” said the Kom. Their voice showing no changes in tone as they spoke, and their speech has odd pauses and breaks in it.

“I see” said Mul, looking to Gob. Minerals, mining and surveys was all the Overseer’s area of expertise after all.

“Please allow us some time to discuss this with our leaders” said Gob, not intending it as a jab towards Mul but Mul’s reaction suggested some offense was taken. “You must understand, there is no protocols for an alien species requesting access to mine on our planet. This needs to be agreed upon by all our leaders.”

The Kom remained silent for some time, then said “Coordinates will be transmitted” and the two Kom turned around and went back into the capsule. The ramp slowly contracted back into the capsule and the door shut slowly, making the same hissing sound as it closed.

Gob turned around and walked towards Stargazers HQ, Mul and Kar following closely. Mul inquired “What are you thinking Overseer?”. “Drak, please ask the Rock Hoppers to send a delegate to the lab” Gob said over the communications device. “I just want to make sure we understand everything about that site before allowing the Kom to mine it” Gob said to Mul.

—

Later in the Observer lab, Hopper Pat arrived.

“What can you tell us about the site?” asked Gob

“That site is rich in the yellow rock the Kom refer to as gold. The site is also rich in other minerals that we use in our daily operations but nothing that cannot be found in space rocks or would otherwise be of any significant interest to the Kom” replied Pat

“I dont understand” said Mul, “If it is so rick in rocks, why have we never mined that site ourselves?”

“There are two main reasons” explained Pat, “First, it is close to a small settlement and the Hoppers felt that a mining operation that close to a settlement would be a hindrance to its growth. Second and more importantly, that site has tectonic activity. This means that heavy mining activity can result in tremors and even major shakes in the ground which could be catastrophic for our equipment and to the settlement. In favor of conservation, we decided to not mine on that site”

“Conservation of the settlement, or your equipment” joked Kar, Pat ignored this.

“If the settlement is still small, we can ask them to move” said Mul

“Yes, but we have identified another suitable site” replied Pat, “This site is also rich in gold, but does not have sufficient reserves of other rocks which is why we never considered it for surface mining ourselves. Perhaps we can provide them with an alternative site?”

—

Gob, Mul and Kar returned to the capsule and waited for the Kom to exit again.

“Decision?” asked the Kom

“Unfortunately, due to tectonic activity and proximity to one of our settlements we cannot allow mining in your desired site” replied Gob with clenched-fists and a formal tone, trying not to give away how nervous they felt. “We have identified an alternative site that you can use, it has a rich deposit of gold”

“Alternative? We insist on original site” replied the Kom. Gob noted that this time there was a change in the tone, a slight twitch when it said “Alternative”

“We apologise but that will not be possible, an alternative site is all that we can offer” replied Gob.

The Kom took a step forward, facing directly at Gob. Gob looked around, Mul looked worried and had stepped back. Kar looked poised to react. Gob stood his ground, staring back at the Kom. The Kom started another step but stoped midway, stepped back and said “We accept”. Gob let out a sigh of relief and Kar eased their posture. The Kom began to turn around.

“If you do not mind, we would love to give one of you a tour of our facilities” said Mul “If you would like to join us in our Elder council, some of my colleagues have questions for you”. One of the Kom bowed their head as if to nod and followed Mul.

The other Kom walked forward and handed something to Gob, it felt heavy. “Gift” it said and then walked back into the capsule, unloaded a small space shuttle for the other Kom and took off. Once the capsule had exited the atmosphere Gob and Kar returned to HQ.

The lab was quiet, with most of the data about the capsules having been recorded a lot of the monitoring equipment had gone into standby mode. Drak was busy in the corner working on something, Gob took a seat and eased up. Today had been a long day. Gob inspected the Kom’s gift, it was a small heavy metallic box. At first glance it didnt seem to do or be anything but as Gob started to look closer the communications device in the lab beeped and Drak said.

“Watcher Kar needs you in the meeting room” said Drak

The meeting room was empty, only Kar stood silently staring at a monitor. Gob placed the gift on the table and joined Kar.

“What happened?” asked Gob

“The small capsule the Kom landed in had exited the atmosphere and started moving towards to other ones near the belt. Suddenly it changed direction and accelerated towards the original site they wanted to mine. It is currently heading towards it” replied Kar “Gob, its going faster than we thought it could. The Kom have been hiding what their technology is capable of”

Gob watched on the monitor as a tiny blip on their sensors moved closer and closer towards the mining site. Once it got close enough he switched to regular camera feeds from a nearby monitoring station. Both Gob and Kar standing silently, watching.The capsule slowed a little as it got near the mining site, it hovered then changed direction and flew towards the nearby settlement. It dropped a small object over the settlement and flew away, accelerating to exit the atmosphere.

“What is tha..” Kar was interrupted, a massive explosion engulfed the entire settlement sending shockwaves in all directions. The camera feed cut off as a rock damaged the camera, the table and all the equipment rattled as tremors from the explosion shook the HQ building. Alarms blaring all over the building and all sensors and cameras near the settlement went dark. A few moments later the tremors stopped and the rattling calmed down. Alarms still blaring.

“Wha..What just happened?” said Gob

Before they got a chance to come to their senses, Drak spoke over the communications device. “Overseer Gob, Watcher Kar you both need to come to the Observer lab now! We have received a distress signal, its coming from the Elder council.”

Chapter 6

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