{"id":2676,"date":"2024-05-25T16:29:32","date_gmt":"2024-05-25T23:29:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/?p=2676"},"modified":"2024-05-25T16:29:32","modified_gmt":"2024-05-25T23:29:32","slug":"a-proper-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/2024\/05\/25\/a-proper-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"A Proper Meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

prompt: Make a character\u2019s obsession or addiction an important element of your story.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

available at Reedsy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sun had set, and the planet dominated the sky, the swirls of color it was painted with brightly illuminated. The shadow of the moon would transit the planet\u2019s face in a while. The telescope and camera were set up to capture it when it showed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There wasn\u2019t much else for a Royal Expeditionary Frontier Police officer like T-937\/K, \u201cTik\u201d to his peers, to do this far into the neutral zone. He knew what he wanted<\/em> to do, but the chance of doing it here was as close to nil as to make no difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He checked the time on his eye implant, setting it to hover at the edge of his vision. After double-checking that the telescope and camera were properly set to capture the transit shadow, he focused on the time remaining until he needed to start the tracking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHey, Tik, how many of those transit videos do you have now?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMorning, Kel. If this one is good, it\u2019ll be four good ones and half a dozen that aren\u2019t worth mentioning.\u201d K-371\/L was a fellow officer of equal rank, but she had seniority, being a year older than he was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, better focusing on something you can see and record than\u2014,\u201d she cut herself off. \u201cI mean, it\u2019s good that you have something else to think about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRather than proving they exist?\u201d he asked. \u201cI swear it was them, when my parents \u2026 its image is seared in my brain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kel lay on the ground near him. \u201cYou remember a lot of stuff from before you were taken in to the police cr\u00e8che. Do you remember your name?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t,\u201d he said, \u201cbut I\u2019m sure I had one that wasn\u2019t T-937\/K or Tik. But most of what I remember is flashes, vague images, and \u2026 that<\/em> day. Why don\u2019t you have any memories before that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was taken in at birth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, I didn\u2019t know you were a legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m not,\u201d she said, \u201cor at least I\u2019ve been told I\u2019m not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tik held silent as the final moments ticked down and he started the telescope and camera, tracking the moon\u2019s shadow beginning just below the horizon. \u201cI thought the only newborns allowed were\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe children of officers, yeah,\u201d she cut him off. \u201cI don\u2019t think any of us really<\/em> know where we came from. They tell us what we need to hear in the cr\u00e8che to mold us into proper officers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI remember where I came from,\u201d he said, rubbing the scar that ran down his face from temple to jaw, \u201ceven if it is just in flashes. I especially remember what happened the day my parents were killed, when the monsters were there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf it makes you feel any better, I believe you.\u201d She rubbed his shoulder. \u201cYou won\u2019t ever be able to prove it, but I believe you believe you saw what you say you saw.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tik snorted a short laugh. \u201cThanks for the rousing endorsement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kel pointed at the sky. \u201cWe\u2019re a long way from the main shipping lanes, but do you think they might show up here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI doubt it, but I\u2019ll have a better chance of catching them if I\u2019m looking at the sky when they do.\u201d Tik groaned. \u201cThe transit videos are getting boring, and the great storm hasn\u2019t changed since we got here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHey, amateur astronomer, is that a tiny moon, or an asteroid?\u201d Kel asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tik looked toward the area of the sky where she had pointed. It was too small to be any of the known moons or moonlets of the planet above them, and it reflected the light of the sun in a way an asteroid likely wouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He removed the aiming scope from the telescope and pointed it at the object. \u201cIt\u2019s a ship,\u201d he said, \u201cbut not one of ours.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kel snatched the scope away and looked for herself. \u201cThat\u2019s a weird ship. Maybe one of the colony freighters?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Tik said in a near-whisper, \u201cI think it\u2019s them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour obsession needs to take a break.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, it doesn\u2019t.\u201d Tik snatched the aiming scope back, reattached it to the telescope and pointed at the ship, following it manually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kel fell silent as she watched the telescope focus on the ship in the camera\u2019s display. The writing on the ship was unlike any from anywhere in the Empire and Commonwealth. Not even among the civilizations outside the E&C, most of whom had at worst strained relations and at best trade partner status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tik\u2019s hands shook, and he was glad the telescope was heavy and self-stabilizing. \u201cThe rectangle mark on the front of the ship, I remember that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIs it changing direction?\u201d Kel asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is.\u201d He kept tracking the ship, even when it was only visible by a few lights as it passed through the shadow of the moon. \u201cIt\u2019s coming toward us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s pretty obvious,\u201d she said, \u201csince we\u2019re looking more at the front than the side.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tik tracked the ship with the telescope as it passed overhead until it passed below the horizon. He opened the small terminal of the telescope and began typing furiously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTrying to get an estimate of its expected orbit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo get more video of it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, I\u2019ve got to warn command.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTik, what if it\u2019s just\u2014\u201d Kel trailed off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The terminal spit out a tape with markings that could be read by a tracking console, like the one on the telescope \u2026 or in a trans-orbital shuttle. He grabbed the tape and ran for the barracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was only after pounding at the watch commander\u2019s door that he realized he\u2019d left the telescope behind. It couldn\u2019t be helped, this was more important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCome in, T-937\/K. What\u2019s got you by the tail?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He laid the tape on the commander\u2019s desk. \u201cAlien vessel, currently orbiting this moon. I think it\u2019s\u2014\u201d he stopped himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou think the monsters have come back for you?\u201d the commander asked with more than a hint of derision in her voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCommander, it doesn\u2019t matter what I think,\u201d he said, \u201cthere\u2019s an alien vessel out there with markings that don\u2019t match anything known.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commander fed the tape into a reader on her desk and waited while the image on her wall changed. \u201cLet\u2019s just see what we have. I\u2019m sure it\u2019s nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The image came up and the watch commander stood in stunned silence for a moment. \u201cFull scramble, intercept, detain and ascertain threat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, sir!\u201d Tik ran out of the office while the console sent out the command to all on-duty units to intercept the unknown ship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tik jumped into the first open boarding shuttle he found and was surprised to see Kel already there. \u201cI left the telescope,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI brought it as far as the launch field when the alarm went out. It\u2019s sitting in hangar seven.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThanks.\u201d Tik shrugged into one of the body armors hanging in the shuttle and checked that the comms and camera were working. He then grabbed a rifle from the rack, made sure it was charged, and the safety was on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWho knows?\u201d Kel asked. \u201cWe might prove that one of the cryptoxeonlogy creatures are real.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tik sneered. \u201cIs that what you think? They\u2019re like the Aldeveran asteroid monster or something?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She didn\u2019t get a chance to respond, as the intercom crackled to life. \u201cApproaching alien vessel. No sign of weapons, and they\u2019ve extended a docking port. Environmentals on, weapons safe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tik fastened the breather around his neck and checked again that his weapon was on safe. He lined up first to step out once they had docked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The warning lights came on, flashing amber, as the inner door to the docking ring airlock opened. An enclosed walkway stood in front of them, open into a large bay in the alien ship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As soon as the outer airlock door opened, Tik stepped through to the walkway and made his way into the alien ship, his weapon at low ready.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He stepped into the bay and saw them, freezing him in panic. It was the same one he had nightmares about, but it seemed even bigger in real life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It spoke with a heavy accent. \u201cHello. We are researchers. We have been analyzing your signals for a long time now, and when we saw you so close to our home, we stopped for a look.\u201d It turned toward Tik and dropped to its knees. It reached a gentle hand out and caressed the scar down his face. \u201cIt\u2019s you. You made it. I\u2019m sorry I got there too late for the others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tik didn\u2019t know how to respond. He\u2019d spent every waking moment trying to find evidence of the monsters that killed his parents and took their ship, and every sleeping moment in nightmares of finding them, and now \u2026 now it was here, touching his face, and he felt no fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought you killed them,\u201d he said, \u201cbut I\u2019m not scared of you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t. The pirates left everyone for dead when we showed up. You were in bad shape, but one of your own people in a uniform like yours came and took you away.\u201d Tears rolled down the monster\u2019s face as it embraced Tik as if he were its own child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tik released his hold on his weapon, letting it hang by the sling as he returned the embrace. The monster \u2026 alien \u2026 was twice his size but held him gently. Tik felt lighter, as if the weight of the past had been lifted from his shoulders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was brought out of it by Kel stepping on his tail. \u201cOuch! What\u2019s that for?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou found your cryptids,\u201d she said, \u201cbut I thought you were going to hunt them to extinction?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2014I\u2019ve been remembering it wrong. The monsters didn\u2019t kill my parents and take the ship, they saved me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wish I could\u2019ve done more,\u201d the monster said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can\u2019t just keep calling you monster,\u201d Tik said, \u201cwhat are you? What do you call yourself?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy name is Alfibeth, and I\u2019m a human. It\u2019s a pleasure to finally have a proper meeting,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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