their rescuer. “So who are you?”
“My name is Naleem El,” she said. “I’m in need of a fast, capable ship to hire in order to finish my work.”
“Tell you what, Naleem,” Jason said slowly. “If you’re not going to be honest with us from the beginning, we’ll be on our way and you can find someone else.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Naleem admitted, looking confused.
“You weren’t out to hire just any ship,” Jason continued, walking around the cramped room in the basement they were all in. “You seemed to know exactly who we were, how to get ahold of us, and details about our ship we would never put into an open communication. Who are you?”
She stared at him for a moment before exhaling loudly and sinking back into her seat. “Yes,” she said finally. “I’ve heard of you. I was told stories of your exploits by people who had direct interaction with you.”
“Who?”
“The A’arcooni,” she said quietly.
“Whoa!” Crusher said loudly. “How could you possibly know about them? That was supposed to be a strict secret.” The A’arcooni were a species on the brink of extinction that Deetz had enlisted to attack Earth years earlier. As far as everyone who knew of the incident was concerned, they were all still on their homeworld and all interstellar travel privileges had been revoked.
“What interaction could you have possibly had with them?” Jason asked harshly.
“I’ve been to A’arcoon. It was part of my work,” Naleem said. “It’s not important how I knew of them, but what is important is that their leadership told me of you and your crew. They speak of you in reverent whispers: the alien who showed them the true path and gave them back their home. They’re doing quite well, actually.”
“This will go a lot faster if you stop making me drag out every detail,” Jason said wearily. “What is your work, how does it involve the A’arcooni, and why do you need us?”
“I’m an archeologist who specializes in ancient spacefaring races,” Naleem began. “The A’arcooni hit my sensors when I got my hands on a classified report that detailed the way their ships moved through space. They don’t use the slip-drive technology every other species in this part of the galaxy has adopted. Their drive allows for instantaneous jumps from one place to another, limited only by the power source. When I discovered that they were a relatively primitive species themselves, I went there to investigate.
“While they were very gracious and eager for any news of what was happening beyond their system, they were woefully ignorant of how their FTL drives actually worked. Not only that, Crisstof Dalton had confiscated their ships so my engineering team couldn’t examine the real thing. My hypothesis is that the species who gave them that technology, arguably something more advanced than our own slip-drives, may be a direct descendent to an even older species that was flying between the stars when our ancestors were still single cell organisms.
“As for why I need you … let’s just say that not everyone is as enthusiastic about my work as I am. I’m threatening to debunk a lot of evolutionary dogma that every species seems to hold dear. I’m often chased off of sites, sometimes by armed forces. Having a crew of mercenaries and a warship instead of a collection of academics and an underpowered shuttle seems preferable. I also liked the symmetry of you getting involved again after my talks with the A’arcooni.”
She paused and looked around at her audience to see how her story was being taken. Lucky was completely unreadable and Doc looked openly skeptical. Jason and Crusher, however, had actually moved forward to the edges of their seats and were listening with rapt attention.
“There’s also the matter of me being able to safely get you back to your ship,” she finished, leaning back.
“That’s … quite a tale, Naleem El,” Doc said, looking over at Jason as
“My name is Naleem El,” she said. “I’m in need of a fast, capable ship to hire in order to finish my work.”
“Tell you what, Naleem,” Jason said slowly. “If you’re not going to be honest with us from the beginning, we’ll be on our way and you can find someone else.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Naleem admitted, looking confused.
“You weren’t out to hire just any ship,” Jason continued, walking around the cramped room in the basement they were all in. “You seemed to know exactly who we were, how to get ahold of us, and details about our ship we would never put into an open communication. Who are you?”
She stared at him for a moment before exhaling loudly and sinking back into her seat. “Yes,” she said finally. “I’ve heard of you. I was told stories of your exploits by people who had direct interaction with you.”
“Who?”
“The A’arcooni,” she said quietly.
“Whoa!” Crusher said loudly. “How could you possibly know about them? That was supposed to be a strict secret.” The A’arcooni were a species on the brink of extinction that Deetz had enlisted to attack Earth years earlier. As far as everyone who knew of the incident was concerned, they were all still on their homeworld and all interstellar travel privileges had been revoked.
“What interaction could you have possibly had with them?” Jason asked harshly.
“I’ve been to A’arcoon. It was part of my work,” Naleem said. “It’s not important how I knew of them, but what is important is that their leadership told me of you and your crew. They speak of you in reverent whispers: the alien who showed them the true path and gave them back their home. They’re doing quite well, actually.”
“This will go a lot faster if you stop making me drag out every detail,” Jason said wearily. “What is your work, how does it involve the A’arcooni, and why do you need us?”
“I’m an archeologist who specializes in ancient spacefaring races,” Naleem began. “The A’arcooni hit my sensors when I got my hands on a classified report that detailed the way their ships moved through space. They don’t use the slip-drive technology every other species in this part of the galaxy has adopted. Their drive allows for instantaneous jumps from one place to another, limited only by the power source. When I discovered that they were a relatively primitive species themselves, I went there to investigate.
“While they were very gracious and eager for any news of what was happening beyond their system, they were woefully ignorant of how their FTL drives actually worked. Not only that, Crisstof Dalton had confiscated their ships so my engineering team couldn’t examine the real thing. My hypothesis is that the species who gave them that technology, arguably something more advanced than our own slip-drives, may be a direct descendent to an even older species that was flying between the stars when our ancestors were still single cell organisms.
“As for why I need you … let’s just say that not everyone is as enthusiastic about my work as I am. I’m threatening to debunk a lot of evolutionary dogma that every species seems to hold dear. I’m often chased off of sites, sometimes by armed forces. Having a crew of mercenaries and a warship instead of a collection of academics and an underpowered shuttle seems preferable. I also liked the symmetry of you getting involved again after my talks with the A’arcooni.”
She paused and looked around at her audience to see how her story was being taken. Lucky was completely unreadable and Doc looked openly skeptical. Jason and Crusher, however, had actually moved forward to the edges of their seats and were listening with rapt attention.
“There’s also the matter of me being able to safely get you back to your ship,” she finished, leaning back.
“That’s … quite a tale, Naleem El,” Doc said, looking over at Jason as
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