A New Friendship (Short Story)

     Henry Farver walked back to his apartment. An unusual event to see, and one that Henry begun to enjoy. He spent the first thirty-one years using a hover-bike, until a malfunction took place, forcing him to travel on foot. Unlike with Earth, there’s been no ground vehicles to see the face of Persephone, the planet he lived on his whole life.

            Persephone is, by no means, the first planet to be colonized, nor of the first dozen. The settling of Persephone left nothing more than a minor note on news bulletins. Ever since Humanity began to travel among the stars, there are no signs found of intelligent life elsewhere in the galaxy, one of the first items searched for on any habitable planet. The best sign for other intelligent life are the growing ecosystem encountered throughout the galaxy, constantly providing hope. And though the Foundational Government has been doing it can protect these ecosystems, Human cities began to show on the surface of these worlds. Planning these cities had been looked over by ecologists of the planet to ensure the survival of the ecosystems. So far, there have been few, unavoidable negative results on these planets from the arrival of the cities.

            A few more planets have been planned to be colonized, one of these planets that has taken note due to it ecosystem is coincidentally named Styx. Styx is the seventh planet in its system, still residing within the goldilocks zone. Its star, while smaller, does not qualify as a dwarf star. The other planets that reside within the goldilocks zone need some terraforming to become habitable with the work far into development and expected to be completed within the next thirty years if nothing hinders it. This information came to Henry from various sources he looked through in his free time. Much of the work that will be done on the colonization will be done by machines. If not for federal laws set in place, there would be no need for human interaction in much, if any work such as the supervision job Henry has. There are still some manual jobs that see human workers, such as the ecologists working on the other planets with non-earth ecosystems.

            Henry entered his apartment and set his bag down onto the low table that rested a foot away from the entrance on the right. His apartment is one that he finds to be well furnished, a medium sized dining table with six chairs, a plexi-couch in the living room facing a wall projector. In the kitchen, running along the outer wall were cabinets, half were ever used, and the refrigerator sat among them. Sat in an island of the kitchen is a sink, stove/oven, and the dishwasher. The countertops were made of wood of trees grown on Persephone. In the living room sat a small closet that sat a washer/drier combo. Down a hallway across the apartment from the entrance are three bedrooms and two bathrooms. With only one bedroom used to sleep in, Henry turned one of the other two into an office that holds many of the hobbies he enjoys, the third bedroom had remained empty since he moved in, collecting dust.

            Henry was about to hop into a quick shower when a call came in, stopping him in the center of the living room. He let out a quick sigh before accepting to reveal the face of a man he knew all too well.

            This man had black heir that has begun to gray, a square jawline that held some stubble, dark-gray eyes, and there is the appearance of the upper part of a collar that indicated government employment of navy blue with some gray lines. Though his eyes showed some wariness, his voice gave no indication of it.

            “Henry Farver, nice to see you once more.” The man spoke.

            “Hello, Colonel Panning, nice to see you too.” Henry responded with some surprise. “What do I owe this honor of a call to my personal residence?”

            Colonel Panning and Henry have met on a few different occasions, getting to know each other better with each meeting. The meetings totaled to around a dozen times in the past three years, they bonded over the few things they had as common interests, mainly that of certain films made in the ancient days of cinematography. They have not seen each other in the past year and a half for work that Panning had to go about with.

            “I hope that my call isn’t inconveniencing you.” Panning spoke.

            “Not at all.” Responded Henry. “As it happens, I only just return from my job. I did not expect a call from you as I thought you were still focused on your work.”

            Panning gave a light chuckle. “I have finished that work last week. As to what you have asked to the purpose of this call, there are plans that require someone with your work experience. More-or-less, this is a job offer that I am handing to you. With this job, you will have to move off-planet to where the operations are to be conducted. With this move, there will also be a pay raise.”

            Hearing this caught Henry’s interest.

            “I apologize for not being too detailed.” Panning continued. “I can assure you that more will be provided once you arrive at my office. Anything that I do not go over with you then will be in the paperwork you’ll be given. And, of course, you’ll be able to go over the papers before making any final decisions. If that works for you, I send a vehicle over to your building at 1430 Friday afternoon.”

            Henry agreed to this, and Panning ended the call there. With this call, Henry forgot about his plan on showering. Instead, he placed himself down on the couch. He could not think what importance his work has that would lead him to receive a call from Panning. There are no jobs that he could think of. After a few minutes on the couch in his thoughts, he stood up and made his way over to the kitchen sink and splashed some cold water on his face. It took time before Henry could think straight over what has been told to him and to go about his day as he normally would.

            Later that day, he met with a few friends at the nearby café named Horizon Cup. This came to be a common place that they met at, along with their apartments. Part of the reason they met at the café is one of Henry’s friends has something to tell them. A man by the name of Jacob Henderson, who stands at 5’9 with dark skin and deep black hair with hazelnut eyes.

            As they sat down at the table, Jacob sat up straight. “I know I did not give any detail to what I wanted to say.” He spoke with a sigh. “I have been offered a position by my supervisor for a position on Styx and I accepted it.”

            This brought up as much of an uproar as a group of five could cause. More like three as Henry and Jacob did not have a reaction. The announcement brought Henry’s mind back to what he spoke to the Colonel about earlier that day. He sighed internally before speaking up after the others settled down.

            “I would like to say something as well.” Henry said. “I have recently been contacted myself and been offered a position on Styx.”

            This had brought about another, more minor, uproar among his friends. Before they asked anything, Henry continued.

            “I have not yet made a decision.” Spoke Henry. “There’s a meeting on Friday to go over it. By the end of the weekend I’ll have decided.”

            The others seemed to be at a loss for words over what had been said. When Henry looked over at Jacob, there was some relief on his face about not being the only one offered a job. Henry can say that Jacob’s job does not relate to Henry’s. As Jacob works as a Galactic Macro-zoology, he would go on to study the ecosystem of the planet. Galactic Macro-zoology was created soon after the first ecosystems in the galaxy were found. And with cities brought onto these sorts of planets, a heavy amount of weight would be put onto the zoologists, biologists, and naturalists to focus on where the cities could be placed with minimal effects on the ecosystems.

            When the conversation began, Henry had not been able to provide many answers to his friends due to his lack of information, leaving Jacob to be the one to provide many answers. He has offered plenty of details Henry found interesting and listened intently. Plenty of this detail was brought about from the various details of the ecosystem and the course of evolution that is known. Known fossil records of the planet places the ecosystem on Styx older than most of the known ecosystems, possibly the first or one of the first to do so in the galaxy. The age of their sun is estimated to be seven billion years old, nearly two and a half billion years older than Earth’s sun, located closer to the center of the Milky Way. Styx formed a quarter billion years after the formation of its sun. With the added time to allow life to form and evolve, it saw a more complex system to form on Styx than on Earth. With the higher complexity of this ecosystem, it took time for areas to be labelled ‘low-habitancy’ for cities to be developed at. The term ‘low-habitancy’ refers to a piece of land that, while still of significance to the ecosystem, is one that can be given to construction of cities with little effect to the surrounding life. And had little effect on the future of the ecosystem as it changes. The latter of these two are the most difficult to determine as it cannot be estimated as to the change that will take place, especially when introduced to some great change as a city holding life from an unknown ecosystem to its own.

            As the days carried on, Henry thought of the position offered with great interest and, once Friday arrived, Henry had an answer.

            He made his way down to the office of Colonel Panning. The vehicle used is a fully automated car that followed along one of the many magnetic rails that interweaved between the buildings. The rails themselves go up many stories of the buildings, minimizing the amount of traffic that would otherwise form on the primitive streets of old. During the few minutes it took to reach Panning’s office, nervousness had taken hold, though there is little need for him to be so.

Reaching the buildings and going up to the office, he knocked on Panning’s door. His voice was heard on the other side.

            “Come in.” Panning responded.

            Henry carefully opened the door and stepped in to find Panning wearing the same uniform when they spoke on video, going over documents studiously. After a moment, he looked up to find Henry standing at the door with uncertainty. He motioned for Henry to take a seat across from him, which Henry did. Of all the times they met, this is the first they’ve done in a formal setting.

            “Now, Henry. I’m sure you still have questions on this position I have offered you before you go on to look over the document.” Panning spoke as he closed off his documents.

            “I have been thinking over what you said since our video call, I do admit.” Replied Henry. “In that time, I think I have made a decision.”

            This surprised Panning. “Are you sure you wouldn’t want to think it over some more with information to base it on?”

            “I’m certain.” Answered Henry. “I have decided that I will accept the position.”

            Panning did show some uncertain relief when he heard this. “I am glad to hear that you are willing to accept the position. If it isn’t too much to ask, how did you come to a decision with the little information I offered you?”

            Henry was about to tell Panning about his friend Jacob telling himself and other friends of his but stopped himself from doing so.

            “I began to think over what you said with what I knew about Styx and went on to do what research I could on the planet.” Henry began. “The more I thought it over, the more curious Styx became. For all the worlds that have an ecosystem, the majority are not able to live there and experience it. To be one of the first on such a planet while it’s in its prime would be extraordinary, not to mention a planet with one of the oldest known ecosystems.”

            Panning thought over this answer before replying. “I do suppose that is reason enough. I would like you to think it over once more before making a final decision.”

            It did not take long for Henry to nod, partly to himself. “I have, and I stand by what I said.”

            Panning sighed and shook his head slightly before he took out a file. “Here’s the file you will need to sign.” Panning said, handing it over. “I do suggest going through it to see that all the terms are acceptable to you.”

            The folder held a thick sheaf of paper. It’s clear that it will take Henry days to read through it all. He agreed to do so. Both standing, they shook hands, Panning thanking him for the time and acceptance of the job.

            Henry made it home in the vehicle that brought him there and set the folder down on the desk in his office before he sat down. For the ease technology has brought society, there are cases, such as this, where going through a physical copy of a document felt necessary. Thinking of this brought Henry’s mind over to the small bookshelf next to his desk that held physical copies of books.

            After a moment, Henry began to go over the document. With the weekend now arrived, Henry planned to take all the time he could to go over much of the document. As he went over it in that time, he found that a fair amount of what it covers is the job he expected, such as an extra day of work each week (which he was not up for but will do all the same), or the fact that he will be expected to remain on-planet until his job is done and the robots take over. There are other parts on the document that he had not thought of, but felt it went as unspoken for the position, such as the changes to the compensation to an employee who is injured or died on the job, what happens to those who show to their job willingly intoxicated with a drug, synthetic or otherwise.

            It wasn’t until Wednesday, after his shift, that he met with Colonel Panning once again to hand over the document, signed. A lengthy discussion began between them. Colonel Panning spoke of the trip with the amount of luggage allowed. Henry was pleased to hear this as enough luggage can be brought to see he would have what his needed to retain his sanity throughout the time working on Styx. A key matter came up the Colonel wanted to emphasize on that appeared in the document, which is the boundary line. There is plenty of space for them to move around the region the city is located at for them, covering many square miles of land, no more than half of which is used for the city. The emphasis came when moving outside these boundaries. While there is no way for Panning, or anyone else, to stop them from going beyond these boundaries, it is recommended they don’t for the safety of the ecosystem. Henry replied saying that he understood this. Panning looked at him for a few seconds before speaking once more.

            “You’ll be given three weeks to pack what you need, within reason, and say farewell to friends and family.” Panning spoke, standing up. “I do thank you again for doing this, and I hope that it goes well.”

            “Thanks for giving me the opportunity to do this.” Henry responded standing shortly after he did. “If it wasn’t for this, I likely would never leave Persephone.”

            As Henry was driven back to his apartment, he felt satisfaction. Three weeks is more than enough time to pack. His apartment can still be paid for while he is off-planet, with many people known to have properties across multiple planets. With the pay raise that comes with this job, it will be no issue. Saying farewell to friends and family would be of little trouble. His parents sadly passed away years ago due to a tragic accident involving a miscalculated vehicle collision (an event that is far too rare, yet still holds a threat that shows with the age of the vehicle), and with no siblings, those who are left are his small band of friends, who are already aware of his job offered on Styx. It had taken a week before he was packed and had met with his friends to tell of his acceptance. Given what had taken place no more than two weeks ago, it didn’t come as a surprise to any of them that Henry made the decision to go.

###

            Henry sat in the compartment designated to him for the trip. Though the compartment is small, it’s better than compartments used for commercial space travel. It’s not until the final day leading up to this trip that Henry felt any sense of worry. There are some concerns when it comes to space travel, surrounding solar flares, pulsars, blackholes, or jumping out of the wormhole in the path of a solar body. It’s not too big of an issue; decreasing with the improving computing over the years to calculate the necessary jumps required for trips. Two announcements are made for the jump, the first five minutes before, and the second ten seconds before. At the ten second announcement Henry counted, by the eleventh second, he felt as if he went down an elevator for a fraction of a second. By the fifteenth second, his breathing began to settle. The twentieth, he was back to himself.

            Five minutes passed before they finished their decent that felt like nothing more than a light vibration on the floor and walls. In that time, Henry was up and moving around the passages of the ship. It’s prior to the jump, he had met with a few people he would be working alongside with, as he made it to the storage facilities, he found a few of them already waiting to collect their possessions. Grant, a bulking man from the rural area of Persephone begun to talk.

            “Do you know where we’ll be staying?”

            “It’s towards the center of the city where the business fronts will be.” Henry answered. “As I understand, it’s the city square, so there’s enough space to hold our quarters without being in the way of the construction. Each space given to each of us will be more than enough during this time.”

            There was some relief and sighs among them, and Henry knew how they felt. The relief for the ease of being able to work with minimal delays and the sighs for the living space given being small, and cramped with the more time that passes.

            Jacklyn, a tall woman with shoulder-length, chestnut colored hair, and tan skin, who worked at the same company as Henry before this transfer, spoke next.

            “Were these buildings setup before we arrived here?” She asked.

            “Yes, they are.” Responded Henry. “There are a few things inside the room we will need to setup ourselves, but nothing that we cannot do ourselves.”

            There were many other question that were asked, Henry answered each of them there best he can. And, as more people arrived, the more questions that were raised. Once they were settled with what Henry could tell them, they were able to step off the ship. Henry was one of the first off, followed shortly after by Grant and Jacklyn. He wished Jacob came with on this ship. Jacob set out with his work earlier. There was not much detail Jacob could speak of when it came to his job. When Henry pried a bit, Jacob reveal a general location of where he would be stationed, located a little over two hundred miles away.

            As they looked around the area, it was a vast empty space, with traces of where trees once were, certainly cleared out by the robots who were brought here weeks before. There were robots who were seen doing small tasks by that point. These robots stood at half the height of an average person, built with a bulky appearance, giving them twice the width of a person. Clearly made for the heavy lifting to manage the clearing and constructing of the buildings. The housing they were given was bland on the outside. Made of an off-white brick for its walls that had small windows and a slanted roof that was likely made of a silicon material. It’s clear there is enough space in each one. They were whispering among themselves as they went to the housing, Grant speaking with Henry and Jacklyn.

            “Is there assigned housing?” Grant inquired as they walked.

            “I would assume not.” Spoke Henry. “There were no mentions of it during the meetings I’ve had.”

            And when they made it to the housing it was found to be the case of no assigned housing. That is, all but for Henry. What made this one standout is the paperwork found on the kitchen counter, with a holo-screen in the office. Going through the paperwork on the counter, Henry found it to be a list of instructions for what they will do in their time along with a full manifest of people assigned to what tasks and a log to the supplies given for this job. Giving one look over, it looked straight-forward, though a lot of information to take in, to say the least. The main task they had appeared to be securing anchors that will assign the location to buildings which the robots will then build, with minor tasks to do after that.

            After they had settled in, they began poking around and found that they have a wider range of freedom than thy expected, two people finding a spot where bon-fires can be started for relaxation at nights, which brought the mood up as they had begun one as soon as it grew dark enough to do so. During the first night they all grew close to one another, Henry doing the best he can to learn each of their names, and, when there’s time, to learn a little about them. It was no easy task as, before Henry knew it, the night ended with him barely getting the time to relax.

            It is the following day that their work began. Henry checked on the supplies on the log. The storage of the tools sat close to the housing while the building materials sat far away in comparison, residing off the construction site, as said by the map. Looking through the buildings briefly, the supplies looked to be there. The anchors were rods with a bulb at the top containing a tracker that sends out a signal. The size of the rods is about two and half feet. To aid them in determining the angle and length of the walls were retractable bands, able to extend well beyond what’s needed, the base of these retractable bands had a gear to prevent them going beyond the required distance. To secure the anchors at the necessary depths, there is a device that will put high pressure through a barrel, pushing the rod into the ground. When the markers for each building is finished, the robots will identify their locations and start construction.

            The start of their jobs began slowly as they learned how to use the tools and figured out the layout of the city. As the days went on, the jobs became easier, it wasn’t until a week in that the first sign of trouble began in the form of a scuffle. Henry was not aware that one began, sitting at his kitchen table writing a report of current progress, until Grant barged in with panic causing Henry to jump out of his seat.

            “Sorry for the sudden intrusion, boss.” Grant began in a huff. “We need help out here, there’s a situation that might grow worse if you do not intervene.”

            Grant led Henry down to the outskirts to the supply building to find one of the workers, a man by the name of Hoss, upset with a robot that stood no more than three feet in front of him. It took a moment to recall the background of Hoss, though the notable part is that he came from a lower-class region of Persephone, with his career centering in construction, making him a perfect candidate to be brought onto this job. The closer they became, the more of the heated discussion can be heard.

            “I can assure you, there is nothing in my system that would indicate an error, nor can it account for what is now lost.” Spoke the robot in its monotone voice.

            “Don’t give me that bullshit,” replied Hoss in a harsh tone. “Something must have happened to it. I told one of you scrap-piles of its disappearance with nothing to show for it.”

            “I do apologize for this inconvenience, sir. We are doing everything that is within our means to fix this issue.” The robot responded.

            “What’s going on here?” Henry said in a strict voice, getting between them.

            “Finally, someone who has power to do something.” Hoss spoke with a tone of outraged sarcasm.

            “Hoss, just tell me what happened.” Henry spoke in a calm, yet stern, manner.

            “Tools have gone missing days ago. I have told these tin-cans about it the day it happened, and there’s nothing to show for their absence.”

            “Alright, Hoss. Come with me so we can discuss this in greater detail. I will send in a request for new tools to be sent to us once we’re done. As for you,” Henry shifted his gaze to the robot, “inform the others that they are to continue looking for the tools alongside their assigned duties. If any information is found, report to me immediately.”

            “Yes, sir.” The robot spoke before heading off.

            Henry and Hoss made their way down to Henry’s residence as Hoss began to explain what happened: While Hoss was working, he had taken a break to take a leak. He placed the tools down at an area where many of the other tools sat before going. By the time he returned, the tools vanished. He took it as a sign they may have been placed in the supply building asking around after he found they weren’t. He informed the robots about the problem before he went on to do other tasks in the meantime. Over the days, he kept checking with the robots. Each time they denied finding the tools, nor indications that would suggest what happened to them, he became worried about losing his job over it, with it came the ‘slight’ anger towards the robot.

            “Now, Hoss, if this were to happen again, bring it straight to me.” Henry said. “The loss of tools is no reason to lose a job. It will take some time for the request to process, and tools printed. For now take some rest and periodically check for any other work you might be able to do.”

            Hoss let out a deep sigh before nodding. “Alright.”

            When their conversation came to an end, Hoss made his way to his living quarters. The request form for the tools was filled out within a minute and sent out. Henry took a moment afterwards to settle down after that ordeal. He will admit that the loss of two tools is odd, it doesn’t need Hoss’s reaction over. After the brief intermittent, he got back to work. He finished the work early, taking the chance for a quick walk around the area. There’s nothing too interesting to see as he walked. As the day wore on, the wildlife that can be seen within the boundaries began to diminish. Looking off into the tree line as he approached, it didn’t appear too dense. A moments thought later, he found himself among the trees. He remained aware of the boundary the contract stated. Looking over this line on a map, it went a good two miles into these woods, more than enough freedom for him and certainly many of the others here. The plant life is nothing too unusual, as a surprise in contrast to other planets that have an ecosystem. The trees are much like the trees originating from Earth, though have evolved to a different material, that has come to labelled as wood. The animal life is the strange aspect to this world. There’s clear categories between each animals, the insects of Styx have some similarities Henry began familiar with, such as multiple limbs, though that’s as far as it goes. Mammals are clearly defined, mostly having similar characteristics as mammals on Earth, only the traits they evolved are vastly different, forming creatures that have an appearance to fear.

            A half hour passed; Henry encountered many of the animals before they settled for the night. When he read about Styx before making the trip, he came across many of these animals. Seeing them now, he can say that reading about something and seeing it firsthand are two different things. Some of these animals had six or more limbs to move throughout the landscape with ease. At some point, there are the sound of predators hunting smaller creatures, though these were far in the distance, giving Henry little worry over an encounter. Many had bulbous eyes, different diameters for their limbs, some being as skinny as a wrist, others being nearly the size of Henry’s waist. It’s odd, to say the least.

            There are many different experiences that came with travelling to a new planet. One of the first noticed is the smell. The smell of a planet can vary, the stranger smells attached to planets with an independent ecosystem, such as Styx. The smell that came with Styx was not too unpleasant to Henry, holding a mustiness to it. This mustiness can be attached to old wood. This is something Henry had not experienced firsthand leaving him to take time to be used to this change. By now, the smell faded enough to where it’s noticeable if he purposefully focused on it with no strong smells around. The plants among the wilderness overcame the mustiness. After half an hour longer on the walk, a strong odor came over him, one he could not ignore. It’s a smell that had not been encountered before on this planet, yet one that does not take much thought to know what it is, the smell of death. He took it to mean that an animal must have died in the area. However it died, Henry went to find its body, less out of respect for the animal than to cover it with some soil to lessen the smell.

            Coming upon the body, Henry found it to be in a strange state. The body looked to be battered by something that is not in the area and various puncture wounds that looked like an attempted incision with the wrong tool. Henry knelt to get a better look, placing his sleeve over his mouth and nose in a failed attempt to block out some of the smell. Much of the meat had been taken out in some of the puncture wounds. There are some similar punctures found in the ground around the body, like failed attempts to use the tool.

            What the hell happened to you? Henry thought to himself.

            As he thought over the scene in front of him, he realized the punctures lined up with the tools Hoss said to have lost. At first, Henry thought Hoss may have done this then ditched the tools, though it was quickly pushed away. Something such as this is not within Hoss’s means or any that came onto this job. A thorough background check had been done on each of them to avoid a situation like this. All the same, this will need to be documented due to the use of the tools on this animal. He signaled to a robot through the device on his wrist. On its arrival, it took a split-second look at the animal before its attention turned to Henry.

            “How might I be of assistance?” It asked.

            “Are you equipped with a camera?” Henry asked in response.

            “Of course, all of us are.”

            Henry nodded, pleased to hear this. “I need you to take photos of this animal and the immediate area around it with as little disruption to it as you can and send them to my comms numbers. Once you finished, you can head back to carry on with your tasks.”

            “Yes, sir.” The robot answered.

            It took the robot time to take the photos requested. Henry waited patiently as it did so he would be able to cover the animal afterwards. By the time he sat down at his office desk, he felt worn out after that discovery. He pulled up the photos, looking through them and found they gave all the details he had noticed on and around the animal. Being worn out, Henry decided to wait until the morning to write in detail about what he had come across.

            In the morning, he felt a new vigor. The report went by quickly. In the report it has been mentioned that it’s one of the tools that went missing that’s done the damage on the body, with Henry believing that it cannot be anyone working under him, no evidence to be seen that would suggest one of them would have done so.

            To Henry’s surprise, a call came in from Colonel Panning early the day following the report. Answering, he found Panning reading through something.

            “Henry, I wanted to speak with you on this report you made on the missing tools.”

            “I can assure you there’s no issues we’ve come across beyond a lack of work for one of ours. At least that’s the situation for now.”

            “It’s not that, I trust you to handle that situation. It’s about the animal you came across that held the injuries relating to the tools that went missing. It shocks me to read that this occurred. Has there been no signs of anyone under you who could have done such a thing?”

            Henry took a moment’s thought. “No, I’d say this can be with certainty. There’s been a screening that can support this, I’m sure. If you find it necessary, I can go over each person carefully to see that this screening is, in fact, accurate.”

            “There’s no need for you to do that for my sake. I’ll go through the screenings to see any mistake that may have been overlooked. Though I don’t doubt you’re telling the truth that there’s no one there who would do such a thing.”

            Colonel Panning didn’t take long to state that he couldn’t stay on call for much longer, work elsewhere soon to take most of his time. Nothing came about from the report to the disappearance of the tools and the recent discovery, leaving Henry to assume Colonel Panning found no mistake. The prints to the new tools came with no issue, by the time they were printed, work began moving smoothly once more. As the days carried on, no other animal was found to have injuries from the tools, which Henry is glad of. As their jobs came closer to an end, more time came for them to do as they wished, Henry began to take greater risks with his walks, going beyond the boundaries. When these trips beyond the boundaries first started, Henry was concerned from messing too much with the ecosystem itself and the feeling he might become lost if he ventured too far. With the more times he went beyond the boundaries, the easier it became with the noticeable path forming from these ventures.

            On one of these trips, an event happened when he was moving down his main path, a little beyond the boundary. It did not catch his attention at the start, blending in well with the surrounding sounds of wildlife. When it was audible, Henry grew confused to what it could be. Whatever it was made a steady wailing sound as it moved through the brush causing Henry to detach the stun blaster from his belt, a tool issued to each of them with the thought that Styx’s predators may be bold enough someday to attack a human. Such an event has not taken place before, and zoologists on the planet believe it won’t for generations. The animal drew close enough, Henry aimed the blaster in its direction. Instead of it being a predator, it was an herbivore running past. Henry sidestepped quickly enough to avoid being hit by it and gave a sigh of relief as he did so, with the animal quickly vanishing. The animal that appeared is called a Wooded Grazer. The animal is the size of a hippo with some armor on its body of a light brown color, giving the creature its name, yet with space between the plates giving predators the chance to take one down.

            Henry holstered his weapon; the predator is certainly still tracking the wooded grazer which will give it little mind to Henry once it passes. It took no more than a minute after seeing its prey that the predators can be heard. As Henry waited for them to pass, he moved further off the path they were following for the grazer so he would not become a victim of the hunt. At their appearance, Henry stood there awe-struck. The predators were a group of five creatures with legs and arms structured like insects, a short, hairy body with what would be the chest for a human slightly indented. And its head holding the strangest appearance of the creature, being slightly elongated in the back and twice the size of humans. They stood half a foot shorter than an average person.

            Four of them passed Henry with no indication of seeing him. The fifth did take notice and stopped to observe him, allowing Henry to get a better look at the creature, the aspect he caught onto were the eyes; huge, bulbous things of intense gray, that showed no sign of wanting to hurt him, showing confused interest instead. Once Henry was able to take his eyes off its eyes, he looked at its waist to find one of the tools Hoss lost tied there by a thin animal hide cord. It isn’t until after this event that it dawned on Henry what he was seeing. A call came from its companions before it left. Henry couldn’t leave for some time, forgetting at first the path that led back to the construction site when he caught his senses. As he travelled back, he became thankful that he was far away from the site, giving him time to recollect himself and put on a face to hide what he’d seen. As he thought it over, it would not be a good idea for word to spread among the workers. There is one person who Henry can think of that would be a good person to look to for what could happen from that point forward, Colonel Panning.

            When he made it back to the site, he found half the people working while the other half, already done with their daily tasks, were talking among each other. He greeted each as he passed, some trying to draw him into their conversation, he told those that he had an important call to make. Entering his room, Henry let out a heavy sigh while leaning on the door. Now that he stood in his temporary quarters, he began to think if it’s a good idea to contact Panning immediately, and not try to have another encounter with these creatures to gather more detail that can be passed along. Before he decided, a knock came on his door. He answered to find Jacklyn.

            “Hey, Henry.” Jacklyn spoke. “A couple of us plan to do some poking around the area if you’re interested in joining us.”

            Henry opened his mouth to say that it might not be a good idea as he thought of the creatures. In a split second, he decided it might be suspicious if he did not give a reason as to why.

            “If you’re willing to give me a little time, I would be glad to. There’s an important call I must make first.” Henry replied.

            Jacklyn’s face lit up a little when he said this. “Of course we can wait.” She spoke before telling him where to meet them then heading off.

            Henry went over to his office, thinking about what he would say to Colonel Panning. With the slight changes in days between Persephone and Styx, he had to do a quick check on the time and found it to be eleven at night over there. A time he would hate to make a call at, the urgency he felt made it seem reasonable. The call went through with nothing but a low melody to be heard.

            “What.” Colonel Panning demanded before Henry could register he picked up. “Do you not realize what time it is?”

            “I do, Colonel, this is a matter that came to me which cannot wait.” Henry responded.

            When Panning heard the serious tone Henry spoke in, his attitude softened, though not by much.

            “Henry,” he began, “I was expecting to hear from you again, just not at this hour. What do you think is so important that you must call now?”

            “To start out, I will need to ask you a question of my own.” Panning nodded for Henry to continue. “What is the full protocol for when we come across another intelligent species.”

            This came to Panning as a curveball, causing him to reveal a look of genuine surprise. “Well, Henry, of all that I expected to hear, this is the last I did expect. What brought it on?”

            “I can assure you; I will give you all the detail I can. I would like to understand the protocol first.” Spoke Henry as he decided the unhindered truth throughout this conversation will be the best option.

            Panning took a moment to accept this before he spoke. “This protocol, I think, is simple in a complex way. To start out with, we will need to figure out their ‘homes’ of sorts and routes they generally take. Once this is identified, we will need to see that anthropologists, zoologists, linguists, and biologists, are sent in to start building relations and reveal what they can. However long this takes, we will be able to start communicating with them, reveal their culture, and properly document it. Of course, this is with as minimal contact as possible if they are still in the early stages of civilization. The last thing we would want to see happen is to advance them or influence them in some other way if they are still in an early stage, such as the stone age, ruining a greater culture that might come from them. If they are advanced enough, however, we would hold full communication rights with them, though I cannot recall the advancements they would need to make to qualify for this. What I do know about it is that they would need to colonize each habitable planet in their system, if there are more than one, and send a satellite to their neighboring star. What brought about this kind of question? Do you have reason to believe that there might be intelligent life on Styx? That would be quite the claim which will need substantial proof to support it, I hope you know.”

            “I have more than a reason to believe it.” Henry replied. “I’ve come to face-to-face with this species.”

            Colonel Panning’s face took on a look of grave seriousness. “Tell me all you know about this species.”

            Henry did just that. As this account was recounted, Panning remained stone silent, one would believe sound ceased to exist on his end. By the time Henry finished speaking Panning took time in silence to process what was said.

            “Was this the only encounter you had with them?” Panning asked, making Henry jump a little with the sudden sound.

            “Yes,” replied Henry. “I wanted to come to you first before doing anything else.”

            Panning thought some more. “You’ve made the right choice in that; we’ll need to go about this carefully. You said the one who stopped to inspect you carried a tool that was lost some time ago on a strap along with a weapon that it, or another of its kind, must have made?”

            “Yes. If it wasn’t for the grazer they were hunting, I’m sure the encounter would have taken a greatly different turn.”

            “Do you have any evidence to help support this encounter? That is, aside from the tools they seem to have taken.”

            “So far, no.”

            Panning nodded and gestured for him to continue.

            “I would like to remain here on Styx and continue work with this species. I’m aware it will be a risky endeavor. After the first encounter, learning more about this species feels as though it has become some of my responsibility.”

            “I had a feeling as though you would say that.” Panning let out a sigh. “I can accept your request to stay on Styx as the contract you signed gives you the choice to do so. As to taking part in the work for this species, it is outside of my control to say. If this species you encountered is listed as intelligent, a lot will change. I cannot say if the contract you signed will be adhered to. Whatever goes on in the meetings to discuss what you have told me will be strictly closed doors, and I’m sure, many heated debates will rage throughout. To start with, find some physical evidence. Hell, a photo would be enough with the software we have to inspect photos of any kind. With one of these alone, we will be able to start going down the right path to investigate the species.”

            Henry agreed to this, seeing a photo as the easier route. It will take time to take a photo. The encounter came through sheer luck. The day that brought the photo opportunity came two and a half weeks after the call with Colonel Panning. After the call, Henry nearly forgot he agreed to meet with Jacklyn and some others for a brief trip, he moved at a quick pace as he went to meet them Throughout their trip, he did what he could to get the thought of the call and the encounter out of his head, seemingly with some success. The trip didn’t take them far as those in the group wanted to remain close enough to the site where they wouldn’t lose their way back.

Following that day, Henry got into the habit of seeing a robot follows along on his walks. Each time they would go beyond the boundaries, the robot would alert him to it, each time he would override this alert. While annoying to hear the alert, it’s one he pushed through all the same.

            On the day in question, Henry decided to take the route followed when the first encounter came. The path the wooded grazer took could still be slightly seen. The body is long gone, being harvested by the species that hunted it down and by Styx’s scavengers coming in afterwards. Henry looked around the area with a sigh. The sigh was cut off when he heard a noise coming from along the fading path.

            “Is your camera ready?” Henry asked.

            “It has been since you told me we might be taking a photo, sir.” The robot responded. Henry flinched at this response, while it’s quiet, it sounded loud at the time.

            Fortunately enough, whatever was moving through the brush did not seem to hear the robot. One of the species that Henry spent looking for appeared in the small opening and froze at the sight of both Henry and the robot. It took a moment before Henry could give the gesture to the robot to take a photo. When it had, the robot did one thing that Henry didn’t want at that moment. Speak.

            “It has been done, sir. Shall we go?”

            The thing jumped when it heard the robot speak, tightening its grip onto its weapon. A tool that’s nothing different than a spear. In this case, it seemed to have a polished piece of either bone or antler at the end, flattened with a sharpened tip. Henry prepared himself to see it attack the robot. Instead, it took one step back before turning around and running off.

            There goes my chances of seeing it again anytime soon. Henry thought to himself.

            He let out a sigh. “Yeah, let’s go.”

            The way back, Henry felt the weight of the situation build up for what is going to happen after the photo’s sent to Colonel Panning. He informed the robot along the way to send the photo to his comms before deleting it from its system. Upon their return, Henry let the robot go back to its duties as he made his way down to his quarters. The photo was not sent out to Colonel Panning right away. Instead, Henry sat in his chair, looking the creature over. There is nothing to be seen that had not been noticed before. His mind rolled around what will happen once the photo is sent. He did agree with Panning that a lot will change. The first of these changes to take place will be the biologists and zoologists who’ll swarm this and the surrounding regions.

            Punching in the keys, Henry sent the photo to Colonel Panning and began the game of waiting for the call that is sure to happen. The call took longer to come than Henry expected. When Henry answered the call, Colonel Panning held a stern look on his face and his voice held none of the looseness that it usually does when speaking to Henry in private.

“Well, Henry.” Colonel Panning began. “I do say the photo you sent me supports what you have said about the creature. It has been running through the detection software and should be done during this call. As it had not yet identified any falsities, I doubt it will detect any now. Once it is finished with its job, do understand that I will need to send it, along with a report, to my superior, this involves what you’ve told me about your encounter.”

            “I understand,” replied Henry with a slight nod.

            “As I have said before, I do not know with certainty what will take place afterwards as this is the only other intelligent species that exists to our knowledge. All I can say for now is to keep this to yourself and prepare to hear news as to the condition to yours and the others staying at Styx. If I have any say in your position on Styx, I will vote on your staying due to special circumstances of discovering the species.”

            As it happened, it was then that the analysis of the photo came to an end.

            Colonel Panning cleared his throat as he went over the results. “It’s as I expected. The system says the photo is legitimate. I will do what I can to keep you updated, which I doubt there will be much of anything I can disclose. The best thing that I can tell you for now is to stay safe in your time there.”

            Henry thanked him before the call disconnected. Henry sat there in the silence of the room with his head in his hands. All that awaited now were gaps of silence between these communications with Colonel Panning until news comes of the plan to move forward with investigating the species. As this came into his head, Henry began to wonder if the policies set forth for encountering another intelligent form of life is accessible to the public.

            Accessing the universal database (once upon a time being called the internet in the archaic days), Henry began to hunt down the policies. Many various keywords were used to find it with little success beyond brief mentions. It wasn’t until Henry began placing his efforts into government systems, accessible from his position working on Styx, though only partially, that Henry came upon the policies. Looking it over briefly, it’s clear that there is a lot of information covered. It should be expected for the importance of encountering another intelligent life. Specifying the research into the documents, Henry tried to find anything about what to do with encountering the first intelligent life in the universe. After lengthy research, Henry came upon a paragraph that explained, in part, over the situation of find the first intelligent life:

            Under such a delicate situation as coming across the first other intelligent life, it must be met with extreme caution, no matter how advanced they are. If it comes to be that they are in our own galaxy, The Milky Way, than it is safe to assume that they are not much more advanced than we. Be that the case, we should do what we can to allow them equal access to both land and rights as us. Certainly there are going to be individuals, in both species, who would view this as a negative aspect for their respective species. The least we can do against them is to allow them their own opinion in the hope that they will not take the extremist stance. If it comes to be the extremist stance, it will be mentioned as to what can be done in another document. It’s this extremist stance that puts a heavy heart on this first encounter for the safety of both species.”

            Henry sat there, looking at the screen vacantly as he went into his thoughts.

            I do suppose it makes sense we would not want much in the way of detail for this encounter in the public’s knowledge initially, Henry contemplated. With knowledge gradually entering the public knowledge as work with ties between the species is worked on, the better it will be.

            Finally, he stood up and turned off the screen as he did so. He began to pace the room, unsure of what should be done. Hunting down the species to learn more did not feel right so soon after the conversation with Panning, nor after what had been read. With this, he decided to try turning his thoughts away from the topic and moved off to a film that sat unwatched in his collection, The Undying Galactic. It follows the time when galactic travel becomes a far more common expense. Specifically surrounding a band of self-proclaimed ‘space vikings’ and their expeditions. Henry purchased his copy of the film years ago, yet never watched it. As the film went on, Henry found himself half focused. Work would have been a more welcome escape than the film, it’s the one thing there’s not much of. In the time they have been here for, more work was done than expected. It’s now caught up with as most of their work is checking to see that no mistakes were made with the robots. Many of the people who did not wish to remain on Styx already left. There were now vacant spaces in the housing sector as the rooms of those who left were dismantled. Of these who did remain, Hoss and Jacklyn were among them, which Henry is thankful for as it gave him two people to speak to whom he had grown to know well.

            The movie ended without Henry’s realization until five minutes into the credits and the scenes he half focus on now forgotten. The day marched on much the same. Conversations picked up ended not too long after as the others figured out quickly that his mind is partly elsewhere. The following day, Henry was not as distracted with his thoughts, and, after a week, a call came from Colonel Panning.

            There’s a moment before Henry spoke.

            “I’m sorry, Panning, could you repeat what you said? My mind’s been elsewhere since we last spoke.”

            “Of course. Basically, what it amounts to is that it has been agreed that the photograph is of a new species. And, while teams do plan to arrive in time, we would like to see that you are part of the head of this investigation. With the encounter you had, it would likely be easier for you to be the one to start the interactions between us and them.”

            “And you’re certain you want me to take the lead on something as big as this?”

            Colonel Panning let out a sigh. “It wasn’t so much my say for this. I have recounted the encounter you had with this species, and the others in the meeting came to feel that it’s a good idea for you to do so. As it happens, I do agree with them. I’m aware that you know so little on this species, as of now, you know the most causing you to be the current expert on them.”

            The dread of what Panning said washed over Henry. The most he knows of the species is from a brief encounter, most of that information brought up in the photo. The only thing that had not been shown was what had been seen during the hunt, which Henry did not gain much detail of what took place.

            “Is there anything I can say to convince you otherwise?” Henry asked, some of the dread appearing in his voice.

            “I would hope not.” Colonel Panning replied with some humor. “I can see to it that you would have time to go over what I have told you. The team should be prepared to set out to Styx in two months, I can add on an extra two weeks to that if you think you’ll need the time.”

            Henry thanked him before the call came to an end. He partly wished he’d be forced to leave Styx, knowing he’s not ready to lead such a team in research, but also glad he’ll be staying for the interest he has in this species. A sense of duty came to investigate this species before the team arrives. It took another week before Henry found the courage to do anything that might be of use. In that time, news seems to have spread, how this happened, he didn’t know, Hoss and Jacklyn being among the first to speak with Henry directly about it.

            “Why didn’t you tell us about what you saw?” Jacklyn asked. “It’s a big thing to have come about.”

            It’s because I didn’t want to believe it, nor have something come up I wasn’t prepared to handle.” Henry replied. “Up until two weeks after the first encounter, I didn’t know what to think.”

            “Do you know what will happen to all the work we put into this place?” Asked Hoss.

            “I can’t say.” Henry spoke. “I would think the buildings will find some use, just not the kind they were planned for.”

            “What about the rest of us?” Hoss spoke. “I mean those of us who wanted to stay on Styx.”

            “That is more difficult to speak of.” Henry said with a sigh, feeling bad for both for the chance of being forced off Styx. “All I know right now is that teams will be sent to this region to investigate the matter. Beyond that, it’s being discussed to see what should be done. If any news of it will come my way, I can promise you both will be the first people I tell.”

            Henry can tell that they were not satisfied with this answer. They are the ones who held the highest hopes of remaining on Styx. As to why this may be, trouble at home or hopes for a more successful life, Henry was not told and did not push the topic. Shortly after their conversation, they parted ways. He wished there was something more he could tell them. The best that he can do is to suggest for them to be allowed to remain, a task that Henry feels like would be a fruitless effort on their behalf.

            Moving on from the conversation, Henry began to make his way throughout the construction site and onto the forest. After what has happened with the robot speaking, causing the individual to run off, Henry held little hope that he’ll have another encounter. The blame of that can be taken on his account than the robots’. Of all that had been told to the robot, there was no order to remain silent throughout their trip. This should not stop him from making any attempt. With the time that passed, there would, hopefully, be something he’ll come across.

            The trip carried on with no success. He should expect they won’t always be in the area. It did not seem like they were advanced to have cultivation of plants or animals, suggested by the satellite images of the planet and current encounters. An early culture as theirs would need a large extent of land to sustain a small community. The thought of this gave the idea of aiding relations with them by offering them food and simple tools. It will go heavily against what is the policies for a lower tech civilization.

            By the end of the day, Henry settled into bed with expected disappointment. And, with the following days, he had the same luck with each trip. He began to feel like it may be best to do nothing more than wait out the remaining time until the team arrives. While there’s no luck with another encounter, Henry did raise the concern Hoss and Jacklyn had to Colonel Panning.  Colonel Panning isn’t surprised that others would want to remain on Styx, he couldn’t give an answer as to them remaining on the planet.

            A month and a half passed with no other news to the species. The only notable update given is Colonel Panning brought up that the planned residents of Styx will be able to remain as the teams conduct their business. The joy Hoss and Jacklyn expressed when they were told was indescribable. Henry felt a sense of joy as well when he was told this by Panning, though nowhere near as much as them. During that call, Henry let Colonel Panning know that he would no longer need to hold off the team from arriving in their two-month timeframe. This brought some relief, with Colonel Panning admitted that he was not able to hold off the team for the two weeks he promised. In that same month and a half, a great amount of work had been accomplished by the robots. Three of the major structures saw full completion with nothing left than placing in the furnishing and turning on the electricity. Those who remained on Styx began to frequent the inside of these buildings often, Henry being one of them. He found it comforting to be able to look over a vast expanse of Styx. One of the things he noticed were the many groups that had formed between the residents of Styx as he looked onto the land. Over the time after their work began to end, Henry began to learn more about the people who would be staying on Styx and the friendships that began to form between them. A few knew each other prior to arriving at Styx, while others began their bonds from sharing one interest or another. Though this is most of what he could learn about some of them. Hoss and Jacklyn had better luck at interacting among them.

            The remaining weeks before the team arrived saw calm over the area. Henry met them on their arrival with a small audience standing behind him. Not too far behind him were Hoss and Jacklyn, standing further behind them are others who had an interest in seeing the new arrivals. The ship they arrived in is the same as the one that brought Henry and the others.

            There are robots who came on the ship to aid with the supplies, though many on the team went on to do some work themselves. Four members of the team were left out and approached Henry.

            “Mr. Farver, I presume.” Spoke a woman who had short red hair with gray eyes with a hint of green, standing at 5’9, Henry quickly established as the head of the team.

            “You presume correct.” Henry spoke, shaking her hand. “I do have to apologize; I have not been told who I would be meeting.”

            “I expected as much.” Replied the woman. “My name is Dr. Brown, and these are my associates; Dr’s Lina, Neera, and Martin.”

            She introduced them from left to right. Though for the difference in their outfits, they remained formal, and still being able to be effective to work on the field.

            “Now, Mr. Farver.” Dr. Brown continued. “My team and I will start setting up the necessary equipment. Once that is seen to, I’d like to speak with you about this species you encountered. Certainly there must be detail you missed when you made your report to Colonel Panning.”

            They left to start their work, leaving him alone with Hoss and Jacklyn, who made their approach at the groups’ departure.

            “Life on Styx will not be what it was planned, will it?” Jacklyn spoke.

            I don’t think so, no.” Replied Henry. “That was sure to be the case, with or without my involvement.”

            “Is there any way to know with certainty what will happen if this species is agreed to be intelligent?” Hoss asked.

            “I can’t speak about that.” Admitted Henry. “I’m aware of policies that are in place for that situation. How they are to be enacted will be left to this team and their superiors.”

            Their conversation continued for a few minutes longer. It was later in the day, when evening was drawing on that Dr. Brown met with Henry. Much of the conversation was Henry going over the same events as talked about before with Colonel Panning. Dr. Brown had been thorough when it came to the questions she asked only to be disappointed.

            Dr. Brown sighed as she leaned back in her chair. “I should have thought what’s on the report being all the information available, not to mean insult from that. Considering the size of this discovery, it would be expected that information would be the focus.”

            “I have done what I could to gather more.” Replied Henry. “After the photo was taken, it appears like the group moved on.”

            Dr. Brown looked out the window on her left. “It’s already growing late to do much today.” She shifted her attention back to Henry. “Would you be willing to see myself and a few others to some of the site of your encounter tomorrow?”

            Henry thought back on the path leading to the site for a moment. He agreed when he believed he would be able to. The following day when they are at the site, Dr. Brown and the others centered their work heavily on the site, more than what Henry expected. For the months that passed by since the sighting, Henry figured the information once there would be gone.

            It took over two hours for the team to go through the site before they were satisfied. In those hours, samples and images were taken of the environment, the latter done multiple times from different angles. During this time, there’s one member of the group that Henry felt off about. He couldn’t place what’s wrong about this person, the worst they’re doing is looking back at either him or Dr. Brown. Though some suspicion is raised, through their investigation of the site, Henry didn’t say a word as he’d hate to raise anything with no evidence that the man’s doing or planning anything that’s of concern. They were on their way back, the team going over what was taken as Henry and Dr. Brown spoke.

            “What are you hoping to find with what was taken?” Asked Henry.

            “Do you know how digital mapping and testing physical samples work?” Dr. Brown asked in response.

            “A little about the physical samples.” Henry replied. “Much of my focus does not center on details of either.”

            Dr. Brown nodded. “Well, the physical samples themselves are to test for anything left behind. As to the images, it’s the same idea for anything left behind that’s not visible. The multiple images are to help determine points such as slight shifts in elevation and map them out. Doing both aided in discovering many species on other planets.”

            “Will they still work after so much time has passed?”

            “For the time you say passed, I don’t think the physical samples will show much of anything. The digital imaging will show something if there is anything to see. It’ll take longer, however, due to the length of time that’s passed since the last you encountered.”

            For the confidence Dr. Brown has shown for the digital mapping, Henry began to feel the same way. Later that day, when night is approaching quickly, there came a call from Colonel Panning.

            “How goes the work now that the team is there?” Panning asked.

            “Difficult to say.” Henry said. “So far it seems like it’ll be slow for the methods they have chosen to do so far.”

            “I see. They began testing physical samples and digital mapping?” Panning continued without a response from Henry. “They do that a lot when it comes to studying a planet with an ecosystem. Is their equipment setup?”

            “It appears to be laid out properly. I was told they had to tune some of the devices still but should be able to jump into their work right away.”

            “That’s what I like to hear.” Panning said, nodding. “Will you see to it that either Dr. Brown or you keeps me informed to any updates?”

            “Of course.” Henry responded. “Is there anyone else on their way to work on this job?”

            “Not to my knowledge, no.” Panning answered. “For what had been brought forth of another intelligent species, that can change. It’s a delicate situation and should be handled by the right people.”

            Henry couldn’t agree more to this. Even before he came to know that people within fields of biology, zoology, working to see more of the species felt like too much for someone with his little experience to bear. Colonel Panning made it appear that he was looking across the room at something before speaking.

            “Unfortunately, I cannot continue with this conversation.” He spoke. “I will be waiting on any update that may come about”

            It’s known that there’s a group in this region, and, thanks to human settlement, it will likely move on to other regions of the planet. If so, added time will take to find he same group, or another, to study and form a bond with. Henry, while walking along the road, pushed this away for the time.

            He came to check in with the digital mapping near daily, often able to see the system a work first-hand. Much of what he saw didn’t amount to much to his untrained eye. From the periodic questions, he was able to ask the team working the system, it’s going better than they anticipated, likely will be ahead of schedule. Henry was glad to hear this. Dr. Brown more so as, from what she says, it’s something to only be done with a good site. A full month passed before the digital mapping came to an end. Looking over the images in their completed form showed more than Henry expected, showing various colors that shows different shapes in the slight shifts of the land. It’s clear that a lot of what is shown is the environment with traces of prints, a few of these coming from Henry over the months. Most other prints can be identified with a known animal, three are left unidentified, one, thanks to the image of the species, can be identified as the species he encountered.

            Henry couldn’t understand much on what is said on the screens that provided details. By the look on the faces of a few who were around, something unusual must have been found.

            “What is it?” Asked Henry. “Didn’t we find what we were looking for with this system?”

            “Well, yes. We did.” Dr. Brown responded at a desk to his right. “It’s what is shown along with the images." She paused for a moment before she went on. “There are a few of the footprints the computer says are recent in comparison to others. Specifically saying they lead up to about a week ago.”

            This surprised Henry. So they have remained in the area; Henry happened to go to the area at the wrong time.

            “What do we do now that we know they are still in the area?” Henry spoke. “I can still go on to meet with them some more. I have a feeling these meetings will be nothing more than us looking each other over.”

            Silence remained over the room as Dr. Brown thought it over. “Considering the situation as I understand from what you detailed, it’s a delicate situation. If true that this race can be in what can be seen as the stone age, only special contact can be made by certain individuals to aid with relations.” Dr. Brown took another pause. “Seeing as how you already contacted them, in a manner of speaking, and they are somewhat familiar with you, you’ll be one of the permitted individuals to do so. I do need you to tell me one thing: Has anyone else had contact with them?”

            “The closest I’m aware of it happening is when they swiped the tools Hoss temporarily stepped away from.”

            Dr. Brown nodded slightly when she heard this. “Alright, we’ll speak with Hoss soon. For now, we should wait for a few days before making any further contact with them. At least it will give time to figure out what should be done.”

            Henry took to waiting with a heavy heart. He agreed that a matter of action should be figured out. Of course, there are the policies that will be leaned back on. How effective they’ll be is up for debate as this is the first time they’re used. The meeting with Hoss went by fast, taking place the day after the system finished mapping. A half an hour meeting later with nothing to show for it. Hoss looked to be worn out afterwards, telling Henry they asked some bundle of questions phrased differently in the hope there would be a different answer.

            Once they were finished with Hoss, there remained little for them to cover beyond working up some plan for the encounter, something Henry was glad to see arrive, whatever it may be. Not long as it happens, arriving a week and a half after Hoss’s meeting. In short, the plan for the meeting is not much different than what’s expected. What surprised him most are the number of people coming along. Four people, five if the robot is counted among them. One or two people with the robot Henry can understand. What they chose felt to be pushing their luck at the meeting. Henry explained this to them with the response he received being them practically shrugging it off.

            They made their way through the forest. Henry didn’t have much difficulty unlike those chosen to go with. From the mapping, it’s said there’s an estimate span of days. The time over these days is something the system is not able to determine after such a length of time has passed. Two of the four made this trip once prior. Though, with this fore-knowledge did seem to help, it didn’t stop them from having difficulty. Henry got a small laugh about this. One of the two, Dr. Connors, appeared to grow a bit more haggard since he last saw the man. Dr. Conners is a man of about Henry’s height with dark brown hair that’s a little long, though nowhere near reaching shoulder length and slightly tanned skin. While Henry was suspicious about Connors before, the feeling was replaced by concern for his wellbeing. Such a change would have been placed onto the work itself, if there was the sign of the change taking place on another from the team, which had not been seen. Henry made a note to speak with Dr. Brown about Connors at the earliest convenience they have.

            On the arrival to the site, Henry suggested to the others that it’d be wise that they were to remain in the tree line. If any of the species shows, it will be better that they were at a non-threatening distance. He poked around the area a lot to reveal nothing different. An hour carried on and Henry saw the others grow restless. The person standing to Connors left, a short, pudgy man with a bald head and thick beard made a motion to speak before Henry heard movement from the foliage and motioned for them to remain silent. It didn’t take long before the source of the sound revealed itself to be, not one, but two members of the species. They made a small motion that must have been surprise as it came soon after they noticed Henry and his group. Neither party knew what should be done. Henry took the time to look both over and saw that they both wore matching belts, each with a tool that has been swiped from the construction site. Taking this to mean that one must be from the first encounter, Henry took a careful step forward, causing them to take two steps back. Taking note of it, Henry to a few careful steps back to hope it will indicate to them he meant no harm.

            With the steps taken, they appeared they could be at ease. Seeing what a good opportunity might be to start building relations, Henry carefully slipped a small hammer from his belt, placed it on the ground, and took many steps away from it. Curiosity must have grown in them as they carefully made their way over once Henry covered most of the distance back to the others. So far, it has gone better than they hoped. They took their time going over the details of the hammer before tying it to one of their belts and brought their attention back to Henry and his group.

            As much as Henry hated to try this once more, he took another, careful, step forward. They tensed and shifted without taking a step back. This came as a good sign that Henry decided not to risk with another step. Instead, Henry spoke softly, interested in seeing them grow accustomed to the sound.

            “It’s alright, we will not hurt you.” He spoke.

            The two shifted back slightly, with no interest shown in their part in leaving. There began a noise between the two Henry recognized as the same as was heard when he first came across them. After this sound ended, they began to leave. There was some attempt by the others to stop them, which came a useless effort. They weren’t pleased to know that they were not able to do anything they certainly hoped to do. Henry expected as much from this first planned meeting.

            As time passed with more meetings, those of the species became bold and communication became easier as robots that came recorded each encounter, giving them the opportunity to decipher the language used. During this span, further oddities were picked up on from Dr. Conners. Dr. Brown has been informed of the concern, both agreed it’s likely to be the stress of the job and Dr. Brown will go on to aid Connors to avoid any issues rising from this stress.

            Months passed with communication between the team and this species continuing. Dr. Conners has, thankfully gone back to some semblance of what he was like when he first arrived on Styx, a relief on Henry’s part as he didn’t like to see the change that took hold. The name Feldings have been given to the species. The name came from Dr. Brown’s recommendation as she witnessed the group take down a wooded grazer while on a trip with Henry. He raised no complaints to this, not able to think of a better name.

            “I’m glad you brought these people to our attention.” Dr. Brown spoke to Henry as they made their way to an important meeting. “From the information gathered, I’m amazed how they don’t have any semblance of metal tools. Their stone tools alone indicate many advancements and are about at the age when our own people began taking the use of metal a mere couple thousand years later, such as with the few hints of Magdalenian-like tools that have been found. I know that sounds like a long period, considering how long our people saw the start of the stone age with its continual advancements until the use of bronze, a few thousand years are barely anything on the timeline.”

            “And what about the policies that are set in place?” Henry asked. “What would they safeguard with what’s going on recently?”

            “With what happened so far, I’d say the best is that they’d see us separate our way of life from theirs. It’s been going on partly well, no true culture shift has taken place yet from our aid, nor much with tools apart from the two taken from the construction site. Unfortunately, however, we will see some shift in their culture with the interactions we’ve had with them already. The best we can do now is to ensure most of their culture remains and to see that they are not affected by anyone living on Styx.”

            “So nothing has changed with the site my team aided to build? People will move in eventually?”

            Dr. Brown nodded. “Eventually, yes. There are a few other key items of interest that must be worked on before populations can arrive that will help to keep these policies in place. Keeping an eye on them, I think we can gather more information on how cultures grow from a stone age society into the metal age and see how we can incorporate the use of the buildings for their way of life. Important tasks to keep an eye on whenever possible that my team will head, no doubt thanks to your decision to bring these people to the attention of Colonel Panning. And, you can say for certain, these people, when they become advanced enough, would be grateful for the preservation of their distant past.”

            Going through an important meeting with the Feldings, which was agreed with them, larger groups from both races gathered. This is important as an alliance of sorts will be made between them. Feldings hoped for more of the useful tools humans carry and food, they found many tasty varieties of, something Dr. Brown didn’t care to do, but has for the information it brought forth from the Feldings: While Dr. Brown and her team will learn their stories, way of life, and study anatomy, not mentioning many of the other details that can be raised. Learning the anatomy will be the most difficult without giving the Feldings insult.

            While the team have learned plenty of the Feldings language quick, thanks to the aid of the robots, the Feldings took longer to pick up on theirs. There are words from both languages that are difficult for both species to say and others with no definite translation either way, making it difficult to fully converse with each other.

            For this meeting, the Feldings went to hunt down a wooded grazer, which Henry learned is only hunted on special occasions, such as meetings like this or when food is running low as they see the animal as an honorable creature. Due to the bio-chemistry of the grazers containing arsenic, the Feldings were left to eat the animal on their own. They held their human allies in lesser view because of this but understood that the animal holds ‘bad blood’ as it came to be known by them. A true enough statement.

            The night began to settle on them that day. The leader of the Felding group, whose name is Tantar in human tongue, wanted to make a speech with Henry by his side. During their meetings with the Feldings, they came to learn that Tantar is the Felding Henry first encountered that started them down this path. As Tantar spoke, he said how fortunate they are to find friends as Henry and his people. Henry looked out to the group with some semblance of pride as Tantar went on. He caught some movement in the crowd approaching them and saw it was Dr. Conners. Figuring that Dr. Connors is moving to speak with someone in the crowd, likely Dr. Brown as she is in the front row of the crowd, Henry paid him little mind. That is until Conners came about a dozen feet away and still approaching while taking something out of his inner coat pocket. Henry realized what it was at the last moment and shoved Tantar out of the way as a shot rang out and panicked voices sprang up.