Uplift

Dustin gave what he hoped was a friendly wave to the gathered throng as he climbed carefully out of the shuttle. First impressions mattered; even now he could see one of the aliens - a youngster it seemed, and judging by Meli’s analysis only barely an adult - approaching him, hand extended nervously in greeting. With slow movements - the entire crowd looked like they might flee at any moment - Dustin held out his own hand, grasping the offered arm by the elbow.

Inhale, Exhale. The handshake concluded, and the pair took a step back from each other. “Greetings from the galaxy.” Dustin said, praying that the translator worked. The tiny device on his collar chirped out the message - he’d opted for an older version, which took in speech before repeating it in the appropriate language; he felt that this way the aliens would understand how he was speaking to them a little better.

The figure opposite hesitated, then nodded. “Greetings from the great forest. I take it by your manner of introduction that you are not the sky-gods of old, out to destroy us?” That got a few sharp intakes of breath from the assembled crowd, and multiple cameras that had been taking wide shots of the meeting seemed to be suddenly zooming in on the pair.

With a shake of his head, Dustin managed to get the greeter to relax. “No. Although I am interested in your sky-gods, I assure you that we’re not them. Others like us have limited paths through the stars, and we are the first of my kind to make new routes - none that we know of have been to your world before.” Pausing for a moment, Dustin then turned and beckoned to the waiting shuttle. “My crew and I are here to explain to you how the galaxy works, and to welcome you into a community wider than you could ever imagine.”

The presence of Emely and Bleu caused another stir among the crowd; Dustin’s explanation that their ship came from a great group of different people all working together seemed to calm them down some, although there were still nervous eyes watching the fox girl as she too shook the hand of the forest’s representative.

With the initial greeting handled smoothly, Dustin allowed himself to relax somewhat. The assembled aliens - who were called the Lemth in their own tongue - had set up a pavilion a short way away from the landing site; their discussions moved rapidly from greetings into explanations. For his part, he did his best to cover what the galactic community was - although he did make sure to explain that his role was that of an explorer; formal contact links would be established later that would provide the Lemth with far better teachers than he could possibly hope to be.

Indeed, as soon as he had signalled back to the ship that everything was going well, Meli had put a call through to Earth to request a formal delegation be sent to see to fully uplifting their new friends. If friends was the right word; the Lemth were quiet and quite hard to read at times as Dustin talked through communication and methods of travel that crossed the void between the stars, as well as painted a picture of the technology that was on offer. Industrial processes, material science - and most importantly for a species that viewed the forest as near-sacred and thus struggled to find suitable launch sites for their own space program, grav-engines.

One of the more elderly Lemth had asked if Dustin would mind carrying a satellite into orbit - they had developed it years prior, but still couldn’t manage to get a rocket large enough to make it fly. It was intended to be used as a carrier signal - to help relay messages between opposite sides of the planet thanks to a geosynchronous orbit - and the woman nearly wept when he nodded his agreement. From her point of view, it was a lifetime’s work fulfilled, and for Dustin it was a simple task - and after all, the Lemth would have the tech soon enough to leave their world, and it didn’t hurt to help them out with something easy anyway.

It was shortly after he’d agreed to the request that the discussion turned to myths and legends - and he felt his blood chill when the oldest of the assembled Lemth dignitaries explained the sky-gods comment that had been made earlier. “The foundation myth; our kind once lived in great cities like those in your descriptions of your home. It was a time of magic, where the ancients communed with the land and sea, and many wonders were made.” The aged Lemth had begun, his words in a soft tone that drew the attention of the entire gathering.

Even for the younger Lemth who had surely heard this tale many times, there was a power to the old man’s words as he continued his tale. “The ancients stretched their knowledge of ritual beyond the forests and into the sky - and in so doing, angered the sky gods. They came to the world as destroyers, wiping out the ancients in a day of great devastation where the very land quaked and the seas burned. Only those most caring of the forest were spared, left alone in the deepest woods or in what caves there were in those days. From them, a new world would be born as the tides retreated and the fires burned out - one where we would build underground or in harmony with the trees.”

Dustin shot a glance at his senior crew. Sammie was biting her nails; Emely was hiding a concerned expression well, but he knew her enough to spot it, and tendrils of an abyssal green flickered through Bleu’s complexion. As he pondered how best to broach the fact that what the aliens had described sounded very much like an attack from the monsters he was hunting, the diplomat he’d shaken hands with first leaned back in her seat. “Tell them about the god that fell.” She said softly, before adding “Your house knows more of that than any of the rest of us, respected one.”

The old Lemth sighed and wiped a hand across his brow before speaking in a far less attention grabbing tone. “I had hoped to not speak of this so soon with our new friends; it is a part of the tale that does not provide much wisdom. Still, as you say. The founders of my house were among those who had survived in the caves closest the surface - or so our family tale informs us. If every house that claimed that status as a mark of their toughness were correct, those caves must have been standing room only - but I digress.”

Pausing for thought, he continued “When the fire faded; in fact, as it was still raging if the tales are to be believed, my ancestors left the cave and looked to the sky with a far-seeing device. I’ve never seen it myself, but it is apparently still in the family vault; a telescope of great power based on it’s description. In any case - the tale goes that they saw the bodies of god, thronged around our world after they had delivered punishment. Before the gods vanished, one of them was cast out by the others - a spec of darkness that fell onto the moon.”

Another of the assembled Lemth chuckled. “None of us - even the elderly - still believe that all the myths are true, and while the manner of your arrival did cause some consternation, I am sure the lack of immanent fiery destruction has mollified all but the most deranged of apocalyptic groups. The general consensus now is that what likely caused the destruction of our ancestors was a meteoric impact in our early history. That would account for the fire, as well as the survival of those in the deep woods and underground. Fragments of the impactor could also have been responsible for the fallen god that my esteemed friend’s ancestors saw.”

The elderly Lemth nodded once more, before adding his own words. “Indeed. The myths are a tale that is awe inspiring in their original form; I have simplified the scrolls much for your benefit, friends. But there does seem to be some truth to them - our current telescopes have detected impact craters on the lunar surface that match the descriptions of my ancestors. Perhaps you could swing by when you leave us and see if it was a rock or a dead god after all?” The assembled Lemth all laughed at that, and Dustin did his best to chuckle along - but part of him was itching to go and check it out.

If it had been the monsters he’d been hunting, then there might be nothing to find; they’d not bothered to deep scan the moon that orbited the Lemth world as it was quite small and by that point they’d focused in on the planet itself. But if it had been his foe, and if it hadn’t dissolved like every previous time he’d encountered them - it was a thin chance he knew, and it relied on some pretty big ifs… There might be a clue here that would make up for losing the trail of the thing from the abbey.