Velca Prime

The first thing Dustin thought when the screens flickered back to showing the outside was that it should be more impressive. This was after all the first human led journey beyond Sol - but the view of his destination seemed very little changed from the one where the weave jump had begun. The blackness of space, a bunch of stars - and then the ship turned to head into the system proper and the fact that he was a long way from home suddenly became very apparent. Where traveling back to earth would have meant flying towards the warm glow of the single star at the heart of the Sol system, here twin orbs burned in front of him. The twin stars were perfectly in balance according to the Velca Research Council, a spinning pair around which a range of planets orbited - most of which had large colonies on, even if they were heavily reinforced due to the atmosphere or pressure (or lack thereof) in many cases.

Not much of that mattered to the Solar Ascent however - she wasn’t heading for the colonies; instead, her course was predetermined to merge into the inner system traffic and approach one of the large orbital platforms that hung like snowflakes almost obscuring the view of the surface of Velca Prime itself. Science and technology had long since converted the homeworld of the Velca into a jewel - it would be considered a resort world if it weren’t for the fact that non-residential access was limited to those undertaking research projects that needed quiet or solitude. For the bulk of the Velca, the orbital habitats were their home with trips to the surface to study or just explore the ancient mountains and forests considered natural hobbies to undertake.

The platform Dustin’s ship was heading for was the largest of these, housing a glittering spire that floated ethereally out from the planet like some space-based mountain - albeit one dotted with communication arrays and sensors. The primary research facility of the Velca Research Council was their traditional seat of government, and it’s surrounding platform was the place any kind of serious diplomatic work would take place. Dustin shook his head and turned away from the screens as he watched the spire getting closer. He had things to do before he landed - this bit of his journey at least had been choreographed by the general and Re’x down to the last detail. Back to his quarters then, and change out of his dress uniform and into the scholar’s outfit loosely modelled after the gown worn by those leaving Earth’s grandest universities. At least, if those gowns had been made of out the same material as a space suit and had their own inbuilt oxygen supply. Truth be told, the garment was hideous - but it served a purpose; it indicated respect for the Velca’s habitat of choice, their dedication to research and humanity’s own quest for knowledge.

With the suit donned, the next step was to make a decision about Re’x’s letter. Dustin pondered for a moment more before sighing. “I’ll go with it. If she turns out to be terrible, it’ll be easier to get rid of someone the Research Council probably doesn’t like compared to a stooge of theirs. Ok, let’s do this.” Having psyched himself up for his first off-world meeting with another species (even if it was one he already had met some members of), he headed out and down to the access hatch. Unlike on earth where he had gotten on the ship by lift, here the craft coasted in to a docking bay, an umbilical already extending to latch on to the doorway as the ship came to a halt. With a gentle hiss of gas exchanging, the door opened to reveal a pair of individuals in the plain gray spacesuits and gold badges indicating government officials.

“Captain, the Research Council presents their greetings to the first ambassador of humanity.” The greeting was formal and predetermined; Dustin replied with the officially sanctioned response of “Ambassador Dustin of Earth brings greetings and hopes to exchange beneficial research with the council.” And with the formalities out of the way he followed the two as they led him out from his ship and down into the station proper.

Unsurprisingly, as they walked through the wide halls on their way to the building where he would begin his official work on selecting a science officer Dustin was the subject of curious glances. Doubtless the inhabitants had been informed about his arrival, but even without that he realised that as the lone human he was far more of a curiosity for the locals than they were for him. As such, he tried not to make any gestures that might be viewed as hostile and instead settled for walking briskly behind his two guides until they were at last inside the office block.

On entering, Dustin found himself ushered into a large round room with a podium on one side and three individuals sat behind raised desks on the far end. He knew this setup of course - Re’x had prepared him for that much. “Picking” a Velca officer was far closer to sitting an exam or passing a peer review of a paper here than the more interview-based technique on Earth. In front of him, the screen on the podium blinked into life as the center of the the three individuals spoke. “Ambassador. In order to ensure a good match of candidate to your ship, we have prepared a range of questions for potential applicants. You may select any three sets of these, review the questions and inform us of any needed changes. We will then retrieve the answers the candidates have given - or ask them to submit new answers should you amend the questions. Do you understand?”

Dustin nodded, before looking at the terminal and grinning inwardly; he did his best to look surprised externally. The question sets were all written in the Velca script - a fact that the general had informed him about weeks prior. As such, he had already planned out the three most important question sets - Physics, Biology and Chemistry. But then… if he wanted to get Meli’a on his crew, he’d need to make an adjustment there. After looking puzzled for several minutes, he eventually selected the three he’d already decided on while walking here from the ship. Physics, because knowledge of the subject would be handy if they ran into any theoretical problems a chief engineer couldn’t solve, Chemistry because that would help with studying inorganic compounds on any worlds he came across. Biology got dropped; he was sure he could find a xenobiologist on just about any planet that was part of the galactic community. Instead the final option went to “Terran myths and legends” - a study of humanity. When selecting it however, he squinted as if he couldn’t quite make out the writing. He wanted to give the impression that he was picking it because he knew the Velca word for “Terran” and nothing more.

The three administrators conferred for a moment then spoke again. “You appeared to struggle with reading our writing. We will translate the questions so the more technical aspects are easier for you to review.” Then the screen flickered again. Dustin skimmed through physics - he didn’t understand much of it, though that wasn’t surprising. The Velca were significantly ahead of humanity when it came to physics. The same wasn’t true of chemistry oddly, although here it was Dustin’s own lack of knowledge having largely skipped the subject where possible during his education. Terran myths however - he read this one carefully before spotting something. He glanced up and tapped one of the questions, causing it to highlight - and to his surprise, the wording of the question to appear as a holographic projection in the center of the room. “Is this intended as a trick question?” he asked, causing all three of the administers to look at him with their ears flickering into the surprised position. “There’s no way to guarantee someone could answer this correctly from the information provided.”

“Explain, please ambassador?” said the administrator who had outlined the testing process initially. Dustin took a deep breath and began to try and formulate his answer carefully. “The question here asks what pre-unification country the folklore thief hero hails from. But it doesn’t specify which thief hero - there’s multiple it could be. England, with Robin Hood is the most obvious choice from my upbringing personally, but China, the United States, Greece, Sweden and Persia would all have characters that fit as answers just from the stories I’ve read on my tablet - there’s probably more I’m not aware of.” The administrators glanced at one another for a moment, before one of them tapped something on their desk and a privacy screen blinked up blocking Dustin’s view. He sighed, guessing he’d stepped on a proverbial mine by casting doubt on the seemingly infallible Research Council. Mind you, even if Re’x hadn’t suggested it he would have been irked enough to complain if he’d seen that question. Vague questions on tests had bugged him the entire way through his childhood and had gotten him in trouble more than once.

After about five minutes by Dustin’s reckoning, the screen dropped again. “Ambassador, we respectfully apologise for our lack of knowledge of your culture. In recompense, we have two suggestions. In the first instance, you could provide us with a suitable rewording and answer for one of those countries you named - however, there is an alternative. One candidate scored solid if average for the applicants in the other two categories but achieved a near perfect score for the final one - near perfect except for the question you identified. Her answer is on screen for your consideration.” Dustin glanced down - the answer was a complaint worded nearly exactly the same as his to the issue he’d raised; he glanced up. “What is this candidate’s name please?” As he asked that, he tried not to let another grin cross his face. The Earth questions would have their answers written in an Earth language Re’x’s letter had said - and there were subtle differences in how things translated. For starters, the level of sarcasm that dripped from the complaint on his screen would be completely lost in translation.

The lead administrator leaned forward and said “Meli’a is her name; you should be aware that she is quite outspoken compared to many of our other candidates. We will of course respect your decision on this matter.” Dustin nodded, pushing his ears with his fingers into an approximation of the Velca “deep contemplation” position while he mentally counted. He wanted to make this not look like what he had been going for after all. After a minute, he shifted his hands, pulling his ears into “compromise, with positive overtones” and replied. “Her detailed consideration of my people’s culture suggests she will be able to help me understand any conflicts between my own and other species customs effectively and that will aid my research to a degree that will outshine any losses caused by her nature or lower test scores in other subjects. If she jeopardizes the mission and thus the standing of the Research Council, I would be happy to accept a replacement the Council considers appropriate at a later point if that is acceptable?” With a nod, the administrator agreed, his ears flickering into “respectful but disagreeing acceptance”. “If that is your decision ambassador. We will inform the candidate; our orderlies will escort you back to you ship, and your new science officer will join you shortly after your arrival.”