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Lieutenant T’sho Adebayo arrived on the bridge full of curiosity. She had been readying herself for a quiet evening when she got a call to report to duty. That sort of thing had never happened to her before. The half-Vulcan was a former junior diplomat who had decided to switch career paths to become a first contact specialist. Unfortunately, though the Federation was recovering swiftly after discovering the cause of the Burn, the return to exploration was still slow-going. Lieutenant Adebayo hadn’t found herself with any chance to do her job.
“What’s going on?” she asked Captain Zott. “Did we make first contact?”
It was hard for the lieutenant to keep the enthusiasm out of her voice. Making first contact was supposed to be one of the Federation’s primary missions, and she couldn’t help but be excited to be one of the first people to restart that mission. That was the entire reason she wanted to switch career paths; she loved the idea of being one of the essential people that made the Federation the Federation again.
“Well, I’m not sure it’s ‘first’ contact,” the Bolian captain replied.
“What do you mean?”
“As we were passing through this sector, our operations officer picked up a signal coming from a nearby planet, even though there is no record of any warp-capable species in this sector. Commander, play the message for Lieutenant Adebayo.”
“This is the Starship Nennek, the first warp-capable vessel from our home planet. We believe this achievement signals that we have developed enough as a society and wish to make official contact with the United Federation of Planets. If you are still out there, we would like to meet.”
“Intriguing,” Lieutenant Adebayo said as soon as the message ended. “They seem to already have an idea of our first contact protocols.”
“Indeed. We’ll rendezvous with the ship in a few minutes. As our first contact specialist, I would like you to take charge of the mission and communicate with these aliens.”
Lieutenant Adebayo felt a thrum of excitement vibrate within her. After months of waiting, she was finally getting a chance to make first contact — if it actually was first contact. She could almost imagine she was like one of her heroes from the early days of the Federation, seeking out new life and new civilizations, instead of entrenched in a war with the Emerald Chain.
“What do we know about our new friends?” Adebayo asked, eager to carry out her mission to the best of her ability. “Do we know what planet they come from?”
“Unfortunately, they didn’t say,” Captain Zott replied, “so we’re unable to tell. There are several known civilizations in this sector, but none were previously reported to be close to warp-capability. Of course, we’re the first Federation starship to visit this sector since the Burn, so that could have changed in a hundred and twenty years. We’ll likely have to ask our new friends to find out where they come from.”
It was all Lieutenant Adebayo could do to keep from pacing back and forth across the bridge as they approached the ship. She felt uncomfortable simply waiting around and wished she was more in tune with the Vulcan side of heritage so that she could have the ability to meditate. It felt like forever before the operations officer finally announced that they had made visual contact with the Nennek.
“On screen,” the captain commanded.
The ship that appeared on screen looked very typical of an early-warp ship. It was small and looked like it was designed far more for functionality than aesthetics. Nevertheless, there was a noticeable 24th-century Starfleet design to the shape of the nacelles, even if they stuck out awkwardly from the rocket-like design.
“Hail them.”
“They’re responding; audio only.”
“Starship Nennek, this is Captain Nimoya Zott the Federation Starship Curie.”
“Greetings, Captain Zott. I am Commander Nissa. My crew and I are very eager to meet you. Might you transport us aboard so that we may speak in-person? I would invite you aboard our ship, but I’m afraid our accommodations aren’t very good.”
Captain Zott exchanged a glance with Lieutenant Adebayo, no doubt wondering the same thing. How was it possible that the Nennek and her crew already seemed to know so much about the Federation?
“I would be honored,” Captain Zott replied, and then cut the transmission. “Lieutenant Adebayo, join me in transporter room 2.”
***
Only a few minutes later, Lieutenant Adebayo was standing next to Captain Zott as the transporter chief beamed in their guests. As the beam resolved, Lieutenant Adebayo was surprised to find that the newcomer shared her pointy ears. The woman looked like she could have been one of Adebayo’s Vulcan or Romulan cousins.
“Greetings. I am Captain Zott, and this is our first contact specialist, Lieutenant T’sho Adebayo.”
“I am Commander Nissa.” The woman cocked her head at Lieutenant Adebayo. “You have our ears.” She turned to Captain Zott. “And you are blue.”
“Not what you were expecting?” Lieutenant Adebayo asked with a touch of humor.
“Not entirely.”
“Commander, if I may ask, what were you expecting? You seem to have a great knowledge of us and our first contact procedures.”
Nissa smiled. “Yes, indeed. I’m sorry; we have been waiting for this moment for centuries and I’m afraid I have gotten excited. We are citizens of the planet you refer to as Mintaka III. Hundreds of years ago, your Federation sent an anthropological team to our planet to study our culture. A malfunction happened that resulted in our people witnessing the use of your advanced technology, resulting in your people having to explain themselves to prevent cultural contamination.”
“I remember this story,” Adebayo said, her obsessive knowledge of early Federation history coming into use. “It was Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Enterprise. You thought he was a god.”
Nissa nodded. “Indeed. He told our ancestors all about the Federation and your policy of noninterference and how we would have to wait until we became warp-capable before we would be allowed to contact you again to prevent you from further contaminating our culture. We have spent the centuries since growing as a people in the hopes that we could someday reach the stars. I’m very happy to be the one to have made contact with you.”
***
It had to have been one of the smoothest first contact missions on record, no doubt helped by the fact that it was technically a second contact. The story of the contact with the Enterprise had gone down into Mintakan legend, and Nissa was clearly eager to find out what was the truth and what had been exaggerated over the years. After a tour of the ship and with the diplomacy finally out of the way, Lieutenant Adebayo finally got a chance to sit down in the mess hall for a less formal discussion with Nissa.
“I have to admit that this has been overwhelming,” Nissa admitted. “Our culture practically developed around the idea of reaching the stars, and now we’ve done it. I can’t help but wonder what my ancestors would think of me now if they knew that their descendants would once become like the people they thought were gods.”
“I would imagine they would find it wondrous. I’m sure it’s better than what my ancestors would think of me.”
“You don’t think your ancestors would be proud of what you accomplished? You too seem to have come a long way in all these centuries.”
Lieutenant Adebayo sighed, looking down into the dregs of tea left in her cup. “The Starfleet that once met your people was very different from what it is today. It was peaceful, hopeful, and focused on exploration. The Federation contained hundreds of worlds. Though our technology may be far more advanced, we nonetheless regressed culturally. When your people first met Starfleet, you thought them powerful, and were afraid. When we encountered the Burn, we were also afraid. We took the path you didn’t travel and let that fear set us back. We might not have started believing in gods, but we did stop believing in unity and friendship.”
Most days, Adebayo wished she could have been born in one of the eras when the Federation was a major power in the galaxy. She had so desperately wanted to be a first contact specialist so she could live out that life, but reality had sobered her up. The Federation was still recovering from what had happened, and this was her first mission meeting a new species. It felt like the Federation would never be the grand organization that the history books told her it once was.
“Perhaps,” Nissa agreed, “but now you’re trying to rectify that. We nearly killed your officers, you know, before we saw the light. You taught us to see reason and to strive to better ourselves. That is what you are going through right now, and I know you will get past it. Your people worked so hard to fix the problem they caused on our planet that I know you will work hard to solve this problem too.”
Lieutenant Adebayo smiled, warmth filling her heart. She thought of all the planets already rejoining the Federation and began to feel Nissa was right. The Federation might have stumbled and regressed in the wake of the Burn, but that wasn’t the end. There was still a future awaiting them if they chose to keep moving forward into it.