Chapter Text
The meeting was unexpected. Ryland usually knew when there were changes, as Stratt seemed to find amusement by putting a post-it on his face when she could. So he thought today might be a science day before the tablet he took around everywhere pinged. Pulling it out, he blinked as he saw that it was an order from Stratt to come to her main meeting room.
Grumbling to himself, he told the others with him what the experiment was and what they would need to do next, then took himself off. He was slightly concerned, as the meetings where she took him to explain the science to her were usually planned well in advance. And while he attended a lot more meetings than that, much to his annoyance, they were rarely a surprise.
Stratt was nothing if not meticulously organized.
On the way, he saw others who were heading the same way. It only took a few meetings to realize that there was an interesting mix of people. The primary crew, Shapiro, and himself. Not the typical group, not for meetings where he was involved. Still, he nodded a greeting as he settled down between Stratt and Olesya, who smiled at him.
They had hit it off, mostly due to Dimitri, and Ryland found he enjoyed her company. He also nodded a hello to the others, and then they all focused on Stratt.
She looked as calm as ever, but there was a stillness to her body that said something was up.
“Early this morning, NASA detected something had entered our solar system, though it apparently was unobserved until the object was close to our moon. It seems to have stopped there, and they were able to detect the same signature as the Petrova line as it used small bursts to hold its position. A short time later, they received a transmission. Several other space agencies also have admitted to receiving this information, though none had passed it over before NASA did.”
Oh, those groups were going to be in so much trouble when Stratt decided to rebuke them for that. It wouldn’t be retaliation, but the woman demanded to be kept up to date about all information that could be used for the Project.
Then she pushed a button, and sound filled the room.
At first, it was quiet, then a voice started. It was calm, and Ryland thought it sounded familiar though it couldn’t place where. Not until everyone else in the room turned to look at him. Then he realized it was his own voice. He just wasn’t used to not hearing it from an outside source.
“This is Grace of Stars, first of Earth, now of Erid, first science officer of Eridian Ship Hope. I will be translating for Polaris, of Erid, Captain for a mission of diplomacy between the two worlds.” Behind the words, there was a soft chiming noise, which reminded Grace vaguely of windchimes. He also noticed a strangely musical lilt to the way that recorded Grace spoke that he never heard in his own speaking.
Once Grace finished speaking in the recording, there was a series of musical notes that started playing. It took a moment for him to realize that there was a pattern to them, and that this was something speaking.
An alien was speaking to them. That fact made him suck in a deep breath, almost shivering at the concept. He noticed that he wasn’t the only one who was reacting to potential alien contact. Intelligent alien contact, at that.
Then he tried to focus on what the message was. The noises, which reminded him of a mix of various ocean animals, whales and seals, and musical notes, were fascinating. As was the human voice, an impossible human voice, speaking quietly along with the tones.
“I am Polaris, and I represent the hope of Erid to reach out in friendship to the people of Earth. We wish to meet and speak about the chance for our worlds to become allies with each other. Our mission, however, seems to have come across an issue. When we were able to see the planet clearly, Grace of Stars observed that the ship Hail Mary was in construction around the planet. This was unexpected, as that even happened almost one human century in the past. He believes that we encountered an anomaly in space.
With his suggestion, we reached out to Earth, in hopes of making contact with Eva Stratt to speak with her about sharing our knowledge. He also requests that the primary crew of the Hail Mary and Dr. Shapiro be part of a meeting event. We have no issue with this, and ask that this message be shared with them.
Erid and Earth were saved in our timeline due to the efforts of Grace of Stars and Rocky of Erid. We wish to share the knowledge they learned and speak of the possible future of contact between our two worlds. Please respond. Polaris of Erid.”
Then the human voice continued, giving them details for how much space that their visitors would need, and that they would be building a shelter.
“Erid’s atmospheric requirements are very different from Earth’s,” sang-spoke the voice that just continued to sound off to Grace. “We are able to take care of it ourselves, so please pick a location. I’d recommend Baikonur if possible, but any other isolated area with close proximity to human habitation also works.”
There was a pause. “Grace of Stars looks forward to returning to Earth and seeing lost friends.”
The room was silent as the message ended. It started to loop before Stratt turned it off.
Somehow, the silence felt even more heavy. Everyone was still staring at Ryland, who was staring at Stratt.
“What?” he finally got out, beyond confused about all of this. There was so much going on in that message that seemed to be impossibly wrong. First, the fact it was him. The second was the implication of time travel. The third….
A century in the past? Grace would be beyond dead in a century.
Stratt was staring at him, studying him as he looked blankly at her. Then she sighed.
“A location has already been selected. The suggestion was a good one, so we have begun to arrange things for this contact with these aliens. This will be a longer trip, so those who were selected to go are moving the primary leads to Baikonur early.”
Grace felt a jolt. That move had been planned for about six months from now. There was a lot he had to arrange, and get it done right now. “How long until we leave?” he asked.
“You have three hours.”
He didn’t even wait. Grace stood up and headed out the door.
Worry about how some version of him ended up on an alien space ship later. He had things to do right now. Grace was supposed to have months to get this all set up. If nothing else, he needed to organize safety. The Vat was not allowed to blow up while he was somewhere else.
At last now he had something to distract him from the absolute panic over the idea of some version of him living with aliens.