Alien contact
Posted on Wed Feb 18th, 2026 @ 6:55am by Rear Admiral Josua Frost
692 words; about a 3 minute read
Mission:
Destiny's Son
Location: Seridi Prime
=/= Surface, Serid Prime – Outer Farmland =/=
They beamed down well outside the nearest settlement.
For a moment, none of them moved.
The world felt quiet in a way that was unfamiliar — not empty, but unhurried. Pale stone and cultivated earth stretched out around them, intersected by narrow paths worn smooth by generations of use. The air carried a faint, organic scent: soil, vegetation, distant smoke from cooking fires.
The projection fields settled seamlessly, reshaping their outlines into tall, slender Seridi forms.
Josua took in the surroundings first. No immediate reactions. No alarms. No sudden movement. Whatever they were stepping into, it wasn’t hostile — at least not on the surface.
They were far enough away to observe without intruding.
Somewhere beyond the low rise ahead lay the settlement — modest structures of stone and wood, clustered close together. If Piper was anywhere, Josua suspected he would be there. Among people. Not hidden.
Treon checked her projector settings, ensuring the camouflage remained stable. She raised a hand to look at it, still unused to the way she looked. She flexed thin, bony, grayish fingers.
Then back to Josua and Lerik. They looked similar enough to their true selves that she could know who was who.
She was about to take out her tricorder to scan for lifeforms, when she heard rattling from down the path.
The origin of the rattling soon appeared - a wagon, barely a plank on wheels, towed by a six-legged creature.
The Seridi sitting in front, stopped by their group. “Headed for Ushen?”
Treon could guess he was talking about the nearby settlement. She nodded, then realizing this was culturally-specific, she voiced a “yes”.
“Then get aboard.”
The settlement lay nearby, but the wagon crept along at an unhurried pace.
⸻
They had gone only a short distance farther when the wagon slowed again.
The driver reined the creature in and turned on his seat, studying them more closely now. He leaned forward slightly, nostrils flaring as he drew in a slow breath.
He frowned.
“That’s strange,” he said, more to himself than to them. He sniffed the air again, deliberately this time. “I’ve hauled grain, stone, animals, travelers from every district around Ushen.”
His eyes settled on them, one by one.
“But I’ve never smelled anything like you.”
The wagon stood still on the road.
“So,” he continued calmly, not hostile but suddenly very attentive, “tell me—where exactly are you coming from?”
There was a short pause, and then Treon spoke. “We’re from up north. The smell is indeed different around here, don’t you think, Sorin?” she turned to Jos.
“No,” the driver responded, more to himself than to his passengers. “You’re not from up north. Your smell reminds me…” he faltered. “I’ve smelled your kind before.”
Treon glanced at Jos. They had barely been on the planet for half an hour and already they were about to be outed.
The driver’s grip tightened on the reins.
“Long ago,” he went on slowly, eyes still fixed ahead, “when I was a child. During a drought. A man came to Ushen who did not belong here either.”
He swallowed, as if the memory tasted strange.
“He smelled like rain on stone. Like cold metal after heat.”
For a moment, his gaze grew distant, glassy, as if he were no longer seeing the road in front of him but something far behind it.
Then he shook his head once, sharply, as if to dislodge the thought.
Without another word, he flicked the reins, and the wagon rolled forward again.
Treon waited a few minutes as they continued on quietly. He must have been talking about Piper.
"Is this man still in Ushen?" she asked.
The driver didn't spare his passengers a glance. "Yes," he said.
"Can you bring us to him?"
At this, the driver did turn around. The animal in front kept plodding onward.
He focused on Treon, then looked over at Jos and Lerik before his gaze came back to Treon. "Why?"
"We are..." Treon hesitated for a split second. "We are curious, as this man has the same smell as ours."
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