I needn’t have worried about Cassandra’s condition as I requested for a guided tour of the ship. Biosilicone, the transparent gel with a bluish tinge was going to provide her with oxygen and everything she’d need to recover including nutrition. The latter reminded me to make sure there was something edible in the alien ship

The workhorse of the treatment that would be patching up her burst fracture which had been scheduled for surgery were the nanites. The tiny symbionic constructs the size of a virus were also the very same that were swimming in my blood overwriting things and augmenting cellular growth from the inside out. Gene editing in real time was in and of itself disconcerting and that was only scratching the surface of what they could do.

As far as things went, the tour of the ship was cut and dried. The EVA bot was not created with the nuances of holding conversations. It was smart, but still machine intelligence and therefore not really self aware as I’d come to surmise. Getting specifics out of it with its limited diction was like pulling teeth. While it was capable of speech, I would not have understood a word of it hence everything was visual only. As per its words, its lexicon subroutines whatever that meant was still being compiled.

Nonetheless, the EVA bot had thorough schematics of every section of the ship. We started in the middle deck that contained the medbay, cargo compartment and other essential parts that I was allowed access to. I also caught a glimpse of an unoccupied berthing compartment in case I needed to sleep. It had a minimalist layout and featured a four by six floating bed, accent and mood lighting, recessed dressers and faux windows. It also had an adjoining shower cubicle and toilet fixtures.

The ship also had a modest common room that doubled up as a living room with an adjoining kitchen. The living room could also be turned into a situation room if needed. There was also the study which was locked to me because I did not possess primary privileges.

While I had already inferred that the occupants were humanoid insofar as the layout of the ship was concerned, there were no living souls onboard. Cassandra and I were the only living entities and I had no luck asking the EVA where the occupants of the ship had gone. I was hoping that the answers were waiting in the ship’s bridge.

The atmosphere on the main bridge had a pregnant pause of expectation. Unlike that of the rest of the ship, the air here did not have metallic sterility of recent cleaning. It was warmer and smelled like a server room and ozone. As soon as I stepped past the hatch’s threshold, consoles lit up sequentially from right to left as an ensuing staccato of tones met my ears.

Ambient lightning grew in luminosity until it was easy on the eyes while acklit dials and gauges and see-through displays added primary colors. The bridge console was simply breathtaking, even more so than the panoramic display of the view outside the ship. I hadn’t noticed that we were in motion as bubbles cascaded beyond the viewscreen. The ship was diving.

The main console followed the shape of an anchor. It had two personnel stations on either arm and one more at the shank . The seating was slightly recessed into the deckplate forming cozy pits. Hazard stripes marked where bucket seats could slide back to allow the pilot into and out of the control’s reach. I could tell that they were made out of some type of carbon fiber or its equivalent from the texture. They wouldn’t have looked out of place in a race car.

The console exterior seemed to be made of a metallic-ceramic composite that was a glossy galaxy blue, while a finishing of sandblasted steel framed the edges and curves. It was a beauty―I hadn’t even realized I’d sat and gotten hold of the dual side sticks.

It was a different type of exhilaration to driving a top end car. Unfortunately, it didn’t look like I would be flying the yet unnamed ship; not if I didn't get past the language barrier.

“ Now what?” I murmured as the reality of things sunk in.

“ You need but ask.” A disembodied voice said, a little cadence with metallic notes echoing through the bridge.

I jumped at the sound and swallowed my tongue. I heard giggles chime around the bridge as I whirled around yet the originator of the voice was nowhere to be found.

“ I was under the impression that Cassandra and I were the only one’s onboard,” I swallowed, looking around from the edge of my eyes. The bridge was a modest size, I would have caught anyone in my periphery. There was a sultry chuckle and then a sigh as if they found my antics amusing. I flinched as something warm brushed against my cheek; I swore that sensation hadn't been my imagination―

“ My apologies and tide greetings to you Ryan Zeus O’ciaran. Allow me to be the first to welcome you aboard the Velastra— Or in your language, the Solar Wind.”

Ordinarily, I would be skeptical. I would be cynical and attempt to poke holes at someone’s goodwill if I’d just met them but these were extraordinary circumstances. I had no preconceived notions of how my encounter with alien entities would play out. I did, however, ask to know who or what I was speaking to. The voice was feminine but rather than assume their identity, I sought to know who they were lest it be considered a slight―

“ Who are you?” I inquired. I’d stopped casting around the bridge. There was nothing else I could glean from my immediate surroundings and it was clear I could not find them if I tried. The only other thing with me aboard the bridge was the EVA that had gone inert in a nook at the back of the bridge.

“ My designation is Interstellar Reconnaissance , Intelligence and Navigation Assistant. You can call me Irina— I am a Synthetic Intelligence,”

“ Artificial Intelligence?” I asked. That made a lot of sense if they were behind everything that had happened thus far. While hyper intelligent aliens had been a possibility, this was something I could work with. It also meant that humanity was not so far behind in terms of technology, though how wide of a gap was something else altogether.

“ Correct,” they chimed.

“So why did you abduct me?”

“Convenience perhaps? A means to an end—” how could one voice be so mellow and apathetic at the same time?

“Much as I would like to rationalize this, let's just assume that you were the right person with the right temperament. A cynical and critical human with a close enough match for what I have in mind—You seem to be, as your people would say, taking it in stride. I am pleased the assimilation process did not fail,”

“ The thing in my head? ” I asked. “ Is that how we understand one another?” I added, settling back into the pilot’s seat. It gently reclined―

“Lucky you huh? You effectively have me hostage,” I said smirking deprecatingly. There was no coming back from this, whether they were benevolent or not was moot at this point. I had already resolved to go with it, if only to make up for Cassandra's plight.

Like me, there was no going back for her as well. I shuddered to think what would happen when she awoke. It might not have been my call to make. I'd weather anything that would come and if she hated me after that, it was well and good

“ Part of it yes―It was fortunate your physiological profile and experience allowed the incubation and insertion to take place,”

I perked up,

“ Experience as what? Drop out pilot?” I chuckled deprecatingly. That touched a sore spot in more ways than I cared to mention “ Why do I have the feeling that it would have gone south?”

“ Hmm, that is affirmative,” Irina stated. “ And yes, I deemed it an acceptable risk.”

“ What for? Why me? Did you also set up that crypto account, and send that mail to my PC?”

“ I shall answer the latter two. I deemed it necessary to have a currency at hand and I did send you the glyphs to begin your path on Arcana ―You shall need it for what we’re going to do; that answers the what. The why of it is inconsequential at this point in time,”

Irina was speaking in equivocation. They were giving me information but not too much that they would reveal what was going to happen down the pipeline. It hinted towards a bigger goal but what?

“ So, what are we going to do?”

“ I’m glad you finally asked,” they said. There was mirth in their tone.

Training and lots of it was the first part of the plan. Were I the Ryan before the summer, I would have balked at the amount of physical exertion I would have to undergo. Despite my indoors disposition, I was no slacker at a gym courtesy of my friend Lucas―I made a note to ask how I could call him as soon as my orientation was over.

The first part of the orientation had me saddled with a holotab, a see-through tablet like some of the consoles in the bridge. I had to read a primer on stats as well as a preamble to arcanry for the context of what I was going to be put through after. If I had to compare it to something, it was going to be like some SEAL training only with arcanry and sword craft added to familiar weapons―guns.

The first I could live with but the latter two were jarring; I had handled guns on shooting ranges. The Swiss had a high rate of gun ownership so naturally I would come across them. Even the Kaufmanns had guns on their farm. Any male between 18 and 34 who was fit for service was pistol and rifle trained me included. Those who underwent training could even get permits for their service weapons.

Despite that, Switzerland had one of the lowest rates of gun violence. I had never found myself on either end of a gun muzzle when the other party was a living entity―but here, Irina was talking about pulse sidearms, gauss rifles and rail cannons. The way they were talking inferred I was going to get into some sort of altercation that would have me point them at someone else. I was not so naive as to think myself a pacifist. Still, I had some words to say about that, especially if I would be dealing with the aftermath and the moral weight―

“ I understand that you have reservations about killing. However, I would advise you to reconsider your stance Ryan,”Irina said, taking on an almost plaintive tone.

“ I still have to know exactly what or who we are dealing with. I have to undergo the equivalent of bootcamp. While Earth not exactly all rainbows and flowers I have to know who we are going to point those weapons at―”

Which again raised more questions. If Irina was a intelligent artificial entity, what would they need me for? They were already capable of piloting an alien ship and controlling EVAs enough that they busted me out of a guarded hospital.

“ What do you need me for? You sure as hell do not lack for weaponry,” I pointed out. “ I’m sure you have artillery versions of pulse pistols and rail guns,” I hadn’t even realized I was yawning. “ What is the endgame― Hmm?”

“ To prevent other weapons from falling into the wrong hands―” Irina put across. “ What do you know about the Arctic incident?”

That caught my attention. Sometime after I’d been checked into hospital, the Arctic had been all the buzz in the news for a discovery ensconced underneath the ice-shelf. It was the reason why my accident and 3 day disappearance didn't make the headlines. Also, there was the Second Cold War which had been running for a while, so newsrooms and social media were awash with propaganda and misinformation. Talk about being in the wrong place at the right time.

“ How many of you are there?” I asked, realizing the seriousness of things.

“ As far as I can tell, the Velastra is the only one of its kind on your planet ― two of its modules are planetside while one is parked in orbit in the asteroid cluster between Mars and Jupiter. You are sitting on the bridge hull,”

Like a puzzle falling into place, it clicked―

“ Please don’t tell me you’re part of a battleship,”

“ Negative, the NCS Velastra is a Thulian Class Corvette designed for courier runs . Despite its after shipyard modifications, its load out leans towards defense and evasion.”

“ Is it the cargo you were carrying? Hold on―” I raised a hand to forestall their reply. The seat raised from its recline propping me upright. “I am going to need the full history of what you were doing in the bottom of the Baltic Sea,”

“ Hmm. Given the inevitable has lapsed sooner than expected, there is no need for prevarication. You have passed the test, “

“Huh? What test? I gawked obtusely. I wasn’t didn't get the memo that there was a random test. Before I could voice that however, motes of light started flying from the edges of the bridge like fireflies crawling out of the woodwork. The light grew into a stream which started coalescing into a column in front of the bridge. I had to peel my eyes away from the accretion of brightness and by the end of it all was still blinking out spots from my vision.

When normal brightness returned I hissed, eyes watering as I turned my eyes back to the spectacle that had been. In its place, stood a drop dead gorgeous space elf.

“ First Contact,” they said and giggled, voice tinkling like a wind chime.