[story][Fenspace Alternates] The South Is Rising, Someone Get A Hammer

[robkelk]

(Edit: Retconned-out bits are crossed out.)

From: Noah Scott (bigcheese@stellvia.lib)
To: Operation FIREFALL Mailing List (firefall@sovietariforce.fen)
Date: November 30, 2016
Subj: URGENT: RESPONSE TEAM NEEDED NOW (was Re: Good news, bad news, and worse news)
Priority: High

>>Worse news: We have no idea where to point it... unless the cross-world
>>agent I discovered today can help us. (I'll say nothing more about that
>>bombshell over comms channels. See me face-to-face if you want details.)

> YOU SUNUVA... You know, now I understand why the hell you piss Mal off
> even more than I do.
>
> First things first, and I think I speak for everyone when I say this:
> How the hell did you find this person so we can make sure we don't have
> any spies hidden among our own ranks?

Not over a comms channel. Part of why I want people to come see me is so
you can pick up the intrusion detectors Kohran is building for you.

I'm posting this from my PDA. We picked up yet another dimensional
intrusion, 20 light-seconds away from Earth and Galactic North of the
ecliptic. Yayoi, Miyuri, and I are taking my store of kaboomite warheads
to the intrusion point, although I hope we don't need to use them.

If you're in your ships, come join the welcoming party.

--
Noah

---

Bridge, Epsilon Blade
30 November 2016

"I've got a good image of the ship," Miyuri announced.

"On my screen, please," ordered Noah. He looked at the feed, then relaxed. "Stand down from red alert. That's an Arthra-class dimensional cruiser. Miyuri, bring the holoemitter on line, please. Good thing I have the Midchilda font in our flyer-design package..."

Briefing Room
TSAB Cruiser

"All right. We will head back into transmission range of Command and send them all the data. I'm not qualified for First Contact, so they'll have to send someone out. And sure as heck do we need more researchers."

"It's too late for that, Captain," replied the helmswoman, from the bridge. "The natives have come out to meet us."

"Are you sure this isn't a chance flyby?"

"Look at this." The helmswoman's face in the view window was replaced by a feed from the port side. There were three ships holding position and another two arriving. The closest ship was displaying what looked like a giant view window showing a message written in formal Mid script: "We request permission for a diplomatic party to board your ship. Please reply."

The executive officer was the first to find his voice. "How does an unadministered world know our language?"

---

(OOC: Damn. I was busy today, and I'll be gone all day tomorrow. You're going to race so far into the story before I can catch up, it won't be funny. Argh.)

[ooc:] Part of the problem with a Email-thread-based fic is that the "tell, don't show" can be knocked out quickly compared to the more carefully thought-out prose bits. FWIW, Stoker used the technological equivalent of his day when he wrote Dracula, but still...

OOC: We could solve both problems by putting the email-style posts on hold and concentrating on writing the meetings with the leaders of the new neighbours - that'll let everyone else catch up while the folks who are busy on Sunday and Monday don't get any farther behind. I believe Mal's got the new-US visit to describe, and BA's got the CSA and Mormon visits... and I've got a couple of stories on the go back in "real" Fenspace that I need to work on. And there are always gaps in the FenWiki to be filled in.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012