August 17, 2141, onboard the FES Daedalus
First Lieutenant Ziva Schaefer snapped out of her thoughts, still staring listlessly out the window of the craft into the intense darkness. It was as if the ship’s windows had been painted over black, with little flecks chipping off to let in light in small points. One of those flecks was her home star, and orbiting it was her home, where everyone she had ever known before was born and lived out their lives. Somewhere in its shadow was New Boston, and somewhere within New Boston was everyone she had known Before. Somewhere in its shadow were her parents, her siblings, that wild-eyed futch at the bar, everyone who had enough sense not to join the Federation Expansion Forces.
“Schaefer!” The intercom clipped. “Report to the bridge immediately.” Slightly jarred, Ziva undid her seatbelt and floated her way toward the central shaft of the ship, toward the bridge.
On the bridge, Captain Smith turned away from the instrument panel that covered his entire view to face Ziva. Ziva was always mystified by that panel, all the buttons and switches and gauges flashing in sequence, but Captain Smith’s view was more calculating and cold. “Schaefer, you are the navigator of this ship.” She nodded. “We are receiving very strange signals in this region, possibly extraterrestrial in nature. Do you know anything about the following coordinates?” He gestured toward a small screen displaying a coordinate pair near their present location.
“We will be passing that point in an estimated two hours; is it an object?”
The Captain scratched his buzzed head. “We don’t know, but it is where the signal is coming from. Stay here and watch the radar screens as we approach. I’ll call for Weapons Officer Sanders to prime the lasers.” Ziva shivered nervously at the prospect of combat but maintained her composure as she sat behind the radar screen.
***2 hours later***
Ziva rolled her eyes and scanned the screens again. This time, however, something was different. A small dot appeared, moving perfectly parallel to the ship at almost the exact same speed, dangerously close, yet not colliding. It was not long after she registered this that the collision alarm sounded. The Captain jumped. “Holy fuck, what the fuck is that?” He tilted his head over the panel to stare outside at the massive object abreast of the ship.
The thing had no lights, but in the glow of the ship’s lights it appeared scaly, slowly pulsating as if it were alive. It was smaller than the ship, but not by much. If it were a living organism, the Captain had never seen anything like it. His face flushed and he grabbed the top of the panel, shaking, while Ziva looked on, concerned. She was suddenly hit by a wave of a feeling she couldn’t describe. At first it felt pleasant, almost orgasmic, as it shot down her spine, then suddenly exhausted as she slumped over in her seat. Involuntarily, she threw herself to the floor and convulsed as if she were having a seizure. She tightly closed her eyes and ceased convulsing, breathing heavily.
“Schaefer!” The captain shouted as he rushed over to her limp body. “Sanders, call a medic!”
Her body was limp on the floor, her mind still active. She was conscious, but could not move her body. Her eyes were closed, she could feel them, but could not open them to show that she was still there. It was like a dream when visions started to play in her head, as if she could see, all while aware that her eyes were shut and her body was still.
She was floating, alone in a void, when a voice identical to her internal monologue spoke. “Ziva, you’re awake.”
“Huh? I’m asleep I think.”
“Our kind does not speak your language, but the mind can be reached without language. You hear us as though we are speaking your language, inside your head.”
“Where am I?”
“On the floor of your ship, in a mind meld. You may understand it as a shared dream. By the way, we apologize for the intrusion, usually we ask first but as I’m sure you can understand we didn’t have time for that.”
“Why am I here?”
“Because we need to talk to your species, and you were conveniently located. We have been here, watching your kind. Humans—you—are a warlike species.” Ziva nodded, humans were warlike. “You must kill to grow. On your home world, this manifested as centuries of war and genocide. Now that your home world has unified, you direct it outwards to the stars. Look at your solar system, how you have scarred the natural beauty of the planets to enrich yourself, the music of the spheres is out of tune. Your imperialist instinct is inseparable from what makes you human.” Ziva shook her head, this could not be true.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. Humans can change, we do all the time.”
“And yet you have not changed. You are now on a ship for your planet’s ‘reformed’ military to spread throughout the galaxy. We see the weapons on your ship, we know what you plan to do, to spread your sick civilization across the stars. And you? You personally are helping!” The voice rose in volume for the first time. Ziva shivered. The voice was right, she was on a military ship.
“But-but, we’re simply exploring!”
“That’s what they all say. Now, you cannot change your nature. You could mutiny, but that itself would be violent. Or you could go along and be complicit in other violence. Your choice.”
Ziva opened her eyes, sweating heavily, and rose to her feet. The thing outside the window was gone, and the Captain had returned to his seat. Rage clouded her head, with voices telling her to destroy and kill. Reaching into her pocket, she drew a small knife and charged towards the captain’s chair. She could no longer contain the violent urge she felt, and why bother?