[APPROACHING THE 329714628 SYSTEM. EXITING HYPERDRIVE.]

Eyuy looked up from where he was reading messages at the sound of LOIUY, feeling the spaceship jump out of hyperspace. He got out of bed and walked over to the control panel. The command chair spun as he sat down on it. The interface flickered on, and Eyuy pulled up the navigations. It was around five hours from the outermost planet. 

It would take an additional day to enter the orbit of planet IF 329714628-419. Eyuy sighed and closed the navigations. While he didn’t mind the long waits in space, he was anxious to start his mission. Nowadays, the Exploration Sector rarely found new species, so explorers that contributed to the discovery of a new one were given great renown. The last species to be added were the Deain 100 years ago. 

Eyuy silently thanked his supervisor. With this opportunity, he would be able to rise in the ranks. He smiled to himself at the thought. A leadership position would bring his clan mother great pride.

LOIUY's voice came on, [INCOMING SIGNAL FROM BASE PARTNER ANGELIKA MÜLLER.]

Eyuy said, "Patch the signal, LOIUY."

[PATCHING SIGNAL...]

Angelika appeared on a monitor to the left of him. She said, "Can you confirm that you are approaching the outermost planet of the 329714628 System? "

"I can confirm. I will reach the planet by the end of the day."

"Excellent. How are you feeling?"

"I'm ready for my mission to start."

Angelika laughed, "So am I. We'll finally have something interesting to talk about."

Eyuy nodded his agreement. In hyperspace, video and audio communications couldn’t be used, so he and Angelika had been communicating via the ICC's messaging system. At first, the messages came easy, but communications tend to peter out when one of the involved parties is stuck doing the same routine every single day. Eyuy learned a lot about Angelika through her messages and tentatively thought of her as a friend. 

Angelika said, "The preliminary scans indicate that the planet's atmosphere is akin to Anmlonh's."

"The ICC Code of Conduct specifies that an explorer never takes off their spacesuit and helmet on an unexplored planet."

Angelika pouted, "Eyuy-yinh, why do you always have to bring up the rules? I was just telling you about the scans."

"My deepest regrets, Angelika."

Angelika rolled her eyes, "Don't apologize either. We've been talking for six months now, and you still haven't loosened up. Do you even know how to have fun?"

Eyuy turned his head to stare straight into the monitor. He said, "I was unaware that I was supposed to be having fun. Am I not in the middle of work?"

"Some people find joy in their work, you know. They find fun in the mundane."

"Does being a base partner make you joyous, Angelika?"

Angelika blew out a puff of amused air, "There's no debating with you, is there? Keep your rules, then."

"I shall."

"What is your expected time of arrival for planet IF 329714628-419?"

"I should arrive in two days."

"Understood. It's nearing my lunch break, so I'll let you go. Send me a message when you arrive on the planet."

"I will."

Angelika nodded and said, "Explorer Müller signing off. Thank you for your time."

The monitor went dark a moment later. Eyuy leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes. He basked in the silence until it was interrupted by the rumbling of his stomach. He got up and made his way to the food synthesizer. He typed in the right code and out came a pile of mush. Eyuy picked up a spoon and started eating. The one aspect of space life Eyuy despised was synthesized food. Instead of creating a replica of the food he inputted, the synthesizer copied the nutritional value using a non-perishable base. The result was colorless and odorless glop. 

Eyuy forced the last spoonful of synthesized food into his mouth. He washed it down with sulfuric acid and took the three steps between the kitchen and his cot. He laid down on the uncomfortable bed, staring at the ceiling. Sleep was the most interesting activity he could do, so he might as well get more rest. 

He woke up the next day halfway to his destination. He looked out the window at the front of the ship. Swirling light blue clouds covered Planet IF 329714628-419, and Eyuy could see giant landmasses dominating the planet's surface. He sat down in the command chair, toggling on LOIUY.

[HOW MAY I HELP YOU?]

"Are we close enough to scan the planet?"

[WE ARE WITHIN SCANNING DISTANCE. HOWEVER, WE ARE OUTSIDE OF THE EFFECTIVE RANGE. DO YOU WISH TO SCAN PLANET IF 329714628-419?]

"How far out of the effective range are we?"

[EFFECTIVE RANGE STARTS AT 52.32 SSU. THE SHIP IS CURRENTLY 104.65 SSU AWAY FROM PLANET IF 329714628-419.]

Eyuy spun in the chair. It would take fifteen hours to reach the effective scanning range. "Can we increase speed?"

[CURRENTLY, THE SHIP'S SPEED IS 3.5 SSU/HR. WOULD YOU LIKE TO INCREASE THE SPEED BY 2 SSU/HR?]

"How much would that decrease travel time?"

[TRAVEL TIME WILL DECREASE BY 5.5 HOURS.]

Eyuy did another rotation in the chair. "Can we increase the speed even more?"

[INCREASING THE SPEED BY MORE THAN 10 SSU/HR WILL USE MORE FUEL THAN ADVISABLE.]

"Understood, increase our speed to 10 ssu/hr. What will be our ETA?"

[TRAVEL TIME WILL DECREASE BY 10 HOURS. THE SHIP WILL ENTER THE EFFECTIVE RANGE IN 5 HOURS.]

"Thank you, LOIUY."

[I HAVE NO NEED FOR THANKS, EXPLORER AEUM-YINH.]

Eyuy felt the ship gradually increase speed. He rested against the back of the chair and watched the stars fly past him. He needed something to occupy himself while he waited. He grabbed a worn book that laid on the dashboard and started to read.

LOIUY startled him when he said, [THE SHIP HAS REACHED EFFECTIVE RANGE. DO YOU WANT ME TO START THE SCAN?]

"Yes, LOIUY," Eyuy responded, picking up his book from the floor. His tail was tense and he held it straight up behind his back. 

[SCAN STARTING IN 3...2...1...]

Eyuy brought up the scanner's program. He watched the information filter in. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until an anomaly showed up on the radar. He furrowed his brow and tapped on the reading's description. 

His eyes widened and a smile spread across his lips. The scans indicated there was a spacecraft stationed on the planet. Eyuy flicked through the other readings but didn’t find anything as significant. He went back to the anomaly, and his smile widened. There was a high probability that he would discover a new species on this planet. 

Unfortunately, Eyuy was still 52 ssu away from reaching the planet, and it would take another five hours before he arrived. He groaned, wishing that he could go faster. He had never been so impatient in his life. To take his mind off it, he went over all the rules that pertained to interacting with unknown alien species.

Section 32; article 1; The Acceptable Measure of Intelligence (AMI) details the criteria an explorer must use to judge all unknown species' intelligence. If the explorer neglects to use AMI, then their report is considered null and a new explorer will be assigned the mission. AMI's criteria are listed below.

During his six months in hyperspace, Eyuy had drilled AMI's requirements into his head. He didn’t want to chance his report being thrown out. Eyuy pulled up the Exploration Sector's rulebook. He wanted to go over it again before he landed.

The remaining hours passed steadily, and Eyuy was preparing to enter the atmosphere before he knew it. He took the controls from LOIUY and maneuvered the spaceship down to the surface. The shield on his ship flared into life when the air surrounding it grew too hot. 

He hovered the ship over the vast jungle, looking for a place to land. He flew for a couple of miles, but there was no open space. The dense canopy covered everything. He flew in different directions until he stumbled upon a clearing. The clearing was a perfect circle and contained no vegetation. Another point of evidence for there being a species on the planet. He waffled over whether to land because he didn’t want to give away his presence. However, the jungle gave him no other option.

Eyuy landed the ship on the planet. He let go of the controls and said, "LOIUY, please connect me to Angelika."

[SENDING SIGNAL TO BASE PARTNER ANGELIKA MÜLLER.]

Angelika showed up on one of the monitors. She had an excited smile on her face. She asked, "How was the landing?"

Eyuy replied, "Entering the atmosphere went smoothly. The hard part was finding somewhere to land. This part of the planet is a jungle."

"How cool! I've seen pictures of jungles on Earth, but I've never been to one."

"Anmlonh does not support this type of environment."

"Have you found anything yet? I know you just got there, but I'm sure you've already scanned the planet."

"You would be correct. The scan uncovered an anomaly. There's a ship stationed here."

Angelika leaned closer to the screen, "Really? Your mission's starting well!"

"The place where I landed is not nature-made."

"Why do you say that?"

"It is a perfect circle and all the vegetation within it has been removed."

Angelika hummed, "That does sound strange. Keep your report updated. I'll give you insight when I can."

Eyuy nodded, "Thank you, Angelika."

"No problem, Eyuy-yinh." Angelika pointed a stern finger at the screen, "Remember the most important rule. Do not make contact before you assess intelligence."

Section 5; article 1: Do not, under any circumstances, make contact with unknown alien life before a complete assessment of their intelligence. In compliance with the Treaty of Four Nations, the Exploration Division of the ICC has listed the requirements for the Acceptable Measure of Intelligence (AMI) on page 546.

"Angelika."

The woman waved a hand, "Yes, I know. You don't need me to remind you. I'm just making sure."

"I know what I'm doing."

Angelika gave him a hard look through the screen. "Don't give me any reason to throw away your report."

Eyuy said, "I won't."

"Good," Angelika replied, "I will leave you to the mission. If something comes up, I'll send an audio message."

"Okay. Explorer Eyuy Aeum-yinh signing off." Eyuy disconnected the call. 

He got up from his seat and went over to where his spacesuit was stored. He put it on and took his first steps onto the planet. The dirt under his feet was soft, causing them to sink into it a little. Eyuy walked around to the back of his ship and opened the storage hatch. It revealed a plethora of research instruments. Eyuy grabbed one of the packets and took a sample of the dirt. While not his primary objective, the scientists always appreciated it when explorers took time to gather resources for them. 

Eyuy grabbed a modified scanner. This scanner was more accurate than the one on the ship, but its range paled in comparison. The scanner's sensors had to be manually placed, so he would have to spend at least one day dealing with that. Holding one of the sensors in his hand, Eyuy decided that he might as well do it now. It was safer to know what dangers lied within his immediate area.

Eyuy stuffed the sensors into a bag he found before hiking north of his ship. After he had walked about three units, he planted the first sensor. He walked back to his ship and repeated the process to the south. During his trek to the east, Eyuy stumbled upon a shoreline. He inspected the beach and the inky liquid that lapped at the sand. He had just learned in to take a sample of the ocean when he heard a rustling in the trees behind him.

Eyuy ran from the shore and hid behind a tree, hoping that whatever was behind him couldn’t see him. The rustling grew louder and louder until it was replaced by the sound of footsteps walking on sand. Eyuy risked a peek at the source of the noise, and what he saw caused the breath to catch in his throat.

A tentacled alien stood in front of him. The alien's dark blue skin was broken up by glowing circles that lined its body. Eyuy was unable to see the alien's face due to its helmet obscuring it. On top of the helmet, a feathered alien perched itself. One of the alien's tentacles pulled out a container and another pulled out what seemed to be a thermos. It filled both with the liquid from the ocean. It stashed the container back into its pocket and drank from the thermos. 

When the alien looked like it was about to turn around, Eyuy completely hid behind the tree. He heard the alien retreat into the forest. He placed a hand on his heart, feeling that it was calm. However, his tail betrayed him. The appendage swayed in excitement. There was an undocumented species on this planet, and Eyuy was the first to find it. All he had to do now was measure its intelligence. His future promotion was becoming more and more likely.