Once we’ve all headed our separate ways, most of us back to our own offices, I start to go through the footage, checking each new video as it is decoded by the AI network and released to us. I’m well aware that I’m no match for the skill and speed of the AIs in deciphering a foreign and alien language, but I’m determined to at least see if I can pick out anything. Call it a test of my own abilities for my own self-esteem.

The first thing that becomes readily apparent is that I can hear and probably make all the sounds that their speech is using. There are also no clicks or chirps that I might have difficulty with. I know that some of the older languages here on Earth, from southern Africa in particular, used some of these less vocal sounds in speech and I know I’d have considerable difficulty if I needed to use them as well.

Their accents and tones seem to be all very similar, at least to my untrained ear, but there is also a definite sibilance in the language, that undercurrent of a breathy hiss with the faintest hint of rattle in long esses. Beyond that, their speech is clipped and precise, but this may be because we are listening to trained presenters rather than the general populace. Reading from a script – some sort of prompting screen, no doubt – makes mistakes and hesitations few and far between.

Beyond the news reports, most of the broadcast video seems to be pretty mundane. My knowledge of the history of Earth is not truly extensive – I did only a little more than high-school history for my studies into languages – but it is broad enough to recognise the similarities with the typical media of 20th or early 21st century western Earth.

I’m sitting watching what appears to be some sort of quiz – what would have been called a game show on Earth because of the prizes – when Rob appears at my door. “I’m not sure you can call this work?” he suggests with a raised eyebrow as he takes a seat when I indicate that he’s welcome to join me.

“Oh, I don’t know. I think I already know the alien word for ‘Correct’,” I reply with a grin. “I wanted to see what the locals look like when they’re not in uniform. Have you been watching this, or some other files?”

“Others. I found a non-news broadcast that gives an overview of the current conflict.”

“Is that a well-chosen word for what’s going on out there?”

“Yes. We seem to be at a point where there is a lull in outright fighting, just the occasional border skirmish. The impression being given was of a wronged state being brave and resolute in their stand against invading tyranny.”

“Exactly what you’d expect from a military-controlled media when there’s a war going on?”

“They may be partly true. The maps they showed suggest that we’re listening to the smaller of the two remaining states on the planet. Who started what and for what reasons will have to wait until we can translate,” Rob tells me.

“And have you gleaned any information about their military capabilities?” I ask, knowing he will have been feeding his speciality.

“Some. They have forces on land, on the sea and in the air. There are definite satellites in orbit, some of the mapping is clearly space-based photography. No suggestion that they have atomic or thermo-nuclear weapons on hand though.”

“So, they may still be relying on fossil-fuel or renewables for their energy? Is that sort of economy a good basis for this conflict?”

“Very much so. We have no idea if they have coal, oil or gas, but it is a good bet that they have one or more of them. If one side were running desperately short, that could easily spark a conflict over resources. It does look like a cold world – a world of extremes.”

My video feed has moved onto another file, this time some sort of drama. The characters are dressed in what, even to an alien like myself, look anachronistic and old-fashioned. I’ve no idea what it’s about, but there appears to be a heated conversation taking place between two people at some sort of party.

Even as we both watch, a set of English-language subtitles appear at the bottom of the screen. The AI network has cracked the language. On this broadcast, it appears to be much more mundane than it looks from the acting.

Missing words and phrases are being marked with question marks but, as we watch for a minute or two longer, the gaps seem to be getting progressively shorter and less frequent as the translations progress.

“Argus? Are these translations automatic on all files now?” I ask through my implant.

<Yes. Go back and watch the news broadcast with Manannan again,> he replies immediately.

I use my terminal to pick the correct file from the growing list of decoded media and we both watch as it comes up on the screen once more. I quickly wave through the war stories and get to the bit about us.

“… Finally, our deep-space telescope has taken the most-detailed images yet of what was first thought to be an approaching comet or asteroid. Military command has not released a statement regarding the source of this object, but they did confirm that it appears to be slowing down as it approaches us. More on this in our main report tonight,” the Thermian presenter tells their audience.

“Do we have that later broadcast,” Rob asks.

<Yes. It’s on high priority for decryption and should be with you in a few seconds; minutes at most.>

We watch a few minutes of another inane drama while we wait, trying our best to not laugh at the stilted dialogue and, even to us as alien viewers, a very simplistic and obvious plot.

“We’ll probably learn more from this stuff than we ever will from the news broadcasts,” I suggest. “I’m sensing a certain lack of imagination here.”

“It makes you wonder how old and how advanced their society actually is,” Rob agrees. “Also, how long has this conflict been ongoing. If they’ve been at it for decades or centuries, then that would explain a lot. They could easily have pivoted to a military-style society in just a few years. After much longer than that, everything else starts to atrophy. Free expression becomes an undesirable trait and is supressed.”

“Well, let’s hope we’re not dealing with a society that is that far beyond our help.”

<That broadcast is ready now,> Argus tells us and I quickly switch to it instead of the rubbish we had been enduring.

The piece we need to watch is about ten minutes in length, going into considerable depth on a whole range of wild theories. Even in the few hours between the update and the initial broadcast, they have managed to obtain considerably better pictures of Manannan and there can be no doubt on Thermia that they are dealing with a spacecraft of some sort.

Where all the speculation seems to be coming from is regarding the source of our ship and its intentions. They’ve actually done pretty well to calculate a trajectory from just a few observations, but course corrections as we approached their Oort Cloud and had to avoid minor planets have made our flightpath much more difficult to deduce.

The names they give to some of the stars on their maps are, of course, mere noise to us, but they’re smart enough to include Sol as one of the possible sources. I can recognise it because the constellations beyond are very similar to Earth’s own. A couple of other candidates are close enough to the line of approach that it would be difficult to be sure.

What is most alarming, however, considering that they have no way of getting to us, is the considerable amount of talk in the report about possible intervention in favour of destroying the approaching object. “… Military scientists have repeatedly stressed that they have the ability to destroy the alien vessel if it comes too close to our world,” the presenter concludes at the end of the report. “The authorities have repeated to us that there is no cause for alarm.”

By the end of the clip, Rob is sitting forward in his seat, head held in his hands. “I don’t suppose we should be surprised,” he mumbles from between his palms. “They’re militaristic to a high degree. We should expect them to see anything they don’t control or understand as a threat.”

<Both of you are requested to go to Melina’s office right away. Nexi, Minerva and myself will join you all there,> Argus tells us.

“I’m open to suggestions,” Melina tells us when we arrive. With the three AI avatars in the office, it is already looking a little crowded, but there’s enough space on one of the couches for Rob and myself to find a seat.

“Broadcast to them?” Rob asks tentatively. “Tell them that we come in peace or whatever?”

<It sounds a bit clichéd,> Nexi suggests. <That being said, I much rather have a handshake than a missile, so I’m prepared to try anything.>

<There’s no suggestion that they have any level of AI-like intelligences, so any broadcast will have to be done by one of the humans,> Minerva points out.

<There is one problem,> Argus adds. <Until we can send the same message to both sides, we don’t want to do anything. If we are seen to be speaking to one side, rather than to both of them, we might make things worse.>

“How are we going on that front, Minerva?” I ask.

<Pretty well. We haven’t cracked the other sides encryption just yet, but the main AI team are sure it is not far away. Much has already been eliminated from their enormous list of possibilities.>

“And, in terms of being able to speak and understand the language?” Rob asks.

<Equally good progress,> Minerva says. < I don’t think we’ll be ready to do an implant in the next 24 hours, but it won’t be much longer than that.>

“I’m going to guess that this falls to me?” I ask.

“Well, you are the communications expert,” Melina tells me with a smile. “Why don’t we work on the assumption that you will learn the language we’ve already cracked and then someone else can learn the other one. Just for starters, of course.”

“Do we have any idea when we might be within range of their weapons?” Rob asks. “How long do we have before sending a message becomes imperative?”

<Well, we’re working on the assumption that they can organise a launch into high orbit, but they don’t appear to have outposts on either of the two moons,> Nexi tells us all. <I’d say that makes us pretty safe until we actually get to within the orbits of those moons. With chemical rockets, they will need several hours of flight time to target us. I can probably dodge just about anything they send my way right up until we are in planetary orbit. This gives us about a week to make a final decision.>

<I bet you’re glad that Peter re-wrote the whole first contact protocol handbook now?> Argus asks me.

“Sure. Do you think we should talk to him as well?” I ask.

“Well, he is the expert on alien contact, so it won’t do any harm to get him in as a consultant,” Melina agrees. “I’m sure he will be fascinated by the whole thing. You don’t mind?”

“No, of course not. I haven’t seen him or uncle Andy for a few months, but they are always actively interested in what we’re doing here,” I admit.

“Right, why don’t the two of you go to Verus and have a talk with them about our situation. There’s no need for them to come to Earth, we can just get them to do some remote consultation. I’d appreciate an outside view on what exactly we should be saying in any message that we do choose to send ahead of our arrival,” Melina tells me and Rob. “You have at least a day before you can learn the necessary languages and might as well do more than watching video feeds.”

Turning to Rob, I ask the obvious question. “Have you ever been to Verus?”

“No, but it is a place I always wanted to visit. I have worked with some of the Valatan, though.”

A quick check of my implant’s planetary almanac confirms that our two-day cycles are not particularly far out at the moment, meaning we can go at pretty much any time. “I’d expect this will take a little while. It’s probably too late to go today. Why don’t we plan to head across in the morning, taking all day if we need to. I’ll get in touch with my uncles and make sure they know we’re coming to visit.”