It was close to lunchtime on Saturday when the Navy man arrived. The Marines had told me he was coming so neither Ashley nor I were surprised. I was sitting on the floor in the corner of the day room surrounded by books with Ashley. She was on her phone looking at study guides for the next test.

  “Whatcha got there?” the man asked. He was in civilian clothes but carried himself like someone who gave orders and expected them to be followed. The Marines at the door had let him in so he was obviously permitted, but I was still wary.

  “Is that how introduce self?” I asked. Ashley just watched him.

  “That’s fair. My name is Lieutenant Commander MacNeal. I work out of the Pentagon with Navy Intelligence.”

  “You have a card?” Ashley challenged.

  He flipped out a wallet with his ID card in it and then put it away again.

  “It’s OK, Kos-Api, he’s the one they told me was coming.”

  “I am Kos-Api. Journeymage Pathfinder of Smoke Hare Tribe, and Champion of Murenyen Nomad peoples.”

  “And what does that mean?”

  “Journeymage mean qualified by Will-Worker guild in Kingdom of Togon to train apprentice. Pathfinder mean skill and power recognised by Tribe to conduct patrol alone without team. Champion mean have killed powerful Aether Beast alone.”

  “Define powerful?”

  “Beast use Aether is power level itself, powerful for Aether beast mean use Aether in manner external to body to attack. Very much deadly.”

  “Rare?”

  “Yes. Every focus of Pathfinders and Scouts is keep away from tribe.”

  “Good to know. Do you have a while to talk to some out of town folks?”

  “Can do. Ashley?” I vanished all the books as I stood. This got raised eyebrows from MacNeal but he didn’t say anything.

  “Battalion conference room?” Ashley asked.

  “That is where we are set up, yes.”

  When we arrived, there was a young woman sitting at the table. She hopped up and came over to shake my hand. She was short like I was, and was dressed in a complicated looking tight black one piece with matching boots. A short black coat was draped over the back of her chair, and there was a helmet with gloves tucked in it under the table.

  “Hello, it is a pleasure to finally meet you. We have been searching for you for a while now.”

  “Shall we sit down?” prompted MacNeal.

  I moved over to the table and sat on one side expecting the others to take the other side like the Marines liked to do. Instead the girl pulled out the seat next to me to sit in it facing me and the officer sat on the corner of the table. Ashley of course leaned up against the wall near the door.

  “My name is hard to say, so please call me Allegro. You have met the Lieutenant Commander, and joining us remotely is my Prima, Princess Arpeggio.” She waved to what looked like a cellular phone on the table.

  “Greetings, Princess.” It wouldn’t do to be rude.

  “Prima, the subject is a near-human entity with catlike features. Approx 3.225 standard length units in height with brown skin and matching brown hair. She has what the humans like to call a sleeper build, so I estimate she is 26 or 27 standard weight units. Her left eye is a brown close to orange and the right eye is a pale green. Pronounced canine teeth, claws on hands and feet, the later visible from wearing open-toed shoes. Ears are on the top of the head like a cat with full swivel muscle control and the place where the human ears would be is instead covered by the hairline. The subject has a tail that would reach the ground if held straight and is covered with thick hair that matches her head.”

  “Yes, that doesn’t match anything in the Hive’s information systems.” came a voice from the box on the table.

  “Do you have a preferred mode of address?” asked Allegro, speaking to me this time.

  “Just Kos-Api is all required. Titles irritate.”

  “Kos-Api, can you tell us anything you know about how you got here or where you came from?” asked the voice from the table.

  “I don't know how I arrived. One eyeblink I was crossing a river, next eyeblink I landed in the ocean. My world is named Spivun-jarnok, and it goes around a star named Saubsed-Mugans. It has two moons, Kos and Api. All names were by the Xinifex, who were there first.”

  “Your planet is named new-world, it orbits a star named unknown-star. The moons are one and two, if you are speaking Calbannon. What do the Xinifex look like? Xini means lost in that language, by the way. Xinifex means lost and confused.” said the voice on the table.

  “Xinifex are metal people.”

  “Yeah, that makes sense. What I don’t understand is how they got there and then couldn't leave again. They should have been able to build ships.”

  “Aside from home world, the star has three other planets we have found. The inner is frinyot-skefic and the outer two are nsdrey-bhulr and gwit-tarfok.

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  “Hot-dead, poison-wet, and bare-rock.”

  “Yes, that is what we see when we scry them.”

  “Scry?”

  “Yes, use magic, see up close. Very much detail. Get very good look.”

  “Interesting. Anything else you can tell us about where you are from? Anything about the stars we can use to locate it?” the voice asked.

  “One other object above sky that we see. Round like ring. Spin slowly so the further part gets sun on the inside surface. We can see mountains and great lakes, and snow and weather in places.”

  “You have a what?”

  “We don’t know what an object of that type is called and the Xinifex named it Hjukanrikit.”

  “That is a… I don’t know, an expletive? As close to one as you can get if you are speaking Calbannon.”

  “Well you are not in one of the three systems we have found ring-worlds in, so that means you are in a system with an undiscovered fourth ring-world. This is an issue.” said Arpeggio.

  “What do you mean?” asked MacNeal.

  “The ring-worlds are a problem for the galactic community because every time one has been found it triggered a rather nasty and prolonged war. The shortest one of those lasted eight hundred and seventy four of your years. People covet those rings more than anything else in the galaxy.” supplied Allegro.

  “Which is odd because anyone that tries claiming one of them gets attacked by the ring’s defenses.”

  “So what does that mean for us?” asked MacNeal.

  “For humans on Earth, nothing. Except that you are harboring the one entity in the galaxy at large that has any kind of personal experiences with regards to an undiscovered galactic treasure of incalculable value.”

  “Fuck” offered Ashley, most helpfully.

  “We must find your world. To return you to it, obviously, but also to fortify it before a war breaks out.” said Arpeggio. “To this goal, say nothing of the ring-world to anyone. MacNeal, I realize you have to report to your superiors, but I must impress upon you the urgency of giving this the highest and most exclusive of your classification levels. As for the Hive, aside from us two now only the Queen will know.”

  “I don’t suppose you have any star charts laying around?” asked MacNeal.

  “Have one book that has a hand drawn illustration of a portion of the night sky over the Capitol of the Kingdom of Mharvic. Almost certainly not useful.”

  “So we will put a pin in that until we figure some more things out. We would like your permission to take you up to the new space station that we brought in yesterday for a series of scans.” requested Allegro.

  “I did agree to necessary medical test. What this one for?” I grumped.

  “It isn’t a test, per se. We just need you to stay in a room overnight while we use machines to look at your physiology. I promise the view will be spectacular.”

  “Am alright with it.”

  “I have security concerns though.” stated Ashley. “I am going, and I am uncomfortable being in a place where the Marines backing us up cannot reach us.”

  “We have a bus in the Osprey landing field. Everyone who wants to go should meet at the bus so we can get some optical measurements to produce safety equipment.”

  "As much as I really really want to do that, I am going to have to sit this one out.” complained MacNeal. “I have to report in.”

  “A second bus will be arriving in forty minutes to take you back to the Pentagon.” said Arpeggio.

  “Then I’ll head out. You obviously have my number.”

  Ashley pulled out her phone and hit a speed dial.

  “Captain, get ready. The whole team, full kit to the bus out in the airfield. We are all taking a trip upstairs.”

  “Please no explosives. You are going to be on a space station.” pleaded Allegro.

  “Respectfully, if we have cause to damage something we can figure out apologies later.” Ashley stood her ground.

  “Tempo is going to separate me into very tiny pieces.” she whined.

  We took the Suburban to the airfield. Fourteen Marines were waiting for us, ready to kill an Aether Beast one bite at a time.

  “Guys, I am pleading with you all for sanity.” asked Allegro again. “We are going to space. If you put a hole in something important, none of us get to breathe any more. And I don’t know about you all, but after so many years not doing it, it has kind of been a novel experience that is growing on me.”

  “Alright, leave the armor piercing and the frags.” decided the Captain.

  “I suppose that is the best I am going to get. Sorry Tempo.”

  “I can deal with that.” said the bus. “All of you please remove your outer layers so I can get good measurements. It will be about an hour for the equipment to arrive. When it gets here it should be worn as an inner layer like Allegro is wearing it.”

  Everyone looked at Allegro.

  “I just thought she was going for the crotch rocket aesthetic.” volunteered one of the Marines, to general agreement from the rest of the squad.

  “Well you guys are getting camo patterned ones. We are still working out a subdued way to show your ranks on them, so for now you all get to look alike. Kos-Api and Ashley will be in an eggshell color. Ship suits are all color coded.”

  “What does black mean?” another Marine asked as they all finished pulling off their gear.

  “It means we are the scary aliens.”

  “Alright, two at a time please. Stand in front of the bus and squat with your arms out. Then stand, bend to touch your toes. Then touch your fingertips to your shoulders and rotate at the waist.” said the bus.

  Ashley and I went last. When I put my outer clothes into storage Allegro did a double take.

  “Well now that is an interesting ability.” stated the bus. MacNeal just crossed his arms and smirked.

  I did the motions the bus had demanded and summoned my clothes around me again.

  “At some point in the future I am going to need to put time aside to point every sensor I can get command of at you.” the bus added. “Well, all the ones that won’t liquify you.”

  “Kos remaining non-liquified is definitely on my bucket list.” joked Ashley.

  “Everyone please get comfortable. We have a priority flag on the fabrication, but it will still take a while to get it all here.” Allegro recommended. Half the Marines broke out decks of cards, and the other half remained watching the airfield and the Aliens.

  After another few minutes, another bus flew in and landed next to the first. I was left speechless for a moment.

  “Well, this is my ride, I guess.” said MacNeal. “It was good to meet you all.”

  “How you do that?” I wheeled around on Allegro and demanded, pointing at the bus. “I can feel that!”

  “Oh, that answers so many questions.” reflected Allegro.

  “And creates so many more.” added the box clipped to her outfit.