Second Lieutenant Mea floated free of the airlock and out into the bottomless black of space. She adjusted her yaw and used the thrusters to kill her inertia about fifty meters from the main docking airlock. She sounded hoarse when she called back, "Freighter, Comm officer Kalla--Do you read me?" Kalla responded,"Mea! I read an elevated heart beat! Calm down. Look to your four o'clock position." Mea did and saw the alien ship sidle with infinite grace up along side 'her' ship. Mea was just out of OCS and this was her first mission. It supposed to be a CAKE-WALK, not the most important mission in human history! A figure extruded through the hull of the alien ship and floated up to her and stopped about five meters away. The Rahkoshan gestured with an upper limb and a holographic image of an alien world appeared. It showed the bodies of a Scav and a human in an older model Vacc suit, laying dead before the wrecked hulk of a stranger looking alien ship. The Rahkoshan said,"My person is 'Smells of Violet'. My person is investigating this crime. It appears your persons from your planet attacked a ship of 'Those Who Chime'. 'Those Who Chime' want to make war on your persons of your planet." Mea's mouth went dry, and she couldn't swallow. She croaked out the first reflexive thing that leapt to her shocked mind. "We DIDN'T do it! We couldn't do it!" She gulped a deep breath and said, "We do NOT have a Faster-than-light drive! Our sub-light colonies would NOT have the resources to make an attack on any of the Chimer guys' ships!" 'Smells of Violet' regarded the human for a long moment. She said to Mea,"With my own noses, I see your belief of this statement. That doesn't make it true out of your many mouthes! We saw with our own noses, on your person's planet--a Relative Inertial Frame generator was used TODAY! We saw it! Our noses are acute with many seeings! No mistake! No mistake! BUT...inconsistent! No RIF fields sniffed out OFF of you person's planet!." Mea had been ordered to NOT speak of the Blight plague on the surface of the planet below them. She said carefully, "For sixty-four or our years the planet is PROHIBITED! No contact from space to surface, or especially from surface to space is allowed! Understand?" The Rahkoshan studied for a long time and finally said,"No understanding. WHY is prohibition on planet?" Mea said, "I'm awaiting permission to tell you." 'Smells of Violet' exclaimed, "Very well. We wait shortly. Expedite!" The alien turned abruptly and shot back to her ship and disappeared into the hull of it. Mea heard Markham retort over the open comm, "Well it could have gone worse! At least we aren't blown up! Yet." Mea gasped and growled, "Comm OFF!, Returning to vessel!" She turned and re-entered the freighter. It might be days before she stopped shaking. --TO BE CONTINUED-- Media is Poser 7, Wings3d,Blacksmith 2,2