The meeting of the command crew was cut short by a page from Lieutenant Solarin. Something big.

As soon as the Captain arrived back on the bridge, Gibson and Mitzner in tow, Lieutenant Solarin stood to greet her. Dr. Kang and McAfree had already made their way to the bridge and loomed around in the background.

"Captain," said Solarin "You really need to see this. We sent out a little ident request, a standard starship handshake just to try and see if the thing in the void would react like a ship. It's a text coded ansible message that just reads 'whois'. This is what we got back, in the same format. Ensign Marceaux, put it on the main screen please."

Marceaux pressed a button and threw a rather long looking text reply onto the main screen. It was as basic as you could get: white text on a black background.

>>For your purposes I am the Eye of a God. You are parasites and you disgust me. You infest a seed of sacred promise, staining the godling with your shedding and excretions. He protects you for now but I will convince him of this folly and you will die and he will live forever in the heavens with his brother and sister gods.

Captain Littlegrow permitted herself a smile.

"Not as friendly as I would hope, but progress," she said "Communication is the first step towards negotiation. Can we reply using the same method?"

"Probably," said Marceaux, shrugging.

"Oh I can do that," said McAfree, leaning over Marceaux's console "No problem. Just show me the program you're using for the 'whois' request and I'll write something that outputs text in the same manner. Won't take but a minute."

Marceaux's ears burned. He scrunched up his nose. He was getting sick and tired of being shown up by McAfree.

"Fine," he said, a little more childishly than he had intended "Here's the program."

He got up from his console and McAfree sat down. She immediately began typing.

"Choose your words very carefully when you speak to this thing," said Dr. Kang "Whatever it is it possesses technology far beyond our own, such as the ability to manipulate space/time on a level we've never seen."

"So you've confirmed that the source of the message is also the reason we've been unable to use our relativity drive?" asked the Captain.

"No," said McAfree, still typing "He's just really sure of his guesses. There," she pressed the last button dramatically "Done."

McAfree realized that she had pressed the wrong button. She hit backspace, then the right button.

"Okay done for real now," she said "Just type your message in here and hit send-"

"I know how to work a text input, thank you," said Marceaux, virtually pushing her out of the chair in his effort to retake his console.

"Ready when you are, Captain," he said, once he was seated.

"Make it simple," said the Captain "Just say 'We come in peace and we mean you no harm. We only want to leave.'"

Marceaux sent the message. Before long the entity replied.

>>You cannot leave you must die.

"Charming," said McAfree.

"Ensign, send another message," said the Captain "Ask it 'Why do you want us to die?'

Marceaux did so, and the entity replied.

>>You are as inattentive as you are filthy. You are parasites. You stifle the promise of a god. You are a blasphemous virus for which I must prescribe a holy cure.

"This isn't going well," observed Mitzner.

The Captain sighed.

"Try this," she said "'We would prefer to be friends. We believe in mutually beneficial cooperation."

Marceaux sent it and again came the reply.

>>How pathetic your mewlings are. How can Armstrong hold you in anything but contempt?

"This obviously isn't going to get us anywhere," said the Captain "Lieutenant Solarin, forward and further messages to my office but we're finished engaging for the time being. The command crew and I are returning to my office."

"Aye, Captain," said Lieutenant Solarin, trying to hide how nervous she was.

"Dr. Kang, I'd like you to accompany us," the Captain added.

"Naturally," said Dr. Kang.

He left McAfree awkwardly standing there on the bridge. Marceaux glowered at her from his corner.