Last Stand At Titan

The Post - Glorious Era

Last Stand At Titan

Prologue

"Do they look ugly or what?" joked Marty Ivor one of the observation team & a Pan Intelligiblis.

The joke, however, was not overly appreciated by the other members of the team. "Well if you breathed methane-nitrogen instead of an atmosphere of oxygen-nitrogen you’d look different too", an annoyed Captain Megan Lungu (Apparitio) replied. Lungu never liked Pan Intelligiblis very much. Their non-corporeal evolutionary successors were another matter though.

"Captain, my scanners are picking up radar signals. Although primitive it is effective" announced science officer Elaine Balcony a Pan Spiritous.

"Have we been detected yet?" inquired Lungu

"No Captain, but we could be. I’d say it was a mobile station as the radar signal is getting stronger: they’re getting better at this", assessed Balcony. "Tell me something, why does the Committee continue with our missions if they know that the Titans are growing more suspicious about alien visitors?"

"No idea, but it’s a worry" was Lungu’s reply.

"They might be getting suspicious, but I can’t believe that they’ve advanced enough to discover us" argued Ivor.

"Never underestimate them Mr Ivor. They’re a lot smarter than you think" shot back Lungu.

"I have them on the viewer Captain" announced a worried Balcony.

"OK, let me see. Transfer to main viewer". Although Lungu had seen the Titans many times on many missions, this was something new. On the main hologram-viewer a large truck, covered with radar equipment, stopped on top of a nearby ridge. Its main radar dish was rotating around seeking out the Union of Planets survey vessel.

"Impressive considering" mumbled John Hamann a Terra Omega. "They certainly know how to improvise I’ll give them that much" Hamann then said out aloud.

Suddenly, behind the radar truck came several other vehicles. Some carried troops while others were tanks. Lungu was confident that the UP Discovery cloak technology could not be defeated by the Titans, but she was not going to take any chances. "Recall the surface team. I don’t want any arguments from them. Tell them if they aren’t back within 5 minutes they can argue philosophy & the meaning of life with the Titans. Somehow I don’t think the Titans will be interested in such topics".

Hamann immediately gave the recall order along with Lungu’s warning. He did not need to add that the Committee had stressed the demand that all contact with the Titans was to be avoided at all costs. This requirement seemed ridiculous to the personnel of survey missions of late, considering the risks that were being taken. Clearly the Titans were not far off from discovering the truth. Given a few more years, Hamann thought, & the Titans will get the technology right.

And many were concerned when that day would arrive. Some even argued that First Contact would be a disaster. Lungu was one of them. It made her wonder, watching them now, why the Titans were the way they were. They were clearly intelligent & capable, but very unfriendly to say the least. Furthermore, democracy had never visited Titan. Instead several strong authoritarian governments ruled the moon & were often at war with each other.

Then Lungu remembered the history of her ancestors - the Intelligens. In many respects it wass sadly similar. Maybe, though, there was some hope for the Titans after all. And with that laconic thought, the UP Discovery took off in secret, leaving the Titans to stumble around to find nothing. It would be the last such visit to Titan, however, for quite some time.

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This creative work is the property of David Mark Atwell.
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