Calanthe Colt

“Yes. Entirely. And we can’t replace it. The tech’s too tricky for us to fabricate onboard. If we had something to fix, then maybe, but…” She shrugged.

The captain and the commander gave each other a long look that spoke volumes. “We’re unable to contact Earth or the Navy,” said Rodriguez as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Yes, captain.” She took a half-step forward. “I’m sorry, captain. If I’d only translated the Morse code faster—”

The captain held up a hand. “None of that, lieutenant. No one else caught that message. You gave us precious seconds that we wouldn’t have had otherwise. Don’t wish your work was perfect when the great work you did saved all our lives.”

Marcie gulped and nodded. “Thank you, captain. Do we know who sent the message?”

“We’re not able to detect signs of any human life on the planet,” said the captain, “nor those of any alien species we know can breathe terraformed air. There could be someone hiding in an underground shelter, but we’d need to send a landing party to check.”

“Perhaps it was an old message,” said Marcie.

A chime sounded from the captain’s desk. Rodriguez answered it. “Report.”

“Captain, we’ve received comms. Visual, live.”

The captain raised an eyebrow at the commander. “Put it through.”

The comms popped up as a window above the captain’s desk. Only the captain would be visible to the caller, but Marcie could see the comms from behind in reverse. She blinked, at first not sure of what she was seeing. Was the image in low resolution and desaturated? No. It was an android: a shimmering white android, with bare shoulders in view of the comms. A human male-shaped android with high cheekbones, silver eyes, and a tidy head of white hair, not a single imperfection in sight.

“I’m Captain Rodriguez of the Orion Navy star ship Sunda Tiger. We’re on a mission to reconnect with Research Colony 227C. To whom am I speaking?”

“I am Sirius, mayor of 227C. I greet you, and I apologise for the damage to your vessel. We have lost much knowledge over the last few decades, including communications standards and the security codes for the satellites. We could not establish reliable communication until we reverse-engineered your signals.”

“Thank you for your apology. We understand: yours isn’t the only colony that has lost knowledge and tech since the war.” She smiled wryly. “It’s the first time we’ve run into a still-active SecSat, though. They were outlawed a few decades back because they’re too ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ for modern sensibilities.”

The android Sirius inclined his head. “Understood. Perhaps with your help, we can remove any further noncompliant tech that remains in the system. After we have helped you repair your ship, of course.”

“Thank you for your kind offer. Who is ‘we’, by the way? We didn’t detect any human life on the surface, and I’ve never come across an android mayor before.”

“I was designated mayor long ago. There are no humans here, only androids.”

Marcie tried not to sigh in sadness. They were all gone, after all. Another colony of people lost.

“My condolences,” said the captain. “May I ask what happened to your humans? Plague? Famine?”

Sirius paused for a long moment, his posture preternaturally still. “Forgive me, captain. I cannot answer.”

Captain Rodriguez frowned. “Why not?” she asked, a note of warning in her voice. Marcie also felt alarmed, remembering old tales of android uprisings.

“Because we do not know what happened to them, captain. It is a mystery.”