GREETINGS, COLLEAGUE -In the last few months we've made great strides in xenoscience. First, our studies of the

Chromatics captured during the Eyrie Station raid were extremely enlightening. We nolonger fight this enemy in the dark, as it were. The Chromatics are still a threat to humanity,but although they were once a hostile race with unknown capabilities, they are now beingswith measurable strengths and exploitable weaknesses. Armed with this knowledge, AEonis helping the psi orders move ever closer toward the development of effective counter-measures.

Even better, communication with the few living Chromatic captives proceeds apace.AEon Trinity has high hopes that we may negotiate with this fierce alien race — if not findcommon ground — in the near future. We are confident that humanity could win an out-right confrontation with the Chromatics, but we do not wish to wage a war of attrition.

Among other recent events, the Leviathan Ananda has returned from Qinshui, bearingour brave embassy personnel as well as more information on enigmatic Qin culture. TheAnanda expedition reestablished regular communications between Earth and Qinshui, tothe benefit of both.

Humanity and the Qin can now look beyond the mutual concern of returning lost am-bassadors. As I write these words, Qin and human dignitaries meet to renew the techno-logical and commercial negotiations that were interrupted when the Upeo vanished fiveyears ago. We also now know that Aberrant attacks harry Qinshui much as they do Earth.Surely an alliance against our common enemy is at hand.

And finally, even the second expedition to the Coalition space ark must be considereda success, despite its violent end. We have no doubt about the Coalition now. The expedition'sdramatic discoveries are both shocking and undeniable, AEon Trinity has not yet retaliated,but rest assured that this outrage will be punished.

However, despite our recent discoveries and studies, many details of all three alienraces remain a mystery. Ananda returned with more questions than answers about the Qin.The puzzle of Chromatic teleportation and biotech remains unsolved. And while we nowknow more about the Coalition, we still don't know its motives or plans.

Yet, we must keep in mind how little we knew about all three races only a few shortmonths ago. AEon Trinity devotes itself to exploration and discovery, those two essentialhuman pursuits. As long as questions remain about our peers and enemies in space, we willsearch for answers.

I call upon all Trinity operatives, psion and neutral alike, to share your thoughts, specu-lations and discoveries regarding this field report. You've helped us broaden our horizonsfurther than ever expected. Let us not stop here, but seek out, explore and respond to thechallenges that face us. AEon is proud of what you've accomplished — and we are confidentthat you will continue to surpass the high standards you have set for yourselves.

Ad AstraNeville ArcherDirector, Neptune Division

AEon TrinityHope • Sacrifice • Unity

OPERATION BRIDGEWORK SUMMARYREPORT— Keith Olatu, Head Scientist and

Lead Researcher, Triton Division [PragueFacility]

INTRODUCTIONOperation Bridgework is the follow-up

investigation into Chromatic biology, cultureand psychology, following the initial Opera-tion Abyss of 2113. Our initial investigationtook place in strict isolation on MontressorClinic grounds, and it was carried out byseven AEon Trinity scientists and appropriatesupport staff. The AEsculapian Order providedthree vitakinetics; Orgotek supplied supportboth in the form of technical assistance anda single psion expert in photokinetic appli-cations. The Ministry provided two psionsskilled in both telepathy and interrogation.The Legions assigned a Sixth Legion striketeam in case of hostile attempts on the partof the subjects. The representatives from eachorder were immensely helpful during thecourse of our study.

Approximately halfway through the in-vestigation, three UN scientists joined us asobservers. Of the three, Mr. Koenig provedto be an inadequate scientist despite a natu-rally inquisitive nature. The other two scien-tists were fairly helpful, and they deserveparticular credit for their thoughts on Chro-matic culture.

The subjects of our investigation are fourChromatics who were captured during theEyrie Station incident that took place in May.We also had access to the full OperationAbyss report [see Proteus Archive, Opera-tion Abyss 7.16.2113] as well as the remainsof the Chromatic corpses on which that re-port was based.

Operation Longjump operated in concertwith Operation Bridgework under UN aus-pices, with the aid of Norça and Nihonjin tech-nicians. Its aim was to analyze all availableChromatic technology, with particular atten-

tion to the aliens' means of travel between thestars. We obtained an abridged version of theOperation Longjump report and we incorpo-rated all relevant material into our analysis. Westrongly recommend that further effort be de-voted toward obtaining a full copy of the re-port — this is no time for politics.

The Operation Bridgework team has nofinal recommendation on the disposal of theChromatic captives at this time. Two full rec-ommendations are presented under separatecovers, but we summarize both at the endof this report.

MEDICAL REPORTOur medical team confirmed most of the

conclusions reached by Operation Abyss. Thisreport addresses only new information anderrors in the original report; information fromthat investigation not specifically addressedshould be taken as current and accurate.

The "tubes" running along the Chromaticspine, as discussed in Operation Abyss, areindeed a primarily means of storing energy.However, after much observation, we deter-mined that these tubes are also a secondaryelement of the Chromatic nervous system.Returning to previous autopsies, we foundsmall eyespots and bioluminescent patchesalong the insides of the tubes themselves.We further observed that the tubes connectthe subjects' sensory and auxiliary brains. Asyet, we've developed no procedures to studythese arteries in a living subject, but the pres-ence of internal light-producing and sensingorgans suggests that these tubes are con-duits, speeding the Chromatic equivalent ofnervous impulses. This system also explainsthe reflexes of the average Chromatic war-rior, which are significantly faster than thoseof most human beings.

We chose Chromatic Subject D (a.k.a.Heavystone — see the section on Chromaticculture) for an experiment to determine if Chro-matics possess the capacity for osmotic ab-sorption of oxygen in liquids, as postulatedby Operation Abyss. During this experiment,Ministry agent Xin Chao probed Heavystone

for reactions. Although hisemotions conveyed calm

when first introduced to the tank, weremoved the subject when he started in-

dicating alarm and desperation. While Chro-matics can breathe underwater, the amountof oxygen in water at Earth-standard atmo-spheric pressure cannot sustain Chromatic lifefor more than six hours. We also discoveredthat salt water is extremely irritating to theChromatic system, although not disabling.

The Chromatic ability to store energy andabsorb oxygen via osmosis suggests thatthese creatures live in a resource-poor envi-ronment. Given the sensitivity of their nu-merous eyespots, we suspect that theirplanet is far from their sun or that they spenda great deal of time isolated from sunlight.The latter seems more likely, as their energy-absorption capabilities are attuned to absorb-ing solar energies comparable in strength tothose from our sun.

Our living subjects belong to two dis-tinct genders, one of which we arbitrarilydesignated as "female." Chromatic SubjectC (a.k.a. Fastswimmer) referred to having"not yet made a small beacon," thus namingherself of that gender, though whether sheis too young or otherwise incapable of pro-ducing offspring is unclear.

NOETIC REPORTChromatics prove to be strong manipu-

lators of noetic fields. Vitakinetic examina-tion indicated that all captives are capable ofphotokinesis, with some potential forelectromanipulation and pyrokinesis. Thesubjects do not exceed human psion poten-tial. However, our analysis of battlefield re-ports leads us to believe that Chromatic war-riors do outperform psions, producing effectsthe orders consider impossible.

It seems that the Chromatic ability tobecome invisible and to project illusory im-ages are only partially noetic in nature. Theyuse photokinesis to create images that screenthe aliens from view or that make them ap-pear elsewhere. However, the fine control

needed to create truly convincing illusionsdepends on the immense processing powerof the Chromatic sensory brain and the net-work of optical receptors that feed the braininformation. At this time, we conclude thatpsions cannot master the coordinationneeded for Chromatic-style illusory images.

We nonetheless recommend that theAEon Trinity share our more detailed reporton Chromatic aptitudes with Orgotek for fur-ther study. Orgotek psions should be able tomake use of Chromatic techniques givensufficient practice. The Orgotek assistant toProject Bridgework was very enthused aboutthe possibilities.

By request of Operation Longjump, weinvestigated the possibility of Chromaticteleportation. We found no trace of psionicteleportation latency — or of any aptitudesbeyond those already discussed.

LINGUISTIC REPORTAlthough Chromatics do not possess any

degree of telepathic ability, they show a for-midable resistance to probes. The two Min-istry agents used telepathy to gain data ini-tially, but they found that it was difficult toforce a Chromatic's thoughts down any onepath. Surprisingly, the aliens quickly grewsensitive to such attempts. Whenever oneof the Chromatic subjects felt a telepathicprobe, it responded with overwhelming feel-ings of anger and outrage. Xin Chao ex-plained that the aliens seemed to feel thatwe were not "worthy" to communicate withthem in such a fashion.

We are confident that we can breakthrough the aliens' emotional defense, butdoing so could harm the subjects' psychesand would be draining on our telepaths. Wedecided to attempt translating the Chromat-ic' speech instead.

We are pleased to report that, having sodecided, we established communicationswith the captive Chromatics much morequickly than anticipated. As per earlier specu-lation, Chromatics use sound to communi-cate in a limited manner, while their main

mode of communication is visual. A specificset of wavelengths, at the limits of humanvisual perception, carries linguistic content.Interestingly, projectors and sensors of thesewavelengths operate on an entirely differ-ent set of nerves than does the rest of Chro-matic visual perception. We suspect thatChromatics perceive "photo-communica-tion" as something rather different from sight.

(We would like to thank Orgotek and theMinistry for helping us construct a device capableof interpreting and duplicating Chromatic light-communication patterns. We recommend thatthe United Nations be encouraged to subsidizethe production of more translator devices,whether from Orgotek or from another appro-priately tractable biotech company. We will needthese devices if we ever expect to establish termswith the Chromatics.)

The aliens' language is surprisinglysimple for a spacefaring race, despite earlierspeculations to the contrary. Their set of ba-sic nouns is approximately one third of thesize of the average sets in Earth languages,

and one-quarter of thesize of the set of Qin ba-sic nouns. However, thelanguage makes extensive use of com-pound nouns. Very few of these com-pound nouns are abbreviated to form newconstructions.

This pattern applies to Chromatic verb formsas well. Adverb and adjective prefixes build on asmall set of verbs to create complex action state-ments. For example, the verb "to go" is modifiedby prefixes meaning "quickly," "far," and "high" toform the verb indicating space flight. The multitudeof compound verbs and nouns in the Chromaticlanguage seems to have misled previous research-ers to believe that the language was complex.

Dr. Haller postulated that the speed withwhich Chromatics communicate may havereduced evolutionary pressure to condensecompound word forms. While we must ac-cept this idea as a possibility, the majorityopinion differs. The Chromatics' language isrichest when used to speak of light and otheroptical phenomena, while a secondary locus

of terms involves conflictand hunting. It seems

likely that an environment producingsuch a conflict-oriented language would

demand more concise communication.

CHROMATIC CULTUREThe xenocultural team thanks the linguis-

tics researchers for their contributions to thisreport; we would never have been able tolearn as much as we have without under-standing some of Chromatic language. (Notethat the translations provided in this reportare rough at best. We require many moremonths of intensive research to refine ourunderstanding of the Chromatic language.)

At first the subjects would not cooper-ate; they ignored our questions for the firstweek. We achieved a breakthrough when Dr.Oilman, in frustration, asked Chromatic Sub-ject A (later designated Roamer) how shecould convince them to talk. After some ap-parent thought, Roamer asked Dr. Gilman to

"state the truth" that answers would not beused to harm the Chromatic race.

While we're not sure, we think the vi-sual patterns that overlaid Roamer's replysignified skepticism — that they did not be-lieve we are capable of such terms. Afterconsultation with her colleagues, Dr. Gilmanagreed to Roamer's request. After lengthydiscussion among the subjects — and muchto our surprise — the result was notablyhigher levels of cooperation. It seems thatChromatic culture is highly social. We pos-tulate that our captives may have sufferedfrom something not unlike the Stockholmsyndrome observed in human hostages.

I must stress that this observation doesnot mean that we believe friendships havedeveloped between the aliens and ourselves.They continue to refer to us as "beasts," andthey often unleash violent outbursts in re-sponse to what we assume are innocuouscomments. The process is touch and go, but

the simple fact that we have started a dia-logue gives us hope.

The social aspects of Chromatic culturerevolve around what we characterize as spiri-tualism. Understanding the nature of their"religion" is frustratingly difficult. Their en-tire mythological structure is subject to fre-quent revision. While there is a priesthoodamong the Chromatics, they consider spiri-tual revelations and insights valid no matterwho experiences them. Furthermore, such"insights" spread at amazing speeds. Thereare indications that the priesthood varies inmembership, consisting of those who re-cently experienced significant revelations.

Apparently there are times when twomutually incompatible beliefs coincide. Thisis one cause of intra-Chromatic conflict. Ac-cording to our subjects, the current battleagainst humanity is the result of such astruggle, apparently involving a new brandof polytheism. Other causes of conflict in-clude struggles for resources. It is interest-ing that the stories we were told revolvedaround conflicts over food and living space,rather than for natural resources such as min-eral ores.

Further discussion revealed that Chromaticexistence is largely subterranean, as per themedical team's speculation. Chromatics con-sider water to be a precious substance foundonly underground. Existence is more danger-ous there due to predation and the rare geo-logical instability, but it is also more reward-ing. "Watering holes" are the most stronglydesired territories, because they ensure a sup-ply and because Chromatic prey requires wa-ter just as much as the aliens themselves do.These findings seem to indicate that Chromaticculture is still in the hunter-gatherer phase.

One of the most revealing aspects ofChromatic culture is the Chromatics' methodof choosing names. Young Chromatics are

born with no names, andthey are identified withgeneric pronouns. Adults often give theyoung simple descriptive terms for thesake of distinguishing them, but theseterms are shed as soon as the young oneacquires a "real" name.

A nameless Chromatic earns a name bydistinguishing itself, where the name reflectsthe deed that gained the young Chromatic rec-ognition. For example, Heavystone gained hisname after single-handedly scattering an en-emy position by rolling several rocks of ex-traordinary size down into the enemy's ranks.A Chromatic chooses his own name, althoughit is subject to group consensus, in case, forexample, it is overly egotistical.

As evidenced by Longeye Underhider'sname (a.k.a. Chromatic Subject B), Chromat-ics can earn more than one name. This prac-tice is, however, considered somewhat ar-rogant. Chromatics tend to leave the mostglorious moments to those who have not yetearned a name. We theorize that this tradi-tion is a cultural adaptation to the risky lifethe race appears to lead. If the youngestChromatics seek out the greatest risks in or-der to name themselves, then the wisdomof the elders, who have already earned theirnames, is less likely to be lost.

Our current sample of Chromatic namesincludes Heavystone, Longeye Underhider,Roamer and Fastswimmer. While this selectionis very small, it is undeniably inclined towardphysical accomplishment. Furthermore, the"name stories" we have heard suggest a vio-lent and warlike culture. We are unable to rec-oncile this finding with the fact that the Chro-matics are a spacefaring race. We cannot con-struct a cultural model that allows for bothprimitive warfare and spaceships.

— Journal, MariaDiaz, Junior ISRA Repre-sentative, First QinshuiExpeditionMarch 21st, 2115

I always thought peoplewho kept diaries were toocaught up in themselves.Who wants to read about or-dinary people doing ordinarythings in ordinary times? Inever thought somethingextraordinary might happento me, but even if I'd ex-pected something extraordi-nary, I'd never have pre-dicted a disaster like this.

Some folks say that Earthmust have been destroyed,that the Aberrants wrecked it.I can't believe that.

But regardless, here Iam, sitting on Qinshui theyear after the Upeo stoppedcoming, and I realize that if Iever get out of this I ' l l wantto remember what it was likeat the time. As much as I hateto say it, if I don't get out ofthis, maybe this journal willprove useful to Earth whenhumanity finally does getback here.

So here it is. To my fu-ture self, if it's me readingthis: Don't ever give up.When you were my age, youpromised yourself that. Andif this is someone else —thank you for coming for us,and don't blame yourself if itwas too late.

>>> Approximately 176kilobytes of entries deleted <<<May 12th, 2119

It's a bit of a pain being abackup. Most of the staffmembers have a primary andsecondary funct ion, soeveryone's someone else's

fail-safe, as well as having amain job. It's a good system.My gripe is that psions haveto spend enough time mas-tering their powers — there'snot a lot of spare time tolearn any other specialty. I'ma pretty good clairvoyant,but I haven't had time tolearn enough about anythingelse to do it full time, whichmakes me the professionalbasketweaver around here.

Not that I should com-plain, being on mankind'sgreatest adventure and all,but people are people nomatter what. There's a bet-ting pool on what the Qinreally look like. I have fiveyuan on something six-legged and furry. See what Imean? Something as impor-tant as that, and I'm makingbets on it.

Anyway. I've been tryingto think of silver linings to ourexile. I've already seen moremarvels than I would have ina lifetime on Earth. This placeis like a fairyland. I was told

the Qin were masters ofbiotech, but seeing what thatmeans on a planetary scale iscompletely different.

Everything here is organi-cally grown instead of manu-factured. The buildings remindme of termite mounds.They're domes and tubes,shaped out of some sort ofglassy substance. It might bechitinous. I'm always restrain-ing the urge to chip some offand find out. The colors aregreat, almost anima. Kostbaarwould love this place. Theoverall color scheme is mutedpastel, but you get an outburstof vibrant purple or green hereand there.

It rains all the time. The col-ors are like a reminder that therain isn't the only thing in theworld. Like I said, very anima.

Josuke Yoshi, one of myfriends in the diplomatic corps,talks about how he never ex-pected biotech to be so harmo-nious. I was surprised Nipponsent someone along, given how

they feel about non-hardtech, but politics de-

mands a representative. He'sa lot happier here than I wouldhave expected. He's also veryfond of Qin discussions, whichare very elliptical-oblique. Hesays it's refreshing to deal witha society that's as polite as theNihonjin, but in a different way.

>>> Approximately 720kilobytes of entries deleted <<<December 9th, 2119

Slugs. Would you be-lieve it? A meter long or so— and ugly!

I got tired of sittingaround. Jennifer is doing allthe probes. She says shedoesn't want me to risk push-ing too hard and offendingour hosts. It's actually prettycool of her, but it leaves mebored. So I got together withthe guys in Engineering whowere running the bettingpool, and a few of us -Rob-erts, Sandoz and I — snuckout of the official embassyarea. Not very risky. In the lastthree years, I'd gotten a goodhandle on the Qin noetic sig-nature, so I figured I couldkeep us out of sight.

We struck out about halfa kilometer outside the hu-man quarter, in the directionthat most of their orni-thopters head. There was abig dome there with'thopters landing inside it,and there they were — slugsgoing in or coming out ofthose tubes of theirs.

They're a meter or solong, colored mostly in graysand tans and other earthtones, with stripes of brightercolors here and there. Theyhave segmented bodies andwhat look like little treadsthat propel them across theground. I could make outtentacles below what mighthave been a mouth. One ofthem was carrying some-thing in its tentacles! I had torestrain myself from laugh-ing; to see these things forthe first time after so long —no wonder they wear thosesuits around us.

Anyhow, after a fewminutes of gawking weheaded back to the humanquarter. An ornithoptercame close to noticing us,but I don't think it did. Laura

wanted to file a re-port, but Jerome and Iconvinced her it was abad idea. AmbassadorFlores is serious about re-specting Qin privacy, espe-cially now that we've lostcontact with Earth. Thatmakes sense — if we angerthe Qin, we have absolutelynowhere to go. I ' l l let the catout of the bag if we ever gethome again.

>>> Approximately 25 ki-lobytes of entries deleted <<<December 16th, 2119

The pilot of thatornithopter did spot us, butit's turned out to be a goodthing after all. There's quite abit we didn't know about Qinsociety, and I think it's impor-tant stuff. I'm now makingsome of the most interestingdiscoveries of the entire mis-sion. If I had to take a few risksto make it happen, I don'tmind. I just wish I could getword back to Earth.

A week after our "out-ing," I was contacted byMeizhu, the superior of theQin pilot who saw us outsidethe ambassadorial zone.Meizhu has invited me tomeet with him on severaloccasions now to, as he (Ithink) puts it, "discuss ourhome." I don't know whyI've been singled out, butMeizhu says our head am-bassadors already know ev-erything he's telling me.

These are translations, sothey might not be exact. Thereare five, "houses" or politicalgroups in Qin society. Since it'sa spacefaring society, they're allbasically working toward thesame goal, but there are excep-tions. They're not nations butthey compete like countries dcon Earth. The different housesfill different roles in society.

Subject: Staff MemorialFrom: Ambassador FlorasTo: All Qin Embassy staffEncryption: SPETransmission type: textfileDate: 2.27.2120

Certainly it is a joyous time now that shipsfrom Earth have returned to Qinshui and to ourembassy after five years of isolation. We have agreat deal to be thankful for, and we all appreci-ate the hospitable treatment we have receivedfrom our hosts.

However, these glad tidings do not comewithout some sadness. As you know, junior ISRAnrepresentative Maria Diaz and engineers LauraRoberts and Jerome Sandoz were tragically killedlast week while venturing outside the official am-bassadorial sector. I have personally inspected theaccident scene and ordered autopsies of the bod-ies. Our Qin allies apologize profusely for the ac-cident, and offer their condolences.

Though our loss is terrible, it saddens me mostto know that these three young people never hadthe chance to see their home again.

ordered to stop. I'm also notsure that the rest of the em-bassy really has a clear pic-ture of what's going on. It'snot like House Tung Jen ismorally corrupt or anything,but I think the other housesare ready to join forcesagainst the Aberrants, andare possibly more eager tohelp us get home, which isthe most important thing.

There's one other housecalled Kuei, which is ex-tremely anti-human. They'reinfluential, but not as much asMeizhu's house. House Tung|en used to be the most influ-ential, but they put a lot ofresources into the diplomaticmission to Earth. When welost contact with home, the

rest of the house wasstranded here without itsmost important members.The rest of Tung Jen is reallyjust using us. I can understandthe logic, but not when there'sso much more at stake.

They're kind of a crossbetween political parties

and psi orders. Well, that'snot quite right, but it'll do

for now.Meizhu is from House

Hsiao Kuo (you can thankChina's first contact for that;about half of these houseswere named using the IChing). Apparently all theQin who've had extendedcontact with us are fromHouse Tung Jen. They're theones who traditionally takean exploratory role, which iswhy they met us first, andthey've kept a tight lid on usever since.

Meizhu says that whenwe established contact withthe Qin, House Tung Jen at-tempted to establish a mo-nopoly on humanity to up-set what he calls the "Travelof a Hundred Spheres." (Thattranslates roughly into "po-litical balance.") It makessense. A race as concernedwith biological balance as theQin naturally has similarviews toward politics. Unfor-tunately, House Tung Jenmight upset the entire thing.

I suppose it's pretty nor-mal to try. Meizhu didn'tseem upset by it or anything.The only problem is that thiskind of effort isn't supposedto succeed; humans are acompletely new factor, so thepolitical scales are tippingheavily. Apparently thatmakes us disruptive.

>>> Approximately 130kilobytes of entries deleted <<<January 22, 212O

It's been a busy fewweeks. Meizhu has intro-duced me to a few othermembers of his house. I'velearned a lot about Qin soci-ety, but I'm worried that if Itell Ambassador Flores, I'll be

Summary :Qinshui

Expedition— Bruce Lysik, AEon

Trinity Diplomat Plenipo-tentiary, Qinshui Expedi-

tion, 5.17.2120Neville:You'll want to read my

full report at your leisure, buthere's the summary as re-quested. The full report goesto the UN as well, so we canexpect leaks to the press.

The first section coversfauna, flora and other such.There's a lot of detail aboutecological issues that you canread if you want. What's im-portant and interesting, Ith ink , is the fact that weclearly identified traces ofbioengineering in 87% of thelife forms we were able tostudy, and that we couldn'trule out bioengineering in theremaining 13%. I suspectthat the Qin have reworkedthe entire planet into theirown version of Paradise, withno tigers or mosquitoes.

This evidence of rework-ing betrays an astoundingcomprehension of biologicalissues. Qin bioengineering,while beyond our currentabilities, is something we'veall had the chance to getused to. What surprises us isthe Qin talent for ecologicalmanagement. The web ofecological interactions onQinshui appears no less com-plex than that on Earth.

The North AmericanBlight is ample proof to evennon-technical me that youcan't alter any element of anecology without sendingprofound repercussionsthroughout the entire planet.Even so, the Qin appear tohave changed every singleelement of theirs.

This degree of manipula-tion raises an interesting pos-sibility; we might want to con-sider that the planet wasn'tthe Qin's original habitat.There's no hard proof thatQinshui is really the Qinhomeworld. What if the Qinfound it and, er, "Qin-shuiformed" it? This supposi-

tion doesn't seemlikely, but it's one forthe Implausible Files.

Also note — this isn'tin the full report—that the Qinwere leery about letting us studytheir world. Our investigationdidn't reveal anything damning,and we did a reasonably goodjob of getting around their re-strictions, so I believe the Qin'sconcern was simply habitual.They have a distinct tendencyto divulge as little as possible. Itseems to be part of their lifestyle.

We got the chance toexamine one of their fliersafter an accident near thehuman quarter. The examina-tion was regrettably brief, butrevealing. The flier wasn'twhat we "think of as biotech,really. While a flier isn't ca-pable of reproduction, Dr.Narayan declared that it pos-sessed every other character-istic of a living organism.

It was very similar in in-ternal structure to the flyingcreatures we examined. Thespace that would ordinarilyhave been filled with gaspockets was occupied bywhat appeared to be biotechthat provided mobility andlift superior to what a gas bagcould provide to wildlife. Theexterior shell was also sepa-rate from the creature itself.We detached a small seg-ment for further tests, and itproved to be chitinous —much like a beetle's shell, butfar sturdier. The material iscertainly organic in origin.

Oh, and the thing hadparasites! So not only do theQin custom-grow their ve-hicles as needed, they fitthem into the planet's ecol-ogy. (Apparently it isn't asdifficult as it sounds; theinternals of the vehicles areprobably the same as the

"native" creatures',with only the outer

shells differing. In lightof these findings, Dr.

Narayan wants to move toQinshui permanently.)

I get to talk about myfield in section three. Thesefolks have ferocious politics;I doubt there's a politician onEarth who couldn't learnsomething here. So be care-ful who we send!

Qin society is caste-based, much like old Nipponor India. Unlike those nations,though, each "caste" is also apolitical entity, and therearen't any real political bod-ies outside the castes. In otherwords, after you get overthinking of the Qin as Asian,you realize that they're orga-nized more like the laborunions of the 20th century.

Ambassador Delgadowants the Qin word for theirsocietal divisions translatedas "house," but I'm morecomfortable with "caste. "Thegroups are oriented moretoward function than lineage.Castes are hereditary, butthey're defined by what theydo. On the other hand, a Qincan't really join a caste otherthan the one he was borninto, so maybe I'm just be-ing stubborn.

The castes interlock assmoothly as the ecology.There isn't a lot of wastedeffort on Qinshui. Some jobsare more important than oth-ers, but there aren't any to-tally useless castes as far as Icould tell. I'd be very inter-ested to find out what hap-pens to a caste whose rolein society becomes obsolete.When I tried to research po-litical history, I ran into that"minimal-information" prob-lem again.

In any case, five or sixcastes have critical roles. Sta-tus is determined within agroup economically and byhow many other castes payattention to you. As with so-cietal structures everywhere,the powerful tend to becomemore so.

Of course, there are al-ways shakeups when some-thing unexpected comes up— like us. One of the castes,the one we call Tung Jen, wasright above the middle of thepack when we made FirstContact. We had hardtech,which no Qin had ever seri-ously considered before. Wehad teleportation. We couldhave been an incredible giftor an insidious curse. TungJen staked its future on us.

The Qin who came backto Earth with us representedthe majority of the caste.When we lost the Upeo, theportion of the group left onQinshui lost most of itspower and was apparently insome danger of being ab-sorbed into one of the lessercastes. The Qin back on Earthwere clearly aware of thislikelihood, which explains

why they were so eagerto get back. It wasn't justa matter of being isolated— or it was, but the conse-quences were farther-reach-ing than we realized.

We got back just in time,and Tung Jen owes us. SinceAnanda arrived, things havebeen humming. Tung Jen stillcarries some sort of prece-dent in dealing with us, as"payment" for the risk theytook, plus they have the ad-vantage of five years' expe-rience working with ourhardtech. I think it's enoughto turn their fortunes dra-matically, but I talk about thatmore in the next section.

Section four summarizesour negotiations. AmbassadorDelgado was our lead, as permission assignment, but I kepta close eye on AEon Trinity in-terests. It's hard to be sure, butit seems to me that Tung Jen isdeliberately retarding negotia-tions until it can solidify its posi-tion. Our assistance in gettingthem back home, not to men-tion our general value, meansthe Qin of the Tung Jen castewant to establish strong tieswith us — but not just yet.

I'm unable tolearn a reason for

the delay. Aberrantshave attacked theQinjunan system, andTung Jen has pre-sented us with evi-dence that one of theother importantcastes considers us re-sponsible for the Ab-errant threat. It's hardto refute this; we are.Maybe Tung Jen can'tmake a treaty with usuntil it has enoughpower to defeat theopposition.

However, I don'tthink we can over-look the possibilitythat the treaty willspread the benefitswe offer beyondTung Jen. I can'timagine any treatyrestricting humancontact to one caste,given how useful weare. (A side note: Weshouldn ' t let thatmake us egotistical.They're as useful tous as we are tothem.) Thus, when atreaty is signed, theTung Jen caste won'thave as much lever-age and the time tograb power will havepassed. Is that issueof timing a major fac-tor of their plans?They're too good athiding the truth forme to be sure.

Finally, we cometo section five: Whatdo we do now? I'mpretty grateful thatit's not my decision.I think we and theQin need a treaty,but we need one

Analysis: Qin First ContactThe pattern for Qin names was set in

haste during humanity's initial contact withthe aliens. One of our biggest priorities atthe time was adjusting to our first alien race.Rather than convert Qin phonemes intosomething pronounceable by humans, ourdiplomats — led by Chinese explorers —decided that the easiest compromise wasto give the Qin suitable Chinese names.

Records of initial meetings make it clearthat Chua Lianwei carefully guided andshaped the final agreement with the aliens.In retrospect, we should have allowed anaming scheme less reminiscent of China.Although newer Qin designations drawfrom other cultures, the initial Eastern in-fluence can't help but color human percep-tions of the aliens.

We need to be more careful about thissort of bias in the future — we can plan forit in the case of the Coalition, and we shouldwrite a general set of nomenclature guide-lines for inclusion in the United Nations' cur-rent First Contact Manual.

Initial reports from Qinshui indicatethat there are multiple nations (or at leastmultiple political entities) on the Qinhomeworld. The first few were given hu-man names drawn from the I Ching. Tritonis pursuing further translation of the Qin lan-guage to replace these designations withthe race's own terms — or to at least applyphonetic variations of the aliens' strangetongue. Despite the fact that the Qin don'tseem to care what we call them, weshouldn't risk characterizing the Qin withhuman national stereotypes. For better orworse, many such problems already existgiven the strong Chinese flavor of the Qinpublic image. At this point it's more im-portant that the public not think of the Qinas a Chinese national resource. Check thearchives; the number of news articles mark-ing similarities between Qin and Chineseculture is on the rise.

Neptune Division recently finished aplan for implementing multicultural nomen-clature. Our staff at the Qinshui embassywill soon begin to discuss the possibilitywith the other Qin political entities. Backon Earth, Neptune is initiating a subtle me-dia campaign to disassociate Qin culturefrom Chinese culture. The division may re-quest personnel assistance from Triton and/or Proteus if "freelance" journalism seemsin order.

lore than they do— and I think theyknow it.

The Aberrants are athreat to our existence.The Second AberrantWar has only just begunand it's going to getworse before it gets bet-ter. While the Aberrantsare dangerous to the Qinand have attacked Qincolonies, they simplyaren't as threateningfrom the Qin perspec-tive. Aberrants have astrong reason to comeback to Earth, and noreason beyond impulseto attack Qinshui.

The Qin know all this;we couldn't hide it if wetried. Unfortunately, theQin are a paranoid race.Our embassy personnelstranded here didn't learnnearly as much abouttheir hosts as Qin ambas-sadors did about Earth. Infact, our informationabout castes is about allthe data we have. So notonly are the Qin negoti-ating from strength,they're negotiating withbetter information.

My recommendationis that we get down tobrass tacks with the Qinof the Tung Jen caste. Wegain nothing from pre-tending that concernsdon't exist. Let's be frankwith them instead andsee where it gets us. Wecan be more beneficial totheir political goals ifwe're explicitly aidingthem. I don't know ifhelping a specific factionof an alien race is morallycorrect — but right now,right here, it's necessary.

Datapod Dump One— Molly Irvingson, Ambassador in

Chief, Second UN Expedition to theCoalition

I'm very pleased to report that our sec-ond contact with the Coalition is proceed-ing much better than the first.

We began cautiously. The Leviathan Kohlwas detailed to reestablish contact with theCoalition space ark, while her sister shipPandora stood off one Astronomical Unit, withher frigates prepared for hostile action. Onlythe transport Chelsea, just large enough tocarry a small embassy, would come into physi-cal contact with the space ark. We strippedKohl's crew to the minimum necessary tomaintain the ship at a standstill, and briefedeveryone of the fate of the last expedition.

Kohl's communication officer sent hailsranging up and down the electromagneticfrequency, keeping the power low to avoid

any apparent hostility. At 93,604 kilohertz,just inside the FM-radio frequency, he re-ceived a reply. It was in English! While thegiant Coalition ark stood still, obscuring theMilky [Way and casting our tiny] Leviathaninto shadow, the Coalition invited us to dockwith its ship and promised to make all pos-sible amends for the horrible misunderstand-ings that ruined our first contact.

My staff and I transferred onto Kohl, andfrom there, onto Chelsea. While Kohl main-tained position 14 million kilometers away— 10 times closer than Pandora, but farenough away to be safe — Chelsea dockedwith the ark. The process was... tense. Wedid not link airlocks as I expected, but ratherentered the space ark proper through animmense portal in her outer hull. I couldn'thelp but wonder if this was how Jonah felt.Chelsea opened her landing doors and wewalked out to meet the Coalition.

We were met by a group of mixed race,all naked. I later found that nudity is not nec-essarily the custom among all races of theCoalition, but that they had chosen to meetus this way to reassure us. There were threemembers of the race we now call "envoys,"accompanied by a number of squat unintel-ligent-looking four-legged beasts that I'vetermed "drones." The lead envoy came for-ward, and in an amazingly mellifluous voicesaid, "Welcome to our home. We have beenpoor hosts. While we can never undo whatwe have done, we hope that together ourraces can move past this tragedy."

It was odd, but I found the words — typi-cal diplomatic phrasing, in retrospect — re-assuring. Perhaps the fact that they had goneto the trouble of learning English made themseem more sincere. I made my greetings, inthe name of the United Nations and human-ity, and we settled to the task of finding com-mon ground.

(I'm still unsure howthe envoys learned Englishin just seven months, although the Qinlearned it in two. We've recognized ra-cially based task-division among Coalitionmembers; I suspect that envoys are particu-larly adept at linguistic tasks, judging fromtheir grasp of the language. One of our Chi-nese crew members has volunteered to teachthem Mandarin >>> text lost <<<)

We'd made great strides by that evening.Apparently, despite the vast misunderstand-ings overshadowing our initial contact, theCoalition managed to learn enough by ob-serving Earth's broadcast transmissions fromthe past two centuries. As the classic novelsspeculated aliens might, they listened to ourbroadcasts as they approached Earth — "Re-alizing," the lead envoy explained, "that en-tertainment produces an inaccurate picture."

If I understand the envoy's account cor-rectly, sexual contact is considered a normal

means of interaction between two speciesin the region of space from which the Coali-tion hails. As such, our first diplomats weremet according to what the Coalition thoughtwas time-honored diplomatic tradition. How-ever, sexual practice here is brutal by humanstandards, and the communication barrierkept the Coalition from realizing what wasgoing on until it was too late.

I noticed during our conversation thattwo drones engaged in what seemed to becoitus. The lead envoy confirmed my suspi-cions, and expressed concern that we mightbe upset. I reassured him that we were pre-pared to deal with customs far different fromour own. While I'm still not happy with whathappened to the Yi, I am prepared to be-lieve that it was an accident.

After this initial conversation, the leadenvoy assigned each member of my staff adrone, which is apparently customary for dis-tinguished visitors. Rooms had already beenprepared for our staff. The envoy requested

that we not venture outside a designatedarea, to prevent further misunderstandings.

All went very well in the following week.The three envoys assigned to speak with uswere as helpful as could be. Certain topicsseemed to be taboo to them for religious rea-sons, but otherwise they were very forthcom-ing. I was concerned at first that the roomsprepared for us would be unsatisfactory, butthe drones and the vaguely ursoid mechan-ics the Yi report called "sasqs" made thechanges we required both quickly and eas-ily. Coalition races seem to work togetherextremely well; I think the drones are moreintelligent than I first surmised. They do walkon two legs when necessary. In any case,we've been able to move most of our op-erations over to the ark.

The technology we've seen is completelyhardtech. Biotech was unknown to the Coa-lition races before the Yi expedition, andthey're very interested in the concept. Earthshould consider biotech a prime commoditywhen dealing with these races. Their hardtech

is approximately as sophisticated as ours,although our scientists tell me theirs has de-veloped in fascinating different directions.We are extremely interested in learning theirmethod of propulsion, but the Coalitionseems unwilling to discuss it at this time. Ihave to note that much of the work that werelegate to machines is carried out by vari-ous domesticated animals here.

Labor and work [divisions are organizedalong] strict racial grounds. The envoys claimthis regimentation is voluntary and natural.Given Earth's history, I am suspicious of theclaim, but I must try to remind myself thatthese races have their own cultures — ourrules do not apply. I will watch carefully forsigns of dissent, though.

Datapod Dump Two— Molly Irvingson, Ambassador in

Chief, Second UN Expedition to theCoalition

The remainder of our first month on theCoalition ship continued to be productive.

Kohl was restationed ap-proximately 100,000 kilo-meters from the space ark for ease ofaccess, while Pandora remains at a dis-tance. This datadump summarizesxenobiological and psionic reports, withmore of my own notes at the end.

>>> text lost <<<We requested permission to dissect one

of the drones early on. The envoys weresomewhat taken aback by the request; itseems that the drones are a semi-intelligentrace. However, after some internal discus-sion, they agreed to provide a dead dronefor our studies, along with several membersof their food species — quadrupeds a littlesmaller than a horse, which I've nicknamed"cattle." It seems appropriate, as their cattleare also beasts of burden.

Autopsies revealed nothing of particu-lar note from a diplomatic perspective. How-ever, detailed DNA analysis shows that thedrones and cattle are related to a very closedegree; more so than, say, chimpanzees and

humans. I've discussed thiswith the envoys, who ex-

plain that this is the result of their afore-mentioned "diplomatic custom."

Our xenobiologists speculate that theold "spore" theory — a common origin forgalactic life spread by some sort of spacespore — might be close to the truth wherethe Coalition originates. It seems a reason-able explanation for what we've found. Doc-tor Lundgard is lobbying for permission tosample envoy tissue by "accident." I'm in-clined to agree if he can come up with a dis-creet method of extraction. This expeditionwasn't expected to resolve anyxenobiological mysteries. It's wonderful thatwe're finding out so much.

The autopsies revealed unusually largescent glands beneath the skin of both races.The scents they produce are, as best we cantell, pheromones — their scents trigger in-stinctual responses in beings that smell them.I say "beings" because these pheromonesseem to be effective on humans as well asthe Coalition. The drones' scent leaves onedisinterested >>> text lost <<< and thecattle's scent leaves one feeling somewhatsatiated after eating, or hungry if you haven't.Strange as it sounds, I've wondered how thecattle taste.

We speculate that the [racial division oflabor is the result of] natural pheromone se-cretions. For example, the drones are natu-ral servants, and as such, you never noticethem when they are not needed. With all thisin mind, the Yi crew reports of "unavoidableattraction" begin to make sense. The envoysconfirmed our suspicions; this subconsciouspheromone production is another reasonwhy we've been asked to remain in a smallarea aboard the space ark. The Coalition isunlikely to ever be able to interact with hu-manity as easily as the Qin do, I fear, but wemay yet find ways to work together.

We've found no traces of noetic abilityon board the ark. Joanna Tzavelas, our bestclairvoyant, scanned for noetic activitythroughout our portion of the space ark and

found nothing. Some of our psionic staff,particularly our Legion guards, provided theenvoys with ad hoc [demonstrations of psy-chokinesis] and other powers. While I'd havepreferred not to display our abilities, we diddiscover that the envoys were unfamiliar withnoetics— if their surprised and even shockedreactions were any indication.

More troublesome, though, were thefaint traces of taint Ms. Tzavelas discoveredtoward the center of the ark. Ivan Gullichsen,another clairvoyant, confirmed the existenceof taint the same day. A week later, the traceshad faded. More on this later.

Very light telepathic scans yielded littleof any use. The envoys are either apt at sepa-rating surface thought from internal contem-plation, or are rather shallow. fromtheir diplomatic skill shown so far, I'd guessthe former. We attempted deeper scans onthe sasqs and drones, as well as the warriorcaste, the "spinals." The spinals dream ofbattle, as one might guess from their razor-edged angles and menacing postures. Sasqsand drones, as far as we can tell, think mainly>>> text lost <<< [This discovery does] bearout the contention that the division of laboris natural.

As far as diplomatic talks go, we're stillin the preliminary phases. I'm content withthis pace; the more time we have to studythe Coalition, the better. I wonder if the en-voys are really the guiding hands behind theCoalition. While their racial specialization isn'tas specific as that of, say, Earth insects, I'munsure if diplomacy and leadership fall intothe same category.

Perhaps I'm anthropomorphizing. Giventhe emphasis on intercourse in social relation-ships, maybe skillful interaction is seen as theprimary component of leadership. It's beendifficult for me accept the degree to which sexseems to be part of this culture. I haven't wit-nessed cross-racial intercourse yet, but themore usual sort is terribly common.

Speaking of racial issues, I've decidedthat if there really is a flavor of slavery to theracial divisions, it's long since been institu-

tionalized and has become unconscious. Theenvoys are unable to remember that formdoes not indicate function among humans. Iam tall and skinny, thus the envoys constantlyassume that all tall, skinny humans are dip-lomats. For some reason the envoys also treatfemales with an exaggerated respect, per-haps because of a similar appearance to arace we haven't encountered yet.

On the taint issue, I've decided twothings: I'm going to request that Ms. Tzavelasperform a physical scan of the area whereshe detected taint. Second, depending onthe results, I may send a small group of Le-gionnaires to investigate the matter person-ally. The envoys have not mentioned Aber-rant attacks, and show no signs of taint them-selves, but I am willing to risk this mission toget to the bottom of the matter. When I con-sider taint in conjunction with the speed withwhich the envoys learned English... the pos-sibilities are alarming.

Datapod Dump Three— General Luo Meng, Staff General,

Second UN Expedition to the CoalitionAmbassador Irvingson is missing. As per

mission protocol, I have taken command of theambassadorial staff, and we will proceed withthe mission. We have not yet moved to a com-bat footing, as the reasons for the ambassador'sdisappearance are not yet known.

She vanished three days after the ma-rine mission to investigate the taint. The cir-cumstances are unclear. The last person [tosee her was] >>> text lost <<<

The envoys express polite concern forthe ambassador's status, and suggest that shemight have ventured beyond the human-designated area. It's possible — the ambas-sador is known to be impulsive — but un-likely. The envoys report that their patrolshave found no sign of her. We'll continue toinvestigate.

In the meantime, diplomacy continues un-der my reluctant supervision. I've noted in the

logs that I would prefer to withdraw and reas-sess, but mission parameters don't permit thatcourse of action. The entire expedition is on yel-low alert. I've taken the precaution of asking ourtechnicians to design several sets of respiratorscapable of countering drone and cattle phero-mones, assuming that other Coalition races might>>> text lost <<< [I have] half the diplomaticstaff wearing the things, with the others as con-trol subjects. Daily reports from protected per-sonnel are far more cautious, on average, thanthose from unprotected personnel. I've orderedthe scientific staff to take samples of air from roomscontaining envoys.

Dr. Lundgard has also found that envoy DNAis congruent with drone and cattle DNA to the99th percentile. The different species making upthe Coalition are far more closely related than theenvoys would have us believe. None of us aresure what to make of this, but the Coalition isclearly keeping a number of secrets from us.

Datapod Dump four— Captain Mary Palacio, Leviathan

PandoraThis is what you need to know.The Coalition is not many races; it's one

race, bred [into a hundred] subspecies forfunctionality, ruled by things at the center ofthe ark. We've come to call these things"breeders."

General Luo spent a week in diplomacy,trying to find out where the taint was com-ing from, what the envoys were hiding andwhere the ambassador vanished to. The gen-

REPORT: RECON OF COALITION SPACE ARK— Captain William Donney, UN

Military [detached duty to theCoalition Expedition]

At 0500 LST, which we estimate tobe the time of lowest activity for Coali-tion members, a four-person field teamset out from our quarantine zone aboardthe ark. In addition to myself, the teamconsisted of Corporals Jacqueline Win-ters and Leon Savarese, both combatexperts, and Ivan Gullichsen, a clairvoy-ant. Corporal Savarese is a talented psionwho comes to us after a distinguishedservice with the Legions.

Mr. Gullichsen maintained a scanduring the entire mission, which allowedus to avoid almost all contact with Coa-lition members. While we passed numer-ous drones, we did not see members ofany sentient Coalition species.Gullichsen's abilities were also a greathelp in navigating the ark's corridors.They proved to be >>> text lost <<< [Thespace ark] proper is more reminiscent ofa house that's grown over the years thana specifically designed vessel.

As we approached the center of theship, we saw more of the iconographypreviously identified as religious in na-ture. Gullichsen finally detected taint di-rectly in front of a large hatchway bear-ing a number of symbols, some religiousand some, as yet, unclassified. The taintresidue was consistent with the passageof an Aberrant. Gullichsen probed intothe area beyond, which he claims wasunlike any of our preconceptions of aspacecraft. He described it as a networkof caverns which were individually aslarge as 10 meters high and more than100 meters across. Here and there, healso >>> text lost <<< He ceased prob-ing upon detecting strong signs of taintin one cavern.

We returned to our own zone withno incident. The entire mission took ap-proximately two hours.

eral is a stubborn man; he finally gave upand asked the envoys outright.

The envoys tried to delay. They admit-ted that the Coalition has a central subrace>>> text lost <<< [and that members of our]first expedition became raw genetic breed-ing material. It's what the bastards have donewith every other race they've encounteredfor thousands of years. They trotted out theproduct of their breeders and our first expe-dition — a half-human, half-envoy monstros-ity that looked about 10 years old, but witheyes >>> text lost <<< Everyone was wear-ing respirators by then, which was a goodthing. The creature was pumping out phero-mones twice as potent to humans as thoseof the envoys. General Luo demanded tohave the creature, along with any other hu-man genetic samples the Coalition had. Theenvoys refused, and a fight broke out.

We've been battling the ark for threedays. She has "children"; a swarm of whatI'd call fighters engaged our frigates andPandora. A lucky shot took out our jump ca-pacity along with >>> text lost <<< [GeneralLuo fought a holding action] inside the spaceark while a marine detachment fought towardthe center of the ship, looking for answers.

God, did they find them.There's a lot of human

genetic material on board — or shouldI say formerly human? Aberrants got herenot too long ago. There are breeding cham-bers full of them! Our troops broke through,got a look at what was inside, and fled as ifDivis Mal himself was on their heels. Whoknows, he might be here.

General Luo was holding well enoughagainst the spinals until Aberrant reinforce-ments showed up. Then there was no hope>>> text lost <<< In the end, he got the ci-vilians off, giving up the Chelsea's firepowerin order to get them to Pandora. We haven'theard from the General since. There's onlyone reasonable assumption.

As I said earlier, our Tesser drive is ru-ined. We're only getting enough power tosend this message. Kohl is dead; not return-ing our hails. We're going to try to limp awayfrom this hell in normal space. The Coalitionship is incredibly fast, but it steers like a cow,even compared to a Leviathan. We won'tmake it back to Earth any time soon, but atleast we won't be in Coalition hands.

Remember us.

Author: Bryant DurrellDevelopers: Andrew Bates and Ken CliffeConcept Suggested by: Scott NimmoEditor: Carl BowenGraphic Stuff: Richard ThomasCover Art: Jeff Holt, David Robyn Seeley and Richard ThomasArtists: Rob Dixon, Jeff Holt, Brian Snoddy and Richard Thomas

Author Dedication: To Eric Hargin, John Abbe and Gretchen Shanrock, for helping me learnto roleplay.