Tay had set the probes to automatic, passing all the feeds directly to the Captain and the doctor, then she headed back to her cabin. She felt that the emotion and confusion of the day had exhausted her, now she needed a quiet moment and a stiff drink. She had almost made it to the door when the alert reached her. ‘Engineer to the bridge. Engineer to the bridge.’ She felt the anxiety rise again, wondering what this accursed planet had done this time.

She stood in shock. As soon as the Comms officer had begun playing the broadcast, she was thrown back to her childhood, remembering her grandparents. When they had a fight, these were their words, just gibberish to the children. Even now, her mother would mutter some of these strange sounds instead of cursing. It was never discussed, never explained, simply a family habit she had never examined. The Doctor and the Captain watched her reaction, exchanging a glance. This story was only getting stranger. ‘Tay, are you alright? Can you tell us what it means?’ She tried to get a grip. ‘Sir, that's a human language, but it's a dead one. It died with its people. I know only two people that can still speak it.’ She suddenly realised what she needed to do. ‘Sir, I need to call Earth.’

The Doctor stepped closer, asking softly. ‘Are you sure that's a good idea? Wouldn’t it be better to make contact first, in case Earth, ahh...overreacts?’ Tay shook her head, ‘I’m not calling the government or the Fleet. I’m calling home.’ The Captain nodded his permission, ‘Take my office. Let us know what you plan to do, or if we can expect company. The Doctor and I will continue monitoring the data stream.’

It felt surreal, like some childhood fever dream. It took a few moments to track down her family and secure the connection, but finally she was staring at her mother. It suddenly occurred to her that she had no idea about what time it was on Earth. Opps. ‘ Mamam, I’m sorry to disturb you, but I need your help. Before you ask, yes everything is fine but something has come up and I need a favor.’ Her mother scowled across the galaxy at her. ‘Child, just because you wander the planets, you cannot disturb me. You were never one to stay in one place for long, like your grandmother before you. What do you need?’

It took several hours to achieve, but finally it was done. For the first time since man had taken to space, the Pitjantjatjara language would be heard by the Xenos. She went to the Captain. ‘Sir, I have updated the translator. You should be able to understand the transmission now, and they should understand you. I feel it would be best if the Doctor made the connection. It might be better if they don't know that there is a human here, at least just yet. If they truly think they are the last of us, it may come as a huge shock to their society.’ Reten brightened up at that. It was rare that he got to be first-contact, usually just studying the data as it arrived. ’I’d be happy to, Captain. Perhaps we could hear the transmission again? At least we will all be able to understand it now.’

The voice had the long-lost Australian accent, remembered only in old media on Earth.

‘Hello out there! Look, I can see your lights. Are you friendly? Because we could really do with some friends down here. If you’re hostile, don’t bother, the place is a mess already.’ Reten looked at Tay. ‘It’s audio only, so just keep your voice down.’ The probe locked on the transmission source, which appeared to be deep in the arid central lands. ‘Hello, this is the Noctema, a research and contact ship. How can we help?’ In the background they could hear shouting and confusion,as they seemed unprepared for a response. Suddenly a voice carried clearly. ‘Attention Noctema ! Please wait, we need to get a guy, uhh, I mean the director. He had to...step out for a minute.’ The shouting died down and a new voice appeared.’ Hello...Noctema, this is Aṉangu Station. Please be aware that this planet is hostile, I repeat this planet is hostile. Don’t get too close to the atmosphere. We are human, from a planet known as Earth. We don’t know where that is anymore, although we believe it was lost a century ago. Our grandparents were seized by Aliens as slaves, although that’s not what they called it’ The station went silent, apparently waiting for a response.

Reten began carefully, ‘Slavery is forbidden. We will be happy to help, however please explain why you are hostile if you are asking for rescue.’ Anxiety filled the voice from the station, ‘Not us, there is a hostile drone network covering most of the country. It is run from a small fortified enclave on the coast. It used to be run by the Aliens, although no-ones seen one of them for generations. It’s now run by a bunch of slaver humans, they seem to have seized control at some point. I can’t tell you more, we can’t get close enough. We can keep them out of our land, but we can’t get all the drones. Not yet, anyway. Look, I’m going to have to stop broadcasting, we have to move the Station before we call you again, otherwise this place will swarm with drones. Can I call you again at this time tomorrow? Please, we need to get off this rock.’ Reten assured him, ‘Peace. We will stay until the situation is resolved. We will help, that is our job.’

‘Thank you, Aṉangu Station out.’

Reten, Tay and the Captain sat in his cabin. The captain turned to Tay, ‘So, Engineer, it seems that slavery is ongoing, perpetrated by the surviving humans. I must admit, given your peoples intense repugnance for the habit, I am surprised.’ Tay sighed. ‘Sir, our history with slavery is why we hate it so much. It was an evil that plagued our world for centuries, until it finally fell, after many bloody battles. It follows conflicts, it feeds on chaos. We had reached the moon of our planet and it still persisted. I can’t even guarantee that it was completely crushed when we made first contact’ Again the Doctor was surprised by the Humans. They didn’t hate it because they feared it, or it offended their morality and law. They hated it because they understood it intimately. Tay continued, ‘ I will send the probes in, gather as much information as I can. If history is repeating itself, those drones are a suicide weapon as well as a threat. I will need to know how to kill them, then we can decide our next move.’ The Captain nodded and stood. ‘Go to work, Tay. Myself and the Doctor will continue to prepare the ship.’

Again the Captain and the Doctor were left. The Captain remarked, ‘We learn more and more. Mostly about how complicated these creatures are. I need to talk to the other Captains. I don’t feel happy being out here on our own. The Tolkien is already on the way, but I think I’ll call in a favour or two.’ The Doctor agreed, ‘And I will continue to study the data. I hope our Engineer can provide some insight, but perhaps I will wait until she has a plan.’ They both left the cabin, both wondering what the next surprise the humans carried. Tay went back to Engineering. This was going to require a very different type of probe. As she recalled from the histories, the international forces that had attacked Australia had used very efficient drone-killers, clearing a path for the bombing that followed. That was what had driven the cult to suicide. So, perhaps something better was needed. She pulled up the scans of the drones currently being flown over the central arid lands, obviously the most immediate threat to contact. As the Captain said, time to go to work.

Aṉangu Station wasn’t a place. It was a group of determined men, currently hauling all their equipment across a desert plain. Half the men were out acting as spotters, the rest carrying the primitive radio setup and drone decoys. The decoys were just known as ‘Screechers’, generating enough audio and thermal interference, combined with a smokescreen, to allow a decent chance to evade attack. As night began to fall, the men reached their camp, a limestone cave sufficiently deep to keep them hidden. As usual, two of the guides went in to check for unfriendlies. Plenty of the local wildlife used the cave system as well, although so far they didn’t react to humans as predators. Still, they could be grumpy if you woke them up, or were just generally homicidal. Finally, with the all clear given, the men built a campfire and heated some food. The atmosphere among them had gone from ecstatic to concerned, then back again. The Director summed it up,

‘Finally, we might have an ally out there. However, the last aliens claimed to be our friends too and, frankly, I have no idea if this is just another bunch of slavers. Or even the same ones returning. Hope for the best, plan for the worst. See you in the morning, boys.’

Tay finished her first prototypes. Identical on the surface to the cult dones, they were packed with enough gear to disrupt any signal on the planet, let alone whatever was guiding those crates. She dispatched them quickly, as another part of her plan came together. Time to go and ask the Aṉangu what they wanted to do. In person. The Doctor was still following the data feeds when he watched the new drones slide quietly into the planet's atmosphere. He waited for explosions or screams over the monitors. Nothing, he relaxed, whatever Tay was planning, it wasn’t a war. Not just yet, anyway. Tay approached him, ‘Sorry Doctor, I needed them in the atmosphere before dawn breaks over our new friends. That will keep them safe, until we decide what to do. However, we really know nothing useful at the moment. They could be lying, they could simply be wrong. These are humans, trust me, until we see them face to face, we can decide nothing. I want you to come with me tomorrow and meet them. I’ll stay suited up until I can tell. I need to see if they truly hate Xenos, or if that's a lie. I can protect us in any case.

The Captain watched the shuttle leaving, away to solve this little mystery. The good Doctor was enjoying every minute of this, whatever he said. To be at the sharp end of contact, he would be writing papers for years. He had other responsibilities. The HDF Pyro had answered his call. If one human could help, perhaps a few hundred more would come in useful. In any case, he had to report slavery to the species victimised, regardless of how long ago. The Intec may yet pay a price for choosing humans as a target.

The shuttle landed softly in the red dirt, dust rising gently outside the cave entrance. Tay assumed someone would be watching, so she and the doctor just waited for a response Within minutes three men had taken defensive positions from the cave, covering the shuttle bay door, which she had carefully pointed directly at the entrance. Still she waited. Dawn was breaking quickly, the low sunlight illuminating the scene. Three more men approached, two seemingly guarding someone important. The Director, she guessed. She closed her helmet, ‘Doctor, you’re up. Go be really alien at them. I have your back.’ She began lowering the door. Reten descended slowly, wearing no suit. His silicon skin would take no damage even if they started shooting and, frankly, the atmosphere was utterly unimportant to him. She stayed in her seat.

The director heard the alerts from his men and began cursing. Either they were going to have to fight their way out, die or face slavery. And lose all the damn equipment. The guides had taken point, moving quickly to cover the entrance, but so far he heard no shooting. Good, bullets were hard to make. He emerged, bracketed by two of his men, to buy time or investigate. Back in the cave, his techs were wiring the Screechers to blow all the gear to shrapnel. While the dust settled, he watched as the ship sat quietly. No shooting, no threats. This must be his alien contact, oblivious to his warning about the drones. Well meaning idiots, perhaps? They might have killed them all anyway, when the drones came to investigate. The door began opening and a creature began descending. Grey, stumpy and with jet black eyes, it approached the three men. Reten was embarrassed that he couldn’t tell whom he was supposed to speak to first. These were feral humans, perhaps they had rituals. Best to be straightforward, ‘Take me to your leader’, he announced. Luckily, Tay was able to suppress the snort before she soiled her mask.

The Director suppressed a laugh and stepped forward, ‘I’m the Director. Call me Ben. I was going to call you, why did you land here? Unless that craft is fit for battle, and I don’t think it is, you will have drawn every drone this side of the planet upon us.’ Reten held his arms up, ‘No, my pilot has hidden us from the drones. I wished to speak to you in person and your primitive communications will not suffice. Your existence will have consequences in the galaxy, particularly for those that enslaved you.’ He didn’t mention that that might not save them, depending on how Earth behaved. ‘There are only two of us, unarmed, may we talk?’ Ben nodded, ‘Call your pilot, we will descend a bit, out of the sun.’ He looked sharply as another figure descended the ramp, fully masked and suited. ‘That's not one of your species. Why the suit?’ Again Reten waved his arms, ‘Peace, we are a multi-species crew. The atmosphere is too harsh for her people, normally. She is here to assist me, nothing more. We never travel alone for a first contact.’ Ben nodded, better ask questions with them underground, while holding the exit to the cave, should it go badly.

Tay followed them down the twisting slide. It didn’t take a genius to work out the tactics here, but she felt safe enough. Provided that this Director proved sane, even if misguided, she would reveal her secret shortly. In the meantime, Reten was having so much fun, it would be a pity to spoil it. For a creature older than some human worlds, it was remarkably like watching a child on his way to buy ice-cream for the first time.

Surrounded by wary humans, they sat on rocks surrounding the smoldering remains of the fire. Ben tossed some more fuel on it, aware that the damp of the cave still lingered this early. He just hoped they were truly hidden, otherwise that could have been a fatal mistake. ‘So, welcome to Oz, home of the free, or at least the free-range. What would you like to know first?’

Reten began with the obvious, ‘I thought you called yourself ‘Australia’? Are we mistaken?’ Ben shook his head, ‘No, that's what those idiots in the tower call it. Living in the past, reliving old glories, old wars. This is a new place, although we honour the old. For us this is Oz.’ Reten nodded, ‘Perhaps you could just tell me your story and I’ll stop you if I need some help.’ Ben stretched, ‘Well. If there's one thing we do well here, it's to tell stories. From my grandfather, we know our people came from a planet called Earth. As I said, we don’t know where that is. There was a war, a war that he felt was going to turn genocidal. A war led by those who despised us. A ship landed, an alien ship. We have old stories of such things, but this was the first time in many generations. They offered to take our people to safety, far from the battle. The people agree. Slowly we left home, landing here only to find slavery waiting. Eventually the ship brought thousands of us here, to work the mines and cultivate the food.’ He paused, taking a drink, remembering the words passed to him.

‘One ship, no other way off. The last time the ship came in, it came in dead. My father watched it crash, scraping into the dirt. He and the others rushed to the wreck, expecting to find more of our people trapped within. They were wrong. It opened itself and our enemies descended, battered and sick, but armed and in uniform. The aliens were dead, the ship beyond our understanding . Our people tried to help, but they had carried their hate with them. In the confusion we had seized many weapons from their dead, but not enough. Our people fled into the bush. We were too strong to attack, but too weak to win a battle. They took the compound and held it against us. Any of our people trapped in the building, or the farms they held as slaves. A few years later, the drones began again.’

Reten was fascinated, this was an unknown dynamic. Tay decided to interrupt, before the good Doctor forgot entirely that there were guns pointing at them. ‘Director, what do you wish from us? I am happy to destroy the drones and ensure your people are free, including those currently held, but what then? What of the compound? What do you ask of us?’ Ben sharpened at the voice. Translator tech, alien or not, that was too familiar. He stood, stirring the others uneasily. ‘ Who are you? What are you?’ Tay also stood and, in a swift movement, removed her helmet.

Silence filled the cave. All attention was on Tay as the details began to register. The hair, the skin, the cheekbones, the mouth, currently holding a wide grin. Ben sat down with an audible thud. Tay began, ‘You have no idea how good it is to find you. We thought the people lost in the destruction of Australia. Earth is safe, we fill the stars now. You and your people are truly safe. My grandfather is going to throw one hell of a party when he hears about this.’