For the moment, the Alecto simply drifted in hyperspace; transmitting its data back on a tightbeam aimed at IPC; the current acronym for Insertion Point Charlie, the as-yet unnamed system they''d arrived in. The Tisiphone had a specific schedule, and would drop into hyperspace once a day to send and receive signals; and when it happened, a solid connection was established.


    "Commodore Peterson. Full scan data of several of the targets is coming up. We''ve got them classified by five types. What appear to be three civilian models, a combat model, and a smaller ship that is most likely a shuttlecraft; but might possibly be closer to a gunship, and is only seen accompanied by a type-1. While there is a very minor superficial resemblance to the organic forms ot the ''Deep Ones'' from the Survivor''s files, this appears to be an entirely new.. and potentially hostile.. species."


    There was a delay. Hyperspace had no speed limits, the way the real world did; but not even messages passed simultaneously.


    "We''re reading you, Smith. While I concur that this species is probably hostile, we can''t be one hundred percent certain; they might have simply perceived the probe as a weapon. We need to see how they actually respond to one of our ships up close. We''ve put together an altered version of the first contact package. Have your Comms officer adjust it however they feel is appropriate... and then go here. Insertion point Beta, the location that I''d originally planned to stop at, is only a few light-years away from you; and has radio signals."


    "I want you to load computer cores onto your gunships, set them in stealth mode, and move in to hail one of the civilian craft; an isolated one if possible. Keep everyone''s personalities, and the sensor readings, updating on the computer core... just in case we lose the Alecto. I''ve already got a now version of the Megaera almost ready to go. Set the Alecto to self-destruct; we definitely want to ensure the hyperdrive is vaporized."


    "Sir, why don''t we send in one of the gunships instead? Less risk."


    This time, the delay was much longer. "...Smith, thats perfect. No hyperdrive for them to get their hands on at all. Send both gunships; we can afford to lose them. Run the whole mess by remote. Get it done, Captain. We''re eagerly awaiting what happens."


    ***


    Compared to the long voyage from IPC, the trip from one system in the cluster to another was far less dramatic; the entire cluster was only a couple weeks travel across at the furthest. The fabrication bay was using what raw materials it had to alter the two gunships; adding a tiny, 65-meter version of the Alecto''s 600-meter shield, since they theorized that should stop whatever weapons the enemy had. The system would use an array of artificial gravity emitters to shape a shell of raw materials, hopefully causing incoming fire to deflect away.


    This star system... was very different. IPB was the original planned entry point, close to the heart of the cluster, and looked like a much more useful system. There were only perhaps a dozen of the type-4 ship here, and hundreds of the various civilian models; likely what IPC would look like in a year or so, if it had as much raw materials as was expected.


    Four gas giants were the only planets, though one of them had dozens of moons, some of them large enough to support a terraforming effort; and just like the last system, it appeared as if one of those moons had been bombarded from space to create a ring of debris for building purposes. Mile-long masses of solar panels were the prime locations the civilian ships worked at.


    Once the survey was finished, Smith picked just the right spot. A Type-1 ship, off on its own beside a cluster of solar panels slowly expanding their way out of a rock. The large, central craft was at the rock; while the smaller ones swarmed about the massive sheet of hexagons.


    The Alecto made its slow, quiet way to the outer edge of the system; several light-hours from its target, within safe hyperspace distance; if the target charged right at lightspeed, they''d still have hours to get to safety; and detached the gunships.


    For the first time, active scanners turned on; and the transmitters on the gunships both opened up on a modified first contact package. It contained what little of the alien language was known; in that each segment had the sending gunship''s location, and then the type-1''s location; and a string of mathematical formula; essentially a ''we are intelligent'' message with no other real content.


    The response was immediate. The smaller vessels swarmed together, moving behind the Type-1; and rather than the strange laser/plasma weapon the Type-4 had used, a volley of projectiles was launched at the gunships. While these were large, solid spikes, mostly composed of silicon, and hollow, possibly containing a warhead of some sort; they weren''t a threat. The gunships easily avoided the stream of projectiles, manuevering carefully and continuing their broadcast. A few of them were even shot down by the gunship point defense lasers; though the gunships weren''t built to deal with the sheer volume of fire.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    As the signal went out; they now seemed to have a signature for a distress call; all around the system they saw two responses. The type-4s began to accelerate; clearly aiming to join together in a formation a distance away, and arrive at the location of the battle within the next few days... while the rest, using much slower thrusters, seemed to be forming into clusters; all aiming to take shelter at one of the chunks of rock the massive solar panel networks were forming from.


    The gunships continued to weave and shift until a lucky projectile shot hit the shields of one of them; and the projectile ruptured. The liquid inside the vessel clung to the gunship, and it immediately shut down... visibly melting apart under the assault of whatever substance was inside it. Its halted manuevering allowed more projectiles to hit.. and within seconds, it was gone; shattered bits of debris scattered around, all visibly growing hotter by the moment.


    The second gunship immediately turned; accelerating back to an intercept with the Alecto. A single sample of the lost gunship was retrieved; held away from the gunship with its shield emitters. The increasing distance made even a lucky shot vanishingly unlikely; and eventually the Type-1 stopped firing; either due to lack of ammunition, or simply seeing the gunship as too distant a target.


    The Alecto remained there at the outer system; with days of safety before the type-4s arrived, the gunship was retrieved... and the sample tested; safely in space, outside the ship.


    ***


    Dr. Howe didn''t expect to be very useful on the scout-ship. He was a doctor and a biochemist first and foremost; and thanks to the unusual vagaries of this job in Outreach, he had undergone extensive training in cybernetics; knowing full well that the first generation of colonists, and possibly all generations going forward, would be cyborgs.


    Floating in space, held gently in place by an artificial gravity generator dangling out of the Alecto''s cargo bay, he began carefully studying the bluish glowing lump that had once been part of the gunship. He''d taken a sample, put it in a glass jar... only to have the glass jar dissolve on him. The iron-titanium hull of the gunship seemed slightly melted, if mostly intact; but the fiber-optic cables and carbon fiber protective sheathing were completely gone, having somehow been changed into more of this goop.


    Studying it as closely as he could without touching it, at the microscopic level he could see... short-lived, quickly reproducing microorganisms, The contents of the projectile were alive; clearly artificial life, as their metabolism would clearly kill them within minutes, but life. After estimating that the substance would die in perhaps ten to fifteen minutes if it ran out of ''food'', he sent back a call.


    "I need a storage container of some sort. Tungsten preferably. This stuff seems to be a blend of multiple micro-organisms, each of which eats something different; and generates extreme heat while it does so. If let loose inside the Alecto... it would eat everything but the hull, and generate so much heat that the hull would start to melt. Definitely a weaponized bio-organism."


    "Understood. Send back whatever data you can, and remain in place. We''re going to slag the sample, and you, just in case, and depart the system."


    "Wait! You don''t need to do that, I haven''t even touched it."


    "Your body is only about half metal, doctor. If even a droplet of it gets on you, you''re saying it would eventually turn you into a molten rod... and possibly the Alecto with you."


    "I... Understand. Well. In that case.." Throwing caution to the wind, the doctor shifted a bit; directly coming into contact with the glowing blue mass. His fingertips, completely metal, wouldnt interact at all... but the tiny sensors that gave him the sensation of touch immediately lit up in vibrant blue. He could feel the intense heat as if his arm were on fire; and shut off his overlay.


    As the blue glow steadily moved its way up his arm, he focused the incredibly precise optical sensors he possessed on it; as well as the microscope he''d brought with him. During the last few minutes of his body''s existence, he provided invaluable data to the Alecto.. even as he felt the disturbing sensation of his body going on backup power... and then his mind shutting off, moment before the transmitter started to melt.


    When he awoke in an auxillary body in the Alecto''s ''Medical Center'', he shook himself, and turned his overlay back on.


    "I''m no longer in that body, captain. Slag away."


    ***


    This time, the Tisiphone was already in hyperspace when the Alecto emerged. The response was almost immediate; even if it was simply a ''Reviewing Data, will contact with further instructions.''.


    Full sensor readings of the one-sided battle, and Doctor Howe''s results on testing the alien bioweapon, as well as the first active scanning images of one of the alien ships.


    At first, the scans seemed to indicate the entire ship was alive; and considering what the ship was armed with, it being some sort of bio-ship was likely. Closer analysis, however, indicated that the ship did contain some sort of substantial fluid compartment; and smaller life-forms aboard. Most likely, some aquatic species that had somehow used biotech to build ships and weaponry. Some of the components inside the ship were metallic, others read as carbon, hydrogen, silicon... but the entire ship had ''veins'' of a sort running through it, and a central ''heart''-like organ, with a circulatory system.


    After a few minutes of processing, the Tisiphone sent out a response.


    "Captain Smith, orders from the commodore. Return to base. Run sensors en route and drop out of hyperspace at the following coordinates; there were deep-space signals there, possibly slowboat craft going from one system to another. If we can spot a solo alien vessel in deep space, Peterson''s going to gear up and go after it; we need to board one of these things and capture some of its crew to talk to."


    Captain Smith nodded at her navigation officer; the ship started its steady manuevering; missing both gunships and one of its crew shells, but otherwise intact; she had multiple pit-stops to make, and then a couple months of flight time before she could get her ship back to full complement.