Outreach

By Katherine

Captain’s Log – Day 2922. Arrival

This is Captain Grey of the Outreach. We are in orbit at our destination, the planet that has been the object of eight years’ travel through deep space. Atmospheric sampling confirms that it is capable of sustaining carbon-based life-forms, as we originally hoped. We are sending our most discreet probes down to the geosphere to collect more information.

The view from our vantage point is spectacular; the surface is composed of vivid blues and greens and harmless white vapours swirl in the thin atmosphere. Our sensors have detected a magnetic field.

Captain’s Log – Day 2923

We have discovered life: this planet hosts myriad creatures, each stranger and more complicated than the last. Some live in the plentiful waters, some on the fertile lands, while others are capable of flight.

There is a prevalent species, land-dwellers who are similar to us except for the tails. Their limbs tend to be short and clumsy; like us they often walk on their hind legs. They seem primitive, but employ surprisingly sophisticated tools to create complex structures. We believe that these structures may be their hives.

The land-dwellers have a rudimentary form of communication. From what we have observed, this involves a series of keening sounds from their throats and mouths, varying in pitch and tone. I have tasked the Linguistics Officer and behavioural specialists with the analysis of speech and activity patterns.

Captain’s Log – Day 2924

The land-dwellers seem to be social creatures. They live in small packs that combine to form colonies. Each colony has its own territory and members generally remain within its boundaries. Hives vary in size and style; this is a source of great interest to the behavioural specialists, who believe this may be a sign of enhanced intelligence, or perhaps the manifestation of differences in personal preference. This leads us to consider that the land-dwellers may be ready for first contact with our species. We will need to observe further before making this decision.

Captain’s Log – Day 2925

When the sun rose on the far side of the planet this morning, the above question remained unresolved; by the time the sun set, we had made our decision. Today, we discovered a new and unexpected characteristic of the land-dwellers: unreasoning aggression. Through the probe, we witnessed one colony ripping and slashing at members of another colony with no apparent provocation. We stared aghast at the destruction they managed to inflict with their crude weapons.

Watching this devastation, we realised with absolute certainty that we could not make contact with the species of this planet until they have moved beyond this immature stage of development and are able to co-exist peacefully. Until then we will watch, and perhaps one day we will be able to engage with this species, to help them and to learn from each other.

Captain’s Log – Day 2926

The Linguistics Officer has submitted preliminary results of analysis: this planet is known as ‘Earth’ and the land-dwellers refer to themselves as ‘humans’.