"General, the leader is requesting a call," a staff officer said.
"Leader." After connecting the call, Hu Yu stood at attention and addressed the leader's hologram.
"General Hu, come to Ship One immediately. Emergency meeting," the leader said calmly.
"Yes, leader. I'll be right there."
After ending the call, Hu Yu was somewhat puzzled. They had been away from Earth for over a year and had held many meetings, large and small, but they had all been electronic, with everyone attending from their own ships. This time, the leader wanted everyone there in person. It seemed to be something very important.
Hu Yu wasted no time. He immediately boarded a small spacecraft, flew out through an opening in the Polaris, and headed straight for Ship One. The Polaris fleet was not gathered in one place: the fleet was too large to concentrate, and bunching up would make it too large a target and hamper its defense. The 250 Polaris ships were therefore divided into ten squadrons, spaced more than a hundred thousand kilometers apart and distributed in every direction. Ships One through Ten were the flagships of the ten squadrons, respectively.
The leader was, of course, stationed aboard Ship One, while Hu Yu was on Ship Five. The fleet's numbering was entirely an internal arrangement; all 250 ships were identical in appearance and performance, with no differences whatsoever.
Small spacecraft were used to travel between ships in the fleet, but their numbers were limited, and not everyone had permission to use them. Only people with special duties, such as maintenance and transportation, could use them. Hu Yu could have flown a J-85 or J-90 to the leader's Ship One a little faster, but the Polaris had no internal docking platforms for those big machines, and the docking ports were the pilots' only way in and out when changing shifts. Daily patrol duties were demanding, and personnel changed shifts frequently, so the limited number of docking ports was already under heavy pressure. After some thought, Hu Yu decided it made more sense to take a small shuttle.
Twenty minutes later, Hu Yu reached Ship One. After his boarding authorization was confirmed, his shuttle entered the Polaris and docked in the hangar.
Hu Yu jumped out of the spacecraft and strode toward the bow of the Polaris.
"Leader!"
The system had confirmed Hu Yu's identity in advance, and the automatic door opened. Hu Yu stepped inside. Besides the leader, more than a dozen people had gathered there, including Defense Minister Luo Zhigao, Deputy Minister Fang Xinyun, First Army commander Li Wenfei, Third Army commander Wu Haifeng, Chinese Academy of Sciences president Xu Xiaodong, and academicians Zeng Zhaoyuan and Xiao Yi.
"Leader, what is this?" Hu Yu asked cautiously. He was still somewhat apprehensive in the leader's presence. Even though Hu Yu himself was one of the military's leading figures, the leader's unparalleled prestige and exceptional leadership naturally filled him with admiration and respect.
The leader lowered a hand, signaling Hu Yu to sit. All the composure and confidence he had shown at the start of their holographic call were gone. His expression was grave, with even a trace of fear-something none of them had ever seen before. No matter how difficult and grueling the war against the insect race had been, the leader had never looked like this.
"Everyone, please look." The leader had a staff officer turn on the large screen.
On the screen, a point of light was hurtling toward the fleet. The screen showed the time until contact: ten minutes.
"Leader, what is this?"
"Order the fleet to change course immediately."
"What is that thing?"
The others spoke in confusion.
"Half an hour ago, this point of light appeared on my screen of its own accord. There was no response on any of the other ships," the leader said slowly.
"Could it be an asteroid or some other celestial body?" Luo Zhigao asked, offering a guess.
"No, definitely not. It's slowing down," Academician Zeng Zhaoyuan said, looking at the large screen.
"Leader, I'll order the fleet to maneuver and avoid it immediately," Luo Zhigao said.
The leader looked at Luo Zhigao and shook his head helplessly. "It's no use. I've already lost control of most of the fleet."
"What!!!"
"As soon as the point of light was detected, I had already lost primary control of the fleet. The patrol fleet has just reported that the attack systems on all the fighters are malfunctioning. For now, all we can do is wait and see. I hope it comes in peace."
"Leader, do you mean that point of light is controlled by an intelligent life-form?" President Xu Xiaodong said excitedly.
"Yes, it should be."
"Leader, we can't just sit here and wait for death. What if it doesn't come in peace?" Hu Yu thought for a moment before raising the concern.
"Every effort is being made, but so far there's been no progress. It can even control our fighters and use them to attack the Polaris. But so far, it hasn't shown any intention of attacking. For now, let's not act rashly. We'll wait and see. Even if we wanted to move, we couldn't," the leader said weakly.
"So we just wait here to die?" Luo Zhigao's stubborn streak flared up again. He slammed the table and shouted, losing his composure. As a soldier, he could not bear to be at another's mercy. Even if he had to die, he would die in battle.
"Zhigao!" the leader barked. "Calm down. We're responsible for more than a billion people. Don't be impulsive."
"Yes, leader." Luo Zhigao realized he had been impulsive and forced himself to calm down.
"Leader, perhaps we could try contacting it," Academician Zeng Zhaoyuan said.
"Yes, we can try that. But how do we contact it?" the leader asked.
"To avoid a misunderstanding, it would be best not to use electromagnetic waves at first. Quantum communication won't work either, so all we can use now is the lighting system," President Xu Xiaodong replied after some thought.
"Why can't we use electromagnetic waves, Director Xu?" Luo Zhigao asked.
"Minister Luo, electromagnetic waves can also be used as weapons if their energy is high enough, without any other carrier. We've been researching that subject ourselves. Besides, it may not understand the information carried by electromagnetic waves. To be safe, they aren't the best choice."
"It's always right to be cautious. The enemy's strength and ours are on entirely different levels. We can't take the slightest risk. Director Xu, arrange to make contact with lights."
"All right, leader."
The large screen showed the time until contact: two minutes.
The point of light began to slow dramatically and made a forced turn in space. In just two minutes, it went from over fifty million kilometers per hour to a stop, turned around, and accelerated again to match the fleet's direction and speed. Everyone stared in astonishment. Whether it was the enormous Polaris or the compact J-90 fighter, anything decelerating from such a high speed in the same amount of time would surely have been flattened into a metal disk, yet the point of light was completely undamaged.
The point of light came to a stop relative to the fleet, and optical equipment finally captured its appearance. It was a spacecraft with a distinctly science-fiction-like shape, about 200 meters long and over 60 meters at its widest point. Pointed at both ends, it was a diamond-shaped quadrilateral, as though one corner of a square had been stretched to twice its length.
The alien spacecraft was a bright silver all over, with dazzling lights flashing along its four edges. By now, though, the lights had grown much dimmer. Clearly, an intelligent life-form or intelligence inside the spacecraft had adjusted them.
Polaris Ship One began signaling with lights. Following Director Xu's instructions, circles, squares, and triangles appeared alternately in space.
"Stop fiddling with those moronic lights. My civilization is far more advanced than yours. I know everything there is to know about you." Just as everyone was hoping for a response from the alien spacecraft, an electronic voice suddenly came from the large screen. At the same time, a creature covered in scales appeared in the holographic projection. The organ that looked like its head had two pairs of eye-like crystalline lenses and an opening that was presumably a mouth. Its upper body had four organs resembling octopus tentacles, while its lower body had four legs like a mule or horse.
The thing looked rather like a centaur from ancient Greek mythology, but no one was in the mood to study ancient Greek myths now. Although this was not their first encounter with alien life, it was their first encounter with intelligent alien life, and this intelligent creature had even taken the initiative to greet them.
For a moment, faced with the creature that had taken control of the entire Polaris fleet and projected its image before them as a hologram, no one knew what to say. They all froze.
In the end, the leader was the first to regain his composure. "Greetings, friend. Welcome."
"Friend? No, you are not my friends. Your civilization's level is too low. First, let me introduce myself. I am the inspector of Star Sector 98511. You may address me as Lord Patrols."
"Greetings, Lord Patrols." Although the leader could not accept this so-called Lord Patrols, he still bowed respectfully for the sake of the people.
"Mm, very good. Your civilization comes from the third planet of Star LHZDE1123, correct? Oh, Star LHZDE1123 is what you call the Sun." The Patrols seemed to greatly enjoy the leader's deference.
"Yes, Lord Patrols. We are natives of the third planet of the Solar System."
"You had only just entered the Early Stellar-Level Civilization before you were forced to abandon your home star. How utterly feeble," the Patrols said disdainfully.
"Lord Patrols, I'm sorry, but I don't quite understand what you mean."
"You don't understand? You were invaded by the insect race and resisted for only twenty short years before being forced to abandon your home star and search for a new planet to inhabit. Am I right?" The Patrols turned its four eye-like crystalline lenses and continued, "Don't wonder why I know so much. From the very beginning, I took over your so-called computers and read your information. That's how I was able to synthesize your language and voice. Your computers may be backward, but they certainly contain far too much garbage information. Even now, I've only read a small portion of it. But that's enough; there's no need for me to spend time reading the rest of the garbage."
"Yes, Lord Patrols, you're right. Compared with your civilization's, our computer technology is indeed extremely primitive. The difference is like heaven and earth."
"Naturally. My home civilization has already advanced to a small star sector civilization," the Patrols said proudly. The leader's flattery had indeed pleased the Patrols greatly, and its attitude had softened somewhat from its initial disdain.
"Honored Lord Patrols, we of this primitive civilization don't yet understand much about civilization levels. I beg the great Lord Patrols to explain. Would that be possible?"