Chapter 47 Atrandi.

-You did great in this situation.

The Chairman said after Simon reported the incident and just to be sure that there was nothing left of the A.I the ships that took part in this mission were undergoing a full data wipe.

-Thank you and I'm sorry that I had to destroy the shuttle.

Simon said.

-Don't worry about it,it is better to do this than risk bringing back that thing with you.

The new shuttle will arrive tomorrow as we have quite a bit of them now.

The chairman said.

The Terran fleet has grown into a force to be reckoned with.

Now they had eight cruisers,thirty two destroyers,eighty one frigates and one hundred and twenty five corvettes.

And more ships were being built all the time including their first battleship.

Other than the military there were also more and more civilian ships flying around but even the civilian vessels were armed just in case that there was a pirate dumb enough to target them.

The first martian settlement was completed and now they had three planets and two more council members as every colonized planet had a place on the council.

There were also plans to establish another two colonies in the near future.

All in all the Council space was growing steadily along with its strength.

Also they had less and less time to prepare for the arrival of the envoys from other planets.

Right now there was less than a year of time left to the two years they asked the rescued aliens to wait.

But also it only took a little over a year to transform Earth from a divided world into a space faring species with its own colonies and fleets.

Simon returned from his debriefing with the council in which he proposed a solution to any future problem like the one he faced on his last mission.

The solution was to detach the computer core from the ship and connect it to a terminal that could download its data and was isolated from any other devices to ensure the safety of the ships.

He was tired from all the excitement and just wanted to go to sleep but unfortunately they received information about five unidentified ships coming straight for the Sol system.

A moment later the alarm went out and the fleets were mobilized.

The alien ships jumped into the system and stopped in their tracks discovering four cruisers and over thirty other ships waiting for them.

-This is Captain Simon Black from Terran starship Basilisk. You have trespassed into Terran Council space, state your intentions and affiliation.

Simon transmitted on an open channel.

This time for a change he received an answer immediately.

-Hello Captain Black I'm Captain Livara from the Atrandi exploration fleet escort ship Darin,we didn't intend to intrude on your territory and mean you no harm.

The alien could pass for a human if not for her blue skin color ,unusual eyes and gills on her neck, not to mention lack of hair and something resembling a fin on her head and membranes between her fingers.

-What are you doing here Captain Livara?

Simon asked.

-We came here to replenish our water supply as there is a planet in this system with plenty of it on our maps and also this system is not marked as claimed territory.

The alien asked.

-If you are referring to the third planet in this system then its our homeworld as to the claiming the territory then you should update your maps now because we claimed almost all the neighboring systems to our own.

Simon explained and sent her the map of the systems that the terran council claimed as its territory even if there was nothing there for now.

-Thank you for the information Captain Black and once again I apologize for the intrusion.

-No need to apologize since you didn't know then we can't blame you for it.

As for the water I would have to contact the council for approval.

 -Then please do because we are badly in need of resupply.

-Stand by.

Simon contacted the council and got permission for them to resupply.

-The resupply was approved but our shuttles will bring the water from our moon base.

Also the council extends an invitation to share our knowledge if you are interested.

-Thank you and we are interested in sharing knowledge,it's why we are out here.

Captain Livara agreed.

After that the fleet was recalled and only Basilisk and Dragon stayed escorting the Atrandi exploration fleet to the moon.

It turned out that they were on their way back from the expedition and had an accident in which they lost their Water Tanker.

The knowledge exchange was very successful and the aliens were surprised by the cultural diversity of terrans.

They shared their star maps and information about many planets including their flora and fauna.

In exchange they received information about earth's flora and fauna and they were shocked to discover that a deathworld could have so many species on its surface. Another shock was when they were informed that there were still new species being discovered especially in the oceans.

The Antradi offered to help with the exploration if their government and the Terran council would allow it.

All in all they spent a week in the Sol system and got invited back if they wanted to visit or send an envoy.

Antradi had only one concern and it was the size of the Terran fleet.

-Captain Black why do you need such a big war fleet? Are you at war or something?

Livraria asked when she visited the moon base.

-We are not at war but my species has a long history of wars and we want to maintain peace in our borders.

The best way is to have enough strength to get any opponent to reconsider attacking. Also, we have a bit of a pirate problem but it's mostly solved.

Simon explained.

-That's a completely different philosophy than that of my people.

We believe that no one will attack you if there is nothing to gain from it and our fleet is small to not provoke anyone to attack us.

The alien explained.

-Every one has their own policy about security of their borders and as far as I'm concerned if it works then then there is no problem with it.

Captain Livaria started to like the humans.

She was scared of them when she learned that they are deathworlders but so far they have been courteous and never showed any hostility towards her people.

They even had a cruiser captain from another species which showed that they were open minded about accepting others, as long as you weren't a threat to them they would try to become friends with you.