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            ‘I knew you would enjoy that, but I have another thing to say-‘

            ‘What do you mean we are twenty-two thousand light-years away, we cant go that fast!’ Calica was in disarray, she was out of breath as she pounded up the ladder and threw herself into her seat, hands swept the display panels around her clean, she hurriedly selected new displays.

            ‘Yes, Yes anyway, we have a foreign ship coming towards us.’

            ‘What? On top of everything else? Is it hostile? I cant believe we’re twenty-thousand light-years from where we were, you sure your not being effected by any magnets?’ hands swept away what she had just brought up, visual acquisition of the approaching ship dominated one of her pilot displays.

            ‘Shut up, yes we are where I said we are, and I should know, OK? The approaching certainly isn’t one of ours, and it doesn’t look hostile, it slowing its approach looks like it will come to rest a kilometre or so away from us in about thirty seconds.’

            Contact with space faring races had rarely happened beyond the tentative contacts between the four races, which went on to become the federation, although the federation had itself come into to contact with a few space faring races, none of these were neighbours to the federation more like wanderers who roamed the galactic plane.

            ‘Communications?’ Calica hazarded.

            ‘We exchanged universal translation archives even before you got out of the cabinet, communications should be possible, channels have been opened but no-one has said anything.’

            Calica was glad that Magellan had taken a handle on the events, though contact scenarios were practiced, everyone who had to learn the guidelines for a series of rigorous tests also knew that they would probably never have to use them. However she knew that no one could be more courteous than an artificial intelligence, far better than any corporeal diplomat.

            ‘What do we know about them?’

‘I have just finished the preface they sent us, they seem to be friendly guys, like the good old federation of home except different people, twenty-thousand light-years away, and a little younger, they are also at war.’

‘At war?’

‘The ship has just come to a halt in front of us, they are requesting to scan us, and offering to be scanned themselves.’

The ship that dominated one of her screens did not look like a federation craft, though the same silver finish and bilateral symmetry, its surface was far more ornate, patterned grooves ran all over its hull, embossed patterns traced on every surface, though they looked ornamental, she didn’t doubt that they didn’t have functions.

‘You think it is a friendly custom?’ asked Calica.

‘I think it is just a matter of diplomatic etiquette, asking permission before you do anything to a stranger, in case you might offend, I have accepted. The ship is rather more complicated than ours, though it has nothing that I would I would draw attention to.’

‘More advanced than us?’

‘Probably level, nothing strikes me as being particularly old or advanced, but the ship a lot more densely packed than ours, which is saying something, there is a maximum economy for space. Ah we’re getting something, communications, text only.’

Calica was in awe at the proficiency at which Magellan handled the situation, if she was by herself than she would be well overwhelmed by all this. She tried to keep pace of events but she felt the questions she was asking were not really embracing the situation, where as Magellan seemed to be single handedly mediating the whole situation.

‘Diplomatic again?’

‘Guess so,’ said Magellan the text was coming up on the screen in front of Calica ‘There was a whole preface to that lot, a sort of pre-recorded “hello how do you do?” bit, but that is not important, it would take minutes just to get past all their warm welcomes, I composed a similar piece and sent it off, I think there are only an organic crew on their side, as I think they weren’t expecting such a rapid reply.’

‘What do we say now? I don’t believe we have met before?’

‘I think you should let me handle this’ Magellan again demonstrating his excellent diplomatic skills, Calica was only affronted by this a few seconds later, but she could think how to respond.