Seraphim's fusion drives were capable of accelerations of around 40+ gees. They had only been pushed to near their maximum potential under testing conditions, but combined with her gravity drive and the designers felt she would get up there without too much trouble.
At full burn, it was only an hour or two from the Sun to Earth. Seraphim was able to get there in under 50 minutes. A quick dispersal of her momentum with the gravity drive, and Seraphim was in a nice, high orbit above Big Sky.
Maya had been running a nearly constant analysis of all sensor data coming in for those fifty minutes, in case any Neelaa starships had appeared. While it was unlikely any had shown up in just two hours due to the distance involved, she wasn't taking any chances.
Her anxiety level would have lowered a bit if the Captain hadn't been pacing the bridge since they'd started, her curled tail and long ears making her a bit like a captive blue tigress.
She'd caught the captain's hesitation. She wasn't sure if anyone else had, but if they did, they didn't seem to show it. That was very nice of them, she thought.
Finally, they were close enough to get some useful telescope data, and Maya brought it up on the holographic projector system that created a screen in front of the captain's chair, but thanks to the design of the bridge was viewable by everyone.
The Neelaa ship was, like most other things the Neelaa made, a simple platonic solid-In this case a cylinder. It's hull was divided into segments of green, orange and black, and covered by an outer, nearly transparent armor layer. It had dug out a fair-sized gully, meaning it had crashed at a shallow angle.
"From the size and shape, it looks like a military transport," Maya reported dutifully. "Seems mostly intact. Landed only about a thousand miles east of the main colony, I think."
"What about it's engines?" Constance asked.
"The fusion reactors look like they're offline. Whether it's by damage or design, I don't know," Maya said.
"Ah, Captain?" The comms tech interjected. "Transmission from the planet below."
"Well, let's hear it," Constance said flatly. A burst of static later, and a man's gravelly voice came on over the bridge com.
"Seraphim, this is Barleston Central. Do you copy? Over?"
"This is Seraphim, we copy, to whom am I speaking? Over," Constance asked.
"I'm Governor Bill. It's nice to see an Earth ship again. Well, through my telescope I mean. Will you be coming down to visit? Over."
"Well, you happen to have a crashed starship in your backyard that we're going to have to get a look at. Over."
"Any danger to us? Over," Bill asked.
"We're not sure yet," Constance admitted. "But if you have anti-starship defenses, I suggest warming them up, just in case. Over."
"That bad huh? Over."
"Like I said, we don't know. We'll have some people coming down to check it out. Over," she replied.
"In the meantime then, your crew is free to enjoy our hospitality! Please, by all means, come down yourself! I would love to meet you face to face. Over."
Constance glanced at Graham. "I'd love to, time permitting. Over and out."
The comms tech closed the channel, and the captain sighed.
"Ms. Ibuki, anything at all?"
"Nothing ma'am."
"... All right. Tech, your name?"
"May, ma'am," Technician May reported.
"Start jamming the signal. Graham, I need you to watch the store for me."
