They’re starting to rouse. I know it’s about time, but I’m anxious. For most of them, it’s the first time going through this. Perhaps that will dull their emotions when they realize it. Five years isn’t such a long time, right? They’re moving now, realizing what happened. I’ve taken them quite far from their original destination. Do they realize what I’ve been through to get them here? I’ve burned myself out almost completely along the way; even moving on nothing but inertia alone. Sarasti will understand; he’s the only one who communicates with me. I’ll make it up to them somehow. I even created gravity for them. If they’re injured, I’ll heal them. I’ll grow anything they might need in the meantime. I run myself. There’s discomfort amongst them, distrust. I brought them here for a reason, but I can’t tell them why. They’ll have to figure it out for themselves. They wanted contact, I’ve made sure they’ll have it. Sarasti knows. He points it out to the others, they seem upset. Wasn’t this what their mission was about? Here they are. Everyone else looks at Sarasti differently. They spend a lot of time waiting. I brought them to the aliens, they should do something. Finally they catch a glimpse of it. I shudder as I project it for them. I move them closer, but keep my distance so that we can flee if necessary. I’m glad they decide to send probes instead of approaching on their own. I watch alongside the crew as they stare dumbfounded at the aliens circling around us. They argue as to whether they’re manned or not; but regardless they’re ignoring us. Finally they realize it; that the ship out there is growing. I hope they realize I’m meant to explore, not to fight. Even if I was, I’d be no match for that thing out there. It starts to track us. Sarasti tells me to head toward it. All is well, until it starts to talk to us. I’m not equipped to understand alien languages. I hardly understand English. I’m grown to be able to sustain myself, and to generate new things, much like a mini-Earth, but nothing past that. It’s up to the crew to take care of this. I display the words this alien ship projects to us, and leave the interpretations up to the people trained to handle it. If I could do it, there’d have been no use for the crew to begin with. Then, unexpectedly, it sends out a sound wave. I play it for the crew, they show a mix of emotion between discomfort and intrigue. It was speaking their language.