Time to get reports. The routine was comforting and frustrating. Greta sat as usual at the observation window adjacent to the galley and ramp.

This time it was Rasta who was the late comer and Freddie was sitting next to her enjoying one of the myriad of newly discovered juices the indigenous natives shared with them.

"Far better than swallowing capsules or injecting emergency skeletal reconstruction medications," Freddie swirled his drink redistributing the sediment and drained the glass.

"Do you have the seeds yet?" Greta asked.

"Zodera provided them. His family is in several manufacturing businesses. They are experts with production lines, with some very clever robotics doing the more repetitive precision tasks. I tried to find out more from him about their invasion, but it's like there's been a mass episode of memory wipe."

His upper arms gestured as he spoke, and Greta understood his frustration.

"I've got the crystals digging into the history. If they were human, I would call it frustration, but all they come up with is attempt negative. I think I might have to break out my old skills as a hacker." Greta flexed her knuckles making them crack. "Good old fashioned computer communications interception techniques are required." She wiggled her fingers imitating typing for data entry.

Freddie clicked his pincers in amusement. "We have heard the rumors of your skills. Seems they were one of the reasons the Federation recruited you."

Greta winked. "I will remain silent on the topic, as instructed," but she nodded, hoping her insectoid friend would pick up the silent admission.

The screen imbedded in the outer shell wall lit as they spoke, and Greta stood to touch the flashing red star in the bottom right corner.

Rasta's face appeared, and he spoke immediately, "Captain, Zbera has broken the silence."

She noted the coded color of the star and said, "Go ahead class three encryption is invoked."

"They were reptilian with a armor like skin in the vulnerable areas of their body. I'm sending pictures. His family has a form of photographic record which was not confiscated because his father is the mayor here. Our thought that the men are always subservient is wrong. Here on the other continent, it's the men who lead." Rasta mixing of information was unlike him.

"How upset are they with Ptrelto and her unwillingness to disclose?" Greta asked.

"Actually they don't blame her for the government's declaration of suppression. There is something in most of the population's psychological makeup which makes it difficult to deal with remembered trauma. Removal of the memory cues was the best way to keep them sane and functioning."

"So this is a delicate issue to say the least," Freddie commented.

"Beyond that even," Rasta rolled his eyes. "It's survival of the species at stake."

"Damnation!" Greta hissed. "How are we going to get to the bottom of this?"

"We start with the information Berteller, Zbera's mother gave us. I have all the frequencies used by their ships for communications and attack control. The lizards were highly dependent on robotic soldiers. That's where the manufacturing lines benefited." Rasta pulled several photo like pages out of a pouch and unrolled them. Holding them up to the camera so Greta and Freddie could study them.

"They look more like some of the small dinosaurs on Neoaustralia than anything else," Greta said.

"Exactly. Cold blooded too, from what Berteller told me. Her grandmother was part of the defense cotillion which helped to herd them out of equatorial cities. The sonic storm season was about to begin. This all took place almost a generation and a half ago, so about three hundred of their years ago."

"So recent as far as their lifespans go, but considerably in our past," Greta said. "We'll need to go over old listening tapes from some of the radio telescopes pointed into deep space."

"Aye, I recall some strange signals recorded by old Earth equipment, and there are similar incidents in Scalari's early listening to radio noise. Things not explained by pulsar activity or other phenomena." Freddie was up and pacing.

"Qwizra, Zbera's uncle has a translation key. I've got it on this memory cube."

Rasta drew it out of his thick dreadlocks. Showing us the tiniest of our storage units.

"I have approximately another hour before I can get back to you. He advised me not to play them anywhere but in a digital environment. There are multiple listening device still set to alert if anything like the invader's speech patterns is ever heard again."

"Well done, Rasta. Let's keep our trust with Zbera's family. No accidental revelations of what they have shared. We'll use it to cross check the unknown signals we have intercepted in our travels. Hopefully the origin path tracing with reveal what we are looking for." Greta grimaced as the screen went blank.

"We have our work cut out for us," Freddie's dry tone made her wince.

"No kidding, but at least we have a place to start."

"I'll get the retrieval going. I assume you want all the unknowns downloaded to our computers? I'll make the request of ours as well." Freddie's head swiveled back over his shoulder as he headed up the stairs to the communications center.

"You read my mind." She stood and went into her quarters. Sliding the compartment where she stored her personal computer along with her plascrete journal, she decided it was time to crack the encryption alga rhythm the Engari used to protect their sensitive data.

"I need to know exactly what went down. Now more than ever." Greta's fingers flew as she coded the familiar lines into the machine.

"You haven't seen anything like this, computer. Let's see how good those defenses really are."