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youngster that he was the ranking officer for a reason.   “As time went by Diaz noticed subtle changes in their attitude.  They grew more guarded, less open to friendly parley.  They increasingly asked questions about technological issues.
    “I personally think the last message Captain Diaz sent accidentally gave away a critical piece of information.  The Alpha had inquired about whether radio waves were primitive and what form of communication the Novi used.  He gave an evasive answer; however, just as he finished his explanation, the Captain’s son burst into the room complaining about wanting to use the Flashtrans device to contact his mom.  Soon after the Alpha sent their last signal thanking Captain Diaz for the information saying it would prove most useful.”
    “Big deal, they heard the word Flashtrans,” Tomen countered.  “The council cleared the Captain of any wrongdoing and concluded no harm was done.  They issued orders banning any Novi ships or probes from coming within ten light years of the Alpha home world.  They were to be left alone.
    “I am still baffled that we hear dead silence from the Alpha,” Tomen went on.  “It’s as if all forms of communication stopped emanating from their world 1,000 years ago; radio transmissions or otherwise.  We are the closest listening outpost to Alpha space after all.  We should be picking up some sort of transmissions from the planet, even if they aren’t trying to speak with us directly.”
    Scoren decided to throw his own opinion on top of the official recording of events. “I personally think they developed other means of communication, such as compressed gamma rays, subspace, or even flash technology.”
    “You know that’s impossible,” Tomen objected.  “The Alpha are only in the second computer age according to the Neo scale.  It will be thousands of years before they even learn about compressed gamma ray technology let alone flashtrans capabilities.”
    This debate was getting good.  Even though Scoren was not showing the rookie who was boss, he was appreciative of having a lively intellectual discussion for once.  The last ensign assigned to the outpost could hardly put two cohesive sentences together without stumbling over his own words.  However, it was time to drive his point home.
    “Perhaps first contact skewed the Neo scale so it no longer applies to the Alpha,” Scoren replied. “The colonists lived among the Alpha for 50 years.  Even knowledge of their existence could be enough to alter their Neo scale development, let alone living among them where they saw the advanced technology in action.”
    Tomen sat still for a few moments staring at nothing in particular.  He looked lost, like the foundation of his entire educational background had been knocked out from under him. 
    From birth, every Novi child was taught the natural progression of a civilization’s development through the Neo scale.  One level of technological and social advancement had to be met before the next could begin and that was all there was to it.   It was dogma, it was lore, and it was practically an act of heresy to deny or even question it. 
    Finally Tomen spoke in a soft and distant voice, “You might be right.  They may be advancing faster than normal because Captain Diaz inadvertently gave them ideas.  It could have taken them in directions they wouldn’t have thought about on their own for thousands of years.”
    Realizing he’d won the debate, Lieutenant Scoren chose to press his luck and put forth a particularly ludicrous conspiracy theory of his.  “Now here is a truly scary thought.  What if the Alpha were able to develop or mimic our flashtrans communication technology 1,000 years ago? 
    “The Novi have been communicating freely using that technology for millennia now.  Ships logs, research papers, diagrams, schematics, weapon system designs, and so on.  What if the Alpha have been eaves dropping on our flash