"and death shall have no dominion"

I’m sending  out this message  to anyone  the proximity of this planet in the hope that people will stay clear. I… I am  all that’s   left of our crew  I’ve  made  contact via  a light beam so I am planning to make the jump to safe  space and the  shar’eel  station  as soon as our drive can be enabled.  What happened…we seem… to have been…trapped…in a-a space- time vortex…our on line communication and  holo-instrumentation… failed… and we have been  out of contact with home-world  now for six weeks…  when we managed  to get our instruments functional  and the server-hybrid controls  stable we  found  ourselves  in the proximity  of a  like planet very similar  to our own; but as we descended our ship as struck  by… metallic  slugs.    We… that is officer’s  Gorn, Ludlow and I Tenarish…  lost control… of the flight systems the ship. It bucked  and was  buffeted  by  winds that  span wildly in the upper then lower atmosphere.   We  fought  to get some control but failed.  Slamming into a  vast desert.
We would have died there. If it were not for the creatures of the planet. They are tall, far  larger than us, also of the bipedal design and what appears  to be  in the 4’th  stage of evolution.    As you know the most complex stage of existence; the teenagers  of the universe  so to speak.   Most of the crash  is not known to me. I had the impression of  a being looking down at me.  sensing danger and malignance from it, even though it stared at me with gentle eyes. I felt lies and mistrust… From here, I remember nothing until I  found myself  alone in grey green room.  I was lying flat on a resting station.  It felt warm, but the room itself was cool.
I stood up. At one end of the room was a large   I could see  a group of the tall  ugly  looking aliens  at the far end of the room.  I walked towards  it and found myself  touching a barrier.  I ran my fingers over it, stroking it. I was in a prison and these  aliens  were looking at me.
A voice -disembodied- filled the room.  I have to say I had no idea what it was saying, but I could gather from the faces and the minds behind the  wall,  that they were scared  of me. It took a while  for me to adjust my  cortex  to their notions of speaking.  Yet before too long I understood them perfectly.
Two of the aliens were discussing what to say to their commander. That the ship had to be removed and broken down for analysis.  The stared at me with a malign  stare of mistrust.  I  asked  about my colleagues. At which point one of the alien creatures stared at me with a great deal of hostility. He understood me perfectly.
‘Your crew is dead.’  Its lips  slavered as it spoke.  It’s  eyes glistened  with hostility and hate.
‘I want to go home!’   I demanded
‘You are in no position to demand ANYTHING!’   The voice was hoarse and riddled with both fury and fear.
The  Aliens  walked away   and I was alone.
I sat back on the rest station. I don’t know how long I was there for.  Time had no meaning in that room.   It had been ages since I had had any sustenance, felt myself  slowly start to get weak.   I began to feel scared as I felt that they were deliberately trying to starve or thirst me to death.  Vials  of a liquid  were handed to me through a partition  in the door. I drank them and felt revived; but it was never enough to make  me  well.  Only enough to maintain my slow weakening state. I was also passed some organic substance  that I devoured, though I was given no means to release myself. So in humiliation  and under what I thought was intense observation, as  I was certain that I was still being watched , even if I could not see my captors, I had to use the corner of the room.  Within  a short period of time, I don’t know how long. My fluids were collected.
Using this as a means to grab  time by I made a  mental note of these visits.  During each visit I begged  to have someone to talk to, so I could go home.  I was greeted by a faceless  giant in some white robe and helmet whom never spoke at all.
It was after the sixth visit that another man  in a white robe and helmet came in. this time to see me.  He took off his helmet  and greeted me  with gentleness, the first time I had experienced this on this world so far.
‘please forgive us, for your treatment to date…you have to understand that we are…’ he paused and again not for the first time did I sense betrayal or mistrust ‘a species that has no knowledge of life outside of our system.  Our planets are dead or unable to support life, as we  know it to be  beyond our own planet.  We are scared and at the same time exited to meet a species from another world. There is much we can, or could learn from each other.’
‘I agree, but keeping me here is  wrong, I want to go home. My  presence here is difficult and dangerous for you.  You are  only at your 4^th stage of evolution. This is a volatile  time for  your species…our  own world during this period of time was wracked  with wars that decimated our planet and our people. We had  to change. ‘
‘How do we change?’
I felt at a loss as to what to say. For the first time this being   a male  officer  in their army, was actually being honest with  me. It was as if he could see the nature of  the species that he  was a part of and felt the need for change.  I wanted to tell him what to do, but, I didn’t.
‘You must weather the storm.’
‘That is not an answer.’
I stared deep into his eyes and felt compassion for this man.
‘It is the best that I can give. To show your sincerity, it would be best to let me go… let me contact my family.  I know I have travelled in time as well as space. But I can still contact home, if you let me get to my ship.’
The officer looked sad and frustrated.  I could sense  the battle  within himself.
‘You know you have caused quite a stir? Your ship made the news all over the planet. We have had a very hard time in keeping a lid on it.  Even down to humiliating one of our own officers.’
A memory popped into my head.  A lesson, a lifetime ago. I avoided eye contact.  Not wanting to show any form of recognition.  For the first time  since the crash I felt  truly afraid.  What if I could not get beck? What if  I was trapped here forever?  What would happen if these  hideous  creatures became bored with me  and-
‘If  I grant  you  passage  to your ship, will your share  some of your technology with us?’

Here it was,  the bargaining  chip. The means for my release.   This truly was a vile species, that lacked honour and compassion.  This would go against the Kai’tain  accord, set  to protect the universe from hyper-advance’s.  ordnance  one of the agreement  states “Each species has  to develop in its  own way and its own time. Only when Jump technology is achieved  then a message of greeting could be given. “  giving any advancement of technology  could impair the species or lead to  a chain of events that could lead to its undoing.
But I wanted to go home. This species was malign, I hardly knew anything about them but the ones that I had met, seemed bent on hierarchy militarism and gain.  Taking this further out from this initial analysis led to the conclusion that this species was heading towards a retrograde cycle.  It could advance no-more in its present form  so it would, with time annihilate itself.  By giving them any technology, I could be giving the species a death sentence prior its recognised time. I could also be affecting our own species.  The  school memory came again.  What was I  to do?  I knew, if I stayed here, I would die.  I had no option. I considered my options and then agreed.
I was flanked by six creatures and the officer   all in militaristic uniforms and taken to what was called “hanger 31”. The ship was in a huge dark room that I couldn’t see  the end of. The floor was dusty and dirt ridden.  The ship on its side, its silver surface  glittered in the half-light  given by the   low light emitting beams  that surrounded  it.
It  looked  charred in places, part of the surface skin had been hacked away and peeled back revealing  the green-glowing  fibre optics,  used to ignite  the  particle drive.    I could seethe holes  where the ship had been hit with projectiles   I felt angry at that.  The ship had been hit by this vile species.  I turned to the officer whom  I agreed.
‘This is why we don’t want to share advanced technology. You would bring  your barbarism  into the spheres  and make captive’s  of us all.  You are not ready for space. I doubt you will ever be ready!’
The officer pulled out a projectile weapon and pointed it at me.
‘There will be other’s. you know there will be other’s. ‘
I read the man’s  thoughts, and knew he meant it. Underneath this being’s charm and compassion;  was a vile beast, a creature untamed by history that fed off violence and greed.
I sighed, and  gave the command. The ship door opened.
‘Only you’ I said the  creature who seemed in charge
He accepted and followed me in.
I gave  the order and the door suddenly  closed trapping us both inside. The officer raised  his  projectile weapon.  But the ship neutralised it.
‘Its’ not nice is it; being a prisoner. Forced to  do something that you don’t want to do.  I  filled the officers  mind with images of suffering.  The man  fell to his knees in sorrow and pain.  I paused, feeling sorrow; knowing that this being was limited by his own species.  Death broke  this species, time and time again.  I read the officers mind “…and death shall have no dominion…”  I read the poem, written by one of its more enlightened beings no doubt.
‘I will give you something.’  I  smiled  coldly as I looked at the stasis beam. In fact I will give you two things.  ‘First is this. ‘
I opened the flight simulator control consul and handed the officer an integrated circuit that contained a micro-processor.  I guessed , from what I had seen, which I have to say hadn’t been much,  It would take this species about fifty years or so,  from its present standing to understand how to integrate it into other computer systems
I   then prepped the ship for flight.
‘The other thing is this… it’s a story… once, we  were like you…barbaric, proud, haughty.  We thought of nothing other than killing our family over the price of food or technology. We were a doomed race, until a ship came. That ship was welcomed by  one of its leader’s; and from that point on, our species thrived. I don’t know what you call yourselves, and, to be honest, I don’t care. Soon I will lift off this shitball and make sure  that not one of our species  comes  within a  Kuanto  of this planet.  Do you understand? ‘
The officer nodded.
‘Now get out.’
The officer left.  The hangar doors were opened and I took to space.  I am now here, waiting for contact. It won’t be long now… It’s such a shame, from up here, it’s such a beautiful planet.

I can sense my family now… they are coming…coming through time to save me….Its  good to be going home