Glorb sat in the command chair of his ship, watching the colorful representation of a planet that floated in front of his four eyes. It was mostly blue and green, with life occupying most terrains across the planet. That surprised him as most of his species gathered near the warm equator, where food and water were plentiful. The harsh temperatures at the poles were not tolerated by his kind for any reason.

  “Tannar, come here,” beckoned Glorb to his crewmate. They were the only living beings on the ship, and it had been that way for a long time. Both creatures were of a different species from different planets, however they had worked together for millennia to ensure the survival of both.

  “What is it, Glorb?” he grunted as three powerful legs, tipped with fearsome claws, carried him over to the large chair where his small partner sat.

  “This planet, here. It has a commonly breathable atmosphere found throughout this particular galaxy. We have millennia of data collected from probes and its primary satellite.” Glorb held up a small brown hand with four fingers, and rotated it in one direction. The implant in that hand interacted with the ship’s AI and rotated the hologram representation of the third planet in the star system.

  “This data goes back millions of revolutions around their star. Do they still have these beasts roaming around?” Tannar used the implant in his brain to scroll through the information and pulled up several 3D representations that moved of different animals.

  “Some of them yes. There are a few that went extinct.” Glorb chuckled, and it sounded like squeaky car brakes being depressed intermittently. He waved his arm and the Triceratops, Dodo, and Saber-Toothed Cat disappeared.

  “This one here, it seems has had great technological leaps, just as others have before them. 912 species have gone extinct because of this one lifeform. It’s perfect, Glorb.”

  “Very well. We will contact these humans. Let us hope they don’t try to kill us first.”

  “They couldn’t if they wanted to, but please don’t let them know that unless you must.” Tannar stood to his full height of nine feet. “They don’t have the capability to reproduce asexually...primitives.” He waved one of the appendages on his head dismissively, a gesture that transcended species being separated by hundreds of light years and no interactions.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “Limited space-flight capabilities as well. Most of the weapons they currently possess are kinetic projectiles. They have, however, achieved control over atomic structures, allowing them to initiate controlled fission and fusion processes.” Glorb slumped into his chair. “They call them nuclear bombs.”

  The two lifeforms that were alien to Earth had spent some time discussing the best plans provided by the ship’s AI. All were in agreement that it was likely the humans wouldn’t resort to using such a destructive weapon right away. That was their hope, anyway.

  Network security and encryption were weak and primitive, which made them easy to bypass, even at a distance of 35 light minutes. Their AI had infiltrated and taken control of all known nuclear weapons, even the ones that most of the world’s militaries didn’t know about. The ship connected itself to all major networking backbones and hubs and luckily was able to do so unnoticed.

  All networks had been mapped, resembling spiderwebs or human blood vessels, from what they had seen in the biological workups that was presented from data they studied. All devices were now under their control.

  “Well, that was easier than I thought it would be. Should we broadcast a message to them?”

  “Glorb, of course it was easy for you. You didn’t do anything. I would recommend that we do not scare the humans with a global reaching message. They’ll surely think we’re friendly because we hacked everything they have control over, and commandeered it.”

  “Perhaps you’re right, Tannar. A more subtle approach might be appreciated more.”

  They decided to slowly move their ship out and away from Jupiter's orbit that obscured it from Earth’s view. A slow and non-aggressive approach would be taken, matching Earths speed and direction while keeping a safe distance. Attempts at contact would be made from afar in order to establish a friendly rapport between species.

  Appeals to the humans would be made for help, to assist in preventing the extinction of their species and ultimately their home worlds. Offerings of greater technology and praise of the greatness that the hairless apes had achieved with such limited resources would be showered upon them. Opportunities for a show of good faith were being prepared by the ship’s AI.

  Once a relationship was established, they would discuss the finer details of any reached agreements. Glorb and Tannar believed that all parties must get something out of the deal, and be satisfied with what is being given and what is being received.

  Their species had found peace through collective safety, shared among a string of planets in their star’s system. Transcending the need for fighting, they focused on improving technology. Through these endeavors, they were able to solve many of the issues that plagued their societies as well as others. All needs had been met, which allowed even more freedom to pursue happiness in whatever form that may be.

  It had been a long time since any sort of threat had shown up on their planet’s doorstep. Planetary defense networks were set up to orbit in different paths around the rocks that contained species working together. Kinetic rounds made from dense exotic metals along with high-output energy weapons had platforms set up and ready to fire at potential enemies. Much time had passed since any such thing had happened and this pleased them.