Cairn’s Log 3/24/2216: First Contact. Much to the shock of pundits and science fiction writers, we initiated it. The H.I.s (humanoid inhabitants as we first called them) gazed with wide eyes and stiff jaws at our checkered vessels. My full crew of 3000 diplomats, xeno-biologists, and navy personnel were still shaking off residual side effects of their injection-induced hibernation. Central Command issued final clearance to land one year ago, the message was intercepted by the relay dish just yesterday. Flanked by Stevens, my 1st officer, I strode out un-armed and grinning in a vain attempt to hide my apprehension. Their settlement leader, Allkir, plodded forward casting a shadow both wider and taller than my own. His mouth did not move but his eyes curled at the corners and his pupils became ovular. I delivered a well-rehearsed semi-cordial greeting, only to have him produce a tiny crystal from his satchel. He grabbed the side of my head like an apple in his hand. Stevens stood petrified; I did not resist but glared into those huge blue orbs. With his other hand he placed the crystal in my ear and then released my head. He purred softly and my ear piece began to translate.
“Welcome to Prosperity. I am Allkir chieftain of the Alk. We see you.”

Cairn’s Log 4/23/2216: The Alk are a far more intelligent than we ever imagined. They are highly social and quite passive despite being adept with crystalline edged weapons. Examination of Alk historical records reveals that the past 10,000 years have been marked by unmarred peace; incidentally their language has no word for crime. They hold revolutionary medical technology, as well as unparalleled agricultural outputs, and a limitless energy source. Construction was just finished on spacious settlements for the xeno-biologists on the outskirts of the village. It looks like I’ll be sleeping in a hammock on Prosperity soon enough.

Cairn’s Log 7/25/2217: A Central transmission has approved the interspecies breeding initiative. 100 hundred human males have established relations with the Alk females. Among this number includes Stevens. He spends every leisure hour with Kallkir: hunting alongside her on the rocky savannah or meditating to illicit an intense shared cognitive stimulation. Devotion runs high among these couples after all, the pressures of becoming the parents of a new hybrid species requires a shared mutual support of considerable proportions.

Cairn’s Log 5/27/2218: Stevens’ son was born last week. Proteus, along with the 99 others, is in perfect health. Each is a whopping 15-17lb and a tawny shade of orange. They look more Alk than human but their vocal chords are suited to human speech.
I asked Stevens: “How does it feel to be a father?”
“I feel like Adam must have felt.”
“How so?”
“You don’t know this but, having any child changes the way you see the world. But our child will change the way both our worlds see. He will change the way the Universe sees. He is the start of something miraculous, and I’m a part of it.”