First Contact
Forbidden Knowledge explains that in the universe of the Gap Cycle, there is some argument over when first contact can be said to have started. Captain Sixten Vertigus, aboard the Deep Star was the first human to meet an actual Amnioni aboard the Amnion 'defensive' Solidarity: this is where the above description of an Amnioni comes from.
Vertigus's instructions were to "establish proximity with any alien vessel or base" and then broadcast the contents of a tape prepared specially for the occasion. They would record any reply that they were able to for as long as possible, then to "escape into the gap in a way that would confuse pursuit". This seemingly-paranoid set of instructions was due to the unwillingness of Holt Fasner to reveal too much to any alien race "whose intentions were unguessable". Vertigus however was willing to disobey these orders directly: something of an idealist, he resolved to travel to the Amnion ship and deliver the tape in person, mostly out of a desire to lay eyes on at least one Amnioni, but also in the hope of kick-starting diplomatic relations between the two races. The Amnion in return gave him a canister containing mutagenic material - the same sort of material that had led Vertigus there in the first place.
This is where the debate over 'first contact' started from: the Amnion's existence had already been known, and aside from matters of appearance, Captain Vertigus learnt nothing new about the race. The Amnion had been discovered when the ship Far Star encountered a satellite of alien origin, containing mutagens, in a far extrasolar system. The return of Far Star to Earth is touted as having "enough scientific, economic, and cultural impact to qualify as 'first contact'."
Read more about this topic: Amnion (Gap Cycle)
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