U.F.O.

UFO
by Steven Carnell


Coming up to the orbit of Mars, the crew got their first indication of the other ship.
“Jane!” yelled Bill Harman, the Communications and Electronics Officer, eyes wide in surprise. “I have a ship on radar orbiting Mars! Were any of our competitors sending a ship as well?”
“You know as much as I do.” replied Jane Searle. This was Earth’s first manned expedition, and she was both Pilot and Commander. “Get an enhanced optical on it and put it on all the monitors.”
Preparing to enter orbit themselves, all eight of the flight-suited crew were strapped in at their duty stations.   
         “Look at the size of that thing!” cried Bill’s twin, Ted, the ship’s Engineering Officer. “It’s huge!”
Bill and Ted shared an on-duty crew module on the starboard side. The crew consisted of married couples, who had quarters in the rotating part of the ship for the duration of the eleven month voyage. Away from their duty stations they all shared the largest rotating module, a common recreation area that included their separate quarters and a joint mess.
“It is huge alright.” said Jim Collins, their Mineralogist and Environmental expert. “Their mid-section is rotating like ours. They must solve at least some of our common physics problems the same way. Does anyone recognize the design?”
“No,” replied Amanda, Jims spouse and the missions computer expert, her pretty face frowning in concentration. “It was part of my job to know all the design configurations in the field while I was on the team designing our ship. That is not, apart from the rotating section, anything similar to what we have, and it certainly could not be kept secret.” 
“Yes, I agree Amanda.” said Jane. “It’s highly unlikely to be human, though we’ll continue our approach as planned. Kwame, please calculate how close our orbit will take us to that ship – do we have enough fuel reserve for more maneuvering than expected. Bill, do we have anything else around us?”
“No, I put the radar on general sweep when we switched to optical on the ship. There’s nothing else detected.”
“For a minor cost in fuel,” reported Kwame Sippulu, Navigator and Jane’s spouse, “we can adopt an orbit parallel to the alien within Deimos’ and Phobos’ orbits. We should be able to match their speed and distance from Mars as well.”
“Alright Kwame, give me the figures and we’ll fire up the engines.” Jane decided, her jaw clenching habitually.   
Tragedy struck after they had finished the burn to start their orbit. In a chance strike that was mathematically close to impossible, a small meteorite perforated the ship’s Starboard module. The rest all heard the sharp, ringing, metallic impact and the shrill scream of venting air, thinning quickly to silence. It didn’t leave Ted and Bill enough time to do anything but die.
Jane realized what had happened before anyone else.
“Jim, Amanda! Get to the Port module and take Prisca and Su-Lin back to quarters! Stay with them! Look after them!”
         Doctor Prisca Harman was Bill’s wife and the ships medical officer, while Su-Lin Wong was a Planetologist and had been Ted’s wife.
“Kwame, get your suit on and when the others are through the aft module use it like an airlock and get in to the starboard module. Get me a report on it and seal Ted and Bill’s bodies in their space suits!” Jane switched to the private channels each married couple had and said:
“Honey, I know this is going to be tough, but I need Prisca and Su-Lin back on duty. Amanda and Jim will help them get over the initial shock. We have a first contact situation here and there is no telling which way it is going to go. The men have died and I know we both have grief enough, but there is little we can do now for them. We have a totally unexpected situation and no time to coast along and allow the women time for grief.”
“I know darling. They were both a couple of the funniest and most loving men we ever had the good fortune to call our friends.
“Yes. We have to help Prisca and Su-Lin, but we have to survive and get home, and that is by no means guaranteed. This is almost certainly a non-human ship! Ted and Bill can be laid in the storage hold, so that they can be buried back home.”
“Alright sweetheart, leave it with me. I’ll join you in the command module as soon as I can. Will you be alright piloting the ship?”
“Yes dear, for a short while. If you aren’t able to get to the command module if I need you, I’ll call Jim.” 
“Alright.” Kwame paused, and then said. “You know, I thank God everyday for you. I cannot imagine the pain Su-Lin and Prisca have now. I’m going to get to you as soon as I can. I do care if we die out here, but if we have to, I want us to be together.”
“I know darling, I share your feelings, but please stay focused on what we need to do. We are going to need everything we have to get through this and get home. Stay focused! See Su-Lin and Prisca on the way back, and give them my love, but remind them of our situation. I’m up here conning our ship and coming in to an orbit parallel to an alien. I will also try to contact them by radio.” 
         Amanda and Jim had taken Prisca and Su-Lin to the mess hall. Jim made them both hot drinks. Amanda and Jim sat on either side of the women, stretched their arms around the two widows and held them between them without saying anything. 
         Kwame found them like that as he came through, still in his space suit. Looking from one to the other he said:
         “I am so sorry for you. Ted and Bill were the finest.”
“Thank you Kwame,” Prisca sobbed. Su-Lin looked up with tears flowing down her face.
“I know this is hard. I have put Ted and Bill in their suits and laid them in the cargo area. At the moment Jane is really busy bringing the ship in. Can we leave our grief for later and deal with this new and potentially dangerous situation? Jane asked me to give you her love. She needs me with her and all of you at your crew positions. We have to deal with trying to contact the aliens and make repairs to our ship.”
         “Yes, we’ll try.” The women nodded.
         Kwame left them to get organized and went straight to the command module.
         “How are they? Jane asked as Kwame floated by and pulled himself into the seat and buckled in beside her.
         “Holding on, but very upset.”
         “Jane,” Amanda called. “Jim has Su-Lin in the aft Module, and I have Prisca in the Port one. We’re strapped in and ready.”
“Thanks. The Alien is altering towards us. The immediate problem I feel is to agree on an approach and attitude towards them.”
“What do you mean?” Kwame asked.
“Doesn’t that speed and vector remind you of something?”
“Yes.” said Jim, “A rescue.” The others agreed.
“Even though they haven’t responded to my radio calls, I think they are at least following the human tradition of rendering aid to a stricken ship. Having spotted them, we would have been able to see if they had been damaged. I assume that they probably had us in view as we came in. I’m also speculating about this, but I think they are extra-system, from I don’t know how far away. I suggest that Amanda and Jim go out and meet these who-ever-they-are. They must be highly intelligent, after all they made it to our system first, and stupid people do not make space travelers. I further speculate that as a race, this may not be their first contact; though of course it may be.”
“I think you’re right Jane.” Said Su-Lin. “I’m for it.”
“I’m for it too.” Said Amanda.
“I know why you want to leave us behind Jane, but I’d like to be in on the meeting too.” Put in Kwame.
Jim said. “There is a time element here. These people aren’t hanging around; they’re already deploying or extruding something from a hatch on this side of their ship.
“All right.” Said Jane. “Amanda and Jim get out there and make contact. I’ve already spotted some small vehicles of different types, but no individual suits. So if you’re out there before they approach our ship, you can wait tethered to our hull.”

With that agreed, Amanda and Jim moved outside, watching as the strange ship’s craft kept working. They were apparently spotted immediately, as a small ship broke away from the others, and approached slowly to take up a stationary position oriented to where the two were standing.
“Well there is a friendly gesture.” said Amanda. “They are allowing us a natural relative position for our first meeting.”
“Yes.” agreed Jim.
The canopy of the visiting ship lifted, revealing two space-suited figures in the cockpit in a standard in-line seating arrangement, with the rear seat higher than the front. The strangers had a normal arrangement of arms and legs, with head. It was the rear figure that exited, and jetted across, after taking something from a cargo door that was as big, and block shaped, as the torso of a medium sized adult.
The suit itself was featureless in that it had the appearance of seamless liquid mercury, but had fittings that were obviously removable. The helmet appeared as a complete piece with the suit, not having any visible clamps, seals, or faceplate.
The stranger halted and faced them about three meters away. Putting what was being carried on to their hull, which held magnetically on to it, the stranger then made open handed gestures and came closer.
They met on the hull and held out their hands to each other. Jim clasped hands, right to left and left to right, with the new friend and held it a moment, and let go. Amanda repeated the greeting.
The friend then gestured to where the others were preparing what appeared to be a large framework and towing it toward their ship. When it got closer it became obvious that it was inflating, and that between the ribs there was a clear material that acted as the walls, and windows. 
The friend went back to the “luggage” and took the end of a cable from it, and handed it to Amanda, while gesturing to hook it on to the anchor point that they were using for their own lines. The cable came with a standard snap hook, which was oddly commonplace.
‘It looks like this is another problem they solve the same way we do.’ thought Amanda.
The friend then pulled other snap hooks and cables from the box and handed one to Jim. They placed one each on other anchorage points that were spaced evenly around the hull for extra-vehicular missions. Once attached they were still coiled and held by clips, but they only awaited the arrival of other friends, who also went through the same greeting ceremony, and then they spread out over the hull, going in to a smooth, co-ordinated operation which was obviously preparing for the structure.
“This is really impressive.” Amanda said. “No wasted time. The first friend made contact and got things moving, and under the difficulty of working without language, used courtesy in making sure new arrivals all greeted us.”
“Yes.” said Jim. “They are obviously working from a plan and making deductions from observation of our behaviour. They aren’t wasting any time with what appears to be a large inflatable dock. It’s almost in place and those cables will be keeping us centred as they are connected.”
At that moment the first friend stopped directing the others in their work and turned to them. Once the friend had their attention, it indicated that it wanted to go inside their ship. Amanda led the friend inside after telling Jane, leaving Jim watching the operations.
“I’m going to take off my helmet and see what our friend does.” Amanda said as pressure equalized in the airlock.
Suiting the action to the words, she cracked her seals and took off her helmet. The friend plainly was looking at her, but gave no reaction before taking out what appeared to be a testing kit and taking air samples.
“Come in and meet our friend.” called Amanda. She got the friends attention and pointed to the hatchway. Su-Lin and Prisca came through the hatch. They both went through the greeting ceremony, and as Prisca released the visitors’ hands a buzzer went off on the testing kit. The visitor checked a read out on the outside of the kit and opened its own suit.
The first impression they all got as the helmet separated from the suit to reveal the friend, was one of beauty. Short midnight black hair with curls down to the collar of the space suit, the new friend appeared to be female. The features were regular, and the skin was a clear light pink. The eyes looked normal and were a lovely blue, about the same shade as a spring day. Assuming she was a young woman, she was obviously in peak health.
“I would say that our new friend is absolutely gorgeous, but why couldn’t I mistake her for human?” asked Prisca.
“I think the proportions of the features aren’t quite what human norm is, and the skin color is a more pronounced pink, but the difference is subtle.” Said Su-Lin.
         “Yes.” Said Amanda. “I think she’s lovely as well. But, what if she isn’t female? This isn’t the time to settle these questions, but I’m absolutely fascinated with our first non-human contact.”
“Hello people.” Jim radioed. “They’ve got us secured in the dock and they are pumping in an atmosphere. The temperature outside our suits has also risen. This is definitely an environmental envelope. I wonder what they use for heaters. I’ve noticed our new friends are opening their suits and securing their helmets by their sides. These are good-looking people. There appear to be two sexes.”
Inside the ship their friend had been looking at them, and around the module.
“Excuse me.” The friend said. “Before you start making more personal observations, we need to discuss how we are going to help.”
The three of them gasped.
“You speak English?” Amanda asked.
“Only since being selected to make contact and lead this rescue mission, some two hours.” The friend replied.
“There are so many things I want to talk to you about.” declared Amanda. “How did you get enough of a sample to learn English?”
“We were aware of your approach since long before you entered orbit, some two months. We had already copied your computer files by remote stealth probe and were monitoring your conversations. The probe was attached to your hull long before the meteor strike, but we were unable to do anything to prevent it. We grieve with you for the loss of your loved ones.”     
“Thank you.” Said Su-Lin and Prisca.
“We greatly appreciate your kindness.” Said Prisca. “Tell me please, you seemed very confident in approaching us, how could you be sure of our reaction?”
“As Jane said earlier, stupid people aren’t space travelers. You were in no position to do anything else with the resources that we saw you had.”
“Why didn’t you respond to our radio calls?” Asked Amanda.
“Two reasons.” Replied the friend. “We do not hear you only through your equipment, but also through our remote probe on your hull. There is no easy interface with the methods of communication we separately use, though we can passively listen to you. Also, in not establishing communication first we saved time in responding to your need. The way we approached you required you to respond in certain predictable ways, as you saw when Jim reasoned that we were making deductions from observing both you and he, Amanda.”
“Well, I am very glad to meet you!” exclaimed Amanda. “What is your name?”
“Our names are descriptive and poetic. Our family names derive historically from old occupations. The names our parents give us at birth, which are chosen from names for fauna or flora, become our middle names when we choose first names at adulthood. These first names are chosen from among the identified characteristics of the individual, or a preferred association with some aspect of our culture.  My name translates into English as “Faith Bee Cooper”, call me Faith.”   
“Thank you Faith.” Said Amanda. “We are obviously in your hands. What now?”
“We would like to offer you hospitality on our ship.” replied Faith. It will take a few days to make the repairs, and you can live in more spacious and comfortable quarters and get to know us better, and we you.”
“While that is a generous offer, we would need to do the repairs ourselves.” Jim said by radio.
“Not necessarily, Jim.” Faith replied, speaking to the modules omni-directional mike. “We have already identified what needs to be done and will use what spare parts you have to do the work, apart from the plating required to repair the hull. But you can guide our work crews, and commute with them or rotate some of you between your ship and ours. We will respect your wishes in this; you don’t have to come aboard. Now that we have made another first contact, our mission focus changes. We would like to establish our friendly intentions toward you and the simplest way is to help you and show you us.”
Jane came in to the module then, having left Kwame in the command module.
         “The first thing after the repairs is to hold a memorial service for Ted and Bill.” Looking at Prisca and Su-Lin, Jane continued.
“I would like to put in the log in their memory that this type of orbit around a planet, within the orbits of any natural satellites of that planet, be called the Harman orbit.”
Prisca and Su-Lin grew misty eyed and hugged Jane. Faith put her hands on the two widows and said.
         “I shall ask permission from our leaders to name this type of orbit the Harman orbit as well. Their name will enter our language and be honored as long as our race lives.”
Jane looked Faith in the eyes and smiled. There wasn’t just going to be something good come from this meeting between their races, but she felt in her heart that it would be something wonderful.