First Contact

First Contact

The small construct soared through space, still milking the energy of the rays from a star that was more than one thousand light-years away. Carefully avoiding the gravitational pull of a gas giant, the probe made its way into the center of the nine-planet system. The four planets closest to the sun, according to the probe’s scans, were teeming with life, from the small, dingy mining camps on the first two planets to the sprawling gardens and promenades of the third and fourth. The probe began the final stage of its trek, which had encompassed almost one thousand light-years and hundreds of years of travel. Soon it would accomplish its mission.
* * *
“We’re closing in on the target, captain. Its only twenty klicks off the port bow. Course of action?”
“Begin retrieval procedures, lieutenant. Open the docking bay doors and prepare to bring that thing out of the cold,” replied Captain Timothy Meridian.
The docking bay doors slowly opened, like the maw of some massive beast. The Human frigate, Star of Phobos, closed in on and devoured the small probe which had been so unpredictably discovered by the routine scans of the Jovian research outposts.
“Sir, the AInvestigators have been examining the thing for an hour and they haven’t learned anything except that it is not human in origin, and hell, we knew that already. What should we do?”
“Continue the tests, lieutenant. Find out what that thing is before we get back to Earth.”
“Yes, Sir”
Suddenly, without warning, all of the computer readouts on the bridge blinked out. Then slowly faded back into life again, but not displaying what they had been before. Now they were filled from top to bottom with an indecipherable language. The Star of Phobos drifted on through night as its crew foundered in a sea of alien data as it obliterated the ship’s AI and rebuilt it to suit the probe’s needs.
Four days later, five EARTHcom ships picked her up and towed her to the safety of an Earth orbit.
* * *
“General, it’s an architectural blueprint. The aliens have given us the technology to build a sort of gate, through which a ship could be transported to anywhere within a sphere of about a thousand light-years. The entire Technocracy Committee agrees that we should build the gate, no matter what the cost.”
“Alright, Provost, I’ll talk to EARTHcom and the Council of Earth, but I doubt that all of the bureaucratic red tape that this will create could be cleared up within either of our lifetimes. Don’t get your hopes up, Academician.”
Three months later, the 4.3 trillion dollar xenogate, as the press called it, was under construction in Earth orbit.
* * *
President of the Council of Earth Zachary Freedman took another glass of champagne from the tray of a passing waiter and set it down again a moment later on the tray of a second waiter, empty. He turned and looked out over the splendid vista of space and the xenogate. Seven years after beginning its construction, he would finally see it finished and activated.
His secretary quietly moved up behind him and said, “Sir, it’s time.”
He stayed a few more seconds and then moved through the crowed to the podium with the EARTHcom seal emblazoned on the front. Raising his hands for silence, he prepared himself for the spectacle he was about to both initiate and witness.
“Honored guests, I am so glad that all of you could come and view this breathtaking event,” he said glancing at the timepiece embedded into the podium, “And now, if you would all direct your attention to the windows, we will begin the activation.”
The sea of smiling faces turned toward the massive synth-diamond windows and waited.
A voice came out of the walls, “Activation in five… four… three… two… one, xenogate activation has commenced.”
An awed hush fell over the room as the space inside the xenogate began to glow a hot, searing white, which spread to the twin pylons until it filled the xenogate opening. With a flash, the light disappeared and the stars once again replaced the vista. Some people in the crowed groaned, but a few of the sharper-eyed guests noticed that the star field had changed. They were looking at the light from stars almost one thousand light-years away. Once again, the awed hush.
The President suppressed a drunken hiccup, thinking it might spoil the moment.
* * *
Zachary Freedman looked up at the burning sun, annoyed that it had insisted on being so hot today. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, bringing away the sheen of sweat and dust that had built up there. He looked over the landscape of worn concrete, rusted steel and shattered glass. They had almost finished demolishing the Welcoming Dais, where ten years ago, they had greeted the visitors from afar. Expecting a ship, an ambassador, the Earthlings had been surprised and maybe a little dismayed when a fleet of nearly one thousand ships soared through the xenogate and into Earth orbit.
Though still a little wary, the humans had taken the admiral of the Alien fleet down to Earth to the Welcoming Dais and thrown a massive feast. It was from that platform that the Alien admiral had ordered the attack on all of the armed forces of EARTHcom. The battle lasted fifteen minutes. From then on, the Aliens had ruled Earth and her colonies with an ironclad, four clawed, fist.
With a sigh, Zachary Freedman, ex-President of the Council of Earth and ex-Commander-in-Chief of EARTHcom, picked up his lazblade and continued the demolition of the Welcoming Dais.


PS If you can suggest a better title, PLEASE send it to me!!