Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Gregory Nikolaev was a tall Russian, in his mid thirties. He had facial
lines of a man of experience. A quiet but charismatic person. My
captain was born to lead. He had made a name for himself by
completing a fiery descend some years ago, after their pilot fell
unconscious. If he could perform tasks he wasnt properly trained for,
he was the perfect man to be giving orders. His crew, and just about
everyone else knew that. Gregory Nikolaev was a legend among
astronauts.
The briefing room was big enough to hold the whole crew. Dwight was
welcoming the new scientists officially. He stood in front of a screen
that displayed the space stations logo. I opened my notebook and
realized that my palms were sweaty.
Im sure you cant wait to hear why youre here, so Ill just go ahead
and say it. Dont worry, though. You dont have to blow up any
asteroids, the world is not ending, Dwight said and smiled. We didnt
laugh, but only because we were busy thanking God. Dwight
continued, In the late 1990s, ESO La Silla observatory monitored Iota
Horologii, a star much like Sol, roughly 55 light years away. They
noticed the star was wobbling, and after measuring the light it emitted,
the team figured Iota Horologii homed a planet. The research
uncovered a gas giant, twice the size of Jupiter. The planets orbital
radius is nearly the same as Earths, and it completes a full orbit around
the star in about three hundred-twenty days. Later came theories of
another planet in the system, but they were never backed up. Six
months ago we scanned that system as part of the routine and found a
terrestrial planet behind the gas giant. The suits were thrilled and
decided that we should make this planet our top priority. Most of our
experiments and station activity was put on hold. Planet c orbits at
around one point three AU and completes its orbit in eighteen months.
Finally, the most important discovery weve made, is water.
Water? confused Nikolaev asked.
No images yet, but we have solid proof.
Thats... Interesting. Where does my team fit in?
There will be another meeting about that. Im not allowed to talk
about it before I get the green light from Houston.
When?
Should be hearing from them in a couple of hours. Thats about it.
Meet me at the cafeteria if you have any other questions, but Id
suggest you use the time to sleep.
Nikolaev turned towards me and whispered, I dont think they flew us
here because they think an exoplanet has water. All this confidential
shit is killing me. I hate getting information in pieces.
The second meeting was held in a smaller room, with four Patriot
crewmembers and Commander Dwight. The station commander
looked... excited. After he had made sure that the doors are sealed and
the crew was ready, he began explaining our mission.
What I am about to tell you must stay between us. If you share this
information with anyone, you will be considered a threat to the
mission, and you will be prosecuted. Ive mentioned earlier that we
scanned the Horologii system by mistake. I lied. In 1999, the
observatory that found the star didnt actually discover it on their own.
They received a signal, which they tracked back to Iota Horologii. Of
course, they first saw the big planet, and later the smaller, rocky one.
What kind of signal?
Thats confidential.
I thought you discovered the terrestrial planet.
Yeah I lied. As soon as the observatory made the star discovery
public, the government acted and NASA was put in charge. It was topsecret, but the agency focused on planet c. NASA needed help after
the discovery of water. It was too much work for just one agency and
one government. So it began expanding and changing, and the result
is todays Space, Time and Beyond. Now, enough with the boring stuff.
Since the early 1960s, American and Russian governments have
worked on a project so secret, that the hired scientists had to agree to
be deleted from society. They were actually pronounced dead upon
joining. The project they were working on was completed eight years
ago. Its common knowledge that traveling faster than light is
impossible. Your energy increases with speed. By the time you reach
light speed, you have infinite mass.
Why is he talking about this?
I assume youre familiar with Star Trek.
Time froze in the room. I wanted to ask something, I just didnt know
what. Or scream. Nikolaevs eyes were eerily locked with Dwights.
After an eternity of silence, the Russian began to talk.
Warp drive. Eight years ago. How in the world did they keep this a
secret for five decades?
Thats what I wanted to ask.
The research was done on Earth, parts were made there too. The
assembling of the craft and additional tests happened here, and later
on Mars, where more advanced tests could be done. You brought us
some of the machinery yourself.
Finally, I regained control of my body.
Where is it? The ship.
The test flight was done above the solar plane. It was a short ride,
considering what these engines can do. The ship orbits around Mars,
hidden behind Phobos.
And that was when both Nikolaev and I connected all loose ends and
answered the question of why hes here.
You want me to fly it. he said quietly. And probably hoped.
Yes.
Cold sweat, goose bumps.
Where?
Planet c of the Iota Horologii system. We cant equip satellites and
probes with this technology, because we cant control them that far
away. We need a human touch on this one. If you agree to take the
mission, you will be allowed to pick 3 crewmembers. We assume youd
want your own team to go with you, thats why theyre here. Then you
will be transported to Mars and trained to fly the ship.
What about the crew that completed the test flight?
Well, they never actually flew it. It was a short flight, which we could
program. We wanted to learn about the effects of a warp bubble on a
human body, they just slept in cryo pods.
Alright, but why dont you have them fly it to your planet?
On their way back, life support failed and the crew was lost.
What!? You want me to sit on a ship with flawed life support?
Its been fixed; I assure you therell be no problems.
It took a few moments to swallow this horrific information.
What would we do when or if we reach Iota Horologii?
I dont know the specifics, but you would just orbit planet c and
perform experiments. On your way back, youd observe planet b and
the star, but not in detail.
Wait a minute. How long would the mission be?
Twenty-eight to thirty years. You will be cryogenically frozen, meaning
you will barely age.
Uh, the excitement suddenly faded in all of us, When do I have to
make the decision?
Two days. You and the crew you pick can communicate with family
and relatives, but you cant tell them anything about the mission. They
will be taken care of while you are away. Youre our prime candidate;
any additional crew would have to be sent here, in which case we
would have to wait another three to five months.
Okay Okay.
I was screaming inside. This was bigger than anything any man has
ever done before. If I agreed to go, we would be the first human beings
to visit another system! Warp drive! But thirty years? Not like there
were kids and women waiting for Nick and me, but the rest of the crew
had families.
I think weve covered everything, you can return to your chambers
and discuss this. If you have any questions, you know where I am.
Please contact me as soon as you make the decision. Off the record,
commander? The magnitude and importance of this mission is
wells like stars. The Pilgrims engine could push the craft to speeds
that would equal four times the speed of light.
After boarding The Pilgrim, we got familiarized with the interior.
Recreation rooms, personal chambers, gathering hall, oxygen pumps,
food and water storage, hibernation units, cargo bay and the cockpit.
These would be the only places the four of us will be able to move in
for the next three decades.
The crew sat in the cockpit of a craft that half a year ago they
considered a thing of science fiction. Everyone was a little nervous, but
we were able to act as professionals and focus on our tasks. Three
hours of checking the systems passed. Life support was functioning
perfectly, but I still didnt feel safe. Ramjets gave positive signals, warp
engines were checked only superficially; it would be insane to turn
them on inside the solar system, let alone in an orbit around a planet.
Allie brought Solar Sail systems online. A giant frame holding the
incredibly thin sail unfolded like an umbrella around the ship. We ran
more system checks while waiting for power to accumulate. After
about an hour, Allie brought the ship away from Phobos and took a
higher orbit around the Red Planet. Inside my helmet, I heard:
This is Mission Control. All systems functioning perfectly, you may
proceed. Check coordinates and raise speed.
Days passed, but it felt like hours. Telescopes observed the stellar
bodies as they passed. Of all optical instruments, eyes were most
impressed. Eventually, we reached the destination where the ship
would have to make a ninety-degree turn and rise above the solar
plane. Allie boosted the speed, and set the ramscoops on stand-by.
We are moving at seven percent of the speed of light, Nikolaev read,
engage ramscoop system.
Engaged, Allie responded, All pumps operational. Electromagnetic
field working properly. So is the laser. Retrieving Solar Sail. On the
monitors, we watched the frame lay back on the ships roof.
Ramscoops ignited, and the cockpit shook a little. Allie activated the
protective field. Suddenly, there was a strange taste in my mouth.
Everything worked as it was supposed to. The Pilgrim made its turn
and rose above the planets and the sun. It was lonely up there. There
were very few rocks orbiting the sun outside of the solar plane. This
was also the reason why we were testing hyperdrive here. Allie
programmed the engines to slow down after three minutes. Her heavy
breathing was the only sound over the quiet radio static.
Did it start? Are we accelerating? I dont feel a... I watched the stars
turn into lines. Light became something else. A fluid? I wasnt sure
what I was seeing. I guess thats what happens when you manage to
trick the goddamn universe.
We were allowed to take one final trip to the Earth and say a proper
goodbye to the people we knew. It wasnt so hard for me, personally. I
didnt exactly have a busy social life. Herard had three kids, though. I
could not even imagine the amount of strenght in that man. All four of
us had to go through massive psychological preparations. Doctors
thought us how not to go crazy, locked in a room with three other
people, lightyears away from home, for a year. After an emotional halfyear, we flew to Mars once again. Everything went as planned, but I
kept waking up at night, always dreaming of an explosion that could
easily disintegrate a good chunk of Mars.
We were flying for a month before Nick put us to sleep. Once every five
years, we would wake up, to check up on the ship and move around a
bit, just to be sure that our muscles dont stop working. Freezing
process scared the crap out of me. It felt like the night before major
surgery, I kept thinking I wont wake up.
I struggled to open my eyes. Through iced glass, I saw Allies face. She
looked scared. Frightened. She made hand gestures for me to stay
calm, and kept saying Its OK. Dont worry. The reality kicked in. I
realized that I was waking up inside the hibernation chamber. I
wondered why I didnt feel the cold. Either my brain was damaged, so I
didnt feel my body, or low temperature just numbed it. Either way, I
knew I wouldnt live longer than half an hour in this cold. I remembered
that the tube in my mouth was pumping oxygen, and that meant the
life support was online. At least I wouldnt suffocate. The heating
should be activating soon. The ice on the glass melted, and I could see
Gregory working frantically on opening the chamber. Finally, the door
slid open, and I passed out.
I woke up in my bunk, my limbs aching. Vertigo welcomed me as I got
up. My brain was working overtime, trying to figure out what
happened.
Hey, you! Allie chirped.
Ah, headshot. I grimaced.
Sorry, sir, just happy to see you. You sure took your time recovering.
Uhh... Sorry. On a regular morning, Id be enjoying the sound of you
more than I do right now, she-pilot. Can you get Nick or Herard to help
me to the bathroom, please?
I saw her eyes shift to the floor.
Bad news, sir. Herard didnt make it out of the chamber. He... Captain
says Herard wasnt awake, so it didnt...
Gregory slid the door open and smiled at me.
the forest. Id say it makes quite a ruckus. If our walls werent ten
meters thick, wed probably be bleeding from our ears. Come on,
captain, dont tell me youd rather stay in here. Besides, you get to be
the first to go out.
Alright, suit up.
We waited in the airlock for the pressure to normalize. Nobody spoke.
Red lamp lit up, and the door began to open.
Captains first, I teased.
He turned to Allie, Summers, go ahead.
M... me? Captain, the tractor beam did all the work, I only...
Go ahead, Allie, He cut her off.
I was truly moved. He gave up his name in the books for the sake of
chivalry, decency and good manners. We watched Allie step out of the
airlock, and onto an elevator. Alter a short ride down, the elevator
stopped, and its door opened.
I didnt think of anything to say, Captain... I thought youd be the one
with that burden, Nick and I knew she was crying, even though her
voice was perfectly clear. She went through the door, and became the
first Earthling to step on extrasolar soil. Weve defeated the universe.
We broke the laws of reality. We left our cradle, our curiosity taking us
to impossible speeds. We came to a place where Sol is only a dot in the
sky. There are no steps greater than this one. We did it.
The planet was about as big as Earth, and made of pretty much the
same stuff, so the gravity wasnt much different either. The suits were
heavy, but also warm and thats what mattered. We moved slowly for
an hour. We werent afraid of getting lost... It was impossible to get
lost, really. Our base was the size of a small mountain. The trees were
huge. Some rose up to ten meters in the air, and had trunks you could
carve a hut in. I felt like an insect in this dark and leafless forest. Ice
age...
Vibrations, Nick, I read.
Ugh... Theyre coming back.
Anything we can use as weapons?
He remained still for a moment. I repeated the question.
Oh, screw it. This could be an emergancy. We have an armoury
onboard. I wasnt allowed to tell you, he said. But I understood. We
hurried back and after a few steps, something pushed me to the
ground, face down. My ears were ringing so hard, I thought my skull
would split in two. I checked the status of Nicks and Allies suits and
was glad to see they werent leaking air and heat. Trees left and right
of me lay on the ground. They all fell in the direction we were facing,
as if something had pushed them from behind. I lifted my head and
literally started shaking. A craft was blocking our path. It looked like a
bent delta wing with machinery hanging off of it. I guessed those were
air pumps that moved the craft. No visible weapons. A door opened in
the middle.
...I guess were to go in? said Allie.
It looks damn scary, but I dont see any weapons, Nick, I responded.
We dont have a choice. If we run, they may get angry. However, I
dont think wed survive the manouvres this thing pulls. What do you
wanna do?
I looked at the machine and thought about actually meeting the beings
that made it. It was hard to refuse, we all agreed. We got on, and
spread our body weight across the floor, preparing for the jump. The
sound, again. When the shock wore off, Nick looked at me, That took
fifty years off my life! Why the hell arent we moving?
I tried to think, but its hard to concentrate when your brain is turning
in your head. I felt a vibration, we lifted about a meter and everything
started to shake. The noise from the turbines was unbearable. Then we
strated moving, horizontally. We were escorted by many decibels of
turbine produced noise. I turned my sound off and flipped open a
keyboard on my arm. I typed.
Got it. The craft took off, but left us on the ground in some sort of a
capsule. I think its also a ground vehicle. First its wheels popped out,
then lifted us. I see no controls.
We wait. came a message from Nick.
Amy slept while we traveled. Gregory and I stopped communicating, to
conserve oxygen. I wasnt sure how long wed be inside the vehicle.
After a long ride, we stopped and a door opened. We carefully stepped
outside. There was a wall in front of us. We were in a building, I
guessed.
Garage? I asked.
Nobody answered. I turned around and saw Allie and Nick standing at
the entrance, looking out. I hopped over to them, glad to be able to
move around. When I joined them, my legs simply stopped answering.
Beyond a field in front of us lay a city of Gods. The grey, blunt edged
buildings soared kilometers high into the sky. The streets between
them were wide enough to land the Patriot on, with no problems. There
were vehicles covered in ice. Parked or abandoned. Most looked
like armadillo shells. Just like big, icy green bumps in the road. No
wheels
God, I feel like a fairy, exclaimed Allie.
Cheesy, I said, Its huge What do we do now?
Lets check those things, said Nick and pointed to the closest vehicle,
The bodies may be still inside.
We smashed through the ice with the suits tiny digging tools. Nothing.
Not a lock, not even a crack to indicate a door. I wasnt sure if these
were vehicles anymore. Nick decided that we should go back into the
building. I turned and realized just then that we were on some sort of
an airfield. The monstrous building towered above it. It was filled with
holes. Some sort of landing bays, I thought, since the vehicle we came
in was parked in one of them, on the ground level. There were
markings above each cavity. It took us a while to find an entrance.
Inside, the halls and rooms were obviously built for human sized
residents or in this case, workers. It didnt look very different from a
regular building back on Earth. I noticed a thick pole, and a frame of
some sort, which reminded me of a metal detector. I stepped through it
and the pole started to move into the ground. It came from an opening
in the ceiling. Elevator? I kept my eye on it as we explored, and after a
few minutes it brought a platform to our level. Elevator. We stepped on
it, not sure what to expect. A console elevated from the middle of the
platform. The whole building was shown on its screen. There were
hundreds of levels.
OK, how do we get there? Nick asked, tapping the top floor.
The console sank back into the ground, and we launched upwards.
After a lengthy ride, we arrived at what I could only describe as a
Control Tower. Dozens of screens were hanging on the walls. Some
were showing diagrams and camera feeds from all around the building,
others werent operating. At the far side of the room, a single window
stood where there shouldve been a wall. There was a console in front
of it, bigger than the one in the elevator. It was still functional.
Allie, do we have oxygen here? asked Nick. She ran tests for about
fifteen minutes, while we explored the floor.
Hmm Looks like the ventilation and temperature regulating systems
are still online. Its a bit chilly, but the air composition is Air is
perfectly breathable, sir, she cut it short.
OK, Adam, Id offer you to be the first to breathe, but there may be
dangers were not detecting. If something happens to me, try to
activate a signal or an alarm. Maybe someone comes. If it doesnt
work, find a way back to the ship and-
Wait a second, I interrupted, Nothings gonna happen. We can stay
in our suits; theyre filtering the air, so we should have a near infinite
supply of oxygen.
Nick hesitated a second.
Screw that, he said and removed his helmet. He stood there for a
moment, then inhaled through clenched teeth. His eyes shifted left to
right, as if he was expecting something to happen. Nothing did. Nick
flipped his arm computer open, removed a needle, pricked himself and
locked the blood sample inside the test chamber on the keyboard. I
could see his eyebrows relax above his eyes as he read the results. He
brought the helmet to his mouth and told us its safe. I was jealous.
Hours passed as we played with terminals, consoles and screens. We
discovered that the window in front of us is not a window at all, but a
direct, high-resolution feed from the camera on the other side of the
wall. It was the mainframe. On it, we brought up a map of the whole
city. It was humongous. No wonder I could see the cities from a falling
spaceship. The metropolis seemed to have been built around a central
gray area, with a giant tower rising out of it. It reminded me of a record
player. We decided to find a way back to our ship, stock up on supplies,
and visit the enormous Needle. Allie discovered a room packed with
electric cards of some sort. I noticed that the markings on them
resembled the ones above the docking bays. We grabbed a handful
and jumped back into our suits.
Looking for a vehicle with manual controls took little time. The
automated ones were covered in thick sheets of ice, while the others
didnt look that bad, indicating that they still had heated cockpits. Does
the power ever run out in this place? I found a a car, I guess, which
had a sign on its shell just like one of the cards in my hand. I rand my
glove over the vehicle, hoping to find an insertion point. I was proud of
myself when I did find one. The cards were the keys, like I assumed. I
slipped my keycard into the slot, and the door slid open. I was amazed
at the precision these creatures built with there was not a single
crack to hint at the existence of a door. I could see through the shell
from the inside. Just like the mainframe window, I guessed, but I could
not find the camera on the outside of the shell. I decided to put that on
hold, and concentrate on learning how to drive the Armadillo. Yes, I
gave it a name. A board hanged where there shouldve been a steering
wheel. Its screen was like the ones on all the consoles in the Command
Tower. Interactive, I figured. It showed a field of connected polygons,
like a bee hive. About two hundred polygons, I estimated. Two short
sticks hung on each side of the board, one green, the other blue.
Drawing tablet was the first thing I could think of. I took the green stick
and ran it over the tablet. Those few polygonal cells under my pen
became green and the car moved forward. It stopped on its own,
centimeters from a wall. Excited, I put the other pen onto the tablet
and drew a blue line in the other direction. I moved backwards.
Another line over the same cells deactivated them, and they became
gray again. I radioed Allie and Nick immediately to share my discovery.
I found a key which slides the door open, and let them in.
I call shotgun, Nick said.
Allie sat on the back seat, while I explained how the car works.
I have no idea what it runs on, but its probably the same stuff
everything else here uses. Solar power, stocked energy Hell, even air
is a possibility. I dont know. Anyway, this is a control panel. Notice how
the bottom of the car is flat? There are cells down there that I cant
explain, but I can turn them off and on with these pens Im holding.
Each cell on the tablet represents a cell on the bottom of the car, I
think. The blue one moves the car go backwards. If I color one, a
corresponding cell on the bottom will activate and start moving the car.
The more cells I draw, the faster the car goes. If I run the pen over a lit
cell, it will deactivate. Same goes for the green stick, only that one
moves the car forward. If I color the cells on the sides, the car will, of
course, make a turn. It stopped just when I was about to hit a wall, so I
think theres some sort of crash detection built in.
I knew I brought you for a reason, joked Nick. He was obviously
impressed, as I was obviously proud, Good job.
We made our way back to the ship, loaded the Armadillo with food and
weapons, and slept. In the morning, we left the Pilgrim lying in its
crater and headed for the Needle in the center of the city.
We made way through the metropolis, passing between the incredible
buildings and abandoned vehicles. There were no stoplights or signs
that I could associate with traffic regulation. It all looked so... clean.
This could, of course, be an effect of the decimeter thick ice that
covered everything. It looked clean, but in no way peaceful.
Threatening, scary towers above us intimidated me. I kept thinking
what kind of destruction one of them could cause, if it were to fall.
Constant howling of the wind made me only jumpier. Whenever I heard
a crack or a bump, Id frantically scan my front and rear monitors for
monsters and aliens.
Ghost city, I heard Allie say to no-one in particular.
Big ghosts, said Nick.
What do you think happened here, Gregory? I noticed then that in
serious situations I called Nick by his first name, It looks like they just
disappeared. I dont see any signs of combat, or demolition, looting...
panic. Well, besides the abandoned cars.
I dont know, and Im tired of thinking about it. There must be answers
in the Needle. Until then, we can only guess. Damn computer wouldnt
let me sleep last night. Wake me up when we get there.
I watched him put on his helmet and dim his visor, admiring how calm
he was about everything. I hoped that he was right about the Needle. I
was scared of what those answers may be, too.
The slim tower pierced the large, flat building like a javelin from the
sky. We found many entrances. None seemed to have doors or barriers.
We went inside. I was amazed at how smart these creatures built.
There were no light bulbs, neon bars, or anything that could resemble
our solutions for luminosity. Instead, the whole ceiling was glowing. It
was just a tad lighter than the walls, so it didnt hurt our eyes. After a
long corridor, we arrived at what I will call the biggest room ever,
anywhere. I saw countless of other corridors that seemed to be ending
here. The room was shaped like the inside of an egg. I could not see
the bottom.
Suddenly, something started to shine at the center. I watched with
dimmed visor and open mouth as the light began to grow. When it
reached the size of, Ill guess, an Olympic swimming pool, a larger
transparent sphere started to glow around it. The whole setting looked
like a shiny marble inside a red glass ball. In a time period that was
only long enough for my eyes to register it, a stream of red energy
rushed from the outer layer towards the shiny sphere in the middle. At
that same moment, the sphere expanded, collided with the red stuff,
let out a blinding flash and disappeared. Now a black sphere floated
where the shiny one used to be. The inside of the bubble looked...
distorted.
Then it hit me.
Holy shit... Holy shit, was the only thing I could make my stunned
body say.
What in the world was that? asked equally shocked Allie.
My God, Nick... We just saw a star go supernova!
He just looked at me, not saying anything.
Listen! The shiny thing was a miniature star. It was so dense that it
collapsed five seconds after it was created. Were alive thanks to the
red bubble around it. Not only did it keep all the action inside of it, but
it also shielded us from the light. Nick, that was the same containment
field that Patriot has! A lot stronger, only. Its so dense we can actually
see it.
Were standing two hundred meters from a black hole, Adam?
Black hole, neutron star, I dont know. Either way, the answer is yes.
And the only thing keeping us from being cramped into a grain of
sand is that red bubble? Im seriously considering soiling myself.
I looked at Allie. She was crying, her eyes wide open and clearly in
shock. I was afraid she would break down and try to run away. Her eyes
shifted towards me, and scared me more than the black hole behind
me.
Allie, listen. Dont panic. I think this civilization used this for some
purpose or other. This has happened before. It is safe, trust me. Why
else would they leave it open to everyone? Do not run away, please...
If -and this is a Jovian if, Allie- if something went wrong, believe me,
you could not get to a safe place in a thousand years, I tried to
explain as calmly as I could. The truth is, I wanted to run, too. She
nodded through tears and slowly came closer, as if to hide behind me,
The red bubble is not gonna let go, dont worry.
There was no way I could possibly have known that for sure. It did not
matter, though. If the bubble did crack, we would not live long enough
to notice.
Remain calm. Your body will become tense by instinct, but you must
fight it and remain calm. I wish you no harm, I thought. I thought? Did
I? Why did I talk to myself in second person? I dont remember ever
being that confused. I looked at Nick and saw him shaking his head. He
looked just as baffled as me... and Allie. I caught something in the
corner of my eye, and turned towards the corridor, in the direction from
where we came.
My heart near exploded. I gasped for air as the shock of seeing a tall
figure in front of me took over. Again I had that strange feeling of
thinking, but not being the one who is doing the thinking.
Remain calm, I thought. Telepathy! What!? No other explanation for
this, it has to be telepathy, I do not want to harm you.
N... NICK! I CAN HEAR IT! I shouted.
Me too, its telling me to stay calm! I heard him say over Allies
screaming.
Please, I only wish to give you... answers, it said. I noticed that it
chose its words carefully. Answers. We came here for answers, and that
was freshly stored in my brain. It tried to keep me calm, just as I did
with Allie moments ago.
I wish I could give you my name, but we label ourselves differently
than your kind. We do not use names composed of words. You would
quite simply not understand. Think of me as Alien. I am not using your
body to talk to you. Please, do not think that I am controlling it. I do not
have access to any of your motor functions. We are designed to
communicate like this. I cannot read your mind. The front part of my
brain sends a signal which is received by your mind and translated into
terms, feelings, sounds and pictures that you are familiar with. I know
you are scared, but please, I am not inside you. What may I call you?
I swallowed, tried to regain moisture in my mouth and began talking.
My name is Adam Worth. These are my colleagues Allie Summers and
Gregory Nikolaev, when I looked at Allie, I saw her gasping for air and
clenching my arm tightly. I hugged her, although it wasnt easy doing
that through the suits, We are not of this world. We come from a
planet called... Wait, how can you understand me?
I will ask you to follow me. We will go to a place more suitable for your
bodies.
We followed the tall bipedal creature, keeping safe distance. It was well
over three meters tall. Its limbs were thin but it moved with a certain
amount of grace and precision. We went out of the Needle and into a
nearby building. The creature stood at the opposite side of the room as
Nick and I removed our suits. We decided that Allie should keep hers
on, so we could monitor her. She looked pale and exhausted.
Adam, you probably know what to ask better than I do. Talk to it while
I check Allie, said Nick while unfolding Allies arm computer. Alien
stood motionless in the corner. I noticed then that he was wearing a
skin tight suit of some sort. His face was long and hairless. From where
I was standing, I could see three layers of pupils in his eyes. They were
all different shades of brown. His nose was flat, almost invisible. Just
two holes on a tiny bump on his face. The mouth was lipless and he