Alien People

by John Coon

  “Take a look at this,” Calandra said. “Those numbers do measure how far the probe has traveled. A relay beacon orbiting outside the Ice Belt recorded similar data only a few days ago.”

  Lance knitted his brows together and cast a puzzled look at her.

  “So, what does that mean? Numerous relay beacons populate that region.”

  “Didn't you tell me you found the probe near an ice planetoid while we walked over from the control tower?”

  “Well, yeah, we did find it there.”

  “We already know the distance from the ice planetoids to relay beacons bordering the ice belt. We can compare new data with old data from the beacon and extrapolate distance traveled from the point of origin based on those numbers.”

  Dal and Calandra crunched the numbers and compared data. Her instincts proved correct. Those mysterious numbers measured total distance the probe had traveled. Once they figured that part out, taking the next step proved to be a cinch.

  They converted the lengthy string of numbers into parsecs. Calandra let out a small gasp when she saw the total distance after making the conversion. An enthusiastic smile crawled over her lips.

  3.495 parsecs.

  The alien probe traveled 3.495 parsecs to reach their solar system. Only one star corresponded with that specific distance.

  The yellow star Aramus.

  “It came from Aramus,” Dal said, voicing the same revelation Calandra experienced.

  “Aramus?” Xttra's eyes widened. A sudden uncharacteristic nervous tone gripped his voice. “That may not be a good thing.”

  Calandra turned and gave him a curious look.

  “What do you mean? This is exciting. We never knew a habitable planet orbited Aramus.”

  “Aramus lies in a forbidden region of space. The Stellar Guard has never allowed missions to those coordinates.”

  What Xttra told her sounded odd. Why would the Stellar Guard declare a solar system thought to be uninhabited off-limits? Calandra admitted she knew virtually nothing about military rules and protocol, but such a policy made no sense to her. She gave the data a quick scan again and then looked back at him.

  “We should at least learn why a probe came from there to here. It's a question deserving an answer.”

  Calandra glanced back at the message lifted from the probe plate. The computer finished deconstructing each symbol and started to translate it into their familiar Confederation Universal language. Calandra mouthed each word as it appeared on screen and her eyes widened as she read the message.

  “Greetings from Earth and the United States of America,” she read it a second time, repeating the words aloud to everyone else. “We come in peace, for the good of all mankind.”

  Calandra's heart leaped inside her ribs as those words kicked around in her head.

  Earth.

  They discovered a new planet. Home to an alien race who searched out their planet. Now they had a rare opportunity to return contact with these aliens. This chance must not go to waste.

  Xttra saw hope welling up in her eyes. He immediately crossed his arms and shook his head.

  “We can't go there.” He anticipated the thoughts crossing Calandra's mind before she could speak them into existence. “I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news. The Stellar Guard will never sign off on exploring that region of space.”

  Calandra had no intention of yielding without a fight. She came this far to bring the probe to Lathos. Stopping now before contacting the alien race who sent it here did not make any sense.

  “Then we'll appeal directly to our chief sovereign himself,” she said.

  8

  Xttra could not shake a persistent dread growing inside him as he neared the palace steps. He did not share Calandra's optimistic outlook concerning her proposed expedition. They faced slim odds for obtaining approval to make first contact with this new alien planet. Her persistence stood out as an admirable trait in most circumstances. In this situation, it only offered a formula for creating trouble. No deep space travel routes crossed through the Aramus system since long before Xttra joined the Stellar Guard. He did not know for certain what reason influenced the ban on travel and exploration but figured it must be a well thought out one.

  Calandra glanced over at him as they approached the guards. She offered up a reassuring smile that spread to her piercing green eyes.

  “Our chief sovereign will not close his ears to our voices. Have faith.”

  “How do you do it?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “How do you always stay so optimistic?”

  Calandra shrugged. “This is who I am. I never encountered an obstacle I cannot overcome.”

  Xttra paused at the bottom step. She did the same. He brushed his fingers across her cheek and their lips met in a brief, tender kiss. Xttra smiled as he pulled away again.

  “That's one of the things I've loved most about you from day one.”

  Dharcha met them in the grand hall after they entered the palace and led Xttra and Calandra to the throne room. Xttra's eyes drifted over to the expansive mural covering the opposite wall. The scenes depicted on the mural offered no clues explaining the ban against exploring Aramus. The Stellar Guard had encountered races of hostile aliens in other solar systems. Few places produced as many frightening rumors and legends as Aramus. Xttra experienced this phenomenon firsthand during his first year at the Academy. It never changed in later years.

  Dharcha ushered Calandra and Xttra inside a smaller reception room next to the throne room. He directed them to plush chairs cushioned with sapinoa hair circling a small oval table at the center of the room. All three rose to their feet again when Delcor entered the room. They bowed their heads.

  “Calandra!” A warmness infused the chief sovereign's greeting. “I am told you bring good news about our little probe retrieval mission.”

  “That is my purpose here, my sovereign.”

  Xttra lifted his head a bit and peeked at Delcor. A pair of steely gray eyes locked on him, studying Xttra as though he were a book housed in human flesh. His muscles stiffened a bit under the intense gaze of the chief sovereign. Xttra dropped his head again.

  Delcor laid a hand on his shoulder.

  “This must be the courageous master pilot who successfully brought the alien probe back to our planet,” he said. “Tell me your name, young pilot, so I may reward your valiant efforts.”

  Xttra raised his head a second time.

  “Xttra Oogan, my sovereign.”

  Delcor's brow creased and his eyes narrowed when he heard Xttra reveal his identity. A slight frown crossed his lips. The chief sovereign glanced over at Dharcha. His minister answered him with an uneasy smile. Delcor returned his gaze to Xttra.

  “Where in Ra'ahm do you hail from?”

  “Tu'atan. A rural village in the Southern Province. I came here to Luma when I joined the Stellar Guard.”

  Xttra cast his eyes downward, then stole a glance at Calandra. Her head remained bowed. When he glanced up again, the chief sovereign stared at a wall behind Xttra as though immersed in thought. Did word of him making Lance as his assistant pilot reach the palace? Xttra now wondered if Delcor did not approve of him taking this action. A growing unease gripped him down to the soles of his feet and his breath quickened.

  The chief sovereign finally shook his head and a polite smile washed over his face. Whatever troubled him, seemed to vanish for the moment.

  “We are indeed grateful for your service Master Pilot Oogan,” he said. “Please have a seat.”

  Everyone obeyed his instruction and sat at the table again. Delcor took a larger seat facing the others. He pressed down on a palm-sized button in front of him. A circular slab of wood slid into a slot built into the table. A holocaster rose through the opening to fill the empty spot. Delcor pressed a pair of buttons embedded near the bottom of the holocaster. Soon, a detailed image of the Earth probe materialized before their eyes -- scaled down to fit within a holoscreen now floating
above the table. Two other holoscreens appeared and flanked each side. These screens displayed all relevant data culled from the Earth probe to this point.

  “As you can see, I anticipated your arrival,” Delcor said. “Dharcha shared a wealth of information gleaned from our alien probe. I must say it is quite fascinating.”

  Calandra flashed a brief smile when he shared this little revelation. The chief sovereign was now speaking her language and Xttra knew it.

  "We translated a message we found on a plate attached to the probe’s exterior," she said. "It was written in an unknown language. We used an extractor to copy every symbol and employed a complex computer algorithm to identify their meaning.”

  Delcor answered her with a nod.

  "I saw the translated message."

  "Then you, no doubt, understand the larger implications behind it."

  Dharcha pressed his lips together and furrowed his brow when Calandra said these words.

  "What implications are you suggesting?"

  Xttra gave him a curious look. Did the minister act this annoyed toward everyone else, or did he reserve showing a bad attitude for Calandra alone? Dharcha had no right to speak to her with as much contempt as he did.

  "Our goal here is simple," Xttra said, first glancing over at the minister and then at Delcor. "An unidentified alien race reached out to make first contact with us. Now we want to return the favor."

  Delcor leaned forward and rested his chin on his hand. His eyes displayed a determined cautiousness of one who owned key knowledge others lacked.

  “You found a home planet for these aliens?”

  Calandra licked her lips and nodded.

  “We believe their planet, Earth, orbits the star Aramus. The probe showed evidence of traveling nearly 3.5 parsecs from its launch point.”

  Delcor straightened up in his seat. He stiffened at her mention of the distant star's name. A tiny crease between his brows served as a sole indicator of his unhappiness upon hearing this news. Xttra wondered if the chief sovereign embraced the same outlook concerning Aramus shared by many others during his Academy days. Why else did he act so visibly disturbed over learning the probe's point of origin?

  “That is supposed to be an uninhabited solar system.” The chief sovereign's tone toward Calandra grew more skeptical. “How do you know it came from there?”

  “The distance traveled according to the probe's internal computer does not match any other known point of origin,” she said.

  Delcor stared at the holoscreens floating before him without saying a word. He studied each screen as though he sat alone in the room. Xttra and Calandra exchanged uneasy glances. The chief sovereign wore a troubled frown while examining the evidence they uncovered pointing to the alien probe's origins. Xttra came into the palace thinking that obtaining approval for a first contact mission faced long odds. Now he started to wonder if the proverbial spacecraft had blasted off and left him and Calandra spectating on the ground.

  Delcor immediately confirmed those fears.

  “There will be no mission to Aramus.” The chief sovereign rose from his chair and towered over the others while they remained seated. “That region of space is much too dangerous to explore. I cannot allow any military or civilian vessel to travel there under any circumstances. No exceptions.”

  Calandra's face fell once the decree left his mouth. Dharcha reacted with a deep sigh and a relieved smile. Heat rose under Xttra's collar when he saw her disappointment juxtaposed with the minister's silent condescending celebration.

  “You mean to tell me we're going to avoid making first contact with an alien race because we're afraid?”

  Calandra whipped her head toward Xttra. Her eyes widened. She licked her lips and a worried frown appeared. Xttra's internal shock at his own boldness matched Calandra's external expression. He could not put those words back into his mouth now. Xttra never pictured himself snapping back at the chief sovereign in the least degree. On the other hand, he did not want to let bureaucratic nonsense stamp out Calandra's dream of contacting this alien race she discovered.

  Delcor did not react with shock. He displayed much stronger feelings.

  “Do you presume to question my judgment, master pilot?” Delcor’s words peeled from his mouth with a sudden forcefulness akin to thunder. “You are in no position to question my courage or my honor.”

  Xttra tugged on a long sleeve of his uniform. The chief sovereign probed every part of him with an unbroken stare. He groaned internally. An instinct deep inside Xttra told him to stifle any urge to let more challenges escape his lips. It made sense to clench his teeth together and adopt a forced silence to protect himself.

  He could not do it. Not now. Xttra needed to press forward for Calandra's sake, even if the path he chose cost him dearly in the end. He refused to accept Delcor's decision.

  “If this planet called Earth is in such a dangerous solar system, why did an alien race from there send us a probe bearing a message of peace?”

  Xttra made every effort to keep his voice calm and measured. Delcor carried a reputation for being a passionate man. It would do him no good to try to match those passions.

  "You have no clue what their intentions are. Peace is a popular battle cry. This could be a first step in conquest. Some mysteries are better left unsolved."

  Calandra's eyes and nose both crinkled as she took in the implication behind those words.

  "Begging your pardon, my sovereign, but I sense no hostility behind their message nor their actions,” she said. “They appear to be explorers, like us, seeking answers to the same important questions."

  "You are a naive astronomer." Delcor painted on a forced smile and adopted a patronizing tone as he glanced down at her. "You do not understand what true hostility means. I fought beside my father to free this nation. I witnessed Confederation tyrants pay lip service to peace while slaughtering Ra'ahm clans who opposed their iron-fisted rule. Do not presume to lecture me."

  Xttra leaned forward in his chair. He rested his arms against the table's edge and a determined look washed over his face. The chief sovereign's tone alarmed him, but he also refused to let him verbally intimidate Calandra.

  “I see no greater danger arising from reaching out to these aliens than what I face over a normal day in space. Thetian pirates. Serbiusian ore smugglers. Dissidents on the moon colonies. All quite dangerous.”

  Delcor lowered his head and sighed.

  “You risk a greater danger inside this room.”

  His cold forceful tone sent a shiver down Xttra's spine and turned his bones to water. Calandra shot a quick glance at him. Her worried eyes pleaded with Xttra to not press the issue any further. For the first time, he let himself wonder if whispered rumors he heard were true. Were tales of grim fates for speaking against the chief sovereign grounded in fact? Xttra always dismissed stories of random disappearances and assassinations as Confederation propaganda.

  Until now.

  Dharcha folded his arms and leaned back in his chair. An air of smugness settled about him.

  “The chief sovereign has spoken. Our mission now is to study whatever data we can gather from the probe now in our possession and –”

  A brief series of musical notes rang out and interrupted the minister before he could finish his thought. Delcor sighed and pressed another button under the oval table. A new slot opened and an arca vox appeared. The chief sovereign activated the communicator and an image of a tall and lanky man dressed in a flowing robe materialized on a fourth holoscreen. His gray robe bore the Confederation national symbol over his right breast.

  A determined scowl adorned the man's face.

  “This is not a good time, Minister Grallah,” Delcor addressed him in a cross tone.

  Wrinkles formed on Grallah's bald head as he furrowed his brow. He stabbed an index finger at the chief sovereign.

  “You seem to possess more than enough time to commit acts of war against us.”

  “Acts of war?”

/>   “A Stellar Guard scout ship attacked one of our deep space vessels in the Ice Belt. It caused severe damage to the outer hull. The crew manning our vessel were fortunate not to have perished from the incident.”

  Xttra exchanged worried glances with Calandra again. His throat tightened. Delcor cast his eyes down at them with an unspoken question forming on his lips.

  “I received no word of any such attack.” He said, looking back up at the Confederation minister. “How can I be certain you speak the truth?”

  Grallah's mouth dropped open.

  “Do you take me for a fool?”

  “Ra'ahm has honored the treaty between our two nations with exactness from the beginning. If anything has changed, the Confederation caused those changes.”

  “Plenty of evidence tells us otherwise.”

  Delcor crossed his arms. He started tapping his right elbow with his fingers.

  “This conversation is finished.”

  “What did you do with the alien probe?” Grallah stabbed his finger at Delcor a second time and waggled it at him. “We know your scout ship illegally retrieved it and brought it back to Ra'ahm.”

  Delcor scratched his neck and looked down at a holoscreen detailing data gathered from the probe.

  “An alien probe? We detected no such thing.”

  “Relay beacons beyond the Ice Belt detected its approach. You know it as well as I do.”

  “You make too many assumptions, Minister Grallah. The Ice Belt is an expansive region. Perhaps you should continue your search.”

  Grallah straightened his robes and barked an order to an unseen individual off-screen.

  “Know this.” He turned to face Delcor again. “We will obtain information on that probe one way or another. Trust me when I say that freely sharing it with us is the best course of action for your people.”

  The minister's image flickered out after he terminated the connection on the arca vox. A stern expression still graced Delcor's face, but it soon yielded to a wry smile.

  “Confederation leadership should know better than to threaten me. I will not stand for it.”