First Contact (Terran Chronicles)

by James Jackson

  Book One : First Contact

  By James Jackson

  Copyright © 2011 James Jackson.

  http://www.TerranChronicles.com

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. All rights reserved.

  Acknowledgements

  Many thanks to my wife Jairis for listening to my never ending ranting as Terran Chronicles came to life. Another person I can't thank enough is my great friend Jason, of www.jointplan.co.uk. He not only designed the outstanding website, but also provided feedback on 'First Contact' as it developed. To my fireman mate Doug, I thank you for providing the encouragement to see the book to the end. Special thanks to Shannon and Amy who reviewed, then edited the story. To Leonard, Owen, and the many others that have followed the development of this story, I thank you all for your constant support.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  In memory of Isaac Asimov, Arthur C Clarke, Robert Heinlein, and Gene Roddenberry, visionaries all.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1 - What Lies Beyond

  Chapter 2 - Incoming

  Chapter 3 - Impact

  Chapter 4 - Contact

  Chapter 5 - Arrival

  Chapter 6 - Training

  Chapter 7 - War

  Chapter 8 - Deals with the Devil

  Chapter 9 - The Long Goodbye

  Chapter 10 - Aftermath

  Chapter 11 - Finders Keepers

  Preface

  “With mankind inventing new technological marvels ever faster and faster, I have to wonder what's it like out there amongst the stars. Is it peaceful? Is it safe? Or are things the same, just with a different bag of tricks? What happens if we are found first? Will we fall the way the Aztecs and Incas did, or will we survive our first contact? Within the 'Terran Chronicles' saga, we get to see how our future could be, should a more advanced civilization discover us.” - James Jackson

  “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

  - Arthur C Clark

  “I prefer a dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery.” - Thomas Jefferson

  “Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.” - Isaac Asimov

  "The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything" - Albert Einstein

  I hereby welcome you all to ‘First Contact’, book one of the ‘Terran Chronicles’ saga.

  This is a work of fiction, or is this our ultimate destiny?

  I hope you, the reader, enjoy this as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

  James Jackson

  Introduction

  Humanity has looked to the stars with bewilderment since we first stepped out of our caves and gazed upwards. Cavemen watched in awe as comets and shooting stars streaked across the night skies. Soon enough, we made patterns out of the stars we saw, and added stories and folklore. As time moved inexorably forward, mankind was able to track these stars with greater efficiency and accuracy. Theories about our planet and its importance were generated, then thrown out as our technology slowly improved from crude eye glasses to massive telescopes.

  As our modern era rolls on, we find that humanity is watching and listening to the stars as we search for extraterrestrial intelligence. We have sent probes far out into our solar system as we continue to look ever outward. With each galaxy containing many millions of stars, and there being billions of galaxies, it is hard to imagine that we are all alone in the universe. Our solar system is way out on the edge of one spiral arm of the Milky Way Galaxy, making our home, Earth, a quiet place in the suburbs. Yet here we are, making all the noise we can to attract attention as we look for signs of intelligent life.

  The adventure you’re about to embark upon is but one possibility of what happens to humanity when all that noise gets noticed. First Contact is not exactly how we expected it to be, but then what did we really expect to happen? With the intentions of our visitors not being fully known or understood, we are powerless to do more than become bystanders to our own fate. Earth's history is replete with examples of what happens when a powerful civilization meets a technologically inferior culture.

  First Contact follows the individuals that eventually form the intrepid core group that through design and luck find themselves working together. Some are military, some civilian, others we are not so sure what their roles are, just yet. Some of these people work with these alien visitors, others against, as is our way when faced with uncertainties.

  This series with its twists and turns, reveals humanity’s fate one step at a time. I do hope these words provoke your interest as you take that first step with me as we explore 'First Contact' together.

  Chapter One - What Lies Beyond

  Dave stares out through the space capsule’s tiny porthole once again. His large blue eyes searching the distant stars. He finds the view quite serene and beautiful. The ship’s slow roll brings new stars into view, as others disappear from his sight. He is hoping to catch a glimpse of Pythos, their home world, for today is the day they finally return. He gazes back outside and wonders once again why they are even on board. The ship has not really needed them at all. Everything has been running on automatic since they left space-dock, and that was a little over three years ago. He reflects on the long journey to their nearest world, Harthos, followed by the equally long and boring trek back. For Dave and his three colleagues, the adventure is at last coming to an end.

  Dave slowly turns at the sound of movement behind him. He watches as Larry makes his way hand over hand to a chair. The low gravity is something they all still enjoy. Dave shakes his head as he watches Larry perform his usual routine.

  It takes Larry some time to get seated. Once situated, he flicks a few select switches on his control panel. Then after a moment’s pause, speaks clearly into a microphone.

  “Ground control, Artemis One here, are you receiving?”

  Brett stands nearby, leaning against a junction that separates two of the many segments that make up this compact spacecraft. He looks at Larry sympathetically, then shakes his head as well.

  “They’re not gonna respond, you know. Something must have happened to the transmitter.” Brett points upward, though he really has no idea where the transmitter actually is.

  “I know!” Larry responds indignantly. “We stopped receiving transmissions over a year ago.” He continues, mimicking words that he has heard many times before.

  Dave frowns a little as a flash of light from outside the porthole catches his eye. “You know,” he says with some concern in his voice. “We oughta be getting something back. We’re almost there.” He glances back outside again, but can’t see anything that would account for the unexpected flash.

  Brett shakes his head in disagreement. “We lost the whole assembly then!” Before anyone can refute his statement he leaves the command capsule.

  Larry simply points to his controls in defense. They clearly show that nothing is wrong with the transmitter, or anything else for that matter. Dave nods his head in agreement, then shrugs his shoulders as he returns to his own thoughts once more.

  The four men have gotten along quite well, surprisingly enough there have been no real problems between any of them. The only argument was when ground control stopped responding to their hails.
The last transmissions received deeming the interplanetary mission a success, then nothing. To the crew though, the undertaking has also been a disappointing failure. There is no life on Harthos, not even microbes. The many probes launched reported over and over that the planets soil and atmosphere are unable to support even the most basic of organisms, let alone the billions waiting in hope for a new planet to live on. The tedium was broken during their orbit of Harthos by one of the few decisions the crew had to make. The computers had asked them how many probes to launch. The answer was obvious, all of them.

  A bright and colorful streak of light flashes past Dave’s view port. It catches his attention and interrupts his thoughts once more.

  “What the heck was that?” He calls out in surprise, his eyes wide open.

  “What was what?” Brett, their commander, replies pensively as he returns.

  “I saw a streak of light, it had colors and all in it. I've never seen anything like it.”

  Brett nods knowingly, yet also dismissively at the same time, as though he does not believe Dave for one second. Ignoring the question completely he issues his instructions.

  “We’re almost home. Everyone buckle up so the ship can put us in orbit.”

  Dave sighs as he gazes about the space capsule in wonder. The resources of many nations went in to making this technological marvel. Its quarters, though cramped have sustained the four of them very well. He looks down at his diminutive body and smiles wryly. As a child he, like the others, was often teased and tormented for being small. Who would have thought that in the first manned mission that the size of the crew members would play a vital part and make all the difference. While getting into his chair he realizes that their search for life, no matter how insignificant, has been a dismal failure. He feels pangs of sadness at the thought. No one had really been expecting aliens to be there, but nor did they expect the planet to offer no hope for them either.

  Silently the four men buckle up and wait. Even their journey home had been preplanned to the finest detail. There is however, one more decision to be made and Brett smiles as he makes it for them.

  While flicking a switch on his control panel Brett states with authority ,“Now opening the main view port.” He grins as he does so. The quiet serenity is broken suddenly as a proximity alarm sounds. Brett’s grin turns to horror as the scene outside reveals itself.

  “Great Harthos!” Exclaims Dave at the sight before them.

  A spacecraft of unimaginable size dominates their view, it is so large it partially obscures Pythos. A beam of light appears out of nowhere, and strikes the monstrous alien craft, melting then peeling away a slice of it. As if it were a thin strip of tin foil, the ruined section drifts off into space. The beam of light stays with the damaged spacecraft as it twists and turns trying to elude its attacker. These maneuvers leave deep furrows along the monstrous craft’s sides and upper structure. As one laser beam ceases, another begins soon to be joined by another, then another. Each beam of light is being fired by a new attacker. They seem to be working together trying to wear down the target’s defenses.

  Dave can’t contain himself. “Laser beams?” he asks as he glances briefly at his colleagues.

  The others do not even acknowledge the question. They can barely tear their eyes away from the mind boggling sight before them. With Artemis One having little to no fuel reserves and running fully on autopilot, all the men can do is watch in stunned amazement at the space battle before them. The free floating chunk tumbles over and over as it gets ever closer to them. Brett’s eyes are huge, there is nothing they can do except hope that the ship’s computers react. He is so overwhelmed he fails to even consider switching to manual control.

  Larry stares at his controls, then with grim determination once again flicks some switches. The last of their crew, Tom, finds his voice before anyone else. With fear almost overwhelming him, he is practically hyperventilating as he stutters.

  “Don’t, don’t Larry. Do, do we.. do we really want,” Struggling he blurts out, “them knowing we’re even here?” Tom points out toward the terrifying space battle raging before them.

  Brett gulps as a second massive vessel seems to appear out of nowhere and approaches their home world. Laser beams dance out from a fresh wave of smaller attacking spacecraft. Having been in orbit on the far side of Pythos, these smaller more agile craft were well hidden. Like gnats, they swarm at the pair of larger incoming vessels.

  Tom groans as the piece of debris passes dangerously close by. The sheer scale of size suddenly becoming apparent to all. The damage to the distant ship seemed very slight, yet this single piece of debris is easily much larger than all of Artemis One.

  Dave glances nervously at his three crew mates. “How big are those spaceships? And why are the little ones attacking? What happened while we were gone?”

  Again his questions are left unanswered. They spot debris littering the upper atmosphere of their home world. The tiny ambushers fire their lasers, eliminating the few remaining satellites as they pass. The large damaged vessels attempt to shake off the never ending barrage of laser fire, even as armor is melted or peeled away.

  Brett stares at the scene in stunned silence. His eyes follow the small ships, watching as beams of light blaze toward the larger craft. As he watches another massive craft appears before them, seemingly arriving upon a streak of colored light. It enters into the maw of this space battle adding to the chaotic scene with its own maneuvers. Three truly immense armor clad vessels are under attack from literally hundreds of smaller, nimble ships. Sporadic return fire upon these smaller ships simply causes their powerful shields to glow. The large lumbering spacecraft slowly turn away from the battle, even as more of their fleet arrive.

  Larry’s mouth is agape as he stares about them. “Hey, open all the view ports will you!”

  Brett’s mouth drops in shock.

  “No way!” He moves his hand to a bank of switches on his panel. “I should shut this one instead, to protect us!”

  Larry tilts his head, his doubtful expression obvious.

  “You really think our puny plating is gonna make any difference? If I’m gonna go, I wanna see, not be cooped up blindly waiting, wondering.”

  Brett looks at Dave whose eyes are just glued to the epic battle. Glancing at Tom he can see the that poor man is barely able to breathe. Making a decision he sighs.

  “You’re right, this tin can is either gonna get hit or not.”

  Each alien craft that approaches Pythos is met by a devastating barrage of laser fire from numerous smaller attackers. Some of the arriving ships are too slow to respond to the maelstrom of incoming fire from the now hundreds upon hundreds of attacking craft. They suffer devastating damage to their armor plating. A seemingly never ending wave of smaller craft still comes from behind the planet.

  Dave has been watching the progress of the first ship they saw. It is obviously in serious trouble, as laser beams penetrate the thick armor causing havoc on what look like outer hull plates. Some of these lasers pass through the internal superstructure and even breach the hull. An explosive cloud of gas vents into space upon penetration.

  “Will you look at that!” Exclaims Dave in surprise. The quartet of men stare in shock as the attack continues unabated.

  Inside the mighty spacecraft Dave imagines alarms sounding and compartments closing off. Those trapped inside venting sections being consigned to their deaths. Each new hull breach appears as a sudden and violent eruption as gas, along with whatever else was in the section, gets violently ejected into space. The lumbering spacecraft are hit with volley after volley, causing hull breach after hull breach as the smaller attackers freely wreak havoc. Finally, after what feels like an eternity coordinated shots are fired back.

  “YEAH!”, Brett cheers, if only because the battle seems so one sided.

  The others look at Brett uneasily. Dave considers sharing his thoughts, they have no idea who the they should be cheering for. Wonder who the good guys
are?. He shudders at a fresh thought. What if neither side is the good guys? Dave’s attention is brought back to the battle as projectiles suddenly launch from the armor clad behemoths, along with their own energy beams. Lights dance brightly in both directions now. The long city-sized spacecraft are now fully engaged in a pitched battle against a numerically superior foe that has achieved full surprise. It is clear to them that this ambush by the smaller shielded vessels has been a resounding success. All the while wave after wave of smaller ships continue to appear from behind Pythos.

  Yet another massive ship drops out of hyperdrive to be met with such an onslaught of coordinated laser attacks its entire fore section is carved completely away in seconds. Bodies of hapless crew members tumble into space along with debris from compartments now open to space. Inertia keeps this section, many hundreds of feet long, tumbling forward.

  Dave is not the only one feeling dumbstruck. They can only watch in dismay as this carved off forward section enters Pythos’ upper atmosphere, where it starts to burn up. Before anyone can say anything, a blinding flash of light causes the men to shield their eyes. The light is so bright it briefly outshines the distant sun. Debris is suddenly flung violently out in all directions as the damaged ship explodes before their very eyes. The life of the massive spacecraft ends along with any remaining crew. Nearby vessels are all impacted, the debris does not discriminate between friend and foe. Shields on the smaller craft sparkle and glow with each impact. Armor plating on the larger victims is scored and dented by this new and unexpected assault. A handful of smaller vessels fail to escape the monumental explosion adding their own smaller death plumes to the maelstrom.

  Larry gasps loudly as the flight path of Artemis One takes them directly into the midst of this expanding debris field. A huge piece of the destroyed spacecraft rotates nearby allowing the four of them to see numerous internal decks.