Cindy can't help but follow George’s eyes to look up at the star filled night sky. She is joined by many others as they gaze silently upward, captivated by the awe inspiring view.
After a few moments Cindy breaks the spell, and brings them all back to earth. “Listen up people, we should retire for the night, the second team is due to arrive in the morning.”
They all heed her words and head to the small tent city that is building up in the area. George has trouble sleeping, as he feels that once again events beyond his control, or comprehension, are propelling him onward. When sleep finally overcomes him, he dreams peacefully of his family.
Second Team.
Dust billows behind the convoy of twenty army trucks. The mix of nationalities has not had an easy trek through the Australian desert. It seems someone in their wisdom, did not include enough translators, resulting in less than cordial evenings the last two nights. The heavy presence of the Australian military is another sore point for some.
Finding the gap in the wall is also no easy task. But eventually, they find the hole blasted through by the first team. Within an hour of passing through, the convoy arrives at the small tent city. The drivers, all Australian soldiers, pull the trucks up in an orderly fashion.
Cindy watches the various men and women as they exit the trucks. She knows this will be tough, so with a deep breath, she prepares herself and heads over to them. Glancing back she sees Peter watching her, he raises his pipe as she continues on. He is a strange one, she thinks.
“I am Cindy Klein, I am in charge here, if any of you have any questions direct them to me. Until the engineers arrive, we will be living in tents and eating rations kindly provided by the Australians.” She lets a little sarcasm slip in at the end.
A small Asian man approaches her. “I am Mister Mao, I am here to assist.”
Before she can even respond, a taller man interjects. “Well, I am here to look at what we have. You may call me Jules, I am here at the bequest of the French government. What have you learned so far?” His tone is quite authoritarian.
Cindy raises her eyebrows at him. “Jules, I will brief all of you in one hour. I suggest you get your tents set up then eat some lunch. We will all be very busy this afternoon.”
As she walks away, she tries to remain calm. Different cultures have different ways. She tells herself. She had been told that the mix of French and Chinese, with their Australian escort, had been having a difficult time communicating. Phew, she can believe that.
The hour goes by very quickly. Two of the trucks carry large generators with very long power cables along with a lot of lights. The soldiers are very efficient at running cables and setting lights up inside the cavernous spacecraft. As Cindy finishes getting the new arrivals up to speed the throaty cough of a diesel generator fills the air, along with a waft of its exhaust. Lights flicker from inside the spacecraft’s hold as the generator revs up to full power. As the engine steadies, the lights stay brightly lit, ceasing their pulsing.
The Chinese contingent has been assigned to investigate the possibility of installing the alien power unit they received into the ship. The French are there to investigate the onboard computer systems. Cindy looks down at her check list as she marks these two issues as ongoing. She has the Australians working with George on the terminal interfaces, and the Americans on the flight systems with the Russians.
As they, and others head up the ramp, George hollers out. “Hey, don't plug anything in yet. That ship is still rigged to blow. I am going to need to power up a bridge terminal, but not before we are all ready.”
Cindy suppresses a smile, as the new arrivals falter in their steps. Walking up the ramp, she looks at George. What an asset, she thinks. We need to keep him here, and motivated.
The second generator fires up, causing Cindy to frown a little as she looks about. The Australians have set up a lighted perimeter about the camp, and are clearly in the process of making a series of defensive bunkers.
Heading to the bridge, she finds it looks a lot less ominous with fixed lights hanging from the walls. They are much better than the glow provided by their flashlights. Cindy looks over at George, who as usual, is wearing the body suit. Joe sits nearby with a pair of laptop computers, a soldier hands him a power cord.
George looks up at Cindy as she approaches. “You ready for this?”
“Sure, what do you want me to do?”
“Just be ready to unplug the power if I tell you to.”
Joe looks nervously at George. “And I am here because?”
“You're going to help us interface with this terminal so we can hopefully disable the self destruct.”
“Just how are our computers going to interface with theirs? They are literally light years apart.” Joe looks at his laptops, and then at the alien terminal before him.
“Have a little faith Joe, I can make an adapter with this suit. Ok I have plugged into the terminal. It needs hardly any power at all. Joe, open the lower compartment.” George suddenly stops.
Cindy and Joe freeze, expecting certain doom. The soldier decides that he is not needed in the room at all and glancing about, leaves quickly and quietly.
George suddenly laughs. “Ohh my. I have this all wrong. I will provide full power to the terminal.” It suddenly springs to life. “Now, to disable the self destruct. Hmm funny, now that's odd.” His expression one of curiosity, as he stares at the terminal.
Joe feels a chill work its way down his spine as he looks anxiously at Cindy, whose eyes are transfixed on the active terminal.
“OK, all done.” He smiles at Cindy and Joe, they are very pale. The terminal sits before them, various symbols scrolling up and down the screen.
“George, well done, but we could have done without your choice of words. Can we power other systems now?”
“Sure, but now to get Joe's laptops to interface with this terminal.” With that he uses the suit and creates an interface unit, then handing it to Joe says. “Just plug one end into that funny looking section.” George leans down and points.
“No worries.” Joe says as he plugs his power cord into the socket created by George. The laptop makes a small pfft sound as smoke rises up from it.
Cindy looks back and forth between the two men. “Keep at it, I sure you guys will figure it out.”
George is just dumfounded. “That should have worked! Um Joe, I hope that wasn't your favorite one. Let's try the other one shall we?”
“Uh no, I don't think so, How about we get the proper equipment and test the output next time? Mate!” Joe is not amused, but looking at the functioning terminal does make him quickly forget the fried laptop.
By the end of the day, George and Joe succeed in their task, without destroying his other laptop. George then spends a lot of time making more interface units at each bridge terminal. The interface is really just a buffer which slows down the transfer speed of the information from the terminals.
George finds that his next few days are spent making more of these buffer circuits, as he starts to call them. It seems every team has a need for his services, as they try to unravel the spacecraft’s secrets. Along the way, he manages to slowly glean a basic understanding of the ship. He finds himself spending more and more time alone at various terminals, as he figures out many of the ship’s interdependent systems. Each time he connects to a terminal, he activates a vocal command instruction he stumbled across. As the various terminals relay their information in Gamin, his earpiece does its job of translating the information very well. Each night he falls asleep completely exhausted, having discovered a little more.
Rift.
“What are the power requirements of the ship?” Cindy is getting quite exasperated, as it's obvious the group before her does not know. They have had one week to come up with something, anything, and yet for all their demands and complaints, they have nothing to show.
“We have no idea what requirements any of the internal systems have of power?” Jules stands emphati
cally before Cindy. “How could we, with the limited resources you have provided?”
She shakes her head as Jules delivers other excuses. She looks at Mister Mao, when he arrived, he was quite a charming and quiet individual. These last few days have stripped away a lot of his self control.
He can't stand her gaze and angrily blurts out. “If that George would stop telling us which terminals to use, and just make sure they were all powered, we would have an easier job.”
Cindy sighs at excuse number two. “He says that we can't power them all until we get a more reliable power source, such as the one given to your people, Mister Mao. Besides, I was of the understanding that many of the terminals are multifunctional.” She looks at the two men before her in great disappointment. It's obvious these two have become friends. Well, at least something positive has come out of this, she muses.
“We will never allow our power unit to be installed on that thing. It will never fly anyway. Even your George will tell you that it can't leave the ground as it is.” Mao is quite agitated.
Cindy considers this typical distraction away from the issue at hand, again she sighs. “Well what do either of you propose? We must know the power requirements, if we hope to power the ship up.”
Mister Mao looks at Jules, his face totally devoid of expression, then just like that, he walks out the door. Cindy is just stunned by this, she looks at Jules, who after a moment’s silence, heads out the door himself. She considers the impact of these two walking out, and within seconds comes up with a solution. Heading outside herself, she can see Jules gathering his entourage. Mister Mao is gathering his people as well. As she watches for a little while, it becomes abundantly clear that they are packing to leave. She considers confiscating their computers, as they undoubtedly contain everything they gathered about the spacecraft. Looking at it, she smiles, let them have all the information they want. She will not let them blame her, or her team, anymore for their own inadequacies.
Three hours later a plane takes off from the airstrip, its destination unknown, though probably China somewhere. With both teams onboard, she can only wonder what they plan to do. Well, so much for a global initiative. So many countries were unwilling to participate, others claiming they were unable.
Later that afternoon she sits in her office with the only man who could make her plan work. She smiles at him as he sits passively in his chair, waiting for her to speak first.
“With the French and Chinese contingent pulling out, we have lost a lot of resources. It would seem we are not going to get the power unit from the Chinese. With this in mind I have a request to put to you.”
Peter puts his unlit pipe down and smiles back at her.
“The first of the nuclear power plants will arrive by rail in about one month. Each reactor will be accompanied and assembled by a team of specialists. I believe George can tell us not only where to put them, but how many we will need.” He watches her jaw drop as he lifts one eyebrow. “Is there anything else you need?”
“Who are you really?” Cindy is asking more out of awe, than seriously expecting an answer from this mysterious man.
“I am a friend,” and with that, he picks up his pipe and leaves her to ponder how it is that he is always one step ahead.
Cindy spends a long time filling out her latest report. What could have been a world initiative has ended up becoming a small group of countries only. It is very late before she completes her work. Heading outside, she is pleased to find many members of the various teams once again, around a campfire. Even though it's a balmy night, the fire is a great social setting. Hayato and Radclyf are deep in discussion, as is Joe with George. Andrew and John are pointing to various stars as they too, have found some common ground. Many others are spread about, involved with one discussion or other. She is relieved that even with the two teams leaving, everyone else seems to be getting along just fine.
She looks again at the massive spacecraft, as she ponders quietly. We must complete the ship before these Gamin come back.
Epilogue.
George looks back at the five months that have passed since the Gamin left, in total amazement. The starship will be named today in an opening ceremony of epic proportions. So many governments from around the world are to be represented in the bleak Australian Outback for this historic ceremony. He looks over to his family with admiration, they arrived here with one of the first groups of engineers. The tent city has long since been replaced by numerous buildings. Some are for residents, some for recreation, and others for the task at hand of making this vessel functional.
The first days after the find were a whirlwind of discovery, excitement then disappointment. As they investigated more of the abandoned spacecraft, it became quite clear that a lot of effort would be needed to make any of it functional, let alone take off. When the Chinese and French contingents left, it just spread them thinner as they tried to figure the alien technology out.
The third team to arrive included a massive contingent of engineers. They are such an amazing bunch, reminisces George. Within days a temporary airstrip was constructed, two weeks saw this transformed into a permanent heavy duty concrete runway. One month after their arrival, an entire rail network had been built. Needless to say, this was when the buildings started to crop up. It becomes clear to all soon enough, why the rail line was built. The first of many nuclear power plants arrived, along with its accompanying team of Russians. They wasted no time in installing them in the forequarters of the spacecraft. Almost one quarter of the ship has no function they can discern. There was a huge sectioned off area with thick armor and numerous bulkheads. This seemed to be a perfect place to install the reactors.
Another huge surprise came along the rail line, also with its own support teams. Three American space shuttles have been taken out of mothballs, and now find themselves loaded into the cargo area of the spacecraft. George recalls creating the unique system that would allow them to board a shuttle, then launch from the spacecraft. These shuttles are planned to be used for space jaunts, or as emergency landing craft.
The debate raged about whether this was to remain a civilian venture, or become a military operation. Finally, a compromise was reached. Cindy would stay in charge of the overall operation, due to her experience with scientists and military personnel. Her rank of Admiral, purely honorary. She seems to relish the command chair a lot, as she spends a great deal of time in it, examining the various controls.
John maintains the rank of Captain, and makes all ship board decisions. However, the only person with any real knowledge about the ship’s systems is George, thus, making him a unique resource. George is rather tired from having to personally interface every one of the computers into the Gamin systems. They are very powerful and fast. Although no one has been able to figure out exactly how they work, his buffer circuits are allowing the computers to interface. They can not only receive information, but can issue commands to the system as well. Joe had spent a lot of time with him, going over various systems.
Another surprise was the Japanese team of computer experts that installed an amazing supercomputer. Taking up an entire section of the ship, and ranking in the word's top ten for computational speed, this beast is still too slow to work directly with the Gamin terminals. Once again, George's buffer circuits are required.
He frowns a little, as he recalls his warning to Cindy, that there are just too many external gravity plates missing. Without the right module for the body suit, they could make no more either. Thus, the way the ship is now, it won't be taking off. He wonders what her contingency plan is for this.
His musings are cut short as the band starts to play. He looks up and down the row of people on stage. He sits next to Cindy as one of the representatives for the expedition. The various speakers drone on for ages, as each seems to have lengthy speeches prepared. Finally after an absolute eternity, Cindy is called to the stand. Taking one look around at the audience, she gives them her usual smile then embarks.
&
nbsp; “I stand before your today, the leader of this international team as we prepare for an unprecedented and historic occasion. Behind this tarp, rests the alien spacecraft that we have been retrofitting as quickly as possible. In a few days we shall test the gravity systems as we make final preparations before we launch it into space. We have been naming ships for countless generations, thus, we will name this ship as well. This ship carries no flag, and is being named for all of humanity. It is with great pleasure that I hereby present to you Earth's first true starship, the Terran, may she guide us well through the night skies.”
At Cindy's last words the massive tarp behind the podium drops to the ground revealing the alien craft, the word 'TERRAN' is emblazoned across the top of its sloping armor. Painted in bright white letters, the word is easily legible, even at this distance. Nearby, flags from the many nations present, all flap in the light breeze.
George is filled with a great sense of pride as he looks at the 'Terran', he has found his destiny.
###
I do hope you have enjoyed reading ‘First Contact’, book one of the ‘Terran Chronicles’ saga, as much as I have enjoyed writing it. For more information about the series please head over to http://www.terranchronicles.com/.
To keep in touch, connect with me via Facebook or Twitter.
James Jackson
TC10-FC11-JJ
Table of Contents
Copyright
Acknowledgements
Preface
Introduction
Chapter One - What Lies Beyond
Chapter Two - Incoming
Chapter Three - Impact.
Chapter Four - Contact.
Chapter Five - Arrival
Chapter Six - Training.
Chapter Seven - War.
Chapter Eight - Deals with the Devil
First Contact (Terran Chronicles) Page 24
