Stellar Flash
Alien Frequency
By Neil A. Hogan
Published by Maldek House
© 2017 All rights reserved
Also available in paperback format
Find out more at:
www.StellarFlash.com
For Mum and Dad
Active Table of Contents
Prelude
Introduction
Chapter 1: Saturn Space Station X-1a
Chapter 2: Frequency One
Chapter 3: Discovery
Chapter 4: Contingencies
Chapter 5: Take Me to Your Leader
Chapter 6: Stuck
Chapter 7: Breach
Chapter 8: A Gift in Time
Chapter 9: Stellar Breeze
Chapter 10: Mashbug
Chapter 11: Puppy’s Lament
Chapter 12: Geo’s Metrics
Chapter 13: Murder on the Stellar Flash
Chapter 14: We Come in Pieces
Chapter 15: Clouded
Chapter 16: Released
Chapter 17: The Three Bodies Problem
Chapter 18: Evolution
Chapter 19: The One is All and the All are One
Chapter 20: Torus and Events
Chapter 21: First Contact
Postlude
Prelude
2133/08/17/11:30 Monday
The binary suns blazed in the brown and yellow sky as the space-suited Captain Jonathan Hogart wrestled with the mushroom and bug-like alien on the ramp.
With his bioelectrical signal now accelerated, the aliens had detected him and his crew, and were on the attack. Hogart thought his nanite suit’s strength enhancing properties would have had himself out of this sticky situation in no time, but the mushroom bugs had other ideas, and now he was being bounced back to his crew.
Not far away, his first officer had his own problems. Looking much like an overgrown urchin, Spiney had been spinning and throwing bug attacks off with his spines as fast as they could jump him. But they had worked out simply lifting him with their antennae would stop him from moving, and he had momentarily hung helpless between a group of the mushroom bugs, before they had dropped him and jumped on him.
The third member of their team, Cuddly, a caterpillar like alien with sucker legs, had curled up like a tire, hoping to avoid the fight while his translator belt continued working on the language.
Now the three of them were pinned under so many hard antennae-flicking bodies that their nanite suits were struggling to stop them from being crushed. If the nanites failed in this deadly atmosphere, it would be all over.
"Not the best start to our first mission together," yelled Hogart.
"I guess it's time to say it then," Spiney's translator stuttered.
"No. No. I will not say it."
"I will," said Cuddly. "I just finished the translation."
Through the chattering of the bugs, they heard a scratching sound coming from Cuddly. He'd recreated the bugs’ speaking alert, and the creatures stopped moving, waiting for the message. Cuddly then sent a signal to his nanite suit to create antennae, similar to the bug on top of him. Five antennae grew out from an area not held by one of the bugs, made some complicated twisting movements, then stopped.
"Did you say it?" groaned Hogart.
"I said it. Our only option."
"I see," said Spiney.
Introduction
It is the year 2133, just one hundred years after Alien Shift. Humanity can now perceive the trillions of alien races that live in the galaxy, having finally increased their frequency speed to Zero. Now a member of the Interdimensional Coalition, humanity works with alien races from all over the universe on Flash ships, exploring realities on higher level frequencies, and instigating First Contact with new alien races. The Stellar Flash Frequency Ship is the newest addition to the universal mission.
Chapter 1
Saturn Space Station X-1a
2133/08/17/10:00 Monday
Saturn Space Station X-1a spun silently on the day side of its namesake planet, just above the rings. A massive feat of human and alien engineering, built by robots, aliens, humans and nanites, and about a hundred kilometers long, the multiple-spoked orbital base was equipped with ship repair systems, xenobiology research sections, a hospital, an archive, and plenty of restaurants, bars and entertainment to keep any visiting aliens busy. Not only that, there were enough redundant systems that almost anybeing would survive a collision, if one of the billions of rocks circling Saturn decided to go its own way. While not impenetrable, the base was close to indestructible.
X-1a was the assembly point for any humans and aliens planning a trip to another frequency. A security measure to reduce the possibility of any unauthorized being knowing the exact location of Earth, until first contact had been established successfully, or the rejected planet had been heavily quarantined.
A bright light appeared briefly in one of the hundreds of windows of Ring One, illuminating the under-construction support struts of the soon to be completed Ring Two.
A female face looked out the window onto the rings and the slowly moving moon Cassini before moving back inside, as more flashes appeared.
The window quickly brightened further before dimming again, with more faces looking out the window. Purple faces, glutinous faces and six-eyed faces all looked out at the wonder of Saturn, before turning around.
Inside, hundreds of aliens had flashed in from around the galaxy and across the frequencies for a very important meeting. They turned to look at the closed door to the room. One more person was expected.
Outside, in the silver and black corridor with tastefully patterned blue carpet, Captain Jonathan Hogart stood, staring at the doors, waiting for the flashes of appearing aliens to die down.
Hogart was a pinkish-white, muscular man in his early 40s, with short dark-brown hair, and a sparkle in his eyes that suggested he was always about to make a joke. He looked up at one of the nearby security cameras and grinned. “Let’s see how I look.”
He pressed his temple, activating his mind-view system, accessing the camera signal of himself. He turned slightly for a view of his back. “Good enough for the viewers, I guess.” He shrugged and switched it off.
Straightening his front shirt and taking a deep breath, Hogart made to push open the doors, when a large blue humanoid alien with a thick beard came up the corridor barreling towards him.
“Captain Hogart!” the alien gasped as he ran up to him and squinted, pushing his face so closely that his beard touched Hogart’s chin. “Yes, it is you, isn’t it? Can I skip this bit?”
“Sorry?” asked Hogart, stepping back a little to give himself more space. As the alien attempted to move closer Hogart held up his hands. “Human personal space, well, American at any rate. Can you stand there, please?”
The alien gasped, evidently short of breath, and nodded. “Of course, captain, I’m sorry.”
“Who are you?”
The being straightened himself, his overweight belly struggling to remain confined in his tight Flash-issued trousers, and announced proudly, “I am your new Storyteller. Jorjarar. Please to meet you.” Then, as if shortcutting any possible further conversation, he said bluntly. “I don’t want to go in there.” Jorjarar pointed at the door, then made a cross shape with his flat hands.
Hogart suddenly remembered. The Storytellers. They had one on every flash ship, linked to everyone’s thoughts while in other frequencies. As retaining memories between frequencies was impossible for many from Frequency Zero, most of them relied on the Storytellers to remember for them.
“Pleased to meet you, Jorjarar,” said Hogart. “I thought you’d want to record the big introduction of senior crew, and then my captain’s speech.
Big day. Important occasion and all that.”
Jorjarar briefly looked positively horrified at the thought, then changed his expression to one of obsequiousness, rubbing his hands together slightly.
Hogart knew he would have to watch out for this one.
“Oh, Captain. It takes me awhile to get set up, and I should be on the ship ready to link to everyone’s thoughts the moment they’re on board. Just give me a quick overview as to what will happen in there, and I’ll be able to add your personal reports into that section when I get back.”
Hogart looked down at him. No one except the Storytellers could be so bold as to request not to attend a ceremonial meeting, especially one in which he gave a speech. But he decided to allow it this once. After all, at the end of the day, the Storyteller’s report was the one that mattered, and he didn’t want any negativity creeping into any description of him.
Hogart sighed. “Well, Jorjarar, I’m going to go on stage, give a quick talk about how wonderful this all is, introduce the main crew members one by one to everyone, then we’ll all flash to the ship. I’d say a twenty minutes meeting? A bit of banter. That sort of thing.”
“Perfect,” said Jorjarar. “I’ll flash to the ship now and get ready. I’ll do my best for you, and make sure there are plenty of breasts. I heard it’s a ratings winner.”
Hogart had begun nodding, starting to worry if he was going to be late, when he suddenly realized what Jorjarar had said. “Wait, what are you talking about?”
“I need to describe everyone in the report, and I heard humans like reading about female breasts. I should make sure all the females have them.”
“Well, human males might like reading about them, but human females might not,” said Hogart. “It depends on what they’re into, really. What are you going to put in for the females? Your record should be appealing for everyone. I thought you all had to be unbiased”
Jorjarar thought for a moment. “Well, I suppose that I could give breasts to the men as well. I mean, I’m not used to writing it but…”
“No, no breasts for anyone,” said Hogart, starting to become exasperated. “Look, just write what you need to write and the Earth editors will sort it out later, okay?”
Jorjarar nodded. “Yes, sir. One more thing. This meeting bit. Will there be any dramatic situation that would lead into the experience on the ship?”
Hogart raised his eyebrows. “Well, I hope not. It’s just a meeting. If you don’t want to experience it, start with us on the ship in the next section.”
“Great idea, sir. Yes, thank you.” Jorjarar pressed a button on the flash band on his pudgy blue arm, and disappeared with a flash of white light.
Hogart sighed. He really didn’t like the idea of Storytellers getting into his skull to record his experiences. But it was part of the rules now.
He checked himself again, then pushed the heavy doors slowly open with both hands, and strode purposely through the crowd of aliens towards the podium. The chatter of hundreds of translators died down as many of the aliens realized that the meeting was about to begin.
He looked about admiringly as he strode to the other side of the room, at all the non-humanoid shaped aliens who had endeavored to make the flash uniforms work for them. Not many, but those with at least vaguely humanoid bodies had been able to make an effort.
"Well, team," he began as he stepped up onto the stage, his voice echoing in the wide area. "This is it."
"Ahem," said a voice. Hogart turned and saw Captain Victoria Heartness standing near the back curtain of the stage. A short, thin, almost elfin woman with long blonde hair, she made a show of looking exasperated. "I know you're desperate to take over, but can I just give my farewell speech?"
Hogart looked down his nose at her, squinting, getting into character. He was going to have fun with this. "My God. Really? A speech? How long will that take?"
A number of aliens in the front row rustled, rumbled and sparked. Was he insulting her?
Then Hogart grinned, spreading his arms wide. "My dear Heartness, darling. Of course you can. You took great care of some of the crew here, according to the Storyteller's reports, and I wouldn't have it any other way."
Hogart stepped aside and waved her to the podium, a condescending smile on his face. Heartness raised her eyebrows, then gave a quiet 'humph'. With her blue suit freshly pressed, it looked like she wasn't going to let her moment be taken away from her. She turned to face the crowd of aliens with a beaming smile.
"My wonderful crew." She reached out her arms like she wanted to hug them all. "Thank you very much for coming with me on so many voyages to Frequency One. I've been promoted to Admiral and..."
So, that was the surprise she had been hinting at, thought Hogart. He quickly interrupted with some heavy clapping, nodding at the crowd of aliens as though encouraging them to clap, too. Of course, most of the aliens didn’t know what nodding was, or why he was making those strange banging noises with his upper appendages.
Heartness gave him a stern look and he stopped. “...and so, with a breaking heart I hereby pass the Stellar Flash and all you incredible aliens onto the er... infamous Captain Jonathan Hogart."
"Excellent," said Hogart, and made to step up to the podium.
"I'm not finished," said Heartness.
Hogart rolled his eyes.
Heartness smiled at the assembled aliens. "I know that our adventures in One were quickly forgotten when we returned to Zero so I have reread the Storyteller's reports of them and can confirm that you all did very well, in all the situations we were up against. There were a number of times when our lives were in danger, and everyone helped to save us from whatever it was that we had needed saving from."
Hogart gave a slight clap to the aliens, who stood there silently, probably wondering what this was all about. He quickly scanned them. So many colors and shapes, some his mind couldn't even define. It looked like he was going to be the only human on board. Oh well. He spotted the translucent gelatinous forms of a couple of xenosexuals. Hmm. That could be interesting.
"...and so," Heartness had been speaking and Hogart had missed it. He had already read most of her speech, though. She'd probably just finished the bit about welcoming the new crew members. "Captain Hogart will finish the mission we started on the mushroom-bug world. I only hope that he is more successful than I in bringing a First Contact situation to that planet."
Heartness then stepped aside from the lectern and Hogart almost leaped at it, turning to her.
"Thank you, Admiral Heartness. You did a great job, apparently. I wish you all the best in your endeavors."
Then he turned to the crowd again. "And another round of applause for Admiral Heartness's promotion." Just in case they missed it the first time. He was about to bow but thought better of it, especially as none of the aliens had joined him in applauding, though he did hear some clacking of something coming from up the back.
"Right team. You're now all part of MY crew. For the new recruits, you've read the specs, studied at our universities, and have seen her out of this station's windows. It's almost time to go on board the Stellar Flash."
He pulled out a piece of plastic with notes on it. "I've been through the ship's roster and there are six aliens I'd like on the Center Bridge. Admiral Heartness, and the officers before her, have all said these aliens exemplify what humanity is trying to achieve with its flash ships, and I'm very happy to announce my team here. If you can come to the stage when I call your name..."
Then he saw the names. He looked at the sheet and blinked. How had he not noticed that before? He'd read their specs many times, but the names were always at the top, and it had been their personal profiles he had been more interested in.
An unscripted moment. His brow furrowed. How was he going to play this? Maybe he could show surprise?
It was Heartness's turn to grin.
Hogart looked at her with his eyebrows high. "These aren't their original alien names!” he said, almost choking. “These
are nicknames you created for them!!!"
Heartness shrugged. "Some don't have names, and some names aren't translatable into any human language."
"But, I can't call an alien 'Puppy!'"
Heartness laughed. "He's been okay with it. I'm sure you'll be fine."
Hogart let his hand shake the plastic slightly, then changed his expression to indignation.
"These are all girly names! Other captains will think I'm some kind of girlyman!"
"It's not the name that's important, it’s the judgement you give it. Give it affection, and it'll be alright."
"I don't have any of your feminine energy, and I'm not going to be affectionate with anyone." Hogart frowned.
“Hmm,” Heartness put a finger to her chin pointedly, and looked at the curtains, as though dropping some gossip. “Well, a few girls I know have said that you can be quite affectionate.”
Hogart looked taken aback at this.
"In any case,” she continued, turning back to him. “Things are different on the higher frequencies, captain. You may find yourself becoming more feminine."
"Over my dead body." He hmphed. Hmm. Had he gone too far with that one?
The noise of the alien crowd grew louder as everyone's translators were struggling to keep up with the exchange, and then discussions began when Hogart used the word 'dead.' It wasn't a word to be used in polite company. Best to get back to the script. He turned back to the waiting crowd.
"Alright, alright." Hogart lifted his hands to quieten them. "First up, Spiney."
A round, purplish figure with spikes sticking out of its shell at various points, made a slapping sound that translated as 'yes' and waddled to the stage area. Hogart ducked and stepped back as one of the larger spines got a bit too close for comfort.
"You'll be my first officer," Hogart said, then looked back at his sheet.
"Puppy!" At the back, with plenty of space around him, a large greenish spider-like creature on twelve pole-like legs, raised its massive, almost flat, three-piece body, waved its wide circular head with six eyes, and began loping towards the stage. Many aliens were quick to get out of the way of him, while some just stared at him with open mouths.
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