The New World

by Toby Neighbors

  “I’m not sure,” Daniel said.

  “I think it’s a mistake,” Jason said adamantly. “These people or creatures, or whatever they are, they killed more people than all the wars of the last five hundred years put together. We can’t just sit back and allow them have whatever they want.”

  “But we can’t fight them,” Scott said. “I mean, let’s be realistic here, there’s no way we could win a war with an interstellar civilization.”

  “Perhaps we could sign a treaty with the Plauggid Federation or something.”

  “That would be hard to do since we have no way to contact them,” Scott said.

  “Or even know if they really exist,” Daniel said. His face was grim, but a plan was forming in his mind. “We need more time, time and answers and access to their technology.”

  “You can’t be thinking of joining them,” Jason said. “It’s not right and you know it.”

  “We have to look at what is best for our people,” Scott said.

  “Joining these killers can’t be what’s best,” Jason argued.

  “No, it isn’t,” Daniel said. “And I don’t intend to. Somehow we’ve got to learn more, so we can’t let on that we aren’t interested. I think we need to find a way onto their homeworld.”

  Chapter 34

  Daniel met first with the council, spending almost two hours rehashing his meeting with Norixum and what he felt was the best response. He then moved to the small TV studio in the bunker, where he was interviewed about his meeting with the alien. To his surprise, the population of the Washington community took the news in stride. He was afraid there might be an uproar, or even panic and rioting, but nothing really happened. It was more like an unexpected twist on a popular television series. People talked about the aliens as they went about their lives, continuing to work and interact socially. Daniel pondered the reality and wondered if people were prepared for interstellar contact because of the plague, or if the world would have been okay without billions of deaths.

  The council, on the other hand, was very concerned and full of questions. Daniel tried to share his thoughts but was questioned so intensely that he soon became angry. He could understand that people might not agree with him, but they never seemed to stop just sharing their own points of view; instead, they felt compelled to make his decisions seem like the worst possible leadership. The day after Daniel met with Norixum, an independent group published their first edition of a small, weekly paper. The New Washington Times was printed in full color, with photos of the alien and his spaceship on the front page. There were two stories about the aliens; one was filled with interviews from people on the street giving one or two sentence opinions and theories about the beings from across the galaxy. The other story was an in depth piece about Daniel’s diplomatic meeting with Norixum. Since the president had shared his story on television, it was no longer newsworthy; in fact, Daniel wasn’t even interviewed. Instead, the reporter had interviewed the council, all of whom had no trouble sharing what they thought of Daniel’s diplomatic skills.

  After he had calmed down and eaten his breakfast, Daniel met with Scott and Jason again. He knew he had the right, as freely elected president, to move forward with negotiations despite what people thought of what he was doing. He decided to keep his plans within his small group of friends, that way he would avoid criticism. At noon they pressed the small button on the communicator that Norixum had given them.

  After talking throughout the morning about what their next step should be, they had decided that they needed to see the alien technology first hand. And so, when the alien responded, his voice clear through the small speaker in the communicator, Daniel began his gambit.

  “Capital Norixum,” Daniel said, his eyes looking nervously from Jason to Scott. “I would like to continue our conversation.”

  “Excellent,” said the voice, mellow but strangely clipped.

  “I would like very much to visit you,” Daniel said. “Can you arrange that?”

  “Well…” the alien hesitated. “It is possible, I suppose.”

  “I understand if you need to get approval from your superiors,” Daniel said, hoping that the alien would take the bait.

  “I need no approval,” said Norixum. “Much of our station is still under construction, but if meeting here is what you desire, I shall arrange a shuttle for you.”

  “Thank you,” Daniel said, smiling. “I’ll be waiting.”

  The communicator fell silent and Daniel looked at his friends. There was a sense of excitement about what they were planning. It flickered through Daniel’s mind that what they were doing was incredibly foolish, that it might even make the Tolligark government hostile to him. But he was not so foolish as to believe that the Tolligark weren’t responsible for the plague, or that they would share Earth fairly. Daniel had always been interested in history, but history was filled with nations and groups conquering other nations and peoples with the outcome always the same. The conquered people were either forced into slavery or pushed out of their land. The Tolligark had come to Earth to take advantage of its fertility, and he doubted that humans would be tolerated once the Free People were ready to take up residence.

  “Well, it looks like we’re taking a trip,” Daniel said.

  “I used to think I wanted to be an astronaut when I grew up,” Scott said.

  “It looks like you’ll get your wish,” Jason said.

  “Let’s get what we need so we’ll be ready when he calls,” Daniel said.

  They hurried from the Oval Office, trying to avoid the strange glares people were giving them or the endless questions about what Daniel was going to do. In Daniel’s opinion there wasn’t much they could do. He was determined, however, to take every advantage he could to ensure that mankind received a fair chance to survive.

  At 3 o’clock in the afternoon, shortly after Daniel had started the daily briefings with the council members, the communicator beeped and Daniel excused himself from the room. He pushed the button that allowed him to speak and heard Norixum’s voice.

  “A shuttle should arrive at the White House in one hour,” the strange voice said.

  “That will be fine,” Daniel said.

  “I assume your cabinet members will be accompanying you?”

  “Yes,” Daniel said, silently sighing in relief. He hadn’t wanted to go alone and was glad that he didn’t have to convince the alien of the need for Scott and Jason to be with him.

  “Then I shall see you soon,” said the alien and the communicator fell silent.

  Daniel hurried into his secretary’s office and sent a message to Jason and Scott. He had his secretary reschedule the rest of his appointments for the day and then, as painful as it seemed to Daniel, he made himself remain calm while he finished his briefings. When the last council member finally left, Daniel leaned back in his leather chair and rubbed his face. He couldn’t help but touch the eyelid with the prosthetic eye. If felt strange to touch a part of his body that had no feeling. The metal post that was permanently mounted in his eye socket felt cold, the plastic eye stiff and cumbersome. He hated the eye, hated the way he had to hesitate after standing to get his bearings before moving forward. It had taken a while to get used to his loss of depth perception, but it had not been as crippling as it might have been. His left eye was growing stronger, and he felt more confident every day, he just hated the thought of a foreign object being seen and stared at by everyone he met. At least the alien’s eye coverings kept Daniel from seeing that Norixum was staring at his fake eye.

  “Is it time?” Scott said as he bustled into the room. He had his arms full of papers and notebooks, maps and pictures.

  “Yes,” Daniel said. “The shuttle will be here any minute. Where’s Jason?”

  “Don’t know,” said Scott, “haven’t seen him.”

  “Okay, okay,” Daniel said, trying to calm his nerves. He was anxious to see the alien space station. It reminded him of the way he had felt as a child waiting to leave
on family vacation. He was long since packed and ready, but forced to wait as his parents carefully went over everything they might need again and again.

  The door swung open and Jason hurried in. He had small clips that were actually cameras that would record up to three hours on the tiny memory chip built into the device. He snapped Daniel’s onto the front of his shirt then turned to Scott. They had decided that they would try to see all of the aliens’ plans, their work in Earth orbit and the transporter that carried them between worlds. Not that they could duplicate the technology, but they needed to know as much as possible if their plan was to work.

  They didn’t hear the vessel as it dropped steadily from over the White House and into the Rose Garden. Jason spotted the vessel through the Oval Office windows. The three men were excited, like small boys waiting on Christmas morning. When Jason saw the spacecraft, he whooped and pointed. The vessel seemed to be the same that had brought Norixum the day before. Scott had managed to get his maps stuffed into a leather satchel. Jason quickly activated their pin cameras, and they hurried out into the Rose Garden as the ship’s door slowly lowered.

  They approached the open ramp and Norixum appeared.

  “Men,” he said loudly, “welcome aboard the Scarlet Rose. I must admit I have enjoyed the stories of Earth’s naval history and decided to name my shuttle.”

  Daniel and his friends nodded and walked up the ramp. Just inside the ramp was what appeared to be a decompression chamber. As they walked inside, what seemed like large fans blew hard, ruffling their hair and clothes as the ramp quietly rose back into place behind them. Once the outer door was closed, the inner door opened. Daniel was surprised at the cabin beyond. It was a square room that was neatly furnished. There were exotic looking plants with crimson leaves and brightly colored flowers. The floor was covered with what looked like purple fur, but not like an animal skin, the fur was wall to wall, like carpet. There were small padded seats, much like the one Norixum had floated around on; the seat bottom of one appeared to be missing and the small alien floated toward this one. Daniel watched as the seat reconnected to the empty seat bottom.

  There were odd looking devices built into the walls and a large screen dominated one wall. Norixum gestured to the empty chairs and Daniel took the seat nearest Norixum.

  “This is impressive,” Daniel said.

  “Yes, well, most spacecraft are so industrial, but I insist on making my escort ship feel like home. I even had a large view screen installed so that I could monitor your broadcasts.”

  “You watch what we’ve broadcast from the White House?” Scott asked, and Daniel noted a hint of worry.

  “Oh, no,” said Norixum. “I was unaware that you had been producing anything since I arrived. I’ve been accessing satellite broadcasts and memory. I’m also able to receive older frequencies still bouncing around your solar system.”

  Daniel decided to change the subject. “When do we lift off?” he asked.

  “We already have, would you like to see?”

  They nodded, and the view screen was suddenly a window. Daniel wasn’t sure if he was seeing a video feed or if the screen had transformed somehow, but as he craned his neck to see more of the earth far below, he noticed that he could see beyond the screen. As he stood and moved nearer to the screen, he could look down, like he was looking through the thick window of an airplane.

  “I can’t feel the gravitational pull,” Daniel said as he turned back to Norixum.

  “No, our g-force compensators allow us to leave your atmosphere comfortably. And once we reach orbit, those same compensators will reverse to create artificial gravity.”

  Daniel didn’t respond right away, he didn’t want to sound too surprised, so he merely nodded. Scott and Jason followed his example. They watched the blue sky fade quickly to black, saw stars glowing far brighter than they had ever seen before. Daniel couldn’t help but move back to the window.

  “Space flight is quite amazing,” said Norixum. “How does it make you feel?”

  Daniel wasn’t sure what answer the alien expected or what he was trying to learn with such a question, but he knew exactly what he was feeling: tiny and insignificant.

  “I feel tranquil,” he said rather than reveal the truth. “There is beauty here that pictures and videos cannot capture.”

  “Yes, I agree. You should be able to see the outpost soon,” said the alien.

  Daniel could see the glowing horizon of Earth and beyond the moon looked so huge it didn’t seem real. Then, as they drew closer, Daniel began to make out the alien technology.

  “Your satellites were quiet crowded, really,” said Norixum. “We took the liberty of disposing of them and routing all broadcasts through our network.”

  “That was odd,” Daniel said, sitting back down. It took effort not to stay near the window and gawk at the solar scenery, but he felt he needed to refocus on what was being said. For instance, if he acted now as if the news of their orbital satellites was trivial, it would be hard to reestablish their importance later. “Normally, in our culture, one does not make decisions about another person’s property without first speaking to that person. Is this not the same in your culture?”

  Norixum’s head twitched slightly, and Daniel wished once again that he could see the alien’s eyes. “No, it is not the same,” said Norixum. “What we did was a great help to you. You can do so much more with our technology than with your own.”

  “That may be so, but that does not negate the fact that it was our property, and therefore not your decision to make.”

  “Daniel, you’ve got to see this,” Scott said.

  Daniel was a little annoyed at being interrupted, but as he stood and moved back to the window, he noticed that the small alien seemed stunned by his last words; perhaps giving Norixum some time to ponder the fact that Daniel was not going to blindly accept Tolligark control of Earth was necessary. He looked through the window and saw the alien space station. It reminded Daniel of a cylindrical office building with mirrored glass all around. There were long tubes extending from both ends, top and bottom, and several spaceships were connected to tubes. In a way, the entire structure looked like a space-age rolling pin balanced on one handle, but as they moved closer the size began to overwhelm every other thought.

  Daniel couldn’t help but think of what Norixum had said, that the station was small, but it was bigger than the most impressive skyscraper on Earth, longer than the Golden Gate Bridge. And beyond it, in the distance, they could see the transporter. It was a massive grid of what appeared to be chrome pipes. The size grew more impressive with every moment as they grew nearer and nearer.

  Daniel forced himself to return to his seat.

  “Your station is very impressive,” he said.

  “It is nothing,” said Norixum, “A prefabricated structure that is little more than a garage. I think you will like the biosphere, though, it is supremely beautiful, I think.”

  “I look forward to seeing it,” Daniel said sincerely.

  They made small talk, which seemed strange to Daniel. His brain rejected Norixum whenever he looked at the little alien. It was like living in a dream, and his mind refused to fully believe what his senses were taking in.

  When the spaceship docked with the station there was deep thud, followed by a pleasant chime; the sound reminded Daniel of a small flower shop in the town where he grew up. The proprietor spent most of his time in the rear of the shop assembling bouquets, and the electronic chime sounded whenever the door opened to alert the owner that a customer had entered his store.

  “I have arranged for a tour,” said Norixum as his seat once again rose into the air as gracefully as a swan gliding across a pond. “Then some refreshments while we continue our discussions.”

  Daniel smiled and said, “That would be very nice.”

  They followed the alien’s floating seat. The airlock ruffled their hair and clothes once again as the ramp lowered. Light glowed from the walls and ceiling of the
long corridor they emerged into. The floor glistened black under their shoes, which made no noise as they walked along at a brisk pace. This must be one of the tubes we saw, Daniel thought to himself. At the end of the corridor was another airlock, much like the double entry to a shopping mall. The air between the two sets of doors was constantly being recycled through silent air conductors. The space was only five or six feet wide, but the artificial gravity was noticeably weaker. Daniel felt a moment’s giddiness and noticed that Norixum’s seat rose as he traveled through the connecting airlock. They did not stop, but continued through into what appeared to be a large space with walls, still glowing, that arched toward one another and met at what looked like a catwalk. The large room was empty, and Norixum waved a hand at the broad expanse.

  “This is the secondary construction area,” he said in his smooth voice that emerged from his still mouth like a ventriloquist’s. “It has not been utilized yet.”

  Daniel, Scott, and Jason nodded as they looked around the vast chamber. Daniel guessed that the temperature was in the upper sixties, cool but not cold. Just right, he thought, for people doing manual labor. Norixum moved to the left toward a door that slid open as he approached. The three men were surprised at the warm, humid air that wafted out to meet them. As they stepped through the doorway, they were awestruck at what they saw.

  Whereas the secondary construction area and the docking tube were sterile and plain, the biosphere, which was a room that wrapped around the entire structure and stood between the outer, reflective skin of the station and the interior where the work was done, was a feast for every sense. There was flora everywhere. Even on the floor, a short grass covered everywhere Daniel could see; it reminded him of a putting green. The strange plants were as varied and multicolored as a patchwork quilt. The leaves and blossoms swayed and moved, even though the air was still. There were bushes and flowers and short trees reaching up to the transparent skin of the space station, their branches long and straight, their trunks thick and a golden yellow color as if they were made of butter. There was a strong aroma in the air, not sweet, but stringent and clean, yet somehow alive. Daniel’s mind whirled and he suddenly felt a little giddy. He smiled as he looked up and out through the transparent outer hull of the station. He could see stars and the luminous glow from the moon. There was no artificial light, just what reached the station from the sun. There was also a gentle, undulating hum, and it struck Daniel that the sound was made by the plants.