Intergalactic Desire (11 page)

Chapter 9

“What do you mean you quit?!”

Sia chuckled to herself, removing her nametag for the last time. “Sia, don’t do this to me! Who am I gonna find to replace you?”

“How about Tracey?”

“Tracey? She has four eyes and a gimpy leg!”

“Give the kid a break, Gary,” Sia told her boss wisely.

“I can’t believe you’re doing this to me…” Gary trailed off, mopping sweat from his head with a fancy handkerchief. “What gives?”

“I’m finally taking a real vacation, Gary.” She laid a hand on her boss’ shoulder. “Be good while I’m gone.”

After changing into her regular clothes, she exited the diner with a wistful sigh and her backpack on her shoulders. Q was sitting on his motorbike outside, wearing a cool pair of silver Ray Ban Aviators. And beside him stood… 
      

“No way!” Sia screamed, sprinting happily towards the shiny red bike.

“It’s a Yamaha, 200 cc of horsepower. Do you like it?”

“I love it! Where did you get it?”

“Dax knows a guy. Hop on.”

Q had been teaching Sia a little bit about riding motorcycles, so she was eager to try out her brand new bike. She gave a cry of delight when she put the key in the ignition and the engine roared with vivacity. “This is so dope!”

Q laughed, loving the look of elation on Sia’s face as she put her helmet on. He wished she could always look like this: happy, carefree and, most of all, safe.

“Where are we going?”

“Fort Bell. It’s 200 miles from Halley’s Peak. We’ll meet the other Ku’ait clans there, along with the Khan family, to discuss our next plan of action against the Stratans.”

Sia scrunched her nose in concentration as she worked out how long that would take. “It’s 12 p.m. now. If we do about 60 miles per hour, it should take us more than three hours to get there.”

“Look at you being sexy with math.”

“You know how I do.”

“Does that mean you’re flirting with a guy you like right now?”

“You know it,” Sia answered, batting her eyelids provocatively at her boyfriend.

“You ready to get out of Dodge?” Q quipped cleverly.

Sia took in her surroundings one last time. Halley’s Peak really hadn’t been a bad place to call home. But now it was time for a new adventure. A new life. “Yeah. Let’s go.” He started his engine and soon they were cruising on the main road, leaving Halley’s Peak far behind them.

Just a few paces from the diner was a basement converted into a laboratory, the walls covered in multi-colored graffiti. The jars filled with luminous creatures and the medical equipment had been cleared away and all that remained was a white, space-age recliner in the middle of the room. Rah Turk sat in the recliner, running a finger over his left temple where a transparent headset was located. He pressed a small red button and a stream of silvery blue shot out, forming a solid-looking trajectory of light. And from it emerged the holographic figure of an old, wrinkled man in maroon robes with tattoos that lined his face.

“What news do you bring, Turk?”

“Ill tidings, Great One. Crev Mort, our best warrior, has been defeated by Quell Forx, the son of a Ku’ait Protector, in a duel.”

The old man’s shoulders crumpled in unmistakable defeat. “These are ill tidings indeed; Crev was my apprentice and his is a great loss.”

“Not all is lost, Great One. Crev may be gone, but not before he and I discovered the true form of the human girl known as Sia Dodge. It is as we suspected—she contains the essence the Stratans require to carry on our race.”

Sia’s whole body was aglow, letting the wind blow over her face as she and Quell rode side by side on the dirt roads approaching the town’s limits.

“This is good news, Turk, but comes far too late. Crev lost an important duel and with it, our right to lay claim to this human girl for further scientific study.”

“My Master, there is still hope. I am convinced the Ku’ait are not aware of Sia Dodge’s true identity. Their laws dictate they can only prohibit us from taking a fully-fledged human for our experimentation.”

“A fully-fledged human, you say? Is Sia Dodge not just that?”

“She is not, Great One. The results gathered by the provan confirms this, as well as the tattoo on her wrist, though she thinks it is just an old scar.”

“This changes everything, Rah Turk. We must lay claim to Sia Dodge at all costs,” the old man declared, his mouth stretching into an ominous smile.

Sia and Q were riding so close together that her hand reached out and their fingers intertwined briefly. She allowed herself a few seconds just to gaze fondly at Quell Forx, the alien whom she was forging a new life with.

“She is one of us.”

THE END

Worlds Away - Sci-fi Romance

Chapter 1

“They say it’s like falling in love”

June rolled her eyes. “Is there a more cliché sentence to be found anywhere in the entire Solar English Language?”

“Perhaps not” Q-bit admitted. The AI’s holographic avatar was perching on top of the control panel next to her. “Still, I have heard it spoken of in this manner. After all, isn’t interconnectedness what building wormholes is all about?”

“That’s what they tell me,” June replied. “But I’m just a physicist. I’ll leave the diplomacy to the diplomats.”

“I still say you sell yourself short when it comes to your diplomacy skills,” Q-bit continued. “After all, your work is the primary component of the Rosetta Stone message. I’d say you are personally responsible for more treaties and wormhole trade routes than any political representative from the Solar System.”

She sighed. “I don’t sell myself short. I am quite happy with all I’ve accomplished.”
And with good reason
, she thought to herself. After All, Dr. Juniper Kato had overseen the opening of the majority of the wormholes that humanity had been using for colonial expansion and trade over the last century.  She did so because she was the one whose brilliant innovation had made them possible in the first place. Only six years out of college, while working the overnight shift at the Charon-Pluto Particle Accelerator, she had found just the right sequence of particle interactions to tear a hole in the fabric of space-time.

After that, Juniper Kato had become a household name across the Solar System. She was the woman who made interstellar travel practical. Before her discovery, the Centauri System had been colonized with sleeper ships. Her insight made travel between Earth and its colonies possible within a standard lifetime.

Of course, her notoriety and wealth meant June was able to afford the nanite treatments that kept her body physically young and fit. She was now over a century and a quarter old and still had the body she did when she was a lowly accelerator tech.  She had spent that extended lifetime overseeing the formation of wormholes to connect humanity’s fledgling colonies.

She often liked to claim the honor of being the first person to take a vessel into newly stabilized wormholes. She had been the first Homo sapiens to enter more than two dozen star systems.

This was why she was aboard her ship orbiting around the newly formed Wormhole Z114. In just under 24 hours, she and the team currently assembling aboard the nearby observation platform would take June’s ship into Z114 and emerge in a new system.

The catch when it came to building a wormhole network was that the apparatus used to stabilize the wormhole, which she affectionately called the “doorstop”, had to exist on both sides. They couldn’t just project an exit out into the depths of space—they had to travel there first. Or at least the doorstop’s design schematics had to travel there. After her discovery, it had taken four years for the designs to arrive at the Centauri System. Then it took two more years to construct the apparatus and successfully open the first interstellar wormhole. 

From that day forward, June had lived on the move. Her ship, piloted by Q-bit, carried her from one job to the next as she helped in the opening of new wormholes and the establishment of new colonies.

About five decades on, one of the newer colonies picked up a signal from an alien intelligence. The aliens occupied a star system about 10 light years from the nearest human outpost. June was immediately contacted to put together the reply message. The United Human Territories decided to send the aliens schematics to build their own doorstop, so true intercultural exchange would be possible. She assisted in creating the message and when the wormhole was established, she took her place on the team of scientists and diplomats who crossed over to the alien’s system.

June would never forget the moment when they met the Callistians in person. Having evolved on a denser planet than Earth, they were squat, starfish-like creatures. They dragged themselves across the slimy surfaces of their habitats with six appendages and manipulated objects with a dexterous tentacle that emerged from their round abdomens.

As it happened, the Callistians were already in radio contact with another civilization five light years further away. The doorstop schematics were sent to this species and another bridge was built. The Dendrotins were quadrupedal herd animals with shaggy bodies.

It was another 10 years before the three races contacted another species, but it was the beginning of a pattern. The outward expansion of these allied alien races brought them into contact with new civilizations every few years. To date, Humanity was aware of the existence of 37 extraterrestrial races. Treaties for peaceful colonization were drawn up with each species. Each civilization was far enough apart that no border clashes would happen for a very long time. In fact, many planets were jointly settled.

June traveled to each species’ home system at least one time, with the exception of the two races who refused to build a doorstop. One was willing to communicate through radio, but was fiercely protective of their home space and would not allow any other species to enter their territory. The second was reclusive and ignored all contact with other species. They were known to exist only by the waste heat their civilization was producing in their star system.

Now June was counting down until she could cross the threshold to another star system and engage in another first contact. Humanity and the Dextronins exchanged a few radio messages written in a mathematical language and they agreed to build the doorstop. The wormhole was open and everything on June’s side appeared to be going by the book.

June needed to get some sleep if she was going to help Humanity begin cultural and economic exchange with a new civilization in the morning. She told Q-bit to dim the lights and she retired to her quarters.

Chapter 2

The First Contact Team was composed of a dozen human scientists and diplomats. June had met them all before on other occasions and they had all done similar jobs at some point. Their fleet was composed of three ships, four people to each. Two scientists and one diplomat had joined June on her vessel. Q-bit greeted them while June avoided their small talk, feigning she had to triple-check the wormhole’s stats.

The diplomat, James Drummond, tried to go over the sequence of events for the meeting. She reviewed them quickly, approved them and then ushered him away. Not for the first time, she wished she and her AI could perform the first contact alone. Other human beings always seemed to find some means of rubbing her the wrong way, generally through no fault of their own. She just always seemed to get along better with artificial or alien intelligences. While preparing for contacts, June always found herself excited to meet the new species, but apprehensive about meeting her human teammates.

All the preparations were completed and the ships prepared for their passage through the wormhole. Her ship would drop into Z114 first. Once her ships confirmed the internal stability of the wormhole, then the other two would follow. There was always an element of risk, even with all the precautions that were taken. June had no trouble assuming that risk.

“Drop Lead, prepare to engage,” came the voice of the operation leader on the platform.

“Acknowledged,” June replied.  The holographic readout in front of her counted down the last minute. She took a deep breath. She had done this dozens of times before, but it still gave her a thrill.

“Drop in… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1.”

Her ship slipped into the wormhole. The stars around them bent and contorted as gravitational forces took hold of the ship. June felt a rumbling in the ship’s structure. It was equipped with an inertial dampening system, but that system was being overtaxed by forces tugging in every direction.

Her fellow passengers gazed out the windows at the bizarre array of colors dancing past, the result of starlight being stretched and warped as it fell into the wormhole along with them. June kept her eyes on the sensor data. When the instruments collected enough readings she reported back to the other ships that they had a safe pathway to the Dextronin system.

Their first sight of Dextronin civilization was the two escort ships that met them at the wormhole exit. They traveled alongside the human vessels and all five ships docked at a large cylindrical space station.

“At the rate this station is rotating, it would be simulating the same force as Earth’s own gravity,” Q-bit observed. “An interesting coincidence. You will be quite comfortable with that.”

“Hmm…” June considered it. “We must have told them the strength of our home world’s gravity in one of the introductory messages.”

The ship shuddered as it locked onto the station’s dock.

“I’m reporting a nitrogen atmosphere within the ship. It appears to be just the right proportions and pressure. You will not be needing a suit this time,” Q-bit explained.

The 12 humans stood waiting in the reception chamber of the alien station. June checked the display attached to her wrist more times than was necessary. Then they heard the station’s operating computer sound off a few musical notes, apparently to announce the Dextronin delegate’s arrival.

“Interesting,” said Dr. Richards, the team’s biologist. June looked over to him. “Their auditory range must be the same range as ours. And both our species find that particular series of notes musically pleasing. Only a few of the species we’ve encountered have shared our taste in music.”

That was strange, June agreed, but she didn’t have time to consider it further. The door on the far side of the port they had entered through began to open. The next room was brighter, casting the Dextronin delegates into shadow. Despite the lighting, June could tell they were humanoid. They were standing upright on two legs and she could see they had two arms, but their bodies were difficult to make out. June counted seven individuals.

The alien delegates began to walk forward. As they entered the room, the lights behind them dimmed and their features came into view. They were
human
. At least, they looked human. They had four limbs, as June had seen, but each of their arms ended in a hand with five fingers. Their bodies were shaped like a human body, with a distinct torso, neck and head. The head’s features were in the familiar arrangement.  June even noted they were sexually dimorphic in the same manner as Homo sapiens. She could see four of the Dextronin appeared to be female. The other three were apparently male.

June and her colleagues were silent.  The Dextronin took positions about five meters from the human group. There was an extended moment of silence as the two groups looked each other over.

Finally, one of the Dextronin females stepped forward. She spoke a couple words in her own language. They were definitely in an alien language and yet the words almost sounded familiar. At the very least, June was certain the words were meant as a greeting.

“Hello,” a voice issued from the station’s computer system, translating the Dextronin’s speech, “Welcome to our system.” June thought she could detect a hint of unease. She assumed the computer was sophisticated enough to translate the emotion of the Dextronin’s statements along with the words. June realized that would only be detectable to her if the Dextronin’s non-verbal emotional cues were the same as her own species.

“Hello,” James said, stepping forward. “It is a pleasure to finally meet your people face to…” He paused awkwardly, then pressed on, “face.” Other species had eyes, noses, mouths. Sensory features and appendages were necessary for a sentient being. However, no species had them in exactly the same arrangement as Homo sapiens.

“My name is Shreta,” the Dextronin female said.

“I’m…Drummond.” James seemed uncertain if he should be giving his first or last name to the aliens.

“Welcome Drummond to you and your cohorts. Shall we proceed with the initial negotiations for trade and cultural exchange?”

“Yes, lets…”

“I’m sorry, can I ask something?” All eyes in the room went to the man who had just spoken. It was Dr. Richards. June was surprised he actually had the gall to interrupt the head diplomat. Drummond was technically his superior in this operation. Richards had always struck her as mousy and bookish, at least at a cursory glance.

Shreta nodded, apparently giving him permission to speak. Once again, it seemed the Dextronin’s body language was in line with their own.

“How could it be possible that our people have the same form?” He looked around to all the other humans, seeking support. No one said a word. “Oh come on,” he continued, “our bodies evolved in response to a specific series of environmental changes over the course of a billion years. How is it possible that we could land on the same body plan?”

“Convergent evolution?” A young member of the team piped up. June did not know the young woman’s name, but she was obviously one of the science team members.

“Well yes, there is some precedent in Earth biology. Some animals not closely related can converge on similar body plans when they occupy the same niche in different environments. But look at them! They’re not just superficially like us, they
are
us!”

“Doctor,” Drummond said in a soothing tone. Always the diplomat.

“No, no, no. Sir, I’m telling you this is not superficial.” Dr. Richards turned to the Dextronin team. “Shreta, was it?” She nodded. “See?!” He looked back to the team. “They use the same non-verbal cues that we do!” He turned back to Shreta. “Let me guess…you’ve got a heart with four chambers that pumps blood through your system?”

“Yes, this is true,” Shreta stated.

“Well it’s true of only three other aliens we’ve encountered,” Richards nearly shouted. “And you’ve got two halves to your brains?” She nodded. “Only twelve species.” He turned back to Drummond. "I bet I could go through a thousand factors in which our race is a minority among the known intelligent races and I’d be willing to bet they match up with us on each one. That’s too great a coincidence.”

“Doctor,” Drummond tried again.

Dr. Richards held up a dismissive hand. “No, Sir. I have one more question.” Returning his attention to Shreta, he asked, “What is the chemical composition of your hereditary material?”

Shreta answered by waving a hand. The computer, either inferring her command or reading it though an unseen mechanism, issued a musical note. A holographic image coalesced in the space between the two groups. The molecule that appeared was labeled with Dextronin text, but the iconic double helix was clearly discernable. Shreta waved her hand again and the text morphed into English: Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine, and Guanine.  It was DNA, no doubt about that.

Dr. Richards appeared more upset. “Drummond, I’m telling you it is impossible for two species from different planets to have this much in common. Just listen to their native language—it’s clearly got Latin influences.” June had to admit some of their language had sounded superficially familiar.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” came the computer’s translation of Shreta’s words.

“Drummond,” Dr. Richards continued, “there’s something going on here. I suspect some kind of manipulation. I don’t know how they could have known about our biology, but they’re clearly trying to perform some kind of trick.”

“That is quite an accusation, Doctor,” Drummond pointed out.

“I know that, but there must be something underhanded going on here, Sir. I just know it.” Dr. Richards turned to the aliens. He took a step forward. “What are you all trying to pull? What are these bodies we’re seeing? Holograms?”

Shreta’s formerly welcoming expression shifted. “You are accusing us of some sort of subterfuge? We extended our hand in friendship and you thank us with suspicion?”

“Friendship? You’ve been lying to us, probably from the moment we first made radio contact.  You simply can’t be who you claim to be. I’ll prove it!” Before anyone knew what was happening, Dr. Richards lunged forward. He crossed the gap between the two species in an instant. Turning to the side and leading with his right shoulder, he slammed full-force into Shreta. There was a chorus of gasps as the two sprawled onto the floor.

“Shreta!” the nearest Dextronin shouted. Three of the delegates rushed to the aid of their leader, helping her into a seated position. She was stunned, but seemed otherwise okay.

Dr. Richards pulled himself up from the floor. He looked back to the human team sheepishly. “I… I thought for sure she was a hologram.”

Drummond was fighting for words. “Dr. … Dr. … Richards. I think you need to return to the ship.”

Without question, Dr. Richards turned and made a swift exit.

The Dextronin male holding Shreta in a seated position turned to the human group and spoke in his language with unmistakable fury. “Get out,” the computer translated.