Alien Frequency
Stellar Flash Book One
by Neil A. Hogan
Available in digital and in print
(c) 2017. All Rights Reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any being living or dead is completely coincidental.
Part 1
Prelude
2133/08/17/11:30 Monday
The binary suns blazed in the brown and purple 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 that 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 any being 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 mentally 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. 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 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 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 me 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 hundreds of spikes sticking out of its body, 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 watched him step over them, staring with open mouths.
“Don’t you just want to hug him,” said Heartness, seeing Hogart’s shocked look.
“I didn’t realize he was so big!”
Puppy let out a long, purple tongue and his translator said, “That’s what they all say.” Then he closed one of his six eyes briefly. A wink?
Hogart almost laughed. “Ah, funny guy, are you? Good. I need people like you on the Center bridge. You’ll be my security officer.” He recognized the clicking of the alien’s legs. So, it was Puppy that had been clapping.
He turned and whispered to Heartness, seriously. “Funny guys usually die first. How’d he make it through his tour of duty?”
“According to some reconstructed memories, he’s only really funny between missions.”
Hogart nodded, then looked at his sheet again. “Cud..dly,” he glared at Heartness, who gave him a winning smile, then he turned back to the crowd. “My second officer and communications advisor.” A large green caterpillar-like creature with many segments, a number of sucker-like legs on the front, and a much larger translator system around its middle, inched up to the stage.
Heartness leant over and whispered, “Cuddly is a bit shy. Make sure he gets lots of toilet breaks, and try not to mention it.”
Hogart nodded, and turned to Cuddly. “I heard you can channel beings as well. Can you teach me telepathy?”
“I’ll do my best, sir,” Cuddly’s translator rasped.
“Great! Probably not this mission, but definitely soon!” Hogart looked at his sheet again. “Geo, the best mathematician in the fleet, and you’re an astrophysicist too!”
A ball with many light-colored tear-drop shapes in various positions around it rolled down the middle of the room, the drops shifting around its body to accelerate. Then a drop shape flicked out, and Hogart could see two big black eyes, surrounded by hair, hiding in the middle of the ball. Geo held up a drop and put it down again. His way of greeting? He rolled up the steps and settled down next to Puppy.
“Alright,” said Hogart. “Amy!” He looked for her in the crowd. “Stellar Flash is fitted with the latest in medical and repair systems for aliens and robots. But, anything can happen in space, and if the system fails, Amy will step in. Our ship’s doctor and astrobiologist.”
A splashing, squelching sound began coming from the left, and a greenish, transparent blob of gelatinous material shifted through many of the other aliens, sliding between their legs, sliding over their shells and even briefly turning into a wall to quickly flow through a close group of plant aliens.
Hogart nodded appreciatively. One of the xenosexuals.
Amy made it to the stage, and immediately formed a human female shape with curves in almost all the right places, but with hair that seemed to drip rather than hang. She flipped it with her hand suggestively, then stood next to the other crew, squelching down into an amorphous blob. Hogart momentarily gaped before turning away.
Then he suddenly realized why she was called Amy, and turned to Heartness. In a quiet, slightly strangled voice he said, ‘as in Amoeba?”
Heartness winked.
Hogart grimaced, then looked at his sheet again.
“And finally, Torus.”
There was a flash, and suddenly a toroidal-shaped energy ball materialized on the stage. “Thank you Captain Hogart,” it vibrated. “It is with great pleasure that I accept your invitation to join your crew.”
Hogart smiled. “Torus will be our engineer and technician, and be a backup for everyone else.”
“That’s only six,” whispered Heartness. “There are eight stations, so you need one more! Where’s your pilot?”
“Yes,” said Hogart, mysteriously, continuing his speech to the crowd. “The Stellar Flash is in need of a pilot. It can flash to any location in this and other universes, of course, but someone needs to drive it once we get there. I will be giving most of this responsibility to the AI. However, we will sometimes need a backup pilot and I will then contact other crew on board. Let’s plan for a guest pilot of the week!”
“Hogart.” Heartness sounded worried. “You can’t. The Stellar Flash is a conscious entity on another level. The AI can operate it, but it can’t fully integrate with it. At some point you’re going to need someone who has a similar consciousness.”
Hogart leant over to her and urgently whispered back. “Since the issue with your previous pilot, Earth has asked me to find a way around having to have a permanent one, as the only real benefit to merged consciousnesses is slightly faster reaction times.”
Heartness looked thoughtfully at him, shifting back into playing the role again, her voice loud enough for all to hear. “Hmm. Well. As long as they’re chosen fairly. Don’t just invite all the pretty females in return for favors.”
Hogart looked at her with a pretend shocked expression on his face. “Would I do that?”
Then he turned back again to the hundreds of alien crew members that stood patiently, listening and translating. “So, what do you think? I’m sure there are some aliens here who want a go at being a pilot. Let’s see a show of hands and err, tentacles, tarsus, leaves, whatever you have, if this is something that would interest you.”
A few of the aliens near the back spat in the air, made a hoot sound or flashed various colors. Hogart nodded. At least he had their attention.
He looked over at his Center crew on the stage. “Well team, are you excited? Ready to take us all to Frequency One for our first mission? I’m sure you are!”
There was, of course, no real reaction. Perhaps Spiney’s spines changed color a little. Perhaps Amy’s translucent body shifted a few molecules or Torus’ energy field flickered more, but there weren’t any sounds from the translators, and they weren’t programmed to translate alien body language anyway.
Hogart walked in front of his new alien crew members and looked them up and down seriously, then remembered Jorjarar, realizing now that he agreed with him. If he could have avoided having to go through these twenty minutes of posturing and posing, he would have. Unfortunately, it was a crucial part of the whole launch, and helped get them continued support from various government departments, private enterprises and charity organizations on Earth. Not to mention their fan clubs.
None of the alien races did anything similar on their worlds, but they were happy to attend, and the viewers back home loved it. He knew that this would be broadcast to billions of people in the Solar System, though he would have left on the mission before the signal actually got anywhere, and even then it would be edited into a one-minute news story on people’s mind viewers for them to decide whether to watch or not.
He briefly touched his temple and checked the time via his mind view, then turned and gave Heartness a knowing wink. She had been playing along with his antics, giving the viewers something to talk about. The wink was to let her know he was about to finish. He turned back to the rustling crowd.
“These are your superior officers.” He pointed his hand at the beings next to him. “Please treat them with the respect they deserve. Please also feel free to ask them for help if you need it. For many of you who have never been to Frequency One before, you can contact any of them if you need any help through the transitions.”
He looked back over at Heartness. “Any last words?”
Heartness shook her head. “I think you’ve covered everything. Now you’ve got about 15 minutes to get to the ship!”
Hogart pretended to look horrified. “Gaah!”
He quickly rolled up his plastic info sheet and checked all his pockets. They’d tried to work out what would be a great thing to do to get a heading on some of the news feeds. ‘New Captain Almost Misses Launch Window,’ might get some attention. “New Captain is Rude to Admiral’ probably not so much. Still, any publicity is good publicity, he thought. “Alright team, it’s time. Let’s get to the Stellar Flash.”
Heartness gave Hogart a grin, her face showing that she was relieved that was over. “Wish you all the best Captain.” She saluted him.
Hogart saluted back. “I wish you all the best too, Admiral.”
Then, as if on cue, all the aliens in the room pressed, flicked, activated or otherwise engaged their address relocation systems, and materialized in their designated rooms on the Stellar Flash, their personal effects having been transported there earlier that day.
Hogart tapped the bright silver flash band on his wrist and also disappeared.
As the flashes in the meeting hall died down, and the light of the environment faded back to normal, Admiral Victoria Heartness looked about the empty room. Her tour of duty between the frequencies was over. She could now take that desk job that she’d just been offered, and manage many of the ships from afar. “Well then,” she said sadly, then strode purposefully out.
She was sure her new duties would have nothing to do with the Stellar Flash.
She had no idea how wrong that would turn out to be.
Chapter 2: Frequency One
Captain Jonathan Hogart flashed to the bridge of his new ship, and saw that his crew were already at their stations. “Good work!” He looked around appreciatively. Heartness had given him a brief tour weeks ago, but it was like taking a test drive in someone else’s vehicle. There was that feeling of it finally being yours. He couldn’t stop himself from grinning. The best spacecraft in humanity’s fleet, and he was the captain. What did his grandfather used to say? Ah, that was it. ‘How awesome!’
The Stellar Flash was the latest in human technology, based on alien designs from the Interdimensional Coalition. The I.C. remained in Frequency Seven, and rarely had anything to do with the lower frequencies besides send some alien technology ideas to engineers in their dreams. When this information had begun appearing a few decades ago, engineers had quickly come up with new ways to utilize it, sending ideas via mind view to every other engineer on the planet.
The relocation technology utilized the electromagnatheric energy that existed in another level of reality, and allowed for instantaneous transportation of anyone and anything, anywhere in the universe. When it was finally understood that objects were not in a location or time, the location and time were part of the object, and that it was possible to superimpose the vibration of a new location and time on the current object’s vibration within an isolation field, Earth became a utopia almost overnight.
With unlimited free energy, and no longer any need for any kind of costly public transportation system, an economy of time trading had quickly replaced money, as the expert you needed for absolutely anything, that also wanted your unique expertise in exchange, would be able to appear before you anywhere in the universe in minutes. The massive leap in technology had transformed the entire human race in under twelve months.
Of course, none of this could have happened if Alien Shift hadn’t happened in 2033, allowing for the next generation of people to accept rapid and total change every minute. Previous generations wouldn’t have been able to cope. Even Hogart, a homo galacticus human born near the end of the 21st century, was still coming to terms with the rapid leaps in technology every day.
Hogart thought about his ship. It was so completely different to what many had expected a future ship to be like. Many of the old files he’d read and gamevids he’d immersed in had predicted long rocket-like vehicles with wings and lines. No one would have ever thought they’d be flying around in something like the Stellar Flash.
The ship was quite nondescript. Completely functional, from a distance, it looked like a black triangle with a wide semisphere in the center. While the surface seemed to be some undefinable shade of shiny black, within the metal teemed billions of repair bots dealing with anything from radiation damage to metal fatigue.
On each flat corner of the triangular-shaped ship was an airlock that led along internal crisscrossing corridors leading to the center. Underneath the corners were three lights, and towards the center a much larger light. These helped with course adjustments as well as stabilizing the isolation field. The larger light also had many other uses and could be adapted to do just about anything.
The ship was big, a kilometer in length on each side, but Hogart knew it wasn’t much bigger than a large 21st century shopping mall. And everything was on one level. No lifts, stairs or ladders to cause too many problems for any aliens.
Inside the semisphere above the large light was the Center, or bridge / command deck / observation room / control sphere, or whatever other captains, engineers or aliens called it, and it was encircled by a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree spherical screen that displayed the immediate outside of the triangular ship.
When the door to the Center closed behind Hogart, it was almost like they were on a small opaque floor with eight station stands floating in the vacuum of space, with a split, white energy column in the center. One section of the column through the floor and the other hanging from the ceiling.
The floor itself could be made transparent too, if needed, but Hogart found it to be a little disconcerting.
The Center was really designed for their alien crew. Humans preferred looking forward, and old ships used to only have a forward screen. Many aliens had advised that they couldn’t see anything that was happening around the ship, so the Center had been built. Unfortunately, it was a bit uncomfortable for humans who only had eyes at the front, and Hogart knew he’d probably end up with neck ache if he had to keep looking around. He would rely on the crew to do that for him.
“AI?” he called.
There was a slight hum, and an image representing the AI formed in front of him. A fit Japanese woman of about thirty appeared. Long black hair, flawless skin, professional black suit, thin rimmed glasses, she looked more like a teacher than a state of the art computer program. He guessed that the software adjusted to the user, and he’d always had a thing for Japanese culture. “AI. Are you ready to pilot this vessel?”
The AI froze for a moment, checking data, then reanimated. “Yes, Captain. Frequency One co-ordinates are set, and we can leave at any time.”
Hogart turned to his crew of aliens. They were standing at their stations which were positioned in a circle of eight, facing outward towards the Center’s surround screen walls. They all had some part of their bodies connected to their white screens – checking systems, monitoring crew, but not really doing much yet. The moment they arrived in Frequency One, they’d be busy.
“AI, activate flashdrive.”
In the surround screens, Saturn was slowly turning on the right, with the space station’s massive wheel and half-complete spokes structure turning on the left. The Stellar Flash was orbiting just above the rings, with Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus directly behind them.
Hogart looked in wonder at Saturn, and further out to the bright star in the distance that was Sol, the sun.
He so loved this system. Even though the plan was for a day trip and return to X-1a to report, he knew the risks. There was always the faint chance that he might not see his beloved Solar System again.
A hum began climbing as the Center’s separated central column of white metal began glowing, and then along with an increasing vibration, arcs of electricity shot up and down it. The gap in the middle of the column began glowing, creating a bright white sphere that grew larger.
In moments the sphere expanded to fill the entire crew area, then expanded again, rushing through the entire ship.
Outside the ship, flashes spread across its surface like multiple lightning strikes, then the glow intensified, enveloping the entire structure in a spherical isolation and relocation field.
Moments later, the Stellar Flash disappeared, flickers of energy sparking across the vacuum where it used to be.
On the spherical screen inside, the white light of the energy sphere faded away to reveal a binary star system – a brown and purple planet solidifying next to it. The planet turned slowly on the right side of the screen, streaks of white, pink and blue in its atmosphere, small lakes of water peeking out from under the faint cloud cover.
Hogart was pleased to see that they had arrived at their destination. The binary star system occupied the exact same space/time as the Solar System, but existed within the vibrational universe designated Frequency One.
Hogart had been given the explanation a few times, but it was different finally being here, on another channel of reality. He knew his Solar System was a turn of the dial away, but it was just the same as being an infinite number of kilometers away. Without this ship, he could never return to his own world.
As the ship stabilized, the crew flew into action, translators chattering, sending enquiries for information via their white panels.
“Thank you, AI,” said Hogart. The hologram of the Japanese AI bowed and disappeared.
Hogart was beside himself. He’d finally made it to Frequency One, and it wasn’t all that bad. In fact, his thoughts seemed clearer, and everything around him seemed more defined and easier to control.
He had heard that one of the side effects of experiencing another frequency was being able to manifest something out of thin air. He held out his hand and concentrated.
“Yes, sir?” asked Geo, thinking Hogart’s hand was pointing towards him.
“Oh, sorry, Geo. I just thought I’d test a theory for myself, and try to make something appear with my mind.”
“I understand.”
Hogart stared at his hand for a few seconds, but nothing happened.
He put it down again. “Oh well. No apple.” He sighed. It must have been a myth. Or maybe it worked on a higher frequency. “Well, team, let’s get down there.”
“Two volunteers?” asked Spiney.
“Actually, I’d like you and Cuddly to come with me. I need Cuddly to work on finding a way to translate the language, and I need you to be my backup. I would have liked to bring Torus too, but I heard that this world is not really suitable for him during the daytime, and I need the others in the Center for this mission.”
“Yes,” agreed Torus. “The magnetic fields from these particular binary suns mean, without the protection of the Stellar Flash, I am unable to fully corporealize on the day side.” Torus didn’t sound apologetic, just stating a fact.
“Next time, Torus. Hopefully the next mission will be easier on you. Alright, Cuddly?”
“Let me just go to…” began Cuddly, and Hogart waved him off. He quickly inched through the Center doors and down the corridor to the waste disposal room.
Hogart strode around his new crew, getting a feel for being their captain. He could easily just give orders but he preferred a bit of conversation. He wasn’t the sort of leader that usually followed the rule of ‘don’t give a reason’. All the aliens needed explanations, and their feedback on his decisions could be helpful. “While Cuddly is indisposed, can someone give me a run down? I know you’ve been here before, but I haven’t. And I don’t fully trust Frequency Zero reporting when most of our memories come back transformed. What can you tell me is there, right now?”
“Quick summary, sir,” said Geo. “The planet’s atmosphere is mainly hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide. There are a number of habitats on the planet, and a few of the buildings that the team visited last time look like they might be part of a school, though we didn’t stay long enough to check them out. The indigenous population has a physiognomy that looks like something between what you would call a bug and fungi.” Geo put one of his drops against his panels, and a hologram of one of the aliens appeared within the space between the ceiling and floor columns, slowly turning. It had a wide mushroom shape with five antenna sticking out of the top of one end of it. The antennae were colored and moved in complicated shapes.
“I thought the Stellar Flash lost everything when it returned to our frequency,” said Hogart. “I only saw sketches.”
“Everything is still here, it just can’t be seen in Frequency Zero,” said Puppy. “When you return to Frequency One, everything becomes accessible again.”
Hogart nodded at Puppy. He guessed that if Puppy knew how to wink, he probably knows what nodding means. “Anything else?”
“Your first flash location will be a little bit further away from our original landing point,” said Amy. “Use nanite suits, not force suits, as there is a chance of a force suit being detected by some of the more sensitive locals. Spiney can show you where they went last time.”
“Thank you, team.”
Hogart heard Cuddly inching himself back into the Center, smelling slightly of something like nail polish remover. Hogart thought best not to joke about it. He didn’t want to start a diplomatic incident. Most of the aliens on the ship had engaged their nanite waste systems and didn’t need to take regular toilet visits, but he understood that Cuddly’s wastes were so corrosive that the nanite recycling systems couldn’t cope with the process.
He made a mental note to make sure Cuddly was back on board with plenty of time.
“Alright Spiney, Cuddly, you’re with me. The rest of you, keep an eye on us and, at the first sign of trouble, please activate the fast return systems if possible. Nanite suits on.”
Hogart pressed a button on his wrist and stayed completely still as his blue nanite suit grew up from his shoes, rushed up the left side of his body, formed a plastic bubble around his head, then grew a mirror version out from the center to envelop his right.
By the time his suit finished forming, Spiney and Cuddly’s were already complete.
They all then activated their flash bands and flashed to their designated location, their nanites already working on sterilizing them for the world.
The transition was a bit disconcerting. Hogart had done it many times around the Solar System, but usually not with such a gravity difference. There was usually time to get acclimatized. Even Mars had a way station where you could get used to the gravity before landing on the planet.
He recalled his visit to Mars a few years back. Lots of red, a slightly darker sky, with some blue sky in the morning. The image was quite clear and the similarities were uncanny.
But this place had some purple and black plants growing in various places, and there seemed to be threads of mist in the air.
His mind-view system told him the threads were small wisps of carbon dioxide. Dry ice. It must be freezing here.
He watched some of the mushroom-like bugs in the distance bouncing along a track towards some conical buildings, then turned to Spiney. “So, they really can’t see us?”
“No. Our nanite suits are set to be slightly out of phase with their frequency. We can see them, but they can’t see or feel us. The frequency is set for creatures with a higher vibration. The land, rocks and buildings have a lower vibration, so we’re able to walk on those, and not fall through the planet.”
Suddenly Hogart yelled in surprise. Much to his horror, a large mushroom-bug head started poking out of his stomach, with antennae flicking and twisting. Then the bug creature continued moving with little bounces straight through him. It seemed to be holding some flat things on its underside.
“Oh my God!” Hogart said, slightly shaken, holding his stomach to reassure himself that it was still there.
He was relieved to find that the mushroom-bug had passed completely through him without touching.
Spiney saw his distress. “We best move off the path.” He indicated a space where they could get organized, and they headed over to a reddish-tan wall, as more of the bugs bounced past them.
Hogart steadied his breathing then looked closely at the wall. “Industrial printer,” he said, indicating the layers of mud. “I guess they’re at the equivalent of early 21st century Earth development.” He grimaced. “Let’s not stay here too long.” Then he pointed at the steadily moving groups of mushroom-bugs near them. “They look like they’re carrying some kind of material underneath them while they’re bouncing. But how are they doing that with no legs? Telekinesis?”
“We’re not sure. Perhaps their stomachs are sticky. Lower gravity might mean it is easier to use secretions to retain things.”
“Sounds plausible.” A useful ability, though he wouldn’t like to be stuck to the bottom of one of those things. “Alright,” he said. “Cuddly, fill me in. What did Captain Heartness get up to here?”
“Can you see those conical buildings a bit further away?” Cuddly tilted his segmented body towards what looked like a group of reddish-brown dwellings, with three wide entrances positioned equidistant up the side, featuring an adjoining wrap-around ramp. “We had flashed next to one, and thought it was a school. All the young bugs were running in groups to different rooms up the side of the cone, while older bugs looked on. But after Leafy had hijacked the ship and taken us to the other side of the planet, we found evidence of nuclear warfare. So, now we’re not sure if it is really a school or not.”
“Yes, you can’t really tell from here.” Hogart was about to rub his chin then remembered he couldn’t put his hand through his nanite glass helmet, so changed it to an awkward pointing gesture instead. “Earth wants us to find out whether that is really just a school for general education, or actually a military one. Then we’ll decide whether we can instigate first contact.”
“Yes,” said Spiney. “But if we find out it is a military one, we’ll need to add this world to the quarantine list until they are more mature.”
“Or begin serious monitoring, and intervene if we think this world might become a danger to other worlds,” added Cuddly.
“Right, well, let’s get on with it.”
They set off down the brown and red terrain, walking past and sometimes through many of the mushroom creatures, seeing some having conversations by making a strange scratching sound to get attention, then discussing things with antenna movements.
Many smaller conical buildings dotted the path and Hogart surmised these were living areas, though he couldn’t see anything remotely resembling kitchens or toilets. Perhaps the creatures didn’t eat.
While watching the creatures on their journey, Hogart thought that he had seen one of them laughing at a joke another had made, giving little jerking movements, but he suspected he was just anthropomorphizing. At this stage he couldn’t really tell if there was anything they had in common. If this race was suitable for First Contact, he first had to work out whether they had anything similar to help begin initial conversation or negotiation, but he hadn’t found it yet. He’d hate to end up starting with discussing the weather. Especially considering this planet seemed to have a temperate, unchanging climate.
“Cuddly, how is your translator doing?”
Around Cuddly’s greenish body, belted between a couple of his sucker feet, was a wide metallic translation system. Unlike the much smaller systems the rest of the crew wore, Cuddly’s had a different job. Scanning for, absorbing and interpreting any new languages, and then sending those updates to other crew members.
Cuddly looked down at the flickering lines on its display. “The system estimates it needs another 30,000 sounds before it can begin to construct complicated dialogue. This walk has been very useful, but we’re still at larvae level.”
“Thank you, Cuddly. Let me know when we’re close.”
In the lower gravity they made good progress, nanite suits and smooth ground bounding them to the collection of cone buildings in a short time.
Spiney led them to the ramp of the cone Heartness’ team had gone to previously, and they set off on the short circular pathway to the top, bypassing the larger base room entrance.
The slope was an easy incline, winding around the cone, with flat landings in front of the doorways. Hogart continued to march upward, then he discovered he was alone and stopped to look back at his slower companions, inching and slapping their way behind him. Perhaps they should have just flashed there directly, but then Cuddly wouldn’t have had the chance to absorb the language.
Hogart reached the second room first, and quickly glanced in to see that it was smaller than the base room and with less mushroom-bugs. He guessed that there might be some learning hierarchy with the building. Most would be learning in the bottom room with less and less students able to pass the exams that would enable them to get to the smaller, more advanced rooms nearer to the top.
While he waited for Cuddly and Spiney to catch up, he looked across at the city. Cone-shaped buildings as far as the eye could see with many little brown and black bug shapes scurrying back and forth around them. It was almost like he was in a sophisticated termite town. Or perhaps an advanced ant colony. A few buildings away and to his right was a square with what looked to be an amphitheater, or some kind of meeting place. He activated his mind-view system and zoomed in, but the conical buildings and purple and black leafy plants obscured much of it.
But he was sure there was something gold there. Something that looked out of place compared to the rest of the reddish town. It would be worth checking out.
Spiney and Cuddly reached him, and he continued alongside them, this time attempting to move his legs slow enough to match their inching and slapping.
He had had no idea walking with aliens would be so difficult. Then again, if he was out walking with Puppy, it would be the giant spider-like alien who would be waiting for Hogart.
They reached the third opening, and Spiney stopped outside it. “When the Captain, Leafy and Cuddly returned to the ship without completing the mission, I immediately flashed down to take over. This is the room where I saw markings drawn on the walls that could have been weapons. If there are more here today, I could send these new images back to the team for analysis.”
“Lead the way,” said Hogart, and they headed inside.
The bright suns and burnished landscape of conical hills outside were in stark contrast to the almost pitch-black interior. Hogart shuddered at the thought of another mushroom-bug walking through him in the dark, and quickly adjusted his light filter.
The room now shone like it was in daylight. Lots of flat rectangular platforms in a semi-circular shape, with many of the mushroom-bugs positioned on them, making scratching noises and flicking their antennae at each other. In the more revealing light, Hogart discovered that they did have eyes, two on each side of the antennae, and two smaller ones just below.
Momentarily distracted by this discovery, he hadn’t noticed that Cuddly and Spiney had become silent.
He turned to see that they were staring at whatever had been drawn on the board for the class. Hogart looked over the top of them, then gasped.
He knew it was impossible for that shape to be scratched on that board.
A very familiar shape. A triangle with a sphere in the middle, floating in space.
Then he noticed an arrow-like scratch had been drawn on the board, pointing at it.
“Uh, oh,” said Hogart.
Chapter 3: Discovery
Hogart activated his HUD camera and transmitted the disturbing image to the Stellar Flash. “Well, Puppy, what do you think?”
A few seconds later Puppy’s translated voice came through from orbit. “We’ve analyzed the image, and can confirm that it is of the Stellar Flash from when we were here last time.”
“So, not one of now, then. Perhaps they have a satellite in orbit that we can’t detect?”
“Or a powerful telescope,” said Geo.
“Good point. But, how would they have detected the Stellar Flash? We’re supposed to be on another frequency. Completely invisible.”
“Leafy had tampered with a variety of systems at the time. I assume our frequency had been detected too,” said Amy.
Pilot Leafy had been strongly affected by the binary star system the last time the Stellar Flash had been here. Being a Floran, and having been recently pollinated, she had become mentally unstable, and attempted to release seeds to take over this world.
“Anything else?” Hogart needed to know what to do next. This image changed everything. “What do you think about that scratched line?”
“The arrow could be anything. Distance, planned mission, a missile…”
“Well, I hope it’s not the third one.” He frowned. This was not a good development. Now that the creatures knew they existed, it was only a matter of time before they worked out where they had come from, and maybe even discover the frequencies of the universes.
He sighed. Not a good start to the mission.
“Okay. Spiney, Cuddly, suggestions, please. They know we exist but they don’t know anything about us. Perhaps we can use this to our advantage. Maybe they really want to meet us?”
“Captain, I’m not sure they’re ready,” said Cuddly.
“But that’s our job. Find out if they’re ready, and if they’re close, follow the protocols to make them ready. Have you been able to work out their language yet?”
Cuddly indicated his wrap-around translator band. “Almost enough for basic communication. The software should be able to create a sentence soon.”
Just then Hogart realized that they had been so focused on discussing the image on the board, they’d forgotten that there were actually mushroom-bug aliens in the room. Hogart turned back to the creatures and stopped, a painful feeling beginning to appear in the pit of his stomach.
Their antennae were all pointing directly at the three crew members. None of them were flicking their antennae at each other. It was like a semicircle of silent spears stabbing towards them, with a slight gap in the middle that led outside.
Had they somehow been detected? Had the mushroom-bugs shifted to the crew’s frequency? They still hadn’t got the language yet so Hogart didn’t want to leave, but perhaps they could run for it and hide out somewhere.
“They’re looking at the board, right?” asked Hogart, nervously.
“I don’t think so,” said Spiney. “This happened to Captain Heartness when her forcesuit was boosted by the EM radiation from the suns. It shifted her frequency slightly closer to theirs and one of them saw her.”
“But, that’s why we’re wearing nanite suits!” said Hogart. “Surely they can’t pick up on the nanites? Their combined electrical charges are way too small.”
Then they both turned to Cuddly, and his whirring, spinning, calculating translator. “It’s boosting our bioelectrical signatures!” said Hogart pointing at the device. “It’s shifting our frequency closer to theirs! They can see us! And you know what that means!”
All three of them turned slowly to look at the mushroom-bugs again. Disturbingly, every single mushroom-bug was one hundred percent focused on the three aliens in front of them.
“What do you think they’re going to do?” asked Spiney.
“Three strange creatures suddenly appear in the middle of your classroom? I don’t think you’re going to offer them a beer!” muttered Hogart.
Then he took a deep breath and without thinking, yelled “Run!” then ran for the doorway, forgetting that Spiney and Cuddly weren’t really the running type.
Suddenly, as one, all of the mushroom-bugs leaped forward. There were at least fifteen of the hard brown and black bodies, and now that they’d shifted to their reality, the bugs had no trouble touching them.
Hogart stumbled into the brightness of the blazing suns and was temporarily blinded as his sensors readjusted to the stronger light. He turned around to make sure his crew were following, then realized that he had forgotten the shapes of his alien crew members. Instantly guilty, he made to go back to save them, but one of the mushroom-bugs was faster, and leaped at him, slamming him to the ground.
He struggled under the creature, the brown and purple sky whirling around him as he desperately tried to shake it off his back.
The creature gripped him as Hogart pulled himself to the edge, looking over the ramp at the ground far below. In this lower gravity, and with the support of the nanite suit, he could probably jump it, but he had no idea what would happen to Spiney and Cuddly. He had to go back and save them.
Using the suit’s increased strength-enhancing capabilities, as well as his own power from growing up in the heavier gravity of Earth, he pushed hard against the creature, expecting to throw it against the wall, or at the very least, into the air.
But nothing happened.
Briefly he thought that something had happened to his suit, but he soon realized it was the mushroom-bugs’ sticky stomach that had trapped him. He felt a jolt as the creature arched itself slightly, then began bouncing him back through the entrance into the darkened room.
“Lights!” he yelled at his HUD, which quickly showed him the room again.
A reddish blur was spinning near the board and it took him a moment to realize the wild dervish was Spiney, who had worked out a way to stop the creatures from being able to stick to him. He kept spinning fast, his spines knocking a few of the creatures away without hurting them, but they just bounced off the walls and came back at him.
In contrast, Cuddly had just lay down on his side near a corner and curled himself around into a tire shape. He was too soft, even in the nanite suit, and really didn’t want to be hurt. He didn’t move when a mushroom-bug stuck itself on top of him.
Hogart grunted as the first bug bounced him to the center near the scratch boards, and more of the bugs jumped on top of him. “Come on, guys. You’ve got me already. No more needed.”
With the shaking finally stopping he was able to connect to the ship.
“Stellar Flash, we are under attack,” reported Hogart. “You won’t be able to activate the fast return switch. The creatures have literally stuck themselves to us, so we can’t get a safe relocation signal that takes the suit but not the bug. Stand by.”
“I guess it’s time to say it then,” Spiney’s translator stuttered. His spin had been halted by a number of mushroom-bug antenna grabbing him by the spines and lifting him off the ground.
“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 antenna grew out from an area not covered 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.
The mushroom-bugs took a moment to get organized, discussed the issue amongst themselves, made a decision, then curled their bodies slightly to hold Hogart, Spiney and Cuddly in the folds of their stomachs, or whatever they were. Then they began their tiny bounces out of the conical building and down and around the ramp.
Hogart was grateful he wasn’t one to get seasick or suffer nausea, and his suit and the lower gravity was protecting him from each landing, but the constant jolting was beginning to give him a pain in the neck, not to mention the constant up and down of the ground affecting his sense of direction. He closed his eyes and waited for them to arrive.
He hoped that they were actually taking them to see their leader. If they were just going to throw them in a dungeon and ignore them, he’d have words.
To be continued
