Post by Gabor Szollosy on Nov 7, 2013 17:32:39 GMT 1
7:12 AM, August 6th, 2017
C11 Underground Facility,
Mount McKinley, Alaska
C11 Underground Facility,
Mount McKinley, Alaska
A bearded man in a lab coat knocked on the base commander's door.
"It's open." - Said Colonel Victoria Parker, sitting behind her desk. She was dressed in an elegant blue dress. Her red hair was held in a bun. She was the epitome of discipline and order, and was very precise in her every move and decision. This was one of the many reasons she became a high ranked officer at her early thirties.
"He's here Ma'am." - Said the man, when finally he opened the door. He was a scientist in the facility that researched and analyzed biological data from formerly unknown organisms, to be used as medicine or possibly biological weapons in delicate military operations. He was secretly in love with Parker. Those emerald green eyes! He almost confessed one time, although he lacked the courage to do it, and ultimately he never said a word about it to anybody, although his eagerness to knock on the base commander's door was getting somewhat suspicious among his coworkers.
"Who is here, Frank?" - She asked, looking up mildly annoyed from her notebook.
"The President Ma'am. He's waiting just outside the restricted area entrance." - The biologist answered. She called him by his first name! He was sure things were getting pretty serious between them.
"What!? I told my men specifically to bring the President here for a briefing before we begin interrogation. What is wrong with these people?" - She said, standing up and storming out of the open door. Frank rushed next to her to keep up pace.
"I want you to tell Dr. Timothy and Dr. White to set up the interrogation room ASAP. Prepare the alien for the procedure. Move." - She said in a strict and urgent tone. Frank ran away left in the next intersection of corridors with a salutation. He thought this would definitely be cool with the military woman. He was never so wrong in his life.
"Good morning. Welcome to our facility!" - She said, not extending her hand.
"Good morning Colonel Parker. Please excuse my eagerness to begin, but my day is short and I still have several places to go. I assume these people are cleared to be in there, in which case I'd ask you to brief me on the way to our... guest." - He said and asked which way to walk with a hand gesture.
"As you wish." - Parker said, pointing in the right direction. They began to walk briskly.
"Today at 2:48 AM we registered two unidentified objects descending into the atmosphere. At first we thought it was a meteorite as it was too fast to be any aerial vehicle we have intel on. The larger of the two objects impacted roughly six miles from here to the north-west. I've sent out a recon team to investigate. The second one had a different trajectory and slowed down before reaching the surface. We assumed it was controlled. A second team went out to handle the situation. Before 6:00 AM, both recon teams reported back and we already quarantined both sites. There was one survivor. It attacked the mechanic trying to open its landing capsule. It was knocked out and brought back for questioning or testing. No other aliens were found at the larger crash site. It is held in this facility." - She said, by the time she finished, they have reached the interrogation room.
"I see. Thank you Colonel. Is it safe to go in?" - The President asked. He was not very interested in the story, but it was expected of him to be briefed.
"Yes. You will have to wear this hazard suit. Do not go near the alien, there is already a seat on the opposite side of the table." - Asked the base commander. She'd rather not go in, unless the president asked her to. The creature was... unnerving.
"Will you join me Colonel?" - The politician asked, like he was reading her thoughts just now.
"I will." - Parker answered masking her frustration.
They both dressed up, and went through an improvised decontamination procedure. It wasn't enough to protect themselves from the foreign microorganisms. They had to protect the alien from their own too. It had to go through some test, and the more time it was alive, the more data could be collected.
The President, and Colonel Parker entered. She could hear the politician gasp through their suits as he saw the creature. It was rather strange to see a humanoid that was completely different in so many ways.
"How will we speak to it?" - He asked as the obvious question crossed his thoughts.
"It seems to listen, but it never spoke a word before. We suspect it has some sort of translation device implanted in its body, although we did not have the time to find it yet." - The Colonel said. The president sat down with slow, non-threatening moves. Parker stayed where she was.
"Good morning! I am Henry Archer. The president of the United States of America. This is Earth, and we are called humans. Where do you come from, and what are your intentions here?" - He asked.
Silence.
"Do you understand what I say to you?" - The President tried.
Nothing.
"What did it do so far? Were there any attempts to communicate from its part?" - He asked, looking back at the base commander.
"Nothing, Sir. It cooperated after the knock-out but there were no attempts of communication from its part." - She answered.
"Maybe because you asked the wrong questions." - The alien began. Everyone who heard snap froze from the surprise. There was an uncomfortably long pause before the president finally began to speak.
"Who... are you?" - He asked, trying to control his stuttering.
"Irrelevant. Why am I held prisoner?" - The alien asked.
"It is... common procedure to..." - The president began, when the alien interrupted.
"To forcefully remove a person from their crashed vessel and detain them without explanation?" - It asked outraged. The guards began to stir in the room.
"I am... sorry. We have never had... your species on our planet before. We did not know what to expect." - He admitted.
"So this is how you initiate contact with a foreign species?" - It asked, and grinned with a condescending facial expression and shook its head.
"How do you know English?" - The president asked not answering the unpleasant question like any good politician would.
"We either speak on my terms, civilized, like enlightened people, or not at all. It is your choice, president of the United States." - It declared and waited patiently.
"What do you want?" - Archer asked.
"Are you the ranking officer here? I will only speak with the person with the highest rank." - It declared.
"Yes, I am." - Archer replied.
"You will secure my release after this exchange is over. You will return any and all technology that you no doubt try to reverse engineer right now, and anything that was originally part of my craft. Everything that belongs to me and my vessel. You will assist the search party that is sent for me in their attempt to extract me from this planet. And you will remove the armed personnel from this room."
The president thought about how he should negotiate. If he refuses the alien will not speak any more. They could do it the hard way, but they already have three other bodies of the same species. He needed intelligence, not anatomical data. He had to pretend to play along. On the other hand if the creature spoke the truth, the search party might not take kindly to their comrade's detainment. In the long term it was safer to help the alien.
"I guarantee that you will be released unharmed, along with all your possessions, and your kind will be assisted in getting you back home." - He looked to Parker and continued - "Colonel. Please do as our guest asked. "
"Yes... Sir!" - She exclaimed reluctantly, and informed the base personnel of the presidents decision.
"I'm certain our guest wouldn't mind if you stayed here though..." - He began, hoping to have the Colonel to protect him if things turned ugly. - "Right? Miss... um..." - He said gesturing at the alien, waiting for a name to address it by.
"You can call me Salina. You may refer to me as you do with human women, but I am not actually woman. I am of the asari species. We have no gender. You will perceive me as feminine because the females of your species are similarly built. And yes, she can stay in the room." - She said, relieving the President.
"I accepted your terms. May we ask you a few questions now?" - The politician asked, hoping to gain some knowledge.
"Yes." - Salina answered.
"Why are you here?" - The president began, asking the most obviously relevant questions first.
"Evidently, against my will. My scout ship was damaged and I performed an emergency landing on your planet. It was not intended to happen, but I had little choice." - The asari replied coldly.
"I see. How do you know our language?" - The president asked.
"It is... not the first time we've visited this planet." - She declared unwillingly.
"Could you elaborate? Why have you been here? Since when do you come here?" - Archer inquired.
"There were... expeditions here. Our scientists study different cultures with the potential to achieve advanced space faring capabilities. We... examine them." - Salina said.
"You mean you assess their weaknesses. For an unexpected chance of an armed conflict with them later, right?" - Colonel Parker interrupted.
"In a manner of speaking." - She admitted.
"So this is how you initiate contact with a foreign species?" - The President asked, repeating the alien's own question. There was no answer. He felt good right now. He gained the upper hand with this move. He already liked his idea to make the Colonel stay. He knew he was talented, but this was a major win.
"We are not so different after all it seems." - He declared smiling, and he continued asking.
"Have you personally been here before?"
"I... I don't see how that's relevant. I haven't interfered in your politics if that is what you are asking." - The asari replied.
"How many times?" - The Colonel asked?
After a long pause the alien realized it was pointless to hold the information back.
"Four." - She said.
"Did you lie about your 'emergency landing' too?" - The colonel asked, but the president gestured to stop. No answer came anyway.
"How many other cultures have you encountered, beyond Earth?" - He inquired.
"Many. The most advanced are organized within a galactic council that represent each of the races as best they can." - She said.
"How is your social control structured? Do you have a world government?" - The president continued.
"We have several, relatively similar bodies of nations although they all work together closely. We are a very peaceful people." - Salina answered.
"And how does one join this... council, you spoke of?" - Archer asked.
"Interstellar space travel capability is a minimum requirement. You must initiate contact with the council, and establish a diplomatic relationship with them. You may then be invited to join." - She replied.
Archer nodded.
"Can you tell me more about the asari? Where are you from?" - He asked.
"We are from Thessia. A planet about a quarter of a galactic radius away from your star system. It is much like Earth in terms of climate and gravity, although our society is far more evolved than humans. This is in no small part due to our very long lifespan, our religious tolerance, and the absence of genders as a source for conflict." - Salina replied. She was beginning to feel more at ease with the topics regarding her home.
"How do you communicate in such long distances?" - The president asked.
"We use a device that relies on sub-nuclear entanglement throughout space. We use these particles to transfer data instantly. Unfortunately it was damaged on my ship." - She admitted.
"Do you have other means to contact your superiors? Do you need our help?" - The president asked with a much kinder tone.
The asari thought about the answer.
"All I need is inside the remains of my vessel. If you could bring me there I could call for a rescue team." - Salina said.
"Didn't you say they were already coming?" - Archer inquired.
"They... don't exactly know I'm here." - She said shamefully.
"Look, I'm sorry. I lied to you, ok? I'm not military. I wasn't even supposed to be around here. We are forbidden to make contact with races that did not invent FTL capabilities yet. I'm not even considered to be mature yet on our world!" - She said, frustrated.
There was a short pause. The president exchanged looks with the Colonel.
"Why are you here?" - He asked, his tone was more strict this time.
"I... can't tell you." - She replied.
"What happened to your ship?" - The colonel inquired.
"It was... Ok... I was caught stealing a scout ship. I went to places I shouldn't have. Like Earth. Several times actually." - She said. She thought about what to tell and what not to, but it all became pointless.
"The ship I was escaping from was another vessel sent to get me before I contaminate a pre-FTL culture and accidentally provide one party on a planet with technology to defeat another. I could have started a war that wiped life off Earth. At least that's what they believed... I... I escaped them, but my scout was damaged in a collision, I had to eject." - She confessed.
"So you are a... convict? Is that what you are saying?" - The president asked.
"No! Well, yes... I mean I was going to be arrested if they found me, but they didn't know I came to Earth specifically. All I wanted was to stay here with Jason... I've never meant to..." - She began, but stopped abruptly, realizing what she just said.
"So nobody actually knows you are here?" - He asked.
"No." - She admitted.
The president stood up.
"Are you done?" - The Colonel asked, the man nodded.
"Dr. White. I want a full report on the technology it carried. I want specifics, technical properties, and working models as soon as possible. Get the information you need from it. Any way you can. I want a full dissection and a complete analysis of the organism. See if there are any differences with the other specimens. Find out about Jason. You have one week." - Said the Colonel, and they both left the room.
"What's happening? What is this deception?" - Salina asked, but momentarily a second gas was introduced into the already prepared chamber which almost instantly knocked her out.
The colonel radioed ahead to let Dr. Steve Boyer, pretending to be the U.S. President out of the facility. She hated working with psychologists, but they were able to provide results. That was all she needed.