Alien Days Anthology

by P P Corcoran

  That wrongness was reinforced by the years of layer upon layer of security that had surrounded the crashed Ralak probe and the Backstop Program. The significance of the ship and the possible advantages its advanced technology could provide in the middle of the heightening tensions of the Cold War was not lost on the more shadowy parts of the United States government and military. The decision was made to keep the ships very existence a secret. Squirreled away on the uninhabited mid Pacific island, more an atoll than an island really, of Gilo. Surrounded by thousands of square miles of empty ocean Gilo dated back to the early fifties when US Air Force engineers descended on the small island. Originally conceived as an alternate landing strip for US bombers they constructed an extra-long, all weather runway and array of hardened buildings. For three decades for all appearances there was a minimal Air Force presence at the base, just enough to maintain the infrastructure before, finally, the base was closed and gifted to a privately financed marine research charity. In truth, Gilo had effectively been hollowed out and a warren of underground facilities held research labs, living quarters, a nuclear power plant and everything you could possibly need to operate a state-of-the-art facility. The research charity was nothing more than a front for the ongoing Backstop Program.

  So, while every inquisitive eye in the world had been focused on the famous Area 51 in Nevada the true work was being carried out tens of thousands of miles away in the middle of the Pacific. Well it had been thought Kielty. Gilo was now a throng of scientists, engineers, military men and the inevitable nosy, preening politicians from every corner of the globe. All with something to say about how it was disgraceful that Backstop had been kept such a closely guarded secret and, of course, how if they had been in charge, they would be so much further along in their understanding of all the Ralaks secrets.

  A small harrumph escaped Keilty’s lips at that. Was she not sitting in the center seat of the most advanced spacecraft that humanity had yet to build? Sure there was still some systems that they had yet to completely understand but the best minds had assured Keilty and her crew that those systems were so integral to the functioning of what the scientists had dubbed the R Drive, probably because nobody could be bothered saying Ralak all the time, that during trials the drive had simply failed to function without them so they had left them in place.

  Discovery herself was built completely around the R Drive hence its shape, the bow of the ship was triangular in shape, raking back sharply until it met the spherical engine bay. Unlike conventional man-made spacecraft there were no protuberances at the tail of the craft which would indicate an engine exhaust. The R Drive worked by generating a bubble of null space around Discovery which could be controlled to ‘pull’ her along in any direction. The drive worked just as effectively in atmosphere as it did in vacuum. The added bonus was the negating effect the drive had on acceleration. Whether in atmosphere or vacuum the null space ‘bubble’ formed around Discovery by the drive canceled out any feeling of acceleration within the ‘bubble’ so the normal g forces which a crew would experience at high acceleration did not apply, this also allowed Discovery to make radical maneuvers which would rip normal atmospheric or space craft apart, 90 degree or more changes of direction were the norm for the Discovery. A fact that many an observer to a UFO sighting would attest to.

  “We are green across the board Colonel. Ready to proceed.” Intoned Commander Henry DeSotte in his, to someone who had not grown accustomed to it, nasally voice.

  Kielty felt a shudder of trepidation run down her spine. The moment of truth was upon them. The crashed ships AI had only given them a very vague insight into what lay on the other side of the singularity. A fact that had struck many as oddly perplexing. Kielty included. It had felt that the AI was deliberately... Hiding information from them. The consensus was that the AI had been programmed to reveal the minimal amount of information about its origin so as not to aid any foreign species that may gain control of the ship. A prudent precaution when you considered that that was exactly what had happened.

  “Okay Henry take us in, keep us at a steady 100 kps.” Kielty was surprised at how steady her voice sounded as with no perceptible feeling of movement the Discovery surged ahead, racing for the still, dark eye of the singularity at 100 kilometers per second. With every passing second the singularity grew larger in the cockpit windows. The veil of silence that had descended on the cabin was only broken by the steady clicking coming from old fashioned naval timepiece which the first, now long retired and probably dead, admiral who had overseen the Backstop program had gifted to them in the hope that one day the timepiece would travel to somewhere he could only dream of. Well today his dying wish would be fulfilled.

  “Event horizon approaching. Twenty seconds.” Said DeSotte.

  The third member of the original crew, Lieutenant Commander Chan Lou, spoke without lifting her head or averting her eyes from the instrument panel in front of her. “Radiation levels are stable Colonel. Hull integrity is good. It looks like the R Drive is doing its thing.”

  “Acknowledged Commander.”

  The Discovery sped ever closer to the beckoning maw of the artificial monster and Kielty unconsciously gripped the armrests of her seat as the oncoming blackness filled the cockpit windows.

  “Event horizon in five... four... three... two... one...” DeSotte’s voice seemed to fade into the distance as a strange tingling feeling spread throughout Kielty’s body. Her vision narrowed to a pinpoint, the instrument panel lights before her dimming, melding into one single multi-colored blur. The tingling crawled up her body and her brain registered that although not uncomfortable it was leaving her limbs numb as it passed through them, heading steadily up her body until finally it reached her neck. Unable to control her muscles any longer Kielty’s chin fell forward onto her chest. The last thing she saw before lapsing into unconsciousness was a single point of light hovering at the center of the wormhole.

  Is this what death is like?

  #

  From somewhere in the cobwebs that filled her brain a steady, demanding tone was calling out. Calling to Kielty like a beacon it took her considerable effort to gather herself and force her eyelids which felt as heavy as lead open. The blackness of the singularity’s heart was gone replaced by bright, eye hurting light forcing her to squint against the harsh light. Kielty raised a hand and by sheer muscle memory tapped the smooth reactive glass surface of her control panel. At her command the cockpit windows polarized enough to make the light streaming through them more bearable. Only after her hand had returned to her side did Kielty realize that an unaccustomed weight tugged on her body. With a shake of her head to clear away the lingering fog she realized that the Discovery must be near a gravitational source. And a massive one if it was affecting her bodies movements. A gravitational source of this magnitude could easily drag Discovery into it with fatal consequences.

  “Ugh...” Kielty’s attempt to talk died in her parched throat. A side effect of their transit through the singularity Kielty wondered. Swallowing heavily, she licked at her dry lips before attempting to speak again.

  “DeSotte. You still with us?” She managed to croak.

  “Yeah. I’m still here.” Peering through the cockpit windows the commander tried in vain to locate any readily identifiable stars. “Though pretty sure I don’t actually know where ‘here’ is.”

  “We’ve got a bit of a more pressing problem than that. I think we are in the pull of a gravity source. Something pretty big. Let’s get the engines back online ASAP.”

  A gloved hand tapped Kielty on the shoulder and in heavily accented English she heard. “You mean something like that.”

  Kielty followed the direction that Molanokov was pointing and her breath caught in her chest. The entire right-hand side of the cockpit window was filled with the curve of a planet. So close that Kielty thought that she could reach out and touch its brilliant white clouds with her bare hands and that was too damn close for her liking. A glance at the radar
display spurred her into action.

  “Where’s my engines Henry?”

  DeSotte was resting the engine start up procedure manual on his lap while tapping away at the controls with his free hand. “I’m working on it.”

  “Well work faster.” Kielty said with another glance at the radar display and the numbers indicating Discovery’s height in rapidly decreasing numbers.

  “Here let me help.” Said Lee So retrieving the manual from DeSotte and coolly beginning to rhyme off the start up sequence in a calm and orderly fashion while DeSotte’s fingers flashed over his board.

  The R Drive engine status lights swiftly went from red to green. “Move us to a high orbit Henry.” Kielty ordered as the last light went green. DeSotte tapped a control, fingers flexing around the joystick. Kielty felt the reassuring pressure of being pushed back into her padded seat as Discovery made for high orbit.

  #

  “Shit!” Diane Kielty said softly, half to herself though in the silence which had descended upon the cockpit of Discovery it was almost certainly what the rest of the crew were thinking too.

  They had been in orbiting the planet for hours and, after the days otherwise traumatic events, the sight of a dead planet felt like a massive let down.

  The astrogation computer had eventually been able to identify their location. HR 6847, a solar system with a G2 primary just like our own sun. However, the planet Kielty was gazing upon lay roughly 74 light years from her own planet of birth. Without turning her head, she addressed See Lo.

  “Well Doctor?”

  “I’m afraid my observations leave me in no doubt Commander. This world has suffered an Extinction Level Event and,” Lo spared her compatriots a forlorn look, “sometime in the planets recent past.”

  “How recent?” Grunted Molanokov.

  See Lo shrugged her thin shoulders. “My guess would be perhaps the last 50 years or so.”

  “The Ralak AI did allude to some kind of impending threat.” Clarified DeSotte. “It looks to me like whatever that threat was they didn’t find a way to avert it.”

  Kielty continued to stare at the dead world which hung so serenely in the sky before her. Hard to believe that below their white majesty the Discovery’s radar had detected the ravaged remains of mighty cities now lying decimated by an unknown fate. A surge of resentfulness welled up inside her and she clenched her jaw in frustration. They had spent so many years and uncounted fortunes to get here... and for what. Nothing. The thrill of First Contact was gone replaced by the specter of loss for the Ralak species.

  “Let’s go home.”

  #

  “The humans had made transit.” The Untarl at the detection grid said respectfully.

  V’alk bent a single antenna in polite acknowledgment. The Untarl were only recent additions to the Union and, though V’alk was not amongst them, some of his own species, the Opki, resented the speed at which they had amalgamated the technology that entering into the Union had given them access too.

  V’alk’s lower mandibles clicked softly together as he considered the High Council’s reaction when they learned that the Humans had managed to not only construct a working singularity drive but successfully incorporated it into a vessel of their own design and fly it to the world chosen by the council as the First Test. It had taken his own species twice as long to understand the secrets of the singularity drive and achieve the first steps on the road to joining the Union.

  “Please signal the AI that it may disclose the information to begin the Second Test.” A Pokalaa at communications input the required codes. On distant Earth the AI of the fictional Ralak species sat deep underground on the Pacific island of Gilo came to life and began chirping. Human scientists rushed to interpret the information which, much to their combined astonishment, proved to be a tweak to the R Drives navigational software which would allow the R Drive to access a second destination.

  If the speed at which the humans had completed this first task was a gauge of their inherent aptitude then V’alk was certain that it would not be long before he was able to stand before a living representative of their race rather than the long distance observing that Union protocol insisted he hold himself to.

  First Contact was only a baby step away.

  - THE END –

  About PP Corcoran

  Author of the Amazon bestselling Saiph Series, PP Corcoran writes fast-paced military science fiction because he gets to mix his two loves; shoot em ups and science. A 22-year-veteran of the British Army, Paul began his writing career in 2014. After serving all round the world, this native of Scotland now lives in Northern Ireland and writes epic space opera for a living; in 2018 he ranked #10 in Amazon’s Sci-Fi Authors.

  Paul loves to hear from readers. You can friend him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.

  Connect with Paul here:

  www.castrumpress.com/authors/pp-corcoran

  A Bolt From The Blue

  by S. K. Gregory

  1

  “Behold, Planet Earth!” Tyler announced, sweeping his arm dramatically at the landscape that lay before them.

  Iris giggled at her boyfriend. “Or Vista Falls as it’s actually known. I think we’d have to hike a lot higher to see all of planet Earth,” she said.

  Tyler pouted at her. “You’re no fun. I’m trying to make this impromptu day of exercise more fun.” He hopped off the rock he stood on. He wore baggy shorts and a sweat soaked t-shirt, despite the fact we had only been walking for ten minutes.

  “That’s a big word for you,” she teased.

  “What, exercise? You were the one that insisted we get healthy, so you’re the one I’m going to blame when I drop dead in this heat.”

  “Stop complaining. It’ll be cooler the higher we go. Come on.”

  The hills overlooking their home town were beautiful this time of year. Iris loved nature, but Tyler preferred Netflix and Chill. She finally convinced him that a hike could be fun, and she wasn’t turning back now.

  A blue sky stretched above them, and Iris had packed them a picnic lunch in her backpack. She felt good, being out in nature, getting away for the day. Years ago, her father used to take her and her brother on hikes all the time. Until she turned ten and he died of an aneurism. Her mother fell to pieces and for over a year, she felt lost. Slowly, she started to recover, but even now, she wasn’t the same. Iris missed him terribly. Being out here, made her feel close to her dad again. Like he was watching over her.

  She pulled her phone from the back pocket of her denim shorts and shot a quick selfie. She hit upload to Instagram, then she noticed that there was no signal up here. She didn’t think about that.

  “No internet. Now we’re really doomed,” Tyler joked.

  She scowled at him. “I’m not a slave to social media like you are. I can go a few hours without posting something.”

  “Is that a fact?” he said, crossing his arms. “I doubt that. I give you twenty minutes before you’re racing back down the hill in search of some bars.”

  Iris made a show of switching her phone off and stowing it in her backpack. “Wanna bet?”

  “Yes, actually. I bet you want to turn around in the next half hour to go home.”

  “Fine, what’s the stakes?” she said, playing along.

  “If you win, I will be your slave for a whole day.”

  Iris laughed. “A week. And if you win?”

  He smirked at her. “Well, I think you can guess what I want.”

  Iris shook her head at his dirty mind. It’s always about sex with him. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of winning.

  “Guess I’m getting a slave,” she said. She pulled her baseball cap lower and started walking. Tyler lagged behind her as they made their way to the top. If anyone would give up, Tyler would.

  Sweat poured off Iris. She did regret this, but she wasn’t going to admit that to Tyler. If I can walk for another thirty minutes, I’ll have my very own slave.

  The thought spurred her on
.

  “Oh my God, Iris, stop!” Tyler groaned after a while.

  She glanced back at him to find he had a desperate look on his face.

  “I need water,” he pleaded. The idiot hadn’t even thought to bring his own.

  Laughing, she passed him her canteen and he gulped the water back. “Don’t drink all the water,” she snapped.

  “Let’s stop and rest a while,” he said. He poured some water into his hand and rubbed his face.

  Iris glanced at her watch, thirty-two minutes. “Okay, slave. But just for a bit.”

  They found a spot near a ledge to sit. Iris spread out the blanket she’d brought with her and Tyler flopped down onto it, his hands behind his head. “Ah! Much better.”

  “I don’t think so. You can lay the food out,” Iris said.

  Tyler pouted at her. “You know there’s other things we can do, besides eating.”

  He waggled his eyebrows and she giggled. “Dream on. I’m not an exhibitionist.”

  “There’s no one up here.”

  “No chance. Now get the food.” She tossed her backpack at him.

  Sighing, he started unpacking the food, while she lay back and closed her eyes. The sun made her feel sleepy and she started to doze off.

  “Are you going to eat any of this, or not?”

  Tyler’s voice startled her awake. Groggy, she sat up to find that he had eaten most of the food himself. “Thanks a lot,” she grumbled.

  She grabbed a bag of chips out of his hands and checked inside the bag. Almost empty. She grabbed the leftovers and shoved them into her mouth, crunching loudly. “You’re a pig,” she said around a mouthful of food. The sandwiches were gone too, and he drank the cans of soda. How long was I out?