First Contact: An Alicia Jones Novel 01

by D. L. Harrison

  She snickered, “Fine, I actually do really trust your feelings, just let me know when we’re going.”

  I smiled, “I will, promise.”

  Chapter 6

  It was two days later when the university’s offices called me, and I reported at the requested time. I wasn’t surprised to see the dean, or my professor in the room when I arrived. There was another man in the room, who I recognized as the universities patent lawyer, Sal Angelo.

  The dean said, “Welcome, take a seat miss Jones.”

  He handed me a packet of papers when I sat down, I was curious to look inside but waited.

  Sal opened the packet and we all joined him.

  Sal said, “Take a moment to look through the contract, it’s a standard university patent contract. Forty percent to the university, and the rest is split between you miss Jones, and your professor. The license to manufacture and sell has been sold for thirteen point five billion dollars. That means the two of you both get four point zero five billion dollars. You will also gain a royalty, thirty percent each of the three percent per part fabricated for the next twenty years.

  “It’s not guaranteed of course, but the university believes that will be in excess of another billion a year for the next twenty years.”

  I think I just read the same paragraph of the contract ten times, and didn’t absorb a word of it. I knew it would be worth money but… I was in shock for the rest of the meeting, and it was kind of a blur, but I did manage to verify the contract was correct. I even had Al check it too just in case.

  Now that I had money, I submitted a request to rent one of the very large industrial fabricators. It was expensive as hell, but it would build my ship in just a few days. It would even build the two shuttles at the same time it built the landing bay. And the probes when it built the probe storage room, I couldn’t exactly label it weapons storage, but that’s what it came down too. I let Kristi know we were leaving in a few days, notified the professor I’d be leaving for a while, and then went back to Kristi’s and my apartment.

  I felt a bit manic since I literally had nothing to do, at least not until I got out in space and learned the truth, so I decided to clean. When Kristi got back she took one look at me, and declared we were going out drinking. That actually sounded like a great idea for once, and I took a shower, slipped into a little black dress, some red high heels, and put on some makeup.

  Kristi looked great as usual, she had on a dark blue dress on that was quite possibly illegal, black high heels and a touch of makeup. We both looked pretty great I thought, but as usual she looked better, and as usual she thought the opposite, which was ridiculous. We were ready to hit a club, way too dressed up for the local college bar, when there was a knock at the door.

  I opened it, and there were two men wearing suits, they flashed their badges and asked, “Miss Alicia Jones?”

  “Yes, what is it?”

  He said, “Please come with me miss.”

  “Why?”

  He replied in a dead serious voice, “Classified, so I have no idea, I’m just to bring you to the local base.”

  I wasn’t all that happy about this, “Can I change?”

  He shook his head, “Time is of the essence.”

  He was full of crap, he just wanted to ogle me, the bastard. I grabbed my purse and found Kristi following me.

  “I’m coming too,” Kristi said stubbornly.

  I was surprised when the men didn’t object, and my night out turned into a ride in the back seat of a government vehicle to a nearby military base…

  The room we were brought to was probably the nicest interrogation room I’d ever seen. Although to be fair, most of the ones I’ve seen with the dirty walls, large tacky camera, metal table, and crappy chair were on a television show. The only thing familiar in this room was the large one-way mirror on one wall. The rest of the room looked like a corporate conference room. There was a light brown oval table, several comfortable office chairs, and a credenza… unfortunately there was no coffee or snacks.

  I fidgeted a bit, and bounced my feet. I had a lot of energy and had expected to go dancing. I also felt ridiculous in my little black dress instead of hot, it just didn’t fit here. I’d already tried to fill the space with conversation, but Kristi had shushed me twice, apparently she thought we were already being recorded or something. She was probably right.

  It felt like we waited forever, but it was probably only twenty minutes or so when the door opened and a four-star general walked in. He was in his late fifties at a guess, and the main vibe I got off of him was that was a straightforward blunt person, and right now he was… curious and concerned.

  “Miss Jones, Miss Wilder, I’m General Denton.”

  I asked, “Can I ask what this is about?”

  The general nodded and sat down, “The president put me in charge of our security in regards to the Knomen empire, just in case things go south. The reason I called you in was I’d like to know exactly what you intend to do with your ship. I know you’re a smart woman, you invented FTL after all, but I can’t have you going out there and causing an incident.”

  Well, at least he hadn’t told me I can’t go… yet.

  “I plan to take a look at one of the systems in the Knomen Empire, and see if I can find the truth behind the words. I don’t think Carl has exactly lied… but I also don’t think he’s told the entire truth. There is also a matter of technology, I’m hoping I’ll be able to pick some up.”

  The general grunted, “What kind of technology?”

  I shrugged, “I won’t know until I see it, although specifically I’ll be looking for artificial gravity, and any weapons that might be available. Thanks to the device Carl gave me to call him, we at least have translator technology now, and all the Empire’s languages, so we’ll be able to talk to them.”

  He nodded, “I happen to agree with you, he’s holding something back. On the other hand, it could just be caution about our world on his part. I’d like to know though, why should I let you go, and not send a team of my own?”

  I frowned, “Well, I just spent a lot of money to build a ship to get my own proof, which means I’m motivated to find the truth. I also want the opportunity to go out there, so I made it happen on my own. There’s more though, I am an American citizen, but my parents were… immigrants. I suppose I want to make it clear that this is my home.”

  His eyes furrowed, “What are you saying exactly?”

  I sighed, I couldn’t keep it a secret forever, and if I waited, tried to keep it a secret, it would just get worse when the government found out.

  “My parents came here to learn about Earth since we, the Earth, was so close to FTL technology. They died in an accident when I was a baby. I thought myself human growing up, and still consider myself a native, but I found out a few weeks ago that I’m actually Knomen.”

  The general didn’t say anything, so I babbled on a bit.

  “I believe that would also come in… handy when we got where Kristi and I plan to go. Technically, I don’t believe anyone else from Earth could buy technology, or even visit an Empire world, not until the U.N. agrees to join it anyway.”

  Kristi elbowed me, and I shut up. I couldn’t believe how silent and calm she was, it was so unlike her.

  The general blew out a breath, “So you’re an alien orphan raised human. I swear I don’t get paid enough for this shit.”

  Kristi snorted a laugh, “It’s not that bad, of course I was used to her when I found out.”

  The General frowned, “I can see the advantage of course, but we’re still talking about sending a civilian with no government connection to another star, to not only spy but find military knowledge while at the same time representing our entire planet. How would you feel about a small team joining you?”

  I frowned, “How small is small?”

  “Five. Their job would be to make sure your safe, and to make sure you don’t start an incident.”

  I shook my head, “I’
ll bring them, and they can watch out for me and be your trusted eyes on site, but I’ll be in charge. My ship.”

  The general smiled, “Very well, I can work with that. I’ll have them ready before your ship is finished.”

  He stood up and she asked, “Can I have access to my A.I. please, I’d like to pass you some data.”

  He nodded toward the window, and someone brought in my headset.

  “Al, send the general my missile plans.”

  The general tilted his head, “Missiles?”

  I nodded, “Just in case, I’d build a lot of these if I were you. Hopefully I’ll come back with something better but these can do some serious damage. I’d also advise building them off planet. There are built in safeguards to make sure they can’t explode anywhere near the Earth, but sometimes stupid finds a way. I figured it would be better if they aren’t ever in the atmosphere.”

  Outside of the hundred or so being built on my ship, but I didn’t mention that part.

  We left then, I was fairly sure they wouldn’t try to detain me, although I’d been a little nervous telling the truth. A month ago they might have put me in a lab for being an alien, but I was sure the general had seen the implication of detaining a Knomen without cause right off.

  It was around half past ten, so we wound up going to the club that night anyway, for an hour or two, and I was able to burn off some of my nervous energy…

  Chapter 7

  “Are you nervous?”

  Kristi smiled, “Yes, but a good nervous. I’m more excited actually. I so win at having the best roommate of all time. I love this suit too.”

  I snickered, of course she did. The suits we had for onboard in case we lost air were body conforming. Truthfully I liked how I looked as well, the material actually shrunk and hugged every part perfectly. Although the helmet and gloves hanging on my left hip kind of ruined the look.

  The ship was ready, and we were just waiting for the special forces team to show up before powering up. We even had the hold full of gold, platinum, and other rare metals, I just hoped it was something the alien race would take as currency.

  Kristi and I’d met the mission team for the first time yesterday when I gave a virtual tour of the ship.

  The officer of the team was Lieutenant Alex Ledner. He was about thirty, with short blond hair and hard gray eyes. I thought I’d have the most trouble with him, his vibe was… challenging. I was sure we would be butting heads before the mission was over.

  Master sergeant Barbara Cooper was the ranking non-commissioned officer, and she had a take no prisoners’ attitude, but was respectful to both Kristi and I. I actually really liked the woman. She was in her late thirties, with short curly brown hair and brown eyes.

  Sergeant Bill Alda, no relation to Alan, but the soldier still fancied himself a comedian. He was thirty-four, a towering six foot two, and was probably the most relaxed in the bunch.

  Sergeant Elise Naughton was thirty-one, and really uptight. She had blonde hair and blue eyes, was petite and quite frankly, cute. I figured that’s why she was so uptight, and she must be a badass to have made it this far looking so harmless the way she did.

  Sergeant Nathan Smith was the youngest at twenty-nine. He had black hair and blue eyes, and was extremely polite. He was also kind of cute, and had an obvious attraction toward me, but I wasn’t planning on going there.

  I said wryly, “Is it weird I’m more worried about our chaperones than visiting an alien planet and flying a thousand light years?”

  Kristi giggled, “Maybe a little, I’m sure it’ll be fine though.”

  I agreed as I heard a car coming, a jeep actually. Five people got out and walked over.

  Lt. Ledner said forcefully, “We ready to go?”

  I bit my tongue, the prick was already trying to take charge. I looked them over, they all had their space suits on under their uniforms and their helmets clipped.

  “Looks like it, let’s go.”

  It felt a little weird walking on the wall next to the ladder toward the bridge. The bridge would always be at zero G, but once the ship started to spin, the gravity would be orientated down in every direction from the center, so it looked sideways. Of course, the ship would probably never land on the ground again. It was good enough, and we would have to do it this way if we couldn’t find anything better than using spin for artificial gravity.

  We got strapped in, inertia might not be a problem but no gravity would be, if we kept floating off every time we hit a button.

  “Al, power up the ship.”

  My A.I. interfaced with the ship and turned everything on. Most of it was automated, Kristi and I could take care of anything that might come up that wasn’t covered.

  “Status?”

  Kristi replied deadpan, “All systems optimal Captain.”

  I rolled my eyes, and I heard Sgt. Bill snicker.

  “Power up our anti-mass field to five percent and give me a status.”

  Al replied over the speaker, “Done, ship mass yields a weight of eight hundred pounds.”

  Ledner asked, “Why stop there?”

  I turned my head, “If we were at zero mass, the wind would throw us around, better for us to have a little weight while in atmosphere. Not that we’d feel it, but if we were blown into a plane, or a city, that would be a problem.”

  All the systems looked good, so I ordered Al to take us up. The ship could be flown manually, and probably would be if we got into a fight, but for now it was better to let the computer handle it.

  We barely felt the G forces of it, they were greatly lessened by the field even if some gravity and inertia was getting through. A few moments later Al announced we’d made orbit.

  “Kristi, can you start us spinning?”

  Her reply a few seconds later was a little strained, “Done.”

  I looked around and saw white faces, and one green. So far no one had thrown up from weightlessness. I felt… perfectly fine.

  “We should have half G gravity at the bottom of the ladder, if anyone wants to… take a break. But if you can you should tough it out, it will take a few minutes for your bodies to become accustomed to it.”

  I had Al set a course for the solar system the probe had found life in. I wouldn’t know the name of it until we got there.

  None of them took me up on the offer, but then I wouldn’t expect special forces to retreat from a little stomach upset.

  “Al, bring up the field power to eighty percent, and engage.”

  Kristi snorted, “You’ve been dying to say engage, haven’t you.”

  Well… I was a bit of a geek at times. But I refused to admit it… According to the sensors we were already going fast enough to make our destination in just a little over three hours. It was a little bit anti-climactic, I didn’t feel a thing. It seemed like were simply weightless and still, and not hurtling across the universe thousands of times faster than the speed of light.

  The lieutenant seemed to be less confrontational than I’d feared he would be, but I knew if I did anything he thought was suspicious that things would get tense. I wasn’t planning on doing anything of the sort, but I worried about his judgement in the matter. Regardless, he’d been quiet during the journey for the most part while the rest of us talked intermittently during the trip. It was exciting, sort of, we were in space after all, and going to visit a new race.

  I just wished there were windows.

  Master sergeant Barbara Cooper asked, “Are you expecting trouble?”

  “I’m not sure. I don’t expect it from the people were going to visit. Depends on if we run into any Knomen ships. Although even then I’ll probably just get a fine for not registering as a captain before going anywhere.”

  Barbara nodded, “I hope so too, but we’ll keep an eye on you.”

  I smiled, “Thanks.”

  Bill asked in a sarcastic tone, “This thing got a radio?”

  I laughed, “Al, some music please.”

  Kristi took off her st
raps, and kicked off into a spin as the music came on. I was torn between maintaining a professional bearing and having fun, but finally gave in. What was the fun of zero G if I didn’t get to bounce around the bridge a little bit?

  The Lieutenant’s scowl of disapproval perversely made me feel better about it, but after about ten minutes of playing in zero G I returned to the chair smiling and a little dizzy. I’d noticed Nathan had hardly taken his eyes off me, while I was spinning around in my skin tight suit, but I knew getting too personal with any of them during the trip would be a mistake. I spent the rest of the trip just chatting with Kristi, Barbara, Bill, and Nathan.

  Alex was silent because he was an ass, and Elise was just… uptight, and was too focused on her job to relax.

  Chapter 8

  We were just a few minutes out from the solar system when Kristi said, “We’re being hailed.”

  I giggled, “And how long have you been wanting to say that? Let’s hear it.”

  I wasn’t the only one that liked old science fiction shows on Netflix.

  Kristi stuck out her tongue at me and the view screen changed to show an alien, “Unknown Earth vessel, this is Administrator Telmun on the space station in orbit of Tressia. You are in violation of Knomen law and must leave our space until you are a part of Knomen Empire, acknowledge.”

  Tressian’s were blue with white hair, but otherwise looked almost human. I shouldn’t have been that surprised, the Knomen were humanoid as well, the only differences were that I should have had darker markings, like very large freckles, along the sides of my face and neck. I should also have violet eyes. I’d been hoping to avoid it, I knew Kristi and the others with me knew I was an alien.