First Contact

First Contact

    Ambushed while doing long-range recon, Captain Green’s fighter had sustained severe damage; shields, navigation, communications, and weapons were all off-line. All he had left was his FTL drive and life support.  He had destroyed four of their craft. However, now two were in hot pursuit. All he could do was to fly blindly through hyperspace and hope that someone friendly would detect his distress signal.

    After several hours of running blind, one of the enemy fighters closed within firing range. With several hits taken, his ship started vibrating, forcing him to drop out of hyperspace. Into an unknown system he flew his damaged craft. Unable to dump velocity, he prepared to eject his pilot’s compartment.

    His beloved F311 Avenger began its death throes, as she burned and broke up around him. In real space without his breaking engines he out distanced the enemy. If his fighter could hold together a bit longer he could make it to a habitable planet that he detected.

    With all systems now dead, he manually ejected his cockpit. He silently bid the Avenger farewell. She had been a good ship for the two years that he had flown her out of the Hornet. The two of them had served the Federation well, doing long-range recon. Now, she was hurtling toward the sun, to her death. He figured that he would surely be captured, or killed soon too.

    He maneuvered his now cockpit-lifeboat toward the planet. He used up all of his braking thrusters for a controlled atmospheric entry. Now he would have to blow the canopy, free himself of the cockpit and parachute down.

    As he floated to the ground, he kept looking around for the enemy fighters. They were nowhere to be seen, but why. Did they not see him eject? Are they still following his crippled ship? Or, are they waiting for him on the ground?

    He surveyed the ground; all he saw was snow, snow and more snow. He would have preferred a more temperate climate. If he was not rescued soon, or captured, he figured that his survivability would only be a few days. He maneuvered the chute as best as he could toward a grove of trees.  He hoped that he could quickly find some source of shelter there.

    The wind unexpectedly picked up and carried him further into the trees then he had wanted. He came crashing down into the grove, breaking through limbs and breaking his arm in the process. 

    As he lay on the ground, freezing, dazed and in agonizing pain, he realized that his survivability would only be a few hours now.

    Slowly he faded in and out of consciousness; he thought that sleep would soon take him for the last time. With tears in his eyes, he thought of his family, and then darkness overtook him.

*          *          *

    He awoke feeling warm and fuzzy all over. He slowly opened his eyes and checked himself out. His flight suit and helmet had been removed; he was now in his fatigues. His head was resting on his survival backpack. He was not cold, even though he was lying in the snow. He was not in any pain and his arm was no longer broken. And, he could distinctly smell the aroma of baby powder. He slowly sits up and looks around.

    “I was beginning to wonder how long you would be out. Take it easy, you were pretty banged up. My name is Veda, it means wise one in my language.”

    He looks behind him to where the voice of a young girl came from. In astonishment, he sees a cute little girl, who could not be no more than six years old, standing with her arms behind her back. She has a lovely smile and big beautiful blue eyes. She has long blond hair fixed into pigtails with pink ribbons. In addition, she is wearing a bright yellow summer dress, with white socks and pink sneakers.

    Captain Green rubs his eyes, as the young girl approaches.

    “I am ….”

    “I know who you are. In fact, I know all about you. I scanned your mind as I healed you. You are not mad, dreaming, or seeing an illusion. I selected this form from your mind for first contact protocols. I didn‘t think that you would fear a human-looking six-year-old girl.”

    “First contact, huh. That means that you will be able to help me. I assume that you are very advanced and friendly by the way you initiated contact.”

    “With a solemn look she replies. “We are very advanced, and we are somewhat friendly. However, we are isolationist; we keep to ourselves. I did heal you and am now protecting you from this harsh environment. Other than that, I am not here to assist you. I am in-fact here to determine your punishment, and to clean up the mess that you have made here.”

    In a soft cautious voice he asks, “What have I done to be punished for?”

    “This planetary system is off limits. No one is allowed in. We broadcast continually, on every frequency, and in every known language, to stay away, or be destroyed. Also, I had to clean up your debris before it contaminated this world.”

    “I’m sorry, but my ship was damaged and I had no way of receiving any transmissions.”

    “We do understand that, that is why you are still alive. However, it does not exclude you from being guilty. Therefore, I decided to handle this as a first contact situation. I will spend time with you, study you, and then pronounce my sentence.”

    “I see. What happened to the two enemy fighters?”

    “They ignored the warning and were dealt with quickly and harshly. Now then, stand up and put on your backpack.”

    Captain Green did as he was told.

    She then reached up with her arms. “Pick me up; you will carry me as we travel.”

    He picked her up, as if she were any young child. “My goodness, you hardly weigh ten pounds!”

    “I will not be a burden to you. Now then, follow that trail.” She pointed the way. She then continually guided him as he walked.

    “Couldn’t you just simply transport us back to your base?”

    “We are not going back to base. We are just walking, going nowhere in particular. Some religions call this a walk-about, as some of their followers take journeys of no destination to find themselves. I need to be in contact with you to scan your mind. You might say that I am reading you like you would read a book.”

    “I see. So, you are going to judge me on my past.”

    She cocked her head slightly and smiled. “I wish to learn of whom I am judging. I am also interested in your species. You see, we have been to your planet before, many times. I can also carry on a conversation and read your mind simultaneously.”

    “I don’t suppose that there is anything that I can say, or do, to help my situation, is there.”

    “No.”

    “I didn’t think so.”

    As they traveled, she would on occasion giggle at something that she had uncovered. She would then tell him and they would both have a good laugh at an old forgotten memory.

    He noticed that he left no tracks in the snow. It was as if he was walking weightlessly on top of the snow. He mentioned it to her.

    “We can’t have you contaminating this world. You see, blood has never been shed here through violence. Sickness is not known here. All of the worldly creatures here die after a long-lived life. We as watchers intend to keep it that way.”

    She showed him some of the many species of animal life. He saw lions eating vegetation along side lambs and sheep. He saw what looked to be large flesh eating dinosaurs, covered in white fur, also eating vegetation. The meekest of animals that he saw did not seem to be the least bit afraid of what should have been the most ferocious of beasts.  Ecstatically, he looked upon herds of unicorns and other mythical creatures that he only knew from fairy tales.

    They walked past a field of large, reddish-orange looking flowers. Each blossom looked to be a good ten inches in diameter, and thriving quite nicely in the snow-covered ground. “That’s amazing, such beautiful flowers growing in the snow.”

    Sometimes he would forget that Veda was a very powerful alien. He would ruffle her hair, as if she was any human girl; she would then always look at him and smile.

    “Yes, they are one of my favorite plant species. I call them Snow Lilies.”                       

    “This world is truly a paradise,” he softly spoke, as he was taking in everything that she was showing him. “Are there any kind of indigenous humanoids here?”

    “That is not for you to know. Only what I reveal to you can you know.”

    “I understand,” he replied, feeling disappointed.

*          *          * 

    In total astonishment, he journeyed for many days carrying her. With her arms around his neck as he walked, she would explain everything in great detail. He was allowed to rest anytime, and for any length of time that he wanted. During the night he would sleep alone, with her close by. She always played a small funny looking silver flute, as they settled in for the night. The music was soothing and would always lull him into a deep dreamless sleep. 

    He was never allowed to use anything out of his backpack. As if by magic, she provided water and a variety of tasty fruits to eat. What really amazed him was that at no time did he ever have to relieve himself, one way, or the other. He figured that it was all part of him not being allowed to contaminate this world.

    At the end of a week, as they were traveling, Veda instructs him to stop and rest. He puts her down and then stretches. He could get use to this, he thinks to himself.

    “Have a seat. I have reached my decision.”

    With a somber expression, and hands behind her back, her big blue eyes look squarely into his soft grey eyes. 

    “Son of man, child of Adam, since you are already sentenced to die the first death; I shall not shorten what years that you have left to live. However, because of your trespass, you shall not remember this place, or me, except only in glimpses of visions and dreams. You shall forever long to return here, but will not remember how. You shall forever seek, but will not find."

    "If, during your life, you become a follower of the way; then your mind will be at peace. You will also learn of a place far better than this, after the first death. I will not be the one to judge you again; there is one far greater than I that will do that.”

    “You sound just like a preacher now, and I am not a religious man. I don’t particularly care for preachers either. Are you saying that you’re just going to make me have some bad dreams? I can deal with that. What I really want to know is; will I ever get to see you again? Will you show me your true form?”

    Veda smiled and stepped back away from captain Green. She stretched out her arms and began glowing and growing. As she grew her form changed and she emanated a bluish white radiance.

    He was utterly in awe of this majestic being that had just changed from a human looking six-year-old girl, to a seven-foot-tall angelic being. Maybe, just maybe, he would look into some of this religious stuff.

    “Now you see me as I truly am. If we are to meet again, then you must keep your eyes and ears open for the way. There is work for you to do, if you find the truth and the light. For now, you must leave this place. Farewell, son of man. May we indeed meet again, but not too soon.” With that said, she touched his forehead and he fell asleep.

*          *          *

    He awoke to the com-link calling his call sign.

    “Lone wolf this is Hornet. What is your status? Do you need assistance?

    Captain Green looked around somewhat dazed. He was in his F311 Avenger. Everything seemed normal, but surreal. She was on auto AI, and flying herself.

    He responded sluggishly, “This is Lone Wolf. My status is good and my ETA is going to be about one hour.”

    “Affirmative Lone Wolf, we were worried about you. We lost your signal over four hours ago; right after you engaged the enemy fighters. You did a hell of a job taking out all six. The old man says that debriefing will be at 0430. He can’t wait to hear your story. Drinks are on the house, when you land. This is Hornet out.”

    “Copy that, Hornet. Lone wolf out.”

    What happened, he thought to himself. I remember taking out four of their craft, then I must have blacked out. The old girl must have sensed my condition and took control, continuing the fight. I had the strangest dream too. Something to do with a little girl and unicorns.

    He looked down at his navigation console and saw the queerest thing. A reddish-orange flower obstructed his view. A snow lily, Veda likes those he thought to himself. But what is a snow lily, and how did that get here, who is Veda and how do I know her? These pieces and fragments of a memory were really beginning to bug him.

    He engaged the warp drive and headed home. He was amazed that now the Avenger handled and flew as if she had just come off of the assembly line; not like a beaten up, battle worn and scarred warrior that she was.

   

THE END