The Anzu: Alec

By Mary S. Sheppard

The mission of The Anzu was clear and simple, the exploration of space. The Zandu, the builders of the spaceship, were a highly advanced and logical race and they planned to include other species in their quest. Their intent was not only to learn from their travels, but also to learn from each other, they had not counted on how disparate intelligent beings could be.

When Alec was born in Santa Cruz, California, he had no idea he would be part of a interplanetary crew. There are currently twenty-four humans on board and after a year in space, there is one thing Alec knows for sure, there is nowhere else he would rather be, even if the humans are not in the majority or in charge.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mary S. Sheppard
• Release date: Jan 7, 2016
• ISBN: 9781310651540

Mary S. Sheppard

In my new series Samantha Keene, energy analyst extraordinaire, lead a pretty much run of the mill existence. There is always work, family and more work, but when she takes a vacation to the U.K. she is suddenly plunged into a different world, one filled with spies, intrigue, and romance and so the limited series starts.

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The Anzu: Alec

Mary S. Sheppard

Copyright © 2016 Mary S. Sheppard

Smashwords Edition

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the work of this author.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

For pictures related to research done for this book, check my Pinterest page at

https://www.pinterest.com/maryssheppard/spaceship-anzu/

You can also visit my website for more information at http://www.maryssheppard.com

Cover photo by Matthew G. Sheppard

The Mission and the Aliens

The Zandu Mission Statement:

A multi-species crew will participate in the exploration of space. This includes but is not limited to planets, moons, galaxies, and space anomalies.

The spaceships: The Zandus built all the spaceships and four are configured for human crews. Each ship is divided into seven Sectors: Engineering, CCN, Security, Technical, Medical, Food and Quarters. CCN includes Command, Control, and Navigation. The Food Sector is where the food is created, but food is dispensed through converters in many places on the ship, including the bar and the lounges.

The crew: Beside humans, there are four species currently on board the ships, the Zandus, the Lolas, the Thebes and the Shapers. All are intelligent, biped, two- armed species that breathe some mixture of air (to be adjusted individually), and can live and work with other species in close proximity.

Zandus - from planet Zolog: usually between 1.2 and 1.5 meters (4 to 5 feet) in height, their bodies are a mix of organic material and energy. They are roundish in shape, and their skin is a luminescent white. They have two arms and can attach mechanical implements on the ends of those arms depending on task. They are either male or female.

Food: mineral shakes once per day, can process alcohol

Examples: Chief, the captain

Lolas - from planet Dracon: Larger than most humans, their reptilian skin can be green, blue, or purple (the color does not necessarily mean male or female). They have two large webbed feet, three eyes, two arms and two hands with five digits on each hand. As a species they work hard and usually play even harder. Lolas have females and males.

Food: eat most anything cold.

Examples: X, Z, CC, TT, DD

Shapers - from planet Forom: Adults range between 1.5 and 1.9 meters. In their natural shape they have two eyes, two arms, and two hands with four digits each. They can change their shape, but there is a limitation on how much they can change. So an additional arm or eye could be formed, but it would not work like the others. On the ship they usually show themselves as a mix of Lola and human. Their species has females and males.

Food: energy pellets twice per day.

Examples: Jamous (Jamez), Denabulus (aka Denab)

Thesbes - from planet Thesbeen: This is an all female species and is usually taller than 1.7 meters (68 inches). Their slender bodies have 2 arms and 2 hands with four digits each. Their faces have delicate features, two large round eyes, which come in various colors, and are mostly framed by long wavy hair. They can read the auras of many species, including humans and Lolas, and this way they can determine truth from lies. They need to sleep more than other species on board, preferring ten to twelve hours. All Thesbes are usually the experts in the field they work in. There are seven Thesbes on board the Anzu.

Food: grains and seeds five times per day.

Examples: Hazel, Tania, Rhoda

Time - the Zandus have divided their time into units similar to humans and they translate to seconds, minutes, hours and days, but they are all based on a decimal system.

50 seconds = 1 minute,

100 minutes = 1 hour,

20 hours = 1 day

Table of Contents

The Mission and The Aliens

Chapter 1 - The Anzu: Engineering

Chapter 2 - The recruit

Chapter 3 - A new diver

Chapter 4 - Cate

Chapter 5 - The life liquid problem

Chapter 6 - Swim together

Chapter 7 - The new planets

Chapter 8 - Alive or not

Chapter 9 - Internment

Chapter 10 - Internment, day two

Chapter 11 - Alumina 2, again

Chapter 12 - No Change is too minor

Chapter 13 - Final filters

Chapter 14 - Alumina 2

About the Author

Chapter 1 The Anzu: Engineering

It was almost one year, he thought as he tightened the fastener. He was lying on the metal grating underneath the large turbine, not the most comfortable position, but soon he would be finished. He adjusted his breathing tube to get closer. The tube in his nose gave him the right air mix for a human. All the different species on board wore such tubes, except for the Zandus and that was because they had built the spaceship.

Yes, next week would be one year. He had to admit it had gone better than he could have hoped for, when he signed up. Initially it was a six-month commitment, and at first, he had wavered. Missing home would not be a problem, but he had been worried that with few humans out here he would have to depend mostly on the aliens for everything.

Regardless, he had gone and filled out an application. Then he was one of the few selected, and it was at that point that he realized that the opportunity was too great, what was left on Earth was too little and six months was not such a long time.

He had been right and as the first six months passed quickly, he had extended his contract. Now he was sure he would renew the contract again, he loved this job.

Are you almost finished?

Alec turned to the voice. It was the green guy. The other one from the same planet was almost purple. The color was not an indication of their sex and in this case both of these aliens were male. Almost done, X.

These aliens liked very simple names and this guy was ‘X’ while the other one was ‘Z’. He hadn’t gotten around to asking what happened to ‘Y’, or in fact to some of the other letters of the alphabet.

I’m glad you’re done Alec, Chief wants to have a word with all of us.

Sounds like trouble.

X broke out laughing.

It wasn’t that funny, thought Alec and wondered if his translator was working correctly.

Everyone on the space ship had to wear translators to communicate. In fact, some humans needed them to communicate with each other, as they did not speak the same language.

Communication mix-ups had happened when the alien ship first arrived to Earth. As the ships hovered over Earth, people had panicked, naturally thinking that this was the beginning of an invasion. Alec remembered the news reports, the soldiers patrolling his neighborhood, the planes in the sky and the tanks rumbling on the streets, as if any of that would have deterred the aliens if they were intent on destruction.

They were