Alien Dimensions #25 Alien First Contact Issue: Space Fiction Short Stories Anthology Series: Alien Dimensions, #25

By Neil A. Hogan, Humphrey Price, Ourliazo Tap and 12 more

Alien Dimensions is a space fiction short stories anthology series featuring amazing authors from around the world.

 

Previous issues have featured stories about extraterrestrials, clones, robots and androids, invasion and colonization, cyberpunk and space opera, first contact, genetic manipulation, starship exploration, time travel and more.

 

From seriousness to humorous, high octane to slow burn, from back-story heavy to present tense dialogue-driven adventures, Alien Dimensions explores the future.

 

Enjoy a much more alien experience with Alien Dimensions.

 

This issue's general theme is Alien First Contact:

 

The Creature from Another World – Humphrey Price
Volunteers – Tyree Campbell
Man Among Others – Jason Lairamore
The Phobos Box – Allen Ashley
Celestial Injustice: Trial of the Blue Planet by James Ward
In Earth's Backyard – James F. McGrath
Aldanian Geometry – Gail Brown
Reach For It – Ourliazo Tap
Memories in Water – Louise Butler
Canned Meat – Vincent deDiego Metzo
Sometimes We Get What We Pay For – Mord McGhee
Vothari Blood – Philip Goode
Dragon in the Laut – J. L. Royce
The Harvest – K. L. Hallam
Voice Zones – Neil A. Hogan

• Language: English
• Publisher: Space Fiction Books
• Release date: Apr 16, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224249145

Neil A. Hogan

Neil A. Hogan writes crazy, weird, unimaginable science fiction with a multidimensional theme. Generally, unbelievable space opera style stories with aliens. Expect conscious galaxies, multifrequency realities, strange physics and other concepts with a metaphysical influence. Neil A. Hogan currently writes for seven different series: www.StellarFlash.com Join Captain Jonathan Hogart and his crew of aliens as they explore new civilizations in their interfrequency starship The Stellar Flash. Books in the series include 'Alien Frequency' and 'The Andromeda Effect' Book Three 'Temporal Incursion' is due out in 2019. www.AlienDimensions.com An anthology series featuring authors from around the world, edited by Neil A. Hogan. This series is now up to issue 16. www.FantasyShortStories.com A new anthology series currently in the works, with Book One due out in September 2018. www.AlienCharacters.com An illustrated and text only series for children, the Alien Characters have come together to explore the Large Magellanic Cloud and then cross the void to the Milky Way Galaxy. On the way they meet more aliens. The focus of the stories is about appreciated the differences people have and how they can work together to solve problems. There are over 28 illustrated books in the series and over 40 text-only stories with more on the way. www.GalacticMissions.com A novella series for young adults, it explores Earth's encounter with aliens, with the help of the Alien Characters who, after 70 stories in their own series, briefly help out in this one. www.DinosaurCharacters.com A limited series focused on intelligent dinosaurs living 66 million years ago and their discovery of an ancient dinosaur city. www.ScienceFictionWeekly.com A weekly science fiction series. Series one consisted of 13 short stories released over a 4 month period in 2017. A new series is planned for late 2018.

Book preview

Foreword

Welcome to the 25th issue of Alien Dimensions

This special edition focuses on ideas of first alien contact for humanity coming sooner than we think. While I was looking for actual procedures and protocols, I was open to any story that explored the first contact idea in an original way, with situations that might seem unexpected, especially considering pop culture suggests we only have alien invasions and abductions to look forward to.

My goal was for some of these stories to be templates or clues as to an Official First Alien Contact situation happening either at the end of 2026 or the beginning of 2027. For many it’s still expected to be far off, so having it happen now-ish would be a bit of a surprise. Are we ready? Do we have the protocols? Have we considered every possibility and eventuality?

Science fiction writers are advising governments around the world on all sorts of possible futures, though I’ve heard that these are more about contemporary issues like how to deal with killer robots or AIs turned hackers, or brain implants going haywire. I’m not aware of detailed first contact manuals being drawn up in these kinds of meetings.

With millions of people working in government institutions, there must have already been standard protocols for officials receiving alien visitors written years ago. What we need, for the public’s security, safety, protection and peace of mind, is a standard operating manual, easily downloaded, that quickly trains anyone on any relevant rules and regulations in each country of how to be a first contact specialist. This is crucial as, if indeed it is likely to happen soon, we need people around the world ready to assist. The only analogy I can think of is not having any training if an alien lands and meets you is like not having mouth to mouth resuscitation and other first aid skills when you find you suddenly need it.

More to the point, where’s that number you can call when an alien asks you for help in finding some element 115 isotopes?

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What I’ve learned from this collection is that we might already be ready. We’re adaptable, dependable, and quick to pivot to a new line of reasoning. Gone are the days of the ‘set in their ways,’ ‘my way or the highway’ thinking. Carrying a manual around isn’t going to help a first contact situation, though I guess the expectation is that you will have memorized it. Instead, quick, positive reactions, looking at the science of the situation, and developing a solution immediately if one is needed, is more likely to secure a positive First Alien Contact outcome.

A demonstration of clear thinking, logical reasoning, and considering every possibility is in our first story. I’m honored for this to come from none other than the Chief Engineer at NASA JPL’s Mars Exploration program, Humphrey Price. Humphrey worked on mapping the gravity field of Mars, the Cassini Saturn orbiter mission, the Prometheus / JIMO Phase A project, as well as participated in research on advanced propulsion systems, amongst many other things. With a B.S. in engineering science and an M.S. in Nuclear engineering, his story contains all the science and protocols you might expect in a local contemporary first alien contact situation. Check out The Creature From Another World which follows this introduction. Of course, many amazing stories follow Humphrey’s, and I hope that along the way you’ll pick up some tips on how to respond in a First Alien Contact situation yourself.

I’ve chosen stories across the spectrum from science and space opera heavy, to introspective, melancholy and discussion type stories, along with those that push the boundaries of what first alien contact might mean.

Many thanks for reading.

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Neil A. Hogan

17th October 2023

The Creature from Another World

By Humphrey Price

Taylor Elliot heard a double sonic boom as it reverberated through the dark countryside east of Blanco, Texas. She scanned the sky but was disappointed not to see a meteor fireball in the clear night filled with bright stars far from city lights. Taylor had dropped her homework assignment and rushed outside after getting a notification on the instant alert system from an astronomer friend in Mason. Maybe she was too late, or the meteor’s track was too far away to be visible.

Back inside the rustic Civil War era house, she phoned her friend. Talbot, I didn’t see anything. Bummer!

Talbot said, It looks like the meteor went dark after it passed Fredericksburg. That’s really unusual because it was so large, and there was no airburst event. The flight path should have gone right over your ranch with a predicted impact zone near Gonzales, just east of San Antonio, but maybe it just broke up and fizzled before then. I’m leaving in a few minutes to join a search team to see if we can locate any pieces. It’s a long shot. The initial assessment from the Space Force is that the object’s entry velocity was so fast that it was likely to be of interstellar origin, so we would really like to find some fragments. Wanna join us?

I’d love to, Tal, but I’ve got to finish an assignment to turn in tomorrow. Good luck with your interstellar meteorite hunt!

Taylor was alone in the country, working as the ranch hand for Carl, the rich owner in Houston who flew out once a month in his plane to check on the cows and photograph wildlife. It was a great job for a grad student at UT and provided her with free housing. Later, as she drifted off to sleep, she could hear the cattle lowing in the distance. That’s unusual, she thought. Something is disturbing them.

The alarm prodded her awake at six. She pulled on her boots and set out in Carl’s ranch truck to complete the morning chores before heading out to Austin for her ten o’clock class. Taylor loved living in the country away from the frenetic hustle of the city. She relished the smell of hay at the barn and the invigorating fresh scents of the countryside as she drove through a grove of cedar and mesquite trees on a winding dirt road to the airstrip to feed the cows with a bale of alfalfa and sack of feed she had tossed in the bed of the truck.

Only the bull was at the airstrip. The massive Hereford seemed spooked by the truck and trotted off into the trees. What’s the matter with you, Mr. Bull? she muttered. Usually, all fifty head of cattle were at the grassy airfield patiently waiting for their morning hay. She stopped the truck, got out, and stood in the bed. Taylor put two fingers in her mouth and whistled to call the cows to feed, but to no effect. Normally, the whole herd would come running in a Pavlovian response to the call. This is really wrong, she thought. Something flapping in the breeze caught her eye at the edge of the runway.

She jumped out of the truck and strode over towards the trees where huge folds of white fabric were billowing, snagged in the branches of a stand of oaks. As she approached what appeared to be a huge parachute with tangled lines, Taylor rested her right hand on the handle of the 22-magnum revolver she carried holstered on her belt when out on the rounds. With heightened senses from an adrenaline rush, she cautiously proceeded into the trees, around the parachute, and down into a shallow ravine where a creek wound its way.

Oh my god! What’s that? At the edge of the creek, a conical space capsule about the size of an SUV was resting at a slight angle having plowed a couple of feet into the mud. She immediately made the connection to the meteor sighting the night before. I didn’t see the fireball, because this thing popped a parachute and landed in my backyard. This is just too weird. I’m going straight back to the house and call 911. There was no cell phone reception on the ranch, so she would have to drive back to access the satellite wifi. She could feel the tachycardia in her chest as she snapped a couple of photos with her phone, slid it back into her pocket, and turned around to head up the rise to the airfield, and...something in a gold-colored spacesuit was six feet away staring at her.

Taylor screamed and drew the pistol. She cocked the hammer with shaking hands, but kept the weapon pointed at the ground between her and the...thing. It must have been seven feet tall. It was standing on two long legs, had two long arms on each side, and the creature’s head inside the transparent fishbowl helmet looked like a giant praying mantis. The alien made clicking noises as its mandibles twitched, and the insectoid-being held its four arms out to the side. Taylor wasn’t sure if that was a friendly gesture or if it was threatening. She could hear the cycling of valves and hissing of gas as the alien breathed inside the suit. A puff of gas burped out of a vent at the base of the helmet. Taylor noticed that a cloud of mosquitos was swarming around the creature.

She slowly backed away, safed the pistol, and then bolted as fast as she could to cut her way around the alien and run back to the airstrip. The creature was fast, even in its spacesuit, and bounded on all six limbs up through the trees and across the runway, beating her to the truck and standing between her and the vehicle. She cocked the pistol again and pointed it at the thing. Can you understand what I’m saying? I don’t want to shoot you. I need you to get out of my way.

The alien made clicking noises and looked at a screen pad mounted to one of the spacesuit arms. Taylor couldn’t see anything on the pad. It just looked blank. The creature touched parts of the pad with a long-gloved finger, and synthesized human speech came out from a speaker on the being’s chest. First, she heard what might be Chinese, then Spanish, and then English. The audio quality was distorted, but it sounded like, I need your help. My world is dying.

Okay then, move out of the way. I’ll drive back to the house and call for help. She holstered the 22. There’s no way I can bring myself to shoot this thing, and it hasn’t tried to hurt me...yet.

Taylor pulled her phone out and started taking video of the alien. The mosquitos were back and buzzing around. She side-stepped around the creature and opened the door to the cab. The thing made no attempt to impede her progress. She was still recording video as she called out, I’m going to get help. I’ll be back.

The alien didn’t seem to understand her speech, but replayed the same recording, with the English part saying, I need your help. My world is dying.

As she drove off in the truck, the alien leaped into the back and sat on the bale of hay. What the what?! she yelled, startled, as she looked at the creature through the rear window. Driving back to the house, she anxiously shifted her gaze back and forth between the dirt road ahead and the thing in her rear-view mirror. Upon arriving, Taylor exited the cab, and the gold suited insectoid sprang out of the bed to stand next to her. Against her better judgement, she motioned the creature up the steps to the front porch, opened the door, backed inside, and directed the alien to follow.

The alien hesitated. Taylor held out her hand. The strange being reached out a gloved hand with six spindly fingers, and Taylor slowly but firmly grasped it. Then she pulled the creature toward the open door. It had to bend down for its head to clear the doorway, but it followed her inside. Then, Taylor closed the door as mosquitos were swarming toward the house.

Mosquitos really love you, big guy. I wonder why? Taylor was in a calmer state of mind as she stood and stared at the alien. You look like a praying mantis, so I’m going to call you Manti. She pointed at the extraterrestrial and said Manti. She pointed at herself and said, Taylor. After repeating this several times, the alien poked at its armpad and made clicking noises. The speaker said with Taylor’s voice, Manti, and the alien pointed to itself. The creature poked at the armpad once more, and the speaker said, Taylor, again in her voice, and the extraterrestrial pointed to her.

Yeah, you got it, Manti. She directed the alien into the living room and got it to sit on the sofa. Now I need to make some calls. She dialed 911, and the dispatcher did not believe the story about a spaceship landing at her ranch with an alien in a spacesuit. The operator refused to send police and threatened her with a steep fine. She hung up and texted a photo of the capsule to her boyfriend, the UT star basketball player, along with the video of the alien. Video call me NOW! she ordered.

Eli called three minutes later, and Taylor showed him the alien sitting on the sofa in her living room. He was flabbergasted and assured her that he would do what he could to get the police out to the ranch house. Be sure to contact the Space Force too and send them the videos! she said just before ending the call. Then she called her astronomy advisor for her PhD program, and the professor picked up on her cellphone. Taylor sent her the video of the creature and asked for help. Professor Gill Blane had been out to the ranch house for a party, so she knew the location.

The alien was poking at its armpad, but Taylor still couldn’t make out anything on the screen. Manti, I think you’re seeing something that I am not. Maybe it’s a different frequency of light. Taylor got an idea. Wait here. I’ll be back. She went into the owner’s bedroom and grabbed Carl’s expensive night-vision binoculars. Taylor returned to her alien guest and got it to position the armpad where she could get a good view. She had to stand at the other end of the room to get the high magnification binoculars to focus on the screen. In infrared, she could discern strange writing, figures, and what might be touchscreen buttons on the pad. Well, Manti, it looks like you see in infrared.

Taylor went to the kitchen and placed a baking sheet in the freezer. Then she took her touchpad to the alien and used a stylus to draw a picture of the space capsule. She thought her drawing looked pretty good, but she got no reaction from the creature. Taylor went back to kitchen and retrieved the baking sheet, now covered with a thin layer of frost. She used her finger to draw a picture of Manti’s capsule in the frost. The creature became animated and made lots of clicking noises. The heat from her finger had warmed the aluminum sheet, making an image that the alien could see.

Yep, Manti, so you only see heat. Taylor turned the sheet over to the other side and used her finger to draw a diagram of the solar system: the sun and eight circles around it representing the orbits of the planets. She drew a dot on the orbit of the third planet and said, Taylor. Manti.

The creature became even more animated and poked at the touchscreen. Taylor gently grabbed its hand to stop. Then she held up a finger and said, Wait. She picked up the infrared binoculars and walked across the room, and the alien seemed to understand that she needed the device to view the screen. Taylor fussed with her phone camera to line up with one of the eyepieces to get the image to show up on the phone. Okay, Manti, looks like I’m in business here. Show me what you got.

She made a circular motion with her finger, and the alien poked at the pad and kept it oriented so Taylor could see it with the binoculars and phone camera. A video began playing on the screen, and Taylor was recording it. The IR images were strange and difficult to interpret, but she got the gist of the content. A world was displayed with two large moons. There were cities populated with insectoid beings just like Manti. Land vehicles and aircraft were used for transportation, and a brief clip showed a four-armed space-suited astronaut exploring one of the moons.

The view zoomed out to show the planet nearing a star. The star had planets that looked just like the ones orbiting our sun. A trajectory diagram displayed the rogue planet’s track as it entered the outer reaches of the solar system, and then the space capsule’s track departing from the interstellar planet on a course toward the third planet from the Sun, the Earth. Taylor realized; Manti traveled here from a rogue planet that is passing through the Kuiper belt. She knew from her astronomy studies that there were billions of rogue planets wandering through the galaxy that were not gravitationally bound to any star system.

Just as the trajectory view on the alien’s screen was depicting the rogue planet continuing on and departing our solar system, Taylor was rattled by a commotion outside the front door. She dropped the binoculars as the door burst open and three police officers rushed in with guns drawn. They shouted, Police! Nobody move! Manti leaped up from the sofa, and one of the officers yelled, It’s a freakin’ monster!

Another officer pointed a pistol at the alien’s head and shouted, Don’t move. Raise your hands above your head. All of them. Now!

Taylor screamed, Don’t shoot! It doesn’t understand anything you’re saying. It won’t hurt you.

Manti took a step toward the officers with all four arms outstretched, and the policeman pointing the pistol yelled in a terrified voice, Stop! Don’t move.

Manti moved an arm and started punching on the data screen. The spooked officer fired a single shot from the pistol, and the alien fell backward onto the floor with the fishbowl helmet shattered into transparent shards.

Taylor moaned, No, no, no, and rushed over to kneel by the alien’s head. Gas blew out from the ruptured helmet as the spacesuit tried to compensate for the loss of pressure. Manti looked distressed, and its mandibles were slowly moving open and closed. Taylor started feeling dizzy and crawled away. Looking up at the stunned police officers, she said, Open the windows and doors. Hurry! The alien doesn’t breathe our air, and what’s leaking out from the suit is probably toxic.

Gasping for air, Taylor stood up and staggered to the wall switch for the overhead fan. The police were bewildered and dazed, and one of them fell to the floor, so she stumbled around, feeling woozy, opening all the windows. With her head clearing, she went back to Manti who appeared lifeless. What the heck do you breathe? she thought. Mosquitos were buzzing around the alien’s head. Mosquitos are attracted to carbon dioxide.

The police were slowly recovering from their torpor and tending to the unconscious officer on the floor. Taylor yelled, Don’t touch anything. I’ll be right back. She ran to the kitchen and grabbed a transparent plastic storage bag. From the liquor cabinet she took a seltzer bottle and a box of CO₂ cartridges, and she snatched a roll of duct tape from the hardware drawer. Taylor ran back to Manti and saw that one of the officers had handcuffed all four arms on the alien. Whatever, she thought.

She pulled the plastic bag over Manti’s insectoid head and duct taped it to the helmet ring, leaving an opening for the seltzer bottle spout which she also sealed in with duct tape. Taylor slammed a cartridge into the bottle, pressurized it, and pressed the lever to release all of the carbon dioxide gas into the bag. She charged cartridge after cartridge into the bottle until the bag and the suit were fully inflated. Then she waited. Two of the police were on their radios, and the other one was watching her efforts.

Taylor said, C’mon, Manti. Wake up. You’ve got to pull through. Although the helmet had been shattered, it didn’t look as though the bullet had impacted Manti’s head or caused bodily damage. Then the mandibles started moving again, and Manti made a soft clicking noise. Yes! Taylor yelled. C’mon, Manti! She loaded another cartridge into the bottle and released more gas into the bag.

Taylor heard helicopters outside, and from the deafening noise, it sounded like several of them were landing right next to the house. Moments later, a squad of women and men in military uniforms rushed through the door. After a brief exchange with the police, a tall young Asian officer marched over to where Taylor was kneeling by the alien. What a cluster mess, he said. Hello, Miss Elliot. I’m Major Alan Koda from the Space Force. It looks like the creature is still alive, thank God. Tell me what you know.

Not much, Taylor said. I’m guessing that the alien breathes carbon dioxide. Manti...the alien...only sees in infrared and has great difficulty communicating with us. There’s a space capsule near the airstrip...

We’re on that, Miss Elliot. We have a team recovering the spacecraft as we speak. Koda spoke into a microphone holstered on his shoulder. I need a hyperbaric chamber airlifted here ASAP. Also, lots of pure CO₂ cylinders. Round up a team of entomologists and exobiologists. He turned back to Taylor. We have the photos and videos you sent to Mr. Hill.

I have a video I took just before the police broke in and shot Manti. It’s from the alien’s arm display screen. It shows where the spaceship came from, a rogue planet skimming though the Kuiper belt.

Excellent! I’ll need to see that.

Manti played a recording that said their world is dying.

I heard that in the video.

You’ve got to save Manti.

Miss Elliot, I’m going to do everything in my power to save the alien.

Just then, her boyfriend, Eli Hill, and her professor, Gill Blane, arrived. Taylor rushed to Eli and broke down sobbing as they embraced. Eli was tearful as he said how sorry he was that the police had shot the alien. I had to tell them it was a home invasion. It’s the only way I could get them to come out.

Professor Blane and Major Koda huddled in conversation until the hyperbaric chamber arrived. After being pressurized in the CO₂ filled cylindrical tank, Manti was moving and making clicking noises. Just before the chamber was carried away in a helicopter, Taylor looked in at her alien friend through a thick window and held her hand against the pane. Manti held up a six-fingered hand and pressed it against hers through the glass.

––––––––

Taylor and Eli had been instructed to remain silent, and they wondered why no mention of the alien had appeared in the news. The recently legislated Media Security Administration was authorized to restrict dangerous misinformation and national security items from the news and social media, and they speculated that the MSA had clamped down on any reports about Manti.

A month later, the two were requested to attend a confidential briefing at Camp Mabry Army Base in Austin. They were escorted to a windowless building hidden behind a bosket of cedar trees. Inside a secure conference room, they were greeted by Alan Koda and Taylor’s professor, Gill Blane.

Major Koda began the conversation. "As you must have surmised, the MSA has not allowed any information in the media about the alien. This is for a number of reasons, one of the chief ones being that there is significant new technology in Manti’s spacecraft that is useful to the military. We don’t want our adversaries to know we have access to that. There is also concern that public information about an alien landing on Earth could cause widespread panic along with dangerous conspiracy theories and