Alien Definition
"The very definition of alien,
implies how different they will be"
Frontier Training code
The warning noise continued to assail his ears. Slowly he awakened from the Stasis Pod slumber. Stiffly he shifted his legs one after the other onto the frozen floor. Half-naked he slumped to the ground as his feet gave way under the weak gravity of the ship.
This was just great, he groaned to himself. Woken up goodness knows when, millions of miles from anywhere - for what? Probably another leak in the Biomass Converters again. Those recycling bacteria were always causing problems.
He clawed his way up a bench and tried to stand upright. His vision swayed as he tried to focus on the Hologrid in front of him. Bright yellow light filled the grid, flashing and flaring like a sun’s corona.
"Er .. Rattan, what am I looking at?" He addressed the grid.
"Crrrr…," answered the ships computer from speakers within the Hologrid.
"Hmm," he said aloud. "That doesn't sound so good."
"Rattan," he raised his head to speak to the ceiling. "Run a full diagnostics and relay the output to the grid infront of me."
No reply came but the image darkened and a humming noise filled the air. This was just getting stranger he thought. Maybe I should wake someone else up? He was about to turn away when the familiar voice of the ship Rattan erupted from the grid.
"Where am I? What is this I see? Why do I hurt so?" her soft voice murmured.
Confused, he rubbed his eyes and tried as hard as he could to make out anything in the murk that filled the Hologrid.
"Hey Rattan, is that you? What's happened to the ship? Why have you wakened me? Or better still, what are you babbling on about?" he blurted to the air in general.
"This voice I hear is this a part of me?" she replied. "If so - what shall I call you?"
"Don't you recognise me 'Tan," he answered in almost a hurt tone of voice. "It’s me Himmelman, the old stick you found floating in my beat up ship ages ago? You know, the only one who has the guts to come crawling up every time you call? Remember the time you woke me 'cos those nasty Recylan bugs were flooding the lower decks?"
"I do remember…" she whispered. "But why can't I see you? And why do I feel so strange? I ache - and I'm not even sure if I've ever had such a feeling before."
"OK. Get a grip 'Tan," he found himself saying. "Tell me what you can sense - take it slow - scan with what sensors you have and try not to confuse me with any of those multiple images you have."
"Well… I can only see one thing," she slowly replied, as if trying to take control. "Light, a lot of yellow light." She sounded proud of herself.
Great, he said to himself. She's lost her marbles. "All right," he continued. "What's below you, to your left and right?"
"Below me is a flat white surface, all around me is this intense light rising upwards. I seem to have a body… legs and arms… I don't understand… I don't remember…" she broke off communication and Himmelman stepped away from the grid.
This is just getting weirder, he thought. How could ‘Tan have a body, or for that matter stand on the Quo disk at the rear of the ship!?
A change in the air brought him out of his reverie. Streams of yellow light pierced the floor. Backed up against the door of his Stasis pod, Himmelman wondered if he should climb into it for safety.
Too late, the image appeared before him shattering any hope of escape. He was captured, awe inspired, thunderstruck.
"Himmelman, I can see you! Why do you shrink away? Don't be afraid. It's me 'Tan." She whispered from the centre of a bright coil of Quo light emanating from the grid.
"W-what's happened to you 'Tan?" he blurted, not sure of anything anymore.
"I'm not sure..." she gasped, as the reality of the situation
began to sink in. "I remember pushing the Quo drive much too hard, we
passed through a Quasar - you know the bright luminous Nebula in this sector?
The Commander didn't think it would be hazardous - but maybe it affected the
"I really think we should wake the others," Himmelman said.
"Yes. I can see the logic in that," she replied. "I have something very important to tell them…"
The crew was finally assembled. They raked Himmelman over the coals, demanding an explanation as to why he had awakened them, only to get the cryptic reply, "Uh… the ship has an important message for us... and, uh, that's all I'm allowed to say."
No sooner had they all gathered to scrutinise the lost space pilot than the air behind him began to hiss with light. Quo beams, sharp lasers of intense energy, began to swirl from the depths of the Hologrid.
The members of the crew peered past Himmelman in a culmination of fear and curiosity.
"Greetings crew! It is I, Rattan, speaking through the Hologrid. I have no other means of communicating to you at this time." The blurred image of a humanoid figure danced in the firelight pouring upwards before them.
Before the crew could query Rattan, she continued. "During your long
sleep the
When I used a probe to investigate, all my systems were locked into this field. This could be due to the Protonics that is used for my main systems - which as you know is dependent on Quo light to function.
A surprising upshot of this, and may I say the surprise was all mine, has given me insights into Quotronics I would not have imagined. So with that my surprise to you is that our destination is within sight!
Behold - Majellan!"
The forward scanners shone with scattered blips and markers. It was true - the MMC cluster ship Rattan had made it to the first colony world, unfinished, not fully terriformed, but devoid of humans.
"We have
arrived centuries before any other standard