Stephen's Logbook #1 Entry #21
These stories about Stephen began was when he was 10 years old, and
moving to a new part of the country to attend a special school for
gifted students. This was from a time before computers would fit on a
desk, and when people communicated with friends in other countries by
actual letters sent through the postal service. He wrote 225 of them to
a friend. Please refer to them for insight into this new series of
stories. He stopped writing to his penpal, but found he still wanted to
record his life, in case he loses his memory again. So, we can now look
into selected entries in his logbook to see how he is doing.
All characters are fictitious, even if some of them might have names
that belong to some actual people, or act like people we know.
The stories may not be posted in chronological order.
Stephen is 17 in this story, in the middle of Summer after year 7 of
special school.
Stephen's Logbook #1 Entry #21 "Desert Contact"
NEW ENTRY
I was in the pool with Race while he was waiting for his girlfriend
to join him. It was Saturday. We were kind of testing our new swim
suits, which were stretchy skin tight boxer style. Harder to get on
than speedo brief style, but showed a little less bulge in the crotch
area. We could see the girls noticing the change, but not if they liked
them better or worse. I felt being contacted. Race was included. It was
Bone. Pete was in the contact, too. He said "We've got an alien, and
ohboy is he ugly!" We jumped out of the pool and ran up the hill to our
building, while he was telling everybody in the contact what had
happened. We got dressed in special work clothes right away, and Race
ported us to the staging site. I threw up a lot, before Race gave me a
bottle of medicine he had asked Tomba to port to him. There had been a
UFO sighting, which looked like it could be real. Bone had gone to
look, and found a space ship sitting in a desert canyon in New Mexico.
An alien was outside it, just standing and looking at it. I went with
Pete, to join Bone, while the others stayed behind as backup. Matt,
who's turn it was to manage Bluebook, was with us, too. I had asked the
adepts not to mentally scan the alien, in case he could sense it and
think he was being attacked, and to not bring any weapons to the
meeting. I looked at Matt when I said that, and he removed his guns. I
asked Rod to keep a solid to things larger than a millimeter 4th wall
between us and the alien. We all had flying belts on.
We walked toward the alien. At about 15 feet away, he turned to us.
We stopped about 7 feet in front of him. I said in the GC language, "Do
you need assistance?" It replied in the same language, "Yes, please. My
transport is not working properly." I asked, "We might be able to help,
but before that, we need to be assured of your comfort. Are you in any
need of physical or personally supportive assistance?" He said "None at
all, thank you. In fact, I find this climate delightful." I wasn't
surprised, being that he looked something like an intelligent upright
tailless lizard, with not much covering his scaly skin. We humans found
it hot and dry. VERY hot. I said "I am pleased. Are you aware that this
is a Restricted World?" He said "Yes I am. I'm authorized to be here as
a research supervisor for my institute." I said "It's fortunate that we
found you before the dominant sentient life form on this planet noticed
your presence. Your personal appearance would have caused some
disruption. However, there has been a sighting of your craft in flight.
We need to improve the situation before the locals arrive." He said
"I'm well aware of that. I set down because my radiation absorption
mechanism stopped working, and I became visible to sight and tracking
devices." I said "Can you call your people for assistance?" He said "I
have already done that. They will arrive shortly, but they won't be
able to repair the ship with enough speed to ensure it will escape
discovery, so we must destroy it."
I said "There is no need to destroy it. We can put it in a shelter
inside the rock, where your people will have time to repair it
unobserved, and we will provide guards to keep the local inhabitants in
ignorance of your presence. Will you allow us to provide this service?"
He said "We would appreciate that." I said "Would you prefer to move it
yourself, or would you allow us to do it?" He said "You may." I said
"Ever the researcher. You wish to see what we would do." I could feel
his humor in his reply, "Perceptive." I said "Please walk with us, to
inspect where we would put it." We walked, and he followed, down the
canyon two hundred yards to a large overhang which wasn't there just
minutes before. As soon as his ship was out of his sight, Chad had
ported it into place under the overhang, and was waiting there. I could
feel the surprise in the alien when he saw his ship in it's new hanger.
Chad had ported chairs there, too, and a table, and had refreshments. I
said "We prefer to be out of the sun. Can we offer you some purified
water?" Surprise wasn't the word. Astounded was a better one. I asked
him, "Are you familiar with the facial expressions of the people of
this world?" He said "Yes I am." I said "Good. So you won't be offended
when I show my teeth when I smile." He said "Correct, and perceptive of
you. There is something I don't understand." I smiled and he said,
"Yes we do appear that way. Convenient when living here."
I said "We have a policy of examining all offworlders for injuries
and possible contaminants. Please don't be alarmed when we scan you."
Pete did, and said, +He's psychic to an equivalent of a half open third
eye. Limited object and emotion senses. Short range telepath within his
own species. No weapons beyond obvious claws and fangs. IQ about 150.
Clean.+ I said "You have passed. Would you like to sit with us while we
wait?" He said "Thank you." He sat down. I sat with him. The rest of us
remained standing. Rod had scanned the ship, and pushed into my mind
its complete diagrams. I said "I am Stephen." He said "I am Zander. My
species is called Ssintris. We are most known as researchers and
historians to the Galactic Council." I said "We are pleased to meet
you. Will your people be able to locate you here in this position?" He
said "Yes. They should be able to read my ship's energy pattern, and I
will be able to sense them when they are near." I said "Is it possible
they will react unfavorably to the presence of my people here with
you?" He said "A distinct possibility. I will warn them to take no
action that I don't ask for." I said "That is good. We would not like
to cause them any harm." He said "Could you?" I just smiled.
I said "I have a request. Would you leave with us a communication
device you can use to contact us when you have any more things we can
help you with?" He said "I was about to ask if we could." I said "It's
good that we understand each other so well. We are the Guardians of
this world. If you are peaceful and do nothing to disrupt this world
and it's people, you are welcome here. If you actively aid us in that,
we could form a mutually beneficial relationship. We value friendship.
And knowledge. We abhor violence, which is why we do it so well, when
we need to." He said "I understand. Have you met the Van?" I said in
the Van language, "Yes we have, in an unpleasant way. Those are in
suspended storage, until we decide what to do with them. For others of
their kind, the same fate awaits them, when we encounter them in other
unpleasant situations. Unfortunately, we did have to kill one of them
who had taken possession of a human body. We will not permit that." He
said in the same language, "That must have been an interesting
encounter." I said in GC, "Not something we enjoy." He said "I notice
you do not appear to have weapons with you." I said "That is true. We
have tools, and other objects here, but not anything that is
specifically a weapon. Do you think we should bring some here?" He said
"To you, I could be a deceitful enemy, yet you act only in friendship.
Are you so confident of your power that you do not fear attack?"
I smiled and said "You were scanned. To you, that might mean
something different than what it means to us. You are able to sense
some of my emotions, just as we can sense yours. You should have been
able to notice that." He looked surprised. I smiled and said, "You have
not been deceitful. Have I?" He said "You have not. And I am further
amazed. I would very much like to have a friendship with you and your
Guardians." I said "This is Matt, and this is Pete. They are of us who
presently manage contacts with offworlders, once they are established.
Matt is the administrator, and Pete handles personal contacts. I should
inform you that we live among the people of this world, as them. Please
respect that, in your activities with us, and do nothing which would
expose us to them. Some of them know who we are, and work with us." He
said "I understand, and will urge my people to comply with your
desire."
I said "Why did you ask us about the Van?" He said "I had assumed you
would know of them. They have been behaving oddly, for them. One of
them even approached us for help." I said "Did you give it?" He said
"We have yet to decide." I said "They asked for help in communicating
with their homeworld, either by message, or by transport. We request
that you do not provide it, in either direction. If they want to make
trouble for you for that decision, and you are unable to handle that
trouble, please ask us for assistance." He said "It appears that you
know more about this than we do, and you have plans." I said "We take
the long view in solving problems. Enforcement doesn't eliminate
recidivism. They have some learning to do, which we will provide." He
said "I wish you well. About scanning. Did you do that to my ship?" I
said "Yes." He said "Could your people have repaired it?" I said "We
wouldn't know until we tried." Pete said +Ship coming. Same size and
configuration.+ I said "Please direct your rescue ship to land near
your own, when it arrives, so as to be out of direct observation from
above, as a precaution." He said "I am doing that now, and informing
them that you are friends." I said "Thank you." He said "I considered
asking you how you knew it had just arrived, but I have learned to
accept that you don't reveal your methods." I said "I appreciate your
understanding."
The new ship became visible, and glided in and under the rock
overhang, and settled down to the ground. Two Ssintris got out and went
into the other ship. I said +Can anybody intercept and decode their
telepathy?+ Chad said +Working on it.+ He said "You have introduced two
of your people, and what they do, but you haven't described what you
do." I said with a smile, "I am doing it. I think you want more. We all
are capable of many things, so we do what follows one or more of our
interests, and our individual capabilities, wherever they are needed in
support of our goals. When you were detected and found to be in your
situation, a team was formed to work with it, by those of us who were
available and most suited to the situation. We did not have a leader
issuing orders to others. We do what is best, with the best for the
situation. I am sorry if I am not as clear in describing this as well
as you might have hoped. This is our way, which might not be your way.
I will tell you I didn't know I was going to be the one to talk with
you. When we arrived, it just happened." He said "I think this is out
of my speciality, and beyond my understanding. Further, I think you
knew that, but were too polite to say it." I smiled and said, "And too
polite to agree with you."
I said "Are you an historian?" He said "Yes." I said "Are you aware
the Van originally came from this planet?" He said "Yes I am." I said
"Are you aware of why they left?" He said "A planetary disaster of some
kind." I said "They caused it themselves. A Solar Tap and a Core Tap
were too close together. The survivors were inhabiting orbital and
extra-planetary stations and colonies, which were only minimally self
supporting. Instead of helping the few survivors remaining on the
planet, they abandoned them, and left to seek another planet they could
ruin. Instead, they ruined themselves." He became excited and said,
"How do you know this?" I said "That is for another time and place,
when our friendly relationship is more firmly established." He became
less excited, and said, "I understand. More unrevealed methods." I said
"Perceptive of you." He smiled, too.
His people were climbing out of the repaired space ship. One of them
came over and gave him an instrument. He handed it to me. Rod pushed
his scan of it into my mind, so I would know how to operate it. Zander
showed me how to use it, but not all of its functions. I said "Were you
going to tell me about the locator function?" I could feel his
embarrassment. He said "This is a new device, not before employed in
the field. How did you know of it?" I smiled and said, "Did I?" He made
a strange hissing sound which I knew was the way his kind laughs. He
took it back and turned off the locator, and gave it back to me. He
said "I look forward to our evolving friendship. Farewell." I said
"Farewell." He went into his ship. The other one took off first, and
then his did. We waited until Rod reported they were really gone, but
was tracking them.
Then all the adepts who were watching, ported in, and they all mobbed
me, thanking me for a job well done. Except Matt, who was muttering to
himself, "A real live alien, and he played him like a fiddle. Wow!" I
yelled "Hey Matt, I never played a fiddle before. Can you make that a
piano?" He laughed, a little embarrassed. I said to the mob, "We are a
TEAM. We all did it, not me. When we get back, we have to have a
conference to figure out what it was we actually did, and what might
come of it." Chad said "And then celebrate." We knew what that meant.
END ENTRY
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Grant
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