Lost in Magadan: Extraterrestrials on Earth

Forte took a sip of his tasteless limpicom. “It’s about time. This ship is nearly 600 years old. As far as giving it to the humans, I think it will go a long way in maintaining our alliance with them. This old cargo ship may not have much value to our people, but, to the humans, it’s extremely valuable. Besides, it will be stripped of any advanced technology before we give it to them.”

Cordatus was familiar with Vitahician trade policies, but asked anyway, “What tech are we going to let them have?”

Forte said, “After unloading the cargo, we are going to remove the electromagnetic pulse drive and land the ship next to their current moon base. They will use the ship’s super structure to expand that. We will leave the old antimatter nuclear fusion reactors in place, but they won’t be used for space travel anymore, just to power the new space station.”

Lieutenant Brevis inserted, “We don’t want them to obtain faster-than-light technology from our electromagnetic pulse drive, right?”

Forte confirmed, “That’s right, we may be joining forces, but we still want to maintain the upper hand. They already have reverse engineered our antimatter fusion reactors, which gives them enough juice to travel within their own solar system. That is all they need to know, for now.”

“Commander, what’s it like on Earth?” The young officer asked.

“I know it’s not healthy, but I wish I had some of that coffee, the humans drink,” Forte said shaking his head. “The main thing to remember about Earth is that, out of its seven billion people, less than fifty thousand even know of our existence. Most of our contact with humans will be limited to the government agents with whom we work. We will be allowed out into the world to interact with the public on a very limited basis and only under strict protocols. The penalty for revealing our identity to unauthorized humans is death.” Forte gathered his thoughts for a moment. “The last time I was on Earth, Harry Truman was President of the United States of America. They had just developed the atom bomb and could barely achieve flight within their own atmosphere. Since then, with our assistance, they have developed antimatter reactors, invisibility cloaks, and space flight within their own solar system. The Earth we see in a few days will be very different than the one I left.”

Cordatus interjected, “Most of that advancement is due to the teams of scientists we left there. Why do only a few humans share in the technology we give them?”

“That’s not exactly true. Most humans have benefited from the technology we help them engineer; and they just don’t know it came from us. Most humans believe that their technological advances come from the work of human scientists,” Forte corrected him.

“This is a great breakfast,” the baby-faced Officer interjected, “it feels like I haven’t eaten in years.”

Cordatus chuckled. “That never gets old. I will have to thank the cooks for doing a great job this morning. Hey kid, do you even have to shave yet?”

The young man looked a little embarrassed. “No, I’m only sixty years old; this is my first assignment.”

Cordatus lifted his mug, as if to toast: “I would give anything to be sixty again - with my whole life ahead of me.”

Commander Forte said, “I’m glad we wake up the cooks first.” As the four finished off their breakfast, the galley was filling with newly awakened crew members.

“Shall we head up to the helm and relieve the crew. They have been standing watch for quite a while,” asked Forte, as he pushed himself away from the table.

Cordatus stood up and said, “Time to get to work.”

After thanking the cooks for the healthy breakfast, the men walked through the corridor that lead to the elevators., filed in, and headed up five levels to the command center located near the top of the ten-story tower at the stern of the ship.

CHAPTER FOUR

The Impegi was nearly 600 years old and had been transporting cargo in outer space for 570 of those years. The super structure was 1,700 feet long, 200 hundred feet wide, 300 feet high and could carry more than 270,000 tons. The Impegi was a Gerulus class vessel which meant its primary function was to transport large amounts of materials to distant planets, whether for colonization or trade. The ship had a long cigar-like shape and closely resembled an ocean going super container ship. The ten-story tower at the stern of the ship, housed the crew’s quarters, the LTS chamber, communications equipment, and the command center.

Even though it was designed primarily for transporting cargo, it was equipped with a modest arsenal of defensive weapons. The Impegi was equipped with one hundred positron torpedoes and an antiproton electromagnetic pulse weapon, which was capable for firing over 70,000 high intensity energy bolts per second. Not enough to wage war, but enough to defend against pirates or lesser developed species, like humans.