Chapter 1
Dawn's story: Approximately 2024 AD Earth date, Colony Water world Zeta Herculis
II - 77% water, Mean Temp 64 degrees.
THEY landed on July 24 2004 AD when I was 30 years old. It's one of the
few dates I still remember- The Day, the day the astronauts died, my birthday,
and Christmas. I have no idea when those dates come, but I remember the numbers.
They must know when each year my birthday is, once a year They treat me special
and give me a few treats; especially that sweet fruit They know I love.
Believe it or not, I was actually glad that They had come: 2004 on Earth
was not a happy place to live. When I was a little girl, it seemed our
governments were going to blow us all to kingdom come. Now it seemed we were
just going to tear each other limb from limb until there was no one left to
fight. First it was the Arabs and Israelis; the peace they hoped for never came.
Likewise, England and the I.R.A.; peace was talked about, but everyone just kept
fighting.
Every day it seemed things got worse. First it was a busload of tourists
shot dead; next time was an airliner or cruise ship. We wondered where would it
all end? For most of the '90's it was the Arabs and Israelis, the English and
the Irish, the Serbs and Bosnians; then in the new millennia it seemed to be
everyone. It was like the world was way overpopulated, and everyone was just
plain mad. It had gotten to where I was afraid to go out at night, sometimes
even to go to work in the mornings. So I guess I was glad The Visitors came.
What they might want of our miserable little planet scared me, but they also
represented some kind of new hope.
I remember they showed up in a huge ship that hovered over the White
house. It looked like something from the old Star Trek series- it had a huge
roundish, sort of angular part in front with a long spindle coming out behind
it. The spindle had a oval pod above and below the front disk, I guess they were
engines, I don't really know. I remember exactly where I was that day; they
interrupted all the TV channels with a live image of their ship over the White
House. After 10 minutes or so their captain appeared on the TV. I remember the
date because the only thing more vivid in my memory is watching the space
shuttle blow up, killing everyone on board, while I was at school as a little
girl.
Anyway, I remember I was surprised their captain looked just like us
except more regal looking and tall. I thought aliens were short hairless guys
with big eyes. This guy looked like one of us- well not quiet like now but how
we were. He spoke to the entire planet. Told us how they came in peace and meant
us no harm. I remember him telling everyone how they were distant cousins of
ours; he just didn't say how. I thought it was odd how his mouth looked like an
old Japanese Kung Fu movie; his lips didn't quite sync with his words.
He finished his short speech by saying he and his people would meet with
the leaders of the world and that all of them would speak to the people of Earth
again. I remember being rather bewildered, after all I was just a simple Sales
and Customer Support clerk at a local computer and electronics store. I always
left the smart stuff to the salesmen, I just knew how to run the cash register.
All of us just stood there staring at the image of the ship after his speech.
Later I read in the news that outside, many people rioted and raged in the
street. The paper said that some preachers took it as a sign to rant about the
coming apocalypse. They seemed really upset that the aliens said they were our
cousins; I guess the bible doesn't leave much room for relatives in outer space.
I laughed when they said the Commander was the antichrist.
Anyway, the riots quieted down when the police came in. For some reason,
as soon as the guys in riot gear appeared, most of the citizens snapped out of
it and when back home. Only a few troublemakers were actually arrested. Soon
everything seemed to go back to normal, the aliens didn't seem ready to take
over, and the TV went back to normal programming. Over the next weeks and
months, our global unrest seemed to calm. Some of those who'd fought for
centuries, continued - albeit somewhat less aggressively. Everyone else just
kind of stopped to see what would happen - I don't think I was the only one who
thought of the aliens as a new hope.
We heard from the Commander again several days later. He appeared on TV
from the UN building along with several other aliens and many of the World's
leaders. The TV kept panning back and forth between the aliens and the leaders.
I could see how like and unlike they were to us: They were tall, the men at
least six and a half feet; and muscular, none of them were fat; to me they all
looked very regal, the commander looked like a king of some empire. Their
clothing seemed to be shimmery colored jumpsuits. Except for the height and
regalness, they looked just like us. The president of the U.N. came toward the
camera with the leaders of the U.S., Russia, China, Japan, and U.K. right behind
him; the other leaders crowded in behind them. He started speaking, first
introducing the commander and his officers to everyone. He said all of the
nations in attendance had elected him to speak for them all.
He first repeated that the aliens, he said they called themselves
Eridani's, came in peace to interact and trade with us. He indicated that the
Eridani's had many technologies they would share with us in exchange for trade
and mining rights here on Earth. He turned to the Commander who pointed out a
star system called 82 Eridani G5 on a map off to the side; I'm still confused
about exactly where it is, I've always had trouble even with two dimensional
maps. Anyway he said the G5 meant it was a yellow sun like ours but a bit
smaller; their planet was the second one and orbited much closer to its sun.
So the commander listed a number of minerals and ores they needed, some
that we didn't even want on our planet to begin with. He reassured everyone that
they could be mined using deep shafts drilled by lasers from orbit, and that the
process was completely automatic, only requiring operators, and that it was
completely safe both to the Earth and its inhabitants. He listed a long list of
things we would get in return: safe, cheap, and powerful fuels and energy; much
improved communication and computer equipment, better ways to farm, a whole lot
of technological things I didn't understand, very improved medical care
including possible cures for many diseases; and chances for those qualified to
go to their Academy and travel the stars on their star ships. The president came
back up, and after more talk, told everyone that this was it for now, and to
stay tuned into the news for more announcements later.
The first thing they did was to phase out all of the nuclear reactors
and other power plants for their new advanced power systems. I understood that a
half dozen or so new power stations could cleanly supply the entire world's
electricity very cheaply. They said something about it was so cheap because the
Eridani's subsidized the cost in part exchange for the mines they were building.
About this time, we began to see many ships arriving; most of these were much
more angular and bulky except for a few like the first one. I think they said
some had come that we didn't even see - I think these had stayed in orbit to
power their mines. I had wondered why the power companies didn't complain about
losing their profits, but I guess they found new markets for them to expand
into.
As power plants, transportation and other big petroleum companies
switching to the clean fuels, environmental cleanup became the next new thing.
The aliens assisted of course, and many people who'd been out of work before
found a new source of work. Tools to make underground building easier were
brought in, and underground housing became popular. Overnight many buildings got
torn down to make way for gardens and parks. Of course they left all the
historic sites; who wants to tear down some hotel George Washington stayed in?
With the arrival of all those ships, we saw more and more aliens on
Earth. After three or four months we saw them on the street all the time. For
some reason they always seemed to stare at me but I didn't take notice of it;
after all with my long brown hair and medium sized firm breasts men always
stared at me. Most of the aliens I saw were men. I did see at least a few women;
They seemed to stare too, but I paid no attention. I've had one or two ladies
look at me before and by now I'd heard rumors that the aliens had no hang-ups.
My friend Sally said they even allowed marriages with three or sometimes more
people! I didn't care - They came to our restaurants and bought food, they came
into the store and bought all kinds of stuff.
They seemed amused with the computer games the store sold, and bought
them by the handful. I think the banks had set up exchange rates; they'd just
give me a card that I swiped through the register, I never had one of their
cards fail. Soon we were selling all kinds of new gadgets, we stopped carrying
most of the old computers. At first the new stuff didn't have brand names, but
later the new computers said IBM, Apple, Compaq, etc. We still sold those video
games by the truckload.
With all these Eridani's coming in, they got to be real familiar to me.
Most of them still seemed to stare at me, but a few had become friendly. One in
particular, he looked young but I think he must have been older since I heard
they live 500 years or more and don't die except by old age or accidents, kept
coming in over and over to buy more games. He started to open up, and talked
about his ship and what he did. One night I was in a bar eating dinner and he
was there with his buddies. He came over and asked if he could sit and talk to
me.
He asked me all kinds of questions! He did mention he was married and
his wife was back on Eridani with another husband and kids. He started talking
about how they were free to date others as they wished, and how they often
brought dates back to meet the spouse. This caught me off guard; usually married
men trying to pick me up deny being married, and we wound up back at my place
and during our heavy necking I found out he definitely had his equipment in the
right place (Dawn reaches one hand down under her belly and massages herself).
I was a bit nervous about walking home with him. Guys always told me I
was pretty, but I guess I always had somewhat of a confidence problem. I always
worried too much about how I looked, and when guys tried to reassure me, I
worried more. I didn't go out on dates much. I'd only had two real boyfriends,
and one of those was in high school. I usually wound up staying home. I think I
let the Eridani come home with me partly because he had a subtle way of making
me feel at ease and good about myself. So like I said, we went up to my
apartment and made out really heavy.
We would have gotten further except I heard beeping come from his
uniform collar and he said he had been ordered back to the ship early. Before he
left, he said he hoped he'd see me again. What he did before leaving struck me
as odd; instead of kissing me, he held me close and stroked the back of my head
like I was his younger sister or something. I saw him in the bar once or twice
but never went out on a date with him again.
The Eridani's weren't what I expected at all. Like I said, their men
were six and a half feet tall at least. Most of the women were around six. All
of them were handsome or beautiful, not one was ugly. They always walked with
purpose, walking gracefully with confident precise strides, even when they were
just strolling around. They all seemed strong, agile, and quick; I once saw one
of them take down four human thugs hoping to rob him. Of course the thugs were
really stupid to try in the first place; the Eridani probably had no money and
only a debit card they couldn't have used anyway. The Eridani reminded me of one
of those old Kung Fu guys; he knocked them all out, but didn't beat them
needlessly. The Eridani never showed anger once during the entire incident.
They are always calm and collected emotionally; but not unemotional like
the character Spock from Star Trek. They never get angry or upset, however they
are quick to show compassion, warmth, or laughter. I remember another incident
that happened in the store- one of them had come in to purchase some games, and
the register wouldn't work. Nothing I did helped, and my boss angrily yelled at
me, telling me I never did anything right. While I stood there on the verge of
tears, the Eridani just patiently stood there. He reassured me, telling me I was
doing my best, then turned to my boss. My boss furiously ranted and raved while
the Eridani barely whispered. Suddenly my boss turned to me and apologized, then
left. It turned out the problem was the mainframe, I never did anything wrong.
Seeing how my boss reacted to the Eridani gave me quite a thrill; my boss was
something of a terror and made life horrible for everyone there.
I discovered they are pragmatic and straightforward - they are still
puzzled and amused by some Earth customs and notions. Like I said before they
have no hang-ups about sex, bodily functions, or relationships. It's all part of
life and there's no need to hide seemed to be their attitude. Nudity especially
confused them, it made no sense to them to hide things everyone had. For them
clothes were mainly for comfort in non controlled environments as well as for
rank and work division identification. I learned later that off duty, nudity was
accepted, especially in warm environments. Our history of slavery also puzzled
them - the concept wasn't new to them and even seemed accepted, but our past
tendency to enslave others of our own kind simply based on skin color did not
make sense to them.
With the increased numbers of Eridani on planet came more advancements.
Next were new cars with the improved power plants. They said the new ones were
much better for the environment; I'm not sure, I never even drove my old one
much. Ford didn't seem to care, from reading the paper I think they were
retooling to make aerospace stuff. These new cars were neat, you just got into
them and said where you wanted to go. I didn't even have to steer. I just got in
and it took off into the air. Like I said I never really liked cars and didn't
use mine much anyway.
The medical advances they brought were the most wondrous. I kept hearing
about new developments just about everyday. First they came up with brand new
artificial hearts. If you needed a new one, you were back up in just a couple
weeks, and didn't even need to carry around a power supply. They cured all those
incurable diseases named after dead sports stars and stuff. To get rid of
cancer, all you had to do was take pills for a couple weeks and you'd never get
it. If you were overweight, or bald, or ugly; they could fix that too.
For a while all the medical people who'd spent all those years studying
were a bit anxious and upset, but the Eridani's found a solution again. They
announced a new program about how they were short on science crewmen on their
exploration ships. The TV said something about seeing the far reaches of the
galaxy and beyond. It stated "Call 1-800-555-5555 and give us your name, social
security number, and schooling". I think they'd then check up on you and call in
those they were interested in. A lot of people signed up I think, they must have
because there seemed to be fewer human doctors.
After nine months or so, I think they cured just about every disease and
ailment. They even talked about a possibility of renewed youth for older people;
the commentator said "One day you can just check into a hospital and they'd put
you through a series of gene rejuvenations that'd return your youth to you." I
guess they finally even cured the cold- at least I haven't had one since. Things
did start to get a bit weird. I kept hearing rumors about people turning up
missing. I never thought much about it though. Once I got a video call from a
guy I used to date in school. He said he'd graduated medical school just after
the aliens came. He told me he spent four months at an Eridani academy and was
on a star ship near the Denemb system now.
Some people made a big deal about it, especially those street corner
preachers that always talked about the end of the world. You know what I thought
about them. Plus they brought the subject up on the TV talk shows. Geraldo
brought out a bunch of people who'd "turned up missing". One guy was in a
Eridani uniform like my friend. Another said he had just come out of the
hospital free of some old health problems, and had gone to the tropics for a
month to celebrate. All other guests had similar stories, and Geraldo brought
out some guy with a greasy beard and dirty clothes carrying a "The End is Near"
sign. After shouting accusing questions at the guy, while the audience jeered,
he announced it was all a scam. I always believed Geraldo.
Those fanatical religious guys really didn't like it when cures for AIDS
and all the other sexual diseases were announced one after another. If you had
a disease they had treatments that would cure you in days. Everyone who wanted
would receive vaccines and would never get sick again. The "End is Near" guys
couldn't stop talking about that with sexual diseases cured, the free love
"sinful" days would come back.
About a year after they landed, and the Geraldo scandal had faded, I was
at the pub eating dinner when a sharp pain shot through my side. It hurt so much
I fell down on the floor, and curled up into a ball. One of waitresses got to me
about the same time as one of the Eridani officers. Both asked me if I was all
right simultaneously. The officer offered to drive me to a doctor, but the
waitress said "No, I'd better call an ambulance". One got there as my pain was
starting to lessen a bit. After taking my vital signs and examining me, the
driver put me on a stretcher, telling me "It's just a bit of appendicitis".
After giving me a painkiller, he wheeled me into the back of the
ambulance, and we rode to the hospital. In the emergency room, the human nurse
took my vital information then rolled me to a bed in the emergency ward. She
pulled the curtain as she talked to me. She undressed me, pulling my shoes off,
then removed my blouse and my jeans, then my panties and bra. Even though the
curtain was closed, I was a bit nervous as she pulled off my rings and other
jewelry, placed them on a tray and left me as naked as when I was born. Turning
away for a moment, she got a short gown and then had me reach out my arms so she
could put it on me. She took all my clothes and possessions and walked away,
leaving me there to listen to the sounds of a very busy emergency room. After
five or ten minutes she came back with an injection for the pain. I was told
again it was just a simple case of appendicitis. They would operate as soon as
possible, and it would all be OK soon. I slowly faded into sleep as I felt the
painkillers kick in.
