"Visitors' Arrival: Book 3 of the LUNAR SERIES."

Hours after Admiral Reshma Shan had her meeting via comm-link with Cadet Shawn Grainger, she met with the Sol Governance’s Members once again.This time, with the information Cadet Grainger had revealed to her, the meeting went a lot better for the Admiral about ‘the Visitors’—a nomenclature that simply stuck in all the discourse among the Governance’s officials and its ranks.

Indeed, between those two meetings of the Members and each Member’s respective agencies or companies, the Governance was able to come up with a working plan to combat that FTL-tech enemy.

With the newly-installed garrisons at every distance-markers in the Sol system, the Governance Council would “deputize” Members’ citizens and company workers in the region within Saturn, Jupiter, and the Asteropia asteroid belt, so that every individual had the legal authority to carry weapons on their person at all times, with the understanding that such enactment by the Governance was temporary.The deputization would end when the threat of the Visitors was over, or close to ending, at best.Given the movements of the Visitors was just beyond that region, having citizens give succor to the Governance’s military was like doubling the Governance’s defense forces forfree.There were objections by several Members of the Governance’s body, but given the situation with the Visitors there was not enough time to debate the deputization plan…at least, that’s what the Governance’s Council Chair, Xi Zehan, said was the reason.It was well-known that she, and many other Members of the body, had always been biased for ‘weaponizing’ Sol’s citizenry as a whole!Other presented plans by Xi for legislating such policy were defeated several times in the Council’s procedures in time past.But now, given the threat from the Visitors, most had anticipated success of her deputization bill.

There was nothing like the threat of a foreign or alien aggressor to galvanize such nationalistic legislation in a government’s body…

Also, the Governance would deploy a relatively new weapon designed by its scientists a few decades prior.The Centralized Collider was based on the principles of the old atom-smasher technology of the 20th and 21st centuries.Generally speaking, the only main difference was instead of needing nearly 20 miles of a small tunnel to sling atomic particles around and crashing them together to get energy and information, the Centralized Collider was able to do that from a single output…the particles were shot out of a nozzle that had several nano-outputs and were all concentrated into a single spot and the same collision would occur as an atom-smasher!Governance scientists were able to adjust the size of the collision from that of a tiny firecracker to the obscene scale of a nuclear bomb!The Governance, however, tightly controlled and legislated what institutions were able to use the Colliders at that magnitude!Indeed, it was illegal in all of Sol system for individuals not associated with an institution to even use a Centralized Collider.

Given that the Governance already had existing Colliders stationed throughout Sol, it was the hopes of the Council that such weapons redeployed—quickly!—throughout the Sol system from Saturn to Erth-proper space would at the very least slow down the encroaching Visitors…

It had been several days since Admiral Shan had a virtual-meeting with the Council Members of the Governance board, and there was, literally, no news regarding the Visitors coming from the outer regions of the Sol system.The island of Pacificalis was placed on emergency status, along with the headquarters of the Governance, itself.All of the capitals, major metropolitan regions, and military facilities on planet Erth were, also, locked into emergency mode, thanks to the myriad of Council Members of the Governance.

Admiral Shan and her team finally got a lead on the Visitors and got backing from the solar system-wide government, and the Visitors hadnow decided to go ‘radio silent,’ as that very old phrase went.It was suspicious to the admiral.As if someone had told the Visitors that Humanity had finally built up a defense against them and they decided to hold back from invading the rest of Sol system!Shan decided to contact her old friend, Doctor Urla Franks, and see if she could help her from a more scientific approach.

The two women decided to meet at one of Pacificalis’ Physical Universities.With Dr. Franks’ connections as one of Governance’s scientists, she was able to secure an entire auditorium for them.Given that the whole Island was in a state of emergency, there weren’t many students around the University to get in the way.Those few around were given special exception, most likely because they were affiliated with Governance’s military or University structures in some way.There, they began to use the classroom’s media kiosk to further investigate the situation with the Visitors.

“I don’t like it,” the admiral said as she blew out a sigh.She had slumped into a nearby seat in the audience front row section of the auditorium.Like Dr. Franks, she had a beat-up cup with coffee in it.Compliments of a merchant-friend with a café near the University grounds.“Maybe they were monitoring our communications and found out our plans?”

Dr. Franks gave a tacit nod; her lined face pinching.“Given their advanced technological abilities, it would be irresponsible to not consider that…”The scientist thought more on their little meeting, which had gone on for over an hour at that point.She couldn’t help but notice from the corner of her eyes that Shan was staring at her.“What’s on your mind, Admiral?I haven’t seen you look at me like that since wefirst met!”

That, of course, caused Admiral Shan to look away.She thought for a few more seconds.“I just noticed your robe…”

Dr. Franks sat still, waiting to hear more from the middle-aged woman, whom was a little more than ten years her junior.“And,” she said with a laugh.

“And…honestly, it reminded me that there are rumors that you are of Tellmondonian heritage.”

At that point, Franks sighed impatiently.Now she, also, took a seat on the front row; two seats over from her friend.“Reshma…look, I’ve been dealing with this issue of my ethnicity since before you were born, young lady!”They both laughed.For young, the admiral was not!“Honestly, I’m not completely sure myself.My family has a lot more pictures of robed relatives from time past compared to other people’s families, I’ll grant you that.But…”

Dr. Franks’ eyes drifted toward the kiosk, with all its projected telemetry, images, and winking lights.“Reshma, it’s been about a hundred years since many of the Tellmondonians had migrated to the asteroid field and re-established their colony out there!From articles I’ve read about them and the few Tell’s I’ve actually met, it’s safe to say that the majority of Tellmondonians are in the Asteropia development!”

“Doesn’t mean you are not Tell’, though.”

“True…I admit, when I’ve seen my older relatives when I was much younger, most of them always wore robes, had long hair, and a lot of them tended to have that lanky body-type that Tell’s often have.”

“Because of the lower-gravity from Asteropia’s artificial gravity in their cities,” Admiral Shan input as she straightened up in her seat.

“That’s it…I find it interesting and ironic at the same time, that at some point, most of those who traverse the solar system have either gone through, or stayed at Asteropia’s asteroids.Given Humanity’s complex history of conflicts between different cultures, I’m guessing there are a lot more Governance citizens with Tellmondonian blood than they’d like to admit!”

Now it was Admiral Shan’s turn to subtly nod.“Well, you know I don’t care about such things.But of all the years I’ve known you, I don’t remember ever asking you.”

“Let’s face it; the Tell’s haven’t been the kindest whenever I’ve visited the asteroid field and some of the Tell’s’ cities.We’ve all heard complaints about their attitudes toward Governance citizens…and I look Tellmondonian!”

Both laughed.Shan took a gulp of her coffee.Neither said anything for a while.Partially taking a break from their intense brainstorming session to deal with the Visitors; partially because the subject of Tellmondonians was still controversial for Sol citizens, even in the 23rdcentury!Most Sol citizens—especially those on Erth—yet blamed the ancestors of the Tell’s for leaving Erth back in the 1990s and secretly setting up an underground colony of millions on the Moon!It was complicated enough that the Tell’s had colonized Erth’s moon clandestinely, given the various governmental and private space-powers of the 21st century, back then, had run-ins with the Tellmondonians.But most importantly, scientists of the day had discovered that all the human development on such a small, astronomical body as Erth’s moon had corroded its geological structure and caused the Moon to actually recede toward Erth!

Given the pull of Erth’s gravity on such a ‘hollowed out’ moon, it was the absolute worse environmental catastrophe Humanity had ever experienced!Fortunately, the space-powers of Erth of the mid-21st century had gotten their scientists together with those of Tellmondo, and they were able to stop the Moon’s recession toward Erth…it took about 20 years, and millions upon millions of metric tons of mined erth shipped out to the Moon for patching, but the Lunar Recovery Project worked!Even during the days of Admiral Shan and Dr. Franks of the early-23rd century, Erth’s moon was about one-third the distance it was from Erth before the Lunar Recession!The Moon loomed larger in the sky than what the Human species had evolved to know it—even during the mornings!And Humanity had strictly banned anydevelopment on the Moon perpetually.

It was this deep space history that had worked against Tellmondonians in the Governance’s solar government of 2217.And for Dr. Urla Franks, specifically.

“When was the last time you’ve been to Asteropia anyway,” Admiral Shan asked as she drank the last of her coffee.

Dr. Franks had to think for a moment.“Seven…maybe eight years ago?”

“My goodness!Why so long?”

A shrug from the elder woman.“I’ve gotten older…to travel so far out from Erth anymore is harder for me, despite our record-speed vehicles over the past few decades.Plus, ever since Chustin died, it’s not quite the same.”

At that point, the admiral felt guilty for asking her last question.

“Do you think they’re examining them,” Dr. Franks asked; jolting Shan back to the business at hand.

This time it was the admiral that needed time to think.“With the limited information we have on the Visitors at this stage, impossible to tell.As bad as this might sound, I hope that’s the worst it!”

The scientist made a wincing face.“You know, Reshma, I’ve never been comfortable with that name we’ve been calling them:Visitors!So benign…”

By that point, Admiral Shan had gotten up and tossed her empty coffee cup into the recycler in the auditorium.She walked up to the looming kiosk; looking at one of the looping-images they had of the Visitors, taken from one of those mining automatons on Pluto.The replaying recording showed some hidden craft cloaked in flashes of light.“Well, none of us have exactly had a social with them and found out what they preferred to be called.So…”

“I suppose aliens would be a bit too clichéd, then,” Dr. Franks put to her sardonically.