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

PACIFICALIS SPACEPORT; HANGAR 9.4…

Like most spaceports of the 23rd century, Pacificalis’ port was right on the edge of the city-island, and most of the lanes, runways for the planetary skyporters, and landing-pads for the spaceships wrapped around the entire city itself!It was a fundamental change from the old days of sky-flight of the 20th and 21st centuries when most airports were built on the outskirts of a metropolis.Modern day designers assigned different segments of the ringed-spaceports to various destinations, that way skyporters and spaceships were in far less of a chance in crashing into each other or causing too much of a traffic jam.

Admiral Shan, First Lieutenant Tanya Hu, Lieutenant Fred Greyson, and Cadets Marla Pointe and Shawn Grainger, all donning civilian clothes typical of a tropical environment setting, walked quickly from the rented civilian land vehicle that was automatically stowed within one of the spaceport’s hangar transport facility.Hangar 9.4 was in a section of Pacificalis’ spaceport system that was more for industrial clients—various Erthen governments, private corporations, and such.The sector lacked the show-biz of the main parts of a typical passenger spaceport or skyport, with all their vendors, cultural attractions, and knots of people traversing or lounging around…

Admiral Shan, with a large-rim hat obscuring most of her head, craned her neck to find the right building.She saw a couple of young men, dressed in typical Erthen civilian-ware, walk up to them from another vehicle stowage building.One of them nodded at Shan’s team, and the two began to walk in another direction.Shan’s small team glanced at one another for apprehension, but followed, nevertheless.

The two men led the Governance team to the back area of an older structure of the spaceport, where spare parts for spaceships and sky-vehicles were stored.And there was something else in the midst of those old pieces of equipment…something that was casting long, stretching shadows in the old, darkened facility, with light so bright, it still hurt to look upon it even with sunglasses on!Which all five of the Governance operatives had on, anyway, given the sunny climate of the region near the Marshall Islands.

Respect Hausa was standing about seven feet from it when Admiral Shan’s team walked up to the large chamber of the facility, but all five halted at the doorway upon fully seeing the Object!The two young men joined the Respect and stood next to him—guards, most likely.All three men shimmered in the exuding light!The loosely-spherical, shifting glow had alternated, and its luminosity slightly pulsated…there were swarms of dust-like particulates whizzing about the whole phenomenon, but looked something like air-borne ember; as if from a campfire!The core of the phenomenon was around five feet off the floor of the chamber.The very center of the event was so bright, one had to shield their eyes from it—again, even with sunglasses on!There was actually the smallest of some audible sound coming from It.Almost more like the feel of a percussion, versus the sound of it!

“It’s safe, dear Admiral,” the Respect called out.“Trust me…we, Tell’s, have been studying the Visitors longer than the Governance has!The worst anyone has ever gotten from it is a serious tan!”

The two young men accompanying Respect Hausa laughed.

“Yeah,” Admiral Shan came back sardonically, as her team looked on, “and if one is not careful with suntans, they could turn out cancerous!Do you think it’s such a good idea to be so close to that Thing?”

At that point, Respect Hausa simply walked over to the Object, slowly reached out with one of his thin, wiry arms while his hand was in a pinching motion—and the whole phenomenon was gone!And along with the living light, its accompanying “feeling!”

He, then, carefully turned to face the Governance crew while he safely maintained his hold on something.“All that…was generated fromthis tiny piece of technology, about the size of an apple seed!”

By that time, the Governance team had joined the Respect and his two companions in the chamber.For the longest time, no one from Shan’s team said anything.They just looked at the elliptical Object between the elder’s forefinger and thumb.A couple of the Governance crew had the slightest of smiles, but the other three were stoic; including Admiral Shan.

“So, what happened to our people,” the admiral finally asked, crossing her arms.

Respect Hausa seemed disappointed with the Governance team’s reaction.After sighing, he turned to the two young men behind him.One of them had produced a reinforced container a mere few inches in size.It was opened and the Respect placed the alien Object into the padded interior of the container, and the guard shut it and walked off to place the Object somewhere out of Shan’s sight.Hausa then turned to face the admiral.

“All these millennia that Humanity had wondered if there were not only other life in the universe besides Erth—but intelligent life!Youfinally see something apart of that intelligent life-force, and what do you do?You reduce the experience to some damned checklist from a military exercise!”

“None of this matters if the Visitors abducts our people, Respect!”

Both voices had echoed in the chamber.Indeed, that same “percussion” feeling had washed over all eight humans in the chamber right after Admiral Shan’s elevated sentence had ended!Where ever Respect Hausa’s guard put the fortified container with the Seed, it had not mattered; everyone had felt the Seed’s “displeasure.”That caused all five of the Governance crew to freeze and stare at one another with widened eyes!Their eyes, then, went back onto Respect Hausa.Whom was laughing at this point, and his two guardians smiled.

“Yes, our blessed Visitors know when we, humans, are being aggressive, and I don’t think they rather like it!”

“Permission to speak, Admiral Shan,” Cadet Grainger said excitedly.He and First Lieutenant Tanya Hu were the two Governance crew who seemed to appreciate the Object more than the others.

Admiral Shan thought for a few seconds.Cadet Grainger had always been a faithful, and very effective soldier.She gave him a firm nod.Grainger, then, turned to face the Respect, and pointed toward where the other guard had come back from when he moved the Object.

“Is that one of Them, Sir?”

“No…actually, the best that Tellmondonian scientists can guess at this stage is, apparently, these Seeds seem to act as some kind of probe for the Visitors!Almost like the way we, humans, had sent our own probes throughout the solar system.And, much like humans’ planetary probes with Artificial Sentience, our scientists speculate that what these Seeds also do is act as ambassadors!”

There were snickers and sarcastic blows from the Governance crew.Even Cadet Grainger seemed to have found that a bit much to swallow.The Respect sadly shook his head.He had always felt that Erthens from Sol’s core region had lacked imagination and the ability to project possibilities.

“Listen, my friends…from what my subordinates in political offices have told me, Tellmondonians have been abducted by the Visitorsweeks before your people out on Pluto were taken!”

“What,” exclaimed Admiral Shan.

Even Respect Hausa’s guards were silently nodding at his point.“Yes, Admiral.Given the Governance’s and Tellmondonians’ adversarial relationship over the past two centuries, I would say it makes it hard for Tell’ scientists to share discoveries with our old enemies!”

The Governance team shared silent glances at one another.But the Respect thought more on his words.

“But,” Hausa said more cheerfully as he slapped his thin, sinewy hands together and rubbed them, “we are now, literally, in the days of enlightenment!For our blessed Visitors have arrived and have already began to show us the way to a brighter form of conscientiousness…even I admit, I must work on my proclivity to hardline politics!I cannot lead if I do not follow the Visitors’ way!So, no need to recount the skirmishes and wars between Erthen governments and the Tell’s, huh?”

He then laughed and patted his guards on a shoulder.

Again, the Governance crew looked at one another, but this time with confusion and uncertainty.

“Uh, Respect,” the admiral came in; carefully choosing her words, “how do you know what the Visitors want when they’re aliens that, apparently, use a very different means of communication from us?And, quite frankly, Respect Hausa, I hope you’re not implying that the rest of Humanity start to follow you just because your own government was the first to…”

The old man was giving her a devilish smile.

“Oh, blazes,” the admiral exclaimed.She was thinking things through.“Respect…when you said Tellmondonian scientists had been observing the Visitors before the Governance…”

She whipped around to look at her crew of four.She could see it on Cadet Grainger’s face—that he, too, understood what was going on!The others were still working on the problem in their heads.Admiral Shan whipped back around to look at the Respect.“Respect, please tell me you did not steal that Seed from your own government!Is that why you are here?Hiding from the Respects’ Advisory Council?”

The Respect was already motioning before he even spoke.“Dear Admiral…it is not stealing when it involves aliens!What my fellow Respects were doing to the Seeds were an absolute blasphemy to the foundation of ancient-Tellmondo’s belief structure!We do not put our faiths in governments nor corporations, Admiral—“

“You abducted them first,” Cadet Marla Pointe spoke out of protocol.Though the Governance crew were in civilian clothes to conceal their meeting with the Tellmondonian Respect, they were still on official Governance duty!

“Mind your mind, Cadet,” the second officer of the small team, First Lieutenant Hu, scolded Cadet Pointe!

But Admiral Shan held up one of her hands without a word and nodded her approval.Cadet Pointe continued.

“That’s why the Visitors are here in our solar system…at some point, Tell’ scientists had discovered this Seed and the Respect Council agreed to quietly take the Seed—I’m guessing for good ol’ fashioned experimentation!”

“And I’ll bet you,” Cadet Grainger, now, came in; after a nod from the admiral, “that the Seed had sent a distress signal!Maybe your scientists knew about it, maybe they didn’t.And, now, the blessed Visitors have come to Sol to get their own Seed back!”

“And in the process,” the admiral, now, finished up, “the Visitors took our own ‘seeds.’As in, our fellow Governance people…is that what all this is about, Respect Hausa?”

The Respect and his two guards were not smiling at that point anymore.In the silence, Admiral Shan noticed Cadet Grainger mulling something over.

“We’re pretty much on at-ease now, Grainger!”

The cadet thought, yet, even more before speaking.“The only problem with our thought-process is the Seed itself, Admiral…Ma’am, I just don’t see the Visitors going through all this trouble for a supposed probe!”

Admiral Shan’s eyes drifted away as she, too, thought further on the guess-work.Then…“You bastards abducted one of the Visitors’children, didn’t you?That isn’t a probe at all!It’s some version of an infant—or, maybe even a fetus!”

Those in the Governance team that did not understand were, now, wide-eyed and slowly looked upon the Respect as if he were an alien himself!

“Oh, my god,” Lieutenant Greyson said slowly; his head craned in the direction where one of Respect Hausa’s guards had hidden the Seed.

Respect Hausa peered at his two aides.They looked dejected.Apparently there was no rebuttal to the Governance’s operatives…apparently.

“Very good, dear Admiral,” the Respect finally admitted.He tilted his head in the direction of the hidden Seed.“But there’s only one problem with your deduction…that is not the only Seed!”