Shipp: The Alien Wars of Earth Read online

  “Well, thank them for me will you,” I replied sardonically.

  “I am hoping you will do that in person,” he replied, with a very serious and sincere demeanor. “But first you must understand what exactly your part is to be if you accept the offer. The Early Ones believe that all life is sacred and that the natural order of things is to be protected at all cost.”

  “Kidnapping the most dominant species on the planet, as you call it, is what they consider the natural order of things,” I spat!

  “Will you shut the hell up!” he replied vehemently. “If you want to see your family sometime this millennia I suggest you listen without interruption or we are never going to get anywhere,” he said, as his voice lowered and expression softened. “Please,” he supplicated, “we already covered the first part of this five hours ago, just give me a few minutes of uninterrupted oratory, and then I will be glad to answer as many questions as you might want, ok?” I studied him for a brief moment, and then I nodded my acquiescence.

  “Ok, for starters you are right, natural went out the window. The only avenue left is to try and give you the tools to demonstrate to your fellow Earthlings the need to take care of this jewel in space. To make them understand, to bring the truth out about what kind of danger they are in from outside forces, to give you the technology to show them how, and yes, the power to force them if all else fails!” Daniel paused momentarily, but I held my tongue, actually waiting impatiently for him to continue, so after taking a deep breath, he did. “I know that religious factions will all unite against you, the military will be less than willing to listen, but you will be armed with the proof, undeniable proof of alien life from this and other galaxies, technology that is other worldly, and you yourself will be proof, for you will be the ambassador between your world and all others, backed by the Early Ones in power and in technology, provided they agree with me that you have the right temperament and moral convictions they deem necessary for this mission. You see, if I can’t find a human they think is capable of handling this fairly and morally, without falling victim to the power you will have to wield to pull it off, it will happen anyway, only I, or something similar to me, will be in the roll I have just described. The crucial thing for you to understand, the thing you must not have any doubt about, is that all of the races in conflict here all agree on one thing, that you cannot put this planet in any further danger. The only differences being that the Early Ones want you to be in charge of your own destiny with as little interference as possible. But mark my words, the interference is definite, the only thing that is up in the air is will it be a human endeavor, or an alien one!” I was sitting there trying to ingest this information when Daniel added. “You should also realize that the other powers involved do not share the Early Ones moral conviction that every life form is entitled to determine its own destiny. The only reason Earth is still inhabited even now by humans is because of their threat of retribution to any race that brings harm to you. They are your only chance for self-determination, but you will have to give up being a multinational, multiracial ethnic conglomeration, and come together as Earthlings, with one common goal, to live in harmony with your planet. Once that has been accomplished, the Early Ones will back off, and your job will be done. At that point you will have become capable of defending yourself from outside interference, with the continued backing of the Early Ones and a few alien civilizations that believe as we believe, at least enough to support this action. You will never be alone in the universe again. I realize that the religious fanatics will become enraged, the people who wield power will not want to capitulate, and this will be a very hard and long road. But it is a road someone will have to travel, and soon! The last communication I had from the Early Ones indicated there has been some evidence that certain races may be tired of waiting!” Daniel paused, and got a pensive and aggravated look on his face, so I decided I could interject.

  “What you are asking seems impossible, even assuming I believe every fantastic thing you have been saying! My life wouldn’t be worth a plug nickel, or that of my family, if anyone in power got the idea that I might have the influence to cause such a change! Never mind the terrorist factions and religious fanatics, we would be fair game the planet over, with a lifespan measured in hours not years! The expression on Daniels face got even more agitated as he prepared to answer.

  “As I said, you will be given the tools to protect yourself and your family. As well as others that eventually you will need to select to help you.” I didn’t know what to say to that, so held my counsel. “That brings me to the question you alone can’t answer for me, the reason that your family will have to be awakened immediately if you decide to continue, for they will be involved in the decision making from that point on. This process will take years, in our studies we know we can alter physiology so that the aging process for all intents and purposes will be slowed to a halt. You will need to stay healthy and continue to have an athletic body in order for you to be able to handle the stress, training, and length of this mission! I assume you would require me to make this technology available to your family.”

  Upon hearing this I jumped up off the couch and strode across the room to where this Daniel character was now also standing.

  “This just gets more and more fantastic!” I yelled, waving my arms around frantically, “look, no one is going to be altering anything if I can help it!

  “Not if you say no, I told you we will not force you, but the alternative is the interference by a non terrestrial if I don’t present someone my creators feel is capable of pulling this off. Having to change horses in midstream due to lifespan that will not last long enough to accomplish the mission will probably not be something they will accept. Besides, what’s wrong with a long natural life, I am not talking about changing who you are, just making you extremely healthy.”

  I eyeballed him for a second, wiped the sweat from my palms onto my pants, and took a deep breath before I started to formulate a reply but a disembodied voice broke my train of thought.

  “You two boys mind if I butt in,” Shipp asked? Before anyone could reply Shipp continued. “Look, diet and a lack of advanced medical knowledge contribute to the current lifespan. With proper diet, and the advanced medical care that will be made available a human on this planet can expect to live for an average of a hundred and fifty, maybe even longer. This knowledge will be shared with everyone, so a longer lifespan will be normal for everyone in a short span of time after I share with your scientist the information I have available. We looked at each other and both sat down almost simultaneously. “I will have to install some upgrades in order to protect you properly, but I will explain all procedures in detail, and never perform any of them without your permission. One of the necessary medical procedures required for your protection does reduce the aging process, well actually it halts the aging process, but can be reversed at any time by me, but we can deal with that later. Just be aware you will still be human and nothing I do will ever change that! You first need to make a decision to participate, along with your family Thomas, before any of this need be addressed. So you must take things one step at a time.”

  Shipp’s voice was commanding as she addressed us, but it was more like being chastised by a parent, not orders issued by a machine, this did not register at the time, but upon reflection later, I am sure I am correct. However at the time I had turned my attention to Daniel.

  “Ok,” I replied, looking at Daniel. “The question was how I and my family stay alive, making mute any longevity question. We will be on more hit lists than the Beatles in the 60’s.”

  “I have at my disposal technology that you have never dreamed of. Keeping you alive from human or alien threat will not be easy, but not nearly as impossible as you believe.”

  “Human and alien,” I asked!

  “As I stated before,” Daniel said, as he stood and strode across the room. “There are other powers here that have different agendas than ours. Shipp can use the topography of space to jump immense distances, cutting years off flight time, but that same phenomenon will not allow communications to skip across those same distances, except by probe. Probes aren’t large enough to house the kind of power to make enough jumps to reach the Early Ones and their home world without years of flight time. This leaves us with a problem. It is known what we intend. If you, you’re family, or Shipp and I were to all disappear the Early Ones would know it was foul play, but by who. They would never punish without absolute proof, so this might be something the other factions might consider. It would be at least a couple of years before we would be missed, plus years more before another mission could be started, and the research of perspective humans would have to be started over again. It took me over thirty years of intense study before finally selection you. In our favor, Shipp is far from helpless, plus the other races don’t cooperate well with one another, and none of them by themselves could pose a serious threat. At least I don’t think so.”

  “Never say never,” Shipp interjected. “Nothing we have ever seen them use could harm me enough to disable. But with the Early Ones having a hands off attitude, you never know what they might have developed and kept under wraps. Look, it’s not worth worrying about, if they have anything, they will probably use it whether or not we continue. To not continue allows Earth to fall into their hands without a fight. I do not believe Thomas would think that was a viable alternative once he understands what is at stake here.”

  I looked at Daniel, and then glanced up at one of Shipp’s monitoring devices, which I had noticed were in all four upper corners of the room, and then dropped my head while letting my breath out in a long sigh.

  “Assuming I believe any of this,” I said, walking to the far end of the room and back, I have to discuss this
with my family. I won’t commit them or myself until they know as much as I do and we all agree on how we want to continue. Plus I would like more proof of what you say, I want to see this vessel I am on, or you, if that is a more proper way of asking. I want to see evidence of the other races you have been talking about, but I want to do this in the company of my family, because they need to be convinced as much as I. So you are going to have to deal with that or the deal, as we humans say, is off!”

  “I am beginning to understand as much,” Daniel responded. I am going to have to answer for selecting an entire family instead of one individual anyway, might as well have you all awake and screaming!”

  Daniel walked by me, lost in thought for the moment, then his nose wrinkled up and he turned back and started giving me the once over.

  “Look Thomas,” he said after eyeballing me for a few more seconds, “I will insist that you take a shower, get some sleep, and then put on a change of clothes before we wake your family, because you’ll scare them more than being kidnapped by any aliens. You look like shit, as you humans say. A shave wouldn’t hurt either, Shipp can tell you where anything is you can’t find, or how to use anything that doesn’t appear to be self-explanatory. You will be getting training how everything works in and out of Shipp if you decide to stay, in the meantime if something like, well lets say gravity disappears, if you are urinating or taking a shower terminate whichever water works is functioning at the time as quickly as possible. Keep your body aligned to what is presumed to be the deck, and be prepared to be heavy at any time. I guaranty no matter how ready you think you are, you will be surprised every time.”

  I looked at Daniel and actually smiled for the first time since this ordeal started.

  “I think I can postulate why that advice is important to me, --- and Shipp. How often does that happen,” I asked?

  “Never, so far,” Daniel said with his own grin trying to break out. “But it is probably not a secret that you are aboard Shipp and certain races are sure to be overly curious.”

  “How long do I have to rest before you will consider taking me to my family?”

  Daniel looked like he was listening to something, and then turned back to me.

  “You clean up and make an honest attempt to sleep and Shipp will monitor and tell me when to come and get you. You are physically drained; I think you will find that sleep will come. As I said, Shipp can help with that, but that is up to you. Then I promise we will go straight to your family, but they are going to need your full attention for the first few hours after Shipp awakens them, and right now you are not up to it!”

  As much as I hated to admit it, this walking, talking, Howdy Doody was making sense.

  “All right,” I sighed. “The sooner I get started the sooner I will see my family, so get out and let me see how this shower thing works!” Without a word Daniel was out the door and gone. It was eerie how fast he could get out of the room when he was finished with you.

  Chapter 5

  The awakening

  “Thomas,------Thomas, I said get some sleep not hibernate!”

  I awoke with eyes glued half shut and some stranger was shaking me and saying something I couldn’t quite make out. No, wait; it was that dammed Howdy Doody again.

  “What is it,” I rasped, throat dry as cobwebs and wiping drool off my cheek as I untangled myself from the sheet, which was damp with sweat, even though the room was cool.

  “You have been asleep for a little over ten hours,” Daniel responded, a self-satisfied look on his face. Now that I was beginning to believe Daniel was what he claimed, I was becoming increasingly aware of how human he actually appeared, and if he was what he claimed, the science behind him, and even more so for Shipp, had to be astronomical in scope! It turns out my perception of Daniel was not accurate, but at the time my thought processes were under a lot of stress.

  “You can wipe that smirk off your face and get out of my way; I need to take a piss, which is something I assume you don’t have to do.” Daniel looked like he was going to say something, but was quiet as I walked to the head. “Are we finally going to my family now,” I asked?

  “Shipp is making preparations now. You have time to take another shower and shave; I want you looking your best when they wake.”

  “Are you going to be walking into my cell whenever you want without any warning,” I asked, glancing over my shoulder through the doorway I hadn’t bothered to close as I relieved myself because it had no door!

  “These are temporary quarters,” he retorted. “I only locked you in for your own safety until I could be sure you wouldn’t hurt yourself by doing something stupid. You will find no doors locked against you in the future.

  I didn’t know what to say in response, so I decided to take a quick shower, I was anxious to get to my family and reassure them, but at the same time I realized I wasn’t scared. Somewhere along the line I had started to take Daniel at his word, not so sure if that was a good or a bad thing!

  “By the way,” I asked. “How is it that Shipp didn’t wake me instead of you? Then I wouldn’t have to have you standing around while I get ready, or wandering in while I’m asleep.”

  “Shipp did everything but sound the emergency claxon, but to no avail. She even tried playing some of your rock and roll really loud but you didn’t even twitch. She got worried, even though her scans indicated you were merely sleeping, and was going to dispatch a medical droid. She knew I was close by, so asked me to come instead.”

  “Well I don’t know what a medical droid looks like, but if it had awakened me instead of you, we would probably be looking at his crushed brain housing group scattered around the room, or would Shipp have stopped me?’ I asked.

  Daniel turned to face me with a large amused grin on his face.

  “It hasn’t ever come up, but you take precedence over hardware Shipp can replace or fix, so she probably would have let you wail away,” Daniel said, his grin getting even wider as he paused as though listening. I had noticed him doing that from time to time. “Shipp is of the opinion that an action such as that would be the same as smashing her toes with a hammer if she had any toes, that is,” he continued.

  “Shipp just talked to you without my being able to hear, didn’t she,” I interrupted.

  “Yes she did. Shipp can communicate with me directly at any time, even when I am on planet. I can also assimilate any information she cares to share with me, and she often does. I cannot do as much research, or as fast as Shipp can, but I can receive the finished product of her knowledge and research in what you would call a download, and it is just is if I had learned it myself, I can transfer data to Shipp as well. In this way we can better utilize our time and shorten both our learning curves.”

  I pondered over that interesting bit of info as I finished dressing in a utility uniform I had found laid out for me. My clothes had come up missing, but the drawers and closets had an ample supply of clothing, which just happen to all apparently fit me perfectly. As I leaned down to snap down the devices that appeared to replace bootlaces, I looked up to meet Daniels gaze and spoke softly.

  “I have often wished that were possible when I was cramming for an exam, or wishing I knew more about the technology on a newer model of car I was working on. But since there isn’t a socket in my head, I guess I’ll have to get by on the old fashioned look, see, think, and rethink, method.”

  “Don’t be to sure,” he replied as he walked towards the door, which I had just noticed was open. “But it is time for you to get to your family, I have hundreds, no thousands of things to tell you about what is and is not

  possible. Things you never dreamed of, but only if you and your family decide to come on this journey with Shipp and I. But first things first, your family is in the last stage of the reawakening process and we must be there before they actually start to come around, so follow me!”