In the Arctic (7 page)

Major McColl quickly answered. “Listen up, everyone. First thing, I want you to make sure that all of your fellow ETF members are wearing their headsets and have their microphones on. Second, everyone stay in your seats with your seat belts fastened.

“Okay, as strange as it sounds, some force we don’t yet understand has taken control of the Chinook. Our craft has just been steered down through a crack in the tundra’s surface that opened briefly and then closed as soon as we were below ground. We’re presently descending down a very large shaft. That’s about the extent of what I know.”

The pilot’s next words caught everyone in the main cabin by surprise. “What in Sam Hill . . . ?” Major McColl blurted out. Then he quickly regained his composure, and in a calm voice described exactly what he, Captain Williams, and Dr. Henderson saw though the cockpit window.

“We’ve just entered a large underground cavernous chamber that certainly wasn’t created by nature,” Major McCall explained. “It is perfectly circular, and I’d say the diameter is about a hundred yards. The walls, ceiling, and floor appear to be pure ice, and
they’re smooth as glass with some sort of lighting element built inside. There are a number of tunnels leading out of the main chamber, and I obviously have no idea where they go.

“For those of you who wanted to meet an extraterrestrial, I think you’re going to get your chance because there’s what looks to me like a spacecraft sitting right in front of us. It’s oval, and it’s made out of some type of silver-colored material. I’d say it’s about fifteen feet high, about forty feet in length, and there’re no windows.

“Wait a second! Whoa! Something’s coming out from behind the spacecraft! Dr. Henderson, what do you want to do now?”

If Jockabeb could have seen the alien being that Dr. Henderson and the pilots were watching, he would have immediately thought back to last night’s dream. Just like in his dream, the extraterrestrial that approached the Chinook had a large praying mantis-shaped head. Two long, spindly arms were raised high with palms facing outward. The alien was tall, perhaps seven feet or so, and its greenish-gray skin had a snake-like sheen.

The closer the extraterrestrial came, the stranger it looked. Two tentacles or feelers protruded from its ridged forehead, and a pair of egg-shaped, emerald green eyes bulged out of sockets near the sides of its triangular head. It had a flat nose above a v-shaped upper lip that all but covered a mouth that was barely visible.

Even though the extraterrestrial wore no clothes, it was impossible to determine if it was male or female,
assuming this race of aliens even had different genders. A metal cylinder that resembled a hand-held microphone hung around its neck.

When the extraterrestrial made its way to a spot right in front of the Chinook’s cockpit, it looked up at the three humans and spoke something into the cylinder. Then it waved its free hand in a welcoming gesture.

“I think it wants us to come outside,” Dr. Henderson said.

“You got that right,” Major McColl replied.

The line had been silent for over a minute as Dr. Henderson and the two pilots watched the extraterrestrial approach the Chinook. Frustrated by the lack of communication, Professor Eberstark finally lost patience and angrily demanded an update, barking, “What on earth is happening out there?”

“Interesting choice of words,” Dr. Henderson quickly responded, “because what I’m looking at now is certainly not from Earth. No, it’s most definitely from somewhere else in our Solar System, or maybe even from a different planetary system altogether.”

Before she could finish her last sentence, Professor Eberstark and Dr. Watanabe had taken off their earphones and unfastened their seat belts. When the two scientists arrived at the cockpit entrance and saw the strange creature waving at the cockpit window, they gasped.

Dr. Watanabe couldn’t hide his excitement when he said, “It looks friendly enough. I say we go out and meet it.”

Recognizing that the final call on what to do next would rest with the ETF’s Mission Commander, Dr. Henderson announced her decision in a firm voice. “First, we will go back and brief the rest of the team on what’s happened. Second, I’ll select four of you to join me when we make our initial contact. The other five will stay onboard with the pilots and Staff Sergeant Jones. Third, I’ll be our spokesperson when we speak with the extraterrestrial. Got it?”

“Yes Madam Mission Commander,” Professor Eberstark replied, bowing his head in mock deference.

After briefing the rest of the ETF, Dr. Henderson selected the other four members who would accompany her to meet the alien. They were Dr. Watanabe, Archibald, Lynch, and the senior SEAL, Lieutenant Flint. She then turned to the four and said, “And just so there’s no confusion, I’ll do all the talking out there. Are there any questions?”

“Not a question, just a statement,” Lynch said in a defiant tone. “I hope that alien out there is friendly, but Flint and I are here to protect you if it’s not. Since we intend to do just that, we’ll be bringing our M240 machine guns and Glock 18 machine pistols.”

“Is all that fire power really necessary?” Dr. Henderson replied, her frustration clearly evident.

The conversation ended when Lynch tightened his jaw and almost spit out the words, “Yes, Doctor, it is.”

The welcoming party of five, if you could call it a welcoming party with Lynch as a member, then put on all their cold weather gear, including facemasks and goggles. The rear door of the Chinook was then lowered, and as soon as they were outside, Dr. Henderson turned and gave a thumbs-up motion.

When the rear door was raised shut, the five humans were essentially left on their own to deal with whatever lay ahead!

Jockabeb and Willow had run up to the cockpit the moment the rear door of the Chinook was returned to its closed and locked position. They had wedged themselves in behind the pilots, and soon the other ETF members were gathered all around them to watch the historic meeting that was about to take place. Even though the two teenagers had a clear view of the extraterrestrial standing below, they wouldn’t be able to hear a word of the conversation that was about to begin.

Protected by his cold weather clothing, Archibald didn’t feel the fifty-degree below zero temperature, but knew it was cold because the moisture from his breath immediately crystallized on his facemask and his boots squeaked as he walked. He was right behind
Dr. Henderson as she slowly led the group to the front of the chopper where the extraterrestrial was waiting patiently. As soon as the strange creature came into sight, the Mission Commander raised her arms and turned her palms forward.

Staring through the chopper’s windshield, Jockabeb was immediately struck by how tall and thin the alien was. Just like in his dream, its large head reminded him of praying mantises he’d seen back home, and it seemed way out of proportion to the thin neck upon which it was perched.

When the creature raised the cylinder to the bottom of its chin, no one expected what happened next.

“Hello,” the alien said in English. Although understandable, the word sounded to those outside as though it had been computer generated, and there was a slight echo after it was spoken.

The next words came slowly, with short pauses in between. “The device I hold allows my language to be translated into your language . . . so that you can understand me. It also does the same when you speak . . . so that I can understand you.

“My name is Zenda . . . and I come in peace.” Then pointing one of its long, spindly fingers at Dr. Henderson, it said, “By what name are you called?”

After the Mission Commander answered back, “Henderson,” she responded to Zenda’s last statement, declaring, “We also come in peace.”

When the next words left Dr. Henderson’s lips, Lynch patted the Glock in his pocket and the M240 that was slung over his shoulder. “Zenda, are you alone, or are there others with you?”

“There is one other who has come with me,” Zenda answered. “I will explain because it is important. I also need your help.”

The dialogue that followed was painfully slow at the beginning because of the time needed for the cylindrical device to accurately translate Zenda’s and Dr. Henderson’s words. However, as the conversation proceeded, it seemed as though the device became more efficient, almost as though it was programming itself with each new phrase. While translation mistakes were occasionally made, both speakers made themselves understood.

It turned out that there were three genders on the moon that Zenda called home. Two were equivalent to male and female, and the third was a type of neuter. Zenda was female. She was also an emissary of the Comis, a highly intelligent race.

Zenda explained that she lived on one of two moons in a distant planetary system. Trying to equate the distance to something the Earthlings would understand, she said her home was eighty-five light-years away. The pair of moons revolved around a sun with a name that Zenda said translated to “23 Librae” in English. The other moon was inhabited by a different race, the Lues.

Unlike the Comis who were basically peaceful, inquisitive beings, the Lues were hostile creatures.
Cunning and clever, they had an unquenchable desire to conquer and colonize other life forms throughout the universe.

There had been armed conflict between the two races for years. A peace treaty was finally signed the equivalent of eighty Earth-years ago. Under the treaty, the Comis and Lues agreed not to attack each other, and they also agreed that the leaders of their respective races would resolve any disputes.

Both the Comis and the Lues had each perfected a form of time travel that allowed them to transport their respective spacecraft, or transport pods as Zenda called them, to the far reaches of the universe. She also explained that a light-year could be traversed in the equivalent of one Earth-day.

“It took us three Earth-months to get here because we had to slow down at the end of our journey in order to make sure that you would detect us and receive our transmissions. It was a very difficult trip for reasons you will soon learn.