Alien Nation #1 - The Day of Descent

“That was the scene in California’s Mojave Desert five years ago—our historic first view of the Newcomer’s ship . . .”

Thus began
ALIEN NATION™

—the groundbreaking and thought-provoking television series that was part science fiction, part hard-hitting police drama, and critically praised for taking on tough social issues.

Now the excitement, action, and intrigue of that acclaimed series continues in an all-new line of original novels, beginning with the exciting
untold
story of how it all began.

Los Angeles, the present. Rookie detective Matt Sikes begins his first murder investigation and stumbles onto a deadly conspiracy that threatens his life, his daughter, and his world. At the same time, onboard a nightmarish starship hurtling toward the Earth’s sun, Stangya Soren’tzahh—a courageous Tenctonese slave destined to become Detective George Francisco—is swept into his peoples’ last desperate struggle for freedom against the ruthless and mysterious Overseers.

When the great ship lands on Earth, the future of the Tenctonese and all humanity depends on two unlikely heroes, Matt and George—who must work together for the first time to prevent a disaster that could destroy both their peoples.

"I Knew Your Ship Was
Coming,” Matt Sikes Said,

the words sticking in his throat. He drove through the night, an alien beside him, thinking of the desert, the first time. The fear.

“But . . . that’s impossible,” Cathy said.

Sikes shook his head, eyes on the road, seeing the streets of the city as they had been six years ago. “I wish it had been impossible,” he said, and he meant it. Maybe things would have been different right now if things had been different back then. Before the desert. Before Sam. The first Sam.

“How did you know?” Cathy asked quietly. Her hand sought him, touching his arm softly.

Sikes shifted in his seat. Even with the shortcuts, they were still a long way from the medical center where the ambulance had taken Susan and Emily, where George waited. There would be time.

“It was my first case,” he began. “My first day as detective.” And the years unrolled as quickly as the waiting city flew by, as Matt Sikes remembered the beginning . . .

An
Original
Publication of POCKET BOOKS

TM & © 1993 by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.

ALIEN NATION is a trademark of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

For information address Pocket Books, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

ISBN: 0-671-73599-3

First Pocket Books printing March 1993

POCKET STAR BOOKS and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster Inc.

Printed in the U.S.A.

To those who welcomed us on our own
Day of Descent:

Lydia & Arthur, who invited us in,
Brynne & Michael, who fed us,
and Geri & K.W., who keep asking us to leave.

Aim see terrata yas rifym vacwa vots tla,
dudes.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Alien Nation
first appeared as a 1988 movie written by Rockne S. O’Bannon. In that production, the roles of Matt Sikes and George Francisco were originated by James Caan and Mandy Patinkin.

On September 19, 1989, the Fox Television Network broadcast the two-hour pilot episode of the
Alien Nation
television series. This new incarnation of the Newcomer saga was developed by Kenneth Johnson and was brought to life through the talents of many fine writers—including Tom Chehak, Diane Frolov, Kenneth Johnson, Steve Mitchell, Andrew Schneider, and Craig Van Sickle—as well as a splendid new cast, including Gary Graham and Eric Pierpoint, who further developed the roles of Matt and George, along with Michele Scarabelli as Susan, Sean Six as Buck, Terri Treas as Kathy, Ron Fassler as Byron Grazer, and James Green as Uncle Moodri—all of whom appear in these pages.

For this book, we have referred to many of the contributions made by the writers for both the movie and television versions of
Alien Nation.
Where contradictions existed we chose to adhere to the more recent television continuity.

In particular, we have drawn upon the work of Steve Mitchell and Craig Van Sickle, writers of the episode titled “The Game,” in which many of the first tantalizing hints of the Day of Descent originally came to light. In this novel, the holding cell scenes involving George, his brother Ruhtra, the Overseer Coolock, and the Game are based on the script of that episode.

“Green Eyes,” the final (so far) episode of
Alien Nation,
broadcast on May 7,1990, was planned to be the first half of a two-part “cliffhanger,” and the framing action of our novel takes place in the brief minutes occurring between the end of “Green Eyes” and the beginning of its direct sequel, “Dark Horizons,” in which the fate of the Francisco family is resolved. Though “Dark Horizons” is yet to be filmed, both episodes will appear together as an upcoming novel, as will additional, as yet unproduced scripts. As Matt Sikes has come to realize, the story of the Tenctonese on Earth isn’t over yet.

Our thanks to our editor, Kevin Ryan, for inviting us to take part in this third incarnation of the Newcomer saga.
Now
we know what all those phone calls just to “talk about” the show were all about. We also thank David Kurtz, composer of the series’ main title theme, for kindly searching his files for the original lyrics to “Ee take naz nahj?” handwritten by Ken Johnson. And we are deeply indebted to the noble self-sacrifice of the members of the fabled Rubber Ears Society (even those who didn’t know they were members) who toiled endlessly to provide us with insights into the obscure naming traditions of Tenctonese culture—another stunning proof of Hodgkins’s Law.

J & G

EE TAKE NAZ NAHJ

ee take naz

NAH SOOS GAH NIL PAH ET
nahj

EE TAKE NAZ NAHJ

nah soos gah

NAH SOOS GAH NIL PAH
nil pah gah nil pah

EE TAKE NAZ NAHJ

ee take naz

NAH SOOS GAH NIL PAH ET
nah soos gah nil pah et

EE TAKE NAZ NAHJ

ee  ee take naz

NAH SOOS GAH NIL PAH
nah soos gah nil pah

AH AHHH
ah ahhh

EE TAKE NAZ NAHJ

ee take naz

NAH SOOS GAH NIL PAH AH
nah soos gah nil pah

ahhh ahhh ahhh

AHHHHHH

ahhh ahhh ahhh
AHHH AHHHHHH

NAH SOOS
nah soos

GAH NIL PAH

gah nil pah

nah soos

NAH SOOS GAH NIL

gah nil pah

GAH NIL PAH

gah nil pah

GAH NIL PAH

AHHH AHHH AHHH AH
ahhh ahhh ahhh ah

AHHHHHHYA
ahhh ahhhya

—KENNETH JOHNSON

I
T WAS THE
S
HIP.

It had no other name. It had thousands.

From Tencton legends, it was
lesh,
the hell where the flesh of those who turned their eyes from the three moons was seared in waves of salt water, only to be restored with each rising of the sun.

It was
am dugas,
the pit that tempted Celine from Andarko, from which only their love had saved them.

It was the
wask’l reckwi,
the knowing death of ancient times for those who died yet remained forever awake to the darkness that trapped them in an eternity of remembrance of the evil they had done.

And there were other names, their numbers legion, more ancient than any Tencton legend and not from any Tencton language. Words of hatred and fear and despair and helplessness that came from the languages of other races that had been cargo in its hull, now ghosts whose death cries still echoed from the bulkheads, whose terror still pulsed through the choking air like the fluttering heartsbeat of a hunted animal run to ground.

How many eons this abomination had plied the dark ranges was unknown. Some legends said the race that had built this ship and the uncounted others like it in its fleet were long extinct. Whatever the truth was, the race that commanded them now was also unknown. In fact, in fearful, furtive conversations, sometimes it was whispered that the race that commanded had never existed, that the ships themselves were the sentient force behind the evil they propagated between the worlds—vast, formless things mindlessly cutting through space, decimating entire worlds and cultures, transplanting billions of beings for unknowable motives beyond commerce or greed or conquest.

In those whispers the ship’s name was despair—despair that all that happened to those on board happened without reason.