Limoxian Lib

Playing Marbles for the Big Blue

01 Alban Invasion, Almost

By Jo Dora Webster

How will Rasctan make a name for himself on Alban Kai?

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01 Alban Invasion, Almost

My name is Rasctan and I am a pre emergent male Alban from the planet Alban Kai. I am at the top of my class in the Aurenium which is an educational facility for geniuses. My specialty is in AI engrams and positronic which gives me a wonderful and lucrative profession. I finished at the Aurenium five cycle of Alban Kai before the standard completion time. That gives me a head start on those who share my birth time.

So far my claim to fame was my creation of an AI the size of a gem stone. I gave my AI a female persona who named herself Sela. Sela's most useful ability is that she can interface and take over commanding any interfaced device. The unique thing about Sela is that she can grow and add other functions and abilities. Sela was my entry in the Alban Kai Innovation Contest of all Aurenium and I won. However I only was eligible for half the prize since I would not sell my intellectual property or Sela herself to the corporation which sponsored the contest. It was after this slight that I resolved that I would be extraordinary instead of ordinary and I have a plan.

I considered that since all of Alban Kai is cloaked and we have just a few planets that we allow to trade with us. The few people who discovered our present trading partners are the most treasured people on the planet. I resolved to become one of those people and I started by asking Sela to take a new form. She formed herself into a very attractive woman's bracelet which was permanently around my right wrist.

"Sela, what are we going to do today?"

"The same thing we do every day, Rasctan. Try to take over the world."

"How are we going to do that Sela?"

"Go to the spaceport and steal a spaceship."

"How do we find a space port, Sela, since they are cloaked? "

"We will go to the coordinates that I obtained from Space Control and I will give us passage through the cloak"

Sela led us straight to the coordinates and gave us safe passage through the cloak. I didn't have to ask Sela where to find a spaceship because our most advanced scout ship was birthed right in front of us. Sela went to work and opened the door to allow us to enter it. Next Sela commanded the support automation to fully fuel and provision the ship. Sela outfitted the ship and engaged a new type of cloak which was undetectable by the authorities. Even though the ship was normally operated by 6 people, Sela was able to control all of the ship's functions.

"Sela, You seem to have everything under control. What can I do?"

"Rasctan, why don't you go to the bridge and sit in the command chair. If you do that you'll feel useful."

I went to the bridge and sat in the command chair as Sela suggested.

"Sela, What is ship status?"

"Ship is fully functioning and ready for space flight."

"Sela, Disengage all moorings. Set course for planetary cloaking shield. Engage!"

"Moorings disengaged. Ship on course for planetary cloak"

"Sela, I guess it's too late to ask this but can you get us through the planetary cloak?"

"I'm working on it. 100 picocycles to cloak boundary."

"Sela, what will happen to the ship if we don't get passage through the cloak."

"Rasctan, the ship will implode. 50 pico cycles to the cloak boundary."

"Sela, should I go to the travel pod just in case?"

"It's too late for that. 10 picocycles to the cloak boundary"

"Aaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeee!"

"Passage given through planetary cloak. Ship has emerged in interplanetary space."

"Sela, Scan for planets which have more water mass than land mass."

While Alban Kai has lakes on the surface and water beneath the planet's crust, it stands to reason that one day we will have used our supply and we will need a trading partner to provide us with water. None of our current trading partners have any more water than we have so they will keep theirs.

"I have found three planets that meet those parameters"

"What is the data on the closest planet?"

"The Closest planet is Sol III or Terra inhabited by Terrans. It's been a quarantined planet due to being privative with mandatory Terran body illusion required but in your case it won't be necessary because Terrans are identical to preemergent Albans. Albans may have colonized Terra in the distant past but Terrans don't have an emergent state. Terra is privative because Terrans perpetuate wars with themselves using fission and fusion weapons. Their technology is unremarkable and with their rockets they have only had maned landings on their moon, Selene."

"Sela, set a course for Sol III and engage Tessaract Drive."

"Course set and Tessaract drive engaged and operating under normal parameters"

"Sela, E.T.A. to Sol III"

"One Microcycle."

"Have there been any sanctioned landings on Sol III?"

"There is no data on that since all spaceships that made a close approach to the planet sent back the limited data we have on the planet but none returned. Standard procedure on approaching a quarantined planet is to remain cloaked so that Sol III's limited space ships and sensors could not detect them."

"Sela, Do you have any recommendation on how to proceed?"

"Rasctan, We could terminate the Tessaract Drive at the edge of the Sol System and engage our cloak then travel using our photon drive. The Sol system has an asteroid belt which is mostly unexplored by their probes. We could hide the Spaceship behind one of those asteroids and take a cloaked travelpod on photon drive to explore Sol III from orbit. If there is no danger detected then a landing would be indicated."

"Sela, if beings more advanced than us sent a ship into proximity of Alban Kai then we would consider that an alien invasion, wouldn't we."

"It's only in the third person that it would be their invasion. In the first person it would be our exploration."

"Sela, alter destination to boundary of Sol system then cloak and proceed to their asteroid belt on photon drive and park behind an optimal asteroid."

"Course altered and implemented. Further instructions recorded for later execution. Sol system boundary arrival, ship cloaked and proceeding on photon drive. Course set for Asteroid AET64. ETA 100 Pico cycles."

Sela, please do not give a countdown to arrival. Please park behind Asteroid AET64."

"Compliance!"

"Sela, scan signals from Sol III and detect speculative fiction and scan them for concepts not considered by Alban technology and report by most remarkable."

"Most remarkable concept is a teleport. Albans have nothing like it. However their own physics discovered by their Heisenberg renders actual implementation impossible. Their fiction gets around it by saying that the teleport has a heisenbug compensator."

"Sela, Has our science created a Heisenberg Compensator?"

"It has and all of the functions of a teleport can be reduced to mathematical implementation. It would be restricted in range from high planetary orbit to the surface."

"Sela, extend your function to be able to teleport."

"Additional function implemented. We have arrived and have parked behind Asteroid AET64."

"Excellent. Sela, please ready the travelpod for operation. I'll be there momentarily."

"Travelpod ready for departure. What a good idea to monitor the Terran fiction broadcasts. They have thought of many things that the Albans have not yet and we have the technology to implement."

"Sela, Engage cloak and set course for Travel Pod to high Sol III orbit and engage photon drive."

"Course set and photon drive engaged."

"Sela, how much trouble awaits me back on Alban Kai?"

"Since the cloaking technology that I used on you and the spaceship is unknown, there is not any evidence of what you have done. Your absence may be detected but it would not occur to them to look off planet for you. We have arrived in high orbit of Sol III."

"Alert! Radiation detected in belts surrounding the planet of a kind unknown to us Alert! The radiation belts have expanded due to the impact of Sol eruptions. . Alert! Radiation has penetrated ship systems damaging them. Alert! Photon drive detonation imminent!"

"Sela. Teleport, Teleport now!"

Just before the travelpod exploded, I and Sela were teleported to the surface of Sol III also known to us as Terra. However, I would bet that like all primitive cultures the inhabitants called their planet Earth. I guess I just made what they would call an alien invasion of Earth.

"Sela, are you undamaged?"

"Thank you Rasctan. I am fully functional. I am very glad that you made me radically different from all existing Alban technology. The radiation and all other Terran abnormalities can not damage me. All other technology on the travelpod was compromised so only you and I escaped alone."

"Sela, Was the travelpod detectable when it exploded?"

"Yes the explosion was detectable by their satellites in high Sol III orbit which is desirable since they are geostationary. There are even higher probes located at LaGrange points L4 and L5 but those sensors are mostly directed away from Sol III. However three satellites launched by the nation states: China, Russia, and USA were destroyed in the explosion of the travelpod which will be missed and investigated. This may be interpreted by them as either an attack between nation states or an invasion of Sol IIi."

"Sela, this breach of the quarantine concerns me. I must acquire native clothing. I don't want to disobey the planetary quarantine any further."

"I have detected ambient magic bound to this planet's earth wind fire water and heart. In their fiction there is mention of magic in their ancient times but no one practices it today. I however can utilize it to transform your clothes. I have examined their present day transmissions. Would you like casual or formal clothes?"

"Sela, casual clothes please. And pick for me a name that a Terran in this area might have."

"A name for you could be Robert. the diminutive names associated with Robert are Rob or Robbie."

Sela used magic to transform my clothes into a Terran casual wear and I was satisfied with them. Robert was an acceptable Terran name for me and I felt I'd removed the most apparent advertisement of my status.

"Sela, Are there any remains of the travelpod that their sensors might detect?"

"All of the travelpod was disintegrated by the photon drive. The small pieces of the three satellites caught in the explosion remain in their orbits. Fortunately no trace of our technology is detectable by their technology at this time."

I turned my attention to my surroundings which were all in their natural state for as far as I could see in every direction.

"Sela, what is the Terran designation for our location?"

"We are in the Rocky Mountain National Forest in the state of Colorado in the USA nation state, on the continent of North America. The nearest Metropolis is called Denver. It is 10 minutes past noon in their time units which means that it is about six hours until sunset. the season is spring but in this area temperatures at night are frigid to Terrans or humans as they call themselves."

"Sela, must I seek shelter?"

"I can provide warmth and protection from the elements by magic. However remaining here long-term may not be optimum since you might be discovered accidentally."

"Sela, can you with magic enable us to communicate telepathically by magic when we are not alone?"

"Yes I can and I will implement that protocol"

"Sela, can you devise a way that we could get water to a spaceship without the spaceship penetrating the radiation belts? They can't carry enough to be useful with their rockets."

"Actually their technology might give the Albans a solution to replenish our water. They have a means of producing power that they call a fuel cell. It has Hydrogen and Oxygen as inputs and outputs water. The Albans already have means of getting the inputs in unlimited quantiles both on planet and from our current trading partners. The Terrans store the inputs in their liquid state which may help with acquiring large quantities from our trading partners."

"Sela, does that mean that I can accomplish the same recognition by bringing the new inventions to Alban Kai instead of proposing trade with Sol III?"

"Yes, we could do that once we arrive back on Alban Kai. However the radiation belt blocks my Confed non-RF communication with the space ship so I can not bring it closer. My teleport range is only to High earth orbit which is not sufficient to reach the space ship which even if we were able to bring it closer could not enter the Van Allen Belt. My magic decreases exponentially as I get farther from the surface so that would not help either. We can't go home until this challenge is solved, which we don't have a solution."

"Sela, would you concentrate on the challenge and tell me a solution is found that we can implement."

"Indeed, I have found a solution that will satisfy our parameters. I have discovered in Ecuador a previously unused due to fiber optics 40 meter satellite dish which was converted to a radio telescope. Since this radio observatory was financed by a rogue SETI scientist, part of it's utilization is to send SETI broadcasts which might permit our communications with the space ship by piggybacking our signal to the spaceship on to their broadcast. All we would need to do is to wait until the SETI broadcast transmitter is directed toward our spaceship. Ordinary Earth broadcasts would escape the Van Allen Belt but our undecodable Confed RF signal is less likely to be discovered with our plan."

"Sela, interface with the SETI Radio Telescope and alert me when their broadcast is being sent in the direction of the spaceship."

"I will. I have found a solution for your lack of information about this planet. I have obtained a great deal of information from their broadcasts and from a digital repository that they call the internet. I can use magic so you will know all of this too."

"Sela, that is a wonderful idea! please proceed."

"Compliance."

Sela gave me the knowledge that I needed to understand life on Earth. Not only that but I fully understood the technology that Earth had to offer along with all the speculative fiction inventions that we could implement on Alban Kai. What I could not understand is how someone without any identification could make a life in Colorado. The United States had laws to prevent unauthorized immigration so without identification I would be treated as a law breaker.

"Sela, Is there any update to what the nation states have determined about the explosion of our travelpod and the destruction of their satellites?"

"Since they all denied that they caused the explosion, they all were compelled to share their data which triangulated the position of the explosion. With the explosion originating in space where no object existed before, each nation state concluded that this was an invasion using technology beyond their own. In the absence of any more occurrences, they determined no imminent threat existed. However they agreed to share deep space intelligence indicating any future threat."

"Sela, I guess that is the best outcome that we could expect under the circumstances. Since we are marooned here, avoiding a war between nation states is fortunate. While our addition to evidence of visitation of Earth is unfortunate, their nation states have continued to be successful in convincing humans that such visitations are a myth."

"Robert, I have detected that your advancement to your emergence and puberty has accelerated and the acceleration is variable. If you were to undergo emergence you would no longer be the same as the humans and you might require some sort of camouflage."

"Sela,I guess since we don't know when that will happen, we will decide what to do when it happens."

"Robert, have you decided to remain in this location for now?"

"Sela, until we can determine a way to comply with their laws, I feel that we should stay away from other humans. Are there other places within teleport range that we could visit with the same parameters, which may provide further insight.?"

"Indeed, there are other locations which would satisfy our parameters."

We had a good life in this remote area of the Rocky Mountain National Forest. Sela could, much more quickly than I could, select other places which were remote enough to visit. I particularly enjoyed a remote place in Mexico with access to the Pacific Ocean. We had nothing like the oceans with salt water on Alban Kai. Sela monitored her interface with the SETI Radio Transmitter but it was not yet pointed in the right direction time after time. Finally, Sela discovered that the radio telescope had been commanded to transmit in the right direction.

"Robert, I have a communication link with the space ship which according to their scheduling will be maintained for some time."

"Sela, transmit all knowledge of Sol III that we have obtained including our discoveries which will be beneficial to Alban Kai. Since the spaceship can not approach close enough to Earth to permit us to teleport to it, keep the spaceship parked behind Asteroid AET64."

"Transmission complete. I have saved this planetary position so that we may return to send future messages to the spaceship. However transmission will only be possible if the same position of the transmitter exists at the time."

"Sela, we discovered that there are elements on Earth which are missing from our Alban Kai periodic table. There are elements missing from Earth but were discovered on Alban Kai or we discovered from our trading partners. Was that data included in the transmission?"

"Of course, Robert, that information was included. It is relevant because the composition of the salt water and even the composition of the air on the Earth has elements not present on Alban Kai."

A great deal of time, days, weeks and months passed and we explored more of the planet Earth within our parameters. We kept returning to the very familiar place we called home where we first arrived on Earth. When Sela discovered the transmitter pointed in the right direction, she sent an update to the spaceship.

"Robert, we ought not go on any more adventures for a time. The time of your emergence draws near."

"Sela, you are right. Here in our home in the Rocky Mountain National Forrest, we have had a history of being alone. I hope that my emergence goes well."

More time passed and The SETI Radio Telescope discovered some promising results while it was receiving signals pointed in the right direction to transmit to our spaceship and the radio telescope remained pointed in that direction. Finally the time had come.

"Alert! Robert your vital signs are fluctuating. Your emergence is coming now."

I was overcome with the symptoms that every Alban knows which culminate with unconsciousness. When I awoke ,I will have emerged. I was unaware as things happened to me over some time.

"Robert, your vital signs are stabilizing. Are you awake?"

"Sela, I am awake but I feel funny. I know that I have not emerged. What happened to me?"

"You have become an adult female human. I can only guess that the new elements and new environment hijacked your emergence and did that to you."

"If I had become an Alban female, I would have joined the superior sex. But if i returned as a human, adult female I would forever be an oddity on Alban Kai even with my unique status.. Sela, please call me Roberta and make me some appropriate clothes. "

Sela put me into a casual blouse and slacks with athletic shoes and the right undergarments.

"Sela, could you teach me to be female?"