Playing Marbles for the Big Blue

08 Alban Invasion, Almost

By Jo Dora Webster

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

08 Alban Invasion, Almost

The morning mist clung to the towering pines of Rocky Mountain National Forest as Amaza and Sela materialized in a small clearing surrounded by ancient evergreens. The teleportation had been rough—Sela's newly acquired abilities still needed refinement, and the magical interference from Earth's Van Allen radiation continued to create unexpected complications.

"Well, that could have gone better," Amaza muttered, brushing pine needles from her transformed human form. The female body still felt strange, though increasingly natural as the magical stabilization took hold.

"My apologies, Amaza," Sela's voice emanated from her bracelet form, now pulsing with a faint golden light that indicated her evolved consciousness. "The quantum entanglement patterns here are unlike anything in our databases. It's as if someone has been experimenting with dimensional technology."

"Sela, are you undamaged?"

"Thank you Amaza. 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, could you teach me to be female?"

"Of course, Amaza. Of course."

"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."

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

"Please Sela, pick for me a name that a Terran in this area might have."

"A nickname for you could be Ama. It has a meaning of creation and grace. Of course you will be Amaza except in the presence of Terrans "

Sela used magic to transform my clothes into a Terran casual wear and I was satisfied with them. Ama 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 if 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."

"Amaza, 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.

"Amaza, 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, Amaza, 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 rustling sound from behind a massive Douglas fir caught their attention. Amaza tensed, her newly awakened magical senses detecting something familiar yet unexpected—the energy signature of another Ceti Alphan.

"Sela, I'm detecting a Ceti Alphan life sign approximately fifty meters northwest of our position," she whispered, her voice carrying the authority of her royal heritage despite her current circumstances.

"Confirmed. The energy pattern suggests a young male, possibly pre-emergent like yourself before your transformation."

Amaza called out toward the trees, "Show yourself! I know you're there, and I know what you are."

A figure emerged from behind the massive trunk, tall and lean with the characteristic grace of their people, though his appearance was masked by a human illusion band similar to their own. When he deactivated it, revealing his true Ceti Alphan form, Amaza gasped in recognition of the species, though she didn't know this particular individual.

"Another Ceti Alphan?" The young male's pointed ears twitched with curiosity as he studied Amaza with obvious skepticism. "I'm Linthan Athos, though I go by Leo Sands here on Terra. And you are...?"

"I am Princess Amaza of Alban Kai," she replied, drawing herself up with royal dignity.

Linthan burst into laughter, the sound echoing through the forest. "Princess Amaza? That's rich! Everyone knows Princess Amaza was stillborn decades ago. The entire planet mourned her death. Nice try, though—whoever you really are."

Amaza felt her face flush with indignation. "I assure you, I am very much alive. The reports of my death were... greatly exaggerated."

"Right," Linthan said, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "And I suppose you have some convenient explanation for how a supposedly dead princess ended up on a primitive world looking suspiciously human?"

Sela's bracelet form pulsed with what Amaza had learned to recognize as the AI's version of diplomatic intervention. "Perhaps we could discuss this more civilly? We're all far from home, after all."

"At least your AI has manners," Linthan said, though his expression remained skeptical. "Look, I don't know who you really are or why you're claiming to be dead royalty, but I've been having a perfectly good time exploring Terra without any complications from home. I'd prefer to keep it that way."

"What are you doing on Terra?" Amaza asked, genuinely curious despite her irritation at his disbelief.

Linthan's ears drooped slightly, and he scratched behind one in what she recognized as a nervous habit. "There was a bit of a situation involving a love triangle, some experimental transformation technology, and my sister's rather decisive victory in matters of the heart."

"Your sister?"

"Glivney—she goes by Gail here. She fell in love with a human who had been accidentally transformed into something called a Silurian. The whole thing was quite the mess, really. Magic, reality alterations, you know, typical Tuesday on Earth."

Amaza stared at him. "You're telling me there are other stranded Ceti Alphans on Terra? And they've been experimenting with transformation magic?"

"Were," Linthan corrected. "Gail managed to sort everything out quite conclusively. Very romantic, actually, if you're into that sort of thing. Which, apparently, I wasn't as much as I thought I was."

"So you left because of unrequited feelings?"

"More like I left because watching my sister and her boyfriend make googly eyes at each other was becoming nauseating," Linthan admitted. "Plus, I may have accidentally triggered a few magical incidents while trying to help with their situation. Nothing major, just some minor reality fluctuations and possibly a small temporal paradox."

Amaza rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on. "Linthan, please tell me you haven't been causing chaos across Terra."

"Define 'chaos,'" he said with an innocent expression that fooled no one. "I mean, if you're talking about the incident with the Denver airport's security system, that was mostly an accident. And the thing with the NORAD computers was purely educational."

"Oh, by the cosmic winds," Amaza groaned. "You've been playing with their military systems?"

"Just a little! And I always put everything back the way I found it. Mostly." Linthan's expression brightened. "Look, the point is, I've been having a grand adventure exploring Terra on my own. Much more exciting than moping around watching Gail hold hands with her boyfriend."

Sela's voice carried a note of alarm. "Amaza, I'm detecting increased electromagnetic activity in the area. It's possible that Linthan's... experiments... have attracted attention."

"See?" Linthan said brightly. "Adventure! This is exactly what I was hoping for when I decided to go solo." He paused, studying Amaza more carefully. "Though I still don't believe you're Princess Amaza. That's just too convenient. Dead princesses don't just show up in Colorado forests."

"I can prove my identity," Amaza said firmly. "I know things about the royal family that only Princess Amaza would know."

"Such as?"

"The Queen has a secret chamber behind her throne room where she keeps the original birth records. There's a hidden passage accessed by pressing the third crystal from the left on the ceremonial arch."

Linthan's skeptical expression wavered slightly. "That's... oddly specific. But anyone with palace access might know that."

"The Queen's favorite meditation spot is the crystal garden on the palace's seventh level, where she goes every morning at dawn to commune with the planetary consciousness. She always brings a cup of Altarian tea and sits facing the eastern spires."

"Lucky guess," Linthan said, though he sounded less certain.

"And," Amaza continued, her voice dropping to a whisper, "the Queen has a birthmark shaped like a crescent moon on her left shoulder blade, which she covers with makeup for all public appearances."

Linthan's eyes widened. "How could you possibly know that unless..." He trailed off, staring at her with new recognition. "But that's impossible. Princess Amaza is dead. The entire planet knows she was stillborn."

"The entire planet knows what the Queen wanted them to know," Amaza said quietly. "The truth is far more complicated."

As if summoned by their conversation, the distant sound of approaching helicopters echoed across the forest, and Sela's sensors began detecting multiple military-grade scanning frequencies converging on their location.

"Well," Linthan said with a grin that suggested he was beginning to enjoy himself, "dead princess or not, this is definitely going to be interesting."

"Interesting," Amaza muttered, watching the sky through the pine canopy. "Right."