We had no clue what was inside, whether it was good or bad. I’d often said there was no limit to how dangerous the contents of a stasis box could be, but of course that wasn’t really true. A stasis box could only contain the unpleasant things humanity had invented during its history. The risks posed by the sphere really were unlimited.
The view on the vid screen recaptured my attention by zooming out yet again. Now I could see twelve more ships positioned further from the sphere than the first four. At a much greater distance still, were four circles floating in space. My eyes widened. Those were proper portals, not the ephemeral five-second, drop portals the Military used for Planet First, and they were large enough to send through those Military ships.
Commander Nia Stone started talking again. ‘Threat team initially estimated a 39 per cent chance that the sphere was hostile. I emphasize this is only an estimate. We are dealing with an unknown alien race, their thought processes and logic may be totally different to our own, and we may misinterpret their actions.’
She paused for a second, and I thought of all the different cultures in pre-history. Humans had often struggled to understand each other, so it would be chaos difficult to understand a truly alien species.
‘We would expect a friendly approach to include immediate attempts to communicate,’ Stone continued. ‘As far as we know, the sphere has made no such attempt. There is a small possibility it is talking, but we don’t know how to listen. It could be waiting to catch us off guard by a surprise attack. It could be gathering data to help it either contact or attack us. It could be alien etiquette is to begin a conversation with a polite silence. It’s even possible the sphere isn’t working properly. Threat estimate is now up to 47 per cent and still rising as the sphere does nothing. Our greatest concern is this is an advance guard, gathering information while waiting for reinforcements.’
A hand shot up in the audience.
‘Search team has found nothing in Sol system, and Monitoring team has detected no unknown portal activity,’ said Stone. ‘We’re also running checks on the star systems of our other inhabited worlds. Nothing so far.’
The hand went down again.
‘Our options are to attack or to wait. You all know Premise One of the Alien Contact programme. Conflict should be avoided if possible, since attacking an alien race of inferior technology is unnecessary, while attacking one of superior technology could result in the extinction of the human race. Premise Two tells us if the aliens find us before we find them, we should assume they do have superior technology to us. We must therefore proceed as if the sphere is friendly, while also preparing for the worst-case scenario, where the sphere turns out to be hostile, highly dangerous, and launches a surprise attack.’
There was dead silence in the room as Stone continued. ‘We have fighters in position around the sphere. An inner ring of four, and an outer ring of twelve. Pilots are relieved every four hours, since we don’t want anyone getting tired and careless out there. The inner ring positions are approached at minimum speed. We don’t want a fighter shift change to be misconstrued as an attack.’
The view zoomed out once more. Now the sphere and its surrounding fighters looked tiny, dwarfed by vast sweeping silver sails to the left of the image.
‘As you can see,’ said Stone, ‘the sphere is relatively close to the Earth Africa solar power array. Earth Africa power beam is currently off-line in maintenance mode and focused on the sphere. Power is being supplied to Earth Africa by relay from Earth Asia and Earth America.’
She paused. ‘In the event of hostile action from the sphere, fighter waves 1 and 2 get the kill order and attack. If they fail to destroy their target, we engage Earth Africa power beam. If the sphere can survive a planetary power beam at close range and has significant attack capability … well, we’re in trouble. We initiate our contingency plans for emergency evacuation of the civilian population where possible, engage all our forces, and prepare to pull back to Alpha sector if we lose Earth. Any suggestions or questions?’
My mind cringed. The Military were preparing for the worst-case scenario, where the sphere could survive being the focus of one of Earth’s continental power supply beams. They had contingency plans to evacuate the civilian population where possible.
Those two words, ‘where possible’, said it all. Most of the population of Earth were like me, Handicapped, and couldn’t portal off world to safety. If the Military lost Earth, all the Handicapped would be dead. Not just those alive now, but those born in the future as well.
When I was born on a Military base out in Kappa sector, my immune system started to fail, and I was portalled as a medical emergency pre-empt from Kappa sector to a Hospital Earth Infant Crash unit. I survived, but if future Handicapped babies couldn’t reach Earth …
Worst-case scenario, I reminded myself. It was one small grey sphere out there, not some vast alien armada, at least not yet. On the other hand, it was a small grey sphere that could contain technology at a level far beyond our own. What could the legions of ancient Rome have done to ward off an attack by nuclear missile? Absolutely nothing.
I fought back against a wave of pure terror. The Military had to look nightmare in the face and prepare for the worst, but that didn’t mean it was going to happen.
Hands were up to ask questions, and Stone pointed at someone. As he stood, a disembodied, computer-generated voice introduced him. ‘Captain Liam Granger, Medical team.’
‘We could be facing biological warfare. The bio controls in portals have been thoroughly tested in Planet First, and should prevent transfer to other worlds. Are we monitoring Earth for signs of new diseases, or …?’
‘We’re getting detailed data on every patient needing medical attention on Earth,’ said Stone. ‘We’re using Hospital Earth’s research into a cure for the Handicapped immune system problems as a cover story, claiming the massive data collection is needed by their researchers. We’re also collecting information on animal health issues.’
The Captain sat down. Stone picked another person and they stood.
‘Commander Elith Shirinkin, Search team leader,’ said the computer.
‘What is the political situation? We’re not announcing this to the general civilian population?’
Stone shook her head. ‘As laid down in the Alien Contact charter, the members of Joint Sector High Congress Committee were immediately informed. They convened and elected not to make any announcement until we have a clear indication whether the aliens are friendly or hostile. Tactical decisions remain the sole charge of the Military unless overridden by a vote of full Parliament.’
I’d never taken any interest in exo politics. It wasn’t just that Earth didn’t belong to a sector, so had no representatives in Parliament of Planets let alone Sector High Congress. The Handicapped weren’t even allowed a voice in decisions about their own world, because Earth was run by the main board of Hospital Earth. They were relatively well-intentioned and benevolent rulers, but they were all norms appointed by the sectors so it was effectively a dictatorship,
I ignored the whole sore subject of politics because it made me angry to know I’d never be allowed to vote, but this situation was easy to understand. High Congress Committee didn’t want to tell people and risk starting a panic. Full Parliament couldn’t vote on something that Sector High Congress hadn’t told them was happening. This was totally in the hands of the Military.
‘The aliens came to our home world,’ said Commander Shirinkin. ‘Given the number of inhabited worlds we have, that’s quite a threatening message.’
Stone nodded. ‘That’s why the initial threat assessment was so high. If they deliberately chose to come to Earth then they know all about us. They may even know Earth has a population of ideal hostages, who can’t portal off world to escape.’
Commander Shirinkin sat down and I stuck my hand up. I was surprised when Stone looked at me and nodded. I stood up and got another surprise.
‘Captain Jarra Tell Morrath, History team,’ announced