"We Come In Peace" (closed)

[PennySaver]

"Peace And Prosperity"

A Tale of Alien Arrival

closed​

14 March 2021

There wasn't a corner of Earth or a community of people living on it that by now -- more than a year into the Covid-19 Pandemic -- wasn't suffering from the effects of the killer virus. The global medical emergency had led to an equally devastating and global economic collapse; in many places, as the rift between the rich and poor, the powerful and the powerless widened, member of the latter group had risen up in revolution. Street conflicts, curfews, riots, and more were now responsible -- directly or indirectly -- for as many deaths as the pandemic that led up to them.

An estimated 26 million people had died due to Covid-19 related causes in the past year.

If ever Humanity found itself in need to a savior, it was now.

Who would have ever imagined that that savior might come in the form of an Alien Queen?

The massive alien spacecraft appeared instantaneously in Earth orbit on 10 March. Almost from the moment of its arrival, arguments about the timing reached almost conspiratorial levels. Some thought that perhaps the aliens had caused Covid-19 to weaken the Human race in preparation for their imminent invasion. Others hoped and prayed that the aliens had been sent to save Earth's dominant race with advanced medicines or treatments. Regarding the words dominant race, many people were less concerned about whether the aliens could help with Humanity's current pandemic and more concerned with whether or not the Human race was to continue being that dominant race.

The police and military forces of most nations had already been on high alert, so the arrival of the spacecraft had little effect on that aspect of life other than to turn the attentions skyward. Were the aliens benevolent or combative? Everyone had an opinion, just as everyone had an opinion on how to react, militarily. In the end, even after a storm cloud of bluster from politicians and military leaders alike, no aggressive action was taken toward the orbiting vessel.

Even more questions were raised when the 1,100 meter long, 400 meter wide space craft sent a smaller craft -- this one only 150 yards long and a quarter of that wide -- to intercept the International Space Station and acquire its current crew of 2 Americans, 2 Brits, 1 German, and 2 Russians. Many on Earth saw this as a certain act of war; others spoke of the alien abduction stories of the 20th century. What was to happen to these 7 brave souls who were the first to fall into the hands of the extraterrestrials?

The truth about the future of the ISS crew would first be learned by none other than the ISS crew themselves, of course. Through a process no Human would understand, the crew members were rendered unconscious before they were ever removed from the ISS. 76 hours later, the mission's Commander slowly returned to consciousness, finding himself in a room that -- with the exception of an overabundance of 3D holographic imagers -- looked surprisingly similar to any American hospital's ICU room.

Whether he was surprised by what he saw or not was only something he could say for himself. But what likely did surprised him was what -- or more specifically who -- he found standing before him when he finally sat up and blinked his eyes clear to focus. The woman before him was most certainly his fellow crew member, Captain Sadie Thomas. But … well … he'd never seen Sadie looking like this before!

Quite literally, she looked like some sort of sex kitten from a 1960's rock video or an alien from the original Star Trek series, which of course was from the '60s as well.

"Greetings, Commander," she said to him when she was quite sure he was fully in control of his faculties and senses. Her tone was soft and sweet, and she smiled as she continued, "I can see in your reaction that you have questions. Let me begin by stressing to you that we come in peace. You and your fellow Human Beings have nothing to fear from me and my people."

She studied him for a moment, then swept a hand before her face and body as if emphasizing that he should look her over well. "I can see that you recognize this form as being that of Captain Sadie Thomas. I want to assure you that Captain Sadie Thomas had not been harmed in any way. My taking possession of her form … I think in your popular culture it has often been referred to as body snatching … this process was undertaken to provide a means by which you, a Human ... and I, an Andanayan … may converse with one another via a common language. In my nature state, I would be unable to communicate with you in any productive measure."

She turned to retrieve a bottle of liquid -- presumably water -- and a glass, which she filled. She stepped close enough to offer out the glass, then continued, "Captain Sadie Thomas's consciousness has essentially been turned off for the time being. She is still alive, of course, otherwise I wouldn't be able to speak with you. She simply is unaware of how I am utilizing her body and mind in an effort to communicate and interact with you today."

She set the bottle of water aside, studied the man a moment longer, then continued, "I know you have questions, and I am ready to answer all that I can. First, let me introduce myself. I have selected the name Yallanna for my interactions with you and your race as it is as close to my true name as you would be able to easily pronounce."

She took a small step closer to the Human, then finished, "I am the Commander of this vessel. More importantly, though, I am Queen of my people … the Andanayan."

 

[MisterChino]

Major Joseph Lee

November 11, 2019

“Exercise, Exercise, Exercise,” blared a machine-like voice over the loud speaker, with a brief, yet distinct pause between the sequential words.

Joseph grinned. How many times in his lifetime has he now heard these words?

“Some things never do change,” Joseph mumbled quietly to himself, with that half smirk, as he strapped into his training cockpit of the massive mock shuttle which was housed in a half-domed bay.

January 2017

“Welcome, Class of 2017, to the NASA’s astronaut training program,” exclaimed the director with proudness. “Needless to say, those sitting here as part of this class are the best of the best that our nation has to offer.”

Those words echoed in Joseph’s mind, as he sat quietly amongst what would be his peers of this prestigious academy, absorbing the information that was presented to the class.

2-time, National, Varsity Football Champion. 2-time, State Varsity Basketball MVP. Valedictorian. Over 18 years of service with the United States Army, commissioning as an Officer in the last 5 years. 3 tours in Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom, 2 tours in Afghanistan for Operation Enduring Freedom, and countless tours as a Special Forces operator with the U.S. Army Special Forces and U.S. Special Operations Command, earning him a Silver Star, 3 Bronze Stars (one with valor), one Purple Heart, and numerous other commendations.

Yes, Joseph Lee was quite the “hometown hero” you could say. His rise to prominence was not unheard, with his latest selection for the astronaut program. Whomever it was, whether it be some higher power or someone with vested interest in Joseph’s future, saw their investment in Joseph truly paying dividends.

February 2020

“Congratulations, Class of 2017, on your achievement,” proclaimed the director. “You are all now NASA’s newest, qualified active astronauts.

As Joseph sat quietly amongst his peers in the room that was filled with cheer and applause, he couldn’t help but ponder at what his next step would be. Joseph was always the one that was thinking ahead, always strategizing for the next move. He was not the one to bask long in the celebration. However, this time it would be different.

His thought would be interrupted as the fanfare and audience dissipated. The director, accompanied by other advisers and heads of department approached Joseph who continued to sit as the crowd and his colleagues moved the celebration to an adjacent room hosting a social. “Major Lee,” the director initiated. “As one of NASA’s newest astronauts, we have decided and selected you for a mission to the International Space Station.”

“You, along with Captain Thomas, will represent the United States of America, on the ISS’s next rotational crew,” continued the director. “Come meet us in the briefing room, after this is all said and done. Now, go enjoy yourself for a moment, why don’tcha’?”

March 14, 2021

Looking through a round port hole of his personal quarters, Joseph was able to see the marvelous beautify of the spherical planet around which the ISS orbited. It has been almost a year now that Joseph had been in space, and the grandiose view of the entire earth never ceased to amaze him to this day.

Destiny would have it that Joseph and his colleague, Captain Sadie Thomas, launched into orbit just as the corona virus, or COVID-19, pandemic would inflict itself upon the rest of the human population on Earth. At the time, Joseph didn’t fully understand the severity of this, however, he and Sadie would be briefed on the projected impact and timeline of the virus by the Centers of Disease Control and the World Health Organization. As part of their mission, they would take a sample of the virus and research the specimen and study the effects of space on airborne and viral pathogens.

Fate would also have it, that the American be designated as the Commander of the station and crew during this rotation. Aside from Captain Thomas, Joseph would be ultimately responsible for a crew hailing from a mix of the developed and science vested nations. It was a monumental role with inherent authority and responsibility. As such, Joseph would also be the conduit between the command control for space activities on Earth and the rest of the crew.

As the COVID-19 pandemic reached its peak, Joseph would continue to provide daily updates to the crew on situation on ground. Most of them, including Joseph, felt helpless as they floated above on the ISS, while Earth’s population became devastated by the pandemic. Many of the crew members had family and friends whom were infected and some that have died as a result. As the news filtered in, Joseph would assume the unfortunate bearer of that information to the crew members. Each crew member mourned in their own way, but their mourning fueled their ambition and work, and contributed to the founded solidarity that their Commander had built with them. Each member continued and drove on with their mission and worked harder together so that their tasks were not in vain for the human race. Joseph couldn’t have asked for a better crew of astronauts.

As Joseph turned back to his light reading, ironically, of “Starship Troopers,” he was immediately interrupted by the station’s belling alarm. These alarms occur occasionally; at first, the alarms triggered panic among the crew, but over time, Joseph and his astronauts learned that most of the alarms were nothing of major concern. Therefore, Joseph nonchalantly plopped himself from his bunk and made his way to the control deck with a cup of coffee in his hand, where he was met with the rest of his colleagues. As everyone manned their stations, Joseph took a sip of coffee, before gathering the situation.

“Captain Thomas,” issued Joseph as he looked over to his American colleague, and right-hand in Command, while the rest of the crew were working hastily through their systems checks. “How are the readings?”

As Joseph awaited for her to speak, he turned back to his workstation to understand why the alarms were going off. A warning banner appeared across his display – “Imminent Collision!” Collision with space debris was not uncommon and a normal threat to the station, however, the radar would normally be able to detect the object and inform the crew the direction and speed at which it was coming from. Looking over to the radar window, there was nothing that would indicate a foreign object that would be on a collision course with the station. As Joseph pondered at this strange phenomena for a bit, he heard Captain Thomas speaking to him, but it was unclear. Suddenly, the sounds and ambiance around him began to slowly fade. Joseph spoke back in attempt to get Sadie to say whatever it was she was saying again, but couldn’t hear his own voice – it was as if his vocal chords had stopped working. Choking back a bit, Joseph looked around as the rest of the crew went into a bit of a panic as they all experienced this inability to communicate. The last thing he remembered was Sadie reaching out to him, before he lost consciousness.

 

[MisterChino]

The Rude Awakening

His eyelids slowly crept open, as his eyes peered from betwixt the protective crevices against an overwhelming light that surrounded him. As the rest of his senses began to waken, Joseph felt the grogginess that is commonly associated as a side effect of anesthesia for surgery. As Joseph swallowed the condensed saliva within his mouth, taking a sluggish gulp, he felt the parchedness in his throat and the nauseating swirl that brewed from his stomach which quelled his mental agility. Joseph tried to lift himself up but was met with futility – his upper torso rose no more than a few centimeters before dropping back onto a firm bedding. Suddenly, Joseph realized that he had been laying down, which jolted his alertness and sense of danger.

“Was this the last thing I was doing?” Joseph thought to himself from his reclined-horizontal position, a bit perplexed as to what was happening.

Joseph’s mental senses regained its normal capacity and bearings, and quickly filtered through the archives of his memory. A blurred view of Sadie looking at him with her hand extended toward him flashed across his thoughts, while the faded tolling of alarm bells echoed in his ear, as if he was taking an audiogram. Similarly, the obscured faces of his colleagues, each, flashed through his mind, jogging his memory of the last things he remembered.

His eyelids opened a bit wider, allowing Joseph to identify his current surroundings. Joseph immediately noticed the familiarity of an intensive care unit room - he had been in one of these before as the patient under intensive care. Even though the collective sounds and environment matched up, something just didn’t seem right. His mind raced in efforts to make sense of what was happening. He looked down at himself, performing a quick assessment to his own state of being. Joseph was wearing his light-weight, astronaut multipurpose uniform. That’s when it clicked – Joseph’s last memory was of the space station, and there was no way that he was back on Earth. So where was he?

His eye were now fully open. The three-dimensional holograms that floated around him were the first telling indicators that he was neither on the space station, or anywhere remotely close to being on anything from home planet Earth. However, his attention immediately drew to the sentient being before him – Captain Thomas.

But immediately, he realized something was off. Joseph had never seen Sadie like this, in terms of her physical stature and appearance, before. Joseph’s eyes did not leave off of Sadie, as his eyes surveyed her form. She appeared to be wearing some sort of latex piece, colored in pure white that conformed and contoured every edge of her body. The hue of her skin and complexion appeared a bit colder and pale.

Suddenly, as Sadie spoke, Joseph became abruptly surprised. Joseph listened intently to the context and information of her speech which did not make any sense or seem logical by any means. The words of “peace,” “my people,” and “body snatching” resonated in his thoughts. Was this all a joke? He watched and continued to listen as the woman he knew as Sadie Thomas describing herself as if she was another being. Joseph strangely braced himself anxiously as Sadie stepped toward him, only to place a bottle of liquid beside him.

As she finished speaking her claims, Joseph stared back blankly into Sadie’s eyes. He was hoping that perhaps it would cause her to break from whatever character she was portraying. He canted his head to the side, countering the awkward silence with a suggestive smirk, hoping to illicit some sort of reaction from Sadie. Joseph’s brief moment of hope was dashed as he realized that the Sadie he knew was really not Sadie at all, at least in the mental and conscious capacity. No, this is definitely not the Captain Thomas he knew standing before him.

This was no normal interaction by any means. For the first time, possibly in human history, but most definitely in Joseph’s life, has there been such a dialogue interaction between humans and an extraterrestrial life form. Joseph was still stunned by the information before him. However, he was mainly concerned with the health and welfare of Sadie, who’s bodice had been transformed into a medium from which the alien host had used to communicate with him. Needless to say, he was not prepared to be the ad hoc ambassador at this moment to an alien race. Gathering his thoughts and recounting the statements that was issued to him by the human vessel before him, Joseph issued a calculated response.

“Queen Yallana,” Joseph reluctantly addressed, pausing to rethink his next words. “May I simply address you as Yallana?”

“Can I trust that you are keeping Sadie’s health in your best interest?” Joseph questioned bravely. “As for my crew, can you assure their safety as well? If the answer to those are yes, then you have my full cooperation.”

Joseph set out those terms in attempt to gain better leverage of the situation. Nonetheless, this was an instance where Joseph was out of his element and was not suited to “fight out of the situation,” a situation that Joseph preferred not to be in.

 

[PennySaver]

“Queen Yallana,” Joseph reluctantly addressed, pausing to rethink his next words. “May I simply address you as Yallana?”

The Alien Queen smiled a bit wider, nodded her head as if an English lady addressing another of similar status, and answered, "You may ... in these informal circumstances, yes you may."

“Can I trust that you are keeping Sadie’s health in your best interest?”

Yallana's lips spread even a bit further. "You may. When Captain Sadie Thomas is returned to the state of full animation she experienced prior to this, you and she both will find that she is even more healthy, in mind and body, than she previously was."

“As for my crew, can you assure their safety as well? If the answer to those are yes, then you have my full cooperation.”

"The answer to your stipulations are indeed yes," Yallana reassured Joseph. "If you wish, my Medical Technicians can begin the process of reanimating one or all of your crew immediately."

She waited for the astronaut to make a decision of his crew's status, then asked with an inquiring tone, "I have noticed that you refer to Captain Sadie Thomas as only the second of her three names. Have I misunderstood the way in which Humans refer to one another. It sometimes happens that when we … borrow an alien entity as I have done Captain Sadie Thomas, we sometimes do not gain full access to that entity's memories, mental capabilities, and communication skills. This is an error in our technology and should not be looked upon as a flaw or shortcoming in the mental processes of the borrowed individual."

Joseph addressed Yallana's question in the way he saw fit. She thanked him for the clarification, told him, "The process of reanimation can be a taxing one. I will leave you for what you would measure as an hour, to give you time to recuperate. When I return, we will speak some more about who I and my people are … as well as why we are here on Earth."

She nodded her head politely to Joseph, turned, and departed. Once the doors behind her had closed, Yallana went to the Medical Control room where her Technicians -- hidden behind a one way glass from the astronaut -- were waiting to awaken the other Humans.

 

[MisterChino]

An Involuntary Hostage Situation

Yet, as Yallana affirmed Joseph’s interests and concerns, he remained, however, unconvinced and skeptical. The ball was not in his court, and Joseph knew he had to play along, if there were to be a remote chance that he can bargain for his crew’s safety.

“As their Commander, I wish to have all of my crew returned to their normal state, unharmed,” Joseph responded in kind, offering a tempered smiled in return to Yallana’s accommodations to his requests. “It is my intent to ensure the safety of my people, and to be able to speak to them once they have been… re-animated.”

Joseph thought about that word – re-animated – for a moment. The context in which the word was used seemed almost indiscriminate to the concept of life and death. How long Joseph and his crew lost consciousness for that would require re-animation? He couldn’t help but imagine on the advanced alien technology that was used to render his crew, along with himself, unconscious. Furthermore, what was done during this period of time where he and the rest of his humankind were completely vulnerable to the whims of these aliens?

Suddenly Joseph’s train of thought was interrupted by the Queen. Through Sadie, the Queen spoke again. Yallana inquired of him, a simple yet intelligent question, regarding the use of names when speaking about Sadie, informing Joseph of how certain functions of speech and language do not completely translate and process through their alien technology of assuming the host. Although this may seem harmless, Joseph understood that human syntax was one of possibly other numerous items that conversely is not captured through the meta-physiological control enacted by Yallana. Perhaps this can be exploited, and be used in their favor, Joseph thought.

“Sadie is her first name, or given name,” Joseph explained. “Typically, the given name is provided to establish individual identity within a group of related individuals, or family.”

“Captain, is not a name, however,” Joseph continued. He paused briefly, thinking about his next words to be careful at exposing any sort of information related to the military that may be used against them. Then again, Yallana did inform him regarding the ability for their technologies to read through the host’s memories and mental capabilities. Joseph had to tread carefully to appear fully transparent in light of the information that Yallana and the aliens may already know.

“Captain is the title that was bestowed upon Sadie. It is the rank that Sadie has earned,” Joseph remarked. “Generally, the rank holds a bit of hierarchical value, especially when a subordinate or superior addresses that individual. Therefore, in keeping with our formalities and traditions, we may sometimes address individuals, beginning with their titles.”

“Thomas is Sadie’s surname, or family name,” briefed Joseph. “The family name is generally kept by individuals born to a family, or in some instances, adopted through marriage.”

Assessing that he may have satisfied her questions, Joseph was left to his own devices by the Queen who informed him of the next sequence of events. He watched as Sadie – or rather – Yallana turned around and departed from the room in which he was in. God, he had hoped that what the alien Queen had said was true – that Sadie and his crew would remain safe. Contrarily, Joseph’s mind briefly thought about Sadie and her appearance. Why was she dressed in that particular fashion? Was it the alien technology simply interpreting and culturally appropriating what they believed to be human wear? Or was it something more bio-physical and sexual in nature, transforming Sadie’s appearance to appear seductive in order to illicit and provoke certain emotions in him?

No. Joseph stopped himself from thinking further. He didn’t have a lot of time to himself, and he knew he needed to take advantage of this time that he was left secluded. With his strength, dexterity and agility recovered, Joseph sat up and fully assessed himself. Reaching around one at a time, Joseph felt both his arms, moving the fingers and rotating his wrists, in the process to see that he maintain full motion of them. Joseph reached down to both his legs, feeling along his thighs and calves, in attempt to identify sore spots or anything that was out of the ordinary. Taking off the soft, padded astronaut shoes, Joseph revealed his bare feet in which he thoroughly examined. He wiggled his toes, and to his delight, his feet seemed to function properly. Good. At least he can run to escape, as needed.

Hopping off the firm padding on which he laid, Joseph planted himself on his feet, standing as he continued to perform his self-assessment. Joseph’s mind wondered for a brief second, before he slowly unzipped his one-piece uniform, designed similarly to a mechanics outfit. The zipper began to part, revealing his white under-shirt that clung semi-tightly to his torso – the soft fabric conformed to the pectoral bulges of his chest, stretching and contouring his abs. The zipper mechanism stopped in the crotch area of the uniform. As shirt met with his waist and hip line, it overlapped his black boxer briefs. His fingers slipped between the elastic band of his underwear and his hips, as he tugged out on it. He eyes followed the muscle striations of the “v-cut” along his pelvic region and thighs, where it was tapered off by the patch of curly hair. As he continued to look down, he saw the semi-flaccid, skin-hued organ. It was still there; a sigh of relief overcame Joseph. Of course, you knew he had to check.

Now that Joseph appeared physically fine, his next objective was to quickly obtain some sort of weapon or an object in which he can turn into a make-shift weapon as needed. He paced across the well-constructed room, searching and scanning with his eyes for anything that he can possibly utilize. Unbeknownst to him and all the while, Joseph was being observed through a one-way glass. Alas, Joseph was unable to find anything of use. It was not before he looked up, that he noticed the glass in front of him and realized that the aliens could have been watching his every move. Joseph reminded himself to be more aware and careful. With his full reflection in front of him now, Joseph was able to see himself entirely. His prominent and structure jawline ran along either side of his face, before being crowned with an un-styled and shaped bed of hair, cut almost in a bowl style. His brown eyes with pupils dilated stared back at himself in the mirror. His lips pursed slight, revealing that they were dry and chapped.

Remembering the bottle of liquid that Yallana had placed beside him, Joseph bravely recovered it and pressed the opening against his lips. Well, here goes. The cool, refreshing liquid immediately coursed his dry throat, quenching his newly founded thirst. If it wasn’t water, it sure as heck tasted and felt the same. Joseph placed the empty bottle down, wiping the excess water that had spilled from his lips with his forearm. So now, he waits for the Queen’s return, hopefully with the rest of his crew in tow.

 

[PennySaver]

Yallana studied the Human through the glass as he slowly rose and moved to a standing position. She was unsure as to whether he was doing so cautiously with intent or was still disoriented or simply in pain from the procedures under which he'd gone. Each species they encountered was, obviously, very different from the last; Yallana only knew of them what she saw and what her own host revealed to her.

She thought back to what the man had explained about her Host's personal identification and about how she'd responded.

“Sadie is her first name, or given name,” he'd explained. “Typically, the given name is provided to establish individual identity within a group of related individuals, or family.”

Yallana could understand that. Each of her people had such an identifying name as well, a name that was Andanayan in origin, as opposed to being from the borrowed host's culture or species.

“Captain, is not a name, however,” he'd continued. “Captain is the title that was bestowed upon Sadie. It is the rank that Sadie has earned.”

Yallana wondered if that rank had been bestowed upon Captain Sadie Thomas by her Queen. No, Yallana didn't think that was true. She found reference to a Queen in Captain Sadie Thomas's memories, as well as a fondness for that Monarch. But this Queen for whom the astronaut had fond thoughts was not from her own Nation of Humans; she was from some other place, a distant land located on the far side of something Captain Sadie Thomas memories called The Pond.

“Generally, the rank holds a bit of hierarchical value, especially when a subordinate or superior addresses that individual. Therefore, in keeping with our formalities and traditions, we may sometimes address individuals, beginning with their titles.”

Yallana's lips -- or Sadie's, depending on your point of view -- spread in a pleased smile. She said with a friendly tone, "While you are not a … subordinate of mine … you are not of my people and therefore not a subject to my realm … while this is true, it would be in standing with Andanayan formalities and traditions … and I believe even in standing with your own Earth formalities and traditions … for you to address me as Queen Yallana when in public. And in return, I would be not only obligated to but honored to address you in the same manner … Commander Joseph Lee."

Yallana tried to read the astronaut's expression for a reaction to what she'd said. But this Human was a hard man to read without knowing him better.

He continued with the third part of his fellow crewman's identification, “Thomas is Sadie’s surname, or family name … The family name is generally kept by individuals born to a family, or in some instances, adopted through marriage.”

Yallana didn't mean to show confusion in her face at this last portion of the explanation and yet she probably did. This concept of family was not something she understood. The Andanayan were not born in the same sense as were the Humans, let alone born into families. She would delve into the mind of Captain Sadie Thomas -- Sadie, Yallana told herself -- at a later date to learn more about what it meant to be family.

From behind the one way glass, the Alien Queen studied the Human Captain Joseph intently as he inspected his body thoroughly. After he'd checked his arms and legs and moved onto his feet, one of the Technicians remarked with a rather matter of fact tone, "He is searching his body for implanted devices or evidence of surgery."

"Will he find any?" Yallana asked, a bit of concern in her voice.

"No, my Queen," the most senior of the Technicians answered. "The entry point of the device is tiny, and intrusion was made via his natural orifices and what the humans call their umbilicus. We do not believe that even a full diagnostic by a surgeon could detect that he'd been probed."

"Will he feel the intrusion?" Yallana asked next.

"No, my Queen," the Senior Technician answered again. "These Humans were far easier to investigate than our last Hosts."

Yallana was happy with the answer to her inquiry. The last thing she wanted this early in the game was for the Humans to believe that -- as in so many of their 20th and 21st century works of fiction -- that aliens actually did probe the bodies of the species for which they held interest.

As she and the Technicians and other involved Specialists -- biologists mostly, but psychologists and anthropologists as well -- studied his movements, the human looked down into his undergarments as if checking to ensure the appendage previously there still was.

Yallana smiled a bit more at this. After she herself had awoken in Sadie's body, and after the difference in her lower region was found to be different than that of some of the other ISS crew, Yallana had put herself into a meditative state and delved deep into her host's memories about Human physiology. What she'd learned about the male appendage, as well as -- now -- her own gender's nether region was very interesting. She already knew now that she wished to learn more about this difference in Human beings.

"Subject 3 is reanimated, my Queen," one of the Technician's said, interrupting Yallana's musings about something called Human Sexuality. "Do you wish me to complete the process?"

Yallana told him to proceed, spent another minute or so watching Joseph, then turned and went to the other Human's awakening room. She greeted the woman as she had Joseph, explaining everything just as she had with the other Human. This Human, Christine Howe, was from a country called England or the UK, as Chris better explained. She was a micro-bioengineer working on something called Stem Cells.

"We are hoping to find a lasting cure for the Covid-19 virus that is ravaging out planet," she said, not seeing any reason to hold back the nature of her work from this far superior alien Queen person. Over 26 million people have died from this plague."

Without any sort of emotion in her tone, Yallana corrected, "I believe that figure is closer to 40 million people, Major Christine Howe. Major portions of what you call the Third World have underreported deaths caused directly by the virus, and both these and more developed regions do not factor in the whole of the deceased population that may very well have lived if your leaders had responded to the pandemic more appropriately."

The two women stared at one another in silence for a moment. Chris had always felt that the response to the Corona Virus had been seriously lacking, but to hear this from an alien when even her own country's politicians and financial leaders hadn't been able to get it through their thick skulls was simply mindboggling.

"More than 150,000 people die on your planet every day," Yallana went on, telling Chris nothing she didn't already know. Then she hit her with something that, as before, was again mindboggling. "I believe that, if your people wished our help, Andanayan medical technology could cut that death rate by half within two of your solar months."

Chris's eyes bulged and her mouth fell open. The two of them spent almost thirty minutes talking on the subject. Chris asked, "And what about this pandemic? Can you help us with that?"

"Of course," Yallana said without hesitation. With that same light emotion and matter of fact tone she told the human doctor, "We have a cure that can be disseminated any time."

"My God, Sadie, that's--" Chris stopped suddenly when she realized which name she'd used. She chuckled to herself and apologized. But after Yallana told her that was expected and not of significance, Chris finished, "That's incredible. So … how do we do this? I mean, there's no time to lose. How do we make this happen?"

####################​

When she was led to the nearby room where her Commander was being housed, Chris didn't hesitate to walk swiftly right up to Joseph and sling her arms around his waist. It was no secret that the Brit had a thing for the American, nor was is a secret that their individual personal lives and ISS protocol dictated that nothing would ever be allowed to happen between them. But it was still so overwhelmingly good to see him that Chris couldn't help but shed a tear as she held tightly to him.

After they were allowed to be alone together -- on one side of a one way mirror, of course -- the two of them talked about what was happening. Finally, moving Joseph to the far side of the little medical room away from the mirror -- which accomplished nothing in the way of privacy, though they didn't know that -- Chris told him what the Queen Alien had told her about being able to not just slowing Covid-19 but eradicating it.

"She says they can eradicate every disease currently wrecking havoc on our civilization, Joseph," Chris said with uncontrolled joy. "I believe her. She showed me their scientific findings. I saw samples! I saw computerized, hypothetical examples using the DNA codes of our diseases being attacked by their cures!"

They talked about it several more minutes, with Chris delving deeper into the science than Joseph probably understood. When she realized that she was rambling on and on, Chris went silent for a moment, then told him what else Yallana had told her.

"Curing all of these diseases is the easy part," she said barely above a whisper. "Here's the hard part. After a test area is chosen … a region or state or city or even just one of the medical refugee centers … after it is chosen and all the sick there are cured, be it a hundred, a thousand, a million … Yallana has a demand before they begin curing the entire planet."

Chris hesitated, giving Joseph a moment to prepare himself. She drew and released a deep breath, then laid it out: "All nations … all nations … must recall their foreign troops back to within their own nation's borders. That includes the U.K. That includes your America."

She named off the rest of the crew and their respective nations. "No more foreign wars. No more occupations. No more peacekeeping forces even. Every man and woman carrying a weapon … going home."

Chris studied Joseph's reaction for a moment. He'd been a soldier, a highly decorated one. She didn't know his feelings about some of the wars in which the U.S. had been involved in recent years; did he support them or not, she had no idea. She couldn't know what was going through his head because she'd never been a soldier, not really. She was a Medical Doctor in the Research Arm of the British Army, but she'd never gone through boot camp, never been anywhere near a warzone, never carried a weapon, and most certainly never killed another human being.

"Joseph, I gotta tell you," Chris told him with her most sincere tone ever, "I think we need to do this. And … Yallana … she says that you are her liaison to Earth … to all those governments and politicians … all those generals and food soldiers."

She hesitated again, then finished, "Tell me you can support this … please!"

 

[MisterChino]

The First Reunion

As Joseph waited in a sort of solitary confinement, he reflected on the events leading to up this moment. It began to dawn on Joseph that the space station had most likely been intercepted by some sort of alien spacecraft. Joseph recalled the alarms signaling the collision course with a foreign space object, yet upon review of the radar monitor, this entity could not be identified. Furthermore, visual observation from the viewing ports did not produce positive identification of any threat. No one had literally saw it coming. Joseph continue to think on the phenomena.

The signal alarms were rigged for the detection of mass, hence, regardless of size, once a particular body of mass surpasses a set threshold deemed as a critical threat to the station the alarms would be triggered to alert the crew. However, the radar system was based on the rudimentary practice of bouncing waves off of objects. Logically putting these pieces together, Joseph theorized that the mass of the alien spacecraft was undeniably detected by their systems, however, it may be that the alien spacecraft possessed the technology that deflected the waves emitted by the radar at a much more efficient manner, than say, their military stealth jets and bombers. The idea was not farfetched considering the apparent ability for these aliens to body snatch. Indeed, the alien technologies were far more advanced than theirs.

The commandeering of the space station was ultimately the best decisive action that could have been taken, from a military standpoint. Aside from the reconnaissance drones and satellites sitting at various distances from earth and further out in the solar system, the International Space Station possessed most strategic value, serving as a “key terrain,” if you will, for anyone waging space warfare in Earth’s orbit. With their advanced technologies, it would have been easy for the aliens to target the space station. Whether the aliens knew or not that the space station was manned by another lifeform, they for sure stumbled on a jackpot when it came to acquiring “living beings” for negotiations, or even bargaining chips; with their diverse astronaut crew, the aliens had access and lines of communications to the major power players back on Earth. Should the aliens come to a road block with one of the astronauts, they could simply move on to the next. Which brings up the next interesting fact – the Queen.

If this were a game of chess, the Queen is by far the most powerful piece in the entire construct – she can change the tides of war with just a few advances, with the ability to move anywhere she wishes, and take any other piece at her whim. In modern times, a Queen – common in those countries with affiliation to monarchies – served as a diplomat, and a political figure head for the nation’s people. The Queen of a nation has the ability to influence change, as well as give her people hope. In chess, the ability for the other player to take out his opponents Queen would almost guarantee his victory in the game. Therefore, the Queen must remain protected throughout, to prevent any vulnerabilities from being exploited. The Queen would not typically be used at the beginning of the match. Similarly, nation-states tended protect their Queen on their own soil, and seldom saw it fit to send the Queen to do the nation’s diplomatic biddings.

Although he had little knowledge of the alien species cultural and political perspectives, Joseph gathered from their brief interaction that this alien species saw the role of a Queen in a similar fashion – which was one that garners respect and authority. So it became very odd to Joseph that the Queen of this alien species was the first with whom he interacted with. Joseph would have expected to interact with an attaché or aid, first before coming anywhere remotely close to such royalty. What was the train of thought in having the Queen interact with an alien race, which they were just understanding? Was it all a ploy, with the aliens manipulating him to their advantage? Or perhaps, the intentions of Yallana and her people were indeed pure and without deception. Also, if there was a Queen, there must be a King to complement, and where was he? These questions raced through Joseph’s mind, but was quickly interrupted by the sound of the opening door.

The sight of Chris standing in the doorway was perhaps the most pleasant surprise and one of the most relieving moments of Joseph’s life at this point – he couldn’t have been happier than to see her. However, in a brief moment, Joseph remembered what these aliens were capable of, and who was to say that the aliens did not body snatch her as well. In the moment of Joseph’s hesitation, he felt Chris’ arms slung around him, in which he naturally responded in receiving her and embraced her in a close, tight hold. As Joseph held her, he smelled her pleasant, familiar scent and odor, a welcomed change to the rather odorless environment that surrounded them. Oddly enough, the feeling of her body snug against his was a novel experience; Joseph’s crew had to adhere to certain professional etiquette, and hugging was not permitted (this was all in the design to dispel any perceptions of romantic or sexual relationships between the crew member). Albeit brief, Joseph enjoyed the feeling of their warm bodies entangled in this harmless embrace through the light fabric that would ultimately segregate their nude skin.

It would only be a matter of time, before the co-ed crew of male and female astronauts started to develop attractions toward one another. This was purely the natural progression of human interaction when a population of males and females are placed together in a confined environment, let alone in space, removing the physical interactions that they would normally engage in their social lives. Joseph not immune to this fact either. However, NASA and the other space agencies trained Joseph and the crew as best they could on the effects of this environment such as “cabin fever,” and the “Stockholm syndrome.” Needless to say, all the training in the world cannot alter the facts of life and nature. As the Commander, Joseph fought against these biological and anthropological needs as he understood his responsibility to minimize the level of fraternization between the opposite genders. Overall, Joseph performed very well in this arena, being able to maintain the utmost professional accord and bearing in his crew. Despite the upkeep of the professional environment, strong sexual tensions had developed overtime between Joseph and the females of his crew. These tensions were specifically strong with both Captain Thomas, his American colleague, and Major Howe, his British cohort. In the most recent interactions back on the ISS, Joseph and these females found themselves completely out of line as they indiscreetly check their favored opposite gender out, looking the individual up and down with unique attention to different areas of the body.

Coming back to his senses, Joseph thought perhaps it was just simply being in the familiar embrace of another humankind that brought Joseph this joy and relief. Nonetheless, Joseph sensed similar emotions that ran through Chris, as well as himself as they continued what seemed like an extended embraced. Christine was still within her own intuitions. This was truly her.

After what seemed to be a long embrace, Joseph and Christine proceeded to discuss and reflect on what was happening. It seemed that Chris had shared a similar encounter with the Queen, Yallana, after regaining her consciousness. So far, their stories seem to match with a common denominator. It wasn’t long before they broached the subject of the ISS crew’s mission and research – COVID-19. As the crew’s medical specialist, Major Howe was the designated lead for the research of the virus, therefore she was the most invested into project. Joseph had read Christine’s profile in the stack of personnel portfolios provided to him for review. Christine had an interesting childhood, but nonetheless, overcame those challenges.

Chris excelled in school, and after completing further education, was accepted as an international student at Johns Hopkins University – diversifying her cultural experience and building her medical foundation. Upon completing her tenure at JHU and receiving a Bachelor’s of Science and her M.D., she returned to the U.K. where she became a medical doctor for the British Army. Based on her education, she was immediately commissioned as an Officer serving Her Majesty. The British Army saw her potential, and thus, sought to invest in her career by sending her for higher education at the University of Cambridge for her Ph.D. After completing her Ph.D. in molecular pathology and immunology, she returned to the Research Arm and division where she held a minor leadership role. It would not take long for Christine to climb to the rank of Major through her brilliant studies and research in stem cells for the Army.

As the corona virus pandemic beset itself upon humankind, Christine was placed at the forefront of the battle. Politics and bureaucracy found its way into her work, impeding her chances for success even more. Christine grew increasingly frustrated with the inability for her to advance her studies due to the restrictions placed on her by the policy makers through her leaders - this became evident in some of the dialogue notes provided in her portfolio. Then fate would have it, that she would be assigned to the International Space Station, one of two astronauts representing the U.K. Upon arriving to and completing the reception at the station, John immediately recognized her dedication and experience, placing her in charge of spearheading the corona virus research. Of course, she was the best at what she did, prior to this whole situation with the Andanayans.

So when Chris finally explained that the Andanayans had the cure and was able to dispatch the cure for the salvation of the human race, Joseph had no doubt what Chris was saying to be true. But as to be expected, there was a catch – rather – a demand in return for the disposition of the cure. Joseph listened intently as Chris explained Yallana’s demand for what he understood to be some sort of utopian call for world peace on Earth. Joseph stared back blankly at Chris for a brief second, before chuckling aloud.

“They can’t be serious, right?” replied Joseph, before proceeding in the following tirade a more stern tone and cadence. “What they’re asking for is a pipe dream. They’re essentially asking for the disbandment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces, our withdrawal from the CENTCOM theater – we’re talking more than just Iraq and Afghanistan here, and other countless forward stations that our military has established around the globe. Oh wait, and this is not even including the Russians! I can’t wait to see Vladmir’s face when he hears this. It would take an act of God, for this to happen.”

But Christine continued to plead and was persistent in getting Joseph to comply with the aliens’ demand. When Chris informed him that Yallana intended to use him as a liaison to Earth that is when Joseph realized the move. It was the ultimate and perfect chess move in a relatively early game. The Queen did not put the King in check, but rather, positioned itself to hold the Knight in place. This is all piecing together now. Joseph looked back at Chris and held her arms, bringing her closer, as he instructed her on their plan.

“Listen,” Joseph spoke quietly. “I’m all for the salvation of our people, and if we can get the cure from the Andanayans, then so be it. I’m willing to sacrifice myself, if need be, for this. But we must tread carefully – I’m still not sure as to the motives of these aliens. Furthermore, we must be unified in our plan as a team, and continue to work together as a cohesive unit. Do you understand?”

 

[PennySaver]

“They can’t be serious, right?”

Chris didn't understand Joseph's reaction at first. He spoke about Yallana's pipe dream of the salvation of the Human race, a utopia, he called it, and how taking her deal would essentially mean the dismantling of essentially three Empire -- the British, the American, and the Russian -- the oldest of which had been around for more than 500 years.

"But we must tread carefully," Joseph told her. "I’m still not sure as to the motives of these aliens."

Chris was no gullible little girl, of course, so she, too, had considered that Yallana and her alien kin might very well be hostile invaders as opposed to benevolent good Samaritans. Joseph, obviously, was a bit more inclined toward the former option while Chris -- ever the optomist -- hoped for the latter.

The door to the American's awakening room opened, revealing their alien-occupied colleague. Yallana smiled politely, asked if their reunion had been good, then waved them out of the room, telling them, "There are some people who would like to speak to you."

She escorted them down the short narrow hall that Chris had already seen, through a Star Trek-like sliding door, and into a much wider, much longer passageway. It was bright white with spotless surfaces above, below, and to the sides; Chris looked down and believed that the deck was likely clean enough from which to eat. There were no workings here: no pipes, conduits, ducts, computer terminals, or anything … only walls, ceiling, and floor.

There were no … beings here either; other than the three humans -- or two and half maybe -- there were no people to be seen performing any work or simply transiting from one place to another. Of course, without infrastructure, what was there to work?

Yallana led them down the passageway for more than 50 meters before she reached another doorway. This one was a 3 meter diameter, pressure door portal, whereas the previous door had been a simple rectangular sliding door. It's large disk was already open, positioned against the wall on railings. Yallana led them through the opening into a room with darkly painted walls and soft, overhead lighting. Chris's mouth dropped open when she realized that the majority of the room's illumination was coming from the sun … far beyond the room's window and her home world of Earth:

https://i.imgur.com/4d3aLz0.jpg?1​

And standing near the window were the balance of the International Space Station's crew.

 

[MisterChino]

The Final Reunion and the Decision

The reunion between Joseph and Christine would abruptly end when room door opened again – it would be Yallana, again, in the form of Sadie in which she controlled, returning to retrieve the occupants within. Joseph would acknowledge Yallana’s inquiry on the reunion between Chris and he, for which Joseph described as pleasant as one would expect in a situation like this, thanking Yallana for her kindness and keeping her end of the bargain. Yallana indicated that there were others waiting to speak with him; Joseph immediately assumed that it would be the ISS crew. Joseph was very much eager to see the rest of the squad, followed in suit, behind Yallana, beckoning to Chris to stay close, as he left the room in which he was cooped in for the first time since he returned to consciousness.

Joseph couldn’t help but to observe with wonder and amazement at the minimalistic design of the alien spacecraft that they were on. Joseph thought about how such a “bare-boned” craft could wield such powerful technology, when compared to the ISS, which was cluttered with a puzzle and maze of hardware and components that had found itself running through the chambers of the vessel. These aliens were indeed far advanced beyond the likes of their human cohorts. Joseph thought for a moment about the alien technologies as it pertains to their ulterior motives. It appeared that they could have easily waged a one-sided conflict against earth and be the resulting victor. Yet, the aliens have not sought direct violence against the planet, and chose to seek Joseph to serve as a liaison, instead.

Likewise, Joseph noticed the strange emptiness – or vacancy – of this vessel. As the group proceeded from passageway to passageway, Joseph would have thought that they would have seen the alien crew by now. Yet, as they traversed from corridor to the next, the halls remained empty, almost in a lifeless manner. The only sounds that can be heard was the light treading of their footsteps upon the white, marbled flooring that would be matched in decibels with the mild, almost barely audible, humming produced by the ship. This was really odd, and Joseph naturally prepared himself, mentally, to react accordingly for whatever situation they may be walking into.

Alas, the group arrived at a pressured door panel which had already been opened. Joseph looked at the door for a moment in passing, quickly examining the depth and layers of the panel in attempt to get obtain some clues about their technologies. He was almost immediately interrupted when the group walked into an unsuspecting exposure – one that was brilliant and warm. A brief, almost blinding light immediately flashed across their faces, before dissipating in the dark ambience of the room on the other side to which the group walked into. As Joseph’s vision resettled from the shock of the sudden light, he was met with perhaps one of the most spectacular views of the earth. Through the large open-face portal that was developed on the opposite wall, Joseph saw the rounded crest of the Earth’s planetary shape. Again, it was not the first time, nor will it be the last, that Joseph is faced with the grandeur of his home planet, as Joseph continues, time and time again, to be amazed by such a grandiose view. His eyes followed the intricate swirls of the planetary atmosphere as instances of light, indication of the man-made metropole, shown between, before it met with the horizon. Just peering over the horizon, was the noticeable, fiery ball that had given life to their planet. However, something else of importance was happening in the room – the rest of the ISS crew.

Joseph’s smile grew, tracing from cheek to cheek, as he saw his crew standing next to the windowed portal as if they were awaiting for his arrival. He motioned to Chris to move forward with him to reunite with the rest of the crew. “Commander.” One by one, the crew happily addressed him through the use of his honorable title, indicating the revere and respect that they still retained for him. Breaking protocol again, Joseph exchange warm hugs and firm handshakes with each of the individuals there. Quietly in his mind, Joseph had been counting the crew, methodically taking accountability. Sadie, of course, was there, but not herself – rather assumed by Yallana. Chris had been with him for the past half an hour. Thomas, the other Briton, was the first of the group that had greeted him, followed by Russians, Vladmir and Nina, whom had both collectively almost squeezed the air out of his lungs. Where was Claudia?

“Where is Claudia?” Joseph immediately asked of the crew.

“Oh,” Thomas responded in an as if manner. “Yallana, said that Claudia became feverish during the awakening process, but that she is doing just fine. We won’t be seeing Claudia until tomorrow, most likely.”

Joseph nodded, however, disappointed that not his entire crew was assembled. Accountability, if nothing else, is perhaps one of the most important part of military life which in turn instilled itself as Joseph’s personal values and work ethics. When working in small teams during his Special Force days, self-accountability as well as team accountability meant life or death. This fact will be irking Joseph until he is able to visually account for those he is responsible for. However, the majority of Joseph’s crew was still on hand – Joseph cannot stall just because of the fact that Claudia was not present. Joseph pulled everyone closer together, although it was practically impossible to have his meeting in privacy in their given forum.

“First and foremost, I’m glad that everyone is safe and unharmed,” Joseph started. “Secondly, we need to be more unified and decisive as a team than before. This particular situation is extremely strange and novel, as I am sure that all of us here will agree. However, I trust that you all will exercise disciplined initiative – that is, given my intent, you will be able to perform and execute autonomously even in my absence shall I cannot continue any longer. At the same time, allow me to serve you as the Commander in my capacity as best I can and report to me any issues or concerns that you may experience.”

“With that being said,” Joseph paused to receive acknowledgements from his crew. “My intent is two-fold – your safety and return to either the ISS or on ground on planet Earth, and second, the survival of our human race.”

Joseph’s crew all nodded in approval of his guidance, and awaited for his further remarks. Joseph recalled the conversation that he had thus far with the Queen, and Christine. He must remain fully transparent as to not disrupt the harmonious trust and loyalty that was founded in their team. Humbling himself to Chris’ knowledge and expertise, he asked for Christine to explain the situation regarding the corona virus and the potential cure that these aliens may possess. He would rescind to the background, listen to the details, while the crew became spun up on the current situation with their research, and the information that Yallana had provided them. Meanwhile, he paid close attention to the reactions of Thomas, Vladmir, and Nina when they became aware of the technologies that these aliens had and the cure as it pertains to the viral pandemic. They all seemed a bit stunned, but understood the implications of the alien technologies as it dealt with the survival of the human race.

“So here’s the deal,” Joseph interjected, now that he was assured that the crew had the common operating picture. “Yallana is making a demand – quid pro quo, if you will – in return for the appropriation of the cure. She wants certain political actions to be done which would require the major withdrawal and redeployment of forces and the cessation of any sort of military action across the globe by the British, Russians, and Americans.”

Joseph had looked to Thomas, and Vladmir and Nina when he addressed each respective major power included in the ultimatum. As expected, Thomas, Vladmir and Nina all abruptly let loose chuckles. Each of them went on to explain how difficult that notion would be to put into practice. Once each of the crew finished taking their turn to explain the quick wargaming they performed in their minds on how almost impossible of a task this would be, they looked back to Joseph, to only see the most serious look upon Joseph’s face.

“I’ve thought about what each one of you has said,” Joseph responded. “They are all valid points. This normally would have been a democratic decision, but as the Commander, I will take the responsibility of addressing this “diplomatic request” from Yallana and serving as the liaison between Yallana and her people, and the human race. Therefore, if there is any fallout from this, I would be the only one to blame. I will be telling Yallana that we would work expeditiously to negotiate her demands with our respective nations, and in return, she would deliver the cure for this pandemic that is plaguing our world. I will need the utmost help from you all.”

To his surprise, his crew unanimously agreed and supported his decision. Joseph informed them to stand by whilst he presented the decision to Yallana. Joseph then turned from the group, toward Yallana, who had been posted near the pressure door entrance whence they came.

“As you may have figured, Major Howe has courteously briefed me on the information you provided her on the corona virus,” Joseph initiated. “It has come to my knowledge that your people possess the cure to this disease that is wreaking havoc on our race. Similarly, I was told of your demand in return for this cure. As the Commander of the ISS, I would like to accept your proposal. However, I cannot guarantee the success or outcome of this transaction, but I can assure you that my team and I will work with our utmost abilities to see these through with each of our respective nations.”

Joseph paused for a moment, before continuing, “As such, I am requesting that my team and I be able to return to our space station, where we have the compatible assets and technologies in order to communicate with those with the power to make the decisions you require.”

 

[PennySaver]

Yallana invited the crew of the ISS to follow her further down the still bare, minimalistic hallway to yet another disc shaped, sliding pressure door. This one was closed, and when it opened it presented a large space that seemed as though it had been created specifically for them … because it had. It was one part dining hall, one part entertainment room, one part living area, one part exercise room, and finally one part communications center.

It was that last part that Yallana wished to explain to them right away. She presented each of the astronauts and cosmonauts a bracelet, explaining, "These will allow you to access those parts of the ship to which you have permission to enter … the Observation Room from which we just came … the Awakening Rooms where we will continued to monitor your health with thrice daily vitals checks--"

"Wait, we aren't going home today?" one of the crew cut in with a bit of concern.

Yallana smiled and said politely, "I will address that question in just a moment."

She went back to looking between the others -- mostly looking at Joseph -- as she continued, "The control bracelets will also allow you to operate this Communications Center. Just wave your arm out over this sensor..."

Yallana wasn't wearing one of the bracelets, but she had a sixth one in her hand which she waved over a circle in the middle of the console. A slightly mechanical version of a female voice asked, "Wie kann ich Ihnen bei Ihren Versuchen helfen, mit einem anderen zu kommunizieren?"

Yallana turned to face the others, smiling as she explained, "This control bracelet was … is intended for your German speaking crewmate. The Communications Center asked 'How may I assist you in your attempts to communicate with another?'"

Yallana looked back to the Console again, saying in nearly flawless German, "Bitte wechseln Sie ins Englische."

"Switching to English," the console responded. "How may I assist you in your attempts to communicate with another?"

Yallana looked back over her shoulder to the ISS crew members, considered them a moment, then turned to the console and said, "I would like to speak to the President of the United States of America."

"Connecting to the President of the United States of America," the Console confirmed. Above the console, before a blank wall, appeared a three dimensional image that might have reminded the Humans of any number of near-future science fiction shows in which physical monitors had been replaced by holographic images. It seemed to represent a myriad of communication flow charts with phone numbers, ISP addresses, twitter hashtags, and all sorts of elements of the forms of 20th and 21st century communications that had been or were still available today.

It took only seconds for the multiple forms of communication to be pushed away while only one was left behind: a visual image of what appeared to be nothing more than a bark-o-mulch covered jogging path in a thinly planted forest. A moment later, the unmistakable sound of running feet slapping on the ground -- one pair, then two, then more -- filled the room from unseen speakers. Two relatively young and fit looking men in dark jogging suits entered the holographic view from below, running away with the backs to a security camera. A moment later, a third man -- gray haired, running alone -- followed in behind the leading pair, and a moment later a second pair of similarly dressed escorts appeared.

"Mister President," Yallana said just as casually as if she were talking to anyone of the ISS crew in this room.

In the image, the four escorts reacted instinctively, rushing to surround the man who turned in surprise to reveal the face of the President. The four men pressed in all around him as they filled their hands with small automatic machine pistols they'd pulled from under their jogging suit tops and aimed them toward the forest of Camp David. One man was very quickly speaking into a microphone hidden in his wrist.

Yallana went on, "Mister President, please do not be concerned."

The Secret Service agents suddenly realized that the voice they were hearing was coming over not just their own communication devices, into the ear bud connected to their radios, but it was coming out of the speakers of the small but powerful satellite phones they wore on their hips.

"My name is Yallana, and I am contacting you from the vessel in orbit of your planet," she went on. "I am currently viewing you by way of a security camera in the tree to your right, a bit more then twice your height."

All five men in the picture began searching the trees; they'd known the cameras were here, of course, but it took them a moment to find the correct tree.

"Mister President, I believe that you are carrying a communication device that will allow you to view a digital image, is that correct?"

She gave him and the Secret Service agents to consider what she Yallana was saying, then POTUS pulled out his cell phone and flipped it open. She told the Communications Console to allow for the transmission of a picture, and a moment later the President's eyes grew big at the sight of a familiar face.

"Captain Thomas...?" he asked in shock, asking quickly, "Are you alright? Are you safe. What's … what's happening?"

Sadie half turned to look back at Joseph, gesture him forward, and asked, "Would you like to explain, Commander?"

 

[MisterChino]

Contact

It was as if Yallana had preemptively anticipated Joseph’s request to return to the ISS; after being led to a more habitable space designed for a more social atmosphere, Yallana had begun to demonstrate the ability for their technologies to communicate with the human systems. This ability should have surprised Joseph, but by now, he can become desensitized to almost any new that these aliens were able to pull off. As a matter of fact, Joseph was more unprepared than anything else after Yallana successfully reached out to the President of the United States and had asked for him to chime in on the “call.”

“Mister President,” Joseph started, as he cleared his throat, and paused with a sigh before continuing. “First, I want to apologize for coming to you directly in this manner. The crew of the ISS here, and I, are experiencing a bit of an interesting situation. Taking into the consideration of national security, as you would understand, I prefer to debrief you in person on what has occurred and the situation at hand due to the nature of this unsecured line.”

Joseph looked back at Yallana for a brief moment, seeing the opportunity affect the outcome of the situation and perhaps to guide Yallana’s decisions in their favor, before continuing. “I want to assure you that Captain Thomas, the rest of the ISS crew, and I are safe and unharmed, and that we SHOULD be making an early return back to Earth here shortly to discuss the situation that I formerly alluded to. Our guests have been most accommodating to our needs, and I intend on staying in their good graces. I will have the ability to communicate with you, Sir, as often as you see fit.”

From the holographic display, Joseph could tell that the POTUS was still digesting this information, and frankly still surprised at how someone or something was able to tap into the encrypted, communication devices provided by White House Communications team. After thinking for a moment, the President would agree to Joseph speaking with him upon his return to Earth, giving Joseph the authority to reach him directly, as needed, should situation change for Joseph and the crew of the ISS, or if there is imminent threat to national security. Without much fanfare, the call was ended with Joseph and his team still observing the holographic images that was still playing its course.

Shortly after, the rest of the crew contacted their respective leaders to inform them in a similar manner of their situation. Under Joseph’s guidance and supervision, his team was care not to reveal anything too significant, careful to not humiliate or anger their Andanayan hosts. Soon enough, Joseph’s team began settling in the social dwellings, making themselves “home” for the foreseeable future, after what seemed to be a long day so far. Meanwhile, Joseph returned to speak with Yallana.

“Queen Yallana,” Joseph spoke softly. “Thank you for this. Speaking for my team, I want to express our gratitude for your accommodations. As you may have heard from my team and myself, we have begun the initial dialogue with our respective leaders and have obtained their schedule for a meeting in person to begin this negotiation. I hope this is has met your expectations so far and what you are seeking.”

 

[PennySaver]

Yallana maintained a friendly expression from her position slightly behind and to the right of Joseph as he talked to the leader of his nation. Although she had intended for the conversation to take place between Joseph and President Johnson, she found herself at one point stepping forward to explain the situation with Sadie. She could see the dissatisfaction in the world leader's expression, but she did her best to reassure him, "Captain Sadie Thomas is safe and in no harm, and when I no longer require her to act as a conduit between myself and the People of Earth, she will be returned to her previous state with full knowledge and understanding of her part in this momentous event."

Each of the other Humans had their moment to speak to someone from their space program, their government, their family, or a combination therein. Although Yallana said she must monitor the conversations from nearby, she remained out of the Earthbound person or persons view unless asked to interact.

"Are you really a Queen?" the niece of Major Christine Howe asked after the Brit had asked Yallana for permission to explain the situation and then introduce her to the 9 year old girl who was the closest thing Chris had ever had to a daughter. "We have a Queen here, too. She's not pretty and young like you, though."

"But your Queen is a good Queen," Yallana responded, more of a statement than a question. When the girl confirmed that Elizabeth was the best Queen ever, Yallana found herself laughing with delight, saying, "I hope that one day very soon I will be fortunate enough to meet your best Queen ever … and I hope to one day soon meet you, too, Margaret."

"Are you a good Queen?" Maggie asked with a young girl's innocence.

"Yes, I am a good Queen," Yallana answered without hesitation, even though in the days, months, and years to come, some would say that this was one of the first of many lies she would tell.

When the two of them were alone together later, Joseph thanked Yallana for the very Earth-like comforts she'd provided them. She told him, "I want you and your crew to be comfortable during your stay here."

He spoke about scheduling their return to ISS or instead directly to Earth. Yallana wasn't surprised, of course, at Joseph's eagerness to get back … or, at least, to get out of here. While Yallana was providing him and the others will as much as she could to be comfortable, they were still Humans in an alien environment -- an alien spaceship -- to which they hadn't requested an invite.

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It would be the last day of March before the final arrangements were made for the ISS crew -- and Yallana -- to board an alien shuttle and make the trip down to the planet. President Johnson had initially wanted to get a covert meeting with the Alien Queen before she met any of the other leaders, but when word of this got out leaders all about the globe had what could best be described as a fit. Johnson denied ever having suggested such a thing, and one of his Cabinet Secretary's claimed to have floated the idea and, subsequently, offered his resignation, which POTUS accepted to save face.

In the end, the Alien Queen and the ISS crew descended directly to atop the United Nations building in New York City. Yallana remained in her ship while the Humans disembarked to be met inside by whomever their respective governments and space agencies deemed appropriate. A few minutes later, the family of Captain Sadie Thomas were escorted into the shuttle to meet with Yallana … who, of course, was occupying the body of their granddaughter, daughter, and sibling. Yallana explained personally that Sadie was in no harm or pain; she promised that Sadie was not being adversely affected psychologically either.

"Can we talk to her," Sadie's mother begged. When Yallana told the teary eyed woman that Sadie could hear her but couldn't respond, the astronaut's mother took a full three minutes to speak to her while holding Sadie/Yallana's hand in her own. She finished with, "I love you, and we'll talk soon."

There was, of course, one ISS crew member absent. The German, Claudia Reinholdt, had continued to suffer from medical issues regarding her reanimation following coming aboard the alien ship. Yallana had offered to allow her superiors, friends, family, and chosen Earth doctors the privilege of returning to the orbiting vessel to look in on her and offer their well wishes and medical opinions. Six men and women were scheduled to go up to the ship, just as 6 others had just come down.

When it was time, Yallana and the leaders of the United Nations followed a protocol upon which they'd agreed. The Alien was escorted to General Assembly Hall by both her security and the building's; the halls were devoid of people; all visual and auditory monitoring of the travel route had been disengaged; and there was no Press any where in the building, as Yallana want to talk to the people of earth without the spectacle of reporters and camera operators crawling over one another for that once in a lifetime shot.

When she arrived at the lectern, the response from the more than 3,000 member standing room only crowd of ambassadors, aides, and others was divided between those who stood and applauded and those who remained seated and simply studied her. She introduced herself much as she had to Joseph so many days earlier, then gave the same explanation of Captain Sadie Thomas; Yallana gestured toward the Thomas family, which was nearby in a temporary area for the benefit of the cameras which were broadcasting the event live across the planet.

Yallana spoke of the ISS crew, of its German member, and of how they'd interacted these past two weeks. She reassured those watching that the astronauts and cosmonauts were in excellent health and -- per their own countries' timelines -- would likely be able to tell the story from their own perspective soon enough.

She spoke of the peaceful intentions of the Andanayan; six times during what would end up being an hour long speech to Planet Earth, Yallana would say something to the effect of We come in peace. But she knew of the Human axiom, Actions speak better than words. She suddenly ended her own presentation by gesturing to a man who had been sitting amongst other men and women off to the side of the stage, saying, "I would like to introduce to the world, Azali Assoumani, of the Union of the Comoros."

The 62 year old President of the archipelago to the northwest of Madagascar stood and made his way slowly to the lectern. He looked out upon the audience for a long moment; he'd never been on this stage before, and history would show that even his ambassadors hadn't addressed the entire Assembly even though their country had been a member of the US since shortly after independence in 1975.

Most of the world knew nothing about Assoumani's homeland; most of the world didn't know there were islands in that part of the Western Indian ocean with the exception of the obvious one, Madagascar. One thing many here did know about the Comoros was that it had suffered more intensely from the Covid-19 pandemic than any other nation had when it came to per capita numbers: 94% of the people of the islands had become infected, and 33% of those -- a high percentage relative to the rest of the world -- had died or were destined to die in the weeks to come. Or … so they had been.

Assoumani looked to the index card on which he'd scribbled some notes, looked out to the gathering, then told them bluntly, "The Union of Comoros … is Covid-19 free … due to the medical aid provided out nation by Queen Yallana and her medical professionals."

There was a roll of disbelief through the building as those assembled contemplated what this meant. There would be further disruptions as Assoumani went on to describe how -- over the past 2 weeks -- alien shuttles had been covertly dispersing aerosol medications over the entirety of his country's terrain. "We had not had a single new Covid-19 case, let alone a death, in more than 48 hours, and there is not a person in my nation now who carries the deadly disease."

With that, Assoumani simply turned and returned to his seat. Yallana gave the crowd a moment to consider the unbelievable medical miracle about which the man had just spoken before she returned to the lectern, waited for relative silence, and then made her to-the-point proposal: "I will rid your entire planet of this deadly pandemic in less than a month. I only ask in return that you, the leaders of your people, earn this for your people … by respecting the lives of all people. Bring home your military troops. Bring them home to be with their own families. Bring an end to conflict. And I will bring you great marvels for which you have only imagined."

And with that, Yallana turned and headed out of the room, surrounded by her security again as she headed back for her shuttle and her ship.