First Contact – VI
The lander docked with the Gagarin and as soon as the atmosphere had pressurised Alan was straight into the shuttle bay.
“How can the three of you have forgotten about Connor? He shouldn’t have been on this mission and I personally didn’t like him but still to just leave him down there.”
“Oh shit,” Pavel said in Russian as his memories returned.
“And you know what we are immediately going to have to send some other people down to try and find him …”
Vanessa undid and removed her helmet so she could wipe the tears from her eyes. “Connor!” Her mind was a mixture of conflicting memories.
“Captain,” Shen said over the intercom.
“What is it?”
“Hades!”
“What about it?”
“It has just disappeared.”
They ran back towards the bridge and Shen was correct, there was no sign of Hades anywhere.
“What happened?”
“Like I said it just disappeared, we were in orbit and we are now … just floating off in the direction we would …”
Alan desperately fiddled with the controls, Hades annoyingly refused to reappear. Alan sat in front of the communication panel. How the hell was he going to explain this? “Pavel you have to tell me exactly what happened.”
“Nothing much, we descended in an elevator and then we walked along a corridor and then …”
“Then three of us walked back,” Vanessa said. “But we didn’t realise we were missing two hours and … and Connor.”
“The elevator, what was it like?” Alan asked.
“Well we were in it for several minutes in free fall, then we slowed down and … my memories don’t quite make sense,” Pavel said.
“It was just grey,” Iku added. “No colour.”
“How can the three of you have forgotten about Connor? He shouldn’t have been on this mission and I personally didn’t like him but still to just leave him down there.”
“Oh shit,” Pavel said in Russian as his memories returned.
“And you know what we are immediately going to have to send some other people down to try and find him …”
Vanessa undid and removed her helmet so she could wipe the tears from her eyes. “Connor!” Her mind was a mixture of conflicting memories.
“Captain,” Shen said over the intercom.
“What is it?”
“Hades!”
“What about it?”
“It has just disappeared.”
They ran back towards the bridge and Shen was correct, there was no sign of Hades anywhere.
“What happened?”
“Like I said it just disappeared, we were in orbit and we are now … just floating off in the direction we would …”
Alan desperately fiddled with the controls, Hades annoyingly refused to reappear. Alan sat in front of the communication panel. How the hell was he going to explain this? “Pavel you have to tell me exactly what happened.”
“Nothing much, we descended in an elevator and then we walked along a corridor and then …”
“Then three of us walked back,” Vanessa said. “But we didn’t realise we were missing two hours and … and Connor.”
“The elevator, what was it like?” Alan asked.
“Well we were in it for several minutes in free fall, then we slowed down and … my memories don’t quite make sense,” Pavel said.
“It was just grey,” Iku added. “No colour.”
They waited for a couple of days, just in case Hades reappeared, but it didn’t. All they could do was return to Earth to face more of the inevitable and awkward questions. Questions that were already being asked by the authorities on Earth.
“What just happened?” Connor asked.
“I wished to speak to you alone.”
“Where are the others?”
“They are in a room exactly like this. No harm will come to them.”
“And who are you exactly?” Connor asked.
“I was interested in your answers,” the voice replied.
“And?”
“You said that anything like that should be destroyed.”
“I don’t know how much you know about humans, but we’ve only managed to get our act together in the last few years. But still if you let something like that loose, then everyone would fight over it. Even though it might be a great idea in principle, it would start wars. Or some maniac would grab hold of it for their own power. Or if you allowed everyone to do it, then we’d just destroy ourselves. Is that what you intend to do?”
“No, I don’t want your species to suffer.”
Connor stopped to think about the reply.
“Are you playing semantics with me? You could just destroy us and we wouldn’t suffer.”
“I do not intend to cause any harm to come to you, your species or to your planet.”
“Okay then, I’ll let you off this time.”
“In fact the exact opposite.”
“Oh right?”
“Why do you think I shouldn’t give this gift out?”
“Can I take some time to frame my answers?”
“You can take as long as you like.”
“Right, I can think of several scenarios here and I don’t know which one you’re talking about.” Connor began to count off the scenarios on his fingers. “First, you give everyone the knowledge and power, I’d give it about five minutes before somebody tried it out and made a mess of things. Second, you could have my first impression of what you were talking about, a device. Well that would just cause fights and whoever had it would spend his time defending it from all the other people who thought they should have it and if you had a group of people in charge, then they would just argue. Then one person would take over and that person would use that power to stop anyone else getting it. They would become paranoid. I’d give it a year before they became completely paranoid, sitting under a volcano with sharks with in-built lasers.”
“And if I gave it to one person and he or she could not give the power away?” the voice asked.
“Then the power would go to their head. Then people would threaten or blackmail them. All round, we’re better off without it. Can I go now? And you know I’m going to get into so so much trouble because I’ve answered this.” Connor looked about, he wondered what the others were doing. “Are you having similar conversations with the others?”
There was silence.
“Anyway you must have known all this. Does such a thing exist?” Connor continued. “If you could make air for us to breathe then you would know that I’m right because you must know enough about it and us.”
“And you would destroy it?”
“Yes? Because the good it could do would be great but the potential for people to fuck up would be so much greater.” Connor stopped to think. “If you … It would be a shame to destroy it but it would destroy us.”
“Even though of the great good it could do?”
“Yes, but even better don’t let anyone know about it. But why are we even having this conversation?” Connor asked.
“I will let you destroy it.”
“Eh?”
“I will let you destroy it.”
“Can I just go home now?”
A cube with the sides of about one metre appeared in the room.
“Can I just go home now?” Connor repeated, he was beginning to feel very uncomfortable. He was out of his depth and he knew it.
“This is it, you can destroy it.”
“I’m not doing anything. Because I don’t believe that that is it,” Connor said pointing to the cube. “You could just make another. Because …” there was something niggling at his brain. “Because you said you have this conversation with other species that have reached the same level of technical level as us, so if the conversation goes the same way, then you must have one of these for each of them.”
“Not if they destroyed themselves and I retrieved it. Or if I never gave it out.”
“This is just some insane game,” Connor replied.
The cube disappeared.
“You know what happens with most species when I make this offer?”
“No,” Connor replied, but he could guess.
“Most make similar promises as your colleague did. Some of the more foolish and aggressive try to take it by force. Very few understand the implications like you do. Some even try to trick me by giving me similar answers to those you did.”
“How do you know that I am not tricking you? Perhaps I am double bluffing you, I knew the correct answer and I gave it to you, so I could have the power all along and become absolute ruler of the Earth. Emperor Connor the first, absolute ruler of the galaxy.”
“I know the difference, plus you didn’t try and take the cube or pretend that you would destroy it.”
“Why does that matter?”
“It matters,” the voice replied.
Connor was confused. “You know that I won’t accept that … that black cube. Anyway, I would lose it or someone would steal it from me … Right, if I turned up, back aboard the Gagarin with an alien artefact, then Alan would say it would have to be analysed and he would take it off me. If I said no, it is for me and me alone, then he wouldn’t believe me and he would still take it off me. It would scare me. I would fear myself. If that were the real deal, then I would drop it into the sun or something.”
There was no reply.
“And it is not as if I could hide it. Someone would find it. What’s that you’ve got there Connor? Oh it’s nothing. Can I see it? No you can’t. It’s a present from an alien. I wouldn’t be able to keep it secret and then I wouldn’t be able to keep it. So can I go now?”
There was silence and Connor continued. “I could use its own powers to destroy it.”
“I am afraid you can’t return home, I have need of you.”
“What?” Connor started to back out of the room.
“And if you had the power and nobody could take it off you?”
“And how long before I became a monster. Or how long before someone tried to blackmail me or force me to do what they wanted.”
“But you would be able to control light, gravity, matter itself.”
“It’s a nice idea in principle, but you need to give it to a species of Zen Buddhists, a species that is less aggressive than my own. Anyway what would I do with that sort of power? I certainly wouldn’t tell anyone I had it. But then someone would find out. I’d get drunk and try and impress someone, probably some girl.”
“You may return the way you came.”
“Okay,” Connor replied nervously. He wasn’t sure if he had convinced the alien voice of anything. “How many species have you had this conversation with over the years?”
“A few, but more recently.”
He had run out of questions. Here he was speaking to an alien intelligence, first contact and all that, like Iku had said, it wasn’t really as he imagined it should be. “Look I need to go, the others will be getting worried about me.”
“Then let me detain you no longer.”
Connor looked at the room suspiciously and then he walked back along the corridor. At the end, he replaced his helmet, he checked the HUD, He still had several hours worth of air left. The lift was there. Presumably he was supposed to step in.
“Hello, Iku, Pavel are you there. Where the hell are you?”
There was no reply. Was he being punished for being cheeky?
“Vanessa you’re the sexiest woman I have ever met and I would like you to be the mother of my children. I would like to take you up on your offer.”
There was still no answer. Shit, they couldn’t hear him. Someone would have responded to that. Where were they? Perhaps they had already returned to the surface, thinking him lost or thinking he had already returned.
“How about a tune?” Connor pulled out his harmonica and started to play.
Still nothing and that should have got a reaction.
Nothing for it then, Connor stepped into the room and felt a slight change in gravity as it ascended back to the surface.
“I wished to speak to you alone.”
“Where are the others?”
“They are in a room exactly like this. No harm will come to them.”
“And who are you exactly?” Connor asked.
“I was interested in your answers,” the voice replied.
“And?”
“You said that anything like that should be destroyed.”
“I don’t know how much you know about humans, but we’ve only managed to get our act together in the last few years. But still if you let something like that loose, then everyone would fight over it. Even though it might be a great idea in principle, it would start wars. Or some maniac would grab hold of it for their own power. Or if you allowed everyone to do it, then we’d just destroy ourselves. Is that what you intend to do?”
“No, I don’t want your species to suffer.”
Connor stopped to think about the reply.
“Are you playing semantics with me? You could just destroy us and we wouldn’t suffer.”
“I do not intend to cause any harm to come to you, your species or to your planet.”
“Okay then, I’ll let you off this time.”
“In fact the exact opposite.”
“Oh right?”
“Why do you think I shouldn’t give this gift out?”
“Can I take some time to frame my answers?”
“You can take as long as you like.”
“Right, I can think of several scenarios here and I don’t know which one you’re talking about.” Connor began to count off the scenarios on his fingers. “First, you give everyone the knowledge and power, I’d give it about five minutes before somebody tried it out and made a mess of things. Second, you could have my first impression of what you were talking about, a device. Well that would just cause fights and whoever had it would spend his time defending it from all the other people who thought they should have it and if you had a group of people in charge, then they would just argue. Then one person would take over and that person would use that power to stop anyone else getting it. They would become paranoid. I’d give it a year before they became completely paranoid, sitting under a volcano with sharks with in-built lasers.”
“And if I gave it to one person and he or she could not give the power away?” the voice asked.
“Then the power would go to their head. Then people would threaten or blackmail them. All round, we’re better off without it. Can I go now? And you know I’m going to get into so so much trouble because I’ve answered this.” Connor looked about, he wondered what the others were doing. “Are you having similar conversations with the others?”
There was silence.
“Anyway you must have known all this. Does such a thing exist?” Connor continued. “If you could make air for us to breathe then you would know that I’m right because you must know enough about it and us.”
“And you would destroy it?”
“Yes? Because the good it could do would be great but the potential for people to fuck up would be so much greater.” Connor stopped to think. “If you … It would be a shame to destroy it but it would destroy us.”
“Even though of the great good it could do?”
“Yes, but even better don’t let anyone know about it. But why are we even having this conversation?” Connor asked.
“I will let you destroy it.”
“Eh?”
“I will let you destroy it.”
“Can I just go home now?”
A cube with the sides of about one metre appeared in the room.
“Can I just go home now?” Connor repeated, he was beginning to feel very uncomfortable. He was out of his depth and he knew it.
“This is it, you can destroy it.”
“I’m not doing anything. Because I don’t believe that that is it,” Connor said pointing to the cube. “You could just make another. Because …” there was something niggling at his brain. “Because you said you have this conversation with other species that have reached the same level of technical level as us, so if the conversation goes the same way, then you must have one of these for each of them.”
“Not if they destroyed themselves and I retrieved it. Or if I never gave it out.”
“This is just some insane game,” Connor replied.
The cube disappeared.
“You know what happens with most species when I make this offer?”
“No,” Connor replied, but he could guess.
“Most make similar promises as your colleague did. Some of the more foolish and aggressive try to take it by force. Very few understand the implications like you do. Some even try to trick me by giving me similar answers to those you did.”
“How do you know that I am not tricking you? Perhaps I am double bluffing you, I knew the correct answer and I gave it to you, so I could have the power all along and become absolute ruler of the Earth. Emperor Connor the first, absolute ruler of the galaxy.”
“I know the difference, plus you didn’t try and take the cube or pretend that you would destroy it.”
“Why does that matter?”
“It matters,” the voice replied.
Connor was confused. “You know that I won’t accept that … that black cube. Anyway, I would lose it or someone would steal it from me … Right, if I turned up, back aboard the Gagarin with an alien artefact, then Alan would say it would have to be analysed and he would take it off me. If I said no, it is for me and me alone, then he wouldn’t believe me and he would still take it off me. It would scare me. I would fear myself. If that were the real deal, then I would drop it into the sun or something.”
There was no reply.
“And it is not as if I could hide it. Someone would find it. What’s that you’ve got there Connor? Oh it’s nothing. Can I see it? No you can’t. It’s a present from an alien. I wouldn’t be able to keep it secret and then I wouldn’t be able to keep it. So can I go now?”
There was silence and Connor continued. “I could use its own powers to destroy it.”
“I am afraid you can’t return home, I have need of you.”
“What?” Connor started to back out of the room.
“And if you had the power and nobody could take it off you?”
“And how long before I became a monster. Or how long before someone tried to blackmail me or force me to do what they wanted.”
“But you would be able to control light, gravity, matter itself.”
“It’s a nice idea in principle, but you need to give it to a species of Zen Buddhists, a species that is less aggressive than my own. Anyway what would I do with that sort of power? I certainly wouldn’t tell anyone I had it. But then someone would find out. I’d get drunk and try and impress someone, probably some girl.”
“You may return the way you came.”
“Okay,” Connor replied nervously. He wasn’t sure if he had convinced the alien voice of anything. “How many species have you had this conversation with over the years?”
“A few, but more recently.”
He had run out of questions. Here he was speaking to an alien intelligence, first contact and all that, like Iku had said, it wasn’t really as he imagined it should be. “Look I need to go, the others will be getting worried about me.”
“Then let me detain you no longer.”
Connor looked at the room suspiciously and then he walked back along the corridor. At the end, he replaced his helmet, he checked the HUD, He still had several hours worth of air left. The lift was there. Presumably he was supposed to step in.
“Hello, Iku, Pavel are you there. Where the hell are you?”
There was no reply. Was he being punished for being cheeky?
“Vanessa you’re the sexiest woman I have ever met and I would like you to be the mother of my children. I would like to take you up on your offer.”
There was still no answer. Shit, they couldn’t hear him. Someone would have responded to that. Where were they? Perhaps they had already returned to the surface, thinking him lost or thinking he had already returned.
“How about a tune?” Connor pulled out his harmonica and started to play.
Still nothing and that should have got a reaction.
Nothing for it then, Connor stepped into the room and felt a slight change in gravity as it ascended back to the surface.