I cooked a chicken breast and some instant potatoes for lunch and pondered on my issue with the communications antenna. I needed more and better access to information and potential. I needed to contact someone in an agency that had to do with space. It didn’t matter what country to me, but I knew that simply sending an email to the head of NASA or any other space agency would likely be laughed off as a crackpot idea.
Didn’t my cousin work for NASA at one point? I’d have to ask him. After lunch, of course. I couldn’t ignore my hungry stomach. I wolfed down the food, and dialed him up.
RING RING RING
“Hello? Ivor?”
“Yeah, dude. It’s me. I have a weird question,” I said.
“Lay it on me. I’ve heard everything by now.”
“I need to get in touch with NASA because I have definitive proof of extraterrestrial life and I know where it is.”
“Okay, I was wrong. I haven’t heard everything, it seems.”
I laughed. “Maybe not, but I’m dead serious. I can be there tomorrow with it,” I said.
“Do what, now? You’re serious? Let me talk to the wife,” he said, and I heard his muffled voice talking to his wife.
After a few minutes, he came back on the line, and said, “Yeah, man. She said come on out. She‘d love to finally meet you, and the boys would, too. I’ll text you the address.”
“Cool. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“See you then!”
I hung up, and grabbed the boar figurine.
“Hey! Everything okay? I hate not being able to see what goes on over there.”
“Everything is good. Listen, that restriction on Gruldia not being seen; does it apply to every person not from Earth? I may have a way to get in with my country’s space agency, and Daktu’un sent me a video of his planet and a photo of him and his family. I also have a means of contacting him directly that others could hear. He sent me a packet with designs for a communication antenna, and a file that my computer can’t open as it’s too resource-heavy. I don’t want to run afoul of the Multiversal Entity.”
“Let me check.”
Freyr was silent for a few minutes, and when he came back, he said, “Nope! All is good. Especially for the purposes of establishing first contact, that will all be fine. Its biggest complaint was for people seeing a real alien in front of them and reacting out of panic and fear. What you have should be just fine. Was there anything else, son?”
“Not really. I’ll have a ton of questions later on for you, though. I really want to know what things are like on your side of the fence.”
“Oh. That’s a big thing you’re asking. We will think on it over here, and I should have some kind of answer next time you call.”
“Cool. I’ll chat later, I have a trip to plan!”
“Be safe!”
I set the figurine down, and started packing for a trip to see family I’d not been able to visit in over a decade. I packed a couple of kilts, several shirts and my bear. If I needed anything else, I’d simply buy it while I was out.
I input his address into my phone, and nodded. A little over eleven hours. My boys and I would have a decent trip ahead of us. I sent my cousin a message, reminding him of my rats, and how they would be coming with me, and he assured me it was fine as long as they were in a cage. I didn’t like keeping them cooped up, but it wasn’t my home. I explained this to the boys, and they weren’t happy, but agreed.
Shortly after I finished packing, I heard a knock at my door. Upon opening it, I was greeted by a delivery driver with a package. Must be my new computer. I signed for it, and helped him remove it from his truck. He thanked me, and I lugged the beast inside.
It took an hour to set up my new machine and transfer my hard drive, and on boot-up, I found it was blazingly fast.
I quickly opened the star chart program my laptop had created, and smiled. It worked. A little laggy but, I could now do some comparisons. It took me another hour to scan his skies for anything remotely familiar, until I chanced upon an image of Eta Carinae.
That nebula was unmistakable. I took note of where in his planet’s orbit the image was taken, and other information, and made an estimate of where his planet was located. It took me several more hours of research and math, but I now had a reasonably sure idea that I had a general location for Daktu’un’s homeworld. I could at least point a telescope in that vicinity. Sharper minds than mine would be able to piece together more information.
I turned off the new computer, unplugged everything and went to bed. I had a long drive ahead of me, and I needed the rest.
*********
When I awoke it was early morning, and I loaded everything up, including the commblock and my new computer. With eleven hours on the road ahead of me, I needed an early start. I sent a message to Daktu’un, explaining my plans, requesting that he be available about eleven of my hours from now, and he responded affirmatively.
The drive was indeed long, but it was still beautiful. Kentucky in the fall was an exquisite sight. It didn’t get any worse the closer I got to Baltimore, so I had good tunes and good views the whole way through.
I called when I was about ten minutes away.
RING RING RING
“Hello?”
“Hey man. I’m about ten minutes away.”
“Cool. We just got dinner done. Want us to wait for you?”
“If you would, please? I’ve not eaten in quite some time.”
“Sure! Not a problem. Noah might get a little upset, but we’ll explain it to him. He might get upset at you for making dinner late.”
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“That’s fine. I can handle that. Think he might want to pet my rats? They won’t even nibble, I swear.”
“Let’s see what Kristen has to say about that, okay? I’ll see you soon.”
“Sure! See you in a couple minutes.”
I hung up and drove just a little faster. I didn’t want an upset seven year old, after all. They could be vicious.
I pulled into my cousin’s driveway about five minutes later. I got out and stretched, Byron and Bailey on my shoulders. I pulled out their travel cage, and walked up to my cousin’s front door.
Before I even got to knock, it opened of its own accord.
“Darrell?” I called out.
“In here, Ivor!” came his reply.
I walked in and shut the door. My boys and I looked around, taking in the sights and smells. We walked towards where the scent of ham, mashed potatoes and green beans emanated from.
“Hi guys!” I said with a wave to my cousin and his family.
“Ivor! It’s good to see- Holy cow. You lost some serious weight, man. It looks good on you. Come on. Sit down and eat. I know you’re starving,” Darrell said, a smile never leaving his face.
I took a seat and introductions were made. Darrell’s wife, Kristen, was a short woman of average build and graying hair. Their oldest, William, was a skinny little kid with a mischievous grin and dark hair. Their youngest son, Noah, was a tall, slender boy with blonde hair and the sweetest smile. Darrell himself was a mountain of a man. Over six and a half feet with a heavy build, he towered over his obviously loving family. Darrell and Kristen had been married for about eleven years, and they were definitely still deeply in love.
It wasn’t until I unconsciously passed a bit of ham to both of my rats that they noticed them on my shoulders.
“Oh, right. I’m sorry. This is Bailey, and that’s Byron,” I said as I gestured to my rats.
“That’s all well and good, Ivor, but aren’t you worried about them getting caught by the cats?” Kristen asked, concern evident in her voice.
“Nah. They’ll stay right where they are until I get the cage put up. Won’t you, boys?” I asked, and they nuzzled my cheeks in response. Will and Noah giggled at the pair on my shoulders, who waved in response.
“They’re cool, Mr. Ivor. Can I pet them?” asked Will. Noah looked on curiously.
“After dinner, maybe. You just have to remember to be gentle. Rats are very small, after all,” I said. “Noah? Would you like to touch their fur?” I asked the younger of the two.
Noah shied away slightly, looking deeply distrustful. “It’s okay, Noah. You don’t have to,” I said with a smile.
We returned our attention to dinner, making small talk for the rest of the evening. After dinner, we moved to the living room and continued talking, as I watched the boys playing with each other. Will was so patient and gentle with his younger brother. It brought a broad smile to my face, seeing the pair getting along so well. Noah even came up and ran a single finger down Bailey’s spine, as gentle as a breath of wind.
Eventually, it got to be bedtime for the boys, and their nighttime routine began. I took the opportunity to set up the cage for the boys in the room I was given, and then bring in the rest of my things. Thankfully, I hadn’t packed much, so I got it in one trip.
I set the computer down in my room, and tossed my bag beside it. I walked out to the living room, and sat on the couch. A few minutes later, Darrell came out of his kids’ room and sat beside me.
“It’s good to see you, man. It’s been what? Fifteen years?” he asked.
“Seventeen. Last time I saw you was just after dad died. You look good, bud,” I answered.
“Nah. I work in an office at a desk for cryin’ out loud. I’ve gotten bigger. I know it, Kristen knows it, and I know that you know it. It’s fine, though,” he said.
“I wasn’t talking about your weight. I was talking about this” -I gestured to his home- “stuff here. Being a husband and a father looks good on you,” I said.
He smiled, then. A broad grin that split his chubby face, turning him into the shining beacon of joy I remembered from our childhood. Kristen walked out at that moment, seeing her husband smile.
“So tell me, Ivor. What proof have you got for the scientific community? It’s not that I don’t believe you, but you have to admit that it seems a little far-fetched,” she said.
“Well, for that, I need a monitor, keyboard and mouse. It’ll be much better to show you,” I said with a grin.
Darrell got up and directed us to the upstairs office. I grabbed my computer and followed. We set up my machine, and I explained the situation as broadly as I could without giving too much away, couching the “discovery” of the packet to a random web search which led my mind down several obscure paths on the dark web, culminating in a chance message to an extraterrestrial being.
“...and now, in order for us to get onto the galactic stage, I have to build a larger communications antenna. I have another way of contacting my friend, that he sent me the schematics for, and I’ll show that to you later. First things first, though. I’m going to show you the skies from his planet,” I said, starting the sky map program.
I gave them the controls and they immediately went searching for familiar objects. Just as I had, they found Eta Carinae fairly quickly, but also recognized some other, more obscure formations. Armed with this new information, they both began to work out where my friend’s system was. They opened another sky map program, and began to dial in the location together.
“Huh. It seems like these pictures were taken from this” -Darrell pointed at a location in the local star map- “area of the sky here. It shouldn’t be too hard to point the communications antenna in that direction. Once it gets built, that is. How were you planning on doing that, anyway? You obviously can’t afford to do that,” he said.
“Uh… well, you see… The thing is, I kinda can afford it, now. I’ve come into a ridiculous sum of money, and I can do literally anything I want. In a year, I could buy a whole damn island. And not a small one, like off the Florida Keys. Like one in the Bahamas,” I said, reaching into my pocket.
I pulled out the commblock, and keyed it on.
“Ivor? Is that you? Of course it is. Why do I keep asking that? Anyway, are you with your family?”
“Daktu’un! Yes, my friend. I am here with my cousin Darrell and his wife, Kristen. Say hi, guys!”
Both Darrel and Kristen managed a weak “Hello”.
“Excellent. They don’t sound very excited, friend. Are they well?”
“They’re fine. Just a bit overwhelmed, I’d say. Hey Darrell? Where in the other sky map would our system lie?” I asked.
“Huh? Oh. Uhhhh…. Let’s see. Kristen? A little help?” Darrell replied.
The two got to work narrowing our location down. “So, Daktu’un. How are the wife and kids?” I asked.
“Oh, thank you for asking! My partner, Parati, is doing well. She is very curious and would like the chance to meet you. As would our children. Servi, in particular, seems to be very eager to meet you,” he said.
“That’s great to hear. I’m glad your family is good,” I said.
“It looks like our system is located near these coordinates, if I understand their system correctly,” Kristen said.
She gave me the coordinates, and Daktu’un did something on his end. “Ah! It looks like you orbit a completely ordinary star. A yellow one, at that. Most interesting. There look to be eight major bodies and a belt in your system. Which is yours again?”
“The third from the star,” I said.
“Ivor? How on Earth are you understanding him? It sounds like a large, angry cat. I should know. I have two small angry cats,” Kristen said, bewildered.
“Cats? What are- Does she not know, Ivor? You’ve not explained the entire situation?” Daktu’un asked.
“Not yet, friend. I will later tonight. Anyway, you get your people working on contacting us, and I’ll start working on the antenna. Sound like a plan to you?” I asked.
“Already done. We will be sending quantum broadcasts every hour, just waiting for the antenna to pick up,” he replied.
“Great. It was good talking to you, Daktu’un. I hope that the next time we talk, it can be on video. Have a good day!” I said to my friend.
“Be well, Ivor!” Daktu’un said as he closed the link.
“So. I suppose you two want to know exactly what is going on,” I said to my confused and concerned cousins.