Alien Impulses

Gemma was still handling the gold, somewhat stunned, when I took her hand and led her to the kitchen. We stood by the sink, where the replicator was hidden behind its cupboard door. "What's your favourite food for breakfast?"

She thought for a second, gave me a strange look. "Muesli and toast with jam", she answered, slightly wary. I opened the cupboard and ordered the food from the replicator, which whirred instantly into action and, within seconds, had produced a bowl of muesli, a jug of milk and four slices of toast with a range of jams in small bowls.

"Bon appétit", I offered.

We spent most of the day talking things over. Hal was brilliant, putting together presentations and examples which helped Gemma to take in the leaps of technology Takanli's scientists had made. We went through some of the forms of radiation I had experienced, and their medical benefits. We demonstrated how the replicator and Forager used water as a base material to produce any other material, through an understanding that all matter is made from the same indelible stuff -- energy -- and that with the right tools and know-how, this fact can be exploited.

Hal showed her pictures of Takanli and episodes from my stay there as portrayed on the local Net. I was grateful to note that he left out the racy stuff, which actually must have comprised the majority of Net output relating to me. We watched part of the televised debate from Numkli and the speech I gave on Jakalzzi when the crowd were all buzzing on Ecstasy we released into the water supply which moistened the air. There was even a video of the Phoenix leaving Holdrian, and another of us approaching the vortex, which the ship's computer had grabbed at the last moment, and exchanged with Hal during the long cruise.

She had a thousand questions. But first, I wanted to make sure she wasn't too weirded out. I thought of her as a level-headed person, and figured I would find out fairly shortly if this were true.

"I'm sorry to hit you with all this. I know you found out by accident, which can't have been pleasant, and you would be forgiven for thinking of me now as a liar."

We were sitting on the sofa with freshly replicated coffees. "You didn't lie, exactly, but you hid an awful lot of truth." I nodded. "On the other hand, how the hell do you go about telling your girlfriend that you've visited an alien planet 150 light years away?"

She was coming onboard steadily, I was delighted to see. The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of another human being knowing about all of this. I could share it with someone. It would no longer be something I had to deal with alone. That felt better almost immediately.

"I mean, they've got some amazing technology..." She had loved Forager's trick with the gold bar, and I let her play with the replicator. "You could really help people. I mean, there's your project, which is so great, and there's the medical stuff, too. You could cure cancer, couldn't you?"

I put down my coffee. "Yes, I could. I could cure every disease we have. I could develop a vaccine which would wash away the faults in cell division which lead to ageing, and we'd all be rooted at the age at which we received it. You could stay 29 for life", I added, "and never look a day older as long as you lived." She was quiet now, considering all of this.

"Between us, Hal and I could add to the longevity of every human. 1000-year lifespans could be routine. We could give away learning machines which would render traditional teaching virtually obsolete, enabling people to absorb the level of understanding commensurate with that of a degree, in seconds. We could even modify the hormonal responses of humanity, through a vaccine, to render war almost impossible and altruism ubiquitous."

Gemma just stared at me. The power that we now had, the incredible power. "So why don't you do it?!", she almost yelled. "Why don't you help?!"

I sighed and put an arm around her. "I want to. I'd love to wipe away all of our problems. I do want to eradicate all the diseases which render us feeble and sick, and take away our loved ones. But humanity is on a journey, and it is a long and difficult one. It is exactly this difficulty", I said, turning to her, looking her in the eye, "that pushes us forward as a race and as a society." She held my gaze. "If everything was given to us gratis, without our having to strive to achieve it, what kind of humanity would we have?" She was nodding slightly. "A lazy one", I said, answering my own question. "A bunch of spoiled brats who think that everything should arrive on a plate, without us having to learn, or work, or compete."

"So, how do you contribute? With all of this amazing technology, what are you going to do?"

"We're going to make atmospheric pollution unnecessary and then flood the world with high-quality resources. We're also going to provide free access to space to anyone who wants it."

"Why? Why not cure cancer first?"

I sighed again. She wasn't quite getting it. Or perhaps I had spent so long working on the project already that its efficacy and logic was crystal clear to me. "Because our scientists will cure it soon enough. They'll stay on top of most of the killer diseases. I'll help a little, maybe, and I'll be sure to leave a couple of insurance policies lying around", I said, trying not to give too much away. "But all of these achievements, cures, vaccines, breakthroughs, all of these should be human achievements, not imposed from outside."

She chewed this over, turned back to Hal's presentation, still on the screen, regarding Takanli and her system. The planet looked neat, immaculately clean, ordered. Like one of the utopian civilisations from Star Trek, which always had hidden flaws which would undermine it and bring fresh challenges to the spirit of the Prime Directive. Wasn't the moral of those episodes all about facing challenges together, about accepting where things need to get better?

"Once the orbiters are operating regularly, and we've got the asteroid capture underway, I'll explain my plan to the people of planet Earth. They will think of it whatever they want. There will be panic, in some sectors. Some will refuse to accept the level of change I'm offering. Or, I guess, insisting on." I shrugged. "If no-one insists on change, it won't happen. It is too easy for us to carry on as we are, destroying our only home. Gemma, I've seen it..."

The memories returned and my eyes welled up. We held each other as I told her what this street, this house would look like in forty-five years' time. About the diseases which ravaged us, just as our medical and other services began to collapse. About the massive, international, all-seeing corporations run by greedy bigots and fools, who withdrew basic services because we refused to be their slaves, to give them the allegiance they sought. I told her about the nuclear exchanges, the burned-out cities, the massive casualties. Incalculable deaths, countless, millions on millions. The death of all that could have been.

"It must be stopped", I sobbed into her shoulder. "No-one else has the resources, the vision. You'd need a huge, co-ordinated global effort and every time I see the G8 or the UN discuss this, we take another step sideways. Never forwards, never bold or strong. Just capitulation. Just weakness."

It was almost dusk by the time we both felt we had talked the whole thing out. Gemma had learned more in one day, she said, than during any other day of her life. I hugged her, kissed her, told her how sorry I was that things had to be weird, that our wonderful relationship should have to absorb this new, unwelcome pressure. She was tired, she admitted. Time to think about the next few hours, about getting Phoenix out and to safety.

"Hal, I'm going to put Gemma to bed. You and I will work on the plan, and then I'll grab forty winks myself. Babe?", I handed her the Inducer, "would you put this on your head?"

I lay her down in my bed as she drifted off to sleep, pulling off the last of her clothes. I kissed her forehead, her nose, her lips. I couldn't resist planting a gentle kiss on both of her breasts, one on her tummy and a few light, subtle kisses on her pussy. I enjoyed breathing in her scent as she fell under the Inducer's spell. Finally, just for fun, I parted her pink lips and tasted her juice from her entrance. More tomorrow, I knew. I kissed her cunt once more, pulled the covers over her, and left her to rest while Hal and I put our heads together.

Forty minutes later, we had it. Gemma called my name from upstairs and I joined her in the bedroom. "Wow, I can't believe how early it is!", she said, astonished at how rested she felt.

"Neat little machine. My turn now. Get anything you want from the replicator and hang out with Hal. Brunel and Wright are working on something in the garage, and you're welcome to check that out. I'll be awake in less than an hour."

She tucked me in, as the Inducer took hold, returning the little favours I had done her. She kissed me warmly, letting me suck her tongue just briefly, and placed kisses over my body, from my neck down to my stomach with its toned muscles, to my resting cock which responded to her at once as she licked my shaft and slid my tip into her mouth. By the time she released me, leaving her saliva on my member, I was asleep.

I heard laughter from downstairs as the machine returned me to wakefulness. Today, I thought to myself as I padded down the stairs, is going to be a truly interesting day. Perhaps the most challenging since I'd been back. We were going to get back on track, and I was going to blow Gemma's mind in several ways. I whistled merrily while the replicator produced coffee, croissants and juice for us both.

"Hal has been keeping me entertained with tales of your past conquests." Oh, shit. "You certainly got around."

My irritation with Hal for his indiscretion was moderated by Gemma's reaction, which was to find the whole business rather amusing. "Erm... yeah. I became quite popular." At her request, Hal had shown her a few minutes of several different clips, all of them involving me fucking somebody. There was one with the three Science Ministry girls, and my getting a blow-job in the back of the car on the way to the Institute. There was the orgy at the concert, of course, and numerous examples of Falik and I either in bed, or elsewhere in our apartment. The Raptor sucking me off. Even a short clip of me licking out Aldara on Holdrian, curtailed only by the cameraman falling off whatever ledge he had been perched on. I could see the funny side, but few girls enjoyed the idea of their partner having 'gotten around' to quite this extent.

"Hal explained how exotic and desirable you seemed. Some things never change", she quipped, giving me a warm hug and a tender kiss. "What's the plan for today, then?"

I smiled knowingly at her. It was still dark outside, not even 3am yet, but we were both rested and ready to start the day. "Well, we've got a couple of things to do, and we need to get started. Did you check on Brunel and Wright out in the garage?"

They had just about finished by the time I got there, having finished breakfast and spent a few minutes playing with Gemma on the sofa. She whimpered slightly when I told her to be patient, that today was busy an we had to get cracking. Following me to the garage, she said, "I got really turned on watching those movies... hope you don't mind". I didn't. In fact, I was enormously relieved.

The little construction robots had made a spherical, glass submersible with an airlock underneath. There were a couple of controls, some air tanks distributed around the circumference of the sphere at mid-level, and a simple five-blade propeller unit at the back. A black module was slung under the sphere itself, and it seemed icy cold. The robots were just putting the finishing touches to the pair of seats which fit snugly within the sphere.

"What's this for?", Gemma wanted to know.

"You'll see. We've got to get moving. Hal, are the Relocation transponders in place?"

"Yes, I have a good signal from both. Our range is currently 74.3 miles. Beyond that, accuracy is degraded. There is sufficient signal at the lake to transport the sub from point to point. They were made to resemble rusty tin cans and our drone dropped them both in the more remote parts of fields", he added, obviously proud of himself.

"And the fuel?"

Forager and Brunel had also been busy with another small project, and six tanks of liquid hydrogen were installed in a coolant unit underneath the sub.

"How about Operation Cunning Plan?"

Hal let out a little chuckle. "All set. You may proceed when ready."

We needed a few more minutes. "Gemma, come back into the living room and let me talk you through the plan. You need to understand this, too." I laid it out, explaining for a few minutes to a startled, excited Gemma. We packed a few things into my rucksack, went over the plan one more time, and climbed into the sphere. It was cosy, with just room for the two couches and our gear, more of which was stored in the module below.

"So what exactly is Relocation?", she asked, while I powered up the sub's systems.

"An ingenious form of transport. You remember 'beaming' here and there in Star Trek?" She confessed to being a part-time Trekkie, which helped no end in explanations of this kind. "Well, the transponder makes a copy of the contents of the Relocation Field. Right now, that's the sub an everything in it. There is a Field generator in the equipment module beneath your feet. Once the Field is established, the transponder moves the Field's contents from its original location to any other location within its range."

"Can anything go wrong?"

"No", I said, sounded as authoritative as I could. "Very well-established technology. I've used it myself a number of times. Besides, its our only way out of our current bind."

The sub's systems reported in and were all in the green. "Ready?", I asked.

"Sure. Beam me up". We smiled at each other, kissed for a long, loving moment, and then sat back in our seats, strapped in.

"Engage, Hal."

We arrived with the suddenness I had come to expect of Relocation. I flipped on the sub's exterior lamps and they illuminated the murk we were now floating in. I rotated the sub, allowing the beams to search in all directions, and gained an idea of the sub in three-dimensional space. We were about 35m down, 240m from the Phoenix. It was 4.14am, so we had another hour until the sun would begin to rise. The Cruiser's own transponder was providing a beacon, turned on by Hal at the moment of our departure from my garage. Time to get moving.

"You OK?", I asked Gemma, who was staring out of the large windows at the impenetrable darkness of the water. A small fish darted into, and quickly out of, one of the beams of light. There was a lot of silt in the water, reducing visibility to nearly zero.

"Sure. I'm just under a lake in a submersible". She turned to me and smiled. "I had kind of expected the weekend to involve more lazy sex, and less aliens and lakes, but I'm cool with it." I squeezed her hand, and then lay in our course. The sub began descending steadily and we turned 30° left and motored slowly forward. There was no real sensation of travelling, more of floating in the murk. As we passed through 60m, we saw a larger fish swim alongside us for a while and then peel off.

Our lights caught something ahead. It was just a glint, but we were close enough that I knew it to be the Phoenix. Sure enough, as we completed our descent to 110m, the ship revealed herself in the murk. It seemed that every molecule of water was partnered by a molecule of floating mud, hiding almost everything from even our powerful lamps. "How the fuck did those divers ever manage to get a reflection off the ship? You can't see anything down here."

We approached steadily, wary of colliding with the hidden Cruiser. Sensing our approach, Hal ordered the ship to rotate 180° so that the hatch, on the Cruiser's belly, was easier to reach I aligned the sub neatly with the airlock, allowed her to descend the final meter, and felt the odd thump beneath us as the docking probe slid home and three more jolts as the Cruiser's hatch locked us into a hard-docking.

"Got it. OK, now the atmosphere in the Phoenix has been equalised to our current pressure. We'll let that bleed off once we're airborne. Ready to transfer over?"

I was asking a lot of Gemma, I knew. It had been less than 24 hours since she had first heard the panicked conversation in my living room and begun to piece things together. And here she was, bold as brass, about to climb into an alien spacecraft whose existence was known only to one other person on Earth, and he had spent forty years travelling in it. The weirdness level must be off the charts by now. She was doing great.

I unclipped the hatch and swung it up, revealing the Cruiser's own inner hatch. The mechanism was smooth and easy to operate, I noted with relief. I pulled the handle and the hatch opened, swung down and gave Gemma her first glimpse inside the Phoenix. Everything looked fine, the cabin lights were on, and the heater made sure the environment was comfortable.

I gave Gemma a quick tour of the ship before requesting an exposure suit from Forager. The thought of leaving her alone in the ship unnerved me somewhat, mostly in case something happened to me outside in the dark water, but this had to be done. I donned the suit, returned to the airlock and allowed it to fill with water once more. Once outside, the sub's lights kept me straight. I unlatched the first of the hydrogen tanks from the sub's equipment module and attached it to the refuelling nozzle under the belly of the sub. Each journey required me to haul the tank out, drop down a few meters, locate the nozzle, and attach the tank. It only took a minute for each tank to deposit its hydrogen into the Cruiser's fuel supply, but it was exhausting work. Finally, I grabbed the Forager, stowed under the sub by its cousins in my garage, and headed back to the airlock. By the time I climbed gratefully back into the warm, well-lit cabin and was given a huge hug by a very relieved Gemma, I was panting heavily.

"Thank God that's over", I breathed, waiting for my heart rate to return to normal. "Hal? Go ahead and deploy Operation Cunning Plan. Let's get out of here."

I took the pilot's seat and reacquainted myself with the ship's computer. Losing no time, and making sure Gemma was strapped in next to me, I ordered the Phoenix to prepare for departure. Her engines came to life, readouts began displaying data, and the ship thrummed with potential. "Ready, babe?", I asked Gemma. She nodded, with a slightly worried expression on her face. Couldn't be helped. At least she wasn't freaking out. I couldn't have been more impressed.

I brought the throttles forward and the ship responded immediately, scything through the dark water. It would only take a second, I knew, and we would be up and away. Phoenix shot out of the water like a rocket, causing an eruption of steam and spray which was probably visible for miles, and then accelerated into the sky. I pushed the throttles as far as I dared in this thick atmosphere, and within ten seconds we were three miles up and tipping over into our orbital attitude, heading East and leaving Snowdonia behind.

Back in the lake, sub's equipment module opened up and a large object unfurled, taking up Phoenix's old position at 110m down. Then, its work done, Hal engaged the Relocation system once more and the sub arrived instantly back in my garage, dripping with muddy lake water.

The darkened hills of Wales gave way to the brighter lights of London, and then the west of Europe, as we climbed through the night sky. In only eighty seconds, we were a hundred and sixty miles above the Earth and had adopted a neat, circular orbit. I shut down the engines to perform standard checks and glanced over at Gemma. She was enraptured, jaw agape, staring at her home planet from space for the very first time. I remembered the sensations of being above Takanli, and the bitter-sweet return to Earth in this very ship. We soon reached the Earth's day side as we approached central Europe, and Gemma gasped at the beauty of morning sunlight on alpine lakes and snow-capped peaks.