Third Contact Read online

  Cover and Interior Design by Smoking Gun Publishing, LLC

  Copyright © 2016 James A. Wilson. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the copyright holder, except for brief quotations used in a review.

  This is a work of fiction, and is produced from the author’s imagination. People, places and things mentioned in this novel are used in a fictional manner.

  ISBN: 978-1-940586-32-8

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2016952551

  Visit us on the web at www.smokinggunpublishing.com

  Published by Smoking Gun Publishing, LLC

  Printed in the United States of America

  Acknowledgements

  Thanks to Koskadam Timouri Azar and John Mac Wilson for getting me started.

  Thanks to Carl Clark for the incredible art work.

  Thanks to Maria Sherland and Susan Feltman for editing.

  Thanks to Mattie Mae & Aurora Timouri Wilson for listening at story time.

  Thanks to Jill Bruns for help with the kids.

  Thanks to all the ladies at Smoking Gun Publishing: Lois Mans, Claire Applewhite and Mary Menke

  Thanks to Dr. Roger Hill for Quantum Mechanics classes and reading.

  Thanks to Dr. Michael Friedlander for Astrophysics classes.

  Thanks to Connie Cruse for being a friend.

  Thanks to Laurie Getz for being a friend

  Thanks also to: Joe Joiner, Jerry Wilson, Mary Wilson, Jeff Feltman, Alex & Cole Feltman, Ken Sherland, Jacquelynn Smith, Kyle Smith, Bella & Ben Smith, Steve & Amy Feltman and John Feltman

  Thanks to my family and friends for inspiration with the characters: Mattie, Aurora, Aline, Phil, Alex, Kayla, Christeen, Joe, Denny, Lou, Eugene, Stewart, Stephanie, Jennifer, Jeff, Susan, Alex, Cole, Maria, Rebeckah, Matt, Joe, Michael, Lenny, Drew, Doug, George, Roger, Heather, J.P., Kent, Stacie, Eli, Bill, Chris, Steve, John, Tina, Amie, Connie, Jessica, Muriah, and Perry

  Dedication

  To my parents

  Khoshghdam Timouri Azar

  &

  John Mac Wilson

  PREFACE

  As a child, I spent many hours wondering, How did we get here? What lies past the edge of the visible universe? What came before the beginning of the universe? There were no humans around at that time to witness these events and our planet did not come with a user manual laying out the concise explanation of how we got here. Humanity’s collective theories and ideas came to us either in divine dreams or through observations and deductions.

  It became clear to me that there were two separate and distinct lines of thinking to address these basic questions of origin. There is the Big Bang Theory, which says everything in the visible universe came from a very small point about 14 billion years ago. The other theory, the Creation Theory, contends that some several thousand years ago a Supreme Creator made everything we see.

  It was obvious to me, even at a young age and with only an elementary education, that both theories left many unanswered questions. I also found it easy to imagine other scenarios that were equally plausible (if not more so) that could generate the same universe that we see today. Third Contact, together with the other volumes in the series, depicts one of those scenarios.

  While this book is targeted to the average science fiction reader, I hope to introduce others to the science fiction genre. Third Contact: The Harvesting of Sol assumes the reader has some background knowledge about the universe, the galaxy, and the age of the universe. For those not familiar with these subjects, the following paragraphs will provide background for the context of this book:

  Atoms are the basic building blocks of matter, made up of neutrons, protons, and electrons. The neutrons and protons are strongly bonded together and remain at the center of the atom, forming the nucleus. The nucleus constitutes almost all of the mass of the atom. The electrons occupy the space surrounding the nucleus and reside in specific orbitals. An electron’s energy will vary depending on which orbital it is in. An ion is an atom that has had one or more of its electrons knocked off. When atoms are subjected to high temperatures and pressures, as the inside of a star, they lose their electrons from collisions with other electrons or ions.

  Isotopes are atoms of the same element, but with a different number of neutrons. Some isotopes are radioactive and will decay into other elements. For example, Carbon-14 will decay into Nitrogen-14. It takes 5,730 years for half of a given amount of Carbon-14 to decay into Nitrogen-14. Every isotope has a rate of decay expressed as its half-life. After being created in a supernova explosion, only fifty percent of a given quantity of an isotope will remain after an amount of time equal to one half-life has elapsed. Radioactive elements are often used to determine something’s age. By comparing the relative quantities of the two elements, the age of that object can be derived.

  Chemical reactions, as in the burning of wood, make and break the bonds between atoms and electrons. Nuclear reactions make and break bonds between the neutrons and protons in the nucleus of the atoms. The reactions that power all stars are called nuclear fusion reactions. The energy produced from the fusion of atoms in a star is much greater than from a chemical reaction.

  Our solar system is a singular system consisting of a star—the Sun—and planets orbiting the Sun. Many star systems in the Milky Way Galaxy have more than one star orbiting each other. A star system with two stars is called a binary system. Binary systems are more common than planetary systems with only one star like ours. Binary systems can also have planets and moons just like our system. There are also systems with more than two stars, like trinary or quaternary, to name two.

  The Big Bang Theory stems from the fact that presently the aggregate of all the observable galaxies are moving away from each other, suggesting the universe is expanding. It appears that our present universe is the result of a large explosion. The theory contends that about fourteen billion years ago, an enormous explosion spewed out all of the matter of the universe into the emptiness. Some find it hard to believe that our universe came from nothing and even harder to believe that few, if any, alternative theories are even considered. The concept of our universe coming from nothing is worth considering; however, other possibilities should be considered as well. Third Contact: The Harvesting of Sol presents one alternate possibility.

  Regardless of how the Big Bang got its start, once in motion, the theory asserts that after some time of expanding and cooling, simple atomic nuclei, such as Hydrogen and Helium ions, were able to condense out of this thick soup of matter. Because of the attraction of gravity and the unevenness of the initial state of the early universe, stars and galaxies formed over time. The first stars were made almost entirely of Hydrogen and Helium. The fusion reaction in the Sun, like most stars, burns Hydrogen into Helium. The end result of this reaction is the fusing of four light Hydrogen ions into one Helium ion. One Helium ion weighs slightly less than the four Hydrogen ions that went into its construction. That little bit of mass missing in the resultant reaction is converted into energy. A small amount of mass when converted makes a considerable amount of energy, as described by Einstein’s equation E = mc2.

  A star’s life is a balancing act between the gravity of all of its mass pressing down toward the center and the fusion reaction in the center pushing back toward the surface of the star. When it fuses all the available ions and runs out of fuel, the star reaches the end of its life.. Very large stars that run out of fuel also lose the balancing force that works against gravity; thus, gravity takes over and crushes the remaining mass so completely that a black hole or a neutron star is left where the star used to e
xist. Black holes and neutron stars are so dense that a teaspoon of neutron star material (the lighter of the two) would weigh over 10 million tons.

  Black holes come in different weights. When a large star dies and forms a black hole, typically, it will weigh on the order of tens or hundreds of times the mass of the Sun. However, at the center of a galaxy, a black hole slowly accumulates all the mass the rest of the galaxy feeds it, eventually consuming all of the mass of the galaxy. Black holes can consume stars, planets, gases, and even other black holes, coalescing into a super-massive black hole. These super-massive black holes can weigh as much as millions or even billions of times the mass of the Sun.

  INTRODUCTION

  In our universe, we can see activity at every observable scale of size. At the smallest scale, quarks combine to form protons and neutrons. A little larger, and we have atoms; larger still are molecules. At the other end of the spectrum are planets and stars. Larger than that are galaxies. Due to gravity, over time, galaxies then coalesce to form super clusters of galaxies. Some galaxies have within them super-massive black holes billions of times the mass of the Sun.

  The Big Bang Theory describes how the universe evolved to its present state. It also tries to describe the observable beginning of our universe, but the theory gives no insight as to what took place before the Big Bang. Many believe that nothing happened before and that the Big Bang occurred in a complete vacuum, and time did not exist beforehand. That seems hard to believe.

  On a scale of size and time much larger than super clusters of galaxies, much larger even than our whole universe, there is another world as rich and diverse as ours, called Kalum. On Kalum, one of our super-massive black holes would only be one of their simplest building blocks of matter, like a proton. A billion years in our universe is one second for the inhabitants of Kalum. Our entire universe exists on Kalum as a small conglomerate of Kalum-sized protons floating down the Black River. To one of the locals on Kalum, our present universe would be about the size of a large beach ball and have a lifetime of only a couple of minutes.

  In some ways, Kalum is like a planet in our universe. It has evolved life on its surface and it does orbit something that is much like a star, only on a much larger scale. However, Kalum has seven Suns. It is in a tidally-locked orbit with its closest Sun, the Ever Sun. A tidally-locked orbit is one in which the same side of the planet always faces the Sun. Our Moon is in a tidally-locked orbit with Earth. On the surface of Kalum, the Ever Sun appears to never move in the sky.

  Kalum’s second closest Sun, the Counting Sun, orbits Kalum and the Ever Sun. The Counting Sun is used by the Kalumites to keep track of the seasons. The three-body system of Kalum, the Ever Sun, and the Counting Sun all orbit a much larger sun called the Center Sun. There are also four other Suns in orbit of the Center Sun, three of which are closer to the Center Sun than Kalum and one that is further away. This outer Sun is called the Summer Sun.

  The Center Sun, along with the other three inner Suns, are all called the Day Suns because they rise every morning and set every evening just like our Sun here on Earth. The Counting Sun takes about 50 days to orbit Kalum and the Ever Sun. This fifty-day period is analogous to a month on Earth. Since the Summer Sun orbits outside the orbit of the three-body system that includes Kalum, and since Kalum passes so close to it, summer months get very hot. Most Kalumites have had to learn how to take shelter, especially during the night when the Summer Sun is out.

  Most of the surface of Kalum is covered with something like murky dark water. To us, Kalum’s water would look like empty space filled with dark matter. Dark matter is simply inactive black holes; they emit no radiation but are dense and have a strong gravitational attraction to anything nearby. To the Kalumites, the water is cold and dark.

  Since the Ever Sun never moves in the sky, there are many parts of Kalum that are simply too hot or too cold for life. There is also a band in between the area where the Ever Sun is at its most intense, where the Ever Sun never shines and where life has flourished—the Habitable Zone. In the Habitable Zone is a string of islands; the largest is called Foelix. On Foelix, the Ever Sun sits at about forty degrees off the horizon all the time.

  A wide variety of plant and microbial life and some animal life also exist on the island. The most dominant species, the Korkidilla, is a reptilian-like creature that walks on all four legs or can stand up and walk on its hind legs. It lives on both land and in the water and eats mostly water-dwelling creatures that are suggestive of some of the fish here on Earth. Starting in mid-spring and lasting until the end of summer, the Korkidilla patrol the waters looking to eat everything in sight. They come on land mostly in the springtime for mating and laying their eggs.

  The most intelligent species on Kalum, the Tecta Capillo, are less than one tenth the size of the Korkidilla. They are covered in fur and walk on two legs. They typically eat fruit and nuts that they gather in the summer and fall; some have learned how to catch fish from the river. Tecta Capillo are a relatively young species but have developed a spoken language. They have learned to start and control fire, use simple stone and wooden tools, and make rope from long thin leaves. Multiple births are common among the Tecta Capillo.

  Being so small, Tecta Capillo do not fear being eaten as much as being trampled to death by the giants, so they do most of their foraging at night when the Korkidilla are least active. They mainly live in little burrows underground, or if they can find a spot safe from the Korkidilla’s trampling, they like to build little huts from sticks and leaves. The Tecta Capillo cannot be in the water for more than a few minutes at a time as they would freeze to death in the cold blackness.

  In our Galaxy, the Eark come from a faraway planet. Like any non-earth planet, that planet has a different number of minutes in a day and a different number of days in a year. For any alien planet, a day is defined by how long it takes for the planet to spin on its axis, and a year is how long it takes for the planet to orbit its star. Thus, the aliens would naturally have a different calendar and a different time scale than we do. For simplicity, all of the alien time references are converted to our familiar scales of hours, days, months, and years, and all calendar references are converted to our Earthly calendar.

  The Eark are like us in many ways. However, they are also very different. Their gender identity is not male and female like here on Earth; rather they come equipped as both male and female in one. Again, for simplicity, each alien has been arbitrarily labeled male or female so that they can be referred to as he or she, even though they are not so simply classified.

  CHAPTER 1

  THE BLACK RIVER AMBUSH

  Lying in wait and about ready to give up, the beast saw a young couple climb onto the beach just up and across the river from his hiding spot. He patiently continued his wait as the pair of Korkidilla took a break from their morning of traveling down the river on their way to their summer feeding grounds. After a short rest and some fun on the beach, the couple got back in the cold water and continued down river.

  Taking his cue, the beast drew in a large breath and quietly dove down to the bottom of the shallow river to wait for the pair to pass overhead. He watched as the female passed over first and was awed by her beauty, which only served to increase his feeling of aggression.

  As the male, who was not much more than half his size, came into view, he lunged off the river bottom with his strong hind legs. His enormous jaws, filled with razor-sharp teeth, clamped hard around the smaller male’s neck, filling the river with blood and nearly breaking his spine. At the same time, the beast dug his ten claws into the smaller Korkidilla’s soft belly, spilling even more blood into the water. Knowing that the only thing standing in his way was now dead, he released his jaws and threw the corpse ashore. Quickly, his thoughts turned to the object of his desire, which was now nowhere to be seen. She had heard a noise and turned, only to see blood in the water. Frightened for her life, she dove and swam downstream as fast as she could.

  It didn’t m
atter that he didn’t see her dive down and swim away. He knew she would continue downstream toward the summer feeding grounds, as all the Korkidilla were migrating about this time of year. It also didn’t matter that she had a several second head start. He wasn’t just the largest Korkidilla: he was the largest creature on the planet, and he could swim at nearly twice her speed. This time; however, he would not bite down hard enough to break the skin. He would handle her as gently as possible, but still rough enough to let her know that he was serious and there was no point in struggling.

  She had made it further down the river than most of his victims, maybe the furthest. She was frightened for her life and scarcely moved as he dragged her nearly motionless body to shore. Gently, he threw her on the beach, fearing she may have been hurt. When she opened her eyes, he knew she was fine, just scared. This time he would wait for the fear to pass before having his way with her.

  CHAPTER 2

  VERE PARS

  Just a little further down river and many seasons later on the morning of the first day of spring, all seven of the Suns were up as usual for this time of the year. Three of the four Day Suns were lined up in a neat little row across the morning sky. The fourth Day Sun, the Center Sun, was still partially eclipsed by the Counting Sun. The end of that eclipse marks the first day of every month and happens about once every fifty days. This month it also marked the first day of spring.

  Joha had been standing quiet and still on his favorite fishing rock for quite a while, staring into the cold dark water. Finally, he saw a big blue tail fish heading into range. He aimed and threw his spear, scoring a direct hit; it was his third for the day. At age ten and with two years of practice, he was finally starting to get the hang of spear fishing.