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Prologue:
HuNion March 18, 2029 Scientific Monitoring Station
“How can you still be so ignorant, so short-sighted... and selfish!” Geoff Lanston forced through his clenched teeth, lunging off his stool toward the lifesize image of Ravini Osberto. He waved off the hologram as Ravini did the same from Earth. Just as the communication ended Geoff recognized compassion in Ravini’s eyes, behind the resigned expression held like a mask on his face.
Geoff turned, noticed his stool upended, then paused in contemplation. “Even if Ravini’s position has softened, even if he swayed Naia to relent, the full council would never approve more than 68 Hu’Ons.”
He retrieved his stool and sat in front of the bank of monitors relaying how serious the situation had become on HuNion. He remembered how shocked he felt 14 months earlier when Talden appeared aboard “MoM”. A 128’ World Congress weather research vessel studying the electromagnetic effect of typhoons in the South Pacific.
Earth January 27, 2028
Geoff was glassing a growing storm barely visible on the west’s horizon. Glassing gave him a feel, a different connection he couldn’t get from cutting edge technological equipment. Static elecricity straightened the hairs on his arms and neck. Lowering his binoculars and squinting into the setting sun, he felt a hand on his shoulder. “A good one forming.” He said, expecting a response from first mate Sukarno.
“Geoff Lanston.”
The sound of his own name was nothing he had ever heard before. More than a tone, it conveyed.. a feeling..of what exactly? He turned to the sound and dropped his glasses in shock, not hearing them clang off the rail and a second later splash into the rolling water. “Geoff Lanston” spoken again, kept his knees from buckling and prevented his own fall to the deck.
He looked up into eyes that could not be. Glittering, blue, green, deep brown, slightest hint of yellow...even red. Piercing, bright individual colors. All at the same time, on a backdrop he had no word for. Like photographs he had seen of deep space.
“My name is Talden”.
HuNion March 18, 2029 Scientific Monitoring Station
The screens in front of Geoff began to shimmer. Vibrations from the floor and through his stool brought Geoff back to the present. He looked to the seismograph which recorded another quake, measuring 8.9. Quickly reviewing more of the dancing holographic displays reinforced his timeline predicting HuNion’s destruction in 12 days.
Earth January 27, 2028
“My name is Talden.
Will you allow me to share what I need you to know?”
“Yes” responded Geoff, shaking his head slightly with bewilderment at his compliance. Still not able to define the effect Talden’s voice had on him. Talden offered his hands, fingers spread slightly. Inexplicably Geoff knew to touch his own fingertips to Talden’s, then look up into those mesmerizing eyes.
Geoff felt pressure in his forehead. His shock and bewilderment faded as his consciousness was literally pulled, vortexed, into Talden’s magnetic gaze. The gleaming, brilliant colors in those eyes faded and coalesced. Swirled and homogenized into a dark brown void. On this singular canvas a few spots appeared. Their color not registering in Geoff’s awareness. These few spots appeared to suddenly blast forward as if they had hit warp drive speed. Geoff felt a slight electrical impulse flash into his fingertips, up his arms, through his neck and into his brain.
Talden had kept the information transfer as limited as he could to minimize the impact on Geoff’s psyche, and his body, but Geoff still felt a significant headache along with quisiness in his stomach. What he now knew, as if it was a memory from childhood, was this:
HuNion, approximately 80% the size of earth, had a nearly identical environment. It had 2 smaller moons circling the planet. One of which had been struck by an asteroid pushing it out of orbit toward HuNion. Increased gravitational pull was drawing the moon into the planet. Hu’ons calculated less than two years before HuNion would no longer support higher forms of life. Unpredictable electromagnetic storms, quakes and tidal surges had claimed hundreds of lives already.
HuNion technology had enabled intergalactic travel for 80 earth years. Their first landing on earth had been in 1956, how many since Geoff hadn’t been told. He did know observation and data collection had been the purpose. Talden’s mission, due to HuNions’ catastrophic situation, demanded contact with human beings.
As well as thoughts and knowledge, Hu’ons’ second form of communication was able to convey actual feelings. Geoff experienced the fear and hope Talden and Khensa had shared just before he departed for earth.
Talden’s statement was blunt...
“Our planet is doomed. Without your acceptance, all Hu’ons, over a million, will die!”
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