Starcross

Prologue

      “Come, sit,” Burbank offered as he always did with people, and yes he considered the Druidth people, who entered his office. He found that being pleasant right from the start with everyone made business in general far more pleasant and when it came time to ask for a favor or compromise, others were usually more agreeable. “Tell me, how is your family?”

      “Well,” Ae-yok started. His light purple eyes glinted in the sunlight that filtered in from the shaded windows. “My wife is finding things pleasurable, but my son is still uncomfortable wearing the respirators.” He shrugged, “He’ll learn to live with it, I suppose.”

      “Either that or he’ll suffocate,” Burbank joked. All of the aliens had to were tubes leading from a small device on their belt to their nose; the purpose was to pump more Nitrogen, an inert gas that thinned the oxygen, into their lungs because the planet they came from had a very high carbon dioxide content due to the rampant industry that pumped chemicals into the air for well over 300 years.

      Ae-yok laughed heartily. “Indeed.”

      “So tell me,” Burbank started. “To what do I owe your company this fine morning?”

      The alien smiled warmly again. “Not much, I just wanted to come by and see if this lovely planet’s natives are any closer to accepting us as a whole? That, and I brought a gift.”

      “Well, the U.S. government has received and dealt with the usual number of threats from various citizens and groups, but it’s nothing to worry about.” Richard tossed his hand in a dismissing manner. “But be sure to tell me immediately if there are any incidents in your colonies.”

      After the Druidth made contact, a single shuttle left one of the larger ships and very slowly descended until it was well in the atmosphere. That day, the sky above every country was an aluminum cloud of fighter jets; thankfully, no incidents happened that day, supposedly everyone was so aware that no one wanted to start both World War 3 and the first War of the Worlds in the same day. The lonely shuttle landed in Central Park, New York City amid an entire cities worth of people. Standing on scene were the U.S. Marines and quite a few members of the Secret Service who were all there to protect the visitors from anyone who felt it was their duty to cleanse the world of something new.

      Apparently, they had been studying the Earth and all of its languages, cultures, politics, and various other things to ease the process. When they first appeared people gasped in shock and awe: despite all of the obvious technological advancements and their slightly strange appearance, the Druidth walked, talked, and looked just like every other Human. They entered an armored personnel carrier and were quickly whisked to the United Nations Headquarters where they greeted the ambassadors of the world in person and the people through televised broadcasts. It is assumed that not even the second coming of Jesus would have been so widely watched throughout the world.

      “Oh, be most assured that you will be one of the first notified, after the security forces deal with the accordingly of course.” Ae-yok smiled mischievously. “And before I forget,” He reached into one of the oversized pockets in his tunic. “This is for you, my friend.”

      The alien man slid a jet-black cube only a few inches high, across, and wide across the slightly cluttered desk. Burbank held it up and saw a crystal clear image of a spiral galaxy slowly spinning on a hidden access. “This is amazing,” He said, filled with awe.

      “Indeed. It is a full three-dimensional graphic of what you call the Milky Way galaxy.” Ae-yok explained clearly; for an alien he spoke English incredibly well with only a slight accent. Burbank asked him to speak his own language once and he thought it was far too guttural to make any sense. “A common thing to us, but something amazing to you.”