Paulson I
Thuktun Flishithy
Swole Wheat
A/N: So, I've finally returned to this old concept. It's been a while since I did anything on Alternate History, so I've decided to give it all a go again. I've already done a similar story before, but that was... bad. I've developed as a writer since then, and I've wanted to give this another go. Note that here, instead of a crappy timeline, I'm going for something like World War Z, where survivors are interviewed. An epistolary format, I believe it's called.
Without further ado...
The sun is low on the sky when I finally pull into the Mauna Kea Surveillance Observatory's parking lot. Formerly an independent facility, it is now under the jurisdiction of the federal government, as to scan the skies for potential threats.
Dr. Jennifer Paulson is an older woman, with streaks of grey in her dark brown hair. She is plumper than the old photos, but there remains a lively expression on her face when she greets me at the entrance. After a small exchange, we move inside for the interview.
Q: So, let me begin with, well, the beginning. Is it true that you were the first to detect them?
A: The first? Probably not; many seem to think the Russians actually spotted them first, due to clear weather. But we were definitely the ones to really piece it together.
Q: How so? Forgive my ignorance on the subject.
A: [Chuckles] A lot of people don't know much about it. It's not like the movies, where an alien fleet catches us off-guard. In fact, we saw the first fusion flame when it was still in the Oort Cloud. That's the so-called belt of comets beyond the Kuiper, which extends for nearly two light-years. Of course, they were less than a quarter of that distance when we first detected them.
Q: Why so early, if they were so far away?
A: Well, I think that mainly has to due with the lack of something to obscure the light. In space, there isn't anything to really hide stuff from sight, at least when we think of how foliage and haze. I mean, it's definitely there, but it's on a level far bigger than anything on Earth. Something as bright as a fusion drive? You could see that for billions of miles, especially if you have the right equipment.
Q: Why did it take so long for them to be noticed, if that was the case?
A: A number of things. We weren't looking for aliens, mind you; our focus was deep-space objects. In fact, when one of our interns noticed the flame, we briefly mistook it for a star, until we realized it had just appeared. Then, we thought it was a natural phenomenon, until we realized it was moving pretty quickly in our general direction. We got some specialists in spectroscopy to come up here, and that's when we realized it was actually a spacecraft.
Q: It must've been exciting news.
A: [Laughs] I was like a little girl! We got out the champagne for a bit, after we sent it to other observatories to confirm, which didn't take long. At the time, we were so excited about the prospect of alien life. Not just some microbes under a rock on Mars, but an intelligent species that was coming here. There's an old picture around here that shows me posing with the reflector, and I'm actually crying. It was intense, in a good way.
Then, that was when the feds contacted us about the information, asking about how long before the public would find out on their own. I guess they were worried about panic in the streets, especially in other countries. I guess I can't blame them, but they really killed the mood in the facility.
Q: What did you tell them?
A: The truth. That even amateurs with cheap refractors could see the ship. The news would quickly spread, especially on the internet, and there'd be a lot of suspicion about any silence on the matter. Besides, we contacted fifteen other observatories all around the world, and they were confirming it. There'd be no way for them to contain a leak that big, even if they tried.
That's why they decided to reveal our findings the next day, in a Presidential address. I was excited to see my face on national television, even if I was also pretty nervous. The news practically exploded, with everyone abuzz about the discovery. I mean, think about how huge of an impact the revelation would have on the world! The religions, the philosophies, the way we see ourselves in the universe. Suddenly, the galaxy just became a smaller place, all overnight.
Q: So, that was the Flishithy. How long until the Conquest Fleet was detected?
A: Two weeks, just in time for the initial freak-out to slightly weaken. We were watching the big ship like a hawk, with all the reflectors focused on it. We were getting good calculations on the deceleration when the other, stronger, fusion flames came about, coming in from a different direction. It was the Chinese who spotted that first, and they sent the findings to us for confirmation.
Paulson sighs.
That... that was scary. Mind you, we didn't know anything about what the snouts were packing. If we did, there would've been a real panic, not just celebrations and debauchery. At the time, we thought it was a contact vessel, or maybe a scientific expedition. After all, it was only one ship, and the size made sense for a ramjet. I mean, we thought about invasion, but it was at the back of our heads. We dismissed it as a silly thought, fit for a dumb blockbuster.
When I saw those two hundred and fifty six fusion flames, however...
That couldn't be for exploration. Why send that many ships, each of them bigger than an aircraft carrier, if you just wanted to talk? And we knew they had to be a different species, too; the flames were stronger, with different fuel, and they came from the direction of Tau Ceti, not Alpha Centauri. It's why we spotted them three light-years out, instead of two hundred AU.
Paulson takes a sip from her water bottle, then glanced out the window.
That was scary. The atmosphere here changed in a heartbeat; one of my interns actually swan-dived off a ledge after a night of hard drinking. Cant blame him. If an alien species could cross the void like that, and they wanted us dead... it'd be like a war between ants and boots. We were almost glad when the feds took over. It felt like I could breathe, even if it'd only be until they arrived.
Q: And how long would that be?
A: Six years, and we were lucky. I was twenty-nine when we made the discovery, and I looked fifty when everything went to hell.
I thank Dr. Paulson for the interview, then leave. The sun has finally set, and there's a number of lights in the sky, ones that hadn't been there just ten years ago.
Without further ado...
-/-\-
The sun is low on the sky when I finally pull into the Mauna Kea Surveillance Observatory's parking lot. Formerly an independent facility, it is now under the jurisdiction of the federal government, as to scan the skies for potential threats.
Dr. Jennifer Paulson is an older woman, with streaks of grey in her dark brown hair. She is plumper than the old photos, but there remains a lively expression on her face when she greets me at the entrance. After a small exchange, we move inside for the interview.
Q: So, let me begin with, well, the beginning. Is it true that you were the first to detect them?
A: The first? Probably not; many seem to think the Russians actually spotted them first, due to clear weather. But we were definitely the ones to really piece it together.
Q: How so? Forgive my ignorance on the subject.
A: [Chuckles] A lot of people don't know much about it. It's not like the movies, where an alien fleet catches us off-guard. In fact, we saw the first fusion flame when it was still in the Oort Cloud. That's the so-called belt of comets beyond the Kuiper, which extends for nearly two light-years. Of course, they were less than a quarter of that distance when we first detected them.
Q: Why so early, if they were so far away?
A: Well, I think that mainly has to due with the lack of something to obscure the light. In space, there isn't anything to really hide stuff from sight, at least when we think of how foliage and haze. I mean, it's definitely there, but it's on a level far bigger than anything on Earth. Something as bright as a fusion drive? You could see that for billions of miles, especially if you have the right equipment.
Q: Why did it take so long for them to be noticed, if that was the case?
A: A number of things. We weren't looking for aliens, mind you; our focus was deep-space objects. In fact, when one of our interns noticed the flame, we briefly mistook it for a star, until we realized it had just appeared. Then, we thought it was a natural phenomenon, until we realized it was moving pretty quickly in our general direction. We got some specialists in spectroscopy to come up here, and that's when we realized it was actually a spacecraft.
Q: It must've been exciting news.
A: [Laughs] I was like a little girl! We got out the champagne for a bit, after we sent it to other observatories to confirm, which didn't take long. At the time, we were so excited about the prospect of alien life. Not just some microbes under a rock on Mars, but an intelligent species that was coming here. There's an old picture around here that shows me posing with the reflector, and I'm actually crying. It was intense, in a good way.
Then, that was when the feds contacted us about the information, asking about how long before the public would find out on their own. I guess they were worried about panic in the streets, especially in other countries. I guess I can't blame them, but they really killed the mood in the facility.
Q: What did you tell them?
A: The truth. That even amateurs with cheap refractors could see the ship. The news would quickly spread, especially on the internet, and there'd be a lot of suspicion about any silence on the matter. Besides, we contacted fifteen other observatories all around the world, and they were confirming it. There'd be no way for them to contain a leak that big, even if they tried.
That's why they decided to reveal our findings the next day, in a Presidential address. I was excited to see my face on national television, even if I was also pretty nervous. The news practically exploded, with everyone abuzz about the discovery. I mean, think about how huge of an impact the revelation would have on the world! The religions, the philosophies, the way we see ourselves in the universe. Suddenly, the galaxy just became a smaller place, all overnight.
Q: So, that was the Flishithy. How long until the Conquest Fleet was detected?
A: Two weeks, just in time for the initial freak-out to slightly weaken. We were watching the big ship like a hawk, with all the reflectors focused on it. We were getting good calculations on the deceleration when the other, stronger, fusion flames came about, coming in from a different direction. It was the Chinese who spotted that first, and they sent the findings to us for confirmation.
Paulson sighs.
That... that was scary. Mind you, we didn't know anything about what the snouts were packing. If we did, there would've been a real panic, not just celebrations and debauchery. At the time, we thought it was a contact vessel, or maybe a scientific expedition. After all, it was only one ship, and the size made sense for a ramjet. I mean, we thought about invasion, but it was at the back of our heads. We dismissed it as a silly thought, fit for a dumb blockbuster.
When I saw those two hundred and fifty six fusion flames, however...
That couldn't be for exploration. Why send that many ships, each of them bigger than an aircraft carrier, if you just wanted to talk? And we knew they had to be a different species, too; the flames were stronger, with different fuel, and they came from the direction of Tau Ceti, not Alpha Centauri. It's why we spotted them three light-years out, instead of two hundred AU.
Paulson takes a sip from her water bottle, then glanced out the window.
That was scary. The atmosphere here changed in a heartbeat; one of my interns actually swan-dived off a ledge after a night of hard drinking. Cant blame him. If an alien species could cross the void like that, and they wanted us dead... it'd be like a war between ants and boots. We were almost glad when the feds took over. It felt like I could breathe, even if it'd only be until they arrived.
Q: And how long would that be?
A: Six years, and we were lucky. I was twenty-nine when we made the discovery, and I looked fifty when everything went to hell.
I thank Dr. Paulson for the interview, then leave. The sun has finally set, and there's a number of lights in the sky, ones that hadn't been there just ten years ago.
