A.R.Yngve
ALIEN BEACH

Chapter Thirty-Three

DAY 127

"Today, the first rescue ships are allowed in to the edge of the three-mile perimeter around Alien Beach. They will pick up stranded survivors of a Saudi and an Iranian submarine crew, for transport to their homelands. Patrolboats from the U.N.-controlled fleet handle the transfer of the survivors to the rescue ships. A few of the castaways gave these comments to the CNN, on board a rescue vessel..."

"The Sirians are like humans, not demons! Our leaders lied to us! Allah is greater than any leader, for he created an infinite universe."

"I talked to a Sirian, and she gave me this flute. I will leave the military, and become a musician. No more war for me."

"We went to attack, and they took us from our submarine. I cannot describe what happened. Now I am still afraid, but I am going home to see my family again, and I am happy for that!"

"This war was a great mistake."

"The leaders of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and the new Saudi interim government today jointly declared peace with the amphibians, and agreed to follow the amphibians' original agreement with the United Nations. Their military alliance has been terminated indefinitely. The leaders will also meet with the U.S. President this week, and negotiate improved relations.

"King Khadi of Saudi Arabia reportedly suffered a debilitating stroke yesterday, and has lost the ability to speak. His family is now under house arrest, following rumors of their attempted coup against the interim government..."

The soldier waved goodbye to the last Iranian crewman, safely out of view of the American patrolboats, and saw him head away with the last group of castaways. And he was thinking: Be careful, now. You'll have a lot of things to tell the folks back home. And even if their leaders will try to silence you, they won't succeed. Just bring back the right message. Don't tell them you met the sky gods, but... the sky people.

Just a wisp of clouds hung above; circling birds filled the blue sky. Just for once, everything seemed to be going in the right direction.

DAY 130

"Carl Sayers left Alien Beach today, to visit his family in the United States for a number of weeks. The journey is shrouded in much secrecy, to avoid any lingering risk of terrorist attacks..."

Carl's wife ran up to him at the airport, and flung herself into his arms. They were both too overjoyed to speak; she began kissing Carl in a frenzy. Their adult son came and joined the reunion; all were so happy to see each other in safety, that not a word about amphibians was uttered between them for the remainder of that day.

"The media are beginning to question the United Nations' handling of the Alien Beach crisis. Even though advance plans to deal with extraterrestrial contact actually existed, the United Nations did far less than expected to unite the world's peoples when faced with the first contact.

"A few member states are now suggesting, that the U.N. should take the first steps toward becoming a world government, to represent the whole of mankind in such events. Other representatives, chiefly from the Orient, claim the U.N. organization is too compromised by history to form an unbiased world government. Nevertheless, the question of a world government is for the first time being taken seriously by politicians, and the next one hundred years may well see such a structure come true."

"Next: The Pope speaks out about Ancestors. Bishop Edmund Soto's first public report on amphibian religion sparks cautious criticism from the Vatican... after this."

DAY 140

"They are leaving already? Why? What did we do wrong?" said Takeru, his face distorted by pent-up emotion.

Carl explained to the team, keeping his own grief in check. "Nobody's fault - change of schedule, that's all. The lander just received a message from the mothership: the entire Sirian expedition must move out of the Solar System sooner than estimated, to catch up with the homeworld as it passes by."

"So it's true then," Ann said. "Their entire home planet is their real mothership."

"Who told you that?"

"Oanss did," she said, with more than hint of defiance in her tone.

Carl nodded. "It's official then. But their homeworld's orbit will remain secret, and we won't be able to see it, I assume. Apparently, they will hold a special ceremony on the island just before taking off - I didn't get any more details."

Lazar said: "Today I found that my mind-recorder was broken. It was just decaying into a lump of dead metal. They won't let us keep anything but the memories and our own records of their visit."

Mats Jonsson suddenly seemed to grasp the news: pale in his face, he slumped down on an empty seat. "I had collected DNA samples from some of them. The genetic samples are all that'll be left of them when they're gone... should I destroy them, just to make sure they're not misused?"

They all thought about it for a while.

"Check that the Sirians haven't destroyed them."

Mats rushed away to his lab barrack.

Later, the Swede gave them a report: "It's all there. All the cell and DNA samples... in Sirian cold-storage canisters they gave me. It is possible to clone a living Sirian from these. We could do it. And they let me keep them, knowing the risk. Why?"

"You must show some confidence in humanity!" Takeru croaked, his eyes red, his voice choking. "Besides, the Ancestors... they would notice if Sirians were re-created here, no? You said they would be able to tune in on any Sirians, anywhere."

"This could mean something," said Mats. "If only I knew what."

Takeru had a few ideas about that, and he kept them to himself.

DAY 141

Takeru asked to meet Namonnae. She refused to come out of the ship. He persisted, and stood calling for hours, until the sun went down and he had to retreat.

The next day he returned to the ship and continued calling for her. And the next day, and the next...

DAY 149

"This is the last time we can meet?" Ann asked Oanss.

He explained to her, that this was not strictly true: when he would grow old and be transformed into an Ancestor, he would gain access to all his past time - and be able to remember all their moments together, as clearly as when they had happened. As an Ancestor, he would also be able to perceive all her descendants, for as long as they existed.

Ann asked him for a parting gift; not any machine or technical knowledge.

"Give me some of your DNA," she said, perfectly calm. "I will store it, preserve it, until we can cross-breed my DNA with yours - and we will have children. Or at least, the possibility of children."

Oanss hugged her. Holding onto her, he explained he had already given Mats his cell samples in a storage container. She did not have to clone children from them, even though the suggestion pleased him.

"Thank you," she said into his ear opening. "I love so you very much."

He squeezed her tighter against himself, and said nothing.

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