Star Matters II , livre ebook

Troubador Publishing Ltd - John West David

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116 pages

English

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If they can't handle Fake News and Brexit, how on Earth can the President and the Prime Minister cope with the arrival of alien empires?The British Prime Minister is contacted by the Gayan star people, who announce that they are planning First Contact between their race and the people of Planet Earth. Luckily, she discovers that the British armed forces have a secret agency ready to handle such an event whilst she is embroiled in Brexit. Soon the President of the United States finds out and wants to take control of the whole situation.Meanwhile the Gayans' enemies also have designs on annexing planet Earth for their Spargar Empire. They send their most feared warrior leader to Earth to settle matters in their favour. Flushing out the Gayan agents who contacted the Prime Minister, he attempts to neutralise them by force or persuasion according to his own rather different agenda.As First Contact draws near, these Gayan and Spargar forces progress their campaigns to gain control of the Earth; for Enlightenment and mutual benefit with the Gayans or annexed as a slave race to the Spargar Empire. Is this the end of mastery of their own world for the people of Earth?

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Science fiction

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Publié par	Troubador Publishing Ltd
Date de parution	28 janvier 2020
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781838597313
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0200€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Copyright © 2020 David John West

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.

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For Jack
Contents
PREFACE
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
EPILOGUE
EXTRACT
GLOSSARY
NOTES
PREFACE
Giki Galactic Encyclopaedia excerpt, First Contact with Gayan Star People;
Professor Kitteridge,
Cambridge University, Planet Earth
I am certain that they are keeping me alive to suit their purposes. At least until their formal arrival on Earth. They want to use me as their advocate and in fairness I want to stay alive long enough to see if we can rise above our petty politics and embrace the opportunities of alien technology, especially interstellar travel. My body is well past its useful life and would have failed months ago but for their advanced medicine. Daniel is their medical resource and his skill and other worldly potions are keeping me going and for that at least I am grateful. They tell me that I will join with them when I do pass on and for the first time in my life I believe my soul will continue, set free from the wasting disease that made me a prisoner of this wheelchair for so long. I want to escape the bounds of my bodily prison and see the universe as they have promised me. Before all that I want to persist so that I can be there in person to greet our first official alien visitors.
ONE
David Harrier had waited seventeen years for this phone call. When it came it was no surprise, only perhaps that it had taken so long. He had been lulled by long years of preparations and protocols without action. Enthusiasm had dulled into routine. Routine had transformed readiness into dusty record-keeping. Despite this long duty he had always believed that there was a good chance his special skills would be needed at some point in his lifetime. When that time came his role would become one of the most important in human history. This had allowed him to press on with the research, training and planning he had put his elite units through in anticipation of this day.
“Brigadier Harrier? This is the Prime Minister calling.” Her voice was authoritative, yet querulous, too, shot through with brittle anxiety.
“Yes, Prime Minister, Brigadier David Harrier here,” he replied, reaching for an A4 pad and pen to make notes. This telephone call required clarity of understanding.
“Good,” the Prime Minister continued. “We have been contacted by a plausible source of some potentially momentous news. I have consulted the prime ministerial codes and your number came up for this kind of event.” David Harrier was aware of the codes an incoming prime minister was presented with in the event of national emergencies. Popular culture was aware of the launch codes for use of the Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles-equipped nuclear submarines in exceptional circumstances. The general population, however, did not know that the codes folder included additional pages with action plans for other kinds of national emergencies that had been prepared for, which could be activated by a call to other specified agencies, such as the one currently commanded by Brigadier David Harrier.
“I would be very pleased to assist, Prime Minister,” David said in measured, reassuring tones. He had rehearsed his approach to this call as part of the overall response plan. In most gaming scenarios this call was not a panic situation. If immediate action were required under his command then almost certainly much wider military action would be required. Eighty-three percent of activation plans were expected to begin in an orderly, controlled fashion like this real-world situation seemed to be. It would be unlikely to continue in this way for very long, however, so David had to step in rapidly and take over the detailed management of the incident as his team had prepared for over these many long years. “The first protocol is for us to meet in private, for you to explain the nature of your contact and for me to outline our role in managing whatever comes next.”
“That is good to know, Brigadier.” The prime minister let out a small sigh of relief. This was one situation she had never been prepared for and it was good to hear this reassuring voice. “This is one time where I shall be very grateful to be in the hands of experts, and to know that we had the foresight to handle this kind of situation before my time.”
“That is precisely what we are here for, Prime Minister,” David Harrier continued. “In the first instance I suggest we meet at your office as soon as possible. Are you in Downing Street and can you clear your diary?” The Prime Minister replied in the affirmative. “In that case I could be in your office in fifteen minutes if that is convenient for you?”
“That would be fine, Brigadier,” said the Prime Minister. “I will get a message to the Downing Street gate to expect you. See you in fifteen minutes then.”
“Yes indeed,” David said and replaced the receiver. No note-taking had been required. “Audrey,” he called to his assistant outside the open door to his office, “I shall be going out for the rest of the morning. Not sure when I will return so best not to expect me to return before you leave.”
“Will you be needing an official car?” Audrey called back through the doorway.
“No thank you, I think I will walk today,” David replied. He sat behind the large walnut desk in his antique captain’s chair. He looked across the spacious office to the coffee table at the far end, past the tall oblong window on the right with its sashes, each comprising four meticulously white-painted frames that allowed a sylvan view of tall trees dappled in sunlight and the park beyond, all right in the middle of the capital city. An auspicious start to the most important day of his life. He rose and stood by the window enjoying briefly the view across the parade ground two floors below to the lines of plane trees bounding Birdcage Walk from St James’s Park beyond. He would not be needing his coat and umbrella today. He straightened his guards tie and donned his blue suit jacket, pleased his shoes were shining flawlessly as always on this day that he would meet the Prime Minister for the first time and in his official military capacity.
There was one task to perform before he left to meet the Prime Minister. He crossed his office to sit at an antique-looking computer terminal. He fired up the power button on the 1990s-era square box personal computer and saw his Logistics Liaison logo pop onto the screen in green monochrome. This terminal was attached to a hardwired network that had never been connected to the internet and thereby avoided all the issues of hackers and computer security in the internet age. Between the terminal and the network was a small grey box that provided the only 51-bit encryption in the United Kingdom government network. He authenticated and then brought up the email function. No sign-on was required; he was the only user of this machine. He typed ‘Host of Eagles’ into the address field and then the message ‘Mantled Eagle’ into the subject field. No detailed message was necessary. He pressed send and the message was encrypted and sent to the commanders-in-chief of all the UK’s military forces and intelligence agencies.
The grey boxes in the offices of the most senior staff in the land received and decrypted the message. They instantly sent messages to the secure phones of the targets, which apprised them of a Logistics Liaison alert requiring their attention. In offices across Whitehall and headquarters large and small people of power returned to their desks to power up the clunky logistics terminals that sat gathering dust but never got updated and received their message. Uniformed commanders and civilian chiefs of staff alike collectively let out their breath in surprise at the ‘Mantled Eagle’ alert. This was the third-highest alert in the hierarchy that required them to go to a heightened state of readiness. The Mantled Eagle image depicted the eagle protecting its young with wings half spread and lowered, head alert to the side with one piercing eye peering out for threats. Only the Special Air and Boat Services would go to full action stations at this level as they may be called on for urgent and unpredictable missions. Beyond ‘Mantled Eagle’ were two higher alert levels. ‘Stooping Eagle’ level meant that the Logistics Liaison division would instigate military activity across all the armed forces without further explanation with maximum effect. Normal rules of warfare would not apply; Logistics Liaison missions were only called under extreme threat to the nation and all its people. ‘Blood Eagle’ level was