Excerpt from "Odyssey Bourne Force" by Debbie Renner

This excerpt is set in 1958 Northern Territory, Australia where a father and his son rescue a friendly alien, Scaba, who in his haste, accidentally crashed into Earth.

You mean . . . you . . . aliens, will live beneath the moon’s surface?”

“Of course, we are equipped with enough technology that can provide us with life support, food, and medicinal supplies—everything we need to keep our species alive and keep up our exploration missions too."

“This sounds like a fantastic science fiction movie,” Homer commented.

“Oh, it is far from fictional. In fact, it is a shame Earth’s sciences and physics are so comparatively primitive and limited due to such slow gain in your technological abilities. I guess that is one disadvantage being so far away from other intelligent life.”

Homer frowned, trying his best to take it all in. To save face he reiterated, “So you come from two hundred and fifty million light years away and had an enemy ship chasing you? But, two hundred and fifty million light years, how can anyone or anything travel that distance so fast? I mean, we can look through our telescopes and see the past by studying galaxies outside our own. Like the Andromeda Galaxy, relatively close to Earth at a mere two million light years away. It is the factor of the speed of light which takes so long to reach Earth.”

“Homer, your Earth astronomy, and physics are, well, sufficient for your race . . . for now. Please realize that most humans are not quite ready to . . . understand there are other intelligent life forms that exist in different dimensions as well as your own.”

Scaba saw the look of disappointment in Homer’s eyes. “As I said, most humans . . . there are exceptions like you and your son of course."

Denver eager to keep the conversation flowing with their new friend said, “I heard you speak to me when we were rescuing you, but it hurt when we were driving here.”

“Yes, I’m sorry about that, the pain I was in leached into the mind telepathy I used. If it is not controlled it can hurt and even kill. My judgment was not very sound due to my condition, so when I sensed you moving away from the ship, I became . . . concerned. I knew you would understand the SOS signal I sent through.”

“We sure did, and here we are,” Homer said. “What about this plague, this enemy, why did they attack you and will they ever track you here?”

He paused. “One day perhaps . . . One of their fleet contacted us stating they were peaceful explorers and wanted to share geographical information regarding our planet . . .”

Scaba’s voice took on a bitter tone. “We welcomed them, and they in turn violently turned on us. Right now they are stripping our home world of its resources. They knew we were a passive race and did not have any real means to defend ourselves against their assault. When they discovered we were all telepathic, which they saw as a possible weapon against them, they began to systematically execute us."

Scaba looked at the two humans staring intently at him. “They call themselves the Trimadians. And I hope you never encounter them in your lifetime.”

Homer felt sorry for Scaba and what he had experienced. But at the same time he could not speak—he was too caught up in the moment.

Aliens have been here, long ago. An alien is standing talking to me right now!

“That’s a cool name,” commented Denver.

“I’m sure you won’t want to meet them, young one,” said Scaba solemnly. “Admittedly, the Trimadians have amazing skills creating hardy ships. My immediate concern is cleaning up the dent we have made in the ground, which I can rectify. But I must do so before any of your military forces investigate. They may have tracked the ship in your atmosphere, and I will take no chances. When I do leave, I have a device that can hide or cloak the ship for the time I am journeying to your moon. This should only take a couple of Earth minutes, but I need to check all the systems before I lift off again.”

Homer and Denver looked at each other. “I gather you will not want us to breathe a word of this, would you?” Homer ventured.

“You are correct; our nature is not to interfere with another planet’s evolutionary phases, simply to observe. The consequences for your people could be quite disastrous, and I must look after my race.

Homer’s mind geared into overdrive. He made a decision. This was a chance of a lifetime. He had lots of bizarre ideas over time and several years ago he had a daydream (while on the toilet) about a scenario similar to this. No, Scaba was right, the world was not quite ready for the truth, but he knew what he could do. “What if we came to an agreement that would help each of us?”

“What do you mean, Homer?”

“My late wife left me a lot of money most of which is invested. It all goes to Denver no matter what. I am involved with a small group of fellow astronomers who all share similar beliefs, especially the search for extraterrestrial life. I can use this money to raise more funds to invest in developing technologies and communications. If you are only based on the moon, we can easily communicate. I am very passionate about astronomy and so is young Denver. Meeting you is, well, fate." Scaba smiled. “I have picked up your radio signals before. You would be amazed just how far they can travel. Several years earlier, we have closely visited your planet, especially the land units you call your United States, Russia, and this huge warm continent, Australia.”

Scaba looked at Homer intently. “You seem to be a man of honor, Homer. When I corresponded telepathically with you and Denver, I sensed you were genuine and kind in your hearts and I know you are a man of your word. Perhaps I can help you by sharing a little of our technology with you, like developing a ship. I can sense you enjoy science and engineering, especially you, Denver, though you may not realize just how insightful you are. But ultimately, my people’s existence has to be secret. If it gets out about our agreement together, what is your Earth saying? All hell will break loose. You humans do tend to blow things up and then ask questions."

Homer was trembling with excitement. He would agree to anything. “I agree, and we will help with whatever we can do. Can you contact me later, and I will arrange a meeting with some of my colleagues?”

"Affirmative. However, there is not much you can do here now. I would suggest you leave and get to your vehicle, as I need to cover up the damage I created to your terra firma. Retreat a good distance for safety.”

He winked at Denver. “I am sure we will meet many times in the future, Denver.”