Now I have the pleasure of writing Episode One, thus far named “Gravity”.

I plan on releasing one post a week, on Tuesday’s, with a couple weeks off in between each episode. In order to keep up with this schedule it means that I have to pre-write everything and if anything changes thanks you to your comments I just have to update the post.

Remember, if you want to leave a comment on a story post but don’t want it to appear in the downloadable version just put the following somewhere in your comment (preferably at the top).

-not for publication-

or

-NFP-

This, of course, isn’t needed on the “Note from the Author” posts. These posts and any comments attached to them will never be published in the download versions.

That’s all I’ve got for now. I’ve had lost of life events happen, and are upcoming, so the release date for Episode One should be sometime early this summer.  See you then.

I am in my apartment looking out my window into space. Cool or what? In fact if I strain to look up I can almost make out the core and far down below is Earth somewhere. I still get a little disoriented knowing that the gravity that holds me down is actually the push from spinning around the core. I might order a light screen so I can chose to see space or a nice normal outside view.

The trip up was good even if it was long. There were protesters at the launch in Dallas. I guess they don’t like the fact that we, as HRC employees get a “free” ride up to the Orbs. The way I see it if we are being told we have to move somewhere, why wouldn’t they pay for the moving costs? Don’t they do that in the private sector too?

The launcher looks a lot different then the ship that took me up to the Orb last time. It’s built more like a one of Earth’s long range ships only 1/2 the size and it can enter and exit Earth gravity without excessive fuel.

Because of the protesters my launch time was set back from 3pm (Dallas Local) to 5pm. At first I was upset, mostly because there was nowhere for me to take a nap, but I changed my mind once I boarded.

I was sitting in Seat A (window seat) in Isle 15. In Seat F was a complete hotty in military get up. I love a girl in uniform.  Of course it might have been better if she actually spoke to me. I tried several times, and yes I have them all recorded but I’ll save you the embarrassment I went through when my “looking forward to living in space?” kind of questions were met with mostly glares and rolled eyes.

It still took me five hours before I really got into Orb 3, but it wasn’t because of the flying time. Orb Security was set to the max. Way more checks and searches than the first time I came. I guess they don’t want anyone moving in who shouldn’t be. Everyone on the flight with me was an HRC employee so you think they would have been a little more relaxed but I got strip searched. Yes you read that right. I. Got. Strip. Searched. To say the least I was not impressed. I mean come on; if I was going to blow something up wouldn’t I have done it the first time I was here?

I think the hotty from the flight may have had something to do with it. She looked particularly happy when they pulled me out of the line.

When I came out she was already gone to collect her luggage. I thought for sure I’d lost her for a while, Orb 3 is huge, but apparently her luggage was misplaced and she was still waiting around for it.

I smiled sweetly at her when I grabbed my bags from the carousel and started to leave. That’s when one of the security guards came by to talk to her and, since I’ve figured out a way to edit what I record, I can tell you what was said.

“It’s going to take us a while yet. Do you want us to just send your bags to your residence?”

“Fine.” She rummaged in her pocket for a piece of paper and then read from it. The guard took notes. “Section 43, Westwood Manor, Suite 14.”

Now I have her address… but even then I knew it sounded very familiar. So when I left the docking ring I pulled a similar piece of paper out of my pocket and read it. My new address is: Orb 3-2A, Section 43, Westwood Manor, Suite 13.

Its fate I tell you.

I haven’t seen her since our encounter at the docking ring, but I did manage to learn her name. I was talking to my neighbour in Suite 11, Samantha Peirce. Older but nice Lady. She works as a Grant Application Administrator for the Colonies. I ran into her on the stairs when I brought home my first bags of space food (aka imported Earth groceries (and it is expensive). Introductions aside, I asked if she had met anyone else in the building.

“I’d like to get to know my neighbours.” I said.

“Knowing who lives around you is a good idea. Let’s see, well there is Mr. Guntum in suite 3, right below you. I think you may want to get to know him.” Ms. Peirce leaned in and whispered, “He likes to believe he can play the tuba.”

I didn’t groan out load but I was thinking it. I just smiled.

“Oh. One of my co workers, Jean, lives down the hall in 19. You’ll like her. She’s your age, and well I suppose Mira is too?”

“Mira?” I asked pointing at the door to suite 14.

“Yes, have you met her?” Ms. Peirce asked.

“Briefly yeah. She seems nice,” I lied. What? She’s hot but so far she hasn’t seemed very nice at all.

“Oh yes. Pretty thing. Shame she went into the Military. I’m surprised actually that she would have talked to you.”

“Why is that?” I asked.

Ms. Peirce laughed. “She has a thing against Liaisons.”

I asked her how she knew and apparently all HRC employee’s where given the identities of all the confirmed Liaisons so that if an emergency arose they would know who to contact. The contact information came with pictures. Suddenly, the fact that I pulled up my hood and put sunglasses on when we walked past the protestors in Dallas doesn’t seem so cliché.

“What’s wrong with being a Liaison?” I asked.

“Oh I don’t think there is anything wrong with it dear, but some people still have funny ideas about dealing with Alien races so closely. Some people look at liaison’s as the people who will sell Earth out in the end.”  Ms. Pierce smiled awkwardly before we said our awkward goodbyes.

I think I should be more aware of the people around me. Even HRC employees.

Still. I know her name.

The long weekend is over (all HRC employees where given a day off to unpack) and I’m not finished yet. I went to work in the new IGL office this morning. It’s in Orb 3 which is better than the Office I’ll share with E’lish and Romi in Orb 2. The only down side is there are no real windows – lots of fake ones that let fake light in. Gary my boss asked me how I feel about not having an office to call my own. I told him that most of my life is digital so it didn’t really matter where I sat so long as there was a computer and webnet access.

Tomorrow I go to the other office. E’lish called and asked me if I wanted an apartment warming party this weekend. After replaying the recorded conversation I realize that I said yes. I don’t know why. There is no way I’ll be unpacked by then. Oh well.

Bring on my first week of living in Space.

Over and Out.

Webnet transmission in progress. Audio to text function on.

“Hello? Hey I can see the words on the screen. Cool.

“Um… Hi everyone. I got my recording unit installed yesterday, as I’m sure you can tell. It’s the ObAudio3 model. Pretty fancy if you ask me.

“It wasn’t as much fun as I thought it would be getting it done though. They froze the skin on the side of my neck, right below where the skull and jaw meet, and basically shoved a huge needle with the recording unit into my neck. I still have a lump but it’s not that bad. You won’t even be able to tell I had it done in a day or two.

“Anyway if I have the video model I’d give you a visual tour of my apartment. But I guess I can describe it. It’s pretty basic really. 450 square feet. One bedroom, bathroom and a kitchen unit in the living room. I’m on the 15^th floor which means I should have a descent view but my living room window faces another building so I’ve got nothing.

“But if I go into my bedroom…”

Ambient noise recorded: Shuffle shuffle

“I have an amazing view of downtown Edmonton. The sun is setting right now and it’s…”

Ambient noise recorded: Zooommmmrrrrrr

“Hey! You’re going to crash into my window one day you…. um… right. Ummm… Delete last passage?”

Pause

“Oh well, I’m going to have to figure out how to record and then go back and edit something. And since you’re likely wondering what I was yelling about, some kid on a hoverbike just buzzed my bedroom window. That’ll be one thing I won’t miss. I’m getting a space side window, which means nothing but space and earth outside my window. That’ll be a great view. Plus my new apartment is going to twice the size of this one, with an office if you can believe it.”

Ambient noise recorded: Knock knock knock

“What the?”

Ambient noise recoded: shuffle shuffle shuffle click creeeeeeek

“Katlynn, what are you doing here?”

“Mom and Dad are downstairs with the truck…. To pick up your furniture, remember? Or have you decided to let them take the transport charge off your pay checks for the next year?” Female voice remembered. Label: said Katlynn

“No I just didn’t think they were going to be coming until tomorrow. I’m not leaving until Friday morning, remember? What am I… Hey…” said Dalton.

Ambient noise recorded: Shuffle-shuffle shuffle-shuffle

“You haven’t even packed! And your place is a mess. I’m going to have to help you clean before Mom and Dad come up,” said Katlynn.

“I have too packed. Look at all those boxes,” said Dalton.

“And let me guess what’s in them. Your books?” said Katlynn.

“Books are important. Aren’t they?” said Dalton.

“And what about him? Have you thought about what you’re going to do with him?” said Katlynn.

“Mr. Goldman is coming with me. We are allowed pets you know,” said Dalton.

“I still can’t believe you named your fish that,” said Katlynn.

“He’s a goldfish. What else was I suppose to call him,” said Dalton.

“Hey what’s that?” said Katlynn.

Ambient noise recorded: shuffle-shuffle-shuffle SLAM

“Don’t touch my laptop, Katlynn,” said Dalton.

“But on the screen. The words were typing automatically and they looked like.. oooooo you’ve got a Mod!” said Katlynn.

“Do not” “do too” “do not” “do too” “do not” labels unclear

“Do too! What is it? You know Dad’s gonna kill you. You’re just lucky he’s not a full purist,” said Katlynn.

“Whatever, it’s for work and it’s not a Mod,” said Dalton.

“For work! And it is a Mod if it’s advanced organics or a mechanical aid,” said Katlynn.

“It’s just an Observer,” said Dalton.

“Video! Ok that’s kinda cool. I bet you were walking around giving a tour of your grubby little apartment. And this is the couch covered in popcorn kernels and old pizza boxes,” said Katlynn.

“Shut up Katlynn. And no I was not giving a tour because it’s audio only. I told you it’s for work,” said Dalton.

“No it’s not. Why was that screen recording everything?” said Katlynn.

“I was recording work stuff before you got here. And I don’t need your help to clean up. I’ll have it all clean by the time you go down and come back up with Mom and Dad,” said Dalton.

“You’re lying. I beat it’s broadcasting to the webnet too. Should I tell everyone about the time you wanted to be ballet dancer and…” said Katlynn

“END RECORDING,” said Dalton

Webnet transmission ended.

The move was a success.

All the Ox have been relocated from their Long Range Transport Vessels into assigned living accommodations on Orbs one and two. E’lish and Romi are actually pretty cool people, er… aliens. They hung out with me all day on Friday after everything was finished being moved in.

They are living on Orb 2 so they are close to the Ox district. The apartment building they live in is pretty similar to the one I’ll be moving into (oh yeah. I was able to request where I want to live – to a degree. The HRC has set aside whole blocks for its employee’s. I got to pick a space side window apartment on Level 2A. It’s a lot bigger than the apartment I have now and half the price I’d pay for it on Earth – HRC subsidiaries).

Anyway, E’lish has a space side window so we spent most of our time in her apartment. The Ox mature a bit slower than humans (and live a lot longer) so E’lish and Romi are technically the same age as me even though they are 10 to 15 Earth years older than me.

We have a lot in common. E’lish studied hard to become an Alien Contact (equivalent to an IGL) and when she got the chance to come to Earth she took it hoping they would pick her. When she was able to handle herself in a confrontation with a Blotrat (no not a fight just an argument, although the fact that she avoided a fight with an upset Blotrat is a feat in itself) the Malskeerit (aka Colony Leader in Ox) created a second position for her. Romi of course was the first.

Romi has been groomed since childhood to become an Alien Contact. He had the right parents and the book smarts to be awarded the position before the Ox even left their home world to come to Earth. He’s always been a bit rude to E’lish and I never understood why before. However, the fact that he hung out with us at all, and told his story, I think it means that he is started to loosen up. The Ox in general are pretty light-hearted, but when they get serious and “down to business” it can be a little intimidating.

That was Friday. On Saturday morning I said goodbye to Romi and E’lish (for a couple of weeks) at a Human Friendly Restaurant near the docking ring on Level 2B of Orb 1. I think it’s my new favourite restaurant, “The Blue-Green Orb”. You should see what the Ox chef has done with Mac and Cheese.

The three of us were sitting in the Restaurant when the Blotrat Long Range Transport Vessel arrived in the docking ring. We had a space view window and saw it pulling in. That thing is huge. I mean I had just finished seeing all the Ox LRTV’s and those are pretty big, but the Blotrat ship was bigger.

Not that I know for sure, but my guess is that Jared was on the Orb to greet them. If he was getting them settled into their district on Orb 3 -1A then he’d be there right up until the move. I bet he got special privilege to move in now.

I hate feeling jealous.

The shuttle parked right next to the Blotrat’s LRTV. It looked like an ant next to it. I said my goodbyes and flew home. It was an awful hour in the morning on Sunday when I got home. I really didn’t want to go for dinner at my parents. Why couldn’t they just wait until next weekend?

After I got some sleep I did go to my parents. I took a high speed train out of the city to the most western Greater Edmonton Area stops. Then I had to call a cab. My parents like the country and live on an acreage in the middle of no where. If you haven’t guessed already, I couldn’t wait to move to the city when I was growing up.

Still my parents mean well. They have more contacts in high places than I will ever have and I have no idea how they got them (and I’m not sure I want to).

The food of course was great, but the dinner was more like a party. I barely spoke to my sister, she’s going to college for her Electronic Arts degree, but I was berated by politicians.

“Hey Dalton, have you heard anything about the HRC’s plans to…”

“Dalton my boy, I have a proposition for you…”

“Dalton, your country needs your help…”

Etc. When I finally got a pause I ran to the washroom and locked myself in there until my Mother promised to send those men away. Hey, I might be 24 but I have no problems getting my mother fight some battles for me.

I just don’t understand why these guys (and ladies) do this all the time. You would think by now they would remember all the other times I turned them down. And you would think that they would be a little more considerate of the consequences I would face if I was ever caught gathering information and passing it on to a “Specific Country or Agency not associated with or approved by the HRC”. Yes those are the exact words from the World Citizen Oath I took when I accepted the job of IGL for the HRC.

The Oath is a public document. Every person (human or alien) who wants to read it can. The HRC is a neutral body acting on the behalf of the entire world. It’s doesn’t interfere in the actual running of the Countries of Earth it just acts like a middle man, between the individual countries and all the worlds (alien or colony) out there.

Some people just don’t get it.

I hope my rant hasn’t put you off or offended you. It’s just my opinion.

Human Race Colony Board meeting tomorrow but I’m not attending. I’ll get the meeting transcript afterwards because I’m Peter’s cover off, which is still pretty cool. All the news, none of the work.

Next Monday is the Alliance Meeting and then my last post from the planet Earth. I can’t wait to get off this dirt ball.

Over and Out.

Alright so the week was interesting to say the least. I haven’t really had much time to think about it to be honest with you though my twitter followers have been privy to my pain.

The ride up to the orbs last week was uneventful. The launcher (which is what I thought I was taking up) is actually not in operation yet. It will be when humans start moving up to the orbs and when they become a “destination”. I took a shuttle up to the Orbs – but it was a shuttle with new engines and the enhanced thrusters of Ox design – which is a lot slower and less manoeuvrable than a launcher. (Don’t ask me what the real difference is between them because I only know what’s been posted in the news about them).

Anyway when I got here it was 3am local time. I went straight to the guest accommodations on level one of Orb 1. The accommodations were sparse. The room was really just a closet with space enough for a blow up mattress. Still I was able to get a couple of hours of good sleep in until E’lish came and knocked on the door. The Ox are early risers. It was 6am and they had let me sleep in. I suppose I would be a little anxious to get moving in if I’d had to wait 3 years too.

My first day was exhausting even though I spent all my time in one little room. I did do a lot of talking. First thing on the list was all the big things and the Ox have BIG things. The wanted certain fountain sculptures in the parks and some of the shop owners had massive machines that needed to be set up. For the really big things we used the local airlocks, that way they could be moved as much of the distance as possible in zero gravity.

Luckily I wasn’t the only one organizing stuff. E’lish and Romi were acting as coordinators and of course the Ox Master Builder and the new Human Chief Contractor were on hand for any problems we might encounter. By lunch time I was ready for bed but the Ox kept me going until 8pm. It was only when I started to fall asleep at the desk did they let me go to bed.

Day two was better and by Friday most of the big things were moved and I actually got to inspect one of the shops on Level 2.

Perhaps I should explain a bit about the Orbs first. I know that most of you have read about the orbs in the news but have you actually seen the designs? The orbs are built with a large solid core that looks to me like a big hot dog (no bun). This is where the engines to stabilize and rotate the rings are. And there are three rings around the core. They’ve been named levels which is just silly – why not call them rings? But anyway, on each Level there are two… levels – see how confusing this gets?

So level 1A is the top level of Level one. And Level 1b is the bottom one.

Ok. So now that we have that out of the way I’ll explain how each of the levels has been set up since that likely isn’t in the news yet. Level one on each of the orbs has been set aside for earth/alien business. This is where the HRC and any remote alien offices will be set up which will be called districts. The Ox have already chosen their district on Level 1A of Orb 2. Anyway, each district will be as large or as small as required. And the master builder and chief contractor have agreed to make any changes necessary (not that there is much more than walls on level one anyway).

Level two and level three are habitation levels. This is where all the apartments are, the expensive condos, the parks, the gardens, the stores (retail and food shopping, restaurants, and non-HRC businesses who wish to set up on the Orbs) and of course entertainment sections. If you live on Level two or three and don’t work for the HRC you might never have to enter the core elevator or go to another orb. But Level 2 & 3 on Orbs One and Two are just for the Ox. There will only be Ox related businesses entertainment etc on these levels. I doubt if any human business will be allowed to be set up here.

As for us – humans us – we are being allotted Orb 3 and Orb 4 (currently in the planning stage). Orb 3 is where the HRC staff will live even if the district they work in is in another Orb.

But as I was saying before I got sidetracked, I got to go and inspect a store on Level 2A of Orb 1. It’s a small restaurant specializing in Ox home world cuisine. The owner wanted me to take a look and make suggestions to ensure he could promote it as a human friendly establishment – Humans can’t eat some of the things that the Ox can but I’ve never paid attention to that kind of stuff.

The menu was hard to read but once I realize that most of the dishes consisted of dried ground Guinty Root – similar to our potato – I thought it would be fine. Right up until the Chief Contractor (who came with me) tried to eat some of it. He immediately turned red and fell on the ground. In case I forgot to mention earlier there are medicenters on every level – even the sub levels – but the major hospital is on Level 1A of each orb. The medicenter hadn’t been set up yet on Level 2a so we rushed him to the core elevator and brought him up to the hospital. He’s fine, but I don’t think the restaurant is going to get the Human friendly designation. It turns out that most humans are dangerously allergic to Guinty Root. I’ve recommend that someone with a medical background do all the Human Friendly Designations from now on.

After that I was actually given some time off – to do whatever I wanted. Orb One, which is where I’m stationed at the moment, is very large. I suppose the other orbs are just as large but even though I got to see the blue prints I didn’t really know how large they were going to be until I got to explore.

I went back to the restaurant to inform the owner of the contractor’s condition and then took a walk in the park nearby. It’s really big. I walked to the centre of the park and spun around just to take in the sight of all of it. I couldn’t see a single bulk head. It was hard to tell you where even in a space station. The regulated ambient light is set to the time zone to create artificial night and day, and you can’t see the stars until it’s “night” on the orb.

I did notice that some of the condos around the park had lights on so I went to take a look. Turns out that some of the Ox had moved into their homes already even though they don’t have any of their stuff. They’re just sleeping on the floor eating rations they brought with them. They really are a lot like humans. I could see myself doing the same thing after being stuck in a space ship for three years – not to mention how ever long they were in it before they arrived in Earth orbit.

Sometimes I wonder why the Ox would have undertaken such a journey when they didn’t even know if the accommodations we were building would work for them. And why 1/3 of the home world population? What is so bad with living on your own planet? And why here and not on one of the dozens of colony worlds the Ox have? But it’s not my place to ask these questions because we have official responses that are suppose to answer them already regardless of the fact that they are vague and don’t answer anything.

Yesterday I travelled to Orb 2 via the little “scuttles” to over see the placement of some Ox statues – aka stand around for 3 hours doing nothing. Scuttles is what some of the engineers are calling the transport vessels between Orbs, and I think it’s an apt name for something that zips along a metal wire strung between two orbs. It can make the journey in under 45mins. It’ll make life easier when people live up here and have to commute to other orbs. Using a shuttle would take a couple hours just to match orbits and line up right so the hatch will open.

Tomorrow we start moving people (those who haven’t already moved in) and they’re stuff. I’m trying to be discreet about it but I’d like put the stuff for the Ox family I met near the top if the list. They weren’t assigned the condo they were staying in – all they can afford is an apartment but it is near the park – but they were the ones I met when I was in the park the other day. They have since moved into their apartment since the rightful owners of the condo are due to move in tomorrow. I don’t know what it was about them but I want to help them, you know? They are here trying to start a new life and the kids have found a way to combine English and Oxynat in a way that hurts my ears but I can still understand. I think I’ll try and visit them again before I go home.

Speaking of which, two things.

One: I just got an email saying that among other offices deemed essential, the IGL Office is being moved onto the Orbs and, therefore, so am I. In two and half weeks (March 27) I’ll be living up here (well not here on Orb one but on Orb three). I’m going to see if I get to pick my apartment.

Two: When I forwarded the email to my parents they want to have a farewell dinner. This means that everyone I’ve ever known will be there trying to wish me well – and a few people who will try and get me to do sideline work for the Canadian government. How many times must I tell people I’m an Earth Citizen now?

Last thing before bed time – you should really hear some of the conversations here. I would kill for an internal recording unit and I’m going to ask Gary if he’ll agree to have the IGL office foot the bill. I can’t even begin to remember the way some of the conversations went. Sigh – I hope my Dad isn’t right about my dependency on Technology biting me in the butt one day.

Alright bed time. This time change thing is still messing me up.

Over and Out.

This week will be my first off world assignment. I get to help the Ox move in.

If you’ve been following my Twitter feed you already know how my feelings about this have changed over the last week.

At first I was thrilled – My first off world assignment. Even though I don’t normally volunteer to help people move – ever – this was bearable because of how cool it was going to be. Then they gave me work to do.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a slacker. I love my job and have admitted and still do admit to being a workaholic, but I don’t do logistics well.

First I had to inventory everything that the Ox own (for 1/3 of the entire population, you can guess how much stuff they have). Then I had to figure out generally where it was going to go. And not once was I allowed on the Orbs to see if it would actually fit, I had to go off drawings and hope that nothing goes wrong – which it always does.

Since the lower two rings of each orb is mostly living quarters, is was relatively easy to organize that part. Easy compared to everything else. The Ox have had moths to plan where they wanted to live (by shops or parks or nothing) and who they wanted as neighbours. For a race so much more advanced, they certainly squabbled a lot when I told them that the original design blue prints – that they had based all their plans on – had changed a bit in the final station.

In the end, everyone has picked an apartment (or condo’s in the park for the upper council members). At the same time as figuring all of this out, I had to make sure that the equipment needed for the shops and restaurants were going to go to the proper areas (and make sure that they were built according to specification, which is really hard to do when all you have are blue prints that you have to assume are correct.)

Anyway, let’s just say that for the most part everything is ready. I have a big map of Orbs one and two and lots of scribbles on it. I have my fingers crossed.

The next phase will be easier. The top level of each of the Orbs is visitor quarters and office space. This is where the HRC will set up and each of the races in the alliance will have their own office district to conduct business while they are here. The Ox business district will be setup soon after they move in, but all I have to do is ensure that they have all the hardware they need (computers, desks, walls), and then submit a form to the right people.

I’ve very lucky there were no meetings this week or I would never have gotten it all done.

I really should get back to it though. Tomorrow is the big move day. Already there are shuttles loading cargo into the Orbs loading bays. My flight leaves at 8am from here in Edmonton, Alberta and I arrive in Houston, Texas at 1:35pm local time. Then I have a 3 hour stopover until the launcher is ready at 4:30pm. We’ll be in orbit in under 5 minutes and then it’ll take another 4 to 5 hours to meet up with and dock with Orb one (I can’t imagine what it would be like trying to do this without the improved thrusters the Ox gave us. It would take days).

So my total travel time will be roughly 12 hours and I’ll be arriving at Orb one around 9pm Houston time or 3:00am Orb time (they decided to go with Greenwich Mean Time).

I’m going straight to bed when I get home. I’ll need the sleep.

Over and Out.

Yeah ok, I’m not supposed to do this but the meeting was so cool, how could I not? The following is the print version of a recorded meeting with the Intergalactic Alliance Committee that happened yesterday – with my comments interspersed.

The meeting started off pretty boring. Everyone logged in from their respective areas; the Ox (E’lish only) and the Blotrats from their ships in Orbit, the Certwa and the Opthalions from their planets -the feed being relayed from the Ox ships (I still don’t know how their super long range communications work but apparently we have people trying to reverse engineer them), and the IGL’s from Earth- me, Jared the Blotrats representative and three others who are near to being declared an official representative.

So I had one screen open for each person in attendance (yes nine screens) which only left me with one spare to control the recording software.

The meeting started off with blah-blah news. You know the administriva stuff. E’lish did announce that I was the official representative to the Ox which was cool. Then the real meeting started. On the agenda was the four standing items that are always there:

• Alliance and Treaty news (this is the Administriva I was talking about)
• Notification of Alliance and Treaty breeches
• Notification of Threats to the Alliance
• Notification of possible new Alliance members

“Next Item,” E’lish said.  She is acting as the Committee Chair this month. “Notification of Alliance and Treaty breeches. The floor is open.” She said it all in English.

“I would like to start off by notifying the Alliance Committee that I have a complaint to issue on behalf of the Blotrat Mining Colony in system X3356,” said Jyond, the Blotrat representative. Of course didn’t understand a word he said since he said it in his own language, but my computer has a translation program built in.

“The system has notified us,” Jyond continued,”that several of their Cargo transportation devices have gone missing from the space station orbiting around X3356-4.” I wish our translation of the Blotrat lanuage was a bit better, because I’m sure they don’t call those really cool gravity-defying floating cargo beds “Cargo Transportation Devices”. Although, they might. The Blotrat don’t have much of an imagination.

“Thank you for informing us Jyond, however misplaced items are not the direct concern of the Committee. Are you requesting aid in their retrieval?” E’lish asked.

“No,” said Jyond, “I am accusing the Certwa of stealing from us. Again.”

Oh yeah. Things just got interesting.

“Jyond that is a serious accusation. Do you have proof?” E’lish asked. If the Certwa had a human representative she or he would be asking. We humans seem to have taken on the role of neutral party. That isn’t exactly true but whatever – that’s a topic for another post.

Jyond’s screen went black for a moment and then a video appeared that looked to me like surveillance camera footage. It was obviously on a space station. There was a window or something similar to that in the background. There were two Blotrats working quickly to move cargo around in a cargo hold. After a moment the two Blotrats finished taking the last of the cargo off of the “Cargo Transportation Devices” and leaned them up against a wall. Then they walked off the screen.

A few moments later a two of the Cargo Transportation Devices were moved quickly out of the screen shot. I missed it completely. However the image rewound to just before the movement and went forward in slow motion. There was a small green repitilan looking blur pushing the devices out of the screen. A Certwan.

The screen went black again and Jyond returned.

“The gravity in this section of the station was lowered by half to give our labourers an easier time in handling the cargo,” Jyond said, “With it reduced in such a manner, and having just allowed a ship of five Certwa to dock with the station, it would have been easy for the Certwa to organize the thief.”

I looked at the screens around me. I couldn’t see what the Opthalion was thinking since they are completely covered from head to toe, however the Certwan representative, “Creek” as we call him, didn’t look nervous at all. E’lish looked like she’d swallowed something unpleasant and Jared (the Blotrat Liasion) looked proud and conceited. I guess that isn’t unusual for Jared.

“I call upon the Certwa Representative to respond to these claims.” E’lish said having regained her composure.

The Certwa can understand the Ox language and the Blotrat language (in part) however they have not been able to learn to speak in these other languages. Creek shouted out a series of incomprehensible shrieks and shrills, most of which were beyond human hearing thank the Gods of Earth. E’lish would be the only person who could understand what Creek said so we would have to rely on her to enter it into the translation system correctly.

She entered it as text, typing it out in English. It said, “The Certwa people can not be held responsible for the lack of security surrounding the Cargo area of the station. We are a people who have always taken what we need. We still have difficulty understanding the concepts of thief. If there is any retribution required it should be dealt with on our behalf by the races that elevated us to this level of interaction with alien cultures.”

E’lish looked pale. Not pretty for someone with Golden skin. She started shrieking at Creek and typed out what she was saying.

“We, the Ox, one of the two species who elevated you from your secluded ways request that you return the Cargo Transportation Devices to the Blotrat that you have taken from.”

“I agree with the Ox that the Certwa should return what they have not earned.” Oshin said. I like hearing him speak. He has a kind of rumble to his voice. And he speaks Blotrat which is at least translatable. I hear he is learning English and Mandarin too.

Creek replied with a bunch more squawky nonsense and E’lish typed it up even though I could tell she didn’t really want to.

“We have a need of these devices. We have them now in our possession. We would need something in return to give them up.”

Finally I understood what Gary – my boss – meant when he called the Certwa the Freeloaders of the Universe. And they had a great meal ticket, the soft hearted Ox. I could already tell that E’lish was trying to come up with something she could give the Certwa in exchange for the stolen goods.

“This is ridiculous,” Jyond said. Jared his Liasion didn’t say anything. He wasn’t supposed to get involved unless it looked like he wasn’t going to get the goods back for his representative. And Jared knows as well as I do that the Ox would probably cave in and give the Certwa something. But it was my job to ensure that the Ox-Human relationship wasn’t jeopardized. So I did something that is technically bending those rules. I spoke up for the Ox.

“I would like to say something,” I said. I guess I cleared my throat because it was recorded but I don’t remember doing it. “I think that the Certwa should give the Cargo Transportation Devices back without receiving something in return. If the Certwa wish to continue dealing on this level of interaction with other alien races they should adhere to the same rules as all the other races on this committee.”

There I said it. I probably shouldn’t have.

E’lish and Jared looked shocked. Jyond looked thrilled and the Certwa… well I still have trouble reading their facial expressions but I think Creek was dumbfounded. I had a cousin who acted like Creek once. He needed a swift kick in the butt and no hand outs for a year before he learnt to do things for himself. I wonder how long it would take for the Certwa.

“I am in agreement with Earth’s Dalton.” Oshin said. I was surprised and thankful that he was the first to say something. Jyond agreed next.

It took E’lish a few moments before she agreed. She even said it in the Certwa lanuage and just typed it for us. It must have been really hard for her. The Ox still feel responsible for the Certwa.

Creek looked like he was ready to jump up and down shrieking. They did look ape-like so it wasn’t hard to imagine it. Finally he spoke to someone off the screen and then spoke to E’lish.

“We accept these terms for now. The devices will be returned. However we will wish to discuss the idea the human suggested among ourselves before we commit to it.”

I breathed a sigh of relief, but that was short lived. The text scrolling across the screen stopped well before Creek finished speaking. E’lish had left something out. I waited for her to type something else instead she just sat there until Creek was finished. Then she spoke.

“At this time I would like to notify the council that I will not relay insults.”

I looked at Creek and he was defiantly glaring, and now I was sure it was at me. Oops.

“Now,” E’lish continued. “Is there anyone else who would like to notify the council of other Alliance or Treaty breeches?”

No one said anything and the rest of the meeting was over quickly. I got a quick message in my mailbox from E’lish requesting a meeting with me. I’m sure you can guess what was said.

All in all not bad for my first meeting as the official Liaison to the Ox.  I made an impression on the Blotrats and the Opthalions, scared the Ox, and made an enemy out of the Certwa.

Over and Out

PS: The Ox have received word from the Deputy Minister. They get to move into Orbs 1 and 2 at the end of next week. And I get to help coordinate…on location. My first field trip.

Major update from my last post: The Chief Contractor got fired.

Personally, I don’t think he should have but the HRC needed someone to pay for the coolant leak. One of the Environment Analysts from the Environmental Protection Agency confirmed that none of the coolant made it to the surface. So really the contractor did what he was supposed to: Build an orbiting space station that could support the lives of the Ox who wish to live closer to our home world (meaning that they work). What I want to know is if the job was really a joint effort how come the Ox Master Builder didn’t get more than a slap on the hand?

The Orbs do work now. Orbs 1 and 2 have been up and running with full life support for almost 24 hours. Orb 3 had a bit of a shaky start. One of the coupler manifolds on the docking rim blew up (that’s the easiest way to put it). It ripped a hole right through the exterior and into the viewing deck inside the docking rim. It’s going to take a few more days before that can be fixed but all other systems have checked out.

Because of the explosion, the HRC is recommending that the Ox wait another couple weeks before moving into the Orbs – to make sure they are safe. The Ox are complaining of course. I mean wouldn’t you?  Just because they are very sympathetic to our race, doesn’t mean they aren’t entitled to proper accommodations. They are still formal allies.

I don’t if you are aware or not, but the Orbs aren’t just homes for the Ox. The end goal was always to have a major base of operations in orbit around Earth. Sure we had the international space station and we were planning to build stations similar to the Mars Stations, but when compared to the design specifications and materials the Ox offered to build the Orbs with, all of the other stations look small and old. The Orbs are where we plan on hosting all kinds of Allies, rather than forcing them to land on our planet. It’s also where the HRC wants to move most of the essential operations. I’m pretty sure the IGL’s (Intergalactic Liaison’s) are considered essential but I haven’t heard anything concrete yet. Even if I was going to move up there – which would be awesome – you know how slow government moves. It’ll probably be years before it happens.

Anyway, other than the Contractor getting fired the week has been great. E’lish and Romi have designated me as their official Liaison yesterday. We knew it was only a matter of time before the Ox picked someone, and I knew it was going to be either myself or another IGL named Peter. I’m pretty excited that they chose me. This means that I’ll get consulted on anything to do with the Ox and I’ve already been cleared for extended periods contact with them. Apparently there are a few people in the department who are xenophobes, if you can believe it. I’ll admit that they annoy me some time, especially Romi’s accent, but I think of the Ox like tall thin – and yet really strong – humans with solid blue egg shaped eyes.

I also went to my last Human Colony Board meeting today. Since I’ll be the Official Oxynat Liaison, non-designated IGL’s will take care of the general diplomatic relations. If you don’t know what the HCB does, here is a brief example.

The meeting today consisted of three items. One and two were standard issues. A build status report from the Venus Space Station (not yet technically a colony until they can financially support themselves) was tabled for review and approval, and a complaint was registered from the Titan Space Station saying that the OOC (Outer Orbit Control) is abusing the right to use the station as an interim prison for law breakers before they are sent to Earth for sentencing. This might sound bad to you, but trust me Titan complains a lot about everything. I think they do it so that we remember that they are there.

The third item on the agenda was interesting. The Mars High Council wants to increase the importation of ice, oxygen and ammonium from the Main Belt Territory to its terraforming conglomerate Terra2. Normally, no problem. A request like this wouldn’t even make it to the board except for the formal “blessing”. But there was a lovely little fine print clause that said “including by other means”. The Council debated for an hour what this meant before they called up the President of the Mars High Council to ask. He said that they wouldn’t be violating any of the trade agreements with the mining stations in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. However, they would increase the frequency that their own mining ships would head out into the unclaimed portions of the Belt when mining stations were out of range.

The request was approved but a notice has gone out to the OOC to be aware of the increased traffic from Mars to the Main Belt Territory. They’re the only ones equipped to enforce the laws space-side anyway. Not bad for my last meeting.

Now on to more Oxynat related activities. I’m in the process of writing a letter on behalf of E’lish to the Deputy Minister about speeding up the process so the Ox can move into the Orbs. It’s kind of hard writing a letter on behalf of someone else to someone that you ultimately work for. Some times it hurts my head.

Over and Out.

Please tell me someone else saw the sky turned purple this morning beside the press. I’m starting to feel like a crazy person. And it’s all the Chief Contractor’s fault.

The Ox (the Ocs’halaha’ee if I’m going to be formal) have been trying for months to make the Orbiting Space Stations around Earth liveable. They’ve just been living in their spaceships hoping to move into a more permanent residence. And I can’t blame them. I’ve seen their ships (through video conferencing only) and as much as they are ten times what we currently have in the Human Fleet, they are a little cramped for 1/3 of the Ox population. Anyway, it was a joint project; a Chief Contractor from the Humans and a Master Builder from the Ox.

The Chief Contractor supervising the build left me a voicemail message last night (seriously who calls anyone anymore?) saying that they were going to try venting the plasma coolant over night to see if that would stabilize the rotation rings. I’d already gone home for the day (it was 6pm), but as I’m sure you noticed this morning – what with the purple sky and all – the coolant must have enter the atmosphere.

Anyway, when I made it to work this morning the Chief Contractor apologized for the toxic spill (yeah you read that right) but said that venting the coolant did what he hoped it would do. Apparently the rotation rings are working at 80% capacity and increasing by the hour. The Ox will have a home orbiting Earth in just over a week if the rotation rings continue to operate properly.

That didn’t stop the calls from coming in. From what I can tell – or have been told – all of the plasma coolant burnt up in the atmosphere but environmentalists are concerned that some of it managed to fall to the surface.

My Big Boss, the Deputy Minister of Alien Relations for the Human Race Council, has called a press conference for this afternoon. I’m not supposed to post anything in advance of press conferences, but you can pretty much guess what he’ll be talking about.

I haven’t had much of a chance to find out what’s going on though. I’ve been in a meeting almost all morning- Joy. It was with the Ox representatives from the Intergalactic Alliance Committee. It wasn’t anything in particular they wanted to talk about. In fact it felt more like an interview, again. I suppose until the Ox pick an Official Liaison they’ll be like that. E’lish is pretty nice and she has a full mastery of the English language so it makes my life easier. Romi still has his “eee” accent.

I’ll admit, it can be so frustrating talking to him sometimes. I wish the scientists in the communications area would hurry up and develop that translation program for the Ox language. It sucks having to hear over and over again that “your inferior vocal cords can’t handle our language”. Ok so they don’t actually say that – like the Ox would ever say anything mean – but I get the feeling that they are thinking it sometimes.

It’s funny to watch when someone tries to attempt some of the more common words, but mispronounces it completely. The Ox normally just stands there like a patient parent looking at their idiot child.

The first time I tried was with E’lish. I tried to greet her formally. I think Ox word sounds like Eee-win-do-sa and then the person’s name. I must have gotten it wrong because E’lish said,

“Thank you for attempting to speak with us in the Ocs’halaha’ee language but we much prefer English or Mandarin.”

That was a couple of months ago now, and I haven’t tried it since. Well that’s all for now. More next week.

Over and Out

Here we go. My first blog post.

I guess I should introduce myself.  My name is Dalton. I’m an Intergalactic Liaison for Human Race Council – the world governing body (but you already knew that). I’m also a workaholic so this blog will be about my work.

My friends keep telling me that my life is interesting which is why I should start a blog. I guess I can’t argue with them. I do lead a very interesting life.

I mean who else gets to talk directly to the representatives from the Alien community – I’m talking about the Ox – in orbit around Earth? Who else gets first hand knowledge about our alliance status with the other Aliens races in our corner of the universe? And who else gets to sit on the Human Race Colony Board? There are only 25 Intergalactic Liaison’s appointed by the HRC so I’m lucky to have the job I do. I also get to go on “Field Trips”, or at least I will once the Orbiting Space Stations being built for the Ox are ready. I can’t wait for that phone call.

“Dalton, you’re needed for a face to face meeting on Orb 1. Get up here fast.”

Yeah, that will be a great day. And now that I have a blog, you’ll get to hear all about it.

Well, it’s late and not much happens to me on weekends so I’ll post soon.

Over and Out