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    The Aftermath
    The Aftermath
    The Aftermath
    Ebook132 pages2 hours

    The Aftermath

    By Scott C. Anderson

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Written for all age groups. Celia Reyes already had a difficult job working with people and their problems with the law. She never envisioned that one day she could be called to save her home planet.
    On a clear sunny day, on a sandy beach, Celia would make her first offworld contact with the Qell Protectorate. This personal first contact would forever change her life.
    The earth woman will assist with the prevention of a planned asteroid strike aimed at two different worlds. Celia’s involvement would change the plans of a distant race to “clear the way” for strip mining the earth planet by permanently removing all life. Her efforts, her work, will forever change the destiny of two races, and the people she loves.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLulu.com
    Release dateJul 4, 2014
    ISBN9781312330382
    The Aftermath

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      Book preview

      The Aftermath - Scott C. Anderson

      The Aftermath

      The Aftermath

      By Scott C. Anderson

      This is a book of fiction. Characters, places, names, theories, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to persons, alive or dead, along with their events or locations is purely coincidental.

      Disclaimer:  These stories are written in a conversational style.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher.

      Fourth Edition

      © 2014, 2018, 2019 by Scott C. Anderson. All rights reserved.

      ISBN 978-1-312-33038-2

      The aftermath

      Celia Reyes considered herself a lucky woman.  Locally, she worked as a Probation Officer in her home town of Ventura, California.  For the past two decades she treated each day as a new challenge.  As a very young girl, Celia found that she needed to grow up fast and smart.  Her hard background never seemed to hold her back as she awoke every morning to face a new day. 

      The job of a Probation Officer may not seem appealing to everyone.  It certainly didn’t make her popular among some of her friends and neighbors, but that never kept this strong woman from trying to make a difference.  She wanted to work with people; she had to work with people.  Her life may have been hard growing up, but that didn’t mean that she had to stand by and watch others fall.

      During her thirty-seven years on this planet, she refused to give family and relatives the ability to undermine her positive direction.  But, she did stand with and support family members and friends if they needed her help navigating through their decline, or eventual fall, within the various legal systems. 

      Celia’s perpetual youth guaranteed that she would never grow old.  Her orderly view of her future changed on a quiet Friday afternoon in May, near the white sandy beaches of the City of Ventura.

      Deciding it was time, Celia scheduled to have her car washed and detailed.  She chose a shady area near the entrance to one of the beachside public parks.  The warm weather brought out locals and tourists as Celia chatted with Ralph, her friend and car detailer.  The retired man had a lot to say and Celia enjoyed talking about a variety of subjects.  Spending only an hour, Ralph finished washing the bright red late-model Toyota Camry and was in the process of giving it a light detail.  Celia sat in a folding chair and switched her attention between checking her iPhone and talking with Ralph.  The slight distortions in her phone worried her, only because it was new, and she wanted to avoid any problems with the upgraded device.

      Glancing out across the parking lot and towards the ocean, Celia felt a cold chill run down her spine as she believed she saw a distortion in the sky.  Shaking off the feeling, Celia stood as she talked with Ralph about his finished job and how good her car looked.

      Celia waved to Ralph as he drove off, but her cold feeling was hard to ignore.  The parking lot seemed empty as she took a short walk to the beach.  Celia wanted to take one last look at the ocean before leaving.  The clear afternoon sun warmed the sands and provided the feeling of tropical splendor.  Always observant, she scanned the horizon and initially saw nothing. 

      A moment later, the familiar distortion floated off in the distance.  Celia took a few minutes to see what she wasn't seeing.  The distortion looked like the heat waves radiating off the desert pavement during one of her recent trips to or from Las Vegas.  She was about to dismiss the anomaly and head back to her car, when she once again turned to glance at the distortion.

      The beautiful day and slight breeze allowed Celia to relax.  The sun was so warm that she paused for just a few more moments.  The object seemed to continue to hover, and then lowered into the ocean.  Normally she wouldn't have been bothered by a distortion or mirage, but the calm sea reacted to something solid impacting the water.  The obvious wake radiated and pushed against the calm ocean.  Celia could have easily walked away and not bothered with the event, but something caught her interest and told her to keep watching, and stay involved. 

      Living most of her life in Ventura, the ocean and sandy beach had become an old welcome friend.  She had witnessed almost every type of climate change from near typhoon winds and rolling seas, to the dead calm waters of this afternoon.  As Celia continued to watch, an unusual bump formed in the ocean that appeared to be moving towards her location.  Bright lights lit up the sea as the deep blue/green of the ocean appeared to come alive with color and activity. 

      I don't know why I'm just standing here?  Celia looked around to see if anyone saw her talking to herself.

      The large gently-spreading bump in the water seemed to slow to a stop, as if reacting to her comment.  Celia stepped farther onto the sandy beach and walked towards the small lapping waves.

      Deep within the skyboat, at almost a half a mile from shore, the proximity readings indicated that the floor of the ocean angled towards the beach.  There was only a few feet between the keel of the skyboat and the sandy sea bottom. 

      Will she do?  A male voice in the darkness indicated the woman on the beach.

      I think she'll work out just fine.  Without judgment, the captain of the skyboat indicated the only person on the beach for half a mile in either direction.

      Let's see how she handles this contact.

      The black reflective skyboat lifted from the water as it moved toward the beach.  The deep piano-black hull gave little away as the water cascaded from the ship.  The smooth rectangular box design carried a wide single-story band that appeared as an uninterrupted expanse of glass.  Sunlight streamed in through all sides, as the self-tinting panoramic windows adjusted to a comfortable level.  The crew of the skyboat could easily see Celia, but she couldn't see into the ship due to the properties of the black glass.

      Celia's human nature took over as she bent down to see what was holding up the large black airship.  Had this been any other time, she would have run for cover, yet this had an entirely different feel.  Legendary for her courage, Celia waited for something, anything, to happen. 

      The design of the skyboat contained a lower service section, creating a lower second floor.  This section allowed enough room for a cargo hold and staging garage.  The wide cargo doors opened and exposed equipment that could be used for a variety of offworld encounters.

      Pintar Fell of the Qell Protectorate stood with Systems Lieutenant Elian Salz.  Dressed in a finely tailored pair of black pants and polo shirt, Pintar looked directly at Celia.  The brave woman wanted to run but, at the same time, didn't want to miss out on what was going to happen next.  Dressed in the same fashion as his captain, Elian broke the silence as he stepped off of the extended platform and onto the beach.  Pintar followed, as he always did, allowing his good friend and lieutenant the ability to make first contact. 

      Elian spoke for a full minute in a language Celia couldn't understand.  Then, as the language imagery began to assist, Elian's words began to make sense. We are from a distant system.  Can you speak for your people?

      My people?  I can hardly speak for myself.  Celia had the habit of rubbing her hands when nervous.

      The captain answered, I understand completely.  But we are asking if you can speak for your people in a coherent manner; in a way we can understand.  Pintar paused to let his words sink in.

      Yes, I can do that, yes.  Celia spoke her mind with confidence and rarely hesitated to voice an opinion.  She felt she understood the two men and waited for their next question.

      Elian indicated the ramp.  Please come with us.  We could use, he paused to calculate, at least four hours of your time.

      At the realization and suspicion that she may never return, Celia held up her index finger.  Wait a minute.  I need to check on something.   She then ran back to verify that her car was locked, and then scribbled a hasty note that she was sure didn’t make any sense.  She also grabbed her windbreaker.

      Pintar could tell by her language imagery that she was an honest woman and would return.  Her apprehension was also prevalent as her courage spoke volumes about the people of this blue-water planet.  Pintar glanced at Elian and tried to remain confident about the necessary encounter.  Elian gave his captain the support he needed during these difficult times.  Had this been any other human race, the results would be the same, yet the encounter completely different.

      Celia locked her car and struggled with the manmade fabrics of the windbreaker.  She had no interest in running away or avoiding this meeting.  Her intense interest in what appeared to be the real thing forced the woman to confront her fears and move forward.  Walking back to the beach, she took her time and calmed her nerves.  The sight of the floating interstellar ship seemed familiar and common, as though she had met offworld representatives on a regular basis.

      May we take your vehicle aboard?  Zim Corath, loadmaster and supplymaster, didn't want to let an opportunity get past him.  Earlier he had asked for permission to retrieve Palla system technology and this seemed as good a time as any.

      I just had it washed.  Celia's first concern was the cost of the detail and getting the car dirty so soon after having it cleaned.

      Pintar enjoyed the banter between the two, as he listened-in on the conversation.  His standing orders were to scan and capture alien technology whenever possible; he just didn't think this was

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