![]() |
Stellar Size | |
|
1280x1024 wallpaper size image The mission was to search a region of space that the SETI@home project had received the only viable signal from. The SETI "at" home project was started back in May of 1999. The concept was to use the power of the Internet to link millions of personal computers together to work as a giant supercomputer. SETI stands for the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence. The original SETI project was started by Dr's. Philip Morrison and Guisepppe Conconni back in 1959. By 1995, it had grown to 1100 member organizations such as NASA, the Russian Space Authority and the International Astronomical Union, along with participation by 59 countries. According to the "Drake Equation" they should find definite proof of extra terrestrial life between 2020 and 2025. Those dates came and went with no significant discoveries. It wasn't until 2049, when the hurdle of "faster than light speed" travel was removed, that space exploration moved from impossible to probable. During the entire life of SETI, there had been only one incident back in February of 2003, that really stood out. A signal that was named SHGb02+14a, with a frequency of 1420 megahertz was verified by two different computers that were part of the SETI@home project. At the time astronomers were not optimistic, because it came from a region of space where there were no stars within a thousand light years. As man ventured into space and nearby stars, he expected to meet other races of creatures. This did not come to pass. There were no Romulans, Klingons, Vulcans or any other space faring races. It seemed that the humans of Earth were alone in the Universe. When we did reach the source area of signal SHGb02+14a, we were surprised to find that there were stars in this area. They were just too weak to be seen or measured by instruments on Earth. The first order of business was to map these weaker stars so we didn't end up warping into the center of one of them. During the mapping process the shields were not up. With no warning from the sensors, something smashed into the side of deck 17. The shields were ordered up and the captain called for a scan of anything moving in our vicinity. The scan showed nothing out of the ordinary. An inspection of the damage ruled out meteors or space debris. The captain announced that we may have made our first contact with another intelligent life form. He ordered no retaliatory fire no matter what happened, except by his order. Suddenly another the low powered attack on the star ship happened, and they couldn't find the ship that fired. It must be assumed they have cloaking abilities. The captain called for five more comprehensive scans but still turned up nothing to account for the attack. The scans did turn up a small cloud covered planet. On closer inspection, the planet had an atmosphere that was amazingly like Earth's. It would certainly be breathable for humans. The irony of the odds of the first planet we found having an atmosphere that was breathable, was not lost on the Captain or the crew. The captain called for a security team of three to take a closer look. Upon being teleported to the surface all three reported in, but the thickness of the cloud cover kept them from seeing each other. The captain gave the order the security team could set their weapons on the lowest setting for stun, but under no circumstances were they even to use that without permission first. Dan, who was the leader of the security team understood the need for first contact to be peaceful, but he didn't like the idea of not being able to protect himself or his men. Unbeknownst to Dan, there was something moving in the clouds behind him. It was a star ship, but on a scale that made humans look like giants of old Earth legends. Whereas the laser beam could not penetrate the hull of the giant starship, the commander of the tiny ship did not doubt the laser would slice through the bodies of the giant intruders.
|
||