This is a fan translation of Invasion (Вторжение) by Mikhail Akhmanov, currently only available in Russian and, because of the author's passing in 2019, unlikely to ever be published in English. This is the first book in a six-book series called Arrivals from the Dark (Пришедшие из мрака), which also has a six-book spin-off series called Trevelyan's Mission (Миссия Тревельяна).

I claim no rights to the contents herein.

Epilogue

Lunar Base, USF headquarters

Level twenty-one, area Zed

Transcript of the fifth debriefing of Lieutenant Commander Pavel Litvin.

Date: July 17, 2088, Earth time.

Clearance: Top secret.

Present: Admiral Orlando Chavez, CINC, First Fleet; Admiral Joseph Haley, CINC, Second Fleet; Rear Admiral Lev Potemkin, Doctor of Medicine, head of the USF research division.

Admiral Haley, the presiding officer: I hope you're rested, Lieutenant Commander. We haven't seen you in three days.

Lt Cdr Litvin: Yes, sir, fully rested. Thank you, sir.

Admiral Haley: Then let's continue our interview. (Turns to Chavez.) Admiral, you agreed to familiarize yourself with the Lieutenant Commander's report, which adds up the data and summarizes our previous meetings. What do you say?

Admiral Chavez: A detailed document, my colleagues. But the Lieutenant Commander was commendably brief regarding the main event; everything is described on one page. Besides that, there are also appendices. The fate of the Lark and her crew – Appendix A, what happened to Lieutenants McNeil, Rodriguez, and Corcoran – Appendix B, conversations with the Ship's artificial brain and thoughts on its nature – Appendix C, information on the Bino Faata and the other galactic races – Appendix D. The text matches the transcripts of our conversations and the results of the studies being conducted in the Antarctic.

Lt Cdr Litvin: If you'll allow me, sir?

Admiral Haley: Yes, Lieutenant Commander. Ask.

Lt Cdr Litvin: I would like to know, sir, what happened to the quasi-mind and the Ship's crew? If you recall, I did not leave it on my own and did not have time–

Rear Admiral Potemkin: We will talk later about how you left it. As for this creature… this beast… this brain… No traces, Lieutenant Commander! Most likely, as Voss had assured you, it was completely destroyed and converted into gas. The experts tend to believe that. They found the device you described… sigga, I believe?.. Except it was an empty container.

Lt Cdr Litvin: How did the Faata die?

Rear Admiral Potemkin: Several causes. Some suffocated, others froze, yet others fell to their deaths in the gravlift shafts when the power supply was cut. The brains of those that you call of limited sentience were destroyed, at least among those who were connected to the Ship at the time. Those who were sleeping died when their life support equipment was shut off. The pregnant women… these ksa… Damn it! Do you really want to know the details, Lieutenant Commander?

Lt Cdr Litvin (hides his face in his hands): No… sorry, sir… probably not.

Admiral Haley: If you have no more questions, Lieutenant Commander, we will turn to the topic of today's conversation. We are interested in the identity of Gunther Voss, all the circumstances related to him, and the last several minutes of your presence on the Ship. First of all, tell us what happened to your companions: McNeil and the Faata woman.

Lt Cdr Litvin: Voss looked tired. He—

Rear Admiral Potemkin: A moment! Did he tell you that himself, or are you relaying your subjective impressions?

Lt Cdr Litvin: No, there were no statements to that effect from him. He said that he was able to teleport a large object, probably around one hundred kilograms, within the vicinity of Earth. But that gift of his depends on the distance and the object's mass, so he could only take one woman with him, Yo or McNeil. It seemed to me that, after the transportation, he was exhausted… He said he needed to rest… Then he transported McNeil, himself, and, finally, Yo, precisely in that order. I think that was the limit of his capabilities. McNeil and Yo are frail women and weigh less than a hundred kilograms put together.

Admiral Haley: But he took you as well.

Lt Cdr Litvin: I am not sure, sir, that it was him.

Admiral Chavez: You have an alternative hypothesis?

Lt Cdr Litvin: Yes. Of course, I am not ruling out that Voss was the one who rescued me. If not him, then, probably, the Ship. I don't know the reasons, it was a very unpredictable creature. Voss had said that its emotions overrode its reason, and, if that is true, then it… (turns away) could have shown mercy to its killer. But I am not certain that the Ship had Voss's abilities; at least, this never came up in our conversations. I believe… I think… well, there is a third hypothesis.

Admiral Haley: We are listening.

Lt Cdr Litvin: Voss called himself an emissary, an observer from a race unknown to us. Maybe there are other envoys? Even those Voss doesn't know? And one of them…

(Silence, thirty seconds.)

Rear Admiral Potemkin: Right now, we are unable to refute or accept any hypothesis. Only remember it.

(Another silence, eight seconds.)

Admiral Haley: That is what we'll do. Now tell us, what happened after your… hmm… extraction from the Ship.

Lt Cdr Litvin: I found myself in a dwelling. I know now that it was a building on the outskirts of Brussels… I assume it has already been examined?

Admiral Chavez: Yes. It is the home of Gunther Voss, the reporter from the CosmoSpiegel magazine. Continue, Lieutenant Commander.

Lt Cdr Litvin: The only other people in the room were Yo and Lieutenant McNeil. I confirmed that both were in good health and stepped to the window. The glass, shattered by the shockwave, covered the floor and the windowsill, and there was a cloud of smoke above the city center. A result of a powerful explosion, but why? I was lost in conjecture. I didn't know then that the Faata battle modules had fallen on several cities and caused destruction and the deaths of people. I thought that it was an act of sabotage by some terrorist organization, maybe the Assassins. Using the chaos and the turmoil, they could have detonated a portable nuclear device… A T-16 or something like it…

Admiral Haley: Continue.

Lt Cdr Litvin: I decided that we were at least fifteen to twenty kilometers from the city center and were probably safe. McNeil had already turned on the computer… There was a computer, sir, and other devices used by reporters… The satellite connection was working, so I ordered McNeil to contact any USF base she could reach. In the meantime, Yo and I walked around the cottage, went down into the basement… I was looking for Voss, but he was not there. No one was there, except for the three of us. McNeil contacted the European base, and they came for us. Five hours later, we were on Luna, at a hospital. That is all.

Admiral Chavez: It is, unfortunately. Gunther Voss has disappeared, the other individuals you mentioned are also missing: the Chinese astronomer Liu Chang, the diplomat Umkhonto Tlume, and Lieutenant Roy Bunch. However, many were familiar with them, so they are not mythical personas. Perhaps, as you claim, he is one man or a being of extraterrestrial nature… But he does not wish to establish contact.

Lt Cdr Litvin: I cannot say anything on this subject, sir.

Admiral Haley: I think that's enough for today. Do you have any requests, Lieutenant Commander? Maybe the women? Yo, or Lieutenant McNeil? Is she being treated well as the hospital?

Lt Cdr Litvin: Yes, sir. Her parents and the late Lieutenant Corcoran's mother came. Everything is fine, sir, both with her and the child she is expecting. However, Lieutenant McNeil asked me to give Admiral Chavez her letter of resignation. For personal reasons… Here is the document.

(Gives the request to Admiral Chavez. The Admiral signs it.)

Rear Admiral Potemkin: Your personal circumstances have also changed. This Yo is a very attractive woman and holds a great value… The only member of the Faata race left alive… What do you intend to do, Lieutenant Commander?

Lt Cdr Litvin: Ask for leave, sir, and take her to my hometown of Smolensk. I hope she likes it there.

Admiral Chavez: What then? Do you also wish to resign?

Lt Cdr Litvin: No. I will serve, sir. What happened will change the world, change our lives; maybe for the best, maybe for the worst. After all, no one knows who will come to us from the darkness… I can't leave the service at a time like that. I've got to serve.