CHAPTER 19
International space station – High earth Orbit
Commander Sinclair had awakened to the sound of a car horn, or of a ships horn going off. He smiled at the weird dream he had just had. Just as he was about to slip off to the land of nod it happened again - AAOOOHGAH; AAOOOHGAH; AAOOOHGAH. Commander Sinclair came out of his sleeping bag looking around in a slight panic.
Commander Sinclair came out from the science module and looked up to see a smiling, very human face, looking at him from portal from another ship five foot away from the upper viewing portal. The commander rubbed his eyes and then a sleepy Dr. Weir came out of the science module.
"Commander is everything ok. Something woke me up." Dr. Weir hesitated then stated "I could have sworn I heard a ships horn going off." Dr. Weir finally noticed that the Commander had been staring up and out of the upper viewing portal. "Commander…"
Dr. Weir suddenly stopped when she saw a human face in another ship. The man was waving at her and smiling. Before she thought about it she smiled back and then waved back. The man then seemed to chuckle before turning around and grabbing something.
The man brought out a folding poster board and opened it "Please tell the folks at Houston that the Alterran ship Graphon sends a warm "howdy" to the people of Earth. The man then mimicked a person taking a picture.
Dr. Weir who couldn't help the smile began to chuckle too "Commander I think he wants you to take a picture."
The commander without turning to look at her "I am not going to do that because that would indicate that this is not a dream and the surrealism of this whole situation would hit me."
Dr. Weir genuinely laughed "Commander if you don't get the camera Houston will have a cow."
The commander shook his head and floated to a cabinet and opened it "I was really hoping this was a dream and that I would wake up and things would be normal." The commander grabbed the camera and took several shots before the man in the other ship held up the sign before smiling and waving again.
The ship maneuver away as the two astronauts watched. They took many photos of the ship before it slowly pulled away from them.
Commander Sinclair pulled on a headset and keyed his mike "Houston this is the space station, over."
A few seconds later the speakers in the headphones answered "Station this is Houston, over."
"Houston we had a little situation up here and we are going to send you some photos, over." Commander stated calmly.
The radio crackled again "Station what kind of situation do you have?"
Commander Sinclair answered "Houston, I am not going to answer that and I am sending the pictures we just took. I am going back to bed and don't call me back for a few hours…Station out."
Alterran Ship Graphon -
Harry bid the command crew good night and took Sam's hand as he guided her to their cabin. Once they arrive they found Hermione sound asleep with a little smile on her face. Sam looked at her and smiled "She must be having a good dream."
Eight hours later Hermione woke up pressed by warm bodies on both sides. She gave a deep satisfied smile as she found Sam in front of her and knew that Harry was pressed to her back. She felt Harry's lower appendage pushing against her and realized that it was very close to where she wanted it to be buried.
She let a bigger smile appear on her face and shifted her lower body to accept Harry into her. With that accomplished, she wrapped her arms around Sam to snuggle closer. Sam sighed in her sleep.
Hermione woke up sometime later and felt Harry sifting his weight at a steady rhythm. She let out a soft moan as Harry continued.
It was an hour later and two showers that the three arrived at the Command module to review any communications received during the night. Hermione had a few as Atlantis administrator but none from Earth. Harry looked over the science station and was impressed with the monitoring capabilities.
The computer system was interactive and learning as it went. With each situation it met it learned to alert the Alterran's to potential problems, even if it was not apparent to the Alterran's themselves.
At 9:00 am the president held a press conference and Dr. Jackson was standing in the wings. Sam and Harry smiled as Dr. Jackson looked very uncomfortable. Harry smiled and commented "I hope Daniel is wearing his industrial deodorant today because he looks like he needs it."
Hermione arched her eyebrow "Mr. Potter if I were you I would be more worried about his reaction to finding out you're the leader of the race that he has been trying to find out about."
Sam seemed concerned "Oh crap he is going to be so pissed that you knew the Alterran language the whole time and didn't share it with him."
Harry smugly smiled to them "I know but he will have to learn to live with it."
The President came up to the podium and looked over the audience "Good morning ladies and gentlemen I asked for this press conference because of events that have happened in the last twenty-four hours."
"Yesterday at 7:00 pm we received a transmission from a space ship orbiting our world. They announced themselves as the Alterran's and that they were answering a hail from Dr. Daniel Jackson. Now, as you know, Dr. Jackson has been the leading scientist that has found evidence that another species came from space and interacted with our world thousands of years ago." The president paused.
"In their transmission they did indicate that they had an abandoned outpost on our world." The audience murmurs could be heard to rise at the news they were being given. "Listen up folks. Let me get through this so you can ask your question of me and Dr. Jackson who I am appointing as our lead for the first contact team we are putting together." Daniel looked at him in surprise as the president smiled and winked at him.
At 7:41 PM we received communications from the International space station crew that they had a situation. They took photos that I am going to show you." The president turned to the screen behind him and waited for the first picture to come up. "As you can see a ship has parked itself next to the space station. The being in the screen writes in clear English "Tell the folks in Houston "Howdy."
"As the next ten pictures reveal this is a fairly large ship that you can see as it pulls away from the station. It is of a design we have never seen before. I believe the intent by allowing these pictures is to prove to many that this is not a hoax." The President looked at the audience "I think the message was meant to signal that they were aware of us to include our customs. It is also apparent that they look very similar to us."
"I have no opinion one way or another but in the big scheme of things I see this as an opportunity to make friends with our new cosmic neighbors." The President motioned for Daniel to stand beside him. "My message to them is clear and I also wish to invite the ambassadors from Britain, Russia, China, France, and Germany to the white house Monday morning to meet with the Alterran people."
The President smiled "To the Alterran's I send greetings and welcome them to our world. Please come to the white house at 10:00 AM Monday morning to visit with us."
The president turned to the news room "Now with that said are there any questions?"
The next thirty minutes the President and Daniel answered questions as best as they could. The president then motioned for Daniel to follow him. Once out of the newsroom the President looked to the side "So Dr. Jackson we had a lot of surprises in the last day."
Daniel nodded "About my appointment to lead this team, do you think I am the right person? I mean I am not a diplomat by any means."
The President laughed "Daniel I have read the mission reports from Cheyenne and you are the only member that has met 12 different species. In this respect you have no equal on Earth."
Daniel looked down "I never thought of it like that."
The President turned to him as they entered the oval office "Please have a seat Dr. Jackson. We have a lot to talk about." The President then closed the door.
Monday morning - 9:58 Am – White house lawn.
A black speck appeared in the morning sky above the White house. It descended in a straight line down towards the Earth. At one thousand feet above them many could already see that the ship would dwarf the white house. It stopped about one hundred feet directly above the white house.
The Earth delegation stood together in the rose garden and awaited their guests. A beam of light appeared and three people in Red uniforms stood with their hands behind their backs. The three promptly bowed and then stepped back a few paces.
The next to appear were a man and a woman in light blue flight suits that had NASA above their right pockets. Then three people arrived behind them wearing white light robes gray pants and grey boots. The astronauts looked confused but Commander Sinclair saluted the President. "Sorry sir, they brought us with them." The President merely nodded.
They both moved off to the side and before them stood Harry, Hermione on his right and Samantha on his left. He smiled at the group across from him and said in all five languages "Good Morning." All five delegates smiled at him and nodded.
Harry then spoke English "I would like to introduce the people behind me. Caption Brax of the Alterran ship Hestaphera, Captain Alexis of the Graphon, our Communications officer Lieutenant Brenson. The two women behind me are my mates Zeta and Theta and my name is High Counselor Omicron from the Alterran high counsel."
The President then spoke "It is nice to meet you High Counselor Omicron I have with me some very influential people "The Ambassador from China Xiang Cho Dong, the Ambassador from Russia Andre Kasporov, the French ambassador Jean Piquat, The British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and the German Ambassador Klaus Isper. I am President William Devonshire from the United States.
Behind me is a team of our top scientists called our first contact team Dr. Daniel Jackson a linguist, Dr. Anita Baker, anthropologist, Dr Simon Gurney a physicist."
The President smiled "We are glad you came and hope your journey wasn't too great."
Harry nodded "President Devonshire I think the best thing to do here is bring some information to light now instead of having it discovered later on. I do not wish to deceive anyone and would ask for your indulgence for a brief statement."
The President motioned for the podium and Harry walked to stand behind it. "Good Morning I am an Alterran and I represent a race of people that at one time spanned the galaxy and beyond. We have been in space for millions of years.
This was not always the case for me. You see I was born a human on Earth but with one difference I had a recessive gene ingrained into my DNA from my parents. Under the proper set of circumstances this gene would activate and change my DNA to become Alterran. This event occurred two years ago.
The Alterran gene activation would also trigger a signal to go out to the Alterran's and it was two years ago I was picked up and learned of my true heritage. The single most important event to trigger this gene was contact with Alterran technology which is keyed to work for an Alterran only.
Both of my mates were also born of this world and when they had contact with me their DNA was altered and they became Alterran. These changes forever altered and changed our lives. As part of this genetic change, the Alterran's had programmed into the gene a type of genetic memory that all Alterran's are born with.
This evening I will be transmitting an introduction to the Alterran race. This gives a brief history and includes how the earth fits into this history and I think it is important for you to know this. As part of this Alterran heritage the Alterran's developed a special gate that will generate a wormhole and transport people to other worlds within this galaxy." A bright light appeared and a tall circular structure appeared next to the podium.
Harry left the podium and went with the president to a conference room. Daniel came up to him and smiled "Hi, you know you look a lot like a guy I use to work with named Harry Potter, do you know him?"
Harry and Sam smiled as Harry asked "Good looking guy with black hair and two gorgeous women he hung around with…never heard of him."
Daniel almost growled "Is this for real, all of this?"
Sam laughed "Maybe you should ask that when we arrive at our capitol city Atlantis."