TAU 6 and the Invasion

Tau 6 and the Invasion

A novel by

Alejandro Lamothe

Tihs cdeod msegsae is the rievceed snaigl by rrchareesrs of eaxatrertraraesl inetlinlengt lfie, idncitatenig them, taht tehy had fnuod bniges cnminog form oethr petlnas, who wnat to ctmounmacie wtih Etrah, if tsehe rrchareesrs cnaont dphecier the msegsae, whiitn tihs msegsae, tehy wlil not be albe to ltaribee the Etrah form the ioviasnn it has been sgermrbud snice the bningeing of htamunity. ¹

1 This coded message is the received signal by researchers of extraterrestrial intelligent life, indicating them, that they had found beings from other planets, who want to communicate with Earth, if these researchers cannot decipher the message, within this message, they will not be able to liberate the Earth from the invasion it has been submerged since the beginning of humanity.

Tau 6 and the Invasion

Author: Alejandro Lamothe

2009; First Edition

Published by Alejandro Lamothe at Smashwords

Language: English

5/4/13 12:43 PM

Smashwords Edition, License Notes:
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

To buy a hard copy of this book please visit:

http://www.tau6andtheinvasion.com

Para comprar un ejemplar impreso de este libro en español; por favor visite el sitio:

http://www.tau6ylainvasion.com

Copyright 2013 Alejandro Lamothe

All rights reserved

Email: alejandro.lamothe@lamothe.com

To my children:

Alejandro (Alfredo Jr.),

Andres (Patricio),

and Pablo (Alejandro).

******

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.- 2077

2.- THE FRENCHWOMAN

3.- EXTRATERRESTIAL INTELLIGENCE

4.- LISTENING TO THE SKY

5.- FLATLAND

6.- ALFREDO, PATRICIO AND ALEJANDRO

7.- HAWKING TRAVELS TO THE FUTURE

8.- RFID UNMASKING THE MURDERER

9.- WE CAN ONLY SEE THE PAST

10.- MONITORING CENTER

11.- THE CONSPIRACY

12.- MICRO BLACKHOLE

13.- THE CLOSING

14.- EARTH VS ALIENS

15.- THE LAWYER IS ARRESTED

16.- SLNPLIEG IS NO GAOL

17.- PERSEUS RESCUES ANDROMEDA

18.- SPACE SAILBOAT

19.- VACA AND THE ICE CREAM

20.- PARTY OF THREE

21.- ALFREDO BECOMES A SUSPECT

22.- WILLKENS IS DESPERATE

23.- THE BATHROOM

24.- THE POLICE ARRIVES

25.- UFOVICH

26.- SAFE!

27.- CROP CIRCLES

28.- DEMONS IN THE WORLD

29.- THE HOSPITAL

30.- HOPE FADES AWAY

31.- WORLD NEWS

32.- L1 THE HIDING PLACE

33.- THE FROG

34.- INSECURITY CAN KILL

35.- A LIGHT OF HOPE

36.- PARIS

37.- SETIA

38.- NOTRE DAME

39.- BUDDHA BAR

40.- EXTRATERRETRIAL SIGNALS?

41.- AN ASTRAL DANCE

42.- INTERESTELAR PIRATES

43.- HELIUM

44.- RISE AND SHINE

45.- TAKING CONTROL

46.- IN SEARCH OF THE TAU 6

47.- ALIVE?

48.- THE RETURN

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I want to thank everyone who, either intentionally or unintentionally and with commendable selflessness, imbued in me the, as yet, unlimited desire to share what little understanding I possess about true knowledge, as well as everyone who awakened in me a voracious hunger for true science. Thank you all.

I especially want to thank: My father, for never giving up on his crazy idea that I should write a book. My mother, for instilling in me a tremendous self-assurance, to the point of making me believe I could achieve what I had never imagined: writing a book. My brother Pedro, who has awakened in me the greatest passion for learning and who introduced me to the fascinating world of astronomy. My nephew Pedro who showed me, with the greatest simplicity and humility, that those who possess true knowledge have absolutely no need to prove it or brag about it.. My nephew Paul, who has taught me that knowledge is not governed by age or hierarchy. My nephew Daniel, who candidly taught me that what I was writing was not really that complicated or sophisticated. Gabriel Martin del Campo, who is more like a brother to me than my cousin, who read my manuscript and gave me feedback on every single line that is printed here. Stephen Hawking, who unknowingly inspired me to such a degree that I ended up integrating him into the novel as a key character. Julia Tagüena, who guided me along the paths of science and knowledge dissemination, with her valuable critique on the manuscript. Jose de la Herran, the famous Mexican astronomer, who honored me with his highly motivating opinion about my novel, to Brian Greene, who, with his multiple books I red; taught me the beauty of and finally Enrique Ganem, who without knowing me in person, believed in me and took the time and dedication to write a prologue I might have never imagined.

******

INTRODUCTION

This is the only time I have to speak directly with you, my reader. My greatest desire as an author is to have many people read this book. What? An author? It sounds so strange, but I actually wrote this and, therefore, I am the author, so, here I go.

I always wanted to write a book and to my surprise and possibly to the greater surprise of many people who know me, here it is, finished, from beginning to end, and not only that, it turned out to be no less than a science fiction novel.

But HOLD ON! Do not expect it to be a big book or anything of the like because of that. What I can tell you is that it was a lot of fun to write it, and I hope that will be the same to you; expecting more is beyond the wildest fantasy tale.

To those who think that writing a book requires a lot of effort, I tell you that that is not the case, or at least it was not for me. Surely, not because I am very smart, at least I do not think so; I just began to write it, it took shape, and now, come and see what came out of it, or rather, enjoy reading the end product. Thus, I think this work does not require great effort; in fact more than a great achievement, it was fun, entertaining, and exciting to write my novel. I am convinced that anyone who sets out to do it with conviction can achieve it, certainly better than myself. In the meantime, here is this science fiction novel which will surely amuse you.

I assure you that this story is enjoyable and entertaining. It has everything: action, romance, adventure, suspense, and, of course, fiction, though, if you’ll allow it, since it is already in your hands, it also comes with a very sizable amount of science. My hope is that you won’t notice the latter, as someone taking a drop of bitter medicine mixed in with a good chocolate shake or a spoonful of honey.

This book is not suitable for those who are not interested in reading it, but it is suitable for anyone who is curious, nosy, and gossipy, and we all have a bit of that in us, let’s face it.

I am almost scared to tell you that you will learn by reading this story, as it may sound arrogant. At the same time, I think that, unfortunately, learning seems to be at odds with fun and entertainment today, but, believe me, you won’t even notice the learning; at least I hope so. If you do find some of the scientific passages tiresome, go ahead and skip them: you won’t lose the thread of the novel.

I do not want to sound indoctrinating; that’s not who I am and I am not trying to be. All I did was stand on the wise giant's shoulder and think about easy and fun ways to write a story, which might not only entertain, but also teach what little I know, and when I say little, believe me, I mean really very little.

At times, when I have had the opportunity to learn from those who really know, I realized that most of them are so busy with their continued studies and discoveries that they, unfortunately, have very little interest in us ordinary human beings, and they won’t even throw us a bone. This was what motivated me to try to share what little understanding I have of true science, through the stories I decided to tell.

I assure you that everything in this book that is connected to science is true. I am not asking you to believe everything, I just ask you to be inquisitive and go ahead and investigate whether what I say is true or not. If you find that I am wrong, I would love you, my reader, to correct my mistakes; I would really appreciate an education.

Finally, I ask you to read this book, trying to create in your mind a perfect balance between skepticism and curiosity; this is the ideal marriage. It’s no sin to doubt and neither is not to doubt, the sin is to doubt and not to seek truth or to doubt and shy away from thinking and reasoning.

Alejandro Lamothe

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PROLOGUE

Science fiction is a bittersweet occupation; its best ideas are often so far removed from the experiences of contemporary society that they seem absurd, even ridiculous; this is what some famous critics once said about the novels of Jules Verne, as well as some other derogative comments I do not care to repeat here.

On the other hand, great works of science fiction can inspire many generations. Arthur C. Clarke was greatly surprised when he learned that several astronauts from the Apollo mission had chosen their career largely due to the impact of his short novels. There are other cases: Verne´s novel didn´t only lend wings to the constructive dreams of many engineers, but it also lent its name to some of their most spectacular creations, such as the Nautilus, the world´s first nuclear-powered submarine.

Science fiction is the freest literary discipline of all. It allows you to use the resources of the historical novel, the fantastic genre, and even poetry. However, unlike other literary genres, science fiction offers new perspectives that stretch the limits of the imagination. More often than not, the themes of other areas of literature are limited to the dreams and realities of a single species of hominids that inhabit this planet, while science fiction tries to imagine the potential contents of minds completely different from ours.

In TAU 6, Alejandro offers a good example of an important value of science fiction; the fact that he can teach some of the most advanced ideas in the world and the most extraordinary speculations of science, without making people go through the rather unpleasant experience of deciphering a technical book. These pages contain references to technical advances that are about to enter our lives, such as radio frequency identification systems (RFID), the paradoxes that result from time machines, and interstellar spaceships. Of the latter, we already have four examples, which are laden with limitations. The Pioneer 10 and 11 and the Voyager 1 and 2 were used for the automated observation of other planets. These four spaceships have already left the solar system, and it will take the luckiest among them over a million years to get close to another star. TAU 6, on the other hand, is advanced enough to carry people on its journey.

The size of a person´s dreams often determines the size of their personal achievements. If a child imagines building skyscrapers while playing with building blocks in his living room, he is likely to gradually find his way to the cranes, computers, and other tools that will turn his dreams into giant realities made of concrete, steel, and glass.

The same thing happens to societies. For example, during the 20th century, Americans were nurtured with a rich surge of novels written by high quality authors such as Kurt Vonnegut, Isaac Asimov, and Clarke himself (who didn´t set foot on American soil for many years, by the way). Gradually, those dreams began to inspire young people to follow different paths, culminating in the launch of the country´s space program.

Sometimes, our Mexico seems to be still living in the eighteenth century, when the masses lived in lethargy under the landowners` whips. Even now, millions of people lead slow, dark, and meaningless lives because the dreams they have for themselves and their families are small and insignificant.

There aren´t many authors around in our country today who seek to shake the tree and stir our society using the curious, distant, and surprisingly productive perspective of science fiction. There are very few authors who are dedicated to the genre and some of them devote their energy to exploring the twisted corners of their characters` souls, instead of seeing the universe with new eyes. Hardly anyone is offering us new dreams that deal with the stars.

In order to wake up, it is necessary to dream hard. By imagining interstellar ships, Alejandro is inviting you to imagine a different world. If many of us do the same, we will have a brilliant future.

Enrique Ganem (El Explicador)

******

1. - 2077

Dad, what does TAU 6 mean? the little six year-old boy asks his father, while admiring a strange monument that looks like a giant umbrella surrounded by a large group of pitch-black granite statues that look like astronauts, in a large park.

It means Terrestrial Astro-ship to the Unknown, and it´s the name of the sixth and last manned spacecraft to be built looking for intelligent extraterrestrial life. The TAU 6 traveled farther than man had ever gone before, it put an end to many myths our species had believed throughout its existence, and saved mankind from a terrible invasion. The crew has become heroes.

The child sets his imagination loose, and his gaze is lost in a world of dreams, as if he were trying to find in the grand monument the traces of the invasion his father was talking about; something he had never heard anything about.

Going back half a century, there was a mature, handsome man in front of a mirror. He had graying hair and a slender, muscular body. His wrinkled face bore the signs of age and experience and he was energetically stroking his head with his left hand.

Is my hair properly groomed? I want today´s pictures to be good, so I can have some for my lectures` photo album, where I look presentable, not like in most of them: my hair is always terribly messy! the renowned Mexican scientist Alfredo Lafontaine is telling Claudia, his assistant, who has actually been more than an assistant over the course of their last 20 years working together. She is about 40, she´s wearing glasses that fail to conceal her big blue eyes, and, in spite of her gawky appearance, she has a slender body with long legs for her tiny body. She´s fine wasted with firm, though rather small, natural breasts. Her elegant clothes helps disguise her sloppy posture and they bring out her good figure.

Don´t worry, everything will be alright, Alfredo says jokingly, trying to conceal the anguish that has been consuming him for several years, five to be exact.

In the last photos, I took like a caveman. Does my hair look OK?

You just asked me the same thing one second ago, Claudia interrupts him, taking Alfredo´s hand from his head and kissing it.

You look very handsome, and your graying hair is going to be a success. Don´t be nervous.

"I´m sorry, Claudia, but it was right here in Davos, five years ago, that I learnt of the disappearance of the spaceship that carried my sons. It seems like yesterday and yet it feels like it was thousands of years ago. I remember every detail so well: I was explaining the purpose of the mission and how risky it was, I also remember how the audience in the auditorium began to comment on the disappearance of the TAU 6 as soon as news about it started spreading and reaching their mobile devices. I'll never forget how the people got up from their seats and started motioning me to turn around to look at the monitors that were broadcasting the flight. When I did, the image was already gone. I do not remember anything else, until I woke up at the hospital two weeks later.

And then there was me at your side when you woke up, and I was also in the auditorium when the news came out. I will never forget how I ran to embrace you the moment I realized what was going on, but it was too late, you had already turned to the monitor with no signal. It was all so fast that I didn´t know what to do.

I remember very well that the first face I saw when I woke up in the hospital was yours. How can we forget that? I also remember that, before losing consciousness, I turned to look at you and saw how desperate you were to climb the stairs onto the stage. That is something I will never forget.

Well, stop thinking about that now. Concentrate on your conference and it will come out very well, as always. Remember that the whole press is in the audience and this can support your candidacy for this year´s Sagan award. If you do not like what I'm saying, just forget it, forget it. I haven´t said anything, Claudia responds to Alfredo, who is shaking his head with unnecessary harshness. In spite of her good heart, she is not very tactful, as far as human relations are concerned. When she realizes how pointlessly rude her comment has been, she tries to rectify it by adding, I know you are in this conference only to prove that there are high chances that the TAU 6 is going to reappear in the near future. I want you to know that you do not have to convince me; just like you, I think there is a great hope of this happening.

You´re right. I don´t give a damn about the notorious Sagan award. The only thing I want is to prevent SETIA from terminating funding for the TAU research and the tracking of the TAU 6.

Claudia and Alfredo had not realized that Vanessa Dupont had been listening to their conversation from outside the dressing room. Vanessa was a French multimedia journalist from World on Line, the most powerful of all the world´s news media at the time.

Please find out how Stephen Hawking is doing in the hospital. I know that he was improving. I want to know how he came out of surgery and I would like to have a holographic conference with him after my presentation because I think he has made some progress on his Black Hole BH241.3.3 research, which apparently has a neutron star orbiting around it, and no one has accepted its existence yet. As he speaks, Alfredo straightens his tie in front of the mirror of his assigned dressing room, in the auditorium of the European Community in Switzerland.

I'll check with his assistants right away, but, aside from all that, I want you to know that I do not want to miss the smallest detail of your conference, replies Claudia.

Aren't you forgetting that you promised Vanessa Dupont an interview and that you made an appointment with her to have it during my conference?

"Well, I will wait for her to arrive and invite her to the VIP lounge. Then I'll ask that your conference be played for us via hologram at our own convenience, or as you technicians call it, on demand. I watched Douglas Hofstadter's that way yesterday. It was fabulous, I played it over and over until I really got it.

******

2. - THE FRENCHWOMAN

Good afternoon. May I come in? Asks the tall and slender woman with a slight French accent. She is well-dressed and about 35 years old, with big turquoise eyes, a thin nose, and full pouty lips.

Vanessa, please come in, Alfredo replies, as Claudia turns to discover Vanessa, seeming a bit startled.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Claudia Rojas, Alfredo's assistant. You two already know each other, right? Claudia says as she offers Vanessa her hand, as she smiles uncomfortably.

Claudia, it is a pleasure to meet you, I've heard a lot about you and I have a great interest in having this interview with you, as well as with Alfredo, Vanessa replies.

We actually met on a holo-call last week, when she asked for this interview. By the way, Vanessa, you look thinner in person, says Alfredo, with his usual self-assurance.

I have often been told that I look plumper as a hologram, that's how you say it in English, right? Vanessa adds, as she slides her fingers through her blond hair, while she makes it fly with a turn of her head, like in a sensual shampoo ad. By the way, I casually overheard part of your conversation when I was outside. Surely the noise-canceling device is not adjusted. The truth that is I do not think these inventions work, but, hey, what I heard gave me an excellent starting point for the interview. By the way, your hair is perfect Alfredo, you look very handsome, and your conference is going to be a success, no doubt. Many of my colleagues who have not had the opportunity to attend one of your presentations yet are very eager to hear what you have to say, the journalist concludes, while Alfredo is putting on his jacket with the help of Claudia, who takes the opportunity to give the scientist a passionate kiss, thus marking her territory.

Vanessa, Alfredo says, I'm not going to be able to give you the interview today because there is a closing dinner for the convention, but we can have it at breakfast time tomorrow. Is that OK with you? Claudia, please send me a message to confirm the holo-conference with Stephen, are Alfredo's last words before he grabs what looks like a personal computer without a screen; just a keyboard with a small tube attached to it, from which a dim light is shining, as if waiting to project images.

Then you and I shall have breakfast tomorrow at the conference hotel´s restaurant. Is that okay? Proposes Vanessa.

Alfredo nods at the Frenchwoman´s words and takes his leave from Claudia with a kiss on the mouth, and from Vanessa with two, one on each cheek, European style.

The two women walk Alfredo to the dressing room´s door and they watch him walk away from them, with a firm step, towards the end of the hall, impeccable in his navy blue suit and white shirt with gold cuff links and a dark red tie with golden sparkles.

He looks so handsome in that suit! Claudia says, it just reminds me of the beginning of the century, when I met him. I'm glad that this style has returned fifteen years later, Mao collars and jackets with no lapels were horrible, let alone bell-bottomed pants! I like the classic style.

Claudia leads Vanessa away in the opposite direction from Alfredo, taking her arm in a courteous manner. They walk down the hall, with their backs to Alfredo, who walks faster, already engrossed in the conference he is about to give.

Vanessa responds to Claudia´s comments on the current fashions with approval, "I agree with you and how could I not, when I am talking to one of the ten most elegant women in the world according to Hello magazine´s December issue."

Claudia can´t conceal the effect that the journalist´s strategic comment has on her ego, so she replies, You are very sweet, but those light magazines are of no interest to me. On the other hand, I am surprised that a woman dedicated to scientific journalism should pay attention to such banalities.

You said it very well in that magazine interview: before anything else, we are women, and therefore, we worry about our personal appearance, you are what your image reflects, says Vanessa confidently, as they enter a large circular room which appears to have no roof, so that the night sky can be admired with great clarity and definition, showing a huge amount of stars that the naked eye could only perceive in places free from light pollution. In the center of the room, there is a hemisphere that looks like it´s coming out of the floor; the stars are reflected on it, as if it were a large spherical mirror.

Vanessa and Claudia keep talking as they approach the hemisphere. When they are two meters away from reaching it, the whole thing vanishes, as if it had been a virtual projection. Several transparent monitors distributed in a circle appear in its place.

They stop in front of one of these monitors, which seems to be turned off. At this point, the display shows the image of a young slender woman, who looks very pretty and professional, though clearly a digital creation, She introduces herself to Vanessa, Good evening, I'm Silvia, Ms. Rojas` virtual assistant, pleased to meet you, she continues in a voice with a