The Email

Colin wakes up. He heads down for the usual thing of going on the computer. However, as he reads his emails, one stands out.

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From: espo@gmail.com

To: colindrennen875@gmail.com

Subject: Position in an ESPO Project Dear Mr. Drennen,

You have been selected to be involved in a classified project of the ESPO. If you choose to accept, you will be given a salary of 3K every day you work on the project. If you accept, you must move to the location of the project in Colesville, Florida. We will pay for the entire process. The project will be related to your linguistic expertise. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Mr. Drennen, so we suggest you accept. The project is codenamed: "Man in the Sky." Additionally, the project will begin in 2 weeks; you must answer this email within 1-2 business days.

Sincerely, Ms. Janet Thorn ESPO Congressional Project Manager.

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2073/April/19

USA, Colesville, Florida

Colin wakes up with excitement. He jogs down the stairs and prepares some bacon and eggs for breakfast. "After all, your first day communicating with aliens needs to have a good breakfast," he says to himself. Afterwards, he muses, "If that's what I'm doing, I have no idea!" As he finishes his breakfast, throwing away a too burnt bit of toast, he heads to his car. He must say they outdid themselves with his new house, and the moving company too; they moved him here in just 2 days! They were not lying about that in the email. He drives to the space center. It's a magnificent building with 2 parts. The first is the space port, a large airport-like structure where spacecraft take off from and connect to the space tether. Currently, it's only used to send materials into space for the moon bases or help launch satellites. For satellites, they send the materials, partly constructed, then assemble them in a space station. Then they simply use a spacecraft to change orbit and release it. No more of those expensive and low-tech rockets. As a result, the space port is not the busiest.

The other part is the space labs, as they are nicknamed. They are much larger than the space port and contain the taller buildings. It's like a mini-city where scientists gather, research, construct, and plan things to send to space or the moon bases. There have been rumors that there are many underground sections to the base where more experimental research is done. Some conspiracy theories suggest they have aliens underground. They also have the space hub, as it's called, a control room of sorts acting and watching for anything like the Purple Star Event so they can warn people before it happens. They also manage a large majority of space emergencies.

Regardless, they have some major security measures in place; not everyone can get in. They have a good number of the military guarding the place. So I head up to the security gate for the space lab. They do have a public region for those who wish to see the history of this place or simply watch a spaceship launch, kind of like an attraction or museum. I went when I was 7.

As I drive up to the gate and show the guard my ID, they take it and check it out on the computer. They see I'm authorized and let me through; I drive my car through the gate. I can see many buildings on the side of the road, all rather simple-looking with white being their primary color. However, I can also see many large transport vehicles driving around, and many people moving about, busy with construction. The surface of the space labs is purely for construction or large-scale experiments, like rocket tests. The underground is for scientists to gather and plan. There are also command centers and other buildings as well. I see a large plane-like spacecraft pass by; it's likely for the spaceport. The reason it looks like a plane is for it to catch up with the sky hook moving at supersonic speeds through the atmosphere. I love the look of those planes; some influencers and content creators have gone on them, and their videos show that it's crazy! I hope I get to ride on it.

As I drive closer to the main space center building, made for meetings and other more boring jobs for running this place, I worry about fitting in. There are so many smart people here, and all I am is a guy who is good at translating languages and creating languages, as well as having a good understanding of how cultures form and such. Yes, I'm not only good at linguistics.

I park my car in their busy parking lot and head in. As I enter the large and sci-fi building, it looks great in here. Yes, the buildings here look sci-fi on purpose, mainly for publicity and aesthetics. I get into line at one of the reception desks. There are large screens on the sides of the reception area, showing recent projects and images. For example, one was showing recent images of the moon base. The specific image shows two astronauts jumping through the air on the moon.

As the receptionist gets to me, I say, "Hello, I've been asked to come here for a specific project; I'm a new hire. Here is my ID and a note from the superiors." I hand the stuff over. She looks at them for a few seconds, types a bit on the computer, and says, "Yes, Yes, Colin Drennen, right?" I say, "Yes, that's me." She says, "Ok, I'm going to call a guide who will get you and bring you to your place of work." I say, "Ok," as she picks up the phone and calls a number. She puts down the phone and gives me a special ID with a string around it. The ID says my name and says "Employee" with an ID number on it. She says, "Don't lose it, or else you will need it to be reprinted; it's your key around this place. Go through that hall over there points at a hallway, and go to room 7B and wait."

I walk away and head to the room she mentioned. I sit down in the waiting room and notice a few others, most wearing suits like me. As I sit and wait, a young woman walks in and sits beside me. She says, "Are you here for Project Man in the Sky too?" I say, "Yes, I thought it was classified?" She says, "Oh, no, they released some basic info about the project to the news last month. All it mentioned was it was about a very important space mission. Many suspect it's a mission to Mars or the moon Enceladus." I ask, "What did they call you on the mission for?" She says, "Oh, I'm a biologist. I specialize in studying possible alien body plans, though I do dabble in other things. What about you?" I say, "I'm a linguist, but I also dabble in the study of how cultures form and such." She says, "Odd? They must have a serious suspicion of aliens? I wonder why?" I say, "Well, I'm sure we will know soon."

As they wait, a man arrives and calls for those involved in Project Man in the Sky to follow him. Colin and his colleague obey, and they board a small bus that takes them to a new building. Inside, they enter a large auditorium with numerous seats, and they are directed to their designated spots near the front rows.

As they wait, more and more people of diverse ethnicities and professions enter the auditorium, filling it to capacity. The room buzzes with conversations and light murmurs. When the stage lights turn on, and a projector activates, the crowd falls silent. Three individuals walk onto the stage, capturing everyone's attention.

The first man is a black, grizzled figure donning a military uniform. He is the leader of a recently formed sector of the USA military known as the Space Defense Force, responsible for preparing for and defending against extraterrestrial threats. The second person is a scientist in a light-colored suit, recognized for spearheading innovations in habitat technologies for Mars colonization. The third is an elderly woman with gray hair, the current general manager of the ESPO, overseeing the entirety of the organization. Seeing such prominent figures gathered here confirms to Colin that Project Man in the Sky is of utmost importance.

The room fills with curiosity and intrigue, as everyone present wonders about the significance of this secret project and the role they will play in it. Colin listens intently, eager to learn more about his involvement and the exciting journey that lies ahead.

The leader of the ESPO starts. She says, "Hello all, thanks for coming. We are sorry we could not provide more details about what is occurring, and what Project Man in the Sky is. However, if we revealed such details to the public, there would be some problems. First things first, you have all signed the NDA's, and thus can not be allowed to share what you hear here today with anyone else. If you do, you will face major consequences. Everything you hear, see, or do in Project Man in the Sky stays in Project Man in the Sky. You can not even tell your family. However, we will be revealing basic details about the project to the public as cover." Many look at this with looks of apprehension and worry. Some look at it as if it's expected. There are some whispers in the crowd.

She continues, "So, then let's get to the meat of it. There was an unknown event detected on the date 2072, April 19th, lasting from 7:00 am to 8:30 am. This event was detected in the form of gravitational waves. The waves encoded Morse code that translated to 'find me.' Well, we did just as it asked and found the waves come from a point halfway between the moon and Earth, following the orbit of the moon. We focused telescopes onto the point and found this image." The projector changes to an image displaying a purple, orange, and golden figure floating in space. "This is where the name of the project comes from." The crowd murmurs endlessly. "However, the figure is not what you are here to deal with. A few seconds after a live feed of the figure was being displayed to our teams, the waves stopped, and were replaced with waves in an audio format. We played the waves live, and this is what the entity said." She presses a button on a remote she is holding, and the audio plays. "Hello humans, I've come to give you a gift. You need this gift; otherwise, you will disappear in only 37.5821 years. That's not enough time for you to figure out the technology. So I'm giving you a headstart. A wormhole to a planet. This planet has life, and a thing you need to study in order to survive. You need to land within 3 years on this planet. I call myself and all parts of myself C, even though that's not my true name. I will see if you agree to my gift. Get your higher-ups to know of this message. To respond, simply say it out loud. I can hear you from here with ease." The voice sounded grand, but odd, and it felt as if God himself was talking. It was a male voice though. She says, "The message stops after this point. However, we still had recordings. We got the president of the USA on the phone, as well as many other influential figures, and they agreed to the entity in the end. The moment they did so, the entity talked some more in the form of gravitational waves. This is what he said." She presses another button, "I see… good. You agree. I will be watching, and I will answer one question on my next return. Enjoy, and good luck." She continued, "Then the man of light disappeared, and in its place, a wormhole right between the Earth and moon. The wormhole has a radius of 15 km. We have called you all here due to you all being candidates to get on the first mission through that wormhole, and to the planet on the other side. As well as to study the technology needed for humans to survive whatever disaster the entity called C warned us of." The crowd buzzes with activity.