<It is 5:30 PM at Mr. Ben’s house. Upstairs, Captain Echo, Dr. Union, and Chance are watching television . . . >
CHANCE: “This is an incredible program!”
UNION: “Yes, Earth’s view of unidentified flying objects and craft is fascinating . . . and concerning just the same.”
CAPTAIN ECHO: “This UFO program even covers the sightings of our ship, the IFS Thunder over the Colorado Springs area, . . . and my mission in Israel’s Golan Heights region weeks ago.”
UFO Show Narrator: “Amateur video captured these images of a UFO over Golan Heights several weeks ago. What is unique however is that this looks like it’s an ACTUAL SHIP of unknown origin. Both the US and Israeli forces say that efforts to communicate with it were made, but did not reveal the outcome.”
CAPTAIN ECHO: “I think the bright light reflecting off the Thunder’s fuselage was caused by the rising sun.”
CHANCE: “That was just before you started shooting at those stupid Agagan jerks! Our Engedian intelligence says the Agagans were terrified of the onslaught against them . . . especially because we foiled yet another idiot plan of theirs!”
UNION: “We did the right thing. But this has changed things for us Earthnauts, and Mr. Ben and his family . . . we NEED to move our little colony elsewhere away from Colorado Springs. Listen to why . . . ”
UFO Show Narrator: “The USAF got a satellite view of the same UFO. An analysis shows that this is TRULY a flying craft. Given its speed and firepower, it may be BEYOND EARTH ORIGIN. The USAF has stated that it saw this ship several times above Colorado Springs, and it is believed that the pilot and/or crew might be residing in the area. Although the US government is openly grateful for their actions in the Golan Heights region, it is widely speculated that a secret investigation is underway to find out who and where they might be . . .”
CHANCE: “Well, that’s enough for me. I love Colorado Springs, but I know that we and Mr. Ben and his family might be at risk.”
UNION: “I don’t believe that all of this country’s leaders and military are against us. But there might be some among them that WANT OUR TECHNOLOGICAL SECRETS to use for ‘the common good’. Humans are NOT ready for these abilities, and the Agagan realms prove why.”
CAPTAIN ECHO: “<beep> <beep< span=””></beep<>< span=””>> Oh, it’s Eli and LaGrange calling in from the IFS Thunder . . . this is Captain Echo. What’s the status, Eli?”
ELI (onboard the IFS Thunder): “It’s going good, Sir! Professor LaGrange and I took a flight route over the Rampart Range to the Southwest to evade NORAD radar. It’s getting edgier for us after all of those sightings of our ship!”
UNION: “So, what does security over future colony base-land of Arizona look, Professor?”
LAGRANGE: “Excellent, my esteemed former protege. Amazing landscape. Very barren, but interesting to say the least. I can see why Mr. Ben likes the geography. We’re approaching a valley with a similar name to Mr. Ben’s city of Monument. I think the human’s call it Monument Valley. So mesmerizing!”
<Eli and LaGrange fly the IFS Thunder above the scenic highway leading toward Monument Valley at sunset. . . . >
<One Earth day later at 6:00 PM at Mr. Ben’s house. Upstairs, a small strategic conference is going on while Mr. Ben and his family prepare their home for sale . . . >
GRAND ELDER NOMAD: “This is an incredible new ship you propose, Eli! The model here is very inventively built too. But we have IFS Thunder already assigned to our Earthnaut team here. Is the IFS Thunder insufficient?”
MEDALLION: “No, Grand Elder. IFS Thunder is as powerful and capable as she was 9 earth years ago when she was launched. But our presence in the Sol System as directed by the Great Imm Leader requires sharing the missions of BOTH Earth-Sol system exploration/research and System Defense. This new ship AND the IFS Thunder can both do the same things, but the labor would be divided for efficiency and security!”
LAGRANGE: “Medallion has a point, Grand Elder. Amongst us, we can have two saucer captains and divide ourselves between them. Major-Captain Echo will retain command of Thunder, and brilliant young Elder of Sol must take command of his own saucer per Engedian Star Force mandate”.
ELI: “Yes. Also, the Earth celebration of our victorious Battle of Sirius is coming, and obviously Union was the principal hero! He deserves to command his own vessel. It is close to the IFS Thunder in design, but I added some variants befitting a Lesser Elder of Engedi. And this new saucer will have a special trait that NO OTHER Engedian saucer has . . . she will be built strictly of EARTH MATERIALS!!!”
GRAND ELDER NOMAD: “Earth materials? No saucer has ever been built of materials outside of our own Engedian system before! Yet, the materials would come from the very Earth that will be the Great Imm Leader’s future throne world! Very well, . . . I authorize that this saucer must be built as soon as possible. But what should her name be?”
SNEAK: “I leave that to you, Eli. And I believe your latest Doctorate assignment from Chance and I on this ship is brilliant! When Union invented the IFS Thunder, he got to name her. YOU are this saucer’s inventor, so the honor is yours!”
ELI: “Oh! What a duty! I think the name should match the reason for her existence. Great power used for upright and peaceful and peace-keeping purposes. It has to be a noble name . . . or maybe . . . wait! Noble Name . . . Noble? . . . yes, the Noble! Her name shall be the IFS Noble!”
GRAND ELDER NOMAD: “And this IFS Noble shall live up to her name. Noble in scientific research, Earth assistance, and defense of this planet from space-borne and villainous harm! Eli, I leave it to you to get this companion saucer to the IFS Thunder built promptly!”
<Meanwhile in another section of Mr. Ben’s house . . . >
OCEANA: “Hello, little Earth birdies!” I like how Mr. Ben named you after Earth Constellations. Pleiades and Orion! Union takes such good care of you like he did Miss Jessica and her back!”
LADY TIA: “Oceana, come sit and listen to what Mr. Ben has to tell us!”
MR. BEN: “Yes, ladies. My family and I will be going to move to Arizona, and you are welcome to stay with us!”
OCEANA: “That sounds good, Mr. Ben! You have definitely made a difference in our mission and Lady Tia’s life!”
LADY TIA: “Yes, Miss Jessica’s gluten-free menus have helped me feel better! Oceana’s dissertation on the dangers of genetically-enhanced food led to policy changes on Engedi. My husband Nomad declared that all GMO grain that descended from those we gathered when we drew crop circles years ago to be declared off-limits and banned from Planet Engedi. Many of our people are getting better now!”
MR. BEN: “I’m pleased to hear that, Lady Tia. Well, I have to get ready to visit Arizona on business related to us moving there soon. Echo, Union, Chance, and Sneak are already headed to Arizona for a Scout Mission of the Phoenix and East Valley regions. They said they will be fine”.
<The Sonoran Desert, between San Tan Mountain and Phoenix . . .>
CAPTAIN ECHO: “Ok Sneak, I’ve landed you, Chance, and Union near Mr. Ben’s hotel. I will fly out before Earth’s flight tracking sees our saucer. I will get some sleep onboard after I land in a remote area around the Superstition Mountains. I will start an aerial inspection of the Phoenix outskirts tomorrow and expand outward.”
SNEAK: “I copy you, Echo. We will be fine once Mr. Ben arrives to pick us up. On another note, look at this great, pokey green organism! This must be the famed ‘Saguaro Cactus’ that all those Earth scientific archives and journals discuss!”
UNION: “And look at how clear the sky is! Earth’s moon Luna is in sight, and it is truly brilliant this evening! This must be what they call the ‘Arizona Moon’!”
CHANCE: “I hear that the sunsets in Arizona are some of the most brilliant and gorgeous on Planet Earth! Tonight’s looks fairly standard, but I love the fact that you can catch more healthy Sol-rays without the major cloud cover in Colorado!”
<Later on at Mr. Ben’s motel . . . >
UNION: “This bed is comfortable! I guess Mr. Ben is here in Phoenix because he’s trying for a chance to do some more work on his Planet Earth space rockets.”
SNEAK: “They are still using chemical rockets! Good news is that they’re starting to use Ion Propulsion, Hall Thrusters, and Nuclear Propulsion. Still primitive compared to our saucers, but Earth is meant to go on the path of invention and discovery like us!”
CHANCE: “I know our people back on Planet Engedi don’t understand us Earthnauts’ interest in the “old” technology that the humans have. Well, let’s get some sleep. Besides, I know Echo wants to give you advanced Saucer Command Pilot training because you’re a Commodore now!”
UNION: “I’m not sure why it’s so urgent for me to get more pilot training, seeing that I let Echo remain captain of the IFS Thunder”.
SNEAK: “Oh, I feel that you will see the answers to these questions soon enough!” 🙂
<The next evening at a local Phoenix diner restaurant . . . >
MR. BEN: “So what were you two up to earlier today?”
CAPTAIN ECHO: “Much, Mr. Ben. Since Union is a Commodore now, one other requirement is that he becomes a Master Command Pilot . . . of his OWN saucer!”
UNION: “Yes, it’s true Mr. Ben. The Grand Elder has decreed that I am to take command of a second saucer that will also be assigned to Earth along with the IFS Thunder! Because I’m also an Elder, it is to be updated with Elder-specialized abilities and functions.”
CAPTAIN ECHO: “Corporal Eli is leading the initiative to have the 5D printer drones and Molecular-cloning devices ready to begin fabrication!”
MR. BEN: “That’s great Union! You will need a second saucer in case those evil Agagans come back, plus your Colony is doing more and more research these days. What are you going to call it?”
UNION: “That will be a surprise at her launching ceremony, but if I had my way I would name her after something related to the American State that we now reside in . . . Arizona!”
<The next day at various locations around Phoenix & East Valley . . . >
CHANCE: “I’ve seen many gorgeous places in Mr. Ben’s country, but for some reason I really like Arizona!”
UNION: “Maybe it’s because of all the tall green plants colored like us . . . but with more thorns. Oceana sent me intel flat-patchy ones and the very tall ones are called cacti, and each one is called a cactus. The needles on them are actually their leaves, and they store water up in their skin because periods of rain are rare here!”
SNEAK: “Well, it rained the other day over Mr. Ben’s hotel. I guess that must be one of the times the cacti get their chance to get water!”
UNION: “Look, it’s the Observatory in the ‘suburb’ town of Gilbert, not far from Mr. Ben’s new house! I think Mr. Ben wants to join the Astronomy club!”
CHANCE: “I find their refractor and reflector telescopes fascinating!”
UNION: “This is the great Saguaro Cactus! I need to analyze . . . <beep beep beep beep!> . . . Oh! It’s Echo. This is Union! What is the status?”
CAPTAIN ECHO: “I am in an area called Organ Pipe Forest with many Saguaro cacti around! I’ve collected molecular samples and will take them to Oceana for further study! JUST LOOK AT THE SKIES! I heard that Arizona had gorgeous skies, but seeing how their sun called Sol passes rays through the atmosphere here is mesmerizing!”
UNION: “I have observed this too, good friend. So tell me more about Eli’s status on molecular replication and the 5D printer drones. Where will samples of the alloys be found to build the Thunder’s Sister?”
CAPTAIN ECHO: “Eli says that the key factor might be in the name ‘Arizona’. What’s amazing is that this will be the first Engedian saucer build strictly of Earth materials!”
UNION: “We should honor our Colony’s base-region! Recently, I read about Earth sea-vessels. There was one ship that was named USS Arizona, but she was destroyed by enemies in her very first battle and tragically many of her crew did not survive. Maybe we could honor this land and this famous ship in some way.”
CAPTAIN ECHO: “Hmm. That’s interesting. Sneak determined that there are artifacts of this USS Arizona that are in the Phoenix area . . . do you suppose that the replicators could clone alloys from these artifacts?”
UNION <unpictured>: “I will discuss this further with Eli once we get back to Colorado Springs. But perhaps you could do a visual flight over these artifact locations before coming to pick us up. Mr. Ben is flying back to Colorado Springs tomorrow.”
CAPTAIN ECHO: “Roger that! I’ll pick you up in 60 Earth-minutes. I’ll do a navigational survey but keep below the Humans’ ground tracking system. We don’t need any more attention at least right now. Talk to you soon!”
CAPTAIN ECHO: “And now Thunder, now that we’ve seen Monument Valley, let’s go look up these artifacts of the USS Arizona . . . >
<To Be Continued!>
For the Great Galactic Space Gimmick, we’re the Earthnauts and as always, Gimmick Commander Ben Faltinowski!!! 🙂
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(DISCLAIMER: The alien characters depicted in this story are fictional, and any real alien with similar names, similar appearance, or similar home planet is highly coincidental. Also, the aliens and some photos used for The Earthnauts stories are used in honor and parody of various works of science-fiction and alien themed literature and media. It is believed that this constitutes legal fair-use. )