The First Ones There Read online

  The First Ones There

  (A Science-Fiction Thriller)

  BY: STEVEN WOLFF

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  Discover other titles by Author Steven Wolff

  at his website: www.Steven-Wolff.com

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  All characters, technologies, names, brands, trademarks, landmarks, locations, ideas, Etc. in this book are fictitious. Any similarities to persons, entities, companies, businesses, schools, publishing’s, or anything else that exists in our reality is purely coincidental.

  This book & the contents inside are protected by US & International Copyright laws. All Rights Reserved.

  Copyright 2017 – by Steven Wolff

  Published By: BrownCoat Press – “We print to misbehave”

  KINDLE EDITION

  Version 201712.25

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  FORWARD

  “When I wrote this sci-fi thriller, I wrote it imagining how things would unfold in this day and age – with the powers that be currently running their own countries. Which country would do what and who would help (or hinder) us from being the first ones there? This is one glimpse into a reality that I think could happen, given the current state and technology we have (as of this writing.)

  You should know that I have painstakingly researched and triple checked a lot of the science and data in this book so as it’s happens in the story, you can be further entertained in knowing that it’s pretty accurate and verifiable. With that said, this is also a science-fiction book – so I took some creative liberties here and there to keep the story moving along, but they should be hardly noticeable.

  A special shout out to Andy Weir for inspiring me to research the science in this book, as he did in his best seller The Martian. My goal of this book is to not only tell you one heck of a story, but to make it feel very real. It’s my opinion that those are the best kind of books to read.”

  -- Steven W.

  Dedicated In Loving Memory of:

  Carrie Fisher

  “Thank you for inspiring generations of women,

  young and old, that princesses can hold their own.

  Rest in Peace.”

  – Steven Wolff

  CHAPTER ONE

  Behind the planet Jupiter

  In the pitch-black darkness of space – an ominous asteroid tumbles end-over-end while traveling through our solar system. Once out of the shadow of Jupiter, light from the sun – some 483.8 million miles away faintly illuminates a fresh debris field scattered on the rocky surface.

  Meanwhile in Houston Texas, roughly 365 million miles away, two amateur observers are working through a cold, winter’s night when there’s a sudden knock on the door.

  *Knock Knock*

  One of the astronomers, a young man with disheveled clothing gets up out of his chair and hurries to answer the door, “I’m coming… one sec.” He yells to the person outside.

  He quickly unlocks it and forcefully yanks the rusted metal door open, causing it to squeak loudly. Cold, howling wind rushes into the warm observatory, trying to force the door wide open, but he hangs onto it.

  A young woman wearing a thick winter coat stands at the entryway, holding a coffee carrier with two cups of coffee and a little brown pastry bag. Her coat hoodie is up-over her head as long blond hair strands stick out of both sides, blowing in the blustery wind.

  “Hi sweetie!” She says smiling while both cheeks are bright red from exposure.

  “Amber, what a surprise! Brrrr!” He says rubbing his exposed arms, “Come on in where it’s warmer.”

  He quickly closes the door behind her, using his back to firmly press it shut – before twisting the latch.

  Amber turns around, “I brought you something I thought you’d like…” She says, proudly lifting the coffee holder tray.

  “That’s so nice of you. Thank you!” He glances over at the wall clock and then asks, “Aren’t you supposed to be at work right now?”

  “I was, but it was a slow night – hardly any customers, so the manager sent us home early. I wanted to surprise you and see your cute little face, so I swung by the Coffee People and got you your favorite coffee… and a chocolate croissant. Oh, I even remembered to get Josh a coffee too!”

  From the other room, a voice yells out, “Did I hear my name?”

  “Yeah, it’s Amber. She brought us coffee.”

  “Awesome!”

  “I hope they’re still warm.” Amber says looking down at them. “I got them about ten minutes ago from down the road.” She says while putting them down on a table. Howard lifts the black plastic lid as steam rises and escapes from inside the cup.

  “How’s your night going?” She asks while hanging up her coat, “Find anything exciting?”

  “Ha! It’s been so boring lately that if it gets any more boring – I might slip into a coma.”

  Amber giggles and seductively walks closer to Howard. She leans her head close to his, “I bet I can make your night a little more exciting…” She says pulling him closer so she can kiss him on the lips.

  Howard moves uneasy, “Well… uh, I would love that… but, um, not here. Josh is in the other room. He might hear us. Everything echoes in this giant room.”

  “So?” Amber says without care as she kisses him softly down the side of his neck. She pulls away and uses her teeth to pull her gloves off – one finger at a time.

  “What are you doing?” Howard asks.

  “You’ll see…” she says with a seductive grin. Her hand slips under his shirt and along his back, causing him to jump.

  “Brrrr! Your hands are cold!”

  “And you’re so warm…” She says gently rubbing his back with both hands. “I love how you’re my little heater.”

  Howards voice trembles like a teenager, “Amber, you know what happens if you keep this up.”

  “I know.” She whispers into his ear. “I just got my perfectly manicured nails done, because I know how much you like me gently scratching your back. It drives you crazy.”

  Howard gulps, “It does! I’ve got goosebumps all up and down my arm.”

  Josh walks up on them, “Hey Amber.”

  “Hey Josh.” She says with flirty eyes while leaning her head on Howard’s chest.

  “Thanks for the coffee.” He says, taking a sip.

  “You’re welcome.” She smiles.

  “When you get a moment, I’ve got something you might want to see.” He says to Howard.

  “What is it? Another YouTube cat video?”

  “No, something even better!”

  Amber starts to unbutton her blouse, slowly revealing cleavage.

  “Better than this?” She seductively whispers.

  “Not now, Amber.” He says trying to button her back up.

  “Trust me – you’ll want to see this, come on.” He says with a slight urgency in his voice.

  “Fine, it better be worth it.” He says gently moving Amber to one side. Amber pouts with her lips and gives a sad puppy-dog look.

  “Sorry babe… He normally doesn’t get this excited. Let me see what’s going on and then I’ll be right back. Or… if you’d like, you can come see too.” He says before rushing off to the catch up with Josh.

  They enter into a giant room with a large telescope pointing at the night sky. Josh is tweaking some dials and is looking through the scope.

  “Brrrr. Why did you open up the roof – on a night like this? Had I known, I would have grabbed my jacket from the other room.”

  “Because a friend instant messaged me from Hawaii and told me to take a look at something unusual.”

  “Don’
t tell me, another DSO?”

  “What’s a DSO?” Amber asks standing beside Howard.

  Howard turns and looks at her, “DSO means Deep Sky Object. It’s what we call galaxies, nebulae and star clusters that are beyond our solar system. Real pretty to look at, but after a while it starts to get old. If you’ve see one, you’ve seen them all.”

  Josh answers, “No, not a DSO. This is still in our solar system – just past Jupiter.” Josh says without breaking his gaze into the telescope. “It’s a pretty good size asteroid.”

  “So what? There’s lots of asteroids in that area… given the asteroid belt isn’t far away.”

  “But here – take a look.” Josh says quickly getting out of the old-worn out seat.

  Howard sits down and looks through the eyepieces of the telescope, staring for several seconds before his bottom jaw slackens.

  “No way…”

  “Right?!?” Josh says with a big grin.

  “What do you see?” Amber asks out of curiosity.

  “I’m not sure, but it’s amazing… it’s an asteroid that has a slow, pulsating green-light. It’s hard to tell what it is because it’s tumbling end over end. Josh, how fast do you think this is moving through space?”

  “My guess – probably at 27 kilometers.”

  “27 kilometers?” Amber scratches her head, “That’s not very fast.”

  Josh replies, “A second… 27 kilometers a second!”

  “That’s not very fast. I can drive faster than that.”

  He closes his eyes momentarily before lifting his head up. Josh is standing behind Amber, trying to contain his laughter behind a closed fist.

  Howard takes a deep breath and looks at Amber, “Sweetie, I think you’re confusing your speeds… 27 kilometers is roughly 60 million miles-per-hour. There’s no way you can drive that fast.”

  “Oh, duh – I knew that. What was I thinking?” She says pointing to her head. “Mind if I take a look at it?”

  “Sure, have a seat, but don’t touch anything.”

  She leans her head forward and closes one eye, “Oooo pretty stars!” She says smiling, “What am I supposed to be looking at?”

  “A little pulsating green light.” Howard instructs.

  “Oh wait, I see it! It’s so tiny! Like a little green tic-tac candy!”

  Amber quickly loses interest and gets up out of the chair. Josh doesn’t hesitate to fill the seat and look back at the asteroid.

  “Pretty neat huh?” Howard asks her.

  “Yes, *yawns* Sorry, I’m so tired. It’s been a long day… I should probably be heading home. It’s getting really late. Thank you for showing me your little green light show. That was neat.”

  She leans in and gives him a thank you kiss before walking back to where her coat is hanging on the wall.

  Howard follows her out of the room and asks, “I wish you could stay longer.”

  “I know but I’ve got a busy day tomorrow with my friend Katie. I promised her I would go shoe shopping before I have to work. Being a bestie is a full time job ya know.”

  “Okay. Well, text me when you get home so I know you got there safe.”

  “Will do.” Amber says while zipping up her coat as she walks towards the door. She stands and waits for Howard to open it but before he does, he pulls up her hoodie over her head.

  “Don’t want you to freeze your pretty little head.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Thank you for swinging by with the coffee. We both appreciate it.”

  “You’re welcome. I’m sorry we didn’t get to mess around. I was feeling a little frisky…”

  Howard’s face turns red, “I could tell. Maybe tomorrow, when we’re both not so busy?”

  “Sure, that sounds nice.” Amber says, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. Howard pulls on the frigid, metal door – opening it enough that an icy-cold wind howls through the crack. He opens it further and turns to Amber, “I love you sweetie. Drive safe.”

  “I love you too.” She says, quickly making her way to her car that’s parked under a single street light. Falling snow is seen falling at an angle as it Howard watches until Amber is safely inside her car. He closes the door and leans his shoulder into it – making sure it’s closed all the way before turning the latch.

  Howard takes a deep breath and lets it out, before looking at the table that has the two coffee cups Amber brought. He lifts the lid and to his disappointment, there’s no longer steam rising up from the cup. He sticks his finger in it, and leaves it for a moment to confirm it’s now cold.

  “Damn it.”

  Howard joins up with Josh and asks, “How’s your coffee?”

  “It’s cold, but it’s still good. You?”

  “Mine’s cold. I wish we had a microwave to heat it up.”

  “Speaking of heating up… your girlfriend Amber. She’s pretty hot.”

  “Yeah, she is, isn’t she? She came over looking to score… and you had to show us a green little asteroid.” Howard says clenching his fist, “Your timing… couldn’t it have waited five or ten minutes longer?”

  “Dude, she’s your girlfriend. It’s not like you’re not going to get some… but this asteroid? I think it’s a once in a lifetime kind of thing. Speaking of, when Amber said it wasn’t moving very fast, I almost busted out laughing.”

  “Yeah, that’s the one thing about her that I wish I could change… her intelligence. Sometimes I wish she was a lot smarter, or even into what I’m into.”

  “What you need is girlfriend who’s an astronaut! Yeah…. beauty, brains… and who geeks out on all kinds of science!”

  “Wouldn’t that be nice?” Howard jokes as he lets out a big sigh.

  “Amber grew up using her looks to get whatever she wants. I mean, seriously, could you say no to someone as beautiful as she is? I know she’s using me, but for what – I don’t know. She can have any guy she wants – jock, football player and yet she’s with me. Why is that?”

  “I’ve been wondering that myself. No offense, but you’re just an average looking dude, compared to me. If Amber should be with anyone, it should be with me. I mean look at these six-pack abs…”

  He lifts up his tee-shirt and sucks in his belly, “Also these gnarly guns!” He says flexing his biceps.

  Howard smiles at how ridiculous Josh looks, “Put the guns away Rambo, you’re not impressing anyone.”

  “Bah, you’re just jealous you’re scrawny…”

  “Says the guy who’s wishing he had my girlfriend.” Howard fires back, smiling.

  “Ironically, she’s attracted to smart guys and I’m… attracted to smart girls.”

  “That’s funny because Amber doesn’t strike me as smart.”

  “She is and she isn’t. She’s not the kind of smart that you’re thinking… education-wise, but more of a street kind of smart – the kind that can charm her way around anyone and get anything she wants. However, if you ask her what color the White House is, she’ll probably say yellow. She hasn’t had a need for education when she can manipulate men and women to give her whatever she wants.”

  “And you’re okay with her using you?”

  “Oh I totally know she’s using me and yeah, I’m okay with that. The coffee she brought us? That was her looking for an excuse to come see me because she’s feeling frisky. There’s always a catch with her and I know someday she’ll ditch me for someone else more exciting. I mean… I hope not, but if she does – I won’t be surprised.”

  “You think so?” Josh asks.

  “Yeah, totally. The down side to being with some who’s super attractive is that she attracts guys who hit on her all the time. With all the cat-calling and whistling, it’s like trying to shoo flies from poop… they just keep coming back.”

  “Do you ever worry that she’ll cheat on you?”

  “Worry? No. Do I expect her to cheat on me? Probably. I know there are some guys who don’t let up, even if they know she’s taken. I guess that’s why I’m not satisf
ied in our relationship. Mentally – I’m attracted to someone who’s smart up here.” He says while pointing to his head, “and while Amber is stunning – I wish there was someone a little nerdier like me. Someone I can talk Firefly or Star Wars with. Maybe even a gamer that will talk smack while playing against me.”

  “I hear ya bro. Maybe someday you’ll bump into your dream woman, but for now – enjoy what you got. At least you have someone. Sadly, all I get are one night stands.”

  “That’s because you’re a horn dog and don’t take relationships seriously.”

  “I’m still young! This wild mustang can never be tamed!”

  Howard laughs, “Wild mustang, huh? More like a stubborn ass.”

  “So what do you think about this glowing asteroid?”

  “What about it?”

  “Do you think we should post something about it?” Josh asks. “It might go viral…”

  “I’m not sure yet. Let’s hold off until we can figure some things out… for example why would it be glowing a green-florescent color?” He asks while scratching his 5 o’clock shadow.

  “Okay, we know that if it was a comet – which is made of ice, the light refracting from the sun would cause a distortion of colors in the tail section behind it.”

  Josh adds, “Correct, like a sunbeam shining through a prism.”

  “Right, it would look more like a rainbow streaking, but as far as we can tell, there is only one color… green.”

  “Okay, so that’s one mystery, but then how would you explain the pulsating?”

  “Good question.” Howard says, pacing around the room. “Since there is no debris trail – we can safely say it isn’t a comet since comets have tails and asteroids don’t. Now, about the pulsating… we can see that it’s tumbling end over end on itself.”

  “Like a gymnast doing forward flips.”

  “Right. Maybe the pulsating light is from when the asteroid is facing away? Like, maybe on the dark side?”

  “No,” Josh says, “Because if you come here and take a look – you can see that while it’s still visible, the light is dimming before it flips out of sight. See… light, dark, light, dark.”