First Contact

From minute one I was super interested by the question this story asks. “What happens if we discover alien life, but not on our home world, or on theirs, but within the vastness of space?” It’s a question I don’t see asked in stories very often. One might have a story where that situation might happen, but it’s not really focused on, or really thought of whatsoever. So, from the get go I was interested. What’s interesting is how this example poses the question and deals with it. Our first “beat” is establishing why neither can leave, and that in of itself is another thought you don’t hear of in this theoretical situation, which is that neither group can return for fear of being followed home. Again, we have a situation that I feel isn’t developed or thought about in any detail very often. Ultimately the story resolves itself in a narrative that turns into something along the lines of how we aren’t that different from each other, but it still leaves us with a thought that’s very interesting. What would we do. If me and you were in the vastness of space and discovered an alien ship of the same development and capability as ours, what would happen? Would we try to blast it out into space? Run away and hope to lose it in the vast black of space? Try to negotiate like they do in First Contact? It’s a really interesting thought to develop.