First Contact: Alien Encounters

Presenting eleven entertaining and thought-provoking tales of alien encounters—some serious, some whimsical, some that end well for those involved, others, not so much.

Fair Trade: Earth’s first trade delegation to the Taurans threatens to fall a little short of expectations.

We Have a Winner: The junior member of a first contact mission to Earth is increasingly dubious of the choices their experts have made.

Tasty Morsel: A moon-sized creature sets its sights on its next meal.

The Probe: A young man wakes to find himself in an extremely compromising position.

Reg: An unexceptional man stumbles across an exceptional secret that plunges him headlong into events he appears uniquely ill-equipped to handle.

Clean Up Crew: A rookie lab technician is held responsible for a mess of her own making.

The Return: An alien abductee returns home to his family.

Executive Decision: The Presidential Cabinet is sequestered to consider the most important decision they will ever have to make.

First Impressions: A father and son team struggles to understand why their first contact mission has gone so badly wrong.

The Reality Machine: A brilliant, but eccentric scientist is keen to demonstrate that nothing about the Universe is as it seems.

Out of Joint: The crew of a four-thousand-year interstellar lifeboat mission is forced to adapt to changing circumstances.