The Contact Episode One

The Contact #1

by Albert Sartison

The ascendancy of mankind is being decided on Jupiter


watch the


In the 22nd century, mankind assimilated the Solar System within the orbits of the inner planets, and was gradually moving further out, beyond the asteroid belt, onward towards the outer planets.


The recently discovered technology of remote manipulation gave people the capability of altering the orbit of celestial bodies of planetary size, which laid the foundation of a new era for the human the terraforming age. The colonization of space beyond the limits of the Solar System became only a matter of time.


Soon after the first successful test, changing the orbit of Mercury, a strange object moving from the depths of space towards the centre of the Solar System entered the field of vision of a telescope at an observatory in Chile…

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Amazon

ebook

First published October 30, 2013

About the author

albertsartison.com

Albert Sartison first became acquainted with games theory when he was a student. Since then, he has been fascinated by complex multiple-move strategic games in politics and economics. In such situations, the apparent freedom of action of the parties involved is in fact restricted by the bounds of economic and political feasibility, which at times leads to improbable consequences.

The history of modern civilization includes many wars and political and economic crises which began as minor contradictions or local conflicts and escalated into global cataclysms on a planet-wide scale. Man has a highly developed intellect which enables him to assess his actions critically and analyse complex situations. As an individual, he is capable of rational reasoning. Is this applicable to human civilization?

albertsartison.com


Books by ALBERT SARTISON:

***FUNDAMENTAL FORCE***
--Episode One
--Episode Two is out now!
--Episode Three coming soon

***BEYOND THE EVENT HORIZON*** ("The Contact" sequel)
--Episode One (try it out for FREE!)
--Episode Two
--Episode Three
--Episode Four (final episode)
--Beyond the Event Horizon: Everything simply follows the laws of objective reality (complete series)

***THE CONTACT*** (first contact sci-fi)
--Episode One (try it out for FREE!)
--Episode Two (WATCH THE TRAILER: https://youtu.be/gWYCcvlBD80)
--Episode Three
--Episode Four (final episode)
--The Contact: The ascendancy of mankind is being decided on Jupiter (complete series)

***THE STORM*** (dystopian sci-fi)
--Episode One
--Episode Two
--Episode Three (final episode)
--The Storm (complete series)

--Entangled (a short story)

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Reviewed by Paul Lappen for the Kindle Book Review)

This novella starts the story of Mankind's first contact with an alien civilization.

In the 22nd Century, Mankind has started to spread out throughout the solar system. He has also started to fiddle with Mercury's orbit through remote manipulation. Steve is a graduate student in astrophysics at an unnamed university. One day, the computer tracking system tells him of an unknown object coming this way from outside the solar system. Figuring that it's just a comet or meteor, Steve tells the system to keep an eye on it. Within 24 hours, the object has come from outside the solar system, used the planet Saturn as a brake, and put itself into orbit around Jupiter. That requires an insane amount of speed, many times faster than the fastest human ships.

Steve calls in Clive, a fellow grad student, to confirm his findings. Steve knows that Clive will find any holes in his theory. Clive is convinced, and the two call in Dr. Shelby, dean of the university. He is convinced that the object is not a comet or meteor, and convenes an international conference of eminent scientists. The public reason for the conference is to discuss future experiments to manipulate Mercury's orbit. When everyone is behind closed doors, Shelby reveals the real reason for the conference.

There is much discussion around the question "What do we do now?" Using electronic pulses, does Mankind say "Greetings?" Does Mankind send scientific constants or numbers that will not change, like pi (3.1416)? Will the visitor even respond at all?

Think of this as part of a larger novel, and it works really well. It's well written, and it feels scientifically accurate. It stops at the right spot, when Mankind sends its first message to the alien visitor.

(The Kindle Book Review received a free copy of this book in exchange for an independent, fair and honest review. We are not associated with the author or Amazon.)

[Les · Rating 4 out of 5]

This first episode to a larger first contact story is actually quite good. It's got a definite hard sci-fi flavor and is well written in the sense that the grammar is good and it flows well and therefore easy to read. It's set a few hundred years in the future which is cool and the characters are real and believable and there's reasonable development of the main character Steve. I found that I liked the author's writing style and this actually enhanced the reading experience for me a lot. The plot follows Steve as he observes by telescope an object rapidly enter our solar system and go into orbit around Jupiter after demonstrating some peculiar and unlikely manoeuvres. It also begins to exhibit signs that it's probably not an inert piece of space material but quite possibly under some form of control. Eventually a group is assembled to oversee further investigation and and contact attempts with the mystery object. Steve is very much part of this group and so is the military (the "Space Force") so I'm guessing that things might get a lot more interesting. There is even a suggestion of a romantic interest for Steve too, but don't let that put you off (lol) and overall I would consider this to be a fine introduction to what sounds like a fascinating story. I see that the complete story of four episodes is available as a single volume but I've elected to continue the story in it's single episode format which I quite enjoy.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started off interesting

Steve and Clive were the clear protagonists right up until they weren't anymore. They make a major discovery that will probably have a enormous impact on humanity.

I was curious to see where things are r going. Then we got to the chapter called "Project: Dawn". It proceeded to tell us how scientists were chosen to participate. That is, we're told via walls of text rather than dialogue. It was too much and I'm not convinced it was all that relevant to the story. The scientists and military (who ceded authority to scientists, which I find to be unbelievable) were polite during discussion about why they were there and what time they would have. Three students in the mix its outright ridiculous.

I felt the book was decent for the first 50-75℅ of the book before having a drastic drop in quality. Not sure I'm up to the next book.

[Thomas James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not An Easy Trick

I especially like books that make me ask questions I never thought of. Sartison does this several times in Episode 1. One example is the multiplication rate of bacteria. While the detals are another subject than this review, the fact that Sartison has the knowledge to even ask the question or bring up the subject matter, rates this story five stars, more if I could. The story itself is rather basic involving alien first encounter, our reactions, and even boy meets girl - nothing terribly new as plots go. The magic is in Sartison's ability to bring advanced math and science concepts to a level that normal people, like me, understand it. Not an easy trick.

[Dan Daniel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Story is nonsense. Book One is okay but when you go from book one to book two it turns into pure nonsense. Don't bother. This is not Hard SciFi and it is very misleading. this is not a 4 part novela. The first 4 books conclude with a non ending upon which you will realize there are 4 more parts continuing the story in the authors Beyond the event horizon series.. Basically it's one mediocre sci fi book sold over 8 different books.

book one is BY Far the best of the series. it's all down hill from there.

[J.J. Clayborn · Rating 1 out of 5]

The concept and premise seemed good. The cover seemed good as well. But the grammar made the book unreadable. This book would have benefitted from a good editor. The book is also very, very short and there are some basic problems with the science. For example, speeding up the orbital velocity of a planet would increase the semi-major axis, not reduce it.

[S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too incomplete

The story was known of be part 1 of 4 to start. From my view even knowing this, it too incomplete to qualify as complete story. It is only a beginning of an adventure; but and quite good one. Because of the hanging storyline, I can't give better than a 3.

[Alistair Ravie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting start to a story but it had barely started before the book ended. Part 1 of 4? looks more like the first couple of chapters of a book and you have to buy separately the four parts to have 1 book.

[Linda Mundorff · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's the 22nd century and earth has successfully begun the first step in terraforming. In June of 2177 Astrophysics Steve and Clive discovered something that will change earth and space travel in unimaginable ways!

[Lord · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting

I was looking for an interesting book to read ... and I think I found it. Time to get a copy from the store. :)

[Stanley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun read.

[Dchamp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, but too short, the next one will have the answers you wish were in this one!

[TJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it. This is a power pack combo of several Hollywood sci-fi movies. Read it to believe it. No other option.


This is a power pack combo of several Hollywood sci-fi movies.
The plot is very simply put and the characters are very believable.
The author did a lot of research on the technological aspect of the story. A lot of things are beyond us(like changing the orbit or speed of a planet). Its really cool for any sci-fi addict like me.
I loved the way the author revealed the planning stage of first contact.
It'll probably be used by any developed country as 'A Guidebook during First Contact' in reality.
The ideas are very much realistic.

Thank you for writing such an awesome book.
I'm dying to read the next one in the series.

[C.S. Woolley · Rating 5 out of 5]

When it comes to the Sci-fi genre there are an awful lot of books out there that are little more than Star Trek and Star Wars fan fiction that has been filled out with different character names and places. The Contact on the other hand is a book that avoids this trap and actually is an extremely enjoyable read.
As the first book in a series there is always a hard balance to strike between introducing people to the universe you are writing in and being able to create an enjoyable plot that draws the reader in without being overwhelmed by new words and technical aspects that can be very distracting.
Sartison does an excellent job of creating a story that is easy to read without being too simplistic in style which immediately makes a book more pleasant to read. Set in the future, the backdrop for the story provides a lot of scope for it to be developed.
The plot is simple enough with the main character of Steve seeing an object entering the solar system through a telescope and going into orbit around Jupiter, though the object doesn’t behave as you would expect and inert piece of space junk to. A task force is assembled in order to study it and the story develops along the lines that you might expect, though there are some twists that keep you engaged from start to finish.
As the first of four parts, there is no need for anything to be resolved at the end of this book, however as it is written in an episodic style, by the end it feels like you have reached a satisfactory conclusion by the end of the book with some loose ends still being there to keep you reading more.
For those that enjoy sci-fi in TV, books and gaming, this book fits nicely into the genre and promises to be an exciting series.

[Sacha Valero · Rating 2 out of 5]

Synopsis:

An astrophysics major working a shift at the university’s telescope discovers an object enter our solar system, speed up, dive into Saturn, and then stop. He brings in another student and they decide to get the department head out of bed to come in and look at what they’ve got.

Deciding it’s non-terrestrial, the department head, Shelby, contacts the military and a team of scientists is assembled to work out how to deal with this first contact.

The Good:

I’m a fan of first contact plots and this is a very interesting scenario, and I liked the way it pushed forward.

The Bad:

The two main characters are Steve and Clive, both of which are flat and one-dimensional. These two characters are fundamentally different, yet their dialog is essentially the same. Without dialog tags, you wouldn’t know who was speaking.

Speaking of dialog, their department head Shelby couldn’t be more of a long-winded blow hard. In the chapter where Shelby notifies the military about their findings, it is almost entirely him speaking. Further, when he speaks about matters of science, he is extremely condescending. This particular character trait, I feel, might be an extension of the author. I could be wrong, and I hope that I am.

There is also the noticeable lack of tension. You’d think with the subject matter there would be a sense of urgency that would build tension. The lack of tension made for a rather dull and boring read. It’s a shame really because I was looking forward to this.

Sacha

[Éric Kasprak · Rating 3 out of 5]

With my new found love of serialize books, I jumped into this series with high hopes. Those hopes were partly fulfilled. The story is about an alien first contact encounter (my favorite subject), the style is more hard sci-fi than my usual space-opera readings and the author's writing style is very clean, almost clinical. Maybe it's the hard sci-fi or the writing style, but I found that much of the emotions in the story did not translate to me, everything felt cold and lifeless. That made the story less impactfull then it should probably be and I was less involved than I liked but the story in itself as more than enough to keep me reading. Maybe readers with a familiarity with hard science-fiction would not have the same emotional detachment from the story that I did and would get a more impactfull experience.

[Kevin Lintner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Off To A Great Start!

As the title states, this is the first in a series of a sci-fi adventure involving technology that can change a planet's orbiting velocity, missing spaceships, a mysterious unknown metallic object that orbits Jupiter, and lots and lots of of astrophysics. At first the book stumbled for me, it seemed to have trouble getting out of the gate and getting started. But then the story found its pace and turned into an imaginative, fun, and suspenseful yarn. All in all, I really came to like the plotline and all of the characters, even Clive. I will be reading more.

[Allan Ashinoff · Rating 2 out of 5]

As the title says...First contact. The process of first glimpse and then (literally) the first attempt at communication and then the episode abruptly ends. At the time when the characters began to become interesting the story just stopped. This appears to be an obvious attempt to hook readers into the second installment. I'd have no issue with the tactic if there was a bit more meat to go with the veggies before the meal ended.

[Ed Tinkertoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book, or better called a short story. But I am not sure that I will read the followup stories because frankly I am kinda tires of series. It seems that many times it's hard to find a book that tells the complete story in one cover. I know this one is available in a one book has all format but it's kinda confusing to determine if you don't know whether the one book covers all that the four short books cover. But it's a good read and I may come back at some pointy to the others.

[Bob Nielsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This really the first section of what will be a multi-part book. So far I enjoy the story, but there is a lot of science in here that may be too much for some readers. You can certainly skim over some of it and not really lose any insight to the story. I'm willing to give this series a chance to make me want to keep reading, but hopefully it won't go on for too many "Episodes".

[Darren Porter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good writing, little bit drawn out and some of the science just doesn't add up. Worth reading but can't help but feel it's one book deliberately spread across four kindle releases for obvious benefit.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look at the world set in the future approaching and achieving first contact. Part of a series and having enjoyed the start of the series, I would be very interested to see how it evolves in the following episodes.

[TOBY W HUDSON · Rating 5 out of 5]

goid sci fi tale

was surprised at quality writing style and interesting yarn. I plan to but next installment to follow the story. A but disappointed in the length if this episode.

[Angel Pedroza · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hesitated about reading this book because I am not a big fan of sci-fi but once I started I was hooked. Good writing, great suspense, interesting set up.

[Rodney J Going · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good reading

I enjoyed this story from the beginning to the end. Well written with good interplay between characters. It set up the series well.

[Steve Palla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good but very short...need to read Episode Two

[Debra Gordon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tantalizing Read!

It was fun to see a bit of ourselves in this book. The humor and trepidation of the main character kept me reading.

[jeff breeden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

It was intellectual thought provoking and was one of the better short story's I've read lately thoroughly enjoyed it much