TAU CETI has had two different prologues over the course of its existence. Neither are in the final edit of the book.
This is the first prologue, Dr. Velasco’s very vague origin story.
It is quite short.
I believe I wrote this in or before 2011. I removed this prologue draft (it really isn’t fleshed out) when I wrote Michelle’s prologue some time in 2014-15. The concept was simple: For the aliens to properly seed technology to humans, they had to insert people into our world. This was how Dr. Velasco came to Earth. Enjoy:
He stood on the small, nondescript beach, the waters of high tide lapping gently at his feet. He didn’t wave, nod or smile, but he watched intently as the stealth craft slipped away over the water, low, black against the high clouds of a starless night, silently back to the distant place he had previously called home.
He knew that just a few kilometers away was a small fishing village, lately a bit of a resort for adventure backpackers, a small place, but one where a strange face wouldn’t raise too many flags.
And within the village was a bar at which a couple would be waiting to meet him. They would have his clothes, his identification, his connections to this society. He also knew one thing that they didn’t. In just over three years from this day, an earthquake would kill everyone in the area. He had just that, three years, to set up his identity, his past, and then move on just before that fateful day.
He could no longer see his ride. The craft had long since disappeared from his view. Time to take that first step, he thought, as he turned and walked along the beach toward the lights and sounds of the distant village.
If you enjoyed this post, you might enjoy my short story collection The Maiden Voyage of Novyy Mir and Other Short Stories.
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