Mission Beyond The Stars: Book #1 of "Saga Of The Lost Worlds" by Neely and Dobbs

  Epilogue:

   

  Historical Background Note

  The TransSpace Exploration Agency’s expedition to Saturn’s moons in 2180 (Sol–3) resulted in a stunning discovery.  At a distance of 25,000 miles— 0.26 Galactic hours prior to planned insertion into Saturn's orbit— faint unmodulated signals in the low frequency radio spectrum were detected.  Direction-finding equipment soon indicated the signal originated from the surface of Iapetus, one of Saturn’s moons.

   Landing near the source, the team found a pyramid-shaped structure, constructed of smooth blocks hewn from the moon’s native rock.  Inside the structure’s single entrance, the exploration party found multiple rooms.  The central room had curious slotted openings in three of its walls.  On the floor, beneath one of the slots, lay a scroll of paper–like material.  Although two centimeters of dust covered the room’s floor, the scroll was virtually dust free, indicating that it must have been a very recent addition.

  Unrolling the scroll, the team’s scientists found more mysteries.  The scroll was found to have three separate sections, each printed not in modern English, to be sure, but still decipherable.  Linguistic experts have established, from contextual syntax and usage idioms, that it is the English used on Earth (Sol–3) in the central part of North America during the late 19th to early 21st centuries.  The scroll’s contents imply contact between an unknown alien civilization and inhabitants of 20th Century Earth.

  This scroll’s existence poses some fascinating questions:

  •  When was it created, by whom, and for what purpose?

  •  Is it a factual documentation of historical events?

  • If its account is not historical documentation, what was its author’s purpose?

  • If factual, then what lessons and implications does the account hold for us?

  • Should the advanced civilizations described in the scroll revisit our galactic sector, how prepared would we be to meet them?

  The investigation of these issues have proven to be intensely controversial. No final consensus or resolution has been reached on these issues, and the debate is ongoing.

  The scroll's first section has been presented in the preceding pages.  The material is offered virtually intact, although some linguistic terminology has been modified.  English terms have been substituted where their equivalents for alien objects, processes or time units could be identified.  However, in the cases of alien names for individuals or unknown locations, the original terminology has been retained.

  The remainder of the scroll’s contents are currently being studied, transcribed and translated for future publication. It is hoped that the publication and distribution of this first section will stimulate discussion and accelerate the resolution of the intriguing questions raised by this remarkable document.

  Dr. Meltan Jorausky, FSAC

  Sub–Director, Space Artifact Division

  TransSpace League Exploration Agency

  Sol 3 Date:  May 23, 2184

  Galactic Date:  5517.124

   

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