Contact Authority: An award-winning story by William Mitchell, which won first place in the prestigious "Writers of the Future" contest.
After centuries of wondering, and searching, and hoping, humanity is now in contact with intelligences beyond Earth. The Alliance spans the whole galaxy, a conglomeration of spacefaring civilisations with millennia of mutual contact between them, and we are its newest members. Now though it is our turn to reach out, and bring another newly-discovered race into the fold―the Caronoi, peaceful and philosophical, and about to discover space travel for themselves. But when Jared Spegel, diplomatic troubleshooter, investigates a security breach at the research station where humans are preparing to make contact, he realises the job they've been given is not what they thought. They are leading the Caronoi like lambs to the slaughter, and any dissent could see humanity eradicated too.
Contact Authority: An award-winning story by William Mitchell, which won first place in the prestigious "Writers of the Future" contest.
After centuries of wondering, and searching, and hoping, humanity is now in contact with intelligences beyond Earth. The Alliance spans the whole galaxy, a conglomeration of spacefaring civilisations with millennia of mutual contact between them, and we are its newest members. Now though it is our turn to reach out, and bring another newly-discovered race into the fold―the Caronoi, peaceful and philosophical, and about to discover space travel for themselves. But when Jared Spegel, diplomatic troubleshooter, investigates a security breach at the research station where humans are preparing to make contact, he realises the job they've been given is not what they thought. They are leading the Caronoi like lambs to the slaughter, and any dissent could see humanity eradicated too.