The Earth Conundrum: Book 1 of the Alliance Conflict Read Online Free PDF

Senate had declared that only Solarians were allowed to visit Earth and only those that had their skin bleached white. Victor’s white skin made him blend in on Earth, but he felt out of place when he returned home.
    Victor’s mini freighter, cleverly named Victoria , was making its approach to Solaria. Whoever named this corner of the galaxy had been particularly unimaginative as the name of the system, the sun, and the primary planet was Solaria. Solaria (the planet) lay close to the only charted hyperspace lane in the system. Due to the planet’s current favorable rotation, Victor only had a 20 minute real-time voyage to reach the planet, then another hour or so to land.
    There were six planets in the Solaria system, but only the fourth one could support life. Solaria was a few thousand kilometers farther from its sun than Earth was. As a result, Solaria was roughly 6 o C (12 o F) cooler than Earth. Solaria was a stunning planet to view from outer space. It had beautiful large, blue oceans, and four large landmasses. It was just slightly smaller than Earth. The southernmost continent was covered with large mountain ranges and was uninhabited by people.
    Solaria’s unique feature was that it had a rather large magnetic core. Early settlers had used this core to create a system-wide electromagnetic pulse (EMP) bomb. At a press of a button, every electric / electronic device inside the hyperspace limit would short circuit. Enemy cruisers would immediately lose power and be unable to move or fire. However, all Solarian electronic equipment that was plugged into the planet’s power grid was automatically shielded. As a result, only one Alliance cruiser was needed to guard the planet.
    Victoria was now passing Solaria’s huge manufacturing satellite. This space station, appropriately named Solaria Station, sat in a geosynchronous orbit above the planet. The space station was used to build small ships. Specifically, the plant built small freighters and personal craft. It also built all of the fighters for the Alliance Navy.
    Victor deftly landed Victoria at a landing pad and shut down the primary power core. He inspected his perfectly manicured nails as his hands swept over the control panel. All looked good. He exited the ship, black bag in hand, and greeted the customs officials with a hearty smile. He pulled the flashdrive cube that held the mandatory set of human videos and handed it to the officer. The officials searched the ship from top to bottom, electronically scanned it, and eventually declared it safe and free from contraband. They did not check the bag.
    Victor had landed on the outskirts of the planet’s biggest city, aptly named Solaria City. The city was huge. It housed 80 million residents, roughly 10% of the planet’s total population. It was the first city founded by the Solarian settlers and was the home of the Solarian planetary government. The city had been well planned throughout each stage of its expansion. As a result, it had an excellent public transportation system and ground car system. There were hoverbike lanes as well, but most Solarians eschewed them in favor of safer transport.
    He proceeded directly to public transport counter and purchased a one week multi-pass. He had the money to rent either a ground car or hoverbike, but decided against it. He was mentally tired and didn’t feel like using his brain to navigate city streets or control a bike. He boarded a hovertram bound for central station, sat down, and closed his eyes.
    He eventually became aware of someone staring at him. Slowly he opened his eyes and addressed his agitator. She was a small girl about 4 and was standing directly in front of him. She asked him, “Why are white, are you sick?”
    Victor laughed and took an instant liking to this inquisitive girl. He knew he couldn’t fool her so he said, “No, I intentionally had my skin bleached. I work on Earth.”
    She looked at him strangely and repeated,