A very close encounter
Jeff had been alone now for three months, unless you counted the wildlife. He was living on a small Scottish island and was involved in a study of the bird population which was the only other inhabitants.
The job suited him well. He'd always been happy with his own company so he was more than happy with the solitude. Once a month he would have a delivery of supplies from the mainland which was delivered by boat. He would place his order by radio which was his only connection with the outside world.
He was always happy to see Doug and his son Steve who brought his supplies. They would stay for an hour or so before heading back which gave Jeff a chance to catch up with current affairs and although he enjoyed the company, he was always relieved when they left. He really wasn't a people person.
It was mid winter and there was a light covering of snow outside the night his life changed for ever. Although there were limited facilities in the old stone cottage the generator in a small shed outside gave him the power for lighting, heating and hot water. The water being pumped up from a well.
Being his life line Jeff took great care to maintain the diesel generator and always made sure he had plenty of fuel. Although in an emergency he could call for help, depending on the weather and the sea conditions it was always possible that he would have to wait a day or two before that help would arrive.
Occasionally he would wonder what would happen if he became ill and needed immediate help but he had always been pretty healthy and considered himself quite fit for his age of thirty seven years so it wasn't something he overly worried about.
It was a Thursday evening when Jeff had decided to have a bath. This consisted of an old tin bath tub that he would place in front of the open fire. Having a plentiful supply of wood on the island he usually enjoyed the real fire in the evenings although he did have electric fires if needed.
Enjoying the heat warming his bones after several hours out in the cold that day he was more than surprised when a bright light lit the room. Before he could react he found himself rising up out of the water and unable to move a muscle, the brightness totally blinding.
His mind became foggy and time seemed to stall. The next thing he really knew for sure was when he found he was on his feet and was walking although he had no control over his body. The blinding light slowly began to dim and he felt a warmth on each of his arms which he suddenly realised were hands that seemed to be guiding him forward.
He wanted to look down to see who, or what was either side of him but found that he couldn't move his head or his eyes. As the brightness of the light slowly diminished all he could see was straight ahead in like a tunnel vision. Maybe ten feet in front of him, what looked like a metal table came into focus.
After another couple of steps forward, which he still had no control over, he did indeed see a bright shiny metal looking rectangular table standing less than two feet off of the floor, although the floor itself looked as though it was covered in mist so he couldn't be sure of the height.
Jeff should have been terrified but he felt calm. When he reached the table he was somehow guided to lay down on it and to his surprise, what looked like a solid stainless steel surface moulded itself to the shape of his body and felt warm and comfortable. Still with only a tunnel vision and unable to move his head or eyes he looked straight up from his horizontal position.
The ceiling of where ever he was looked bright as though it was made of pure white light. It suddenly occurred to him that he was totally naked and strangely his body was bone dry which he found puzzling considering what seemed only minutes ago he was laying in his old tin bathtub in front of the fire.
"Do not... be... alarmed, we... wish you... no harm," A female voice suddenly broke, what up until now, had been total silence, spoken in perfect English but seemingly searching for the right words.
Jeff, still unable to move, could nevertheless tell the voice was coming from his right hand side.
"Please feel... fair, free... to ask... us any... questions," The voice sounded identical but now came from his left and was still struggling to find the right words.
Jeff hadn't even considered speaking up to that point and wondered if he actually could as he was obviously under some external control but now assumed he could, "Where am I? Who are you? What do you want with me?" he picked the most obvious questions from the many swirling around in his head.
For the next few seconds there was a chatter of voices coming from three different directions although the tone sounded exactly the same as though it was one, person or being, moving around him. From his right, left and from the end of the table. This time however it wasn't English but a language that was totally foreign to Jeff. In fact it was beyond foreign, it was completely alien!
"You are aboard... our ship," The voice came from his left.
"We are... from a... planet... the other... side of... the... galaxy," The voice now came from the foot of the table.
"We need... your help," The voice now from his right.
"How can I help?" Jeff asked unable to believe he could be of any help to what must be such an advanced race.
"A... long time ago... there... was a catastrophe on... our planet, the... whole population of our... males... became... sterile," The voice to his left began to explain and was continued from his right, "Before we could... find a solution... to the... problem our males... started to... die and eventually... were completely... ...eradicated."
The explanation continued from the foot of the table, "We have... been... searching for a... compatible... species to... save our... race."
A sudden fear manifested in Jeff's head. What exactly did these beings want from him? Stories of alien abduction flashed through his mind, stories that until now seemed just that, stories.
"Please... don't be... alarmed, we will not... harm you," The reassuring voice came from his left.
"How do you know that I, my race, is compatible?" Jeff asked, his fear diminished somewhat.
"We are... not sure but... from the... signals... we received... when we came... close enough... to your planet... indicated a... close... likeness to... our own... kind... many... degrees... closer than... any other... species... that we have... found in the... galaxy," The answer came from his right, "We are... hopeful... that you... will test... compatible."
A vision appeared above him like a TV picture that just floated in mid air with no indication of how it was produced. Although Jeff didn't recognise the black and white moving images he could tell it was from very early American Television.
It suddenly dawned on him that these beings had picked up TV signals that had escaped into space and had been travelling for sixty or more years away from the earth. The implications of how far and how fast these aliens had travelled was mind bending. And there is other life out there!
The picture above him faded away and his tunnel vision began ro open up. He felt anxious as to what he was going to see as he regained his peripheral vision. Although he was still unable to move his head he found he had control of his eyes again. He looked to his right and caught his first sight of his captors. He hadn't known what to expect but was surprised to find a very human looking female.
She was totally bald, not a hair to be seen anywhere on her head or face. No eyebrows or eyelashes. The ears, nose and mouth were quite small and petite. If it wasn't for her eyes she could easily pass as human. They reminded him of goats eyes and looked a little demonic. Otherwise Jeff would have described her as good looking.
Turning his gaze to his left Jeff did a double take. Exactly the same face looked down at him making look quickly back to his right to check that the alien hadn't somehow moved. He looked from one side to the other several times before coming to the only possible conclusion, they must be twins.
Remembering that he had heard voices from three different direction he looked down towards the end of the table and to his astonishment saw the same face again. Not twins but triplets, "You're all identical," he blurted out in his surprise, more of a statement than a question.
"In a... sense we... are. We are... actually... clones," Explained the alien to his right.
"It was... the... only way for... our race to... survive. The... males of our... species... died out many... generations ago... we never... knew them... no one... living on our planet... now ever... knew them... we have... only images... and records... of them," the alien at the end of the table added.
"We have... discovered... that we... can not... survive... many more... generations of... cloning... that is why... we need... your help... we need... your seed... if... it is... compatible," the alien on his left finished the explanation.
With disturbing thoughts of how they would determine if he was compatible Jeff anxiously asked the question, "How will you know if I am compatible?"
"Do not be... alarmed, it will not... harm you," The alien on his left answered.
And then from his right, "But it will... be best... if you are... asleep while... we test."
Thinking that there was no way he was likely to sleep Jeff had little time to worry as he felt a hand on his forehead and within seconds he was in a deep sleep...
When he awoke his first thought was that he had had the weirdest of dreams but as his eyes began to clear he could see the three alien females all now standing to his right.