The Star Guardian

Chapter 1: Beginnings

The unthinkable occurred long before Ian was ever born. His mother Ivy Westwood was kidnapped by alien life forms. They abducted her in the dead of night and never returned. There were no hints as to where she had gone; nothing had been left behind.

Her alien kidnappers belonged to a species that occasionally collected samples from less advanced, non-spacefaring civilizations in order to conduct research. There are two other options: either arrive on a planet and make direct contact with the people there, or blend in with them in a clandestine operation, both of which carry substantial dangers. Primitives are filled with superstition and paranoia, making them dangerous to come into touch with, especially in large groups. The usual operational practice is to bring back isolated samples and learn from them.

Her choice was completely arbitrary. The indigenous community would not be alarmed or provoked if others saw her kidnapping because she lived alone in a secluded place. Except for scientific research, Earth was a closed system to all interstellar races. Human contact was outlawed, and the moon and other planets in the Sol system were also off limits when humans sent space probes there.

The alien beings took Ivy to their world aboard a space ship, where she would remain as a guest for the rest of her days. They couldn't bring her back to Earth since they'd exposed her to her hosts' superior technology and knowledge. They wouldn't take the chance of her upsetting things on Earth if she returned. One thing is a lost individual, but another is a person who subsequently reappears knowing they were abducted by aliens. It was a hazardous proposition to mess with her memories, as it typically resulted in little more than a vegetable. It was a one-way trip back to their home world for Ivy.

They had Ivy confined in her quarters for the duration of the voyage home on the space cruiser. The extraterrestrials took care of her basic necessities, but otherwise left her alone. She was a participant in a research project on primitive animals, therefore she was strictly off limits. The sample transfer technique was designed to prevent interactions with the sample from contaminating or invalidating the results of the investigation. The space cruiser arrived at its location without incident, and they led Ivy to her new residence on the planet.

Tians gathered information about their subjects by observation and interaction. They planned to host Ivy for the remainder of her days while they studied people. For the Tians, she was a non-complex target.

Ivy's new house was finer than her old one, yet it was still a prison to her. It didn't matter if the door was locked or not; she was free to explore. But, being all alone herself in a strange land, she had no inclination to go outside. Directly and indirectly, they observed her as she went about her new life. Tians (pronounced Tee-ans) were the aliens that were watching her all the time. She had the impression of being a zoo animal.

When it came to other strafing races, the Tians were kind and welcoming. They welcomed visits for commerce and other mutually beneficial purposes. The Tian science academy kidnapped her as part of an ethnographic experiment.

She was the only one of her kind, and one of just a handful of specimens from other primal races that had been gathered for research. It sounded great if you were the one doing the research, but it was a drag if you were the one being studied.

Tians looked like humans, but one with no hair and a lower height. They had pale skin and wore clothing that was largely uniform or simple in style.

Their demeanor was aloof and aloof. That was, after all, what Ivy had believed. It was important to the Tian scientists that their communication not be contaminated, therefore they kept a safe distance from the suspect. The terrible outcome was that she was further isolated.