Invasion (Russian Novel)

"Invasion" is the Russian science fiction novel [Vtorzheniye, Вторжение(Russian)] , the first of the "Arrivals from the Dark" pentalogy by Mihail Ahmanov.

The novels describes the arrival of a gigantic alien starship into the Solar system. The ship is crewed by a humanoid race called Faata (or Fa'ata) who, while physiologically very similar to humans, have a completely different social setup, as alien to humans as the Faata ship.

Plot summary

The novel takes place in the late 21st century. Better nuclear reactors and stronger alloys allow humans to explore the Solar system and see it with their own eyes. Bases and stations have been established throughout the system. To protect human interests in interplanetary space, a new organization has been created - The Near-Earth Space Forces (NSF). NSF consists of three fleets, each commanded by an admiral from a sponsoring region: USC (United States and Canada), European Union, and Russia. The admirals answer directly to the UN Security Council. While China has a small non-military presence in space, the three world powers keep the more advanced technology secret from the rest of the world. The presidents of USC and Russia are good friends, combining their influence to execute near-total political control of the world. This, of course, only gave rise to more terrorism. However, with the NSF acting as a quick-reaction force, located terrorist cells are quickly eliminated.

Everything changes when a strange flash of gamma rays near Jupiter is detected by an orbital observatory. Most astronomers on the station dismiss it as an unexplained natural phenomenon. Only one suggests artificial origins. This information eventually reaches the members of the Security Council, who order Admiral Chavés of the First Fleet to divert the cruiser "Lark" dropping navigation buoys near Jupiter to investigate, while keeping the information hidden from the public. Unfortunately, it is leaked to a major European newspaper, giving rise to more UFO stories than before.

As the "Lark" approaches the suspected gamma ray burst, a wing of four fighters is deployed to increase sensor range of the cruiser. Suddenly, the ship begins to accelerate forward, even though its engines are in full reverse. Suspecting an attack, the captain orders a barrage of swarms (icicles launched at super-high speed) to be fired forward. Several seconds later, the icicles return to the ship with the effect of a meteor shower. The cruiser is sliced open, killing everyone on board. One of the fighters is also destroyed. The three surviving fighter pilots blank out only to wake up in a strange white room.

It soon becomes clear to the pilots that they are on a massive alien starship making its way towards Earth. The gamma ray burst was apparently the result of a battle between their captors and a rival alien race in which their captors won. The vessel itself is protected by a force field also masking it from normal sensors. The aliens were attempting to take the "Lark" onboard with a focused gravity field. When the cruiser fired the swarms, they reflected off the force field and, with increased speed, impacted the human ship. The three pilots (Lieutenant Commander Pavel Litvin, Lieutenant Abagail McNeil, and Lieutenant Richard Corcoran) are instead captured.

As the human-like aliens attempt to establish contact with their captives, Corcoran is separated from the rest. Several hours later, he is returned but dies shortly after from asphyxiation. McNeil, his lover, goes out of control and begins to scream and pound on the room's walls. The aliens gas the room and take the unconscious woman away. Litvin is left alone, except for occasional visits from an alien calling himself Intermediary Ayve and his female assistant/servant Yo.

Meanwhile, on Earth, the disappearance of the "Lark" is explained as a tragic accident involving an overloaded reactor. The Security Council, however, is musing over a more sinister possibility that the cruiser's disappearance is the result of an alien attack. They order Admiral Timohin to personally take the bulk of the Third Fleet (12 capital ships total) to a location in Martian orbit the suspected alien craft is likely to cross on its way to Earth. Officially, the ships are sent on a combat exercise.

On the alien ship, Litvin manages to befriend Yo, although she is still loyal to her masters. She reveals that McNeil has been put into stasis with the alien females going through certain biological changes. The human woman's outburst is mistaken as caused by such changes. When Yo leaves, Litvin finds a strange marble-sized device in his pocket. The device is similar to the kaff - the sphere used by Yo to mentally communicate with the ship's intelligence (Intermediate Ayve can do that without such a device). Thinking that Yo slipped the kaff in his pocket to help him escape, Litvin attaches it to his temple and connects with the ship. After escaping his cell with the ship's help, he orders it not to reveal his location to the aliens, who he learns are called Faata.

The Faata race is highly regimented both through social and biological means. The ruling caste - Bino (intelligent/sentient) Faata - have well-developed psychic abilities, allowing them to communicate with the ship's intelligence and each other directly. Their lifespan can reach several thousand years. The lower castes of "limited intelligence" (T'ho) are separated into servants, breeder females (Ksa), warriors/guards (Olks), etc., and have all been genetically engineered to fit their roles. As such, their lifespans are short, usually only several years. The current Faata society is the result of fear. The Faata civilization experienced two total collapses, which they call Eclipses, resulting in millions, if not billions, dead and loss of most scientific knowledge. After the Second Eclipse, the Faata vowed that there will not be a third one. They remade their society (and species) as they saw fit and set out to explore, colonize, and conquer the galaxy - they only way they thought to ensure the unending prosperity of Faata civilization. All alien sentients (Bino Tegari) must be subjugated and remade to aid the Faata in their mission. A chance discovery of an ancient intelligent device allows them to equip their starships with living computers.

When Admiral Timohin's fleet arrives in Martian orbit, the Faata choose to reveal themselves to the humans and promise great technological advances to humanity. They ask to be granted passage to Earth, but Timohin receives clear orders not to let them anywhere near it. While Timohin and Intermediary Ayve are establishing a diplomatic dialog, Litvin frees Yo from her own stasis chamber. Before, he has a chance to free McNeil, Yo jumps on him in a half-awake state. He spends the next several hours teaching her about human sexuality (something the Faata abandoned after the Second Eclipse). When they finally manage to free the human woman, Yo tells him that McNeil is pregnant with a human-Faata hybrid - an attempt to create a new servant race. Since the Faata stasis chamber also accelerates gestation, Litvin is unable to hide the pregnancy from his subordinate. Instead, to space her the shock, he tells her that the child is Corcoran's (even though women serving in NSF are contract-bound not to have children).

When the Faata make their move, Admiral Timohin is prepared. However, it is not enough, and all 12 ships are destroyed by anti-matter weapons shortly after launching a nuclear barrage of a combined force of 400 gigaton, which the starship's force field easily absorbs. The recording of the one-sided battle is sent by the Faata to the world leaders as a demonstration of their power.

As the leaders finally "allow" the Faata to land their ship, they point them to a set location at which they secretly hope to destroy the ship with the First and Second Fleets. The Faata, however, land the ship in Antarctic, as they require massive quantities of ice to rebuild the combat modules lost in the space battle. Minutes later, large modules leave the ship for the largest Earth cities and freeze above them.

The situation is resolved by a mysterious visitor, an alien living on Earth for centuries and secretly guiding our progress. Capable of changing his outward appearance and teleporting himself anywhere on the planet, the being calling himself Gunther Foss (one of his many incarnations) was the one responsible for giving Litvin the human-designed kaff. He teleports on the Faata ship and explains to the humans that the device he brought with him will destroy the ship's living computer, shutting off life support and structural integrity. This will kill everyone on board and allow human authority to study the ship's weapons and FTL drive to learn their secrets. Apparently, Foss's species are psychologically unable to kill, so he gives the device to Litvin and teleports away with the two women. Litvin puts on the kaff one last time to hear the ship's plea not to kill it and activates the device. Moments later, he is surprised to find himself in a house along with Yo and McNeil with no sign of Foss.

The destruction of the Faata ship had negative consequences, to put it mildly. As the ship's intelligence died, so did its connection to the combat modules hovering over Earth's major cities. All over the world, the modules crashed and exploded with many historical treasures destroyed and 43 million people dead.

As Litvin is being debriefed by Admirals Chavés and Haley, he describes his experiences on the alien ship, including everything he learned from Yo and the ship's intelligence. They ask him what he plans to do now, to which Litvin replies that he plans to marry Yo and take a long vacation before returning to duty.

Notable Characters

*Humans:
**Lieutenant Commander Pavel Litvin - Russian fighter pilot, attached to the cruiser "Lark" of the First Fleet. Standing orders - set up navigation buoys near Jupiter for civilian and military vessels.
**Lieutenant Abagail McNeil - American fighter pilot, attached to the cruiser "Lark" of the First Fleet. Standing orders - set up navigation buoys near Jupiter for civilian and military vessels.
**Lieutenant Richard Corcoran - Swiss fighter pilot, attached to the cruiser "Lark" of the First Fleet. Standing orders - set up navigation buoys near Jupiter for civilian and military vessels.
**Admiral Timohin - admiral of the Third Fleet, sent from Russia, Eurasian Union. Standing orders - personally lead the bulk of the Third Fleet on combat maneuvers in the vicinity of Mars.
**Admiral Orlando Chavés - admiral of the First Fleet, sent from Francospain, European Union.
**Admiral Joseph Haley - admiral of the Second Fleet, sent from Canada, USC.

*Aliens:
**Intermediary Ayve - Male Bino Faata responsible for establishing contact with Bino Tegari (intelligent aliens).
**Yo - Female Faata of the servant caste. Incapable of producing offspring. Limited lifespan.

**Gunther Foss - one of many incarnations of a face-changing alien, sent to guide human development to provide a counter against Faata expansion. Capable of teleporting himself and one other person anywhere on Earth. Can send a small object to Jupiter's orbit.

Unfamiliar Terms

*Human
**NSF (Near-Earth Space Forces) - international military organization established by the UN Security Council in mid-21st century to maintain order and safeguard human lives and interests in the Solar system. NSF is made up of three fleets, each responsible for different parts of the system. Each fleet is headed up by an admiral. The admirals each come from one of the three main world powers: USC, European Union, and Eurasian Union. The NSF triumvirate answers directly to the Security Council.
**USC - a national body established sometime in the first half of 21st century, unifying United States of America and Canada. Full name: United States and Canada.
**Eurasian Union - the official name of Russia.
**Swarm - a weapon that fires a wide spread of small sharp objects at high speed to shred its target. Spaceship-mounted swarms fire a massive spread of tiny icicles.

*Faata
**Faata'liu - spoken language of the Faata race. Used for communication when telepathy is not possible. Unmodified human vocal cords are unable to properly reproduce the pronunciation.
**Bino - "fully intelligent" or "sentient". Used to refer to the Faata ruling caste and alien races.
**Tegari - "alien(s)". Often used in conjunction with the prefix "Bino".
**T'ho - being(s) of limited intelligence. All Faata castes that are not referred to as "Bino" are considered "T'ho". They are usually genetically engineered for a specific function and only live for several years.
**Ksa - female breeder. Ksa are usually kept in stasis to ensure proper fetus growth.
**Olk - guard/soldier. Olks are bred to be tough and obedient. They are implanted with bionic devices further boosting their strength and allowing orders to be issued to them telepathically.
**Pillar of Order - Bino Faata in charge of a starship or colony, but not necessarily of entire planet (a planet may have several colonies, each of which has its own Pillar of Order). The position is assigned based on capability and seniority.
**One Who Stands by the Sphere - Bino Faata acting as an assistant to the Pillar of Order but does not have much power himself. Name comes from the Faata symbol of power - sphere.
**Holder of Communication - Bino Faata in charge of communicating with a ship's intelligence and fourth in Faata chain of command. Also responsible for directing all T'ho actions (has subordinates which command smaller groups). Usually selected based on natural telepathic abilities.
**Intermediary (AKA One Who Speaks with Bino Tegari) - Bino Faata responsible for learning the language and communicating with aliens before they are destroyed or subjugated. Intermediaries are third in command.
**Strategist (AKA Defender of the Skies) - Bino Faata directing ship-to-ship or planetary combat. Second-in-command after the Pillar of Order.
**Tuahha - period of increased hormonal activity. All Faata go through Tuahha several times (depending on lifespan) in their life, during which they are placed in stasis. Should a Faata be removed from stasis before the end of Tuahha, he or she will experience intense arousal and will be unable to properly function until it passes naturally or is satisfied (something the Faata have not done since the Second Eclipse).
**T'hami - stasis. Most T'ho are kept in T'hami to prolong their lives (i.e. usefulness). Bino Faata must also be placed in T'hami during the hormonal changes formerly used for procreation. Ksa are perpetually in T'hami, as gestation is accelerated. Certain procedures like radiation therapy to extend lifespan are performed on Faata while in T'hami.
**Kaff - small, spherical device used by T'ho to telepathically communicate with a ship's intelligence.
**Annihilator - anti-matter weapon. Primary means of ship-to-ship combat by the Faata. Generally not used on the ground.
**Contour drive - primary means of interstellar travel used by most star-faring races. When engaged, the ship jumps into another universe with different physical properties. From that universe, a jump back to our universe is executed to a different point in space. The entire trip takes a fraction of a second. Power requirements are negligible, as any possible power source can be used to charge the drive. Proper calculations, however, are a necessity, as both distance and gravity can affect the destination point. Most jumps are performed to and from the outer edges of star systems to minimize effect of gravity on accuracy. Only large drives are capable of making multiple jumps without problems. Smaller versions usually burn out after one jump.
**Gravity drive - sublight propulsion used by the Faata. Mass is not a factor in acceleration and deceleration, which allows the drive to propel a massive ship with ease.

*Other
**Sigga - container device for nano-disassemblers. When activated, the tiny machines are activated and released. They can be programmed to seek out and "consume" specific materials. Used by a race of shapeshifters to break down waste.

Trivia

*The Great Red Spot on Jupiter is revealed to be an artifact left by an ancient race called Daskins. Daskins apparently left multiple traces of their existence throughout the galaxy. The bio-machine adapted by the Faata for use on starships was a failed Daskin experiment.
*The vessel destroyed by the Faata near Jupiter was that of the Silmarri, a snake-like collective species who abandoned their homeworld long ago to live on ships.
*It can be inferred that the Faata of the First Phase (pre-Eclipse) were once like humans, enjoyed the same things we do, etc. Then a cataclysm (possibly natural) nearly wiped out that civilization. During the Second Phase (after the First Eclipse), they rebuilt their civilization and began sending out slower-than-light ship to other stars. When the ships returned, they witnessed the results of the Second Eclipse. The ships' crews, horrified by the loss of life, culture, and knowledge, genetically modified their planet-bound brethren to be of limited intelligence and increased their own livespans by a factor of 20-30.
*After the discovery of the Daskin bio-machine on a barren world, the Faata caste structure was slightly altered to allow the most psychically-gifted to have top positions, as they are able to communicate with the bio-machines unaided. Lower castes require either a marble-sized device or an implant for the same purpose. These bio-machines, also known as quasiminds, are capable of reaching out over interstellar distances. However, this requires several "mature" quasiminds working together to reach another star. This communication, however, is instantaneous and cannot be traced, intercepted, or blocked. Faata do possess radio technology, but they only use it to intercept other races' transmissions and communicate with them.