Read Online Jason King: Agent to the Stars 1: The Enclaves of Sylox by T. R. Harris - Free Book Online

Crimin, a thin, dark-skinned alien about six feet tall. He had distinctly Humanoid features – Prime features – so his appearance was not off-putting. I ordered a bottle of fermented Dolic wine to start.
    “Jason was very instrumental in helping establish my Human menu,” Belgon said with enthusiasm. “He is a wonderful creature.”
    “Before you get too excited,” I began, “many of the dishes are made from native plants and animals, and not Earth foods, no matter what the names may suggest.”
    “Really, yet they taste the same as Earth food?” Miranda asked.
    I smiled. “Just about everything in the galaxy can be made to taste like chicken, even native eel-snakes. But it’s best if I order for us without going into too much detail. Just think: if it tastes like chicken, then consider it chicken. You’ll enjoy the meal a lot more if you do. And remember, I’ve tasted everything on the menu, so nothing should make you sick. At least I hope not.”
    When the wine came, Miranda sampled it with approval. “This is really good. I’m sure the rest of the meal will be perfect, as well.”
    I shifted nervously as Miranda locked her eyes on mine and refused to look away. After a moment, it became too much.
    “What?” I said with a frown.
    “It’s just that you are such a fascinating man, Jason King. Don’t be mad, but I pulled your file while at the Consulate the other day.”
    “You have access to that?”
    Her eyes sparkled. “I have ways of getting what I want.”
    “I’m sure you do,” I stammered. What was this spell this woman had over me? “So what did you find that was so fascinating?”
    She raised her eyebrows. “What wasn’t?” she said. “Your time on Sylox is interesting enough, what with all your interactions with the Council and such, but it’s your time on Earth that I found so … so incongruous.”
    “That’s a good word for it. So what you’re asking is how did an ex-Army Ranger turn out to be such an incredible real agent and entrepreneur?” I didn’t like to talk much about my time on Earth; that was a long time ago and in another reality, one that no longer had much meaning.
    “Exactly, it did seem to be a rather strange career path you took.”
    “I really didn’t have a choice, now did I?”
    Miranda nodded. “We studied the early years just before and after First Contact, so I know what you mean. But you have to admit, the alien’s approach to the whole First Contact thing was pure genius.”
    “Yeah, but it still caught a lot of us off guard.”
    **********
    It all began with a series of extremely popular science fiction books, followed by the movie trilogy. The story revolved around an alien race coming to Earth, and the reaction of the population to First Contact. The aliens came in peace, yet in typical Human fashion, we didn’t trust them and instead we fought. In the end the aliens left, taking with them all their advance medicine – including a cure for cancer – along with technology that would have provided free and clean energy for the entire planet. The aliens had indeed been benign, and the gifts they offered would have saved mankind from itself.
    But we blew it. And that was the moral of the story.
    The books and movies were extremely popular, with an estimated reader-and viewership of over half the population of the planet. So it really didn’t come as much of a shock when the aliens finally did arrive – for real – and they looked exactly like those depicted in the movies!
    As the truth came out later, the aliens had been instrumental in the creation of the books and movies as a way of preparing the population for their eventual arrival. Just think: what if aliens had arrived on Earth a couple of decades before and they all looked like Mr. Spock? The shock of their existence would have been greatly reduced.
    That’s what happened when the Amelians arrived. By then nearly everyone on Earth had already seen them – at least on the big screen or