Chapter One: Overwhelmed by an Olympian!

The saucer shaped space vessels were ready to take off from the Microlillan launch pads. General Stringer addressed a group of privates and corporals. All of these people, including General Stringer, stood around one inch in height.

“The dimensional portal is set for Earth orbit in the early 1960s. The portal can choose any time or location in the known universe and project the vessels there instantly.”

A normal sized shuttle cruiser controlled the portal; thick cables stretched from the control console in the cockpit of the cruiser to the mechanism that controlled the dimensional portal.

Stringer continued: “Our mission is to go to Earth, find the coordinates of a suitable reality of an uninhabited world that occupies the same location in space as Earth, but in a different reality. Once we have a lock on the quantum signature of the alternate reality we are looking for, we will return through the portal and await orders from General Vertragus. We are only letting low ranking members of our military on this mission, other than myself. We don’t want to risk losing any of our top officers.”

The enlisted men got into the saucer shaped space ships. When Stringer guided the vanguard convoy through the dimensional portal to Earth orbit, he spoke to the onboard computer: “Computer, scan the minds of the people on Earth in this primitive time and find someone who has an affinity for shrunken people, they might be willing to help us.”

The computer chose a young woman in Olympia, Washington, so Stringer patched those coordinates through to the other space vessels. They ended up landing in the woods in Olympia, Washington in 1964. Stringer and some of the others disembarked. As a normal sized young woman approached, one of the corporals shouted: “It’s an Olympian!”

They were found by the 18-year-old woman. She was a mix of Latina and Caucasian, and very beautiful. Stringer left the space craft and made first contact with the teenage girl. She knelt down and befriended Stringer and the other Microlillans. She introduced herself:’ “I’m Demetria Navarro, I’m 18, and a third generation Olympian. Today was the last day of school of my senior year of high school!”

She lowered her right hand, palm side up, and invited Stringer to climb onto her palm. She asked Stringer of their origin, and he told her of the saga of Vertragus:

“On the throne world of the Lillan Imperium, Vertragus was on trial for sedition. The magistrate in charge of the proceedings explained that the fascination Vertragus had with human civilization was perverse. They were even forced to speak to him in English, an Earth language, because Vertragus is so obsessed with humanity that he has learned most of their languages and refuses to speak in his native tongue. Even the name he has chosen for himself is an Earth name. He has led others to follow him. The magistrate continued: “We have been a peaceful race for a thousand millennia, since we achieved technological enlightenment. We are one of the few civilizations in the charted galaxies that have developed a total mastery of time and space. Though we are identical to humans neither you or us are one of them; their DNA is different than ours, and we cannot procreate with them.’”

Vertragus spoke: “This is a pacifistic society, but one thing you people never figured out is that sometimes, violence is the only solution! That’s why I respect humanity, because despite their warlike nature, there is a certain wisdom they possess that our ancestors abandoned long ago!”

The Magistrate replied: “We have no choice but to sentence you to a life sentence, you will be miniaturized by neutrino dissimilation and taken by space warp to the world of the Microlillans! A size inhibitor will be implanted into your spinal column so you can never be restored to normal size! We can’t allow your aggressive philosophy to infect the minds of our youth!”

As Vertragus was taken away, he shouted back at the Magistrate: “One day you will pay for all of this! If not by me, then by fate or destiny! Your society has become too complacent, too dependent on technology!”

Demetria: “So he was miniaturized and taken to a world of tiny people?”

Stringer responded: “Yes, that is what happened to all of us. On Microlilla, we were at a Stone Age level of technology, because none of us were people of science. Vertragus was a renowned scientist and engineer. Within twenty years, he brought us to the same level of technological prowess as Earth was at the Dawn of the 20th century. Vertragus taught all of us to speak English.”

“But your technology is a lot more advanced than ours!” Demetria replied. “What happened next?”

“A group of six cadets arrived in a shuttle cruiser and were stranded among the Microlillans.”

“Were they normal sized like me?” Demetria asked.

“Yes, to us, they were like giants! They forced us to build a dimensional portal powered by the shuttle cruiser, and we worked night and day until that was accomplished. One of them fired a nova bomb at the star our planet orbited, giving us ten years to evacuate our planet before the star explodes. Then the cadets left though the portal and returned to where they originated.”

“Where is the shuttle cruiser now?” Demetria asked.

“We have a matter of months until the star Microlilla orbits explodes due to the nova bomb. The shuttle cruiser remains on the Microlillan planet. We are part of a vanguard, a spear head to seek out a temporary base on Earth where we will be safe. Vertragus wants to establish a colony on an uninhabited world that occupies the same coordinates as Earth, but in a different reality. We can use dimensional rifts to journey back and forth to Earth when needed once we are established there. To do this, we needed to get to Earth first, because our long range scanners in our galaxy won’t allow us to scan for a world in another reality that will fit our needs unless we’re actually on Earth itself. That is why we need your help. Once our colonies are established, we will summon the rest of our people, led by Vertragus!”

Demetria invited Stringer to her home, which was close to the secluded wooded area where the Microlillans had touched down. She carried Stringer and nine other Microlillans in her hands, and placed them on her desk in her bedroom.

“As a third generation Olympian, I’ve always had this fantasy about being a goddess! Every Halloween, I dress up like one. Let me change into my costume, and I’ll show you!”

Two minutes later, the towering teen was dressed in a Roman style tunic. Her arms and legs were bare, and she wore sandals, the straps of which extended almost to her knees. She stood with her arms akimbo, and looked down at the Microlillans, who stood around an inch tall.

“I’ve always wanted to be a giant goddess from mythology, like a monster that devours people! In high school, I studied the Greco Roman myths in hopes that a character like that existed! I never found one, but now I get to act out my fantasies for real!”

As the eminent eighteen-year-old licked her lips, Stringer’s officers looked at him apprehensively. Was it possible that they had made a mistake in trusting this young woman?

To Be Continued!

Chapter Two: Question and Answer Session

The ten Microlillans, including General Stringer, were crowded together on the desk in 18 year old Demetria Navarro’s bedroom. They all stood around an inch tall. Demetria was normal sized, dressed in a Roman goddess costume, complete with leather sandals that snaked across her calves to just below her knees.

“How does time travel work?” Demetria asked.

“Time is a continuum, much like space;” Stringer began, “it is three dimensional, so we refer to it as temporal space. There is objective time and subjective time, a temporal displacement field surrounds the time vehicle and slows down subjective time almost completely. The trip from our galaxy to here took many billions of years, but the passengers perceived the trip as happening instantaneously.”

Demetria thought about this for a moment, then replied, “Do you have to plan your trip through the dimension of time? Are there obstacles there you have to avoid?”

“Every celestial object, such as planets and stars, exist as gravity trails snaking through temporal space. Everywhere your sun has ever been since it was created, until it will dissipate billions of years from now, exists as a gravity trail in temporal space. We must avoid the gravity trails of black hole clusters, or our ships can be damaged. We have sensors that help our navigation computer chart our course through temporal space and avoid these objects.”

“What’s a black hole?” Demetria asked.

A Corporal spoke to Stringer: “The people of Earth in this time are unaware of the existence of black holes, General! We’re ten or fifteen years too early for that.”

“Understood, thank you, Corporal!” Stringer replied, then returned his attention to Demetria. “A black hole is a dead star that had collapsed in on itself. There are places in the universe where thousands of black holes have attracted themselves to each other to form a cluster. I believe the people of your era will eventually refer to them as black stars, but the term black hole will be developed later.”

“Is it possible to alter history, or is history immutable?” Demetria asked.

“Our civilization has developed a device known as a temporal integrator. It allows history to be altered without eliminating people in the new temporal event sequence. Anyone who existed in the original temporal event sequence will still exist in the altered timeline. Since our people are not human, we have no fear of the repercussions for altering Earth’s history.”

“You keep saying your people, and that you’re not human. If you aren’t human, then what are you, and why do you look like us?”

“We come from another galaxy. There have been about a thousand different races in your own galaxy with people who look identical to humans. Humans can’t procreate with any of them, nor with us. We have achieved immortality, so we can never grow older, though we can be killed by digestion or by being crushed.”

“Why are your people so small?” Demetria asked.

“The civilization we are originally from is known as the Lillan Imperium. All of us are criminals who were miniaturized and sent to a world where we could no longer be a problem to the society we came from. We are known as the Microlillans, and we outnumber the people of Earth a thousand to one. The star our planet orbits is about to explode, so we are looking for a place to set up colonies to escape to.”

“Doesn’t the government that banished you care that your Star will explode?” Demetria asked.

“We’re completely on our own,” Stringer replied.

“How does miniaturization technology work?” Demetria asked.

“A system of synchronized dimensional fields absorb the mass of the combined matter and energy of sub-atomic particles and weaken the strength of the charge of the protons and electrons. Another dimensional field known as a reactive dimensional membrane controls the temperature of the shrunken person, so they don’t freeze in colder weather or get too hot in warmer weather. The whole process is initiated by a dimensional cascade effect. A dimensional membrane surrounds the person being miniaturized, and anything done to an atom in the center of the person’s body cascades out to every atom contained within that dimensional membrane. Each of us have been implanted with a size inhibitor in our spinal column that prevents us from being restored to normal size.”

“Is being miniaturized and banished a good deterrent for crime?” Demetria asked.

“I don’t know the statistics,” Stringer replied, “but from what I recall, crime is a constant in our society. The threat of being miniaturized and banished does little to stop criminals.”

“What weapons do your people have?” Demetria asked.

“We are part of a vanguard, but we are unarmed. The shuttle cruiser left by the cadets who helped us build the dimensional portal that brought us here has a program that won’t allow us to build most types of weapons.”

“Can one of your soldiers role play with me?” Demetria asked.

“What do you want to act out?” Stringer asked.

“I’ll set him on the floor, and pretend he came to Mount Olympus to challenge an Olympian to a contest, and if he wins, I grant him a wish, but if he loses, I’ll send him to my belly!”

Stringer looked at his corporals, hoping for a volunteer. If this role play took a turn for the worse and became dangerous, they would have almost no chance of stopping this young woman. They were completely at her mercy!

To Be Continued!