My grandfather told me many times about the hostile alien invasion when I was a kid. We stopped the hostile alien invasion twice. I became very worried about the death. My name was Mara Tan or Taam Muk-laan in Cantonese. I was a Chinese American woman. When did it happen to the Earth?

It was fifty years later. The present-day world was different from the past. We had advanced technology. The world was open for humans, cyborgs and AI. There still were many racists and technophobes, which disliked foreigners, cyborgs and AI. The United Earth of Republic Human or UERH supplanted the United Nations.

UERH was the most powerful government. They renewed their policy. There was a United Earth Assembly, which was a parliament in New York City. New York City was a capital city. In United Earth Assembly they had four different political parties. The governmental leader of the UERH was called President and we had a civil democracy.

We had the United Earth Defense Forces or UEDF. The UEDF leader was called Defense Executive or DX. We had a military democracy because a General or an Admiral would elect to become the DX. The President had to be civil. What if a President with a military background would protect the Earth from dangerous aliens or the asteroids? No, it wouldn't work for him or her.

The President was responsible for the civil departments, although the DX was responsible for the defense departments. Both of them didn't have power over each other. They would get a second and last term, so they didn't need to fire each other. There was a special code of law. It meant that the Assembly was strictly right to know what the President and the DX would do. The President and the DX would need the Assembly's permit.

It would become approved or not. The DX would ignore the permit if the Earth was in danger. Anybody didn't know what the fiendish aliens would do to the Earth. The Assembly approved three new services when the first DX asked them. UEDF had four services. The three services became the Engineering Troops, the Medical Corps and the Star Fleet.

Were the three services military? Star Fleet and Engineering Troops were two military services while Medical Corps was a humanitarian service. They became the most impressive, youngest and largest services. The first DX abolished Navy and Air Forces later. Star Fleet replaced both of them. The DX kept Army because he was the member, though he changed the name and it became the Ground Forces.

UEDF HQ was in London. The Generals and the Admirals still discussed the starships longer time. Medical Corps HQ was in Honolulu. Ground Forces HQ was in Beijing. Engineering Troops HQ was in Wellington. Star Fleet HQ was in space, so they protected the Earth from the hostile alien invasion.

United Earth Board of Science or UEBS was a civil department of UERH. They had a XenoCenter in Sydney and a university system. The university system had twelve different campuses in every city. They had intelligent personnel. My three childhood friends and I were four of them. We were top-notch!

There were four Medical Academies in Shanghai, Johannesburg, Stockholm and San Diego. They taught and researched dentistry, medicine and nursing. There were four Universities in New York City, Cairo, Lyon and Darwin. They taught and researched universal subjects. There were four Technical Collages in Windhoek, Houston, Hong Kong and Tromsø. They taught and researched technical subjects.

I was a professor of virtual archaeology at New York City and a professor of military advanced technology at Tromsø. Ava Lind, my Swedish friend was a professor of applied virology at Lyon. Iekami Hana, my Japanese friend was a professor of extraterrestrial neurosurgery at Stockholm. Andrew Kakwfi, my only male and Canadian third friend was a professor of military spacecraft engineering at Hong Kong. We were members of UESB. Our research was secret for the people.

We also were members of UEDF. Our rank was the same. I was the Commander of Star Fleet. Hana was the Commander of Medical Corps. Ava was the Lieutenant Colonel of Ground Forces. Andrew was the Lieutenant Colonel of Engineering Troops.

I was a member of Black Attack and Tactic Squads or BATS. It was the special operation forces of Star Fleet. They were like US Navy SEAL. It was very easy to roll with the body in the space, though it was hard to control the weapon due to the weak oxygen tub. Many members of Star Fleet had to save the oxygen tubs. They didn't succeed to make it.

Ava was a member of Hidden Intelligence and Tactic Squads or HITS. It also was the special operation forces of Ground Forces. They were like US Army Special Forces. It seemed easy, but to jump on the moon was intensely tough. Many members of Ground Forces had to beat the dummies while they jumped. They didn't succeed to make it either.

There was a fearless and female team, Zero. They were like US Delta Force and US SEAL Team Six. Ava and I moved to Zero. Zero's motto was "We are nobody", even Zero meant "nothing" in Arabic. Our badge looked like a black widow spider which was on a gold shield. The black widow spiders were female sexual cannibals.

The XenoCenter had two research teams. They were very different. The XenoBio Team in Seoul investigated mass dead extraterrestrial bodies. They had two sub-institutions in Paris and Singapore. Paris had mixed and dangerous bacteria while Singapore had strange viruses. They would make vaccines.

The XenoScien Team in Geneva researched the new physical formulas. They would make stronger than the old physical formulas. The new formulas would kill the fiendish aliens, but the famous researchers never have seen the same things before. It would be an energy bomb. They wanted to test it. As a professor of military advanced technology, I thought that it was too hard to make an energy bomb.

UEBS found the unprocessed energy. They contacted the energy company about it because they would want to test it and the CEO said yes. The CEO discussed with UEBS about the modern weapon. He thought that UEDF's energy was weak. UEBS agreed with him. They promised to discuss with UEDF about the energy.

Scientific Investigation Bureau or SIB was an investigation agency. They reported directly to the President. The scientists were intelligent, but some could make a dangerous thing. SIB had a serious criminal investigation and an internal affairs division. Some agents were scientists. SIB had a Forensic Laboratory and a Pathology Office.

UEDF had three defense hospitals, two defense academies, two fleet schools, a command academy, and a pilot training school. There was another investigation agency, Defense Investigation Service or DIS. Unlike SIB, they reported directly to the DX. They had a serious criminal investigation and an internal affairs division. Some agents were former members of UEDF. DIS had a Forensic Laboratory and a Pathology Office.

UERH had a Police Authority. Every local police station was in every city and every town. Even the Police Authority had a serious criminal investigation and an internal affairs division. They had to obey DIS and SIB if the members of UEDF and UEBS would be in a bad situation. DIS and SIB coordinated with each other. The Police Authority had a Forensic Laboratory and a Pathology Office.

How did I look like? My Asian friends thought that I looked like a young Shu Qi, a Taiwanese actress, but I didn't think that I looked like her. I had an athletic body and long hair. My bra size was 36C. I was very tall. There was a tattoo on my right buttock and it was a badge from Zero.

My friends and I became surprised that we would come to UEDF HQ. The HQ building was called Cold Wall and it was very big. We came to the HQ. The guards saluted, so we entered. We never have been in the HQ. There were many members with different backgrounds.

We didn't know why we were here. The time would tell. A male member of Star Fleet stood and waited for us when we went to him. He saluted and we returned it.

"Welcome to UEDF HQ, ma'am! I am Ensign Martin Stevenson of Star Fleet," the member said with a smile.

"Thank you, Ensign Martin! I am Commander Mara Tan of Star Fleet. This is Commander Iekami Hana of Medical Corps, Lieutenant Colonel Ava Lind of Ground Forces and Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Kakwfi of Engineering Troops," I said.

"Professor Mara Tan? I am a fan of you. Oh shit! Sorry, ma'am! The DX ordered me to take you to him now."

"No worries! I have mass fans. Guide us to him, Ensign Martin."

The DX was Marc Nilsen. He was the General of Ground Forces. We followed Martin to the conference room with the generals and the admirals. One of them ordered him to stand at ease and he left us instantly. The door closed automatically. Marc stood up.

"Good Day! Do you know to the new starship?" Marc wondered.

"I am a member of Star Fleet, and skip the information about the new starship, sir!" I said.

The generals and the admirals shook the head. One of the admirals said, "Forgive him, Commander Mara. He forgot that you've already been a member of Star Fleet so longer time. I am Vice Admiral Marwin Yam of Star Fleet. We newly finished building the first starship. It is a heavy ship with twenty science laboratories. Yes, you are top-notch due to your intelligence. This starship will leave the Solar System and look for life in this galaxy. Image, please!"

The holographic image showed automatically. We never have seen the ship earlier. She was glorious like a goddess. The interior design was white. There were fifty decks, many compartments and the main cabin. The main cabin was very big!

Even the ship had three plasma cannons and an antimatter shield. There were mass weapons in every weapon closet. The unused weapons were both heavy and light. They also had plasma. Every member of the ship would have them. The civil people and some military members were not aware of the weapons and the ship, but the President knew.

"So it is classified, sir?" Hana asked excitingly.

"Will we meet the aliens, sir?" Ava asked surprisingly.

"Sir, will we explore the galaxy?" I asked hopefully.

"Ladies, stay calm!" Marwin said. "Oh my God! I can say yes to your questions. You know that we are strictly slow to build many ships."

"I told to the ladies hundreds of times that it was not science fiction, sir," Andrew said.

"It is not a direct order without a simple question. Do you want to take the responsibility for the new ship, Captain Mara, Captain Hana, Colonel Andrew and Colonel Ava?" Marc asked.

"Do you promote us, sir?" I wondered.

"Yes, you are both intelligent and energetic."

"Thanks, sir!" we said.

Marc promoted us. The generals and the admirals congratulated us. Marc asked us again about the responsibility. We thought about a thing.

"Yes, sir!" we said.

Marc thought about the thing.

"The ship class is Qualitative XenoEccentricity I or QXE I. Do you have a name for the ship?" Marc asked.

"Yes, sir! I name the ship for Nyx after the Greek Goddess of Night," I said.

Marc wanted us to look for the hidden planets. I asked him if that was everything. He nodded slowly. The generals and the admirals wished us good luck in the future and then Marc ordered us to stand at ease. We left the HQ when we got the invisible e-mail from Marwin. Yes, we got a question about our executive officer.

I chose Lieutenant Commander Malin Sundberg of Star Fleet and Malin was a Swedish explosives engineer. Ava chose Major Adolfo Paz of Ground Forces and Adolfo was a Spanish military historian. Hana chose Lieutenant Commander Robert Smith of Medical Corps and Robert was a British cardiac surgeon. Andrew chose Major Sophia Verbeke of Engineering Troops and Sophia was a Dutch optomechanical engineer. We sent the invisible e-mail instantly to Marwin. Our executive officers would become very happy!

Would we miss someone or something on the Earth? Yes, we would do. The time would change forever. We looked at each other and were ready to leave the Earth. The alien planets could be thrilling. We hoped that the extraterrestrial beings would be good.

After a long week, we were aboard Nyx. Our crew stood nervously in the hangar. They never seemed to meet the beautiful and female leaders. My best friends waited for my speech. I would give a speech to our crew. It was my first speech.

UEDF members wore different uniforms. There were UEBS members. They were humanists and scientists, so they also wore different uniforms. UEDF and UEBS worked with each other. There were not any complaints about their uniforms. We were positive.

The uniform of Ground Forces was red. They were ready to meet the aliens, but they were unused to this ship. The uniform of Star Fleet was black. They were very respectful to the leaders. The uniform of Engineering Troops was green. They repaired the machines and created the weapons.

The uniform of Medical Corps was white. They were a little nerdy. The uniform of humanists was yellow. They studied the hypothetical creatures' culture. The uniform of scientists was orange. They analyzed the hypothetical creatures and the other strange things.

Both men and women were willing to choose the traditional clothes, but they had to have the modern uniform because they were ready to fight. Hana and Andrew wore traditional clothes. Andrew was a First Nation while Hana was an Ainu. Ava and I wore the modern uniform. We respected the culture. Our crew was about six hundred fifty.

I was responsible for the star crew. Ava was responsible for the soldiers. Hana was responsible for the medical crew. Andrew was responsible for the engineers. Even we shared the responsibility for the UEBS members. The members waited for me.

I called out, "We know why we are here. The UERH sent us to this ship. We'll travel away from our home because we will seek for the life in this galaxy. It is not just about our culture, nation, gender and sexual orientation. Yes, it is about our curiosity. We always have been curious about the other planets!"

After a long day, we checked our new ship. The bridge was big, so I went to the chair and sat. We would leave the home planet. First, we would analyze our home planet. I ordered the scientific team to analyze our home planet. We could miss a thing on the Earth.

The scientists did it when I found a rare civilization. I sent an e-mail to UEBS about the civilization. We traveled around and analyzed the other planets fast in the Solar System. As we already knew, there were not any lives in this planetary system. The planets had a lot of water. We were ready to leave.

The new starship never tested to travel through the planetary system. I counted to five, quickly we left the system. Yes, we lived. We just began to look for life, but I needed to sleep.

"Lieutenant Commander Malin, I need to sleep. You can take over my command," I said.

"Aye, aye, ma'am!" Malin said.

Malin saluted and I returned it. I left the bridge, instantly I went to my cabin. The camera recognized my face and then the door opened automatically. I entered and the door closed. The cabin was very big. I went to my berth and slept.