4464 5e05b27e-f1e9-44ea-9e64-2b537581a369 Illegal Alien Robert J. Sawyer calibre (2.43.0) [http://calibre-ebook.com] 1997-10-02T00:00:00+00:00 <p>When a disabled starship enters the Earth's atmosphere, fear is quickly replaced with awe. The first contact ever between humans and aliens is made. Seven incredibly intelligent members of an advanced race are welcomed by the world. In exchange for the resources and help to repair their ship, they offer to share their knowledge and technology.<p>But as the people of Earth put their best faces forward, the growing sense of trust is shattered. A popular scientist, part of the aliens' traveling entourage, is found dead &#8212; mutilated and dismembered by a mysterious weapon. All evidence points to one of them. Scrambling to avoid a planetary incident, the United States government acquires the country's leading civil rights lawyer to defend the alien. In the unprecedented trial, human and alien cultures clash. And when the search for justice threatens to overshadow the truth, there may be more at stake than accounting for one human life... The Easton Press http://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?402990 eng first contact Novel _isfdb Nomination of 1997 HOMer Award for Novel