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Prologue: Five Years Ago

Prologue: Five Years Ago

200 meters from 208 National Road, Inner Mongolia, China.

A large spherical object lowered slowly, three thin legs slowly lowering out of its lower hemisphere. It touched down lightly, barely disturbing the dirt as it came to a stop. Nothing else happened, a lone car driving by and virtually ignoring the immobile object. It remained still, the setting sun casting a long shadow across the road.

Roughly 25 kilometers south of Cona Niyeu, Argentina.

An identical spherical object descends through the atmosphere, its own tripod legs lowering as it touched down. It sat there, unmoving, directly opposite its sister ship. The two vessels remained silent, waiting.

A line of Chinese T-14 Armatas rolled down 208 National Road, their smoothbore cannons aimed at the alien vessel. Behind them came a group of scientific trucks, followed by more tanks. The tanks split and circled the vessel, the trucks parking a good distance outside the circle of tanks. It was dawn now, having been nearly 14 hours since the alien spheres landed.

An older man stepped out of one of the trucks, his uniform denoting the rank of general. He walked briskly around the truck, stopping next to one of the tanks and looking up and down the alien sphere. A man in a lab coat came up behind him, followed by a younger woman in similar dress.

“Tā shì shénme?” the general asked (What is it?).

“Zhè sìhū shì mǒu zhǒng jiāotōng gōngjù,” the lead scientist answered (It seems to be some kind of transport).

“Nǐ néng gàosù tā lǐmiàn yǒu shé me ma?” (Can you tell what’s in it?).

“Bù, dàn wǒmen huì shèzhì wǒmen de shèbèi bìng jǐn wǒmen suǒ néng.” (No, but we'll set up our equipment and do what we can).

“Wǒ xiǎng zài èrshísì xiǎoshí zhī nèi shǐyòng yīngtè'ěr.” (I want information within twenty-four hours).

The general turned and walked back to the truck, and the two scientists began shouting orders to others emerging from the trucks. The group began setting up various scientific devices, preparing to study the strange vessel.

It took much longer for the Argentinian authorities to learn about the existence of their “egg.” Due to the great distance between it and the nearest road or town, it wasn’t until a helicopter flew overhead that it was spotted. A convoy similar to the Chinese one had travelled to Cona Niyeu, then split south toward the alien orb. Led by a group of TAM main battle tanks, the tanks formed a semicircle around one side of the alien vessel, remaining nearly 100 meters away from the orb. Behind them rolled up some armored trucks, which stopped a further 50 meters behind the tanks. From the lead truck emerged a group of military personnel, followed by an equal number of scientists. They walked past the line of tanks, approaching the vessel cautiously. They stopped a few meters ahead of the tanks.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“¿Eso es todo?” one of the scientists asked (This is it?).

“Se ve inactive,” another added (It looks dormant).

“Podría ser peligroso. No bajes la guardia,” one of the soldiers ordered (It could be dangerous. Don’t lower your guard).

“Tomará mucho tiempo estudiarlo,” the first scientist said (It will take a long time to study it).

“Haz lo que debes hacer,” the officer answered (Do what you must).

La Cruces, New Mexico

Bzzzt-bzzzt-bzzzt!

The alarm clock buzzed noisily, displaying 6:30 on it’s digital display. A girl slammed her hand down, turning it off, and rolled over, pulling the blankets over her head. She groaned as she Heard the door to her room open.

“Elysia, get up! You need to see this,” said a male voice.

“What is it, dad?” the girl grumbled.

“The news. Something happened, and you’ll be interested in it.”

Elysia sighed, but obediently removed the covers and climbed out of bed. She rubbed her grey eyes, brushing a stray strand of blonde hair out of her face. Dressed in a simple, light purplish nightgown, she stood and slowly walked across the room, mumbling something under her breath.

"Sorry?" her father asked.

"I said," she answered, dramatically over annunciating, "get me coffee first."

Her father smiled and nodded. “The news is playing on the TV; it’s fascinating.”

Elysia rubbed her eyes again and proceeded to the couch, climbing over the back and flopping onto the cushions, watching the TV.

“Authorities arrived on the scene early in the morning,” announced the reporter. “According to the earliest known sighting, the Chinese military arrived approximately fourteen hours after it was initially identified.”

Elysia was wide awake now, and took the mug of coffee from her father without even taking her eyes off the screen.

“Initial studies from both China and Argentina have not yet determined what the spheres contain, although they appear to be dormant and are not hostile or dangerous.”

Elysia’s father leaned on the back of the couch.

“Pretty neat, huh?” he commented.

She considered this, then shrugged.

“I suppose, for now. It’s tough to say how this will end though.”

“This just in: reports from Argentina have informed us that the alien vessel suddenly began vibrating and released a massive energy surge of some kind, causing widespread power loss. Cities as far out as Valcheta, nearly one hundred and sixty kilometers away, have lost power.”

“Oh my . . . .” Elysia’s father was clearly taken aback.

“Furthermore, a message has been detected from the alien vessel, which we will play now.”

A strange audio message followed the reporter’s announcement.

“Ni’ia’ia ni’ia-koron ni’oyu’ho-chia.”

Elysia stood suddenly, staring concernedly at her father, then left the room. He watched her go, debating whether to stop her or to let her go. He settled on the latter as he heard the front door close behind her.

Outside, Elysia walked slowly down the front steps, still in her nightgown. She sat as she reached the bottom step, considering what she had heard. Somehow, she thought . . . .

But it couldn’t be true. She couldn’t possibly know what that alien language meant. She was imagining things. What she heard was just her brain playing tricks on her. There was no way . . . no way it could be true. None of this could be true.

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