Chapter I
The day the strangers arrived began like any other day. The sun shone bright and hot and the July air was steamy with humidity. The ship moved silently out of the sky and hovered over the Atlantic Ocean just a few miles east of the American coast. It gleamed spectacularly in the sun, a silvery behemoth larger than ten aircraft carriers put together.
For all its size, it was sleek in its design. At roughly ten thousand feet long and twenty five hundred feet wide it featured immense upright fins on both sides of its tail. There were what looked like flight deck windshields on the nose of the craft though they appeared opaque from the outside. Along its sides were delta style wings that seemed much too small when compared to the overall size of the vessel. They protruded only a few hundred feet at their widest.
In spite of its size, it floated serenely at twelve thousand feet while making no sound at all.
It moved lazily toward New York City as crowds of onlookers watched in awe. Although it did not register on any radar or sat station, one needed only look up to know it was there.
Every branch of the American military was immediately put on high alert. Fighter jets from the air force, navy and marines were scrambled. They approached cautiously giving the alien ship a wide berth, though their weapons systems were activated and placed on standby. Antiaircraft positions too were armed and readied waiting for the order to strike.
The American president watched the approach of the vessel grimly. His advisors were divided in their opinions. Some told him to give the order to attack. Others urged him to hold off to see if the ships were hostile. Still others had nothing to say and covered their mouths with their hands as they dithered.
The ship drifted over New York and then kept on drifting. There was no message from it nor any indication of its intentions. It simply floated westward.
Within a half hour it was over Pittsburgh. People looked up with their eyes wide and mouths open in disbelief. Then it floated over Columbus, then Indianapolis. After an hour it passed St. Louis and then Kansas City. Before two hours had passed it drifted over Denver and then the Nevada desert. After it drifted over Sacramento and out over the Pacific Ocean the people of America breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
About sixteen hours later the ship moved over Tokyo, then Nagano. People everywhere watched with amazement and trepidation.
When the ship was at the western edge of the Sea of Japan, the North Korean military attacked. A barrage of missiles was launched from batteries on their eastern coast. As they were en route to their target the North Korean leader read a fiery speech over the state broadcaster that approach by vessels of any kind would be treated as an act of war.
Even before the dictator had finished reading his speech the missiles vanished into thin air. They never got near their target.
The country's air force was launched and approached the ship, now directly over Pyongyang. Without warning the fighter jets simply fell out of the sky. The on-board power systems aboard the planes failed for no discernible reason. Pilots and their navigators were forced to bail out and parachute to the ground. Not one of them suffered so much as a scratch.
The North Korean leader was enraged. He ordered that every weapon in their arsenal be fired at the intruder. Then he used his trump card. Within minutes of opening fire on the ship overhead, half a dozen intercontinental missiles were fired in the direction of the USA.
The ship over Pyongyang floated quietly toward the Yellow Sea and the missiles fired at the American continent disappeared from existence before they entered Japanese airspace.
After the ammunition for every ship, artillery piece and missile silo the North Koreans owned were exhausted they finally went silent.
The whole world watched with baited breath after the attack began. Everyone wondered if the actions of the North Koreans would endanger the entire Human race. Yet the alien ship continued serenely over the Korean countryside and then over the Yellow Sea toward the Chinese mainland.
The President of the United States breathed a heavy sigh of relief when there was no response from the visitors. On calls to Russia, China, Great Britain and France, he was mollified to know they had all been anticipating the worst, just as he was.
He then called a long and protracted meeting with his advisors in the Situation Room to try to work out a strategy.
The silence from the alien ship stretched on as it continued travelling westward. Fighter jets from every nation escorted the ship across their own airspace, all with no reaction or message from the visitors.
Over the next several days the ship continued to circle the planet again and again, passing over every major population center as it went. It became apparent that the ship was not moving at all except for its adjustments to the north or south. It was simply hovering in place as the Earth rotated beneath it, completing a circumnavigation of the globe each day. And still the silence went on.
In an unprecedented show of cooperation, many leaders from around the world agreed on a plan of action. They set up broadcasting stations directly in the path of the ship and repeated a single message in all languages of the Earth.
"Why are you here? Can we speak?"
The days passed and still there was no response from the floating behemoth.
Two weeks after the ship first appeared in the sky the visitors finally made contact, but in a way that was most unexpected.
In Toronto Canada on a morning talk show broadcast nationwide, the host was speaking with a nutritionist.
"Okay everyone," Kevin Parsons said while smiling into the camera, "We have Andrea Wilson with us and she's here to tell us about the dos and don'ts of eating a healthy breakfast before rushing to the office."
"Thank you Kevin," Andrea said as the camera switched seamlessly to her.
She was standing behind a kitchen counter mock up complete with a toaster, a loaf of whole grain bread, a fruit cup and a carton of eggs.
"You know," she began with a beaming smile, "Eating a healthy diet can seem to be so difficult. We're all so rushed and frantic every morning, it can sometimes feel like it's impossible to take in foods that promote a healthy lifestyle. Well I'm here to tell you how wrong that impression is."
"Quite right Andrea!" a deep bass voice intoned from seemingly nowhere, "It seems that mankind has forgotten many of the lessons we taught them in their youth, including a proper diet."
As the nutritionist and the host looked around in confusion and two of the camera operators jiggered back and forth, the voice said calmly, "Over here."
Where no one had been previously standing, between two large ferns framing the large picture window that looked out onto Queen St, a tall figure appeared.
He stood over six feet. In appearance, his was the face of a very handsome man. His limbs appeared to be cast from virgin marble. His ancient style toga exposed his well-muscled arms and legs. He wore large gaudy gold necklaces, armlets that looked to be of the finest pearls and a laurel wreath on his head like a crown. There was also an ornate looking cloak thrown almost carelessly over one shoulder with rich looking bead and embroidery work along its hem. A gem encrusted dagger was thrust into an opulent looking sheath on his belt.
