Reality as I knew it was over. I could see it was the same for every other person who saw this crashed alien craft. Its very existence showed us we were not the only sentient life in this galaxy. Human beings were not the only advanced species.

“Preliminary reports are showing that whatever caused the space ship to go down had nothing to do with mechanical failure. It was attacked.” Charles was clad in the same red hazmat suit we all had to wear. The only thing setting him apart as someone with more authority was his clipboard.

“What could’ve taken that thing in a fight?” I asked mostly to myself.

Charles’ only response was a half hearted shrug and deep sigh.

This revelation had shaken us all. The fact that we were not alone make us all question our place in this world.

“You think the higher ups might not be telling us everything?” I had worked in the FBI for most of my life, having started as a young man fresh out of an Ivy League college. What did any of that mean now?

Charles’ eyes darted around in paranoia and he answered in a hushed tone.

“I don’t know if we have any weapons advanced enough to breach the hull of this thing. Whatever it was crafted from is nothing like we have ever seen before. It’s strong. All of the tools we have won’t even scratch the surface.”

That left only one other option. Whatever or whoever had attacked this ship, was even more advanced and had the willingness to fight. That only meant bad things for the human race.

Charles and I watched a small red figure run from the alien craft up the hill we stood on until he came clearly into view. The young man looked absolutely panicked, his face red and sweaty. I doubted very much that it was from physical exertion.

“They are still…in there! The things…the aliens…their bodies…” he huffed and struggled for air.

“Calm down and breathe. Speak slowly.”

I advised, ever maintaining an air of stoicism necessary for my position.

“The bodies of the dead aliens are still inside. We opened a door, there was a panel to open it. They were there, still sitting in their seats.” All the red then drained from his face as he said,

“They look so much like us.”

Indeed it made my blood run cold as I passed through the gnarled metal and downed cables into the main compartment and saw that the alien beings were not all that alien.

They set in a semi circle around a console in bucketed seats with many buttons and switches. How odd that there were no windows. All our shuttles and rockets had windows.

Judging by the tint of their skin they did not see sunlight often. It was so translucent I could see each of their veins and even musculature. Their eyes and ears were quite large and their fingers were long and thin. Each of them had small and fragile looking frames. However there were no features on them that distinguished them as alien. More like abnormal or mutated humans.

“Where did they come from?”

Another worker gave voice to the very thought running through my head.

I glanced over to him, but his eyes were glued to the being closest to him. The largest and strangely the most feminine of the five, sat in the center. This gave her the air of authority and I assumed meant she was the captain.

“God only knows.” Charles said from some where behind me, a uncharacteristically religious statement.

The mention of God reverberated in this so unreal and unnatural setting.

It was not uncommon to turn to something higher than yourself in a time of need.

“We will need a miracle if whoever killed them decides to come back.” I stated, making every one in the room shudder with fear. It was a realization that many if them hadn’t come to yet.

It was in my job description to intake data and process it quickly and efficiently asses each variant as well as the outcomes to each. I’m this situation I saw only only one outcome. No matter what happened after this, no matter the reaction of governments or the people, no matter if or when the aliens made further contact. There was one thing I knew was undeniable truth.

There would be war.