Chapter 2

Welcome to Alaska

Olivia Mather's was a simple woman. She wasn't anything special really; she just loved her job and the people she did it for. She had an average build and an average weight, with an average face and an average lifestyle. Olivia, more commonly called Liv by the people she was close to, enjoyed being average.

Yet, she did envy Sedna Maktor, the beautiful, headstrong Inuit who had first introduced her to her new surroundings. Sedna was young, a mere 24, but with her Diner and Inn, Sedna was considered to be extremely successful. She was beautiful, with long thick black hair that was commonly braided and kept out of the way. She always stood tall, proud of her heritage as she spoke in the language of her people. Olivia was jealous of her dark ember eyes which rested in gentle almond shaped sockets.

Now, Sedna and Eric Segla did not get along. Eric hated Sedna, Sedna hated Eric. It may have been from creative differences, or from the time Eric froze her favorite pair of boots in a block of ice.

"Welcome to Alaska, where our population isn't over 1,000 and we freeze each other's belongings for fun," his voice was laced with a sarcastic tone as he explained minutes after the ordeal.

Whatever the reason, Eric didn't seem to mind having sour feelings towards the woman. The blond haired 29 year old camera man simply shrugged off her vicious Inuit words and continued on.

Eric's laid back demeanors attracted Chu Iski right away, the son of their translator/guide/medicine man, John Iski. The elder man was sweet and caring, the complete opposite of his son. Chu was only 9 years old when Liv and Eric first met him. The boy was a ball of curiosity, asking questions about everything. Liv could recall the urge she had to pummel him on sight when he began asking questions repeatedly.

Chu had grown up, if any, since the time Olivia and Eric first met him. Everyone had. It was all so different now with the way everyone had grown to care about the daily news casts from the cell tower on the edge of town. Liv, though rather happy with the sudden fame, was only nervous about one thing: letting the town down.

Hence, no sick days, no breaks, no nothing. Every day was a broadcast day. Liv guessed this was why today's earlier broadcast was such a big deal.

Picking up the phone off of its cradle, Liv answered causally, only to be greeted by the ever so informal, "Yo, Liv" from Chu. Quickly, before Liv could say anything else, she told to get dressed and head to Sedna's diner.

He hung up on her with a click.

Liv shrugged and pulled her coat on.

10:46 pm

Nutarniq, Alaska

Sedna's Diner

"Really, really. Thank you, all of you. You were the ones who made all of this possible."

Olivia Mather's voice rose above the boisterous laughter of the diner's many inhabitants. The children had gone home now, tucked away into bedrolls by their mothers. Now, the drinking had started and the laughter only seemed to grow louder. Sedna, the diner's owner, slapped Eric Segla across the arm, silencing the bumbling weather man as Olivia cleared her throat and stood on top of a chair.

"This has been the best five years of my life, hands down. You're all so gracious and wonderful, and thank you for welcoming me into your homes."

"Oi! Cut the sentimental stuff will ya?" Sedna laughed, handing the dark haired woman a drink. From a top of her chair, Olivia raised her glass and as did the rest of the bar eager to celebrate through the night. Smiling knowingly at the crowd of locals, Olivia simply smiled as they all bellowed:

"Good morning, Nutarniq!"

11:13 pm

Washington, D.C.

The alarms blared in the underground building. A man in a stark black suit made his way through the halls, head held high. His receding hair line and minuscule wrinkles seemed to become more severe as he trekked through the cement walled hallways. Men in uniform, men in suits, women in uniform, women in suits all rushed passed him, only before saluting quickly.

The pushing the glass doors open to the Intel room with a bang, the man stalked over to a younger man barking hurriedly to the man next to him. The walls were lined with computers and people stationed at each one. In the middle, other men in suits seemed to be pouring over information and print outs.

Leaning over the busy technician's shoulder, he let his eyes scan over the computer that was currently open to a program showing the Earth's atmosphere. The older man calmly asked, "What is it?"

The technician jumped before sputtering an apology.

"I don't really care… uh... Clark?" the man inspected the technician's badge, "… so spare me the apology. Tell me why I'm here."

"R-right, uh, it seems that an unidentified flying object entered Earth's atmosphere about 5.21 minutes ago."

The man in the suit furrowed his brow, "How is that possible? We would have seen it coming."

"Apparently not, sir, it seems to have just popped out of no where. Our satellites weren't even aware of its presence until it entered the atmosphere."

The man in the suit sighed. He stood back from the monitor, placing his hand on his chin and swerving to the other men in the suits.

"Where is it now?"

A man with a greying beard coughed, "The military already shot it down. It appears to have crashed out in the ice near the Northern tip of Alaska. Don't worry Coulsen, everything will be fine."

Agent Coulsen sputtered, "The military shot it down?"

"It was a threat to our national security. We had no other choices."

Agent Coulsen introduced his head to the nearest wall, several times.

5 minutes earlier

11:09 pm

Nutarniq, Alaska

Chu Iski tossed a snowball off of the front steps and onto the ground a few feet away. The 14 year old sighed, his heavy fur coat zipped up all the way and burying his head in the fur laced inside of his hood. Chu kicked at the snow on the steps, watching the people enter and exit Sedna's diner.

It wasn't fair. He was Olivia's friend, too, he thought, they didn't have to kick me out.

Suddenly, with a loud wail, something bellowed from the sky in a firey blaze.

Chu's eyes widened as the fire ball left a smoke trail behind it, clouding the midnight sky with an inky black soot. The boy sprung to his feet, and teetered forward, launching himself from the front steps.

The wing of the fireball clipped one of the telephone poles down the street, and Chu watched in horror was the pole was uprooted and casually thrown onto a pickup truck. Behind him, he could her the yipping of sled dogs and the shouts of neighbors.

The whole street had gone dark, and as Chu stood, he realized… That thing was going to land on the ice.

The diner shook when the terrifying sound of a plane barreling by, except it was followed by a series of blood curdling crashes and core rocking explosions which seemed to rock the very earth the Diner stood on.

As Olivia stood from her chair in fright, the restaurant was plunged into darkness.

"Everybody, stay calm. There was probably an accident," the reassuring drawl of Sheriff Tom Mayer cut through the darkness as he pulled off the flashlight from his belt. The Inuit man passed the light through the room once, "Everyone okay?"

The door to the diner flew open and Chu hurried in, "It was a ball of fire! It came out of no where!"

"Chu? What are you talking about?" Sedna squinted, pulling on her coat as the others began to do so as well.

"I saw it, okay! It was a plane or something! It crashed into the ice!"

The whole room went quiet as they all looked at one another. After a moment of silence, everyone sprang into action. Many ran out to their own homes, fetching snowmobiles, sleds and their dogs, and cars. They headed out onto the ice as soon as possible, each person racing the other.

Olivia, Eric and Chu clambered into Sedna's pick-up, eager to follow the mass of people.

"Chu, you said it was a plane?" Eric questioned, his eyes darting off the road and into the rear view mirror, which reflected Chu's almond shaped eyes.

"On fire?" added Olivia, who was attempting to turn up the car's heat.

"I'm serious, guys! I was just sitting on the steps and WHAM! There was the flight from hell, flying through the night's sky."

"Chu!"

"What?"

"Don't say 'hell', it's a bad word." Olivia scolded lightly. Chu only shook his head.

"Liv, dude, it was seriously the flight from hell."

The smoking wreckage of the ship was resting on ice that was about 3 feet thick. The residents of the town were gathered now, their dogs barking and snowmobiles still running. The only light was from either the moon, or the dim headlights of the vehicles that brought them here. The ice, now melting and deformed was unstable, so many of the residents held back, a good 15 feet away frm the wreckage.

Olivia pushed her way through the crowd.

"That's so not a plane…" Chu muttered in amazement.

"So much for your 'flight from hell' theory, Chu," Eric squeezed through a man holding back to barking dogs, "But it sure looks like it went through hell."

Olivia tossed a glance over her shoulder at the residents. She spotted Chu's father, who was conversing with other elders. Olivia pushed passed more people, reaching Mr. Iski quickly. The older Inuit greeted her with a slight bow of the head.

"What's going on?" she asked, peering over at the smoldering wreckage curiously, "Can we get near it?"

John crossed his arms, "We do not yet know what it is. It could be dangerous."

Liv frowned, "I'll go."

"The ice is melting around the ship, it would not be a smart idea, Olivia."

"Mr. Iski please…" Eric cut in.

Olivia, stopped by Eric, glanced at the wreckage once more. It looked alien, with a large crest painted on the side. Narrowing her eyes, she spotted the shattered glass of the windshield along with the bashed in front nose. Stepping passed a few lingering elders, she cocked her head to the side. On the wings of the ship, there were guns mounted.

Her heart stopped as she glanced towards the cockpit once more.

"There's someone in there."

Eric and John looked at her as if she was crazy.

"I just saw someone. Someone is in there."

Eric, John, and Olivia hurried after many of the Elders who had now run out onto the ice. With cautious but quick steps, they hopped over ice chunks and avoided thin patches. Making their way around the back, Olivia's green eyes widened as she spotted the large dent rimmed with singe marks that took up a good half of the door into the ship.

"My god."

Suddenly, with a sad moan, the ship began to shift in the ice.

"We need to get this door open, now," Eric muttered, "or else it's going to sink to the bottom of the ocean."

Cooperatively, each person grasped an edge of the thick metal door and began to pull. They pulled, they slipped, they fell. John, realizing the plan wasn't working, began to count.

"1… 2… 3."

They yanked.

"1… 2… 3."

They pulled again.

"1… 2…" he paused and steadied himself, "3." The metal door slid open with a harsh sound. Everyone stood back, surveying their work. With a pant, Liv clicked on the flashlight from her first aid kit and shone it inside the ship. She nearly screamed.

"Holy shit."

A/N: A lovely thanks to my wonderful Beta Reader ecto1B, who I love with all of my freaking heart.