I am Edgar Mitros of Metal-5, an excavation team sent to retrieve salvage of a crashed ship which landed somewhere in west Africa. I am in the plane when my buddy Jim gives me the side eye, and puffs another cigarette. "Heard some crazies talking about aliens on that ship, huh, I don't believe any of that nonsense!" Jim declared, his obvious hatred of any and all conspiracy theories evident to the whole group.
As the conversation changed to Jim's obsession over hating anything that even mentioned the word "alien", I turned my brain off as I gazed out the window, allowing my thoughts to be soaked in the lush greens and harsh tans of Africa's vibrant colors. Soon enough, our plane landed, and we took several dune buggies to the crash site of the ship. When we got there, what hadn't been made clear to us by our superiors was very clear now.
This wasn't some Nasa or SpaceX ship that had crashed, this thing was 100% alien made. From the strange glowing metallic material, to the weird pulsing heat the ship gave off periodically, it was easy to tell this wasn't made on Earth. Jim just stood there, eyes popped out like a cartoon, his anti-alien expectations shattered in just a few seconds of looking at the crashed ship.
Reluctantly, me and Jim were the first ones to go inside. As we approached what we believed to be the door, the metal peeled away and almost melted into thin air. I guess this is what aliens use for automatic doors, huh?
Turning on my helmet-mounted flashlight, I split up with Jim as I explored the corridor to my left, while he took the right. The ship seemed to still be semi functional, as the light from my flashlight wouldn't extend farther than 5 feet in front of me. I guess the ship had anti=light technology built in, because no matter what choice of light I tried, it always ended at 5 feet.
Turning around a corner, I found another melting metallic door that led to a room. Going inside, I saw a piece of paper lying on a table. I picked up the paper, although it was written in strange symbols, but after looking at the symbols, I felt lightheaded. Suddenly, I began to understand what the symbols meant, it was as if it was some universal language every living thing could understand regardless of what the reader was. I read the note out loud to myself.
"Dear denizens of Planet Earth, it is with great sorrow that we inform you of a grave miscalculation on our part. This ship was not meant to crash on your planet, rather, it was planned as a one-way trip, a suicide mission."
Suicide mission? What does it mean? As far as we knew, there were no other people on this ship, no pilots or riders, nothing. Why would they fire an empty rocket with the explicit purpose of being destroyed? I went back to Jim, sharing with him the letter I found. He was just as intrigued, (and as clueless), as I was. When he handed me back the paper, he suddenly pointed something out. "Edgar… there's something written on the back…" Jim revealed, pointing at the paper I now held in my hands. I turned it around, and there lay another message, only far more grim.
"We do not have much time to explain, but GET OUT NOW! We trapped a volatile specimen in this ship, which is why it was shot off to explode. This is non-negotiable. Activate the self-destruct sequence, and LEAVE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!"
Reading it out loud only made both our hearts sink even more. What on god's earth was so dangerous that aliens would put it in a rocket on a suicide run? We didn't have much time to think, as the reality of our situation dawned upon us. We raced around the ship's interior, trying to find the room with the self-destruct sequence.
After about 11 minutes of searching, I found a room labeled in the universal language, "Ship Mechanics". After frantically checking all the switches, I found one that activated the self destruct sequence, which would only last a minute. Pulling it down, I raced around the ship again, trying to find Jim.
My questions of his whereabouts were unfortunately answered when I heard the distant muffled sounds of screaming, followed by what could only be described as slurping and happy growling. The letter in my hand began to vibrate, and I looked at it .A new message had almost magically appeared, It only had 4 words on it.
"It has escaped, run."
My basic instincts taking over, I started booking it to the exit of the ship, but now it was like a maze. I didnt know which doors led where, what hallways I had gone down and which ones I didn't. As I finally came upon the familiar room where I found the letter, I heard an awful, almost demonic growl, in the distance behind me.
I didn't even bother to look back as I ran, just… running like never before to the exit, while whatever this dangerous thing was, chased after me. I had just barely enough time before I leaped out of the melting entrance door, which closed right before the creature could get out.
And right on time, the ship self-destructed, turning into a blazing inferno. The fire comforted me, as if telling me "it's ok, the nightmare is over". I just layed down on the sand, falling asleep as I heard distant whirring of helicopter blades and the rumbling of jeeps. The nightmare was short and dealt with quickly, but the long-term ramifications of this fleeting event would forever change my world.