Volume 1 p1 The Arrival

At 4 AM, a full moon hung leisurely in the night sky, just above the northeastern horizon. Its soft, golden glow bathed the prairie in warm hues, casting dark, mysterious shadows from the evergreen trees scattered across the land. Like extended fingers, the shadows reached toward familiar landmarks: the clock tower, the square, the high school, and the historic district on Washington St. They are pieces of Nevada's heartbeat, shaping the town into what it is.

Deer, moving like thieves in the night, roam through the darkness, passing from shadow to shadow as they graze. Across the smooth, glassy lake hangs the moon's reflection as a silent twin, its shape rippling when geese rafted lazily across the water. A cool breeze carried the scent of damp Earth through the rolling valley. It gently parts the tall grasses as if an unseen traveler were to pass through.  The rustling whispers over the moon-kissed wildflowers, revealing patches of colorful flowers.  

The nightly concert was underway. Beautiful melodies from the frogs around the lake croaked in response to each other, blending warmly with the chirping crickets. These warm, familiar sounds contrasted with the eerie calls of the hooting owls and the echoing howls of the coyotes. The music from the prairie blended with the soft breeze to create a ghostly figure in a slow, hypnotic dance on the lake as pockets of fog began to develop.

Then suddenly, there was silence.

The prairie seemed to inhale sharply, hold its breath, and fall into an unnatural quiet. One by one, the creatures turned eastward. Tails flicked, ears twitched, birds took flight, and frogs vanished into the lake. Something was coming.

The moon, shining like a candle for a sleeping planet, remains undisturbed. The night had been peaceful and calm; the lake was a smooth mirror, and the grass swayed lazily in the cool night air. But then, something moved against the sky. Then it happened; for a brief moment, a shape crossed the golden face of the moon. Small at first but growing. It wasn't a star, nor was it the drifting pass of an airplane. It was something else, something faster, something deliberate. If someone had been looking at the moon, they would have seen an unexplained object. Then it was gone.

Then came the first flash of fire.

The meteor began its final approach toward Earth, its fiery red tail stretching as a sudden burst of speed propelled it forward. The large, ominous meteor sped toward the beginning of Earth's atmosphere. A dark rocky surface lined the front of the meteor. Space travel is full of dangers, but the meteor moved with purpose, handling each challenge as if it were built for this journey.  Energy-rich fuel burned along the edges of the rear of the meteor, and long crimson flames stretched out into the stillness of space.

The meteor slammed into the upper atmosphere, its descent igniting the sky in a violent streak of light. Flashes of orange, blue, and red wrapped around the meteor as it surged. Fighting, pushing, clawing through the dense, pressure-packed air. This section of space is where most meteors meet their fiery end, flashing into oblivion as mere shooting stars. The meteor is no ordinary meteor; it is not a meteor at all. As if guided, the tail pulsed steadily, rhythmically, and the meteor charged forward. The hull deflects the heat, protecting the rest of the rocky surface.

Then, suddenly, the meteor went silent. The fight was over. The meteor had passed through the thick, dense air. The long, fiery tail vanished in the night sky like someone had switched off an engine. The meteor did not fall from the sky. Something impossible happened: its descent leveled, its speed slowed, and it cruised along, passing state after state until it flew above the Arch in St. Louis. Taking a slight left at Jefferson City, it began its final descent. By the time it passed Pomme de Terre State Park, it had dropped to just a few thousand feet above the ground, gliding unseen through the night. The night sky kept the meteor camouflaged from the ground. Invisible to possible sighting, the meteor steered its way to its final destination.

No longer an astronomy event or a mindless rock falling that was plummeting to Earth; there would be no crater causing an impact that night. The meteor adjusted, tilting ever so slightly.  The air around it shimmered, rippling like heat waves off the pavement. The grass beneath its path flattened, not from impact but from some unseen force pushing outward. Instead of carving a fiery scar into the Earth, the object did the impossible; it slowed, hovered for a heartbeat, and lowered itself with eerie precision. The flames along its edges flickered and died, leaving nothing but a dark, silent mass settled beyond Walton Lake.

The meteor's arrival was not a crash.

In the prairie, the animals had already seen enough.

Deer bolted through the grass, their hooves drumming against the Earth. The last few frogs leaped into the lake. A lone coyote, frozen at the edge of the field, turned and fled into the darkness. A final energy pulse rippled outward, brushing over the prairie like a silent wave. The last remnants of its glow dimmed, leaving behind only a smooth, dark object nestled in the field.

And then, silence.

The prairie was silent again, but this time, it wasn't natural. The meteor shuddered once, then twice, before vibrating, a low hum resonating from deep within. The sound shifted, warping in pitch and frequency, twisting the air around it. It wasn't random. It was searching. Listening. Calling. Soon, the hum could no longer be heard; the meteor had absorbed its sound, and only the vibration remained. A small opening appeared along the hull, and six small diamond-shaped lights emerged. Each light was different: red, black, green, blue, yellow, and purple. They slowly flew off into the night, moving in various directions together.

Something was here.

Something that did not belong.

Thank you for reading this part of Volume 1. For fan reaction, follow us on the X at @TeamMAD. If you'd like to share your thoughts on this or send some fan mail to one of the ladies, you can email us at TeamMADzakmaj@gmail.com.