628

Chapter I: The Arrival

The Dalles, North-Central Oregon, Western United States

It was another warm night in the small river town of The Dalles. It was most likely around seventy-five or six-ish Fahrenheit. The sandy-brown plateau rose high on each side of the town and stretched all the way north towards the state border of Washington and down south a ways.

Andrew Karsten, an average looking teenager with a developing goatee, walked casually down the sidewalk on the south side of the town, texting on his cellphone. His white overshirt was neatly pressed, as it was recently purchased, overlaying the white t-shirt that had a bulldog on it and slim jeans with a few rips here and there. He breathed in heavily and gave a sigh, putting away his cellphone. It was a boring night here in this small town.

He feathered his short, chocolate hair to his left and looked at the sky, stars dotting it all over the horizon in various luminosities. He always believed that there was intelligent life beyond the planet. So much space outside his planet, it defies common sense and logic that there wouldn't be other civilizations. He desperately hoped it wasn't a Stargate scenario, where it is populated by ancient-humans transferred to other planets as slaves millennia ago. That was just uncreative and lazy. Just then, he saw a fireball pop out of nowhere near the center of the sky.

"Huh…meteor?" he muttered to himself, and began to run home to use his new telescope.

Various alarms blared and beeped in a kaleidoscope of sound, red light flashing everywhere.

"Crap, why didn't I anticipate this?" 628 cursed to himself, struggling to control the aircraft. "C'mon, don't break up on me!"

After a loud, metallic groaning to his right, he heard a snap and a thrust towards the right.

"It broke up on me…" he said with a defeated tone. "Well, this is gonna be a hard landing!"

The arid landscape grew in size quickly as he rocketed down at a dangerous, maybe even fatal speed, the heat of Atmospheric Reentry visible around the window of the cockpit. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and covered his head…

It was loud and almost ear-popping. Andrew was close to it as well. Whatever it was, it crashed down beyond the river, down west of the interstate road. Andrew quickly grabbed his keys, got into his Civic sedan and drove off, much to the surprise and worry of his parents, who were already up. The other people got the idea and began to drive towards the crash-site.

The area was a scorched crater. Trees were knocked down, various dirt and twigs got into the river, and in the crater itself, was a sleek aircraft of some sort.

It took Andrew longer then anticipated to reach it, but thankfully, nobody went in, nor did the police set up a barricade. Cars were parked and people lined up to look at the crater. With a small scowl, Andrew walked over and into the crater, much to the concern of the others.

Twisted metal were scattered about of the crater, some were scorched, some were still red-hot, and others were just, there. Behind a rising pillar of smoke with a patch of fire as the base, a cockpit stood at an angle, its nose stuck in the dirt.

He walked over cautiously, his shoes shuffling the softened dirt, sometimes sinking in with every few steps. The heat was almost overwhelming; sweat already forming on his forehead as he walked closer, almost seeming to be burned by the fire itself. He was a few inches away from the cockpit when he peered in.

There were two black seats, reclined in a comfortable position and to withstand the g's. But they were empty. He felt like his heart was stabbed, but instead of pain, it was fear that flowed in him. Whoever was in there, managed to escape and is now on the loose.

Darting his eyes back and forth, he quickly slipped behind the smoke and began to search for any trail. He soon found it. It was a bush, a few of its twigs snapped off, the splinters bent away from him, plus patches of grass bent subtly. Whoever it was, went this way. He soon began to follow the trail…

628 panted deeply, his whole body cut up badly from the crash, though he managed to stay conscious thanks to his quick-thinking. The body of Dr. Jerash was draped across his shoulder, having to stretch himself to seven feet just so he can carry him. The world he was on was hot and dry, much to his annoyance since he had fur all over his body, though its midnight-black color will help in camouflage. His lime-green eyes scanned the area. It was an arid-like land, with a few sandy-orange rocks dotting here and there, some in loose clusters. The soil beneath him was a mixture of sandy-dirt and prickly grass, which constantly poked the soles of his feet.

Grunting and adjusting the doctor, he resumed his trail. Soon, a loud noise soon began to sound off in the air. More and more it became louder with each minute, and before long, a harsh spotlight activated, scanning his area. He dove for a bush and set the doctor now, looking up. It was a sleek aircraft, held up by blades that revolved above it at a blurry-speed, with another wheel at the back, probably for stabilization.

"This world is inhabited…just my luck…" he scowled to himself. "No plasma jets on that VTOL, so this is probably a non-space faring civilization…and based on its quick response, there is a settlement nearby…probably should blend in there…"

Pip! A dart lodged in his neck, almost not feeling it. With a small grunt, he yanked it out and inspected it.

"Damnit…" he cursed, before he began to go numb and fell over. His vision began to blur, and soon, a group of bipedal creatures, armored in all-black with lighter-toned vests, circled him, their helmets rounded in a curve. They chattered amongst themselves in a strange language before they picked him up and placed him in a bag of some sort. That was when his vision was lost, and he soon began to lose his awareness of the outside world…

Andrew hid behind a large rock, watching the FBI carry away something in a body bag, their bright-yellow title sticking out amongst their darker uniforms and vests. Another car, a sedan, pulled up on a dirt road, and out came two men in suits. He already knew who they were based on the situation.

Men in Black.

Pip! A dart was shot into his neck, and he felt it, badly. Pain coursed through his entire neck as he grunted and fell to his side. His body was already numb and he was losing sight as two more MIB's stood over him, adjusting their ties. They talked over something, yet their voices were distant. Then his vision was gone when they picked him up…

"Three people having to be sent to Area 51…huh, was hopin it was another Roswell…" an MIB commented with a smile, placing his dart-gun in a case. "Ya know? Only the military knows, and the people just gobble up their stories…"

"Yeah…still, people are starting to get pretty into the whole Alien-UFO stuff, so when it comes to this, expect bodies…well, not dead ones at least…" another nodded, quickly correcting himself afterwards. "C'mon, let's get 'em outta here before people start pokin' around"

The two agents picked up the body-bags, threw them in the back of their government-vehicle and got in. Soon, the car started up and drove off along the interstate, the agents whistling a tune.

Amaranth by Nightwish plays

The sun was already up when the agents reached Central Oregon, in the southern section. They had about two more days before they reached Nevada, maybe less if traffic is favorable. As they drove down the highway, the landscape became more and more arid, sandy-dirt overtaking the ground as grass disappeared and turned into clumpy clusters.

Band plays

Andrew and 628, unconscious, were bumping into each other with each jolt from the poorly-maintained road, their foreheads bruised deeply and almost cut.

Back in the car, the agents merely talked and joked of their past adventures, their what-ifs and the usual gossip.

Baptized with a perfect name…

The doubting one by heart

Alone without himself

They passed through rolling hills, plateaus and mountains as they ventured from cool grasslands to hot deserts.

War between him and the day

Need someone to blame

In the end, little he can do alone

They veered onto a narrow road, eventually taking them to a check point guarded by two Military-Police soldiers, who let them through after being shown identification.

You believe but what you see

You receive but what you give

The human and the alien were picked up and carried down into a chrome-metal hallway, arriving into an elevator, slowly coming down to Sub-Level 17.

Caress the one, the Never-Fading rain in your heart

The tears of snow white sorrow

They were thrown into a dark, cramped cell with only a bunk-bed and exposed toilet with a bookcase beside it and locked in, the single fluorescent light bulb their only source of light.

Caress the one, the hiding Amaranth

In the land of the daybreak!