Where were you when the ships came?
One of those pivotal events, forever engraved on our memories. No-one who was alive then, will ever forget.
I was outside in the garden with Mara, my spouse. I was half way up the ladder and reaching for those last few apples of the season.
High above and seemingly motionless, three silver triangles appeared against the blue. Holding the ladder steady for me, Mara saw them first.
"Look up there, Joki," she called, pointing. "What are they? Kites?"
I peered up through the leaves. I've wondered since whether I'm remembering now with hindsight, but I'm certain I felt a premonition, even then. A coldness, seeping from the centre of my stomach to my very bones.
"Kites? I don't think so," I murmured, staring.
"What then?"
"I don't know." Whatever they were, they didn't seem to be moving. Just hanging there—waiting. Waiting for what? I wondered.
I clambered back down the ladder, trying hard to keep the worry out of my voice. "I think we should go into the village, to the meeting hall. Maybe someone there knows what is happening."
Evidently I hadn't been as good at hiding my concern as I'd hoped. Mara's face was tight with worry as she put down the basket and followed me out of the garden without further questions.
We hurried along the path to the village, the distance so short it wasn't worth bothering with the cart. We weren't the first. A small crowd had already formed outside the meeting hall, questions and speculations flying back and forth. Just as we arrived, Mayor Reve came out of the hall and stood on the step, gesturing for silence.
"What are they? Does anyone know?" called out a woman from the back.
"I've just been in contact with the scientists in Marland," said Reve in a firm voice. "We are certain the objects are artificial, some sort of spacecraft."
"The Ussians?" queried one man quickly, naming our biggest rival at that time.
"No," announced Reve with obvious reluctance. "We don't think so. These craft are at least a hundred miles up, above our atmosphere. They must be huge. No-one has that level of technology. At least, no-one we know."
I frowned. Why was he dithering around? Why didn't he just come out and say it?
"It's obvious," I said, impatiently. "They're from another planet. They're aliens."
"Aliens? Is it an invasion?" cried someone.
"What do they want?"
"Maybe they've just come to talk," offered a new voice, more hopefully.
"What's that?"
We all looked up, instinctively shading our eyes. White circles blossomed in the sky, one after another until there must have been a hundred, gradually getting larger and larger as they drew nearer to the ground.
"They're coming from the spacecraft. They're dropping something on us!"
"Maybe they are trying to communicate," suggested the optimist. "Sending us messages of some sort. They put them inside containers to protect the contents."
"Or maybe they're bombs!"
"Whatever they are, we need to get everyone into the shelters until we find out," said Reve, speaking loudly to be heard above the chatter.
