It happened. 

I studied the images again. The scenario was fresh in my mind. 

We'd set out to find new life on an alien surface. And we'd found it. 

Or rather it found us. 

The creature appeared to be injured, a tentacle like arm wrapped around the front tire of Percy -- Persistance, one of our current Mar's Rovers. It looked strangely out of place on the desolate surface, red dust coating it's shiny gray skin next to Percy.

It was a gray alien, but outside of the tentacle arms—of which it had four—it looked nothing like what we'd always imagined. Its elongated body shimmered faintly, the gray skin iridescent under the weak Martian sun. Its face was featureless save for two large, slits on the sides, which resembled gills. They billowed on the sides of its neck. It was an aquatic creature with large eyes resembling a squid or an octopus from back home. But it also had legs, oddly muscled in contrast with the tentacles. It was if God had leftovers an fused them together in a last attempt to use them up.  It had a mouth, but no teeth that we could see.

I was fascinated. 

Despite the unfamiliarity, there was something undeniably intelligent in its gaze. The way it moved, slow and deliberate, suggested caution rather than aggression. I felt a strange mix of awe and unease. This was first contact, yet it felt as though we were intruding on a sacred, untold story.

The jeep slowed down as we homed in on rover's last location. We'd only been on Mars for a month - the settlement was growing as we expanded. We'd already made history being the originals to arrive, to set up. Our names were already carved in stone with a litany of firsts. 

But it seemed we would at another first to our list.

"First contact," I breathed the word out loud. It was a dream, but a dream worth having.

Our team included two doctors eager to medically assist it or to study the creature's biology should it pass, a geologist, four security guards and me, one of four paramedics on Mars. 

There it was.

Percy sat unmoving, the size of a small car, the creature attached was of similar size. We exchanged glances as we exited, our suits making us slower on the surface but they'd come a long way since the early days of space exploration.

Once in view the creature released Percy, settling it's weight back down on the surface. Percy started rolling immediately to continue his patrol. 

Silence between both of.

One tentacle raised into the air.

We all stared.

I raised my hand waved back. 

Surprisingly, the creature repeated the movement. 

The tension broke with a ripple of nervous laughter from the team. It was a simple gesture, but one loaded with significance. A connection. A start. A sound erupted from the creatures mouth. We all went silent. 

Dr. Alvarez approached cautiously, her scanner out, murmuring into the comms, "It's mimicking us. It's aware."

Buzzing filled my ears.

I put my hands against my helmet, as I could not get to my ears.

The creature pointed a tentacle at me.

"Are you all right?" Dr. Alvarez had turned back.

I heard clicking as the guns went up.

Hello? Hello? Mars to Earth?

Huh? I paused staring. 

"It's telepathic," I stammered. 

How do you know our language?

I do not, I send it in mine, and it 'converts' along the way.

The creature stopped waving and fixed it's eyes on me. Then it lifted all four tentacles in what appeared to be a shrug.

"Why is it staring at you?" Dr. Alvarez paused. There was an edge to her voice. She hadn't wanted to be beat out by the paramedic. "What's it saying?"

I stepped forward and this time the alien stepped forward to meet with me. 

I will show you. With permission?

"Why here? Why now?" I could hear Dr. Alvarez again behind me. "Jenny maybe take a step back and let one of us talk?"

It lifted a tentacle and pushed forward. I ignored the doctor's voice. She was brilliant but I was 'just a paramedic' to her years of biology and the sciences. The fact that paramedics were even on this trip injured her gravitas and it didn't hurt my feelings at all to sideline her just this once.

I raised my hand.

"Jenny wait!"

We connected. 

The world around me blurred as the alien's tentacle touched my suit. In an instant, I was overwhelmed by a rush of images, emotions, and sensations—an intricate tapestry of its experience, woven into a moment of pure connection. 

If this was how they communicated we could learn a thing or two about saving time.

I saw through its eyes: its journey across the vastness of space, the desolation it had endured, the pain of injury, and the hope it carried for survival. I felt its fear, its caution, and its deep sense of purpose. But most of all, I felt its urgency.

A vision took hold, vivid and terrifying. Massive shadows in the sky, shapes unlike anything we'd ever encountered. The ground trembled beneath their weight, and the air buzzed with an ominous energy. It was a fleet—an armada of alien ships, bearing down on the Martian surface. The creature's memories painted them as a relentless, consuming force, driven by conquest and destruction.

They return, Eviviva said. Again.

I stumbled back. Eyes wide I turned to face the team, forever changed. I understood in that moment the danger that awaited us.

But worse, I didn't know how to stop it, or if we even could.

The creature's message was clear: this was not a warning for some distant future. The threat was coming.

This once was a beautiful world, she said.

Eviviva lowered her tentacles to the ground and waited. I turned to the crew with us. My jaw opened and for once in my life I didn't know what to say.