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.

Finally, Reve was taking control! I thought.

He was still speaking. "I'm sure Marland will investigate and let us know what is happening, but we need to be sensible and take precautions. Better safe than sorry. I want everyone to head for the shelters. Now."

But no-one moved. People were still milling around and arguing about whether they had time to get precious items from home when Reve clapped his hands together sharply. "I said now! Tyrell and Layla," he named two of the village elders, "lead the way. I will stay here a bit longer to make sure there aren't any stragglers."

Tyrell and Layla moved off briskly without looking back, and as if that broke a spell, people began to hurry after them.

I was only half listening, my gaze fixed upward on one of the white circles which looked as if it would come down only a few miles away in the forest. If it was a bomb, would the explosion reach this far? It was coming down really fast now—it wouldn't be long before we'd find out. The first of our people were only just reaching the doors to the underground shelter, dozens were still outside on the path. I could see something shiny hanging down from the white circle, catching the sun before disappearing into the trees. A cloud of grey smoke billowed up, spreading fast. Blue flames leapt hundreds of feet into the air.

"Run!" I shouted. "Run!"

~~~

"Shouldn't be long now," observed Developer Bram in a satisfied voice as he watched the fires raging below on the planet's surface. "Those fires will solve two problems at once. As well as clearing the ground, the flames will reduce the level of hydrogen sulphide in the air and make it breathable. Then we'll be able to clear away the remaining vegetation and reseed the ground. We'll have it ready for settlement before you know it."

"Bit of a shame we had to destroy so much of the forests, though," commented Lopess, one of the small team of scientists they had on board. "I would have loved a chance to study some of those plants in more detail. They looked interesting. Features I've not encountered elsewhere."

"I'm sure they'll keep a small area, for research," Bram reassured him, "but there was no choice really. Once we found out none of the plant life here was edible, or even suitable to be used in construction, there was no point in keeping it."

"Not edible for us, you mean," Lopess commented wryly. "I'm sure there are creatures down there that thrive on it."

Bram frowned. "I'm sure there are, but we can't afford to be sentimental. We have billions at home, just waiting to move out as soon as the next planet is ready. There are few enough planets that are accessible and suitable to develop, as it is."

"I know, but... the first two had only basic life, at the algae and bacteria stage. This one... this one is different." Lopess was feeling increasingly uncomfortable as he watched the destruction below. The surveys—the all-too-brief surveys, in his opinion—had shown the presence of a few small, primitive animals, none of them of interest to the Developers. But who knew what they would become if left to evolve by themselves? What if one of them had been destined to develop intelligence?

Bram interrupted his musings. "We're sending a preliminary team down to the surface in a couple of days. Want to be on it?"

~~~

When we emerged from our shelter a week later, it was to find a changed world. Fires were still burning in many places, filling the air with smoke and ash. Apart from the smoke, there was a dead feeling in the air, as if the life was being sucked out of it. Was it safe to come out yet?

"Maybe a few of us should go and investigate, first," I suggested, sniffing the air warily.

"Good idea, Joki," agreed Reve.

Quickly, he selected a small group from the crowd of volunteers and we set off back down the path to our village, dreading what we would find. Although we had expected to find damage, the first sight of the destruction stopped us in our tracks. Our homes hadn't been damaged by the fires, they had been destroyed. Nothing remained of our little community—all our hard work—except for glowing coals and ash.

I felt sick. Sick... then angry! Who were these people who had come to our world? Burnt our forests and destroyed our homes? It was only good fortune that we had not been killed ourselves. If we hadn't had the shelters, built to protect us during the sun storms, when the very air crackled with light and sound, we would have been burned to death inside our houses.

They must be monsters.

"What's that?" asked Mara suddenly, her head tilted to catch the sound. We all froze, listening. A faint thumping sounded from beyond the ruins, like trees falling, but too regular for that.

"It's them," whispered Siri, leaping to conclusions. I thought he was right.

Instantly, our noses were in the air, searching for scents.

"That way!" I whispered.

In a flash, I bounded off in the direction of the alien scent, scarcely feeling the hot ash beneath my feet. Without stopping to think, the others followed me, all of us desperate to set eyes on these invaders.

The scent grew stronger, rank and... alien. I slowed my pace, watching cautiously for the first glimpse of these terrible monsters. Something large and white moved amongst a stand of burnt tree trunks which were still smouldering.

I lowered myself to the ground and crawled forward through the ash, ignoring the cinders which pricked against my skin.

I swallowed a gasp. The creature—whatever it was, was huge! White and puffy with a round head it was at least four times my size. It moved in a strange awkward manner, swinging its entire body around to look more closely at the nearest trunk. The metal box it held in its hands emitted a high-pitched whine which hurt my ears.

I confess I almost bolted when I saw its face—or what passed for one. It had no eyes! No nose or mouth. Just a smooth, shiny round head, dark in the front, white at the back.

The rest of our scouting party crept up behind me. Their nervous tension was almost tangible. There were ten of us and only one of it, but it was terrifyingly large. We hesitated, uncertain what to do next.

The creature turned its back on us to investigate something on the ground. Contemptuously—it seemed to me—it kicked over what was left of a small storage hut with one huge foot, then bent to examine the remains.

My anger flared again, red and hot. Ignoring the consequences, I rushed forward, drawing my work knife and slashed at the back of its leg. My blade sliced easily through the skin but instead of the blood I expected, a gush of air spurted out of the cut. I fell over, flat on my back as the creature leaped into the air with a muffled howl. Seeing my plight, my companions rushed forward, drawing their own knives and plunging them into the creature's legs.

To my amazement, the creature toppled over and lay on its front, writhing in the ash. We swarmed on top, continuing to stab until it lay still. Then we took a good look at what we had defeated.

"See," said Mara, lifting up a piece of white material, now stained with red. "This isn't skin. It's some kind of garment." She tapped on the head with the handle of her knife. "And so is this."

Reve and the others pulled and tugged until the headpiece came off. We gathered round to stare at this strange being. Short black hair covered what must surely be the back of its head. We heaved and pushed to turn it over and there at last, was its face. Alien and flat though it was, we could see that it had two eyes, a fleshy nose and wide lips. Its skin was a strange pink colour with no hair on the front except for a small curved strip above each eye.

Suddenly, the creature gave a horrible wrenching gasp and opened its eyes. We all jumped back, our hearts in our mouths, then watched as it gulped and wheezed, obviously struggling to breathe as its face turned bright blue. Then it died.

We looked at each other. And smiled. Now we knew what we had to do.