" Sir…uh, sir? "

Major Tony Barrera looked up from his own computer and grimaced.

He had been on high alert all day. Hell, they all had, using the massive radars at NORAD’s beck and call to monitor the skies, looking for the unthinkable.

It had been his turn to take charge of this massive room with its multitude of personnel and equipment, and he had been expecting trouble all day.

So far it had been quiet, much to Barrera’s relief. Obviously from the lieutenant’s frantically waving hand, that was about to change.

Getting smartly to his feet he all but raced past the banks of silent people to where the lieutenant sat, noticing his pinched face and wide eyes.

" What is it lieutenant?" he asked guardedly.

The man, Martins his name badge said, stared up at him, sweating slightly.

" Ah sir, we have an unidentified bogey, flight level 270."

Barrera went cold, icy cold, from his feet to the tip of his hair.

Shit no, not today. Please God, not today.

" Squawk him," he snapped.

Martins immediately sent out a two toned data burst, one that the planes transponder should immediately return.

There was no reply.

Gritting his teeth, Barrera personally sent out another squawk.

Again there was no response.

Where is he?" he asked.

" Here sir," the lieutenant said, pointing to a faint blip on the radar. " He’s heading for Nevada."

" Is there anything in Nevada that is likely to come under attack?" Barrera asked, an Alaskan born and bred.

" Uh. Las Vegas, Reno sir," Martins said, his eyes like saucers as he contemplated the magnitude of the situation. " They’re gambling Mecca’s sir." He shrugged, looking helpless. " Maybe the people on board want to…"

" Scramble the nearest base right now," he interrupted. " Tell the person in charge that we have a possible class one threat."

" Belay that," a quiet voice said from the corner of the room.

Both men spun around to stared at the owner of that voice, as did most people in the room. Barrera stared at a tall gray haired man dressed in olive fatigues, a tiny eagle glinting on each shoulder.

" Sir?" he asked warily.

" Belay your order," the man said calmly, the nautical term rolling easily off of his tongue. " That bogey is no threat."

Major Barrera wasn’t satisfied.

" He is to us sir," he said evenly. " He is not responding to any squawk, nor is he communicating with any ATC.

He drew himself to his full height. " And that to NORAD constitutes a threat."

"Sir" he added belatedly.

The Colonel looked amused at the implied insolence.

" No he isn’t Major Barrera," he said, perching on the edge of a desk, " although I applaud your diligence."

" Who are you?" Barrera asked rudely, aware that he was playing with fire.

" I’m from the base below," the unknown Colonel said with a smile. " Pleased to meet ya."

" Ah yes, the base below," Barrera sneered. " Them."

" Yes, that’s us," the Colonel said, frowning slightly.

" The deep space radar telemetry people who require at least two divisions of marines on duty at all times to keep functioning? That them?"

The Colonel’s eyes flashed dangerously, but he kept his cool.

" Yep." He rose to his feet.

" Lieutenant," he said quietly to the small man sitting behind his computer, " if you check your screen, I believe you’ll find that the bogey is no longer a threat."

Martins looked down, Barrera doing the same.

" Holy crap," the both said, unaware on how comical they sounded to the Colonel.

According to the radar, the airplane was doing over 300 miles an hour. As they watched it sank out of sight, eventually disappearing off of the radar screen completely.

" What in the hell was that?" Barrera whispered, feeling his scalp contract.

" Our future," the Colonel said simply.

" Our future?" Barrera asked. " How’s that?

The mysterious Colonel smiled slightly.

" Maybe today, on the first anniversary of such horror, it is time for us to realize that we are no longer alone. That we were never alone," he said enigmatically.

" Maybe now it is time for us to realize this, and to finally begin to understand, that our future may no longer lie on this planet with its petty differences, but rather elsewhere, in a place where all humans can live in peace an harmony."

Barrera blinked, puzzled.

" And that bogey is all that?" he asked.

" Hell no," the Colonel replied with a wide grin. " That was a UFO."

*Einde