Discovery

The alien war ended a long time ago. Today, the impact of that war upon humanity has been relegated to the past. Ignored by a new generation who consider it an unfortunate incident, if they thought of it at all. Just one more thing that has faded into the past, with all the other forgotten things that have no bearing upon their lives. So it was quite a surprise when an Orbital Defense crew made a discovery that would resurrect those memories. For some the discovery would bring back an old hatred and the threat of another invasion. For others it would offer the hope of uncovering old secrets, and the possibility of discovering advanced technology. And to all it gave a warning. But for one, it would become personal, as loyalties were put to the test.

Alan Shultz, Specialist Fifth Class of the Army Corps of Engineers was being given a priority assignment. Taking the device being handed to him, he bounced it in his hand. It was light weight. Its shape reminding him of an old style thumb drive. “What is it?” he asked... “We don’t know. That’s what we need you to find out, but at the moment, we’re calling it a Data Tab.” It appeared to be nothing more than a rectangular piece of plastic. “Where did it come from?” “That’s classified. Secret. But it’s very important that we discover what it contains. Your assignment is to find that out.”

Peter reached out and touched the second triangle, sliding it to the right. Immediately the cabin pressure dropped. The air was being sucked out of his lungs. He blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to clear his vision. He had both hands on the wall to steady himself. His legs began to lose their strength and started shaking. He made another desperate attempt to correct the error. Holding his breath, he grabbed one hand with the other to steady it. He touched a finger against the triangle. He was shaky, losing consciousness, barley able to keep his finger against it. He slid it to the left, just as his legs gave out and his eyes rolled up. He slid down the wall, landing with a thud.