The Other Side

Chapter 1: Discovery

The sun rises over the tops of Yosemite's mountains as wooden elevators ferry people up and down the mountainside. Below, at the base of the mountain is an open area filled with tents. Activity is high as people run to various tents. Standing in the middle of this uncontrollable chaos is a man in his late forties. He is wearing a white shirt and blue jeans. He stares up at the mountain, while in the distance, the sounds of drilling could be heard from below. A woman walks up next to the man. Her blonde hair is tied in a bun. She is wearing a lab coat and glasses, and in her hands, she is holding an electronic pad.

"You've been standing here for an hour," the woman said.

"Well, I like to see the progress of my people. How goes the drilling Doctor?"

"Well, we've gone through only ten percent of the crust. Whatever it is, It's stronger than graphene, and that's the strongest substance on this planet."

The man turned to the woman and said, "On this planet? C'mon Elizabeth! We're not playing space commandos here."

"And I'm not playing around Harold. Whatever this is, we can't drill through it."

Harold crossed his arms and faces Elizabeth. "Okay, assuming that this is "alien", how can we dig it out? As a matter of fact, have we even gone through all our heavy-duty equipment?"

The scientist nodded. "Everything except explosives. But I doubt that will place a dent in the crust."

"Well," Harold said. "We won't know if we don't try. Tell our people to break out the C4 and dynamite."

"Sir! I strongly advise against this-,"

"Elizabeth," he interrupted. "I know how important this is to you. But I've been given direct orders from the President himself to excavate this artifact by any means necessary. Now I won't let a piece of rock get in the way of that."

The scientist sighed and conceded to defeat. "Very well then, but would you do me a favor?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Tell your men not to make a big an of a bang. We don't want them to get mauled by bears, now do we?"

He chuckled and said, "No Elizabeth. No, we don't."

Then, the mountainside exploded. Boulder sized chunks rained down from above, crushing tents and any equipment that was housed inside. People dove for cover as debris landed on the ground. Once the danger had ceased, medical teams were scrambled to help the injured. Elizabeth pushed herself up off the ground but struggled to stay standing. Her glasses were cracked and her hair bun had come undone. Her lab coat was covered in dust and dirt.

"What was that?" she asked.

"I don't know," Harold said. He looked up at the mountain, and a good chunk of it was gone. "But I doubt that was us."

Then, a young man in an army uniform ran up to the duo. "Sir, ma'am, you have to see this."

The trio ran into a tent that wasn't crushed by the debris. Inside, a large screen was set up, playing live footage from the site of the explosion. In the crater, there was a large hexagonal object that had medium-sized triangular like flaps with strange symbols on it.

Elizabeth removed her glasses and stared at the screen. "What am I looking at Captain?"

"I don't know Dr. Livian, but whatever it is, it's not ours. I mean look at it! This is proof that there are aliens out there, right?"

Harold looked at the young man quizzically and asked, "Are you a space expert now Arnolds?"

The Captain gave a sheepish look at the man and said, "Well, sir. I'm more of a space nerd."