Chapter 4

Year 2010

Baguio City, Philippines

It was a night perfect for stargazing; the ebony sky was clear and filled with stars. The man who's found solitude on the rooftop of his mansion that silent night is in his early sixty's. He wore an unkemptly grown beard and a shabby laboratory gown with a stencil on its right breast with his name on it: Prof Waldo Kinski. In his hand he held the eyepiece of a telescope.

Here at the Kinski Estate is a vast hectare of land left barren and untilled. At the heart of it stood an ancestral manor; its one-time grandeur defaced by abandonment for a long time. However, up until a year ago, the lone survivor of the unfortunate Kinski clan came back to haunt the house as its living ghost.

He had a dreamed last night of his departed family. His wife, son and daughter were all smiling at him as he vainly tried to reach out to them.

They had left him, one by one. It's all in the past now, but ever so afflicting him.

His wife died giving birth to their daughter Annie. His teenage son followed in a car accident. Annie followed with an incurable disease before her fourth birthday. Their deaths left him devastated. He thought time will heal, but it only made things worse.

He detached from life.

In the dream, his wife and son faded away and as Annie also slowly ebbed away, he remembered pleading for her to stay.

"No, papa, I can't,"

"Let me go with you, dear,"

"You can't papa. Please don't give up. The world needs you."

"I have no need of the world,"

Back in Russia where he and his wife and children used to live, his house had a gallery showcasing his numerous awards, plaques and trophies recognizing his genius. He was an outstanding scientist-inventor and was one of the most promising brilliant minds of the century with great, unprecedented contributions in the world of physics and science. But beneath all these, he was a family man. He was blessed with genius talents but he is willing to give up all his glory for his wife, son and daughter.

But now that they're gone.....

His disappearance was in bold letters in every news headline: A GREAT SCIENTIST IS MISSING.

Yes, he was one of the greatest scientists that ever lived; but of what use is his genius if he could not even save his family?

After Annie died he retreated in sorrow here in the abandon mansion in the Philippines which is an unknown property of the once wealthy Kinski clan. Located in a remote countryside, it is a vast hectare of untilled land, a rice field, surrounding the mansion. The northern part is a heavily forested area. A twenty-mile road stretches from the manor to the nearest town. Here, he is away from society.

Let them think he's dead. His heart is as good as dead anyway.

He is the last of the rich Kinski clan after terrorist bombed their Manor in Leningrad in a family party he couldn't attend whilst studying in Oxford. His grandparents died ten years ago. He was alone until he got married and had his own family. Then they left him again.

"Be strong, papa. Do not give up,"

Here in this peaceful place he thought of spending the rest of his life a hermit. He even thought of suicide to end his misery but despite his desperation he found that he couldn't do it for any apparent reason. The only thing keeping his alive is his love for his work.

Waldo Kinski loves invention; and in this dilapidated mansion he continues to give himself pleasure by doing so.

"Look up the heavens, papa. Look up the heavens,"

Now it wasn't because of those parting words in his dream that brought him up on the rooftop of his mansion with a telescope in hand...or is it?

Something about the constant roar of thunder and snapshots of lightning in the skies seemed strange that day. The perimeter sensors he had put up on the roof of the mansion for the main purpose of detecting and keeping intruders at bay and deter disturbance had been sensing out these odd weather behavior for an hour now. These stormy tremors, he knew, were out of place in this time of the year but the strangest fact is how these tremors were concentrated in just one area in the sky.

It's paranormal and he loved that. He enjoys pitting science and logic against it.

Armed with his telescope, he went up the rooftop of the manor to get a first hand view of that afflicted area. He scanned the dark sky with his telescope. Following the coordinates his computers gave him, he was able to locate the exact site: above the heavy forested area up north.

He focused the lenses there and squinted at the eyepiece. He saw nothing through the tube but the constant blinding flash of lightning. Another lightning...black sky...then another lightning...then black...then...no....he was now looking at a grayish material; a metal body of some kind. In excitement, his eyes immediately left the eyepiece of the telescope to look towards the sky with his own eyes. His jaw hit the ground. What he saw is uncanny--- an object on fire, gravity overcoming it, pulling it towards the ground in swift acceleration. It landed with a quiet explosion in the forest.

He rushed towards the crash site; his heart racing with excitement, awe and at the same time extreme anxiousness that there may be others who have seen what he saw, whatever it is, though he doubt anyone else could. The vast Kinski farm is uninhabited and even beyond the perimeters of the land no population exist until 8 miles down the road below the mountain. What worries him though is that NASA may have detected it or anticipating it. They may be on their way now. He hoped not. He wants this all to himself at all cost.

The trip had taken him quite a while to get there. He pulled to a stop just outside the woods and ran to where he could see the light amidst the shadowy trees.

His heart jumped up in exhilaration. Everything about it says 'spaceship'. Undoubtedly an extraterrestrial!

It was in a wreck and badly decapitated; flickering in a convulsion of electrical energy running through its metal body. Luckily, it was barely aflame.

The hatch door he saw was open and he dove for it on impulse.

The heart of a very inquisitive scientist knows no danger at this point.

Kinski knew that the thing could explode. But he himself was exploding with excitement that he fought whatever fear that would have crawled up on him when he jumped in on the open hatchway of the vessel. Studying remains is pathetic when you have the whole thing in front of you!

A chaotic setting greeted him inside. The blue lighted interior was in disarray, the consoles aflame.

The scientist watched keenly every feature, every detail that met his eyes with urgency and calculation, his forehead tickling with sweat from the sweltering heat. The interior smelled of burnt plastic-suffocating but bearable. Judging from what he can remember of the exteriors' look, the ship looked like it was beaten black and blue to a pulp from a recent battle, like it just came out of a recent war. He could even make out the details of scorching metal wounds. What can he make out of that? Well, it's too early for any conclusion.

"Hello?" he called out lamely, his attempt at establishing first contact with the visitors from, he deduced to be, outer space.

No response or movement.