Depth Charge - illuminations

Chapter 1

PLANET MARS, YEAR 8029 

BALLISTRAT CITY 

The young solider walked with purposeful steps to the doorway of Darren Riddock, the commanding officer of the tactical analysis team. The young soldier stood in the doorway, saluting before speaking. 

"Sir, we've found something."

A recent excavation for a new building complex foundation had unearthed an ancient room which had originated from the earliest human settlers on Mars. Perfectly preserved, Darren had given orders to thoroughly search the room with solid directives to immediately hand over any data they found, be it handwritten, electronic, or any other form. 

The government, scientists and the tactical team held out hope. Hope that whatever they might find could provide an insight, clues as to what the civilizations on Mars needed, what everyone needed, to survive. 

The young soldier handed over a small black data chip to Darren. Saluting again, he turned and walked away at the same pace with which he entered. Darren took the chip to his team, anticipating their findings. The information on the chip was originally from someone who lived on earth, before it was destroyed. Either they were amongst the few who were able to get off the planet, or they at least saw the data chip to safety on Mars. 

The following information was recovered. 

For years, man has looked to the sky to find out if life from other worlds really exists, if we are not alone. The answer is a definite yes, but, we were looking the wrong way! Unbeknownst to us, we had already made contact, but did not know what we were looking at. Planet earth was inhabited many years before humans came into existence. The aliens came to turn planet earth into something that would ensure their future survival, a giant fly trap, and we are the flies!

PLANET EARTH, YEAR 2014,  

KOREA 

It had been a long day for the workers at the Shinwa tidal power station. The strong tidal flow turned the giant fans under the rushing waters, providing huge amounts of energy. Korea viewed the power station as a statement to the world, showing their superior technology. Chin Ho simply viewed it as a means to an end, looking eagerly forward to receiving his weekly pay. 

"Bae, you watch my area for 10 minutes, I have to go to bathroom."

Chin was happy with the cleanliness of the bathrooms. He removed his tool belt and placed it on one of the benches. Leaning towards the mirror, Chin placed his hands either side of his face and moved them in a slow, downwards direction. He thought of how he had aged and longed to be young again. Shaking his head, he walked away, knowing there would be no return to his youthful vibrancy. 

Walking into one of the cubicles, Chin loosened his belt and dropped his trousers to the jade green tiled floor. Checking the seat for anyone's prior mess, he took some tissue paper and wiped it regardless before sitting. A leftover news paper was placed on the paper dispenser. Sitting down,Chin picked up the paper and began reading it. 

A bubbling noise from the toilet water caused Chin to startle. "Mueos!" Dismissing the noise, Chin continued to read his paper. Through the pipes came a rumbling noise, mixed with electronic ghost noises, moving rapidly. Bright blue lights began emitting from the toilet water. Chin wondered if management had installed some sort of new entertaining bathroom device. Chin's eyes shot wide open as he felt a sudden, deep, dull thud in his lower body. A coughing noise ensued from his mouth, as a small trickle of blood dribbled out. Chin's torso sunk into the toilet bowl; pulling his legs up and in, leaving them pointing upwards. It was as if Chin was trying to touch his toes. His head was nearly level with the toilet seat. His body trembled with shock as the bowl water turned a deep red color. Chin opened his mouth to say something, but it was too late. A solid finishing strike was enough to take him down fully. 

After 20 minutes, Bae decided to investigate. "Chin, Chin what are you doing? You need to come out before the boss comes back. Chin!" Entering the restroom, Bae noticed a pair of shoes at one of the cubicles. With an eerie apprehension, Bae cautiously moved forward to open the door. Bae jumped back in terror as he viewed the blood splattered cubicle.

MILFORD SOUND, NEW ZEALAND

The lone fisherman always enjoyed coming to the secluded fishing area. It provided both a nice supply of fish, and a pleasant escape from his nagging wife. Casting his line into the deep blue waters, he remained expectantly hopeful to bring home a satisfying meal. 

Gentle waves continued to lap the boat as the fisherman felt his line pull taut under the weight of a lure trapped sea creature. Fastening his grip with weather worn hands of iron, the fisherman pulled with all his might to bring the creature up to light. 

Under intense strain, his hands lost all grip as strange glowing lights projected upwards from the watery deep. Red, white and yellow in spinning array shone from directly below. Now standing upright, the fisherman could see the lights through the wooden boards of the boat. As wood chipped, a saw like sound rang through his ears mixed with electronic whirring noises as the saucer shaped creature made its way through the hull. 

Flying shards of wood and water flew around him as tentacle like extensions wrapped around the fisherman's body. With a swift thrust downwards, he disappeared into the watery sound. Only ripples were left moving on the surface along with the wooden pieces of his boat. His wife wondered if he'd finally had enough of her tiring nagging complaints, and left for good.

MARIANA TRENCH

Aboard the environmental research ship 'Infinity', Adam controlled the deep sea camera unit as if it were a pet dog. "Good boy, now just turn a little to the right. There you go." From the control room at the bottom of the ship, Adam could send the camera far into the depths of the trench. He had seen some amazing sights over these past few months. Many deep sea creatures had been documented and studied. Peering over to one of the stainless steel analysis tables, Adam still had many questions about the recent creature they had captured and were studying. Focusing back on his camera, Adam's eyes widened and his mouth opened fully. "Whaaat is that?" He blinked to make sure his vision of the sight before him was correct. 

Typical of the creatures he'd seen here before, but with new, unusual shapes and sizes. They moved towards the surface, advancing with what seemed to be a purpose, and not just a few of them. "Where did all these come from? How? Oh my...!"