The First Contact

It's five in the morning, and I've just collapsed after the dizzying helicopter ride to my Grandpa's yacht. My phone starts to vibrate, the sound is making my head feel like imploding. Then a gentle knock on my bedroom door turns to a persistent pounding.

"Miss Magdalena?"

Someone called out my name.

It's Mackenzie speaking with his thick Northern accent. He's been with the family since I could remember.

"It's your Grandad, Lassie. Best pick up the phone, awrite?"

"No!" I said firmly. "I would not like to get up, and that's final."

He won't take no for an answer of course, my Grandpa does pay his six figure salary.

"Miss Magdalena Marcela Pousaz." he says, using my full name in an authoritative way.

He's telling me he's serious.

"You've begged to come along on this trip, did you not?"

"I'm sleeping, old man. And I would like very much to be left at peace!"

I try to garner whatever politeness I could muster while severely sleep-deprived, holding in the curse words in before they spiel out uncontrollably. I really wanted to call him an old Bampot for not bugging off. Mackenzie hates it when I turn the Scottish curse words he teaches me against him.

"Suit yourself, young Lassie. It's your arse not mine."

After he leaves, I'm stuffing my face against my pillow and groaning. 

Thirty minutes later, he unlocked the door and makes me put on appropriate clothes to join Grandpa on the upper deck with the rest of his entourage, family members, a couple of his sugar-baby girlfriends and some of my very own close friends. It takes me a moment to make things clear from the micro dream I just had, I was in another planet a few minutes ago. I rub my eyes, then it occurs to me, we are now sailing across the Greek Isles, overlooking the sun rise in Santorini. A view I should find spectacular, but this incredible experience escaped me. I wasn't astounded by the beauty of the horizon of blue and white buildings tinted by the hue of the sunsets, but quite the contrary, emotionless and bored. I had seen it a few hundred dozen times by now. 

"Welcome Magdalena, it's a pleasure to have you here with us today." A renowned Chef displays a platter of my favorite foods, grilled Faroe Island salmon to enjoy with the bewitchingly beautiful scenery. My family spends nearly a million dollars annually on nutrition alone to cater to me and my siblings specific tastes. Though sometimes, I'd rather give the refined stuff to the help. I thanked him and sat around the table balancing my head from crashing down like the waves on the yacht. I listened to my Grandpa dribble on and boast about a meeting with the Branson Family next weekend. He says this family will be one of the first in line for their new commercial space flights. They finally have the tech to offer an affordable option for the ultra rich. Something to look forward to.

Mackenzie looked annoyed by me earlier, but now he brings me my favorite Mousse dessert almost apologetically.

"Keep the heid, Lass. Chin up." 

I smiled and thanked him. As I take a few bites of my favorite foods in abundance, my mother then calls me to ruin my peace and quiet. The sound of her voice is like listening to nails scraping against a chalk board.

"Maggy! What's this about a trip you're planning to California?! You know we have the charity event with your father in Zurich. You are not missing this for the world! Understood?"

"Mom. I need to go to Hearst Castle."

"Honey, the castles by the Alps are just around the corner, they're so much more extravagant. If you'd like, we'll have Mackenzie set you up with a private tour and you can stay with some of your friends for a few days."

"It's not the same. You know what? If it's something we can't afford, forget it."

"Please, Maggy. Don't insult me. We are the Pousaz, we don't worry about such trivial things, like cost. I'll have your seamstress fly your outfits out. Do not miss the charter back to Europe on Saturday evening or you're in big trouble. Do I make myself clear?"

"I won't mom. Thank-."

She hangs up.

"Lassie, you get an her head too easily, y'know that? Yer too wise fore yer own good." Mackenzie sighed.

He was privy to the way I manipulated her by getting what I wanted. My parents were the type of people who enjoyed flaunting their wealth and diving into the fruits of it all. For Mother, it was never enough she could show off to her friends. She frequently flaunted her jewelry stores around the Greater Baltimore area that seldom made any profit. They were just means to brag to her friends about being an entrepreneur. My father wasn't too contrasting, though he kept his life very private. All I knew was he collected memberships from some of the most prestigious country clubs in the world, paying the dues but never actually attending them.

Mackenzie once accidentally hinted at his involvement with the Bohemian Grove meetings in Mid-July. Rumor had it during these meetings they would congregate with top officials in the government and swap classified stories. Some of which Mackenzie would share with me in anecdotes. It was an unusual thing to know so much information was hidden away from the public eye and there they were means for casual conversations. With all of that wealth and power, our world was so much smaller.

*****

The next day, I caught a red eye and found myself spending my Friday morning in the Central coast of California drinking expensive white wines from Napa Valley with a few of my closest friends.

Some of my them then invited a few of their own friends, kids of famous Hollywood actors, and athletes. The entourage of people all partook in the get-together enjoying the pools and architecture from the eccentric millionaire's castle.

One of the servers smiled and offered me a beverage. "A mimosa for you, madam?"

"Thanks, but I didn't ask for this? I've got my wine already."

"He insisted, a compliment from the gentleman sitting by the Ice Sculptures."

I peered over to find a good-looking guy around my age with damped curly blonde-hair standing inside the pool and smiling over to my direction. Our eyes had locked. His piercing sapphire blue eyes were more intoxicating as he rose up and walked over to me. He grabbed a towel to dry his abs then swung it across his right shoulder. I stared as the trickles of bleached pool water streamed down his chest to his flat stomach. 

"Figured you for one of those Mimosa brunch girls" he laughed. "You know the type?"

"Oh." I smiled awkwardly. "I'm far from that. Trust me."

"Hey you could use a pick-me-up though, that wine doesn't look too appetizing." We'll share."

"You know I don't believe we've met." I said extending my hand out maybe a little too eagerly.

He grabbed my hand when I noticed they were sweaty I pulled them away but he smiled and gripped them into his.

Then he pulled a seat from a table nearby and helped himself.

"Name's Trent." he said.

One of my girlfriends made eye contact with me from across the yard. She pointed to the stranger and made a look as if asking me for her intervention. I shook my head then turned back to him. "So who brought you here?"

"Well." he stammered. "To be honest...nobody did."

Even with a private party this exclusive, someone would have had to know this guy. I kept my guard up. "Okay? So how's the party crashing life style going for you?" I teased.

"Well, I wouldn't say I'm crashing le party." he said and his peculiar accent sort of came out unintentionally, it was bizarre. It seemed now as if he was trying to fake an American accent.

"Sorry, I move around a lot." he smiled. "The French slips out sometimes."

"Actor?"

He shook his head and changed the subject. He said the music was too loud and asked if we wanted to continue the conversation in the main library living room. Truth be told, I couldn't resist his charm. Mackenzie had been just a call away so I had felt safe getting away nearby to the living room for a few minutes. I wanted to find out more about him. We walked over to the inside of the mansion.

"Damn." he said gesturing to the beautiful wooden interior.

"It's quite beautiful, isn't it?".

"It is. It's just the perfect aesthetics for you, Magdalena, you've always did enjoy the old rustic looks" he smiled. "I was here yesterday, there's even a copy of your favorite children's book in this library, The Planet of the Jumping Bears. Remember when Mackenzie would read that for you?"

"W-What?" I pressed the emergency button on my phone to call Mackenzie over. There's no way he could have known something so intimate. Whoever he was, he was a stalker. I tried to get up from the couch but he had grabbed a tight hold of my arm. I screamed as loud as I could, but my voice had been muted. He was holding out his hand and curling his fingers towards me.

"Oh, no I won't hurt you" he said. "I'd never dream of it. Don't be afraid."

Mackenzie had already rushed over to him and grabbed a tight lock around his neck, before he could say anything else. He pulled him down and dragged him out of the room.

"Made a big mistake, Sonny. Ay'm gone make sure you feel it in the mornin'. I won't be too kind neither."

I jumped up and was finally able to speak. "Mackenzie? Just find out who he is... and what he wants. You don't need to hurt him."

Mackenzie was a beefy 6'3 man in his late forties but he trained at top of his class at the Royal Academy. Which made it more surprising to see him coming back dragged with his legs buckling. The strange boy, had looked scrawny in comparison, but he was unfazed after Mackenzie manhandled him.

"How did you--"

"Listen, Magdalena. I'm not here to hurt you or your servant. I'm begging only for your help, I need you to use your family's influence. In return I'll take you on a short trip where even your money can't access. I know you've grown bored of this life. You've had everything, seen everything here, so I can offer you a unique experience. He shows me a video of where he came from on his phone. It's something I've never seen before, another world with it's own civilization much more advanced than ours.

"This is where I came from. What I really look like. I've stuck in your planet, trying to adapt to your culture, your physical form..."

Mackenzie grunted on the floor.

"Mackenzie?" I screamed. "Is he still alive?!"

"Focus, Magdalena, come on...the Scotsman isn't dead. I've only temporarily-"

Mackenzie managed to awaken and grabbed a hold of the stranger's leg, and pointed his pistol up towards his forehead. 

"You're a lot stronger than I thought, old boy." he said smiling before snapping the cold-steel in half like it was made of cheap plastics. Mackenzie laid stiff against the floor, his bulging eyes trying to make an effort to fight off the lethargy, but ultimately it was a futile attempt, he fell unconscious again."

"Listen Magdalena. This is going to sound crazy to you, but I need access to a Nevada Testing and Training Range. My brother is there and needs my help returning home. We are scared."

"What?"

"I need to go." He grabbed my arm again and injected me with something that felt numbing.

"I don't have much time, this is just a way for us to communicate" he said. "It won't hurt you."

Next thing I remembered was my security detail rushing in through the door, they found me half asleep. My friends the next day said I had had a little too much to drink.

And Mackenzie didn't remember a thing, his memory of the last thirty minutes wiped clean.

*****

Two weeks later, I had continued communications with the foreign stranger and had grown empathetic of his cause. All he wanted was to bring back someone he cared for, so I took it upon myself to help him, in return he promised to take me to visit his world if he ever returned.

We agreed to meet up in the Caribbean Island of St. Lucia, where I had waited in a booked submarine hotel 650 meters under sea level. Per his requests, I would hand him detailed access codes, uniforms, badges, credentials to a prison deep underground all paid and received anonymously through a fixer of my father. In return for the items, those fixers would accompany me in the deep sea vessel to observe him, and offer my security.

"It's really nice to see you again, Maggy. We can finally have a private conversation. And I'm sorry for the injection earlier. I'll help you remove the device from your arm. They're just little uninvasive nano machines.

He grabbed my hand and placed a device over it.

"Voíla! Easily removed."

A few of the men and women guarding me knocked on the door after a few moments.

"I'm okay in here, stand down guys."

"Whose that?"

"It's fine." I said.

"I trusted you."

Then the small group of men and women dressed in black suits came through.

"Hello, Mr. Peregrino." One of the men smiled.

The stranger looked nervous.

"It's what we call you back in the offices, a codename if you will. It means, Not of this world, a foreigner. I'm sure you know that though, you've studied several of our most popular languages, including the dead ones. You've really been riling up a lot of our theoretical physicians, the last few days. And all of this time here just to free your friend out of our bunker? Nothing else peeked your interest? Not our defense systems? Our resources?"

"Please, I just want you to return him to me."

"Not until we get a fair trade, tit for tat"

The stranger grew angry and curled his fingers and hand out towards the men and women in suits, but nothing had happened.

"Your tech isn't effective so deep under water, stranger. We took the precautions. We have an idea of this type of energy you're using. It's why we had the young lady suggest this wonderfully...expensive place. No fancy tricks this time."

"I guess it was a matter of time to meet an organization who knew who I was. This is how you make first contact with a so called extraterrestrial? Intimidation?"

"It's been my agencies life work to study your species. And when your friend landed, we were granted so much knowledge, we studied the coordinates of his ship, reversed engineered it. You're far from home, my friend. Unfortunately I have also some bad news for you, your friend did not make it here alive. You know how things are with the atmosphere pressure change. It's kind of how rising to the surface kills our very own deep sea fish."

"That's... not true... tell me it's not true."

"Oh, better believe it."

What's going to happen to me?" He said. He could sense he had no other options to escaped and sounded defeated.

"Right." I asked. "What will happen to him?"

"Well, Ms. Pousaz, you don't want to know how far this rabbit hole goes so we'll keep it between us and the Stranger. We are appreciative for your help guiding us here, we will give our gratitude to the Pousaz estates. It's funny we were on such high alert to find an intelligent species living amongst us, but now we are very eager to finally be able to study it. It's been all swings and roundabouts really. But, you'll be safe and forget any of this ever happened soon enough. As for you, Mr. Peregrino, we will be well acquainted soon enough.