Transmission

Kevin wanted to believe it, but the capsule had almost come out of nowhere, hadn’t it? Why wouldn’t it find a way to disappear the same way? Why wouldn’t they be left staring at an empty space, just as they hoped for all the secrets that the aliens had prepared for them?

“It will be okay, Kevin,” his mother said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “You’ve already done the hard part.”

Kevin understood that, but even so, he watched the truck. It wasn’t just about wanting to make sure nothing happened. It was more the promise of it, and the need to wait. It felt like waiting for Christmas morning and a trip to the doctor’s office, all rolled into one. He didn’t take his eyes from it until he could see Bogota up ahead.

“The UN facility is just a little further,” Ted said, pointing.

The building ahead of them looked about fifty years more modern than most of the buildings around it, built of glass and steel, while the houses that surrounded it seemed kind of quaint and old-fashioned. There was a compound around it, complete with soldiers in blue helmets. They made no move to stop the convoy as it rolled toward the compound, and Kevin guessed that the people in it must have called ahead to let them know what was coming.

That meant that there was no chance of bringing it there quietly. Already, UN staff were standing there, looking at the convoy as it pulled in, while Kevin could see what looked like reporters stuck behind a barrier, barely being kept back by the presence of the soldiers. They pointed cameras, and flashes went off as the convoy ground to a halt. Kevin dared to breathe a sigh of relief. They’d made it here. They had the capsule.

He watched as a group of strong-looking researchers carried it inside, covered with a blanket so that the cameras wouldn’t see too much of it.

“I wish they didn’t have to hide it away,” Kevin said.

Ted looked from the capsule to the cameras. “Something tells me that they won’t be able to do it for long. Come on, let’s go inside.”

Kevin hopped down from the Jeep and then set off with Ted, his mother, and all the others into the UN compound. He wasn’t surprised to find more reporters, who had obviously decided to give up the chance for a first picture to be in a better position to shout questions once everyone got inside.

“Is it true?” one shouted. “Have you found an alien spaceship?”

Professor Brewster seemed to think it was obvious that he should answer, stepping forward to do it. “Hello, I’m Professor David Brewster of NASA. We have found something out in the rainforest, but for the moment, we’re not able to say exactly what it is. My people won’t be answering any questions about it at the moment, but there will be a press conference shortly, where we will be publicly examining the artifact that we found.”

The press continued to fire questions his way, but Professor Brewster ignored them, walking toward the compound’s main building. Kevin and the others hurried to keep up with him.

“We’re really going straight into a press conference?” Dr. Levin asked. She didn’t sound unhappy about it to Kevin, just surprised.

“Things have progressed quite quickly,” Professor Brewster said. “Arguments about who got to work on the rock were becoming quite… vocal.”

Kevin had hoped that after everything on the road, the scientists might be able to get along better than that.

“It was decided that the only way to prevent further issues is to deal with the situation here. There will be a press conference to announce it, and, since so many of my colleagues are pushing for it, we will be seeking to cut into the rock to discern the contents.”

“You’re actually going to open it?” Kevin asked. He hadn’t been sure if they would or not.

“Under strictly controlled conditions,” Professor Brewster said. “We can’t risk potential contamination, either of the rock or the surrounding environment. The room in which we perform the opening will be a sealed space.”

He went off to organize it, and Kevin could feel his excitement building.

“They’re actually going to open it,” he said with a grin. That was so cool.

“And we get to be a part of it,” Dr. Levin said.

“Will they need Kevin to be a part of the press conference?” Kevin’s mother asked.

“Probably,” Dr. Levin said. “He deserves to be, don’t you think?”

Kevin’s mother nodded. “He does. After all this, he does.”

***

The press room was a big conference room, obviously designed to hold large numbers of people. Even so, it felt cramped as Kevin entered it, so packed with reporters and researchers that it was almost impossible to squeeze through them all. A screen had been set up on the far wall, showing a white-walled laboratory, in which the capsule sat on a metal table, flanked by a trio of researchers. They wore white plastic suits that Kevin guessed were to stop them contaminating the capsule. They wore face masks too, and goggles.