Dr. Notorious Wong rubbed his hands in elated anticipation as he stood on the stage before the entire College of Charleston. It was here, before the host of professors, PhDs, and an enormous student body, that he would become known as the most pivotal scientist of the century. Indeed, he was about to revolutionize the field of astronomy forever. The thought sent chills down his back.

 

He was joined on the stage by two fellow science professors of the college, Dr. Muntz and Dr. Patrick, who both stood over the podium while Wong kept a bowed head beside them, listening with a polite smile. Muntz was just now finishing up the introductions.

 

“… and without further ado, let’s welcome the man behind the meteor, Dr. Wong himself.”

 

The applause of the auditorium erupted, and Dr. Wong ran a wrinkled hand across his shiny scalp, trying to appear embarrassed. In actuality, he could barely contain his excitement to share his recent groundbreaking discovery. He shook hands with Muntz and Patrick – quickly, and without looking them in the eye - and then more or less pushed them aside in order to grip the podium himself.

He waited for the clamor to die down, then took in the silence. This was it!

 

“Students and faculty of the College of Charleston, as well as all of you engaged in the fields of astronomy and mathematics, I sincerely welcome you,” Wong began. The crowd sat contentedly, clinging to every word spoken thus far from the older man in the white lab coat. Wong had figured, seeing as the college would be the first of the world to hear his news, he would want to appear as academically-affluent as possible. This moment would go down in history, you see, and Wong didn’t want to be known as the business man who enriched the night sky.

 

Wong cleared his throat. “Several of you may have noticed the bright blue hue of the sky over these past few days. Beautiful weather for a picnic, a walk, or a night with the stars. Not a cloud in the sky.”

 

He scanned the audience briefly, wondering if any cameras were filming. In the corner he saw a man pointing a phone in his direction. The sight caused Wong to chuckle to himself, until he noticed a young man and young woman standing side-by-side in the corner of the auditorium, standing perfectly erect with expressionless visages. Their emanating stare caught Dr. Wong off guard, as if the piercing gaze was cutting and dividing his thoughts. He diverted his eyes and continued, trying to regain his composure.

 

“Perhaps you have also heard some quite stellar news recently,” Dr. Wong said with a smirk, “about a tragic meteorite surviving its ascent through the night sky several days ago. Straight into my backyard in North Charleston, in fact.” He heard a murmur spread through the crowd, but kept speaking anyway. “Now, being an astronomer myself, it was fairly simple and none too surprising to find common elements within the rock. Nickels, iron sulfides, oxides. But then, after carefully reexamining the debris in my own laboratory, I made an incredible discovery. One which I am sure will reshape the scientific community as we know it.”

 

Now the audience waited with absolute silence, and Dr. Wong grinned at his own suspense. After taking a breath and straightening his wire-frame glasses, he made the announcement.

 

“I have discovered a new element previously unknown to the human race.” Gasps and several claps burst forth, but Dr. Wong held up a hand to quiet them. “The element seems to have originated from outer space. Now before you speculate, yes, this means it is an extra-terrestrial element. It did not come from earth, nor do we believe it to have originated in our solar system, based on its shape and composition. However, let’s not forget the blunders of Sagan and, please, remember: aliens do not exist.” He bit off the last remark with a quick smile.

 

And the story was truth, too. Not only did the artifact crash just outside Dr. Wong’s home several days ago, but it had in fact landed beside his personal observatory. It would seem fortune had smiled upon him at that late hour, while he was wrapped in the musings of Pythagoras with a cup of coffee, but Wong did not believe in fortune. He didn’t think Pythagoras did either.

 

“While not much is known about this new element,” Wong said, “we do know a little. It appears green in color, is rigid and does not shine, and…” Wong trailed off. What he was about to say would either paint him as a lunatic, or a pioneer of science.

 

He nodded to himself and gazed to the audience. “…and, for reasons we do not understand, it prevents the formation of clouds within the apparent atmosphere.”

 

Immediately the crowd began to yell questions and discuss the possibilities with one another. A scene in which one could hear a pin drop had transformed into a mixture of chaos and awe.

 

Dr. Wong rubbed the back of his neck and leaned toward the mic again. “I’ll take questions.”

 

Dr. Muntz and Dr. Patrick, who had been standing to the side of the stage, exchanged looks of concern, obviously unprepared for an announcement to become a questionnaire. Both men began taking the steps up the stage, but hesitated when Dr. Wong gleefully selected the first question.

 

“Dr. Wong,” a woman shouted over the throng, “you say the element disperses clouds. How far does this work from the point of the meteor?”

 

“Tests are ongoing, but my meteorologists have speculated a radius of about fifteen miles,” Dr. Wong answered. He next pointed to a man in a turtleneck standing on his chair.

 

“Mr. Wong,” the man cried out, “how exactly do you think this will benefit the scientific community?”

 

“There are obviously many reactions that scientists across the board will have in light of this discovery,” Wong replied, “but for those of us in the astronomic field, it will allow us some of the clearest nights we’ve ever seen, which in turn gives us some of the finest pictures and observations of the night sky you’ll likely ever find on planet Earth. It is truly a step closer to controlling our own planet’s weather patterns as we understand them. Next question.”

 

The questions kept coming, and Dr. Wong was excited to answer each one of them. The people were simply begging for information from the one man who knew the most about the subject – in fact, he just might be the most knowledgeable astronomer alive today.

 

But through the flurry of faces and words, a recurring sight bothered Wong in a way he still couldn’t explain. Toward the back of the auditorium were those same college students, the young man and young woman, who had simply gazed at him the entire conference. They hadn’t reacted to any of his announcements, and each time Dr. Wong dared to look, both students were watching him, staring directly into his eyes from behind the crowd. Despite the commotion and buzzing excitement in the auditorium that night, Dr. Wong drove home positively unnerved, an image of the two stoic students refusing to leave his racing thoughts.

 

*****

 

“Okay. Yes. Thank you Dr. Patrick, have a good night.”

 

Dr. Wong hung up the phone and leaned on his kitchen counter. His house was a small, one-story gem which suited his needs for seclusion and study nicely, and even looked nice on the outside to boot. Its location was rather remote in order to escape pesky light pollution on the outskirts of Charleston, but commute to the campus wasn’t too bad, and the neighboring walls of trees were low enough to give the stargazing field behind the building an advantage. Of course, not many houses also included a personal observatory building in the backyard, but Dr. Long prided himself in its establishment.

 

Wong sighed. It was late, and the frustrated lecture he’d just received from Patrick had severed his nerves. Dr. Wong closed his eyes and rubbed his temple in the dim lighting of the kitchen. What a day.

 

Then suddenly, a sound like a trash can slamming shut sounded from Wong’s front yard. A bright flash of light shimmered through a window beside his front door, then vanished.

 

Dr. Wong looked up, clearly startled, and hesitated. Quietly, he crept to the window beside his front door, slightly drew aside the curtain, and peered into the night with squinted eyes.

 

He jumped back and gasped. It couldn’t be!

 

The two college students from the conference earlier were standing at the end of his driveway! And they had stared back at him!

 

Dr. Wong recoiled in terror. Was he imagining this? What did they want? Who were they?

 

Although panicked, he braved another glance through the window.

 

Nothing. Maybe it was his imagination after all?

 

The meteor. He had to keep it safe.

 

Dr. Wong shook his head and hurried to his study. It was a quaint, organized room with a desk in one corner littered with the papers of a scientist. The room used to be an elegant space for thought, but was now half-buried in essays and folders containing research documents.

 

There, under the light of a table lamp upon his desk, sat the green-brown space rock. The Clodoudium, he called it, though he hadn’t told the scientific community yet. Dr. Wong was a complicated man.

 

He grabbed the meteorite and turned back down the hall, to the kitchen. For a reason he couldn’t explain, he felt like those students were after him. For the benefit of science, he could not lose the rock!

 

He turned the corner to the kitchen froze, petrified. The two students were now outside his kitchen window, cloaked in the darkness of the night, vacant in expression. They were in the backyard, staring, staring…

 

Dr. Wong whimpered and ran back to the study, where he thought to keep both himself and the meteor safe inside the walk-in closet. No sooner had he closed the closet door behind him than he heard glass shatter from the kitchen. They were coming for him!

 

A door crashed open, and a low hum reverberated against the walls of the study. Dr. Wong watched as a green light glowed beneath the doorframe, hovering indecisively to the left, then to the right. He held his breath as best he could, pressing the space rock hard against his chest. What in the world…?

 

The green light grew brighter under the doorframe. With the terrible sound of the doorknob turning, Dr. Wong felt his heart plummet into his stomach.

 

The closet door glided open, and Wong began shaking horribly. He was looking right into the faces of the students, who were standing perfectly straight, peering down at the old professor half-buried in coats and shirts. Neither of the students showed even the slightest emotion. They simply watched him, heads subtly cocked to one side, a green aura of light highlighting their youthful figures.

 

“I don’t know what you want,” Dr. Wong breathed.

 

To his surprise, the young man spoke, voice barren of feeling. “You know what we want, Professor Wong. The meteorite. Give it.”

 

Wong shook his head. “Now, wait just a moment. You don’t understand, I need this! We have the potential to--”

 

“You are playing God with this element, Mr. Wong,” the young woman said. “This planet needs clouds. You think you know what you are doing, but you do not, Wong.”

 

“Please,” Wong said, “I can be the catalyst astronomy needs. I don’t know who you are, but …”

 

“Take it,” the woman said to her comrade. The young man reached out and snatched the rock from Wong’s grasp, with almost no effort. Then, still devoid of emotion, the two strangers turned and retreated from the study. A beat passed, and Dr. Wong pushed himself to his feet.

 

“No, stop!” he yelled.

 

He sprinted for the kitchen and saw the glass door to his back porch was open, the cold air seeping into the house. Wong leaped through the opening and stood panting, watching the pair of students casually walking across the shadows his stargazing field.

 

Suddenly they both stopped with their backs to Wong, and the young man raised his left hand. In a matter of seconds, a bright yellow light engulfed the students and grew so bright Dr. Wong had to cover his eyes and grit his teeth. The light began to fade, and Dr. Wong looked again to see a golden orb ascending from the field straight up into space, violating all of Wong’s understood laws of physics in doing so.

 

The orb floated so far away that, after several minutes, it disappeared amongst the myriad of evening stars in the sky.

 

Then they were gone. And the meteorite was gone. His entire future was ruined, and all the basis for his scientific understanding was thus crushed. Inexplicably, too.

 

Dizzy, Wong stumbled back into his study with glazed eyes. He turned on his computer, logged into his e-shop account, and promptly ordered Sagan’s best-selling work, “Cosmos.”

 

This time, it really was aliens.

 

 

 

*Disclaimer: I do not own these pictures