May 11, 1994 - Nellis Air Force Base - Southern Nevada, USA

General Hammond surveyed the twisted wreck before him with interest. “This was everything recovered from the incident site?” he asked Dr. Eiselstein. The elderly gentleman nodded somewhat absentmindedly. “It’s marvelous isn’t it?” The General grunted noncommittally with a wave of his hand, “I wouldn’t say marvelous. We lost a platoon, an innocent civilian, had to cover up a small nuclear explosion, and we failed to recover whatever it was that flew the damn thing. I look at this and see nothing more than a twisted hunk of metal and scraps. Do you think there is anything to learn out of this wreck?”

Dr. Eiselstein looked the General over critically. “There is always an opportunity to learn something. For instance, there isn’t any apparently ablative material evident. This could indicate the alloy here doesn’t require heat shielding, or it could indicate that the ablative technology used is far superior and we just can’t see it yet. This will take years to study General. Years.”

Hammond looked thoughtful for a moment. “The question doctor, is do we have years to study this, or is this just the beginning of something larger that we aren’t prepared for yet.” Eiselstein was quiet for a moment before turning to the officer, “General, that is a question for your pay-grade, not mine. My expertise is in metallurgy, not astronomy or xenology - which before this wasn’t even a branch of real science, although I expect that to change quite soon. I suggest you talk with NASA or one of the other space agencies and astronomical societies who watch the stars for a living or pleasure. Give me time and we’ll figure out what we can from this and how it can be used.”

Hammond nodded and turned to leave. “One more thing, General.” Hammond glanced over his shoulder. “I suggest we start preparing for the worst.” Hammond barked a dry laugh, “On that we agree Doctor, make no mistake about it. Good day Doctor.”

August 22, 1996 - Headquarters of the United Nations - New York, New York, USA

Madeleine Albright composed herself before picking up the folder and opening it. She gave a quick glance at General Hammond before starting to read the documents. After a few minutes she gasped and looked up. “This is real? Not only evidence of extraterrestrial life, but a salvaged wreck? And it happened years ago?”

Hammond nodded, “Yes Madame Ambassador. The President has decided this is no longer a matter for just The United States to handle and it should be brought to the attention of certain governments in the UN. We tasked a few observatories around the world to keep an eye on the vessel orbiting Saturn, and when possible taking images of the larger object still in the Kuiper belt.”

“So far as we know, this one ship that crashed is the only one to come here to Earth, unless more crashes have happened around the world. We only detected the crash in Kentucky after the ship started to burn through the atmosphere. We got lucky with predicting where it was going to crash and had some birds in the air before it landed.”

“How did it crash General? This report doesn’t say,” she said glancing at the General. “As best we can tell from the wreck, we think the ship was struck by a small asteroid which damaged its flight capability. We believe the craft wasn’t even meant to enter the atmosphere and land. The damage was extensive, and beside the materials it’s made of, we have been unable to determine anything about how it operated, its capabilities, power source or anything else.”

“We suspect the alien sabotaged everything before trying to flee. To this date we still have not found the alien and do not know if it’s alive or dead. If it’s alive, it’s either living in the woods, or has somehow integrated itself with a human population - a terrifying thought. As I said, Madame Ambassador, this has become a global concern and it is now your job to read in who you think should be read in. At the end of the packet you will find a list of nations we believe would be amenable to the situation.” He stood to leave, “Let me stress the importance of this one more time. These are not some friendly visitors and they have already taken American lives. Good luck to you.”

The Ambassador exhaled slowly as she leafed through the information packet. This is going to be some very interesting conversations, she thought to herself. Most of the information was reports on the devastation at the Kentucky crash site with some supplemental satellite images.

The photographs were hard to look at. Did they really need to take photos of the mangled bodies to include in this report? The rest of the packet was incomprehensible science on the wreckage recovered. I doubt any of the other ambassadors will understand this any better than I do.

Speaking of which. She turned back to the last page to see who the General recommended she speak with. Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Brazil, Italy, Australia, France, Russia. It looks like every county that’s had or has an interest in space or are close allies. She reached for her phone and hesitated before picking up the receiver. This is not going to be fun.

April 11, 1997 - Undisclosed Meeting Room - Headquarters of the United Nations - New York, New York, USA

“I still don’t understand what it is this committee is supposed to accomplish. We’ve debated this for months and we have yet to come up with a resolution that makes sense,” Chairman Takasu said. The gathered ambassadors whispered amongst themselves, occasionally glancing around the room.

Finally, Ambassador Richardson from the US spoke up, “I realize I am just a freshman on this committee as I’ve only recently taken over for Ambassador Albright, but why don’t we consider this. This is eventually going to become a global threat, if it hasn’t happened already. We know for a fact that with our current technology we can’t detect these things before they enter our atmosphere. Only then do their heat signatures become detectable - until they cool off enough that we lose them again due to a lack of radar returns. So far none of the countries read into this program have reported sightings or potential sightings, and most of Africa and Asia don’t even have the facilities to process this in the first place.”

“Therefore, I propose this for consideration; we create a division inside NATO dedicated to this threat and secure the necessary funding and personnel from member nations. Let me be clear: this is a black operation. Not only can we not afford for the general public to become more aware than key sectors already are due to both the possibility of widespread panic, but we also do not need a repeat of the Heaven’s Gate incident last month.”

The group sat in silence, digesting the last part of his statement. Finally Ambassador Campbell from Australia spoke up, “And what exactly would we be funding?” Before Ambassador Richardson could answer, Ambassador Lavrov from the Russian Federation spoke up, “Obviously it would be military, research and development, communications, media suppression, and all the other trappings that come with clandestine activities. FSB is quite adept at it, as I am certain your own Intelligence Agencies are. Before we could agree to any such resolution we would have to discuss with our heads of state. I am certain we all understand that there will be strings attached if this happens. No one country would agree to this with out benefiting from the dividends of the investment.” There were murmurs of agreement from around the table.

“Then let us adjourn this session now that we have a clear idea of what needs to happen. We will reconvene in one month. Let us not be blinded by the negotiations that are about to occur all across the globe. The possible fate of our entire species could be on the line. If you cannot get your respective Governments to agree with reasonable concessions, we will be forced to proceed without their involvement,” Chairman Takasu said, giving each assembled ambassador a knowing look in turn. “Meeting adjourned.”

May 11, 1997 - Undisclosed Meeting Room - Headquarters of the United Nations - New York, New York, USA

“The terms set forth are as followed,” started Chairman Takasu. “The project will remain a state secret shared among the member nations signing the accord. Each signatory nation agrees to participate in funding of the project with budgetary items rolled into their military or clandestine budgets, with no line items to appear on any official document that could be made public. Each signatory nation agrees to commit personnel both civilian and military who can be held to the highest standard of secrecy for the project. Due to it being the rough geographical center between all points of participating countries, a site in Turkey will be construction as the headquarters of this organization, and the President of Turkey will be read into the program. The nature of the program will remained classified at the highest levels.”

“The following nations have agreed to the proposal in whole: Japan, The United States, The United Kingdom, France, India, Australia, Germany, and Italy. The following nations have asked for the amendment that all research and scientific information that results from the program be disseminated to all member nations in whole: Russia, China, and Egypt. The following nations have decided to withdraw from the program: Brazil, South Africa, Israel. Lastly the Ambassador from Switzerland has agreed to the mandated secrecy and will appointed a rotating three person panel to act as arbitrators for any disputes that arise between nations as a result of this project.”

“Are there any objections to the stipulations put forth before the committee by Russia, China, and Egypt?” No one spoke up, but the chairman noted a few shared glances between the Ambassadors from the US and the UK. “As no one has raised an objection the amendment will be added to the document. Are there any last minute proposals or additions?” He glanced around the room and was met with silence. “Then let us vote. “All in favor?” Every hand raised. “The project is approved with unanimous agreement. Starting tomorrow, Task Force Omega will become a new reality. I expect nominations from all involved parties for department heads for the three primary branches, military, engineering, and science, by the end of the week.”

“We will meet again after the August General Assembly and vote on the candidates. I know there will be a heated discussion revolved the military side of things, so I would like to make a suggestion that you all look at officers already tasked to NATO and start there. This is it gentlemen. The course of human history is forever changed from this point forward.”