Chapter 2

Azlan Mustapha woke up from the constant sound of Mizz Nina's 'What You Waiting For'. He felt around the top of his bedside table for his Iphone 7, which he had used for two years now. He had a bet with his friend who said that smartphones don't last for over three years. He was determined to prove him wrong and possibly win himself an unlimited glass of teh tarik, a Malaysian specialty drink, for the next three years.

"Hello?" he said into the phone in his sleep deprived voice. He had spent up to 3 AM last night putting the finishing touches to his project titled, "Information Superhighway At The Speed of Light", a fancy name for an upgraded internet broadband service.

"Azlan, it's Hazri. Are you awake?" the voice in the phone said.

"A bit late to ask that," he murmured into the phone.

"Have you seen the news?" the voice said.

Azlan grabbed the Satellite TV's remote control and turned on the wall-mounted 20" LCD TV he had bought on a whim. Noticing the time, he said, "Great holy, it's only seven in the morning, Hazri! It's Sunday!"

"Get to news, Azlan," the voice said impatiently.

"Which channel?" Azlan asked.

"I don't know, try Channel 3. You're using Multifi aren't you?"

Azlan groaned as he pressed 103 on his remote. He only had his eyes half open when he saw those big cigar shaped things hovering just above Petronas Twin Towers on the TV screen. His eyes opened wider by reflex.

"You're watching science fiction this early in the money, dear?" his wife groaned beside him. He patted her back to sleep.

"What the heck is that, Hazri?" he whispered into the phone.

"That is what we have feared this whole time, my friend," the voice in the phone spoke grimly.

"What the heck do you mean?" Azlan demanded.

"Do you remember that big-assed crate I asked you to keep safe for me?" the voice in the phone asked.

"Yes, and my Farah's been pestering me to get rid of it because she doesn't have enough place to put her stuff!"

"Well, the time has come for you, my friend, to open it. There's a Blu-ray CD inside, taped to the back of the cover. It will explain everything. Please hurry and get your wife to see it too, you'll need the support," he paused, then he continued with, "May God be with you, my friend."

"So I'll just put it in there," he said to no one in particular as he pushed the Blu-ray into his laptop's Blu-ray reader.

"What is this about?" his wife, Farah asked.

"Hazri said it will explain everything," he pressed play on the screen that came up.

"Hazri? Haven't heard from him in two years, what's he up to now?" Farah asked.

"I imagine it has something to do with-"

"Yo! How do you do, Azlan? No, don't answer, it's not like I can reply to you anyhow," the face of Hazri Amran said on the screen.

Azlan chuckled, thinking it was just like Hazri to contradict himself.

"Alright, where do I begin? I suppose I should start from the beginning," the screen showed a video of a planet, with asteroids flying behind it in its shadows, "That my friend, is Pluto. And those thingies that look like asteroids, are not asteroids. They're alien ships. Thousands of them are currently hiding behind the farthest planetoid in our solar system."

"Now, I know what you're thinking. Wow! Alien contact, let's go give them a present. Wheeee! I'm afraid it's not that simple," the screen switched back to the worried face of Hazri Amran, "They are not here for friendly banter. That part is certain. We have reasons to believe that these aliens have a less than noble intention."

Hazri Amran plopped onto a chair as the camera followed his movements, "Despite that, we have not been allowed to execute or even plan any actions that can be misunderstood as hostile against these aliens. Today is the 4th of May, 2021, and, my friend, if you're watching this it means it is already too late for we humans of Earth. The only thing left that we can do is to hide. At the bottom of the crate there should be two pieces of maps. One should be a map to a bomb shelter near your location. Another map is the direction to a super secret underground military base I would have prepared by the time you watched this. Match it to your copy of the Selangor map, the one I gave you for your birthday, and be there ASAP!"

The screen changed to show a picture of a building that looked like a fortified version of a gardener's shack. "This is the entrance to the facility. It is an unofficial Malaysian military compound and you will be there. I know you're wondering, hey, I'm not a soldier, how would I enter a secured military compound? Well, you see, in the same packet where I put the Blu-ray there are also two smartcards which double as an entry pass. Don't worry, I have arranged for you, your wife and anyone who's with you to have clearance to enter the compound. However, as it is a top secret army base, you are not allowed to bring anyone other than the holder of the second pass into the actual underground facility. Once a proper chain of command is established, then you may be allowed to bring anyone you trust into the facility."