Xenoforming – First Contact – Prologue

Date: 13th June 2024

Place: Vienna, Austria

It was eleven o’clock. The whole street was quiet and dark, except for one bar where the music was playing and people were talking. Across the street among other cars, there was a new black Audi which seemed ordinary. There were lots of cars like this. But in this one, there was a man who was sitting there for the last twelve hours.

His name was Lucas. He looked quite handsome, thought his light stubble, long dark ponytail and a crooked nose, that looked like it was broken it and never fully healed. He was skinny and almost two meters tall and really didn’t look like an agent, though he was.

For several hours he was watching the bar from the other side of the street. No break, no toilette, as he didn’t want his target to run away. It was Darius Rossi, the owner of the bar, who Lucas was watching for several months. He was only steps away to prove Darius was involved in money laundering.

The Secret Service, which Lucas was working for, had received information about this deal only few hours before he arrived here. He knew, having Darius’ hand caught in a suitcase full of illegal money wasn’t very realistic and was more of a movie scene, but in fact, it wasn’t even necessary. He needed the right person to come to the bar, meet with Darius and… the victory was his.

Twelve hours of waiting, with no food, and just a little bit of water made Lucas feel really exhausted, but he could not give up in such a critical moment. As he was lying there, his eyes became heavy. Suddenly, he woke up to a knock-knock behind his head. When he turned around, a man in a bartender vest and apron was standing there with a plate in his hands. He had no idea what was going on, so he rolled down the car window. “Mr. Darius is sending you a coffee and biscuits.” Said the bartender. “He thinks, you might be feeling tired since you have been waiting here for several hours and he would also be pleased, if he can talk to you in his office. If that’s possible.”  Lucas didn’t say a word, took the plate and waited the bartender to leave so that he could call the office. On his half-way back to the bar, the bartender turned around because he forgot something. “And he also said, it would be nice of you, if you would not call your office immediately. Although he was sure, no one would come. And he was not bothered to make the calls.” Lucas was dumbfounded but the bartender didn’t care about that, as he was almost inside the bar, when Lucas pulled out his cell phone. Lucas tried to call his boss, but he didn’t answer the phone, so he was tried again and again and again, but with no success. Then, he called another superior and continued like this for about ten minutes. No one answered the phone.

Lucas was thinking over what to do next, should he start the car and leave? That would not help him. The second thing, he could do, was to go to the bar and see what Darius had to say to him. On the other hand, there was a chance he would not get out of the bar…alive. Lucas realized, they could kill him whether he went inside or not, so he decided to go in. Still, there was a possibility of learning something interesting or obtaining new evidence. If not, he could understand what was going on.

The bar was looking very deluxe. Waxed wooden floor looked like nobody ever stood on it, although several hosts were sitting inside, not a single speck of dust on the dark wooden tables, perfectly clean bar with the world’s most expensive bottles of alcohol behind it. The bartender was making a coffee in a coffee machine that must have been more expensive than the whole kitchen in Lucas’ flat. When he came to the bar, the bartender smiled at him, “Iʼll take you to Mr. Darius after I carry this order.” Bartender took the coffee to four men in black suits sitting at one of the tables. Lucas knew them from his photographs. He knew, they were doing all the dirty work for Darius, but he didn’t have any evidence to put them in jail. They didn’t even notice him.

Bartender waved for Lucas to follow him. They went through a door into a back room seemingly reserved for VIPs, walked into another door marked ʼStaff onlyʼ and went up the stairs behind them. From building plans, which he had, he knew that offices are upstairs. The upper floor was one long hallway with doors and famous paintings on both sides. Lucas liked art and when he had a chance to buy one, he never missed it. But the paintings on these walls were different. Those masterpieces were from worldwide known artists and every one of them was more expensive than Lucas’ annual salary. The bartender took him to big mahogany door at the end of the hallway, placed towards the stairs, gently knocked and opened it.

Darius was sitting behind a grand mahogany table in a deluxe office chair and was smiling at Lucas. “Leave us alone, please,” he said quietly, but emphatically. The door closed. “Sit down, please.” At first Lucas hesitated but then sat down. He was staring at Darius, waiting what he was going to say, because he himself wasn’t able to say a word. “You are a very brave man, Lucas, I know you have been watching me for a long time. We are not here to play a bad-movie scene. I just want to tell you, that I am pleased about your interest, but it leads nowhere. You can continue watching me, but as you see, I know about you and therefore you are only wasting times for both of us.”

Lucas was staring at him. He was shocked, but didn’t want Darius to see that, he didn’t know what to say and didn’t want to look like a coward. He was also afraid what would happen, if he resisted. On the other side, he could not just stand there. He wanted to say something but suddenly, Darius was bug-eyed. He wasn’t looking at Lucas but at something behind him.

It took only a few seconds. Darius took out his gun, aimed at the thing and fired. Lucas reacted fast, too. He managed to pull out his gun, but Darius was faster and had already fired. Lucas felt no pain as Darius wasn’t aiming at him. In the same moment, a white shining ball flew around Lucas’, hit Darius, who fell on the floor like a cadaver. Lucas turned around and suddenly felt a huge pain ran through his body and he went down to the ground. Before he fell into the darkness, he had seen a grey face and black eyes. Then…nothing.