Thank you for taking the time to look at my story.  This is unedited and part of the NaNoWriMo project. I am a new writer, working on my first novel.  I hope that you find my writing enjoyable to read and if you don't, then I hope to get better in the future!  

Chapter 1

Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Near Ouray, Colorado

A deafening sonic boom sounded, weakening Sophia’s knees enough to drop her to the floor. She threw her hands to her ears as the first one crashed through the atmosphere, then it happened again.

    The figurines that she had carefully displayed earlier this week came crashing down from the shelves in the dining room. The house shook, knocking over and shattering glass on photos. It sounded like an explosion had shattered every piece in a window warehouse.

    Charlie, her black and gray striped cat, stood wide-eyed and frozen. His claws dug into the carpet for support or out of fear, probably both.

    Kurtis, her husband of less than a month,  yelled to her from the other room.  She was instantly relieved at hearing his voice, but she couldn’t understand what he was saying through her muffled ears.  She yelled back, “I’m okay!” hoping that would suffice for the moment.

    The shaking stopped and Sophia bent forward, laying her head on the carpet.  She tried to steady herself as she heard Kurtis rush into the room.  He placed his hand on the back of her hair, stroking it lightly.

    Sophia lifted her head and sat up, taking Kurtis’ hand in hers, “What just happened, meteorite?” as she spoke the tears started flowing and her voice broke slightly.

    Kurtis shook his head, “I don’t know, baby. Lets see if the cable is still working.” He leaned forward and kissed Sophia’s forehead before getting up to flip on the television.  

Charlie quickly took Kurtis’ spot next to Sophia, purring and rubbing against her until she picked him up and brought him up to her face, nuzzling his soft fur. She heard the television click to life. She watched as Kurtis flipped through several stations, finding nothing but snow and static.  Finally, he found one of the cable news stations out of Ridgway, the only other town in Ouray county, was on the air.  Sophia gathered Charlie against her chest and stood, walking over to stand next to Kurtis in front of the television.

“Reports are still coming in about the apparent sonic boom and earthquake that happened just moments ago.” The reporter was standing in front of what looked like the San Juan mountains with a large plume of smoke drifting up through the trees. “We have a helicopter on the way to look for a crash site. We hope to have information for you all shortly.  Please stay tuned for any breaking news.”

Sophia set Charlie down, despite his mewing protests and walked over to the window.  The sun blazed through the gap in the mountains, the bright rays striking the colored leaves. The light from the sun against the leaves gave the entire area a golden hue. It seemed as if the air itself was sparkling. Glancing further out, beyond the trees, Sophia saw the smoke coming from between the mountain peaks. “Kurtis, look.” she pointed towards the smoke outside as he walked over to her from across the room. They both stood silently for a moment, taking in the frightening, yet majestic view outside of their front window.

Kurtis’ cell phone started ringing and he sighed deeply.  Sophia just nodded without looking away from the window as he left her side to take the call. She already knew it would be his employers calling about whatever it was that just crashed to Earth.

Kurtis was 25, tall and thin with short dark hair;  a bit geeky, as one might say. He graduated last year from the University of Colorado, Boulder with a degree in Aerospace engineering: Astronautics. He still worked with the university through a small company placed on the outskirts of Ouray, CO.

This company was little known and just outside of the small town.  Once a month, more often if needed, the university would send down a couple of its top students, the ones that they felt would likely stay affiliated with the school. They would check out the non-classified areas of the research facility and talk with the former graduates. Kurtis was one of their top new designers of ships tagged for future deep space travel.

Kurtis walked back into the room with his phone still to his ear.  “Yes, I understand. We’re on the way.” He touched the phone screen and looked back up at Sophia. “Get a bag packed and supplies for Charlie, I have to be at the facility and I’m not leaving you here.”

Sophia set Charlie down and hurried into the bedroom, she headed for their walk-in closet and grabbed two overnight bags, hoping this would be enough for her and Kurtis.  

Sophia was a petite, yet curvy woman, only 5’2, with wavy auburn hair that slide just past her shoulder blades. She was still working on her degree in Psychology, but this semester, she was taking classes online while she worked at the small grocery store down the road from the research facility that Kurtis worked at.  She and Kurtis have known each other since high school, both of their families lived in the Colorado Springs area.  

She grabbed several T-shirts and two pairs of jeans for each of them, along with a couple of nicer outfits in case the occasion arose that they had to meet with someone. She neatly packed the items away and then grabbed a couple of paperbacks, a notebook, a few pens and her laptop.  She knew there were small overnighter rooms as well as showers and kitchens at the facility, she hoped there were supplies as well, but she grabbed one of the small travel shampoos she had tucked away just in case.

Kurtis walked into the bedroom and tossed some folders and paperwork into his bag. “Thanks for packing mine as well, we shouldn’t be gone too long, but hopefully if we are, we can always come back here for supplies.” He went over to her and kissed her forehead. “Are you ready?”

Sophia shook her head, “Not quite, I need to get some things ready for Charlie, but it will only take a couple of minutes.” She went into the other room to gather her cat supplies before they headed out.

Driving down the main road that headed towards the closest city limits, there were several men walking.  This seemed odd, there was nothing except mountain forests with a few scattered homes for miles in this direction.  Kurtis pulled off to the side of the road and put his window down to talk to one of them.
    The young man closest to him looked to be around 25 years old.  Kurtis pegged him as military with his buzzed hair, though most likely in the reserves since he was dressed in civilian clothes.  He was clean cut and walked with a military style confidence. He walked to the car when Kurtis waved him over and squatted down.
    Before Kurtis said a word, the young man started talking. “Man, I saw it, but it ain’t no meteorite like some are saying, it looked like a bullet.  It went right into the mountain and then all the smoke or dust or whatever that was started and we couldn’t see anything else.  There wasn’t any explosion, though, I don’t think it blew up.”
    Kurtis looked over at Sophia’s wide-eyed expression and back at the young man. “Where are you heading? There’s not really any place to go out here, especially on foot.”
    The young man stood up and pointed down the road, “My uncle lives up there a couple of miles. I don’t really want him staying alone right now.. Hell, I don’t even know if he has a clue that anything happened.”
    Sophia scoffed a little, “That was pretty loud to not realize that something happened.”
    The young man nodded in agreement. “True enough, I suppose. I’ll be up there regardless. If you find yourselves in need of assistance, come let me know.” He held his hand out to Kurtis,  “Name’s Todd and you’ll find my Uncle’s place down Old Bear road, though it’s more of a path through the trees than a road but it’s the only place up there.”
    Kurtis took the offered hand and gave a friendly shake. “I’ll keep you in mind, Todd. Careful up there.” He pushed the button to close the car window and pulled back onto the road.
    Todd began walking, then turned around to make sure Kurtis and Sophia’s car was out of sight.  He stepped off the road into the trees, touched his wrist and nodded slightly then disappeared.
    Sophia gave a heavy sigh and put her head back on the headrest. She stroked Charlie, who was quietly lying across her lap. “What do you think is going on?” She asked softly.
    “I don’t know, I guess once we get to the facility, we’ll find out more.  I’ll show you where the room is and then go see George.” he said without taking his eyes off of the road and traffic.
Sophia nodded, she remembered meeting George just once, he had actually come to the house to pick Kurtis up when she and Kurtis had first moved in together. He was a pleasant enough man. He was plump and loud, but seemed like a friendly and intelligent boss.
Kurtis took as many back roads as possible to avoid the worst of the traffic on highway 550, but people were afraid, nearly every paved road in the entire area was crawling with nervous travelers heading out of town.  As they got closer to city limits the chaos actually became more manageable.  
He took the sharp right  that leads up into the mountains and towards the research facility, away from the city again.  Not entirely surprising, this road was completely deserted.  
As they got closer, they could see the flurry of activity outside of the building.  Several men were hauling equipment out and loading it onto several full size pick-up trucks that they had for company use.  Kurtis waved and kept driving, around to the back of the building where the dorms were.      
Kurtis parked the car and got out, he dug in his jean pocket and pulled out a key, then grabbed his and Sophia’s bag from the back seat.              
Sophia reached back to grab Charlie’s carrier and gently put him inside of it before grabbing his supplies and getting out to follow Kurtis up to the dorm they were to stay in. As she walked towards the door, she looked around, noting several other personal vehicles and a couple of other families unloading.  She felt her chest tighten, the anxiety setting in finally.  Just a few hours ago, she had been doing housework, thinking about what to make for supper tonight, hardly a care in the world and now, she had no idea when or if, she would ever go back to that place again.
Kurtis opened the door and walked in to set the bags down. He turned around and saw Sophia’s face, knowing that she was about to have a panic attack. He rushed over to her and took Charlie’s carrier, setting it down in the entryway before pulling Sophia into his arms. “You’re okay baby, we’re both okay. This place is safe, there’s lots of security and safety features, all over the campus.”
Sophia nodded and tried to catch her breath. She closed her eyes and just listened to Kurtis’ heart beat against her ears. The sound of his heart and his warmth soothed her enough to settle her nerves for the moment.
Kurtis kept his arm around Sophia as he bent over to pick up a loud mewing Charlie.  They walked into the sparsely furnished room and sat down on the small sofa. “I hate to do this, but I really have to go meet with George.  I’ll have my cell phone on but just use texts, I have no idea what we’ll be doing, but I’ll let you know as much as I can.” He pulled her close and kissed her gently before standing up and heading out of the room.
Sophia stood up and walked around the room, there wasn’t much to see.  A dresser that doubled as a television stand. On that was a flat screen television which looked like it’d never been used, or dusted for that matter. She opened the drawers and saw that there were several clear packages. There were supplies of coffee, tea, creamer, sugar and other types of dried spices and herbs. The other drawers under that were empty, so she opened up their bags and put their clothing inside.  “Might as well make the best of it and not live out of bags.” She said as Charlie rubbed and weaved between her ankles.

After unpacking most of their clothing, she fed Charlie and stood at the window. There was a good deal of activity.  Men in dark blue uniforms pushing carts with more equipment over to the line of  trucks they’d seen when they pulled in.  She was able to look closer though now.  

    It seems to be a lot of scaffolding, as if they were going to need to mount something up very high. There was also what appeared to be large microphones and several audio control units heading past her. Much more disturbingly, she saw men carrying large weapons. Her breath caught as she considered the possibility that Kurtis would have to go with them and the potential of having something after them that would require such weapons.
She picked up her cell and pulled up Kurtis’ name, texting him a message:

‘I just saw a bunch of men
with large weapons
headed to the trucks!
What’s going on? Do you have to go?’

She paced her room waiting on him to reply, even though she was sure that his reply would be frustratingly vague.  Her phone chimed with a reply text:

‘I’m not sure yet if I’m going anywhere.
It looks like whatever landed, did so
Basically, in the center San Juan National Forest.
This is going to be difficult.’

    Sophia grabbed one of her books and laid down on the bed, hoping that reading would calm her nerves and occupy her mind until Kurtis returned. Charlie leaped up and curled his furry body beside her, purring contentedly.  After only a few moments, Sophia found herself drifting off to sleep.    

 She walked down a sun-filled path in the forest, small wildlife all around chattering happily. Rays of sunlight beamed through small openings in the beautiful, golden-hued trees. She kept walking, not really caring where she was going. It felt happy and peaceful here, as if there were some sort of shield that would keep everything bad in the world out. All that was left here was serenity.  
In the midst of walking along the path she noticed that she had acquired a companion.  A large, black spider was moving from tree to tree along the path she was walking.  In its trail it left a series of complex webs, she stared at the webs and marvelled at how quickly the spider had created something so complicated and beautiful. Normally a spider would have been frightening to her, but when looking upon this creature, in this place, she felt safe.  She stepped over to the tree where it had stopped and placed a finger gently on her new friend.  She jerked her finger quickly and began to stumble back. It felt as though a mild electrical current traveled from the creature to her hand. It wasn’t painful, but she could feel it jolting every nerve in her mind and body.
When she looked back at the spider, its eyes were changing colors, not just single colors, but an array of colors that looked like some kind of design. She tried to move closer to it again, but it scurried off into the forest.

 Sophia woke up with a tear rolling down her cheek; she noticed it was dark outside now, even though she felt like she had only just drifted off for a moment.  It took her a moment to remember where she was and to shake off the strange dream. In the bathroom, she heard the shower running. Kurtis! She jumped out of the bed and went to the bathroom door, calling his name.
“Come in, sweetheart!” Kurtis had just gotten into the shower and was afraid he had woken her up. It was late and he needed to clean up and just crawl in bed next to his wife, not thinking about everything for a few hours.
Sophia opened the door and stepped into the room, it was quickly steaming up so she turned on the vent fan. “How are you, how did today go?” She quietly started to strip her jeans and shirt off as she spoke.
Kurtis sighed deeply, “I think I need a few minutes to decompress before rehashing everything, if that’s okay.” He didn’t want to upset her, but he couldn’t make himself do anything but try to relax right now.
Sophia pulled the shower curtain open a bit, “Want company?” She smiled as she stepped into the hot shower behind Kurtis. He made a soft moaning sound as she slipped her arms around his waist and held him tightly against her. She pressed her lips against his wet skin, enjoying the feel and scent of his body.         
Kurtis slid his hands onto her arms and rubbed them slowly as he leaned into her lips. “Best idea that anyone has had all day.” He brought her fingers to his lips and kissed them before turning to face her. His hands moved to cup her face, tilting it upwards to receive his lips.
They kissed slowly at first, letting go of the tension of the day gradually. Kurtis slid his hands down from Sophia’s face, lingering briefly on her neck before letting them travel along her moist body. Her skin felt cool as the shower head had only sent a light mist of water from over his shoulder. He opened his eyes and broke the kiss while he watched his hands move to her aroused breasts and then further, letting his fingers bring complete pleasure to her body.
“Kurtis,” Sophia whispered his name as she gripped his shoulders. Her knees felt weak as a pleasure moved through her like she’d never felt before. She had been with her husband many times, but never had her body felt like this. She pulled him closer to her, taking his mouth with her own once again. As they kissed she lifted herself up to wrap her legs around his waist.
Kurtis moaned against her mouth as he cupped her behind with his palm, holding her against his body as he slid himself inside of her. His other hand pressed against the shower wall. Never had he felt such complete abandon in her, this was a passion that seemed to take control of both of them.