Colonel Klaus Mederow of the United States Army looked through his telescope at the night sky. He felt a cold wind blow on his neck, and that alerted him that winter was on its way. But what he did not know was that something else, something more sinister was also on its way. Its path would inevitably meet with his, but this was all unknown to him. He had just left the army 2 months ago to pursue a career in the private sector. Home security systems had always intrigued him. When he was a child, a thief broke into his parents' home one night. They only had the warning of their dog that quickly, after two barks, ran away in fear. Klaus heard his father open his bedroom door and walk out into the hall. After a lot of shouting, the gun went off. The burglar ran out of the house, and Klaus opened his door to find his father lying on the ground, blood everywhere, and dead. The army had provided him with the sense of security that had always escaped him as a child. Now he was going to make sure that children everywhere would have that security that he had come to know. Klaus was only 35 years old. The army dubbed him some kind of Superman. He had an IQ of 162. He could benchpress well over 400 pounds of dead weight, and he was the fastest long-distance runner in his class at West Point. Promotions came easy for Klaus. He caught the eye of his superiors early and often. In the Gulf War, he captured 3 entire squads of Iraqi ground troops without losing a single American soldier. Klaus was not a huge man, but he was not small either. He stood 6'5" and weighed in at 240 lbs. The respect he commanded was deeply deserved. Growing up without his father and in a house of all girls was not easy. Luckily, he spent many hours with his Uncle Wolfgang. He taught Klaus about his German heritage and how his Grandfather Heinrich had escaped Germany during World War I and became a naturalized U.S. citizen. Wolfgang Mederow showed Klaus the ways of personal defense and taught him how to plan out strategies for whatever his goals were. That's probably why Klaus was the man he was today. The army had begged him to stay on for a few more years, if nothing else to lecture trainees about the day to day operation of the U.S. Army. But Klaus had his dreams.

"My how the stars seem to dance for you when you look at them long enough. That one seems to be breakdancing." Klaus watched the star move up and down and then zoom off into the blackness only to come back and continue hovering. He had seen these stars before, but he never told anyone of their existence. He knew that parts of the government had been studying these stars for years, and he knew that it was no concern of his. Or so he thought. Klaus continued to watch the dance, but after a few more minutes, he saw a second star close extremely fast on the first star, fire upon it with what looked like green lightning bolts, and then watched it explode in a huge fireball. This he had not seen before. The event he had just observed had happened hundreds of miles away from him, but it was still spectacular. "What the hell is going on up there?" Just then, the front doorbell rang, and Klaus put up his telescope and answered it. "Hello, may I help you gentlemen?" "Colonel Klaus Mederow?" "Yes, who is asking?" "You are hereby ordered to pack up your necessities and come with us." "Oh really? On who's authority?" The one word reply that he had never heard of before: "X-Com."

Area 51 appeared to be deserted to the naked eye. Sure, over the years, certain FBI agents had tried to infiltrate the base, but they were unsuccessful. Even a movie had been made that showed a lot of what Area 51 was, but that, after all, was just fiction. The surface was nothing more than abandoned warehouses and bunkers. It looked like it hadn't been used for decades. But what was below the surface was there for a good reason. If nosy humans couldn't find anything of interest above the ground, then the aliens couldn't find them either, or could they?

"Colonel Mederow, you have been selected by CO X-Com to be informed of all operations to date and to take command of Beta base in Europe after debriefing." Mederow looked at the gentleman dressed in the black suit and had nothing to say. "Colonel, if you would follow Captain Evans, I believe that he will take you to your quarters. "Sure, why not?" Klaus followed the Captain down the long hallway. He looked back at the dark night outside just before the doors of the elevator close and wondered if he had seen the sky for the last time. The ride began. "Captain, where exactly are we going?" "Sir, I am not at liberty to answer any of your questions." "Son, I outrank you. I could make it a direct order." "Colonel Mederow, you don't outrank anyone yet." Mederow looked at the young Captain Evans and thought to himself about what that last statement really meant. The ride ended. Deep inside the Earth, Mederow stepped out of the elevator. "Colonel, this way please." He followed Evans until they arrived at a door, which above it said: "Living Quarters". "Please go inside, and get some rest. Tomorrow morning, someone will come for you." "Ok, do I get a teddy bear?" The Captain smirked and left. Mederow proceeded in and found some young men and women playing Ping-Pong, listening to CDs, and watching TV. "Uhhh, hello everyone. Is this Hell?" "No Sir! This is living quarters #1. Your bunk has been designated. Please unpack your belongings, and have a good night's sleep." "So I just take a snooze, and when I wake up, I'll be back home, and this will be just some kind of bad dream?" He got no answer to that. He took the young man's advice and surprisingly got to sleep rather easily. That night he dreamed of the explosion he saw in the sky and what could have been aboard that star. What his mind conjured up wasn't far from the truth.