PROLOGUE
The small black shape moved across the sky at unrecognised speed and stopped suddenly. Suspended in the empty sky it made no sound. The birds were quiet above and all around, but the human activity on the ground continued until a finger was raised and directed at this strange thing. It seemed lighter than air, though it looked heavy. It reflected the light of the afternoon sun, though it was shadowy. There it hung, above the building, and there it stayed long enough to be seen by several witnesses.
Speed and direct changes in course were common factors. Stealth movement at one end and low electro humming sounds at the other. Perfectly smooth, as though fashioned in one solid form, capable of floating like a dry leaf on the breeze while clearly metallic construction. The dark shadow of underside hull contrasted with glinting reflected light on sloping curves. These things appeared from nowhere but they seemed to be connected, and they were seen by many always in the early dusk hours before darkness veiled their presence entirely.
From Mediterranean enclaves to forested hinterlands and Argentine airspace, their brief but unforgettable appearances stoked fear and confusion. Some claimed encounters of mythical proportions, while others dared not believe their own senses.
Men of experience in the practical sciences that were most useful during the war were commissioned to leave their families behind and chase these phantoms across the traumatised European continent, Britain and into the wilderness of Central America. Men whose knowledge of propulsion and dynamics, whose limitations were known only to material capacity were summoned and driven deeper into the unknown. In earnest curiosity and sleuth they followed suspicious terrestrial trails led by witness accounts and vapours. Deeper still they dove into a labyrinthine descent, accented with paranoia and underlined by the distinct possibility of a very real deception. As the objects appeared and disappeared so too did the rules of the game change and that which was true became little more than rumour and foggy recollection. These are the visitations from which a new world would materialise.