Chapter 1: A Shocking Discovery

In the previous episode, Jake left everyone in suspense after a tense encounter of the second kind. To fully grasp the unfolding events, it's best to start from Episode 1.

War of the Worlds: Rebellion

3. Paul Pallaghy (2023)

A screenplay-ready novel.

Styled after the works of Michael Crichton.

Episode 4

“Just spill it,” Kurt urged, locking eyes with Jake, who was busy connecting his SD cards to a multi-adapter in their garage lab. Cassandra was prepared to echo his sentiment.

“Guys, I’ve seen the aliens.”

A moment of silence followed.

“Yikes... and what else?” Kurt asked, glancing at Cassandra, whose eyes were wide with anticipation.

“They don’t look human.”

“Whoa! What do they look like?” Cassandra exclaimed, her patience wearing thin.

“I’ll show you,” Jake replied confidently.

“I’m fairly certain the cameras were focused on the cockpit during the close pass. But the highest resolution images are stored here,” he explained while booting up the viewer, tapping his temple to emphasize that his firsthand observations would surpass any captured footage.

The video began to play.

“Come on, come on...” Jake fast-forwarded to the last moments. He paused on the clearest shot of the tripod cockpit, zooming in on a narrow slit of windows.

“Oh my God,” Cassandra gasped, covering her mouth in shock.

The image was detailed enough to reveal the upper bodies of three or four aliens, partially obscured, with broad, low, arching heads. The ‘chin’ of these beings was notably wide.

Jake advanced the footage, zooming in further. The aliens appeared to be engaged in various navigation, targeting, and walker operations.

“From that resolution, they’re definitely not Russian,” Kurt stumbled over his words.

“So, no surprises there. I suppose in films, we only see human-like aliens,” Cassandra speculated. “Yet, they do seem to have a humanoid structure in their upright posture.”

“Look here,” Kurt pointed to a clip Jake had on repeat, “that one clearly has two arm-like appendages.”

“Sure, the video was shaky, but through the binoculars, I glimpsed them at ten times that clarity for just a brief moment. That arched head seems to have two eyes, or at least eye sockets,” Jake continued.

“On Earth, I believe the evolution of dual eyes occurred independently in both insects and vertebrates,” Kurt recalled from his studies of terrestrial biology.

“I’m confident that’s true. It’s a case of convergent evolution,” Cassandra affirmed.

“When they turned their heads, I noticed that the top and sloping sides appeared to be armored, unless that’s some kind of helmet. I didn’t see any recognizable mouth above that broad chin,” Jake elaborated.

“Armored?” Kurt echoed, his voice tinged with disbelief.

The trio was left speechless.

“We need to share these discoveries,” Kurt declared, and both Jake and Cassandra nodded slowly in agreement. “We might be the first to uncover this information.”