Chapter Text
Prologue
Nevada, circa 1951.
On a rural desert road in southern Nevada, a 1949 Chevrolet 3100 cruised to the tune of Les Paul and Mary Ford’s ‘How High the Moon.’ Behind the wheel of the Chevy was the cheery Bobby Wright, an 18-year-old mechanic in the small, humble town of Rachel. He had just gotten off work that Friday night and was right on his way to see his sweetheart, Betty Weaver, at the local diner. Nothing could bring him down or wipe away the smile he had on his face since the moment he left Pat’s Repair Shop.
That was before his radio suddenly dropped into static – no longer was he able to hear the soothing, swinging voices of Les and Mary.
“What the hey...?” he muttered in confusion.
It only got stranger when his engine suddenly died, slowing his Chevy down to a complete stop there in the middle of State Route 375.
Now Bobby’s cheery smile and demeanor were gone.
He allowed himself time to shout out several expletives – words he would never say in front of Betty, his mother, or any other member of the fairer sex – before he got out to check under the hood and investigate the issue. Thankfully, he kept his tools in the truck bed for such an unfortunate circumstance. The merits of being a 24/7 working mechanic.
It was the strangest thing: there were zero signs of any damage to the engine.
The darn thing was still practically brand new, despite being a few years old.
As Bobby mulled it over with the scratch of his head, something brighter than the sun shone over his head. He looked up in curiosity, suspecting that it might have been some sort of aircraft. Too low to be a plane. Could it have been one of those new crafts? A ‘heely-copter’ or whatever it’s called?
The oddest part about it was that he didn’t even hear the thing pass over.
None of it mattered. He needed to get his Chevy running again to make it in time for his date.
If only he could figure out how to get it running again.
But then the overhead light returned...and this time it stayed shining right specifically on Bobby and his Chevy. Looking up with a hand outstretched to block the mysterious gleam, through his fingertips, he was able to make out a circular, metallic shape floating more than twenty feet in the air.
Bobby was struck with awe and fear.
He had heard the stories from the local farmers...about the UFOs that would come and steal their livestock. Up until then, he figured they were all ghost stories to spook the cow tippers.
Whatever was flying above him that very second was anything but a story.
It was a real, honest-to-God UFO.
Frightened, he attempted to run but was suddenly paralyzed...not by fear, but by some strange invisible force that held him in place long enough to lift him off the ground and straight up to board the UFO.
All he could think in those unsettling seconds was how disappointed Betty was going to be.
