It was October 17, 1968, a month after the Tet Offensive. Eugene “Hawkeye” Wesley the corporal of a very small reconnaissance team was told of a mysterious object that entered the space a day before. The collision of the object was visible from miles away. The movement of the object was tracked by an MPQ-4 radar which was performing a wide scan for howitzer cannons. The position of the object was collected and displayed on a b-scan.

In the event that it was a newly developed weapon by the Soviets, Wesley was sent with his team, Kevin “Junior” Nelson, John “Mack” Willis, Jackson “Pops” Harper, and three indigenous Vietnamese soldiers nicknamed “Huey”, “Dewey”, and “Louie”. Wesley met the two drivers who would provide transportation for the rest of his team. Wesley motioned his team through and one by one they hopped on the back of the gun truck. The two drivers took their seats in the cabin. When everyone got situated, he pounded the side of his fist against the truck to signal the drivers that they could go. The roar of the engine powered the behemoth of the truck forward. With that, they had left the little safety provided by the Nha Trang Air Force Base. Mack and the three Vietnamese soldiers sat on the left and Hawkeye, Pops, and Junior sat on the right. Mack trained his eyes on the forest scene that passed by them. Hawkeye turned his head to talk to Junior who was obviously shaking. 

“Don’t worry Junior after we're done with this you can bet we’ll be going home,” said Hawkeye. 

“And if we don’t make it?” asked Junior.

Hawkeye wanted to say something but he knew it wouldn’t help. He just placed his hand on Junior’s shoulder. Junior just gripped the rifle slung around his shoulder tighter. Pops kept his head down the whole time he knew there was something wrong but he just kept quiet. As soon as they had hopped on the truck they were off. They drove 5 miles down the Ho Chi Minh Trail, now they had to go on foot. Hawkeye was the first to stand up on the truck. He motioned everyone out. Huey faced Dewey and Louie yelled something out in Vietnamese and they hopped off. Mack stared at the Vietnamese soldiers intently then he looked back at Hawkeye. 

“I don’t trust them,” said Mack sternly.

“If we don’t take them we won’t know where to go,” said Hawkeye.

Mack turned away and under his breath, he muttered, “Something worse might happen if we do take them.” 

Hawkeye sighed and the rest of the team hopped off the truck. Dewey led them west into the forest and Hawkeye followed closely behind. Mack, Junior, Pops, and the last two Vietnamese soldiers followed him. It was a slow arduous journey. Vines covered their path and Dewey would have to use a machete to cut them away. Streams soaked their boots and Junior would complain whenever the sounds of critters would cover his noise from the Viet Cong. Hawkeye heard something. He looked back at his team worriedly. Everyone stopped in their tracks. Pops looked up at Hawkeye. Mack pointed his gun toward the dense forest. Junior looked around bewildered. After a few seconds, they moved forward gently to find a clearing in the woods. In the middle, the object they were searching for.

There it stood a long jet black rectangular prism pointing into the sky. There was no question that this was the object. The trees closest to it had their leafy tops mangled off like stair steps. The dirt was rippled with the initial impact, each ring made up of loose stone and chunks of uprooted grass. 

“Everybody stay back, we don't know what it is,” said Hawkeye, “All we need to do is bring back a couple of pictures.” 

Junior picked up the camera hanging around his neck and snapped one picture before turning to Hawkeye, “Do you want me to get them from all sides?” 

“Yeah if you…”

“I mean… like what the hell is this?” Mack interrupted while scratching the top of his forehead with his palm above and his fingers below. The full weight of the rifle lay on his extended decrepit left arm. His fingers gently placed near the trigger. 

“Who really cares once we’re done we're home,” cried Junior while taking another picture. 

“It’ll be good to go home,” said Pops, “When I got here I was young, full of life, now I’m an old man, got a grandkid, and hope to see em.” Pops took off the camo helmet he wore. In it was a creased-up picture of a crying brown baby with a few long strands of hair on its head. He looked at the photo before stretching the muscles on the side of his mouth and putting the photo in his breast pocket. Hawkeye glanced over at Pops with solemn eyes but then quickly put his focus back on the trees surrounding them. Huey, Dewey, and Louie stared at the black box for a little but then they looked back at each other to have a quiet conversation. Mack, unsatisfied with the answer to his question, began watching the Vietnamese soldiers. Then Mack got an idea. He began to approach the stark black monolith.

“Get away from that!” yelled Hawkeye. Junior who was still taking pictures backed away from the monolith. 

“What?” replied Mack in a condescending tone. Pops stood with his eyebrows scrunched. He had never seen such disregard for order. Mack got close enough to the monolith to firmly place his right hand on it. The black exterior of the monolith dissipated, revealing a crystal white luminescence. Horizontal lines began oscillating across and a circle of light traced itself on Mack who had been startled enough to fall to the ground. Junior brought up his rifle pointing it at the box. Hawkeye held his hands against an imaginary wall. Pops still stood in shock. The Vietnamese soldiers took cover behind a large fallen tree. Mack stifled his way back on his feet. His muscles stiffened and it seemed like he was wrestling with himself. His arms forcefully went to his side with his legs pointing him straight up. 

“You know they did this!” yelled Mack deliriously. He forced his left arm up with his rifle and held down the trigger. He turned his head with it and as he screamed to regain control he shot at the Vietnamese soldiers. His left arm randomly jolted back and in the sudden movement, he shot Junior.

“Hell!” screamed Hawkeye as he slung his rifle up to his face and took three shots to Mack’s chest. Mack’s blood sprayed across Pop’s face. In the confusion, Dewey, who noticed his friends were dead, began firing on the Americans. Hawkeye took cover behind the crystal and Pops couldn’t bring himself to move. Dewey jumped over the fallen tree and with his bayonet, he dug it in the back of Pops. Pops gave out a clear shriek as the burst of blood rushed out of the cavity in his chest. Hawkeye clenched his jaw as he fired into Pops and Dewey. His breathing turned sporadic and he stayed frozen behind the crystal. Hawkeye remained there for two hours. He brought his legs up and walked into the forest. Behind him, Mack’s dead body was still standing up like a puppet being controlled by the crystal. His cold gray hands making a knot out of vines.