THE MOMENT
The night was flooded with brilliant cold light around the emergency perimeter. Armed soldiers stood on watch towers that were erected quickly, and the Commander waited, surrounded by his most trusted men. They were out there for a top-secret purpose that had been in the works for months. Extraterrestrials contacted Earth, and the United States government specifically. Their smartest men had been unable to determine the source of the signal, but they shared technological information that had yet to be discovered as proof. Finally, after numerous exchanges, they were ready to meet.
In all that time, they never revealed anything about their physiology, and there was a betting pool amongst the soldiers about what they might look like. Finally, at the appointed moment, an electrical hum filled the air, and it seemed to be glowing closer. Despite the abundance of light, no one noticed it until it glided into the designated markings. It was a small, spherical ship made of black and blue electrical parts. The perimeter was large as a football field, but the sphere took up less than half of it as it landed gently on the ground. There was no thud of machinery, nor landing gear. The ball simply touched the ground and remained there.
"Gentlemen," the Commander nodded and began walking forward to receive their guests with his men following. Commander Greyson was barely keeping it together. He was ecstatic that he was the one chosen for the job, and all that excitement was making it difficult to keep calm. He didn't care what they looked like, he'd already imagined all sorts of things. Intentionally invoking grotesque creatures just to build his tolerance; it wouldn't do to flinch at the sight of an insect's face, or worse. He even bet on 'insectoids' in the pool; it was the current favorite.
They stopped at the edge of the perimeter, in front of the tall sphere. Suddenly, a panel sank inward, then lifted out of the way to reveal blue light spilling out of the interior, and they began to walk out. Commander Greyson grit his teeth at the sight; he was trying to keep from 'squeeing' like the fanboy he was. Aliens were REAL! And with humanoid proportions. Five of them climbed down the ramp in single file, and each of them had two arms and two legs. They wore electric blue metallic armor with black accents and helmets hiding their faces. He hadn't lost yet, but they certainly didn't have six limbs.
The first one stopped in front of the Commander, and the other four lined up two on each side to match the Commander's formation. One of them was taller than everyone else there, slightly over 8 feet, was Greyson's guess. The rest of them were all normal height and slightly shorter than his men.
The visitor lifted their hands to raise their helmet, but the Commander noticed five fingers on each hand first, then, a mature woman with silver-white hair and stern purple eyes met the Commander's gaze as she lowered her helmet to her side.
"My name is Captain Marina Stormhold," she smiled. "I represent the United States of an alternate Earth. Surprise," she added with a playful wink. "Did anyone guess humans?" she asked.
"What?" They weren't insectoids at all. His hopes were dashed, and the sudden question confused him further. Did they know about the betting? And why? Except, right after he wondered that, he suddenly felt calm and at peace, more than ever before.
"DID ANY OF YOU BET ON HUMANS!?" She raised her voice to ask everyone present, and it carried.
"Wait.. are you really asking that? Does it matter?"
"It does," Marina nodded. "We're soldiers too, we know what it's like," she added. "Did anyone guess that humans would be the ones stepping out?"
"No," Commander Greyson shook his head. "Nobody did." He let her take in that answer for a moment, and he intended to continue, but he was surprised when the two humanoids at each end broke off and headed back to the ship, followed by the second pair.
"Thank you for your time, and good luck," Marina nodded with a smile and turned to leave.
"Wait!" Greyson called. "Are you leaving? Why??"
"Not one person imagined that we might be human," she shrugged. "You're not ready to join us."
"What sense does that make?" Greyson asked. "You didn't tell us anything about you! How were we to know?"
"Well, you weren't supposed to 'know'," she smiled. "But, a guess doesn't require 'knowing' anything. And, it all makes perfect sense...," she added as she reached the ramp back up to her ship. The other four had already made it inside. "...according to the rules we're using. Don't worry, though. None of that concerns any of you."