The Atacama Aliens

In 2003, in the Atacama Desert in Chile, near an abandoned church of a ghost town, the preserved skeleton of a 6-inch humanoid was found. Adorned with an abnormally large skull, conclusions were drawn that the creature was of an alien race. Of course, panels of “experts” dismissed this as a hoax or phenomenon of easily explainable scientific origins … No one spoke a word for several seconds. The pair traded glances at the computer screen, at each other, even at the speakers unconsciously pantomiming a look at Winston. His almost murmured voice coming across the speakers broke the silence, once again. “There’s more,” he announced eerily. “In analyzing the area, I zoomed in pretty close, trying to hone in on the most subtle of celestial signatures; scans got pretty minute and I inadvertently started picking something else up. Something I never expected.” Elex couldn’t resist. “That doesn’t say much, Winston; you guys don’t seem to expect anything.” Vasco ignored Elex’s comment. “We’re all ears, Winston. Dispense with theatrics and teasers; what did you find?” Even from across the world, the difficulty with which Winston was forming his next sentence was palpable. “I found, what appear to be, very small demons … infiltrators … celestial hosts the size of rodents. They’re present in considerable number in most of the areas I scanned. They’re everywhere, guys.” A plume of smoke escaped through Elex’s mouth and nostrils as he slowly turned back toward the speakers. “What do you mean by ‘everywhere’, Winston? Where’s everywhere?” A rustling from across the room got Elex’s attention. It was noises and sounds of shuffling he’d been hearing consistently and had been perfectly content to dismiss them as mice or the like. Now armed with the information of the last few seconds, they meant something very different.