[ WP ] Aliens have contacted Earth after picking up our broadcasts into space . Their first message is this : `` Shut your broadcasts down . Do not send any more messages into space . They will , and may have already , heard you . ''

20 years. Shaun had been playing that message for nearly 20 damn years. Whenever he had a break in the day, whenever he found his mind wandering, it was like he did n't even know he was doing it anymore. 
 
 He paused the media player, ending the loop. The message had come through in binary and been recorded by an agency voice artist. Even though he had never met him Shaun felt like he knew this man, that he had the answers he was looking for. He shook away this ridiculous thought and tried to concentrate on something else. No such luck. 
 
 Resigning himself to wasting yet another day on that message he pulled up the files on his laptop. Classified of course. He was one of about 12 people outside the military with access to the information in front of him and the only one at the European Space Agency. He saw it almost as a curse. He was of course thankful for the career he had. It afforded him and Eve a great lifestyle and was putting the kids through college with no pressure. On the other hand, knowing how seriously this message was being taken even today made him uneasy. 
 
 He loaded the maps of the believed location of the message. Hundreds of light years beyond any probe ever sent from Earth. He'd questioned thousands of times how this message was even sent to Earth as it would have had to have been sent millions of years before humanity even existed. Nobody at the agency or the military had ever been able to give even a half assed answer to that question. He knew full well today would be another day with no answer but still he pushed himself. 
 
 As he sat staring at a low-res image of a solar system a thousand lifetimes away he heard the gentle ping informing him he had recieved an email. Clicking on the prompt his eyes were immediately drawn to the signature at the bottom - On behalf of Allied Commander, Europe. Feeling his pulse quicken in his neck he scanned the text. 
 
 `` To all L3+ clearance personnel, 
 
 At 0223 26/08/16 NASA long range satellites scanned multiple unknown objects on the edge of our solar system. The objects have not tracked in any orbit but are stationary. Over 500,000 individual objects scanned at present. Images currently being processed, believed to be similar shape to our own space vessels. Information will be sent as urgent priority as and when available, 
 
 On behalf of Allied Commander, Europe'' 
 
 It had been years since anything had been discovered so close to Earth, Shaun knew that. Whatever this was, it should n't be there. He flicked the switch on the coffee maker and waited as it dribbled into his # 1 DAD mug the kids had bought him last Christmas. 
 
 Minutes felt like hours. About 90 minutes later a new email pinged. No text at all, just images. Excitedly he double tapped the first and zoomed in. At first he struggled to define anything. It all looked like rocks, grey and black and 
 
 SMASH! 
 
 The mug bounced off the tiled floor as his blood ran cold. The message became crystal clear in a heartbeat. It was never meant to reach Earth. It was meant to warn everyone else..
