[ WP ] You 're a scientist working for the government . You encounter a secret spaceship that the government hid away . You 're informed that no one knows how to take it apart or even open it . You touch the door of the spaceship , and suddenly it opens .

Secret door, dark door. What had I stumbled upon? Working long days like a cigarette burning in an ashtray left unattended. After all the trials our team faced unearthing that mysterious craft, my curiosity had begun turning to frustration. It was a strange time for myself when Dr. Vasques approached me about a `` strange little secret'' five weeks before. `` I think you'll be most intrigued,'' he said, smiling that crooked, sarcastic smile. I knew he hid worry underneath; he was the only real friend I had in this gawdy facility. 
 
 Divorce, booze and smoke kept me up on late nights while I used my office space as an apartment. It had begun feeling more like a prison at that point, one with a sleeping bag instead of a cot. That part of my life felt like it would never change, even after I entered the balcony room overlooking the sterile garage. The big pane of glass wobbling a bit as the door closed behind Vasques and I. 
 
 `` So, what is it?'' I asked, approaching the two men nose deep in their computer terminals. Little knobs and dials peppered their control board. One stood and looked me over. 
 
 `` A couple farmers in Eastern Washington found this and dug it up, thinking it was some sort of buried treasure or something.'' He motioned to the garage below. 
 
 There sat a strange triangular ship sitting atop five steel legs. It looked as though it had been a polished metal at one point in time, but that was certainly a thing of its past. The side had been crumpled in a bit from impact and the whole craft was still covered in chunks of dirt, moss, scratches, dents, char spots. A crew of five walked about taking photos and meticulously pulling strings of gunk out of the dents and cracks. The vessel itself was big enough you could swim in it if it did n't have a roof. There were no windows or doors I could make out from up there. 
 
 Vasques piped up. `` We contacted some high level military officers and asked about this, and it did n't match any projects the Air Force is experimenting with, secret or otherwise.'' 
 
 `` They found their buried treasure, then.'' I was itching for a snifter of Knobb Creek. 
 
 `` Any other news, Matthews?'' Vasques looked inquisitively at the man. 
 
 Matthews thought for a moment, then sat back in his chair. `` Well, we've only had it in our care for about two hours now, and the crew downstairs just got in to take a look at the thing.'' He flipped through some emails on his terminal and stopped at one in particular. `` You may want to look at this, though, Dr. Barchard.'' 
 
 I stood behind Matthews' chair and gandered at his terminal. 
 SENDER: CHARLES FELDMANN 
 TO: MATTHEWS.DARRELL @ PROJECTMGT.GOV 
 DARRELL, PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT THE CHAIRMAN IS REQUESTING THE ASSISTANCE OF DRS. VASQUES AND BARCHARD ON YOUR NEWEST REQUISITION. WE AWAIT WITH EAGER EARS REAGARDING YOUR INITIAL FINDINGS. REMEMBER TO LOG EVERY DETAIL. REGARDS, CHARLES 
 
 `` Shit,'' Vasques murmured, then turned to me. I met his worried stare, though he looked right through me. `` This is serious.'' His face looked like he just walked into the clinic to get snipped. 
 
 Feldmann only ever asked for my help one other time. Vasques and I ended up in Egypt looking through stacks of dug up papyrus working with a couple strange guys who decrypted forgotten languages. Vasques was hilariously miserable in the heat despite his complexion. 
 
 `` Maybe we'll get to sip on some more of that Sauvignon Blanc, eh, Manny?'' I wandered to the nearest chair I could find, sitting with a heavy sigh. `` I need a drink.'' 
 
 -- - 
 
 `` Are you ready?'' Vasques had his hands jammed in the pockets of his lab coat. Maybe I was n't the only one with gin on his breath in the room that morning. 
 
 `` Never leave the house without my pen and paper,'' I said snidely. 
 
 `` Take this a little more seriously, please?'' 
 
 `` Let's just do this, man, this fuckin' thing gives me chills.'' I pulled my beard from cheeks to chin. 
 
 It had been three weeks and I had barely stepped foot outside. My legs had surely lost muscle mass and my eyes felt like they were going to swell out of my skull. Each night was a bender, trying to figure out my dented ship, my dented life. There were no real breakthroughs in either department. Just going through the motions, trudging through quicksand and hoping I could stop myself from sinking long enough to see the sunrise. 
 
 The cleanup crew did a bang-up job repolishing the ship in the garage, though Vasques found a way to complain about how long it took them finish. One of the crew approached us, breaking from their little huddle twenty feet away. 
 
 `` Sir.'' He stepped between us and the vessel. 
 
 `` What can we do you for, kid?'' I asked. 
 
 `` Well, we found what appears to be a possible entry, but it's the strangest thing...'' He trailed off, looking at his clipboard. He ran one of his hands over his sharp jawline, whiteknuckling his own mouth into a distressed pucker. 
 
 `` Well? Spit it out, kid.'' 
 
 He leered at me. `` Well, the alloy this thing is made of is... inhumanly strong. Its resistance ot heat and pressure is astounding and there does n't seem to be any intuitive way to open the hatch.'' 
 
 `` Well, c'mon, this is show and tell - so let's get to the showing part.'' I crossed my arms and looked at him demanding. Clearly annoyed, he obliged. 
 
 We looked the craft over quickly enough with no findings, though there was a clear line of separation in the metal that could very well have been some sort of door on the bottom. 
 
 `` You've tried everything you could to open this, then, huh?'' Vasques inquired. 
 
 `` Sure have, sir,'' the kid replied, `` and we also noticed that the turbines on the back are emitting a strange radiation - similar to solar, but it's very weak. It's not unsafe to be near, but precautions are never a bad idea.'' 
 
 `` That's why I do n't have any kids,'' I chortled, amusing only myself. `` You've been helpful, kid. Nothing further.'' 
 
 Vasques and I took the next few hours poking and prodding around the hopeful hatch and thrusters, trusting they would n't explode in our faces as we peered as far into the ship as we could. 
 
 The ship and its hatch remained a mystery. 
 
 -- - 
 
 My phone woke me from my drunken slumber. It was producing an odd belching noise. Secret door, dark door. The words invaded my mind. I could still feel the sway of liquor pressing my chest to the carpet. I did n't even make it to my sleeping bag the night before. I wiped the snooze from my eyes and propped myself on my elbows, looking for my phone. It glowed from the other side of the room. Maybe it was Carrie? The fuck could that witch want? Slowly, hesitantly, my legs took me from the floor to the other side of the room. I fumbled and stumbled and finally found my phone in my hands. I turned the screen on and the display read only one thing: Secret door, dark door. 
 
 I felt instantly sober. Nothing swirled inside me, and the air in my office settled and seemed almost quieter. I sat in a moment of silence, reading those words over and over. I stood and grabbed a cigarette off my desk and lit it as I sat in my chair. My phone almost set itself on the desk and quietly turned off. I pulled the lever on my banker's lamp and glanced at the clock above the door. Both hands sat on the 4. 
 
 My legs carried me slowly out of my office, a bottle and a cigarette in hand. My stomach began to stir again. It felt like my eyes were closed as I navigated the facility. I arrived at the garage and felt a slow burning from the front of my brain to the back. I felt strangely calm for the first time in months. I watched as my hand held my ID card up to the reader by the door. A quiet beep overhead granted me access like it was patting me on the back. I took a pull off my bottle. The door slid aside and let my legs through, the rest of me neatly stacked on top like a waiter carrying a stack of plates. 
 
 `` Secret door, dark door.'' 
 
 It was as though I were floating into the garage, and as soon as I entered alone, I noticed a low glow radiating from the darkness. The hatch. Was it a blue light? Green? Red? I could n't tell. My eyes were fixated on it, and I could n't budge my head from its imposition toward the ship. The door, without a sound, slowly opened underneath the legs holding everything up. A ramp slowly ejected from the back of the irradiated door. I slowly approached. There was a feeling of serenity that came over me as I grew closer to the machine before me, though only a machine in aesthetic. I felt myself consciously regaining control over my own body again. Each step felt more and more like me. Each sip felt more and more like me. 
 
 I was at the ramp, that had touched down without a sound. I dropped my smoke. Stepped onto the ramp. White noise began filling my ears, softly at first. I tried to peer into the ship as I took my next step, but the light felt more like a fog from there. 
 
 `` Have I been here before?'' I asked aloud, as if someone with all the answers were waiting at the top of the ramp. 
 
 Another step. Another sip. 
 
 Soon, I was at the top of the ramp. I could hear someone speaking my name, `` John!'' though it felt so far away. `` John!'' 
 
 Slowly at first, but then pronounced and quickly, my body felt like a swirling storm. Every breath was a gust of wind. Every heartbeat was an earthquake. My legs were trees, and my whiskey was a river falling into my stomach pond. 
 
 John! 
 
 The storm was gone. I was back in the garage, the lights just starting to flicker on. I turned around and saw Manuel Vasques, my first and only friend in this God-forsaken facility. His face was twisted into a terrified frenzy. He sprinted toward me. 
 
 As soon as he neared the ramp, the ship sucked it back into itself like a spaghetti noodle. And I was the meatball. I had one last look at Manny before the hatch slammed shut with a terrible crashing noise. Everything was dark, and I was blind as night. A low rumbling noise came from behind me, then a whirring of an engine. I heard Manny beating on the hatch door, then I did n't. 
 
 Secret door, dark door. What had I stumbled upon? I took another pull off my bottle.
