Far away, in one of those rooms Minji would never see, the President’s cabinet assembled. Among them stood General Jameson Keyes of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“We should just blow ’em out of the sky! That’ll show ’em,” said Secretary Burton, grinning like an idiot.

Keyes turned red. “And start not just an international incident, but an interplanetary war? How stupid are you?”

“What should we do? Have the President hold hands and sing?”

“Boys,” said Secretary of State Gwen Stevens, pointing at the screen as she pushed up her glasses, “somebody beat y’all to it.”

On one screen, Park Ranger Minji Yun was all smiles, shaking hands with four very photogenic cat aliens. 

On another, a news network had misidentified her as Ranger Young and assigned nicknames to the Felivar:

Warrior Dad, Sunglasses, Little Brother, and Cat Pope.

“Look!” Burton barked, jabbing a finger at the monitor. “They’re coming out! We’re being invaded!”

Movement from the right-hand ship. A new group emerged; dressed in cleaner, less ornate robes than the High Priest currently clasping Minji’s hand.

From the left craft came Felivar cubs; wide-eyed, big-eared, clinging to parents who carried even more children.

“Children and clergy. Oh no,” Stevens drawled. “The lines at the buffet will be so long…”

“Oh hush, Gwen,” Burton snapped.

They kept watching.

Minji. The Felivar. The incident with Officer Hill.

“That little one mauled that cop!” Burton shouted. “It’s a trap!“

“He scared that baby,” Gwen cut in, “besides, have you never had kittens? They got razors in those mittens from birth.”

She tried to smile, but her irritation made it look more like she was baring her teeth. Then the news cameras caught the moment when the cub’s ear scraped against the tree and began to bleed.

“There’s our first incident…” Gwen sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Do we have anyone? Anyone with contact to the boots on the ground?”

“Robinson was already in the city and is en route.” General Keyes watched the monitors as Secretary Stevens pulled out her phone, “and to be fair, the first incident was all the sonic booms they caused blowing out the windows of several skyscrapers in the Big Apple. Lots of people looking like they got mauled by a kitten today.”

An aide rushed in. “The President’s on the phone with the Mayor of New York, wants to know if they’ve attacked or come in peace.”

“Yes!” Burton barked.

The aide blinked. “…Come in peace? Okay!” And disappeared.

“What? No! Attacked! AGH!” Burton spun as Keyes grabbed his shoulder.

“Let me tell you something,” Keyes growled. “If I were going to invade a country, I’d start by cutting off the head. Wipe out the capital. Hit hard with artillery. Now then, I would also have to simultaneously do the same to all their allies to create disorder. Nowhere else has gotten reports of those things, they’ve all played follow the leader.” Only then would I send troops,” he pointed at the screen, “and they wouldn’t look like that.”

He pointed at the screen. “That one’s missing an arm. That one an eye. That one’s still burned. They’re fresh from the medic.“

A new voice, calm and clear cut through the room.

“What are you saying, Jameson?”

Keyes straightened. “Mr. President,” he said, saluting.

“This is a job for FEMA. Not the military. Support functions only.

The President looked at the network assigning nicknames. “Who’s the leader? Sunglasses, Brother, Warrior, or Pope?”

“I’m not sure they know.”

“We don’t know?”

“No, I mean them.”

Gwen cut in, “Someone used the Keyes tactics on them?”

Keyes sighed and continued, “Warrior obviously has military command but isn’t doing much talking. He’s got a baby in tow. Staying guarded and not having a nurse take over.“

“That’s a single mama,” said Gwen, “or whatever their equivalent is. Lil’ Brother is the interpreter and you can see the nerves from here. Sunglasses is taking action, walkin’ right up to the first human they see and going to collect that baby but gives people space.”

“I need to know why NASA didn’t alert us,” the President said.

“Funding cuts probably,” Secretary Stevens stated flatly.

“Who needs em?” Burton was changing one of the channels to a network calling the Felivar an illegal alien CATastrophe.

“What are you doing Mark?”

“Keeping it fair and balanced,” he shrugged.

Keyes turned back to the President, “radar says that they just… appeared. They were in our atmosphere over the Atlantic and already headed west. They didn’t even come from orbit.”

“If they didn’t come from orbit, why do some look burned and cratered?”

“If they came to conquer, we’d be dead already.

But they’re burned, bloodied…” Keyes looked back at a close up of the ‘moons’ and saw the consequences of war, “they’re limping into our skies after being shot at. Most of that damage is on the eastern facing sides. They weren’t invading. They were escaping.” The general cleared his throat.

“they lost…”

“Excuse me?”

“They were being shot at while they retreated. Which means they had to retreat from something and since we’re looking at children, parents, and clergy; those are refugees. So again, Mr. President, this is a humanitarian crisis.”

An aide popped a head in, “Mr. president, phone call.”

“Again? Who is it this time?”

“Everyone…”

“Welp, tell everyone to wait.”

The airspace around New York City was quiet, every helicopter and plane was grounded. The quiet was replaced by a deep rhythmic thumping from the south. Several large, black military helicopters were coming over the horizon. The menacing machines were escorting a dark green helicopter with a white roof.

“Shær Yūun?” Spoke High Priest Softpaw, “who?”

“President Wilson. My leader is coming to you.”