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For a long ti and oppressive silence in the pub A few enerally, few people spoke At twenty-past eleven Ray Mercer cleared his throat and banged a glass on the bar to attract the attention of his custolanced up at hi back to face the television set again

&039;Ladies and gents,&039; Ray shouted, see paid to him &039;I don&039;t know about the rest of you, but I think we need to keep drinking tonight To hell with the lae&039;re going for a late one We&039;re staying open&039;

Had Ray ht his words would have earned hi ovation at the very least Tonight, however, the reaction of his customers was unusually muted and subdued A steady stream of drinkers continued to ing of Ray&039;s till were the loudest sounds to be heard

And still the two alien ships hung motionless over the ocean

We had alasses on our small table and I was alared to knock back in our extended evening session I felt fine - completely sober in fact - and that alarmed me too The alcohol I&039;d drunk hadn&039;t had its nor out to sea was keeping everyone&039;s eround

The next time anyone spoke (other than when they fetched another round of drinks or disappeared off to the toilet) it ell past ht had silently disappeared and beco

&039;Shit!&039; Ja the time and had looked at his oatch &039;Christ, have any of you seen the tiet back&039;

&039;What?&039; SiobhanLike just about everyone else she was still watching the television screen

&039;I&039;ve got to go,&039; he said anxiously &039;Jesus, I&039;m in trouble now&039;

&039;She&039;ll understand,&039; Robert yawned &039;Just tell her you atching the television and you got engrossed&039;

&039;Do you really think she&039;ll buy that?&039;

Rob shrugged his shoulders

&039;Why not? She&039;s probably sat there at ho it herself&039;

&039;No,&039; Jao ballistic I can&039;t tell her I&039;ve been watching telly, can I? Christ, we&039;ve got three bloody tellies at hoo back and watch one of those, won&039;t she?&039;

&039;All right then,&039; Siobhan sighed &039;Why don&039;t you just go back now and&039; She suddenly stopped speaking I looked up fro on the television screen

The smaller alien ship (which I&039;d decided was a shuttle craft of sorts) hadn&039;t moved since it had first drifted down from the belly of the , it had silently raised itself slightly higher into the turbulent air and was being illuinable Even ht which had shone froines, it flooded the entire scene and it was alht sky This new light, however, ca above As I stared at the shuttle on the screen a s appeared in its roof My tired eyes iain

&039;I don&039;t believe this&039; Ja hoed froraceful hovering platforure remained completely motionless until its feet were clear of its ship It then stepped off the platform and out onto the hull of the vessel