The Day the Earth Shuddered and Went Dark

Aliens and alien invasions take many forms. What if a cloud of alien microbes—alien even to the earth itself—came swooping in from deep space? What if—traveling a vast distance over an incalculable number of years—that massive cloud of microbes entered the solar system? No radar would detect it.The collective would speed inexorably toward Earth. And what if, in the early morning hours of a particular day, that collective slapped into the Pacific Ocean several miles off the California coast? And billions upon billions of microbes were jarred loose? Would they awaken from their stasis? Would they ride the wind and fall to the earth in rain? Would they flow along in rivers, streams and lakes? Would they fill the reservoirs from which humans get their drinking water? Within hours they could cover the western United States, western Canada and Mexico. Within days they could cross the Atlantic and spread around the world. Is this a new life form? An alien life form? Yes, and they are not benevolent. Awakened from a long sleep, they hunger. And they eat. Voraciously. They prefer the warm-bloods. Mammals die within minutes of contact. Including humans. Well, most humans.