He staggered into town carrying the rock.
When they saw the state he was in, locals took him to the local hospital. When he was admitted, he was still clutching the thing. He was in a bad way and died a short time later. Because it was an unexplained death, the police were called and the rock was taken in as evidence. The identity of the man was never determined, but the rock turned out to be a meteorite that had split into two on entry. This was what they thought at first, however, closer inspection revealed the fact that it was a meteorite that had a flat, highly polished surface. Nothing like this had ever been seen before. Using a magnifying glass, a series of strange hieroglyphics could be seen. Nobody understood what the symbols meant, so it was sent to the main forensic laboratory in the city.
From the time the stranger first appeared with the rock, to the time a team of expert cryptologists had been assembled from around the world to work on the artefact, over a week had passed. After an all-night session the inscription was deciphered. It turned out to be a message, an invitation. Within a couple of hours of this discovery the world press had the story. However, details of the message were not made public, in an attempt avoid the meeting being gate crashed by hordes of people. A selected group of eminent scientists, leading politicians and high-ranking military personnel was chosen to travel to the undisclosed site. The selection process was a difficult one, there being a number of disagreements about who should attend. As a result of this, there was little chance of organising the agreed upon group, and transporting them to the specified location on time.
The coordinates given in the inscription were for a neglected playing field, beside a derelict schoolhouse, just a few miles out of the town where it all began. When the three helicopters were finally scrambled and all of the chosen representatives were on board, they all took off, only to land at the site several minutes after the indicated time. When they arrived, they found a large, circular ring of burnt grass and another rock. This smaller piece was found with an inscription consisting of just two words, ‘You’re late’.
Apparently, embedded in the culture of the alien visitors, punctuality was extremely important.