SIX MONTHS BEFORE THEIR MAIN STRIKE, THE Nestenes discreetly commence their first attempted invasion of Earth by sending five or six meteorites to land in Oxley Woods, an area of Epping on the north-eastern outskirts of London. A second salvo of some 50 meteorites subsequently lands in the same area. They arrive in a column of thin, superheated air, 20 miles in diameter, which causes a localised and unexpected heatwave on the night of their arrival.