Conception

[Karlotta]

"No wasting time with unneeded repairs in this radiation. Keep scanning the surroundings. We’re entering the asteroid field."

“There’s something I should probably mention.”

“Shoot.”

"I think I triggered whatever got us here. We got sucked in right after I listened to the audio sequence that opened the Valhalla Vault through earplugs. Maybe that thing recognized it. "

“I heard a sort of music right before everything started shaking. And everything around us seemed to resonate with it.”

“I doubt it could pick up something so faint amid the background noise.”

“I don’t claim to know for certain, but it happened right afterwards, and some structures on the thing showed some characteristics of a resonant circuit. And I think it’s established these aliens are capable of more than we can imagine.”

“Good. Then we have a lead on how to get back to Omega-159. Now we’ll explore before we’re toast.”

The trailblazer drifted into the asteroid field. O’hara carefully maneuvered a slightly curvy path through.

“The energy signature is getting more distinct as we approach. It’s coming from three separate points within a few clicks of each other, all with identical characteristics. It’s definitely not black body radiation or molecular state emissions. Doesn’t look like anything I’ve seen before.”

I felt the Trailblazer slow down. O’Hara flipped the red trigger guard on his joystick with his thumb. He was ready to nuke our target with the pull of a trigger. We came to a halt.

“Magnify.”

What looked like an asteroid cut cleanly in half by two yellow and silver rings appeared on the screen. Between the two halves dancing lights formed some sort of bubble.

“That’s what the lights that sucked us in looked like. What do scans say?”

“The nature of the energy emitter still isn’t clear. Nor is the source. It’s as if it’s coming out of no-where. There may be something more hidden inside the rocks which our sensors can’t penetrate.”

“Alright. I’m going to circle it at a distance. Watch closely for any changes. Watch if it’s reacting to us.”

A drop of sweat ran down O’hara’s temple. Everyone watched the object rotate on their screens as the captain took the Trailblazer around it in a perfect circle.

“Nothing. No changes.” Peterson sounded relieved.

“But still no clue of what is emitting those lights either. We could move above or under it to get a better view of what’s between it. But we’d have to get closer. Samples of matter may also help shed some light. But both drones are gone.”

O’Hara frowned angrily as he stared at the artifact. It almost seemed as if the lights were taunting him from a distance, daring him to come closer. He caressed the trigger of his joystick.

“Gorman, Zelman, suit up.”

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