twisting glow. It was indistinct at first but grew
steadily clearer as the distance diminished. It had long tendrils
that seemed to wrap the aurora around them and also strange grilles
or lattices that spread out like wings from a solid center. All in
all it gave the impression of a new species of insect or maybe
spider though it also bore some similarities to a vining
plant.
“How big is it?” Mbaka asked.
“The scale is a little
hard to track without any other objects nearby. The center section
is maybe a hundred meters across, the tendrils stretch out maybe
two thirds of a kilometer.” Gibson
answered. “ I can run the rate
of change versus the horizon and give you a better number if you
want. ”
Mbaka waved his good
hand. “ Not important. What is
it doing? ”
“A lot of things.” Shirimi joined in, her voice a soft as
Gibson’s. “ It ’ s making ammonia;
stabilizing carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide;
there ’ s a lot of methyl
alcohol and aromatic ester in the aurora as well. We
don ’ t know if
it ’ s making them or
not. ”
“Why make
aromatics?” Mbaka mused.
“We
don ’ t even know why
it ’ s in the air.
There ’ s no propulsion at all
that I can see.” Gibson said, fiddling
with the controls. “ There is
one thing I want you to see before we get to the big
finish.” The screen focused in on the
bottom of the center section of the enigma before them. “ This thing looks like the glowey
part of a firefly. I think it ’ s about ten meters across maybe. Can you see that
it ’ s
pulsing? ”
“Yeah.” Mbaka agreed. “ It almost looks like it ’ s breathing. ”
“Exactly.” Gibson said. “ The rest of the object is rigid or seems to flex on logical
pivot points. This thing is different. You can see that it has some
sort of rigid attachment to the rest of the structure but
it ’ s actually pretty
flexible. ”
The three fell silent for a few
seconds, watching the strange glowing bulb on the bottom of the
structure.
“The heart?” Shirimi asked.
“Or the crew module maybe?” Gibson fed
back.
Mbaka harrumphed. “ Or maybe just the battery. That
glow looks like plasma to me. Maybe they use some kind of
pressurized plasma and that ’ s
the pump. ”
“Could be.” Shirimi agreed.
“Whatever it is, they sure
protected it. Watch this.” Gibson switched
to the following camera. The scout looked like an insect moving up
next to the strange thing in space. “ I was trying to get close to the
bulb. I ’ m moving almost
straight down relative to this perspective. I was maybe twenty
meters away when this happened.
Almost too fast to see, two of the
tendrils looped suddenly back in from aurora and wrapped firmly
around the probe. Almost before the watchers could process what was
happening, they flipped the probe up to the side of the structure
opposite the bulb. They pressed it against the dark hull for a few
seconds and the blue light of a plasma torch flashed. Less than a
minute later, the probe, now in two pieces, was flung off into
space by the tendrils.
“What happened?” Mbaka asked.
“They cut the battery
out.” Gibson answered. “ One
of those pieces is most of the superstructure, the other is the
equipment. What didn ’ t come
back is the battery pack. They ate it. ”
“Ate
it? ”
Gibson shrugged. “ I guess.
I ’ ve got the whole thing in
great resolution. The torch is built into the side of the ship.
They move the probe three or four times while cutting. I
don ’ t see the batteries get
picked up, but they don ’ t
come back. Weird thing is; that ’ s the whole reaction. It
didn ’ t slow down or do any
scanning. It didn ’ t come for
the trailing cameras. It just ate the battery and went right on
with what it was doing. Both of those cameras are still on
station. ”
Shirimi whistled. “ Has Alder seen
this? ”
Mbaka shook his
head. “ No.
He ’ s with Elana right
now. ”
“Okay.” Shirimi turned to Mbaka. “ I say we
don ’ t
steadily clearer as the distance diminished. It had long tendrils
that seemed to wrap the aurora around them and also strange grilles
or lattices that spread out like wings from a solid center. All in
all it gave the impression of a new species of insect or maybe
spider though it also bore some similarities to a vining
plant.
“How big is it?” Mbaka asked.
“The scale is a little
hard to track without any other objects nearby. The center section
is maybe a hundred meters across, the tendrils stretch out maybe
two thirds of a kilometer.” Gibson
answered. “ I can run the rate
of change versus the horizon and give you a better number if you
want. ”
Mbaka waved his good
hand. “ Not important. What is
it doing? ”
“A lot of things.” Shirimi joined in, her voice a soft as
Gibson’s. “ It ’ s making ammonia;
stabilizing carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide;
there ’ s a lot of methyl
alcohol and aromatic ester in the aurora as well. We
don ’ t know if
it ’ s making them or
not. ”
“Why make
aromatics?” Mbaka mused.
“We
don ’ t even know why
it ’ s in the air.
There ’ s no propulsion at all
that I can see.” Gibson said, fiddling
with the controls. “ There is
one thing I want you to see before we get to the big
finish.” The screen focused in on the
bottom of the center section of the enigma before them. “ This thing looks like the glowey
part of a firefly. I think it ’ s about ten meters across maybe. Can you see that
it ’ s
pulsing? ”
“Yeah.” Mbaka agreed. “ It almost looks like it ’ s breathing. ”
“Exactly.” Gibson said. “ The rest of the object is rigid or seems to flex on logical
pivot points. This thing is different. You can see that it has some
sort of rigid attachment to the rest of the structure but
it ’ s actually pretty
flexible. ”
The three fell silent for a few
seconds, watching the strange glowing bulb on the bottom of the
structure.
“The heart?” Shirimi asked.
“Or the crew module maybe?” Gibson fed
back.
Mbaka harrumphed. “ Or maybe just the battery. That
glow looks like plasma to me. Maybe they use some kind of
pressurized plasma and that ’ s
the pump. ”
“Could be.” Shirimi agreed.
“Whatever it is, they sure
protected it. Watch this.” Gibson switched
to the following camera. The scout looked like an insect moving up
next to the strange thing in space. “ I was trying to get close to the
bulb. I ’ m moving almost
straight down relative to this perspective. I was maybe twenty
meters away when this happened.
Almost too fast to see, two of the
tendrils looped suddenly back in from aurora and wrapped firmly
around the probe. Almost before the watchers could process what was
happening, they flipped the probe up to the side of the structure
opposite the bulb. They pressed it against the dark hull for a few
seconds and the blue light of a plasma torch flashed. Less than a
minute later, the probe, now in two pieces, was flung off into
space by the tendrils.
“What happened?” Mbaka asked.
“They cut the battery
out.” Gibson answered. “ One
of those pieces is most of the superstructure, the other is the
equipment. What didn ’ t come
back is the battery pack. They ate it. ”
“Ate
it? ”
Gibson shrugged. “ I guess.
I ’ ve got the whole thing in
great resolution. The torch is built into the side of the ship.
They move the probe three or four times while cutting. I
don ’ t see the batteries get
picked up, but they don ’ t
come back. Weird thing is; that ’ s the whole reaction. It
didn ’ t slow down or do any
scanning. It didn ’ t come for
the trailing cameras. It just ate the battery and went right on
with what it was doing. Both of those cameras are still on
station. ”
Shirimi whistled. “ Has Alder seen
this? ”
Mbaka shook his
head. “ No.
He ’ s with Elana right
now. ”
“Okay.” Shirimi turned to Mbaka. “ I say we
don ’ t
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