Beyond Light

Non-Organic Encounter.

“John, are you there?” Mike’s voice sounded for the second time. John had been lost in wonder by the landscapes around him.

“Yes,” he responded. “Please report.”

“It’s the distress signals from the Eternity of Return. They are coming from some depression on the terrain about 700 meters from you. I’ll mark it on your HUDs.”

A vertical triangle with the distance above it appeared, signaling something in the distance below the terrain. Was the source underground or in some deep place? John wondered if someone was hiding there, trying to send away some distress signal for help.

“Thanks, Mike. Keep us informed,” John cut the com. channel. “Well, you’ve heard him. Let's follow that triangle,” he raised to his shoulder his IMR22 and took the first step on the alien plains. It was like Neil Armstrong would do on the moon back in the 20th century. Goosebumps ran through his skin.

“Hey, look at that,” Derek signaled the sky. The first aliens of animal biology appeared before their eyes.

A flock of six strange creatures hovered above them. They didn't look like any kind of bird or winged animal, and neither like reptiles nor insects. They were like oversized Jellyfish or Portuguese men o’ war, their heads shining in bluish pink, and their tentacles and stings glowing an aquamarine coloration. They glided away until they became small dots in the distance.

“What are those supposed to be?” asked Doctor Winslow. "Look edible enough."

"The first aliens..." responded Katiya.

“I don’t know… But I wouldn’t like to be stung by one of them,” said Derek, contemplating the smack gliding away. Were they following the rings on the horizon?

The team continued strolling in awe of the alien grasslands. The spring terrain began to elevate, and more strange creatures appeared, running and hiding between holes on the ground. At first, John thought they were some kind of hares, but approaching enough to see them, they looked like giant cockroaches covered by tan fur.

How was that even possible? Did they have an exoskeleton with fur? They were probably something different; lifeforms with no real equivalent on Earth.

“This is the place where I want to retire someday,” said Derek. “Quiet, warm, far from all the noise of civilization. The night skies here must be a spectacle.”

“Heck you say it, big guy. Gotta say this is the place where an old warrior should fall to rest and sleep forever,” said Doctor Winslow.

John wondered at the Sergeant Major's words. How would the night sky look on that planet? There were no artificial light sources anywhere, meaning that a clear, starry sky with the rings and moon shining at full bright could be achievable. It would be the perfect place to stargaze or have a relaxed camp. For a second, he felt disappointed for being there on duty and not on a vacation.

They continued, their minds dumbstruck at the colorful landscapes that they lost the sense of time. The location marking triangle on his helmet grew in size. Only 200 meters from the signal source. They hadn’t found in the perimeter anything belonging to the Eternity of Return, nor anything that resembled human origin. John felt a bad hunch.

They reached the end of the elevation, where another flat terrain spread before reaching a plateau formation three kilometers ahead. The wide fields of red, giant spikes and fluffy grass offered a better angle of view; the dual suns directly illuminated down, reflecting the whole color palette of that wonderland.

John stopped to look back next to Katiya, who could not stop watching and writing about everything they came into contact with. Their Firefly behind laid down on the grass like a bird nesting its eggs, giving a peaceful sensation to the landscape.

“Such a view, isn’t it?” he said.

“It’s alluring,” she responded, moving back to her holopad. “We have few views similar to this on the solar system.”

“And to think we’re the first humans in history to be on a place like this…” he whispered, focusing his gaze ahead.

He turned around to look back and noticed that Derek and Heinrich had not stopped for them, being some 15 meters ahead. Both stood next to a piled line of mossy boulders and cramped rocks made a tiny wall where rainbow-colored fungi grew, looking at something on the floor. Were they looking at some alien animal?

They then suddenly crouched and hid behind a boulder, looking out discretely like spying snipers.

“What’s the matter, you two?” John asked. Were they seen by some territorial animal, perhaps?

Derek spoke, but he did through the local com. channel on his helmet. It was as if he didn’t want to be heard. “Cap, Katiya, you’re better off coming here and seeing it for yourselves.”

John saw both men putting out their umbrella rifles. What were they doing? He and the supervisor traded looks and followed. Katiya turned off her holopad and drew out her AM1 pistol. John curved his back to move with discretion and reached their position.

“What’s it?” he frowned.

Winslow hushed. “Take a step ahead. Look down.”

John got himself on the grass and crawled. Two meters after the boulders they hid, a giant canyon of some 60 meters in width and 100 of height lacerated the terrain. Red roots, alien grass, and thousands of rocks and cornices decorated its natural walls. A fine trace of stagnant water was on the bottom, reflecting both suns, where some four-winged insectoid creatures of litmus colors were hydrating themselves on it.

What was the big problem with that? Vita Nova was an alien world in both literal and figurative meanings, but those creatures didn't look dangerous enough for two armored men with IRM22s to hide.

But then John saw something; at the end of the canyon, a giant tunnel of some 12 meters of height stood. It was made of a purplish-silver metallic alloy, its margins united to the rocks having a hexagonal shape. The HUD mark signaled it.

What the hell was that? It was not a natural formation nor the work of primal creatures.

Before he could wonder any further, three two-legged figures came from the metallic tunnel, but they didn't have a human shape. They shined in a whiteish silver coloration and shot red light.

There was no way they could be organic. He zoomed through his visor, and the image of them enlarged, revealing their robotic bodies in high detail. They were composed of a single, rectangular box-shaped head-body that had a curve on the top. On one of the narrower sides was a red lens giving it the resemblance of a single eye.

From their bottom, two thin, articulated legs extended to the ground. They had animal physiology: long talons like dogs or goats that gave them the appearance of having backward knees.

Damn. Robots? They didn't look to belong to any common assembly, just like the ships that attacked the Eternity of Return. Were they on the same team? John activated the Advanced Recognition Mode on his HUD. Only a ‘No matches found: no characteristics available’ message popped out after scanning them.

One of the figures looked up and tilted its robotic head, its single red eye intensifying. John and Katiya hid behind the boulder.

“...What are those?” she asked. “Were they drones aboard your ship? The signals are coming from that place.”

“No, no matches available. They aren't INSU,” John unleashed his umbrella rifle and kept it ready in case they attacked. It was an extremely precise weapon designated for marksmen and long-ranged combat. They crouched and returned to Derek and Winslow.

“Did you see those?” asked the Medical Chief asked. “Look like some kind of legged drones.”

“But they look like no advanced drone or toy of us,” said Derek. “And the triangle mark is coming down from there. What’s going on?”

They waited in silence for about five minutes, but the strange two-legged robots didn’t attack or showed themselves. When John came out from his rocky hideout and looked down on the canyon once again, the mysterious machines had disappeared.

But the triangle mark was still on the hexagonal cave.

“What do we do, cap?” asked the Sergeant Major. “Should we go down there?”

“You kidding?” asked Doctor Winslow with mockery. “Must be some trap by those fuckers who took down the Eternity. I say we return later with reinforcements.”

“I agree,” said John. “could as well be whoever attacked the Eternity of Return and is now trying to lure us in. Even if they are not, we don't know if they are hostile or not. Let’s return. Mike,” he started a com. channel with him. “Keep yourself in near orbit. We’re returning to the Beyond Light.”

“Aye aye, Commander. Did you find the source of the transmission?”

“No. Something more interesting. I’ll tell you more onboard.”

“Alright, I’ll tell Xi to wait. Oh, and there’s something. Chief Wallace and his men have repaired the data modules you brought from the Eternity of Return. They want you to see them.”

Hmm. Two interesting yet concerning surprises in one day. It was time to return and see if they could recover the camera footages from the dreadnought's security systems. John wondered if those two-legged machines down in that mysterious structure would appear on them, attacking and kidnaping the ship's crew. But those machines didn't seem capable of bleeding blue; maybe they had just discovered another vector in play.

And that artificial tunnel: Where did it lead to? Who built it? It was now clear that they weren't the first advanced species to step on Vita Nova. John felt that they weren't alone in that system. Those signals from the Eternity of Return could be them, or something worse trying to set them a trap.

Sooner or later they'd end up facing up with whatever was there. He could feel it.