I took the seat closest to the door. I didn’t want to be here any longer than I had to. I tried to keep my mind on the reason we were all here and the mystery behind it, but I found it difficult to focus. Especially when all my questions were as answered as they would get until the meeting commenced. I looked around the auditorium. People from the farthest ends of the station would be taking their seats any minute. With them here, we would have a little more than fifty people in a room built to seat hundreds. I was trying very hard to keep my mind distracted from the absence, the Void, I like to call it.

  The implants still worked, I reminded myself. Right now, everyone in this room is part of a very small network. Signals can bounce around from implant to implant, but nothing can come in or go out, which seemed to reduce the cavernous auditorium to a suffocating size.

  My attention was drawn to elevated implant activity just within the backstage. The last of the team leaders must have finally entered and taken their seats, and our speaker was about to take control of the room. The lights dimmed slightly, all speech halted. I could still feel messages being passed between individuals at the speed of thought. A thin transparent smartscreen sank down from the ceiling and to the stage floor, idly shifting between soft, attention-grabbing colors. Entirely unnecessary, as the apparent speaker had strode to the center of the stage at the same time.

  The man before us was Adermeran Collier, a governing-level Executive. I’ve heard him speak before. Despite having an unimpressive size and appearance, he had a powerfully imposing voice in the face of an audience and a relaxed, mild-mannered bearing in private. He wore a dark and trim station duty uniform.

  “Good morning,” He seemed excited and serious. “I won’t waste time mincing words. First things first, I need everyone to swear to secrecy or leave the room!”

  I had already read, signed, and returned the contract he sent as he spoke. As did most of us. Some were polite enough to wait until he had finished. Very few others still hesitated, but signed anyway.

  “Very well!” He said expectantly; after all, what scientist or colonist would pass up this opportunity? After all we sacrificed just to be here? The lives we left behind on a thriving colony? I allowed myself a small laugh through my nose and I felt my face pull into a smile. Behind him appeared the rotating hologram of a small planet.

  "This is exo-planet four three six dash one one three, two five six, one one nine.” The name was the sector coordinates for the planet. “It is one of the many planets we have been surveying in this sector. As a matter of fact, it was the planet that first drew our attention to this part of space. Over the centuries, scientists have documented color shifts on the surface of the planet. One theory suggests this shifting to be the result of gradual changes in the planet’s flora over time. Climate change, for example. Such a planet with an abundance of plant life that could generate such a noticeable effect, would make a promising candidate to host other forms of life.”

  “It is no longer just a theory! Over the past weeks since the fleet had passed through Gate Station, we have conducted a full scan of the planet’s surface!” The backdrop presented a diverse selection of aerial views of the planet’s surface that melded into full three-dimensional mappings of rivers, canyons, forests, mountains.

  Without warning, a single picture dominated the smartscreen. Overshadowing the holomaps and other visual data. At first, I couldn’t make sense of what I was looking at. I’m sure we all had the sensation of staring at an optical illusion. Then my synapses made the necessary connections. I rocketed out of my seat and stood erect. I wasn’t the only one. I heard gasping and shouting throughout the room.

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  I studied the image. Expecting it to shift in some way if I thought about it from a different perspective. I saw what could best be described as huts, low to the ground, twice as long as they were tall. Large rocks were laid into what must have been thick mud walls. The tops were bald and brown. The entrances were holes cut through the bottom of the hut and into the ground.

  My attention was momentarily drawn to an uncomfortable sensation. I realized I had been subconsciously attempting to download the image for a deeper analysis, but the station’s AI, not a mere security protocol, had been stopping me. It was warning me to pull back. I had been on the verge of an attempted bypass.

  As soon as I mistook Collier’s silence as an invitation for questions, he spoke again. “I don’t have to tell any of you what this means.”

  Another image appeared. A thick shaft with a long, slim blade attached, making up slightly less than half the tool. It wasn’t made of metal; it looked organic, resembling a needle-like beak. The narrow groove running down the middle was relative to the overall width of the blade. More images appeared of the same tool, each slightly differing from the rest in a million small ways, confirming my suspicions that the materials were organic. I realized what he was doing. He was feeding us the small stuff first so we could ready ourselves for the big one.

  As if reading my mind, a final image appeared on the screen.

  A single, brightly colored insect. It had a predominantly yellow soft shell with a bleeding red ink pattern running down its back, mixed spots of blue and brown dotted down the center. The shell spread outwards in the back, creating a shield over the hind of the body. It had three pairs of legs. The hind legs were thick and bent with a single joint, diverging into a stiff tripod at the ends. They bent forwards, directly under the body. The middle pair was thinner and tucked under the body much the same way, ending in a segmented tripod. The forward-most pair was triple jointed and branched away from the body. These ended in a bulb that sported a small, downward curving blade at the top and a two short, dull protrusions on the bottom. The extremity appeared to function as a foot. Only the tip of the blade touched the ground, while the two lower protrusions took most of the weight.

  The head was the most curious thing. Two black beads, slightly apart in the center, close to the mouth. Four large vents surrounded the crown of the head. Behind the head, small segmented arms extended forward and ended in four wiry split-offs.

  The picture remained. No one moved, no one spoke. Inter-implant activity had ceased. For the longest time, everyone studied the picture. Eventually, the picture slowly faded out. The smartscreen became transparent once more. I stared at Collier. He studied his audience. Waiting for the right moment to continue.

  “This is the greatest discovery in mankind’s history! The Fleet is retasking itself decidedly to the understanding these creatures! There are still other reasons we have been sent to settle this sector of space. Those jobs must still be fulfilled! Those of you that will be reassigned to the First Contact Project have already been so. We ask that you all cooperate in keeping this information on our side of the Gate, so we can work without interference from the rest of humanity until we are good and ready! The planet is only three years CTD of Gate Station. The fleet’s personnel have been redivided. Scheduled departure from the Gate is same as before. The best and brightest have been selected to represent the whole of mankind in this undertaking, while the rest of us else continue as before. The rest of the fleet will be sworn to secrecy and informed within the next hour.”

  “Not all of us will be able to participate in this project directly!” He continued with surprising sympathy. “But we are all a part of this, and we must stand together! What happens in this Sector will not merely go down in history! What each and every one of us does, from this day forth, will set an example that mankind will follow for hundreds of years to come! “

  “Dismissed!”