“Roberto is on the way…”

Mike’s radio crackled slightly as Albedo announced it to him. The man was too busy wincing in pain, all Mike could give back in response was a slight grunt. Milo said nothing, as he continued to look beyond into the void. His eyes were fixated on the darkness, that strange sense of something being there confused the aboriginal.

Mike scraped himself along the ground, getting closer to his distracted co-worker. Even as he managed to call out his name a few times over, Milo did not budge. It was only when Mike grabbed hold of his leg, when Milo broke his concentration, and then instantly collapsed to the ground. That surprised Mike (as Milo landed on top of him) and struggled to pull him off.

“Milo!” He yelped from the sheer weight of him. “What the… come on, dude! Now’s not the time to faint on me. I’m the one that’s injured, not you!”

“What’s going on gentlemen?” Albedo questioned in a sing-song manner, especially after hearing Mike’s complaint. “The robot will be there soon… don’t start on each other yet…”

“Fuck… you’re so heavy, Milo…” Mike said, finally getting him off and turning him over to have a look. “Wake up ya, red skinned…”

“Fuck you, White man!” Milo immediately snarled as he came too. “Ya privileged, self-entitled, racist bastard…”

“Yeah-yeah…” Mike rolled his eyes. “I love you too, we can kiss later. What happened there? You forget to eat your sugar snack this morning or something?”

Milo sat up, looked at Mike, then his position, and then back at him. There was confusion in his face, Milo wasn’t sure what exactly happened to himself and shrugged.

“Maybe, I don’t know… just felt… dizzy for a second, or something…”

“My hero…” Mike grumbled. “Come on, help me up and we can make our way over more to where the robot can find us.”

Milo glanced back at the darkness for a moment, and then back onto Mike. Realization finally struck and he aided the wounded sassy-mouthed man to his feet. Mike used Milo like a crutch, draping herself over his right shoulder and growling in pain from the weight shifting onto his broken leg. Milo snickered at him and let him drop down a few more times.

“What the fuck was that for?” Mike hollered at him.

“For being you… ya jerk.”

* * *

Outside the Callista, Roberto was still floating across space towards the large asteroid. Momentum was driving the hulking robot forward, along with a few shots of compressed air out of it’s back to correct it’s trajectory. A small lens imbedded in the forehead of the steely giant, whirled and buzzed as it adjusted itself from the remote link that Chaz was using.

“Steady now, Roberto…” Chaz communicated to the robot. “Don’t over shoot the target…”

“Acknowledged…”

A few more quick bursts of air shot out from it’s front, slowing it slightly as it continued to descend to the massive rock.

“How much longer, Chaz?” Albedo’s voice chimed in.

“A few minutes, don’t want to rush it, Captain. Roberto’s a big boy, he could smash to the surface like a rotten piece of fruit.”

“Something tells me you’ve tried that before.”

Chaz snickered, “Ay, you heard about that, huh?”

“Uh-huh... jettisoning fruit is a felony in some sectors my friend.”

“Only if I get caught…” He snickered again.

* * *

Milo and Mike wandered slowly across the cavern floor, trying to find a good spot to wait for the robot rescue. Looking up, both could see the opening was incredibly far, the hole looked more like a pen prick from their position. What really made them take notice was just how strong the gravity was in the surrounding area.

“Feels weird…” Mike muttered.

“Yah, I know.” Milo agreed. “Kinda Earth-like, isn’t it?”

“Never really been, of late, that is…”

“That’s surprising,” Milo eyed at him. “Figured you’d be rushing home every chance you got. Spoiled lil’ brat like you… spending yer daddies’ money, fucking the easy girls that think you’re good looking… or paid for….”

“Me? Nah…” Mike grinned haphazardly. “I’m not the favoured child, more like a blight on the whole family. That’s what my dad calls me anyway. I”ve become ‘the son who never was’, that’s his nickname for me.”

“Oh, boo-hoo. You want me to shed a tear for you?”

“Would you? Really?” He glared at Milo with a sarcastic brow. “Gosh, that would just be peachy.”

“Maybe I should contact your father, give him a few better nicknames, cause I’ve got a whole shit load of them he can borrow.”

Mike stopped hobbling for a second and looked at the man. Milo glared at him with a hateful expression, but soon started to laugh as his grin widened. Mike slowly joined in, the laughter being contagious and the fact that it was being made at his own expense. Yeah, they hated each other’s guts, and they certainly weren’t friends outside of work, but at least they could keep each other company in a time of crisis. Their laughter continued for a few minutes; the lack of oxygen had contributed to their giddiness.

Milo was about to say something more, but was interrupted by a loud noise. A strange and peculiar occurrence, seeing how sound wasn’t possible in this vacuous environment. Nevertheless, a terrifyingly bizarre high-pitched whine echoed throughout the cavern. Or at least, to what they thought was occurring. Milo looked at Mike sharply to see his reaction.

“What the fuck? Tell me you heard that…”

“Heard it?” Mike glared back. “Shit man, I felt it as well. Like something passed through me.”

“Yeah, me too…”

Milo started to move again, dragging Mike and headed for the direction he thought it was coming from. The eerie sound launched again, this time with a quick flash of white light. That scared both men as they paused in steps and breath momentarily.

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“Someone take our picture?” Mike scoffed, a nervous bit of sarcasm that had no effect on Milo, he took note of the man’s distant gaze again. “It’s probably just the robot, ya know, Roberto, digging though the rock.”

“Doubt he’s made it this far already…” Milo stated, his curious gaze scanning the darkness. “There’s something else here… something looking at us…”

Mike grit his teeth as they moved. He seemed helpless to resist the grip of the gruff aboriginal, who remained fascinated by whatever was luring him inward.

“We shouldn’t go in there…” He said to Milo. “Let’s just wait for the rescue and…”

“I got to know, man…” Milo stated with a intense stare. “I just got to know…”

The two slowly became engulfed in the shadows as they entered the deepest section of the cavern. Their headlights flickered slightly, showing only what was in front of them, and nothing more. Mike grew nervous and eyed his companion.

“Maybe he did get hurt?” He thought to himself. “Maybe he whacked his head, a concussion of some sort… maybe I did too? Sounds and flashes of light? That could be a sign of that.”

Milo continued to walk, as if he was being summoned to whatever was beyond. There was no deviation in his intense gaze. Something had called to him, he could feel the presence of… something… he wasn’t sure of what. But, suddenly, he came to an immediate stop and dropped Mike from his grip. The poor injured soul lay face down in the dust laden rock surface, and squirmed from the acute throbbing pain from his broken limb.

“You son of a bitch!” Mike bellowed. “Ya don’t just drop a guy with a broken leg, man. That’s just fuckin’ mean…”

“We’re here…” Milo stated.

Mike and Milo watched in awe as their lights touched the surface of something smooth and immense a few feet away. The reflection of their lights bounced off the surface and practically illuminated the surrounding area. Raising his arms, giving yet another Navajo prayer on his lips, Milo continued to marvel at the sight before him and chuckled slightly from it. Mike lay on the ground slack jawed and unable to comprehend what he was witnessing.

“Is that… is… that what I think it is?” He took a long gulp.

“Yeah…” Milo uttered back. “Yeah, I think so.”

Mike’s headlight scanned the surface. He took notice the shape. The features where distinct and reminded him of the many conspiracy photos he’d once seen on old documentary video files. The realization hit him like a bolt of lightning.

“Aliens… oh, god… oh, sweet mother, a real alien craft!”

* * *

On the surface of the asteroid, Roberto had touched down already and found the gaping hole where all three men fell into. The robot’s arm was fitted with a drilling laser and began cutting around the edges to widen the aperture. Chaz’s voice guided the robot, along with some assistance from the remote control he was using on the Callista; attached to the back of the robot, a claw-like mandible extended out and waited to catch any boulders that might drift out of the cutting zone. To his surprise, they were all falling inward, into the chasm itself.

“Whoa-whoa-whoa… that’s not right…” Chaz spoke over the communications channel. “There’s a gravity pocket…”

“That’s not possible…” Albedo responded back.

“Possible or not, this shit is falling in… not floating away into space.”

“Come on, Chaz…” Albedo tiredly groaned. “I’ve go no time for your jokes…”

“I”m telling you… that’s what’s happening. Roberto, can you confirm this for me?”

The robot’s eyes flashed repeatedly, moving it’s head side to side. It continued to cut the rock face as it scanned the area.

“Confirmed, there is gravimetric activity,” It said. “Do you wish me stop drilling to investigate?”

There was silence for a minute, as both Chaz and Albedo chatted amongst themselves in a low-volume intercommunication. Roberto seemed unfazed by their background voices and patiently waited for the answer. Once they were done, Chaz signalled the robot.

“Continue to drill, big guy. We’ll take a look once they others are transported back here.”

“Affirmative… drilling is at eighty percent completion… proceeding with final cut.”

The robot moved along the edge of the cut swath and stretched out his laser arm to remove the other side out of reach.

* * *

Milo and Mike continued to gawk at the wonder before them. The alien ship looked fairly sizeable, disk-like, seamless and smooth in its flat grey metallic appearance. The majority of it was buried about halfway into the rock, neither men could tell if there was any damage; there wasn’t any scarring, burn marks, or even a crack to where it made contact. It was lodged in the rock like a knife that had been left in mid-cut.

The lights continued to reflect back from it’s polished hull, something that still baffled Milo as he kept moving his head back and forth. There wasn’t a blemish on that entire structure. The light was almost augmented from the pristine metal, as if it was a mirror, but the dull grey suggested that it was not. Milo couldn’t see his own reflection, so… how could it act like a mirror without it acting like one? It puzzled him greatly. Mike was just as lost in thought as Milo. The oddity of this was beyond his comprehension. He finally broke the silence that lingered between them.

“What now? I mean… what should we do? Think anything is still inside of it? Dead… or even… alive?”

“Got me man…” Milo said. “But, it’s been in here for a very long time.”

“How do you know that?”

“See the lines of the rock around it,” Milo pointed, using the headlamp to show him. “That’s layers of sediment compression. That takes a good long time to build up…”

“But, in space, dude?”

“Yeah…” Milo nodded, thinking on the matter. “It’s got to be due the gravity in here.”

“Why here though?” Mike said, repositioning himself on the ground. He winced from the pain, grunting lightly, and looked up at it again. “What’s causing the gravity in the first place? Can’t be natural… this rock isn’t spinning enough to get any momentum.”

“Wow,” Milo snorted. “Look at you getting all scientific. Who knew ya had enough brain cells left to form any form of conscious thought…”

“Hey, at least I’m trying to think… what’s your excuse? Why not do a pow-wow dance or summon your ancestors to… I dunno… make it ‘open sesame’ or something…”

“Man, you just don’t get it do you? All those stereotypical jabs and none of them correct in any way, shape or form. Amazing… you white people are the thickest bunch of humanity.”

“Yeah, well…” Mike grinned at him. “We still managed to get this far.”

“Only because we carried your sorry asses… should have just killed all of you the minute you stepped off the boats. Goddamn foreigners stealing our land…”

“Boats? Wasn’t your tribe located in middle America?”

“The point being…” Milo frustratedly snarled. “You took advantage of us and what we had. Spoiled brats like you, thinking that the world was theirs to do with, to take from others, to subjugate a people who didn’t live the way you…”

“Okay! Okay!” Mike shouted at him. “I get the message… we bad, you good… yadda-yadda-yadda, can we please get back on dealing with this problem?”

“You started it…” Milo grumbled.

Mike conceded as the sharp bouts of pain caused him to struggle to stay conscious. There had to be internal bleeding, he thought, and wondered when that stupid robot would get there to take him back to the ship. Medical attention is what he really needed right now. Alien ship or no alien ship, he needed to get out of this asteroid. Milo dropped to one knee as he felt something wrong with his left leg, he rubbed his ankle and gritted his teeth from the throbbing soreness.

“What… uh… what is it now, huh? Ya big baby?” Mike said, dealing with his own pain.

“I think I hurt my ankle, during the fall, I mean…” He rubbed it, trying to find the source of the problem. “I guess my adrenaline was busy keeping me from feeling it earlier…”

“Probably why you fainted too, huh?”

“Guess so…” Milo nodded. “I still say it was something else that caused that.” He looked back at the alien craft and eyed it with curiosity. “Maybe we should try to see if we can get into the thing.”

Milo struggled slightly as he hobbled over to inspect it further. Mike remained on the ground and reached a hand out to stop him from getting too close. But Milo was determined and felt a compulsion to get a better look. Mike, grunting from the pain now shooting up from his broken leg, tried a vocal approach this time.

“Milo! Milo! Don’t… ugh, don’t get too close. You don’t know what it will do…”

He ignored him totally. Milo’s hand now reached out to it as he stood at the base of the alien craft. The ship was immense in size, he felt more like a small ant next to it. The ship was deceptively larger than it was from a distance.

“Milo! Come on dude…” Mike crawled at him. “Snap out of it. We’ve got to get out of here. Let the others worry about dealing with that thing.”

“I feel…” Milo’s eyes widened staring at it. “I feel something. There’s a power, no, a presence… I think. Like a voice, in the background, barely audible… it wants something of me…”

“What? What do you mean?” Milo glared at him. “It spoke to you? Milo… is it talking to you?”

“Guys?” Albedo announced over their communicators, it crackled with static as he continued on. “The robot is en route… do you read me? What’s the situation? Is everything okay?” Milo and Mike didn’t respond. Milo was too focused on the ship, and Mike was too concerned about Milo. This silence frustrated Alberto, “Yo, what’s happening there?