As they turned the corner and into one of the offices, General Meyer began her briefing. “This station was the site of one of the largest telescope arrays on Earth.” Her voice resonated in the spacious room where the walls were adorned with photographs of past missions and maps detailing celestial discoveries. “Its main objective was to monitor electromagnetic radiation for signs of transmissions from civilizations on other planets. It survived a lot, even a collapse of the main telescope. Several years later, it was rebuilt.”
Niko’s eyes widened. “Isn’t this …?”
“The Arecibo Observatory was part of the SETI project, yes,” she replied, her tone carrying a hint of nostalgia. “But seventeen years ago, shortly before this station was to be shut down due to high costs, we received something extraordinary.”
“You mean, something like an alien signal?” Niko asked, his voice trembling with excitement.
“Exactly,” she said, her expression serious. “We received a signal that, when decoded, contained the coordinates of a single planet. The team back then meticulously checked and confirmed that this planet existed and could support life.”
Niko was at a loss for words.
“We assumed from the message’s contents that whoever sent it may have received one of Earth’s interstellar communications, containing similar information on humanity. Or, at least, they were thinking in a similar way. We used to send these kinds of messages out a lot back in the day,” Meyer explained.
“And it took you seventeen years to decode the message?” Niko’s humor was slowly returning.
“There’s still no reason for the public to know, Professor. If that changes, we will let you know,” she replied, fixing Niko with a strict look. “Anyway, the planet is located in the Alpha Centauri system, more specifically orbiting the star Proxima Centauri. The planet itself was not previously known to us, so we called it Proxima Centauri Bc.”
“How far away is that? Did you reply to them? How do they look?” Niko couldn’t conceal his excitement any longer.
“Patience, Professor Tesic. I will get to that,” she said.
“As the name suggests,” a voice interjected from behind him, “it is the closest star system to us, only four point thirty-seven light years away. Quite lucky, don’t you think?”
A middle-aged, bald man with a pipe in the corner of his mouth stood there with a grin.
“Professor Tesic, please meet Professor Kuryakov, leading the department of astrophysics and electrical engineering here,” General Meyer introduced.
Niko and Kuryakov shook hands.
“And I see Dr. Lopez coming, our IT expert at the campus.”
A large, obese man with a ponytail came into the room, looked briefly at Niko and, with a short nod of the head, sat down at the table.
“We didn’t respond to the signal. The risks of exposing ourselves were too significant. After sending out signals about Earth for years, the governments had a change of hearts after the Third War. Suddenly, a communication with an alien species seemed too dangerous of a prospect due to a shifting political landscape around the world.”
“With an alien species which is very close to us, by Universe standards,” Kuryakov added.
“We had an opportunity of the millennium, and we didn’t use it?” Niko was shocked. Human stupidity was something else.
“Instead, we monitored for further communications and focused our research efforts on Proxima Centauri Bc,” General Meyer continued, unfazed.
“We conducted extensive tests using remote sensing and observational methods to analyze its atmosphere, minerals, gases, density, temperature, potential water sources, and signs of organic compounds,” Kuryakov interjected. “Unfortunately, with global political shifts, the project was nearly abandoned. That is, until two weeks ago, when we received something new.”
Niko’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding? What did they send us?”
“A package,” General Meyer announced.
“A what?” Niko exclaimed, almost choking on his coffee.
General Meyer stood in front of the room and displayed an aerial picture of what seemed to be a desert. “Last week, an unidentified object was seen entering orbit early in the morning. Local residents reported what appeared to be an asteroid sighting in the Sahara Desert, just inside the borders of Algeria. If it had landed just a couple of miles to the west, Morocco and the Chinese would have gotten hold of it before we did.”
Niko furrowed his brow. “You didn’t see any ships or unidentified objects coming on our radars?”
“The Earth is big, Professor Tesic,” General Meyer said calmly. “We can’t monitor the whole sky all the time. Besides, the object was rather small.”
Niko leaned forward in his seat, his curiosity piqued. “So, what was it?”
“A capsule. We brought it here for examination, and we believe it contains something you could help us with. We think it may contain some sort of new technology.”
Niko’s eyes widened. “What exactly do you mean, you believe? Doesn’t it say what it is? Doesn’t it have some sort of instructions?”
“We don’t know. We haven’t opened it yet.”
Niko’s mouth dropped open. “Why not?”
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“Professor Tesic, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but we can’t just open up random things that fall onto Earth sent by an alien civilization. It could be something dangerous—a bomb of some sort, or a bioweapon. We could be opening Pandora’s box here.”
“I see.” Niko sighed, trying to contain his disappointment.
“We have been scanning the package with X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs ever since we brought it here two weeks ago in our high-security facilities. According to the images, the capsule contains extremely small particles, possibly nanodevices.”
“But how would you know that it contains nanodevices? And what kind of devices are we talking about?”
“This is our assumption based on the MRI images,” Meyer continued. “The magnetic properties and movement of these particles in the MRI indicate that they are likely nanobots. The resolution of our 21 Tesla MRI is exceptional, and we’ve been able to gather some preliminary data on their structure. But we will not know the details of their composition or function until we open it.”
Niko narrowed his eyes in disbelief. “I thought we and Caltech had the only MRI devices in the world of the strength of 21 Tesla.”
“You do,” Kuryakov said, adjusting the pipe in the corner of his mouth. “And this one’s from Caltech, courtesy of Professor Edmundsson.”
“You brought the whole MRI from the U.S. to here? The machine is as big as a two-story building.”
“Everything is possible with taxpayer money backing you up. Disassembled and rebuilt here in three days,” Lopez spoke up. “After all, we can’t be flying the capsule back and forth every time,” he added with a grunt.
“And Edmundsson allowed this?”
“He came with the MRI machine,” General Meyer answered.
“A ‘buy one, get two’ kind of deal.” Lopez laughed.
“Professor Edmundsson has already done some preliminary research on the capsule. But he specifically asked for you to help out and provide a second opinion,” Meyer concluded.
“He did?” Niko was puzzled. Edmundsson hated his guts. They had scientific disputes not only on nanomedicine itself but also on how it should be used. Edmundsson worked closely with the military, and Niko resented him for that. So, for him to ask for Niko was a big surprise. Maybe behind that condescending mask of his, there was some appreciation for his colleagues after all. “Well, here I am,” Niko said.
General Meyer nodded. “Your expertise in nanotechnology could be crucial. We need you to analyze the findings with Professor Edmundsson and help us determine the safest way to proceed.”
“This is … extraordinary. If what you’re saying is true, it could change everything.” Niko didn’t know if he should be excited or scared.
“And here it is, the star of the hour,” Meyer said, pointing to the table.
“No pun intended.” Niko smirked toward Det. Najjar, who ignored him and looked away.
General Meyer tapped a button on her remote, and a hologram flickered to life in the middle of the room. The three-dimensional images displayed a round, metallic-looking capsule and another of a long oval tube that looked like a large, elongated egg, spinning slowly. It had a grayish, sparkling smooth surface with no apparent buttons, screens, or anything else to suggest it could be opened. She zoomed in on a section on the front, and the hologram revealed the tiny particles inside, flickering all over the screen.
“On your left, you see the landing capsule. On the right, well … what was inside the capsule- We call it the ‘Egg,’ for obvious reasons. It’s made out of boron. It’s—”
“One of the hardest materials known and extremely rare on Earth,” Niko completed the sentence. He stood up, went close to the hologram, and touched its surface gently, as if he could touch the Egg itself. “Why would they send us something like this? And how?” he asked, fully immersed in the image in front of him.
“We will be able to say more after we open it. Obviously, extreme caution is warranted. No communication with the alien life form will be done from now on; no signals will be sent to Proxima Centauri Bc. Furthermore, we have to monitor any sort of transmissions from the capsule itself, which is why the Egg is in a high-security facility underground,” General Meyer replied.
Kuryakov took over. “And to answer your second question about the how: the radio waves take a bit more than four years to reach us, right? But sending a physical object in any reasonable timeframe would require much stronger engines than anything we know currently. If we wanted to send a package to them today, even with some of our current experimental technologies, it would take several hundred years to arrive.”
“So, how come it’s here already? Did we find any clues from the capsule?”
“There are several theories,” Kuryakov said. “For example, they could have sent the ‘Egg’ many years ago, not knowing whether there was life on Earth or not. They probably decided to send probes to different exoplanets as an exploration strategy of nearby star systems in search of other life forms. This is a reasonable assumption. After all, we have done the same in the past. So, it might just be pure luck that we received their signals with us in the meantime.
“And secondly, and more likely in my opinion, they had a spaceship with the ‘Egg’ somewhere near us, let’s say in our solar system, and sent it on course to Earth after discovering life on this planet to make contact.”
“Wow, so there is a possibility that we had some alien spaceship close to us, and we had no idea?”
“It is in the range of possibilities.” Kuryakov nodded while straightening his glasses.
“That is certainly the least likely possibility,” General Meyer interjected. “Please, Kuryakov, do not scare poor Professor Tesic”
“In the end, we simply don’t know,” Kuryakov continued, unperturbed. “The landing capsule is a rather simple design, made out of a mixture of aluminum, boron, and titanium, with a lithium alloy, quite similar to the composition of our spaceships. And it didn’t reveal too much about the propulsion used to get it here. If we’re lucky, we might find their rocket in our orbit and reveal more details.”
“So, what do we do next? What do you need from me?” Niko asked.
“Help us open the box of Pandora,” Agent Najjar spoke for the first time since the meeting had started.
As the meeting concluded and the room emptied, Niko and Lopez remained seated behind. The hum of the high-tech equipment and the faint echoes of footsteps were the only sounds that filled the space. Niko stared at the screen displaying the images of the alien capsule, his mind racing with questions and doubts.
Lopez, noticing Niko’s contemplative state, sauntered over with a grin. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Professor.” He plopped down into one of the chairs.
Niko shook his head, still bewildered. “It’s just … the whole situation. It feels so surreal. Alien planets, alien artefacts—things that you see in movies.”
“Yep, it will take some time to digest all this information”
“And some things are just plain strange. We receive a signal and then a package? Although we never communicated anything back?”
Lopez chuckled, leaning back. “You know, Professor, you might be too young to remember how things were back then. After the Third War, priorities shifted big time. People were experiencing hunger for the first time in their lives. Trust me; governments had other things on their minds.”
Niko raised an eyebrow. “Really? I don’t remember much from that time—I was still a child.”
Lopez nodded, his expression more serious. “Oh yeah. It was chaos. The global economy took a nosedive and people were more worried about where their next meal was coming from than about some signal from space.”
Niko sighed, running a hand through his hair. “And it seems not much has changed. We’re still walking a tightrope, where anything the ‘other side’ does is seen as a threat.”
“True, so it’s no wonder that there’ll be no communication with the aliens. The US government is too scared of the potential fallout. For me, personally, as long as there’s money to be made, I’m game.” Lopez smirked, trying to lighten the mood.
Just then, an attendant entered the office, interrupting their conversation. “Professor Tesic, we’ve prepared a room for you. Please, follow me.”
Niko turned to Lopez with a small smile. “Thanks for the chat. I guess I’ll see you around.”
Lopez clapped him on the back, standing up. “Take it easy, Professor. Get some rest. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.”