pray. Do whatever you must do in the few minutes we have to be as alert as possible. I choose coffee.” Web looked at each of them before heading over to the coffee pot. There was never any doubt there’d be a coffee pot.
Rui and Dan elected to watch the landing from outside, reasoning that they could watch the replay as many times as they wanted, but could see it ‘live’ only once. Neither of them thought there’d be much to see with the naked eye, even with the nearly full moon. It didn’t matter to them. Seeing it in person was primal.
“Sam should be here to see this," Dan said.
“I agree that Sam’s contribution was considerable, but Web has a point," Rui replied.
“What point? That Sam is not a formal member of the team? That’s not a valid point. The structure of the team was formed long before we knew what we’d encounter, or that we’d ever encounter anything for that matter. It seemed logical to have a linguist on the team, but Angela has had little to do so far. It seemed logical to have a biologist and a psychologist on the team, but neither Camilla nor AJ has had as much to do as Angela. I’ll admit I didn’t foresee the need for a cyberterrorism specialist on the first contact team, and I was one of the people responsible for the composition of the team, but as soon as we realized we did need such a specialist he should have become a formal member of the team. There’s no way to keep this a secret. Too many people around this landing know about it, and our landing site is likely to be among the most controlled of those around the world. Why hobble ourselves by limiting the team to what we believed it should be before we knew what we were going to face?” Dan asked.
“I think Web’s point is that with the anomaly about to be physically present, it is unlikely we’ll need Sam’s skills in the future and Sam can be a loose cannon. Web has a responsibility to reduce the likelihood of irresponsible behavior," Rui replied dryly.
“I think Web’s point is that he has the power to exclude Sam and so he has," Dan retorted.
Rui chose to give Dan the last word on the topic. It was not one he wished to continue discussing.
The rest of the team, having elected to watch the landing from inside the CP, traded the multiple and enhanced views of the event about to transpire for the opportunity to weigh in on Sam’s absence. Captain Andrews was with the majority. At Web’s request and in keeping with long tradition, she counted backward from ten in time with the countdown clock, “…three, two, one.”
A second after she finished, every monitor showed a sphere centered in its frame. An almost imperceptible moment later, there was an audible crack, similar to a aerial fireworks explosion, but sharper.
It was possible to see the sphere as it landed, but barely. Once again, the visitors had demonstrated their ability to ignore inertia in a way that human science had yet to understand. The sphere arrived with a sonic boom, but landed as softly as if it had been placed there by hand. One moment, the field was empty. The next, it was occupied by a dull black sphere 3.072 meters in diameter.
Rui, unaware of the countdown, turned to Dan and said, “Our visitor surprised me again. I thought there’d be something to see. I thought it would slow down before landing, but why should it? Why not approach at supersonic speed and come to rest exactly where you want to be without slowing? Other than the fact that we can’t wrap our heads around how one would go about doing such a thing, it’s very efficient. My God, what we could learn from them.”
Dan nodded slowly and said, “Indeed…if they are here to teach.” He looked back up at the night sky, allowing his eyes to follow the path they had expected to watch the sphere follow as it descended. His eyes stopped at the sphere’s landing spot, where it sat as if it had been there when they arrived. He could not help but feel that it was
Rui and Dan elected to watch the landing from outside, reasoning that they could watch the replay as many times as they wanted, but could see it ‘live’ only once. Neither of them thought there’d be much to see with the naked eye, even with the nearly full moon. It didn’t matter to them. Seeing it in person was primal.
“Sam should be here to see this," Dan said.
“I agree that Sam’s contribution was considerable, but Web has a point," Rui replied.
“What point? That Sam is not a formal member of the team? That’s not a valid point. The structure of the team was formed long before we knew what we’d encounter, or that we’d ever encounter anything for that matter. It seemed logical to have a linguist on the team, but Angela has had little to do so far. It seemed logical to have a biologist and a psychologist on the team, but neither Camilla nor AJ has had as much to do as Angela. I’ll admit I didn’t foresee the need for a cyberterrorism specialist on the first contact team, and I was one of the people responsible for the composition of the team, but as soon as we realized we did need such a specialist he should have become a formal member of the team. There’s no way to keep this a secret. Too many people around this landing know about it, and our landing site is likely to be among the most controlled of those around the world. Why hobble ourselves by limiting the team to what we believed it should be before we knew what we were going to face?” Dan asked.
“I think Web’s point is that with the anomaly about to be physically present, it is unlikely we’ll need Sam’s skills in the future and Sam can be a loose cannon. Web has a responsibility to reduce the likelihood of irresponsible behavior," Rui replied dryly.
“I think Web’s point is that he has the power to exclude Sam and so he has," Dan retorted.
Rui chose to give Dan the last word on the topic. It was not one he wished to continue discussing.
The rest of the team, having elected to watch the landing from inside the CP, traded the multiple and enhanced views of the event about to transpire for the opportunity to weigh in on Sam’s absence. Captain Andrews was with the majority. At Web’s request and in keeping with long tradition, she counted backward from ten in time with the countdown clock, “…three, two, one.”
A second after she finished, every monitor showed a sphere centered in its frame. An almost imperceptible moment later, there was an audible crack, similar to a aerial fireworks explosion, but sharper.
It was possible to see the sphere as it landed, but barely. Once again, the visitors had demonstrated their ability to ignore inertia in a way that human science had yet to understand. The sphere arrived with a sonic boom, but landed as softly as if it had been placed there by hand. One moment, the field was empty. The next, it was occupied by a dull black sphere 3.072 meters in diameter.
Rui, unaware of the countdown, turned to Dan and said, “Our visitor surprised me again. I thought there’d be something to see. I thought it would slow down before landing, but why should it? Why not approach at supersonic speed and come to rest exactly where you want to be without slowing? Other than the fact that we can’t wrap our heads around how one would go about doing such a thing, it’s very efficient. My God, what we could learn from them.”
Dan nodded slowly and said, “Indeed…if they are here to teach.” He looked back up at the night sky, allowing his eyes to follow the path they had expected to watch the sphere follow as it descended. His eyes stopped at the sphere’s landing spot, where it sat as if it had been there when they arrived. He could not help but feel that it was
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