Sprawled in the engineer's chair, Valentin put his feet up on the dashboard. The foggy bulk of Saturn shimmered in the panoramic windows of the cockpit.
“It's your turn,” he said, handing Gao the laser cannon sight.
“I'm going to blow this rock apart now,” the navigator squinted. “Tony, what's the score?”
“Valentin is winning five to three,” she responded. “Don't you have anything better to do?”
The flight engineer rolled his eyes.
“Dr. Bradley,” Valentin reported, "our observation post hangs between the rings of Saturn and its atmosphere, and our task is to test the hypotheses of various office worms...”
Gao smiled broadly.
“Perched behind their desks from Titan to the Mauna Kea,” Valentin pointed to where the notorious observatory was supposed to be. “As for my engineering work, all the post systems are in order. Gao,” he nudged his friend, “what should you do?”
“Navigate,” he answered readily. “But where should I navigate, Dr. Bradley? There are rings above us, and below us—" Gao frowned. “I forgot that word...”
“Hydrogen jelly,” the captain answered. “And don’t address me as if I were an academician or a member of the Earth Council. I’m only two years older than both of you.”
“Everything is ahead,” Valentin sang animatedly. “Shoot,” he ordered Gao. “The captain left us alone and got down to business.”
Tony looked through the endless frames taken by the tracking robots in the rings of Saturn. Thousands of unremarkable stone fragments floated before her eyes, from tiny ones the size of her little fingernail to boulders capable of demolishing a small spaceship.
“Like our post,” Tony shuddered, and a bright dot flashed on the screen.
“Five to four,” she called. “Let Gao get even, and you too sit down for the check.”
The small crew of Post 43, led by Tony, hated watching the recordings.
“Now we’ll replace you with hard labor,” Valentin promised. “And why is Dina dawdling?”
Stopping the recording, Tony blinked tiredly.
“Dina was on night duty,’ she said dryly, “while you were sleeping like logs. By the way, she is a biologist, but she does not complain about the lack of work.”
“She has algae,” Gao cried, taking aim again. “I would like to befriend algae!”
“Or their owner,” Valentin grinned. “Let's go,” he added, noticing Tony’s grimace.
The massive door opened and Valentin sighed, watching the captain's blond hair disappearing in the dark corridor.
“Let's get to work,” he urged Gao. “We'll sit down sooner; we'll get out sooner.”
Post 43 searched the fragments of interest in Earth science. Robots placed radio beacons on such stones, and their pictures were sent to the Space Fleet base deep in Titan. From there, the images flew to Earth, the Moon, and even Mars, where several scientific towns had already been erected.
Some unsorted space garbage still littered the ring, as the inhabitants of Post 43, hanging out in front of their screens for eight hours a day, called it.
“There may be something strange hidden in every stone,” Valentin woke up from his partner's dreamy voice.
“By the way," Gao raised his finger, “there is no one further than us in the Solar System. We might stumble upon something unknown.”
“Yes,” Valentin responded sourly. “Aliens, for example.” they laughed in unison.
No one in the Space Fleet believed in aliens, but Valentin felt uneasy. The flight engineer did not like pathos, but the small Post 43 really was the last stronghold of Earth in the Solar System. Only automatic weapons went to Uranus and further planets.
“Gao,” Valentin called, “let's contact Titan.”
His friend emerged from behind the monitor.
“What for?” he asked suspiciously, and Valentin became embarrassed.
“I don't know,” the navigator shrugged. “Maybe they wouldn't mind chatting while on duty...”
“First things first: the debris,” Gao said instructively. “And there's no point in distracting busy people.”
The parameters of the debris were assessed by the onboard computer of Post 43, which was supposed to send an alarm signal if it detected something unusual. However, no one had canceled viewing the recordings.
“Even the best computer cannot compare to a person,” Valentin said, freezing. “No, it seemed to me...”
“Square B-52,” his fingers touched the screen. “We need a radio beacon.”
The navigator was sure that he had imagined everything, but he needed to thoroughly sort out the suspicious fragment.
“Putting on the radio...” The message was cut off, and Valentin impatiently tapped the screen.
“Where the hell is the robot? It vanished at the crucial moment”
Gao stood up, and Valentin stepped back. The blood drained from his friend's face, and his lips even turned blue.
“The robot was destroyed,” Gao said quietly. “An unknown force appeared in the ring that can attack us too.”
#
“Titan is not responding,” Dina leaned over the control panel. “There is strong external interference around us. Gao, are you sure the robot didn't just run into a stray rock?”
The navigator twitched his cheek.
“I can tell the difference between a rock collision and a directed explosion. Either they," Gao pointed at the screen, “also have laser cannons, or they destroyed the robot with a missile.”
The Earth ships had no weapons, and the laser cannon of Post 43 was only good for shooting at the asteroid fragments dangling in the ring.
“Titan, this is Post 43," Tony spoke monotonously. “We are sending a mayday signal. Answer us.”
The connection in these parts often glitched because of Saturn's magnetic field.
Valentin touched the screen.
“I'm sure that the bastards simply turned off the connection using some of their devices.”
Now none of them could confuse the black disk on the screen with an asteroid fragment. The unknown body was moving toward Post 43, and Valentin shook Tony by the shoulder.
“Order to shoot,” his hands trembled, “because we will be next after the robot!”
“This is suicide,” Gao objected. “Our gun won't even scratch them, and after this Post 43 will certainly turn to ashes.”
“As you wish,” Valentin rushed to the scene. “But I do not intend to serve as a target for these scumbags, whoever they are!”
"So far, they have destroyed only the robot,” Dina remarked, “and perhaps by mistake. Wait, “the biologist perked up. “What if the connection works at close range?”
“They will not even read our message,” Valentin plopped down in a chair. “It is time to say goodbye.”
“No, it’s not, “Tony examined the row of symbols on the screen. “They answered, but...”
“The language cannot be deciphered,” the computer reported. “My database does not contain...”
“Naturally, it doesn’t,” Tonya leaned forward. “Look, some symbols differ from the others!”
“You are right,” Dina nodded. “Two identical ones next to each other. Maybe they are numbers?”
Tonya quickly typed something on the keyboard, and the screen lit up with a rainbow glow.
“We have understood you,” they read. “ A long-range reconnaissance vessel of the Proxima Centauri system greets you. We come in peace...”
Tonya sniffled after wiping her damp cheeks with the sleeve of her jumpsuit.
“Post 43, begin approach," she commanded.
The End
Bio:
Nelly Shulman’s prose was published in numerous literary magazines and anthologies and she has authored three collections of short stories. She is a member of The Society of Authors (UK).