The Tactile Silence
5. The Directive
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The "stare-down" lasted for three hours. The creature remained motionless outside the window, its filaments occasionally tapping the quartz: click, click, click.
"Houston, Artemis-1," Marcus spoke into the array. "The anomaly is stationary at Viewport 1. It is unresponsive to our internal light strobes. Requesting guidance."
The 2.6-second delay felt like a weight.
"Artemis-1, Houston. Ex-Bio and Engineering believe the anomaly is seeking a biological handshake. We are authorizing a localized EVA to facilitate this. We require one crew member to approach the anomaly for observation. Do not initiate kinetic contact; simply allow the asset to investigate. Proceed as per mission protocol."
Marcus reached out and toggled a switch on the console, severing the outgoing audio to Earth. The "Live" light blinked out, leaving them in the sterile, pressurized silence of the command deck.
The room went cold.
"They want one of us to walk out there," Marcus said, his eyes fixed on the black mass behind the quartz.
"Mission protocol?" Kaito asked, his voice thin and incredulous. "We have a protocol for this? Since when did we draft a procedure for shaking hands with possible alien life?"
"They're insane," Chen whispered. "They’ve invested half a trillion dollars in this base, and now they want to use us as bait."
"It's just exploring, Marcus," Miller said, though her voice lacked conviction. "Look at it. It hasn't tried to break the glass. Maybe it just needs to see what we are."
Marcus looked at his crew. "We need to talk about this. Properly."
He reached back to the console and flicked the toggle. The "Live" light pulsed red once more.
"Houston, Artemis-1," he said, his voice dropping into a rehearsed, clinical calm. "Copy all. We're coordinating the EVA schedule now. We'll get back to you shortly with a confirmed start time."
He clicked the audio off again before the delay could bring a response.
The tale continues...
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