A beep, which was barely audible over the rumbling ship, drew Peterson's eyes back to the console screen.

Gravity engaged...

Thud! Willard crashed to the floor, as did Robert. Everyone else had made it to a chair and Peterson knew they were feeling just as he did, sick with the sudden return of gravity. But also relief. He looked at the screen and wrung his sweating hands together.

Status check in 3...2...1...

Optimal atmosphere...

Optimal pressure...

Optimal gravity...

All systems functional...

Harris's voice boomed a command. "Take us into higher orbit!"

"Already on it!" Choi said.

Peterson watched through the clear ceiling as the approaching orbs began to move away, heading down. But he knew it wasn't the orbs moving. Surveyor's upward motion just made them look that way. Still, he couldn't help but think the mini-missiles had been aiming for the ship. But it was impossible to prove. It was most likely that they had witnessed a natural phenomenon not yet observed by astronomers.

Astrophysics wasn't Peterson's field, but he knew enough to compile several theories on how the bright spheres had been created and how they were spewed into space. Jupiter alone contained so many mysteries that Peterson felt overwhelmed when he considered them. Of course, theories, while useful, are not conclusive. To really know what the orbs were, he'd have to observe them again and again, until true scientific data could be gathered.

And he knew for a fact that he'd be happy never seeing one of those things again.

Peterson let out a long breath as the rest of the explosive lights disappeared beneath the Surveyor's higher orbit. The shaking ceased. The noise dissipated. Everything, except for a few blinking warning lights, was back to normal.

The crew slowly climbed to their feet. They hovered around Harris and Choi, who were still seated at their consoles, breathing heavily. Choi punched a few keys on the console and switched on the autopilot.

Willard leaned close to Choi. "Did the electromagnetic shields hold?"

A sudden look of concern washed over Choi and she worked the keyboard with fast fingers. A diagnostic flashed onto the screen. Her shoulders sank with relief as she read the text. "A few failures, but the backup system kicked in. Shouldn't be too hard to fix. We're okay."

Peterson noticed that Willard didn't appear too convinced.

Connelly put her hand on the back of Harris's chair, stabilizing herself. "Please," she said, "someone tell me you know what just happened."

Choi looked over her shoulder and spoke, "They were charged particles…very large. Contact with the hull appeared to cause an explosive reaction."

"I know all that," Connelly said. "What I don't know, is what they were."