“It’s two hundred kilometers away,” Lana said, checking their course.

“Any idea what we’re looking at yet?” Bulco asked.

“No. All I can say is that it gives off an energy signature about a thousand times weaker than that giant rock, but we’ll soon find out. A hundred and fifty kilometers.”

The distance closed fast, and after several more minutes, Nori eased them down. “Okay, this is close enough, I’m setting us down and--”

“No wait,” Lana said excitedly. “Keep going.”

Bulco frowned. “What are you talking about, girl? If someone’s out there they’ll spot us for sure, if they haven't already.”

“No they won’t,” the dark-haired woman said confidently. “Trust me, just keep flying until we’re over it.”

Nori shrugged. “You’re the Expert.” She pushed her fingers forward and their speed increased. On the main viewscreen, a small dot appeared on the horizon.

“Is that …” Bulco narrowed his eyes.

“I think it is,” Nori said slowly as the dot grew larger.

Lana grinned widely. “Yep. It’s one of our rovers. From the Chang’e 4 Chinese expedition, I think.”

The ship sped over the small robotic vehicle. The picture froze, and they could clearly see a blinking green dot below its solar panels.

“I guess it’s still working.” Lana smiled. “It probably feeds on solar energy during the day and sends signals during the night. I guess we’re lucky our rubbish sensors managed to pick it up.”

“If it’s still working, I guess that means the Tec hasn’t reached the moon,” Bulco commented.

“Looks like it,” Nori concluded. “Lana, now that we know what small and big energy readings look like for real, what can you tell us about the last one?”

“It’s about sixty percent the intensity of the meteor or six hundred times more powerful than the rover.”

“Sounds like just about the right amount for alien technology, don’t you think?” Nori said.

“Yeah, let’s go for it,” Bulco grunted.

“It’s on the other side of the moon. It’ll take us half an hour to get there.”

“Alright, you get us there,” Lana said, getting out of her chair. “I’m going to try and figure out what this rock is made of.”

“How the hell are you going to do that?” the Engineer asked. “We don’t have microscopes here or their alien equivalent,” he paused then added. “That we know of.”

“You’ll see,” Lana said mysteriously and went toward the quarters.

She continued toward the back door, leading to the shuttle bay. The room that hosted the shuttle was empty. Lana placed the rock on the floor and stepped outside. She closed the door and activated the small light console that usually monitored the shuttle.

“Now let’s see …” she said to herself. “Nori unlocked all the ship’s system so I should be able to … just press here and … yes!”