“OK, possible conclusions, exactly. That’s my point, we really only have theories so far, there is no need to be so … agitated.”

“Captain, let me explain my concerns to you and I think you’ll see why I am so ‘agitated’…as you put it.” Laurie frowned at him.

“OK, I’m sorry. I’m just, well, maybe I’m a little agitated myself.”

“Look, there is only one thing that would return no signal to the probe that I am aware of. The probe has a very wide range of scanning ability, that is how you all designed it, after all; and, well, the only thing I can think of that would not show up, I guess, is some kind of superconductive material.”

James frowned and she continued.

“When a superconductor is fully functional…and bear in mind we’ve only been able to do this in lab conditions with a separate power source cooling the material…it absorbs…or rather it conducts, pretty much all energy. So if you were looking at a perfect superconductor it would look pitch black, because it would be conducting all the light, not reflecting any of it.

“Now, here is where it becomes a little more disturbing: as I said, only a perfect superconductor would absorb all wavelengths and all energy, but we don’t know how to make a perfect superconductor. They are purely theoretical. But what we are seeing here, well it looks like … a perfect superconductor.”

“I don’t like where you’re going with this, Doctor.” said James, looking at the pictures in his hands.

“Oh, I know, James, trust me, I know. I’ve made a career out of staying calm in the face of overly excited scientists. That is precisely why the president trusts me to give him balanced advice. But combine that thought process with the fact that this object we have found is more than likely the object we tracked from deep space to this spot and we can’t help but go down a pretty disturbing road.”

She paused. James glared at the images in his hands like they were pictures of his own funeral and Laurie bit her lower lip as she watched him absorbing it all. She had an impulse to desist, to leave him alone, but her own anxiety would not let her and she spoke once more, more softly this time, “But that is not all of it, is it, James?”

He shook his head, black or no, the image still gave them another key piece of information: the objects’ shape.

“Now, James, tell me, what does that shape look like to you?”

“Two halves.” he said.

“Two halves of what, James?” she prompted.