Ensign Weber was glancing at the autopilot on the bridge when he noticed a spark out of the corner of his eye. He was one of two ratings on the bridge as the rest of the ship slept. Lieutenant Moore, the officer of the watch, had gone below for a moment.

Looking forwards to where he had seen the captain walk past not an hour beforehand, the ensign was confused to see a bright orange circle appearing on the slowly rolling foredeck. Above the circle, a hazy, almost invisible line shot straight up, moving as the deck rolled, as though a small spotlight were shining on the deck from the stars above.

As he watched, his confusion turned to alarm as the circle started to glow bright orange, and its center started to melt, the half-inch thick steel of the deck apparently turning to liquid.

Instinctively, his hand reached for the red alarm button on the helm station and he flipped its cover open and punched it. As the siren wailed throughout the ship, he executed a textbook turn into the ocean’s chop causing water to break briefly over the foredeck and hopefully quell the apparent small fire starting on the decking.

But the splashes of water seemed to vaporize as they hit the beam that was lancing down from above and the line seemed to track the boat’s movements, keeping itself glued to the orange circle as it melted through to the deck below.

As the alarm rang through the ship Captain James Hawkson, like the rest of his crew, was leaping from his bunk and pulling on his clothes. In another part of the ship, a confused ensign stared upward from his bunk as a glowing hole appeared in the decking that formed the roof of his cabin. His three roommates were moving slowly away from it and from the ominous glow that was appearing on the deck below it.

As the frightened crewman edged around the small cabin’s walls to join his friends at its door, a lurch of the boat sent him stumbling into the strange light that seemed to be shining through the hole. The others stared in horror as his entire body flared bright red and burst into searing flame.

“Terry!” mouthed one of his friends, stunned into silence as he watched the unfortunate man’s body rapidly disintegrate, falling to join the smoldering orange circle that was now rapidly eating through the floor of their cabin.