The spacecraft entered the solar system on a highly elliptical orbit, appearing like a comet in the night sky, if anyone were watching. Passing close to Mercury as it neared the sun its enormous size became apparent, its length almost exceeding Mercury's radius. Even closer to the sun, its ceramic skin glowed white hot as it accelerated rapidly, driven by the sun's powerful gravity, to reverse its path out of the solar system, passing close to the Earth. At its closest approach within the lunar orbit, a segment detached; powerful engines decelerated the object to the point where it was captured by the Earth's gravity and began to fall. Powerful beams of light preceded the objects impact on the Earth's surface, softening the Earth's crust so that the object disappeared beneath the surface, covered by molten rock. Prior to impact, a small object was ejected and proceeded under it's own power, moving west over a barren desert landscape. It appeared briefly in the night sky over southern New Mexico before gently landing. Phase 1 was complete.
|
/ SCIFI Novels
|
What strange creature dwells in shadowed dark,
Spewing a shredded wailing bark, Reverberating off polished glass walls, Cold damp pit where spirit crawls. I shudder and shrink back with frosted breath, Repelled by odors of decay and death, A shiver of terror ascending my spine, Sweating tears of salty brine. |