Command Decision (Project Gliese 581g #1) by S.E. Smith Read Free Book Online Page A

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    Julia nodded her head. “This is the last photograph that was taken an hour ago. I didn’t notice there were others at first. They are in perfect alignment,” she responded, touching the tablet and bringing up the image to the upper right of the screen.
    Josh studied the grainy image. They should reach the object in another few days. He had been in contact with Earth through the communication beacons that they had deployed as they moved away from the earth. The technology for it had been developed by Mei’s father’s company. The return messages from earth had been clear, do whatever was necessary to document the object, retrieve it if he could, and return to Earth as soon as possible.
    “Have you been able to determine if there is any activity?” Josh asked Sergi.
    “No,” Sergi replied. “Nothing yet. I need to get closer.”
    Josh nodded. “How soon until we are close enough to do a spacewalk, Ash?” He asked, not taking his gaze off the image in front of him.
    “Two days,” Ash replied.
    Josh turned away from the screen. “I want everything ready for a first contact. Sergi, you and Mei make sure the equipment for a spacewalk is ready. I also want the escape pods checked. Julia, when we are close enough, I want you to send out the ROSV.” He waited for Julia to acknowledge his reference to the Remotely Operated Space Vehicles they had on board before he continued. “We will need all the information we can get. I won’t jeopardize anyone. Until we have a handle on what we are up against, then I’ll make a decision on the next step. Ash, I want you to work with Julia on the ROSV.”
    “I’ll double check all the equipment and tethers to make sure everything is working correctly,” Julia replied in a quiet voice, her eyes glimmering with excitement.
    “Proceed with caution,” Josh said, turning to look at the image again.
    “This is a piece of pie,” Sergi said with a grin.
    “Cake, Sergi! How many times do I have to tell you?” Mei retorted with a shake of her head and a rueful grin. “And you were picked because they said you were smart!”
    “It is because I like pie better,” Sergi responded, winking at Josh and Ash as he turned to follow Mei.
    “I’ll go help those two. You never know what they will get into,” Ash replied with a grin.
    Josh and Julia watched as the other three disappeared through the corridor. He turned and looked down at Julia. Her face was glowing and her eyes reflected her excitement.
    “Your father would be very proud of you,” Josh commented.
    Julia nodded. “This is a spectacular discovery. It’s been almost two years since my dad died, but I feel like he is here with me,” she said with a self-conscious laugh. “When he first discovered this, I wasn’t sure I believed it was real. At first, it was a long battle to get anyone to believe him. Once he had proof and other scientists confirmed that he wasn’t a crazy old man, it still took a while to get support for funding the mission. Mei’s father was instrumental in achieving that. He knew and respected my dad. Our government didn’t want the Chinese or Russian governments to get their hands on any advanced technology if they could help it, but this was too large a mission for just one country to handle.”
    Josh nodded. “We still don’t know what it is,” he stated with a serious expression. “We need to make sure it doesn’t pose a danger to the Earth.”
    “There’s no telling how long it has been here,” Julia said with a shake of her head. “It is hard to wrap my head around the proof that we aren’t alone. Who left this? What is it? Why is it here? Where did they go?”
    “Are they friendly?” Josh inserted.
    Julia laughed. “Oh, ye of doom and gloom. Don’t you understand? This could answer so many questions!" She insisted.
    “Or create more,” he said in a hard voice. “It’s my responsibility to keep everyone on this mission alive. We don’t do anything until I’m