Underwater Landing

Nadia was the first of the crew members to spot the object in the deep ocean. Her team had been alerted of an asteroid impact in the middle of the Pacific. Now they were 25,000 feet underwater, crammed in a small submarine headed to investigate the object.

When they found the meteorite it was covered by a mass of small pink creatures. While everybody in the ship was looking at the video feed, Nadia alone was looking directly out of a small window hatch.

“Amphipods” said the biologist on board. “Looks like a colony has made our meteorite their home”.

To Nadia the animals looked like shrimps.

As the submarine got close the creatures all swam away. When they had dispersed, Nadia realized she was not looking at a meteorite. The object had a perfectly geometrical appearance, somewhat rounded with walls shaped like pentagons.

The device was open on one side. The submarine move closer and pointed its camera towards the inside. Hundreds more of the small creatures came out swimming away. The video feed showed a most bizarre complex network of metallic pipes inside the object. This was clearly the work of very complex engineering.

“What if that meteorite is a spaceship?” said Nadia to no one in particular. “Didn’t the guys from the observatory say the asteroid didn’t follow an expected the orbit?”

“Come on, Nadia, be serious.” It was one of the young engineers. “A satellite? Maybe. But a spaceship from outer space that crashes into the ocean?”

Nadia looked out the hatch. Some of the shrimps were swimming towards their ship. The little creatures stuck themselves to the hull of the submarine. Some walked over the glass of the hatch she was looking out from. More and more kept coming. It was a crazy thought but, to Nadia, the little bugs seemed to be coming directly towards them. And with serious force.

“Maybe it didn’t crash,” Nadia said looking out the hatch. “Maybe the spaceship intended to land on sea. What if there was a whole colony of aliens inside of the ship?”

By now the hatch in front of her was almost covered in bugs. From up close they really didn’t look like shrimps to Nadia anymore.

“And what if we’ve made them angry?” Nadia asked raising her voice. “Really angry.”

The video feed broke off. Nadia couldn’t see anything from outside through the hatch either. All she could see were the little bugs hitting at the glass and a crack beginning to form in its surface.