Claimed: Unchartered Territory Read Free Page A

glimpse of what was possibly a planet. Dallas paused the rotation cycle to move the probe in for a closer inspection of the far off world.
    “It appears to be a planet,” she all but muttered not sure if she were doing so for herself or the mission control team.
    There was a long silence.
    “Is that…” Bobby trailed off but they were seeing the same transmission so Dallas knew what he was about to say.
    “Water,” she supplied. “It looks like a large body of water and land formations.”
    Like earth, but different. From their vantage they could glean various colors, huge amounts of orange intermixed in some areas with green. Could it represent vegetation? If, so what other sort of life could the planet sustain.
    “Is that right, am I seeing the makings of plant life?” Bobby asked.
    “It’s only speculation for now, we’ll have to send the rover through to the surface to be certain,” she clarified stamping down the excitement bubbling inside her at the find. “First, I want to send the probe on a rotation of this hemisphere.”
    “Roger that Dallas.”
    With new command inputs for the probe, she was in the process of executing the surveillance protocols when there was a sudden flash from the planet’s surface.
    The screen went dark.
    All transmission ended.
    Dallas could hear the scurrying of feet mixed with confused conversation in the mission control tower.
    “What happened?” Bobby asked.
    “Not sure,” was all she could provide as she went through a system check then attempted to bring the probe back online.
    Nothing worked. For good measure she ran through the diagnostics again and made several more unsuccessful tries at restoring control of the probe.
    She slumped back in her command seat feeling as if she’d just run a marathon. “It’s gone.”
    “How soon can we launch the rover?”
    Dallas could practically feel Bobby’s anticipation through space.
    “We should analyze the data we have first before attempting the final launch.”
    “Of course, but how long are we talking? A few hours?”
    “More like a day or two. Something interfered with that probe and we need to know what we missed.”
    “Let’s aim for a day then,” he insisted but she knew he was only parroting the order of their superiors as it flashed across his monitor.
    Her thoughts shifted from the anxious group of people back on earth to what might have caused the probe to malfunction. That flash was definitely something other than the probe burning up in the planet’s atmosphere. She had to have answers before proceeding; no way was she going to have her last mission be a bust because some suits wanted to go off half cocked.
    ***
    Chezar, Sector Two (the other side of the wormhole)
    “Watch Leader, sensors are picking up an unidentified object emerging from the aperture,” the centurion on duty reported.
    “Pull it up on screen,” his superior ordered.
    The object on the viewer generated a buzz of interest in the room.
    “Another sphere, this makes a second in less than two creons ,” the Watch Leader muttered before moving into the isolation room which also doubled as his private office. There he could patch in to his commanding leader for further instruction.
    Outside the tower room personnel were riveted by the projection of the alien device flying miles above the planet’s surface. There wasn’t a long wait before the Watch Leader stepped back into the tower room.
    “Bring the device in,” he ordered. “Looks like E’rth has sent us another treat.”
    ***
    A frustrated Dallas shifted away from the monitor she’d poured over for countless hours. Mission control would remain silent until their next appointed check-in or unless the team had new information to report. Her tired eyes could barely see straight, which only added to her annoyance.
    She checked the time and groaned at the lapse since she’d last bothered with it. Normally, she held to a sleep schedule which kept in line with the Eastern