Relic

2085/1/1 [Day 1 of Expedition Omega] Payload: 0 tons steel, 0 tons scrap electronics

I cannot contain my excitement. As I write this I am in my bunk onboard W.U. Skimmer, a satellite whose purpose is to use cutting edge technology to recycle debris that was left over after the first Space Corp. race. There is valuable scrap out there just waiting to be mined, and I feel lucky. I barely made it on the roster for this expedition. There were a lot of qualified candidates, but Captain Devereux took a quiet interest in me. In the expedition briefing I got the impression that he chose me because he saw some potential.

Tomorrow at 0800 is when we begin to look through a sea of silver dollars, reusable circuits, and modules. My job is to separate the incoming bulk into several categories. If it has any conductive wiring or circuitry, it goes into a catalog. We also separate, by metal, things large enough to be melted down. There was one more category, if it has any “undeniable interest”. I’m not sure what that means, but it was in the contract I signed before they flung me up here. I get the feeling questions aren’t too welcome, but maybe I’ll fall upon some answers in time. Who knows maybe someone will want to read what I write in this little black journal.

…

2085/3/30 [Day 89 of Expedition Omega] Payload: 240 tons steel, 100 tons scrap electronics

I awoke around 0700 to the intercom blaring. The onboard computer showed that a cluster of metal was approaching our orbit. After using the drones to collect the cluster I found that the airlock was acting up. I let Devereux know about the new cargo and the airlock issue. His eyebrows raised and he put me on duty to go through the “knot” as he called it.

The kitchen was serving powdered eggs and rehydrated potatoes. I sat with Wilson and Patel and we spoke of what to do with the money we would earn out here. We all have something worth living for.

2085/4/1 [Day 91 of Expedition Omega] Payload: 270 tons steel, 115 tons scrap electronics

That knot of twisted metal from the other day turned out to be a bigger pickle than I expected. After the airlock was repaired, I lifted it into the observation bay with the crane and began going through protocol. I soon found that the cluster was tightly bound by a significant electromagnetic force. The charge kept interfering with the equipment, so I only got about halfway into it before quitting time yesterday. The scrap I managed to peel off was worth more than the last few days. I also found one rare module that might fetch a good price. I hope there will be a few more gems hidden in there.

2085/4/2 [Day 92 of Expedition Omega] Payload: 288 tons steel, 131 tons scrap electronics, ???

This morning I made progress on the knot. I got it down to a layer of thin metal sheets wrapped around some unknown object. The object’s surface pokes out here and there and has a strange, textured coating. The greenish, grey color is not like any of the bulk that has been brought in. What is clear is that it has strongly attracted the rest of this metal and has aggregated the knot. The shape, composition, and purpose of this thing remain unclear.

The stuff I brought in today put my earnings up quite a bit. That will please Devereaux. Lately, the Captain’s presence has been fleeting. I have so many questions for him, but I think he wants me to focus deeply on this knot.

2085/4/4 [Day 94 of Expedition Omega] Payload: 298 tons steel, 150 tons scrap electronics, relic

Using a laser torch I was able to pry the last few pieces of scrap off the knot today. Now that it is fully visible, I have taken to calling the central object the relic. Devereux assigned this job to me alone, but I don’t need a second opinion to know that it is ancient. It is completely distinct. The shape is that of a hexagonal prism, about a meter both in height and width. Totally solid. The only other discernable feature is a plaque with symbols that I have never seen before. There seem to be several parts to the plaque. There is a sequence of indecipherable symbols that seems random, and a simple binary message. I have copied some of the plaque on the next few pages.

…

2085/4/6 [Day 96 of Expedition Omega] Payload: 310 tons steel, 158 tons scrap electronics, relic

I can’t help but wonder at the purpose of such an object. I would bet the money I make off the knot that it was designed by an intelligent mind. More and more questions flit through my thoughts. What caused the clustering of space debris towards it? If it is as old as I think it is, how did it get there? Why do I feel so drawn to it?

Last night, after lights out, I went to the observation deck to look at it. I don’t know how long I was there, and I don’t remember returning to my bunk. I just remember the dark grey green. Whenever I picture the relic the image glows in my mind like smoldering coals. It reminds me of a time back on Earth when I was walking through the forest and found a perfectly formed arrowhead glimmering against a backdrop of ordinary stones. Like the arrowhead, the relic stands out like a sore thumb. Or better yet, an extra thumb. Something that shouldn’t be there, but it is.

2085/4/6 [Day 98 of Expedition Omega] Payload: relic, 315 tons steel, 179 tons scrap electronics

Yesterday I sent the sequence of symbols to Patel who is the onboard biologist/doctor. I noticed that the sequence was comprised of four symbols repeated in a long string, so I had an inkling that the symbols might be a fragment of a DNA sequence. Today I received confirmation that it is in fact a genome sequence. He wrote that, due to the obscurity of the symbols, it would require more time to pin down the exact genome represented.

Unfortunately, now that I have made some headway, Devereux has isolated himself in his quarters. Patel says that he needs to deal with leaders at the World Union breathing down his neck. They want us to remove enough space debris so that wealthy folks leaving Earth can look back at their home planet without all the detritus of a space faring planet.

2085/4/7 [Day 99 of Expedition Omega] Payload: 347 tons steel, 191 tons scrap electronics

I awoke to the intercom blaring again. When I arrived at the observation deck, I found that the relic was gone. I went by Devereux’s quarters and found him with two glasses of fine liquor. He had me close the door and offered me a glass. He then described his vantage on this scenario. He wanted me to sort this out on my own, without an authority to tell me when I am wrong. A learning lesson. A cherry on top. The lesson? Figure it out for yourself.

The cherry, of course was on top of the ice cream sundae that is the sum of twenty thousand dollars which came from the scrap off the knot alone. Devereux had read my file. He saw that I had to pay off a ton of debt and decided that I was the candidate worthy of the work.

He said that other knots had been found. There were at least twelve “totems”, as they were called, in varying orbits. A team of analysists figured out their purpose years ago, but the public discarded it all as a conspiracy theory. The totems are meant to automatically adjust the Earth/Moon orbit. As it were, they act as polarity contingents and are meant to keep the moon in Earth’s orbit a bit longer than it would naturally. The message on the side has been taken as instructions. The totem, if released with the proper velocity at the set coordinates, would resume its orbit.

As for the sequence of symbols, it had already been found to be Homo Sapiens DNA. Probably the first go at high civilization on Earth. He suggested that the DNA sequence was something of a signature for the people who manufactured these totems. From what Devereux tells me, they had technology comparable to ours. Their goal was to keep the moon close enough to cause tidal effects for an extra few millennia. All of this, without being flashy. They were not trying to show off. They did it for the good of humanity. The least we can do is clean up after we make a mess.