The Amulet XI: Endless

Commander Davitz sat at the observation deck of the U.S.S. Vista, arms folded across his chest, staring blankly at the anomaly that hung, motionless in space directly in front of the ship: just where it had remained for the past 74 hours. Davitz twiddled his thumbs, sighed defeated, and tapped his control panel. Up sprung a complete readout of the past three days with folders, files, and lists detailing everything he and his crew had tried in an attempt to communicate. The info hung in the air like a formless computer screen and the Commander was able to manipulate the 'desktop' with mere movements of his hand; he did just that with fluid, dreamy flicks and twists once again mulling over every piece of info he'd already seen a hundred times.

Strangely all he and his entire crew knew was what was directly in front of him: the mysterious object was disc-shaped (that was obvious), but beyond that it was layered with undulating runes of a completely indeterminate origin that ringed the inner surface. It was a dull silver, like brushed chrome that had been left to slightly corrode. The center (or 'eye' as it had come to be known) was round and of such a deep, blood red that it was almost frightening to look at. The color was one thing, but the fact that it also pulsated like a heartbeat was even more disturbing. In fact, not 'like' a heartbeat, but matched precisely to whomever sat in the chair looking out into space. Right now it was thrumming in rhythm to Davitz's own. That was eerie like nothing else.

The chimes that announced a visitor blooped.

"Come." Davitz announced both bored and irritated.

The First Officer, Captain Andrea James marched in stiffly and regal, "Sir. We have some new information on the structure."

Davitz's brows furrowed, "I bet. Let me guess: something else painfully obvious, Captain?"

The Captain frowned, belayed by the smile in her eyes, "No, Sir. In fact, you actually have to see this to believe it. It caught us a bit off guard."

The Commander looked slightly more interested and beckoned his Captain forth.

Captain James took position to the left of the observation chair, touched a few buttons on the control pad, and the info display was replaced with an audio conversion program. Within the program were several digital dials and sliders used to adjust pitch, volume, vocal depth, and the standard bass and trebles. On the top of the simulated screen were the words: Cannibal Corpse.

"I'm confused Captain. What is this signifying? And, while I'm at it, what is a 'Cannibal Corpse'.

The Captain grinned, "This is an audio readout and adjustment program we use to understand foreign and alien audio. But, it can be used to play selections as well."

The Commander nodded, losing interest rapidly.

"As we... the science officers and technical operators... spent some time attempting to throw different types of communication at the anomaly, we eventually stumbled -quite accidentally and on a mere whim- on something. It seems to respond to a specific type of music from the 20th Century called 'Death Metal'. Watch..."

Captain James offered headphones to the Commander, but he waved them off to a 'suit yourself' shrug. The Captain punched the button that began the track and horrific sounds belched from the internal speakers. She then tapped the button that would force sound waves out from the frequency scrambler on the ship straight to the disk. What happened was both breathtaking and absolutely revolting...

To Be Continued...