AntiGravity

"This is Commander Xenon of..." Suddenly there was a burst of noise over our speakers. I froze. We all stared at the walls, startled, as more strange noises emanated from our speakers and the foreign ship drew ever closer. As minutes went by, it seemed that the noises slowly became more intelligible.

"This is absolutely marvellous." Said Ime, continuing to stare around the room in awe. "They are attempting to make contact in our language."

"Can you understand what they are saying?" I asked, hoping my anxious jitters didn't show through.

"Not yet, but I feel as though if we give them enough time we all will understand them."

"Well let's hope they don't need too much time." Ocean was sitting by one of the monitors, glancing back and forth between the window and the controls. "They're approaching fast and I don't like it."

"Is there any way we can reverse out and away?" I asked.

"Let me-" the room suddenly went still as the speakers became eerily quiet. I held my breath, waiting. The speakers crackled once, and a clear, musical voice began to emanate from them.

"Commander Xenon?" I picked up the radio.

"Commander Xenon speaking. Please state your business." I ended the transmission, waiting for a few moments before I realized I was holding my breath again. I let out a slow, controlled exhale. I snapped to attention as the speakers crackled again.

"Pleasure to meet you. Welcome to our ship." There were a few moments of stillness in the cockpit.

"No!" Yelled Ocean, suddenly beginning to furiously work the controls. A cavity opened up in the ship before us, revealing a vast chamber filled with bright red light. "I can't control the ship!" screamed Ocean, flicking switches even more furiously as we were pulled into the chamber as though by a string.

"They're using a magnetic field. It's interfering with the electronic systems - I can't reach Earth." Our chief computer scientist, Kenyo, was looking at me helplessly. "There is nothing we can do."

"Then we will do what we can." I said. "We wait." I paused at the front of the room, before remembering we were on a shuttle. "I believe it will be in our best interest to have our space suits ready."

---

A few moments later, the six of us were waiting by the airlock in our space suits, ready to face whatever was going to greet us on the other side of the door. I heard some mechanical whirring and a few clicks, before the door began to slowly slide open in front of us. I braced myself for what may be on the other side, only to be greeted by an empty hallway bathed in red light. I pushed myself off the wall, gently floating out into the hallway of the new ship.

"Everybody good?" I asked over the radio.

"All clear." Came the response from Ime.

"Doing snazzy." Florence was leaning on one of the walls to the side of the airlock, examining what seemed to be a cushion placed vertically on the wall.

"Can you-" I was cut off by a distant sound from the hallway. We all paused, still. Listening. There were soft whooshes of air, slowly getting louder as it seemed that someone - or multiple someones - approached us.

"Hang tight." I said into the mic. Holding my right hand up with the fist closed. It seemed that the sounds were now very close.

"Moment of truth." Whispered Kenyo. I stared at the entrance to the hallway, noticing how curious it was that there seemed to be another cushion placed there. A few seconds later, a being came flying out into our field of vision, landing on the cushion with a soft thud. I was momentarily disoriented as I tried to figure out what I was looking at.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Whispered Florence. I was still not entirely comprehending. The creature in front of us was human, with long slender limbs and hair tied up in three knots on top of its head. It smiled at us, a warm welcoming smile.

"Commander Xenon?" said a musical voice, slightly softer than the one we heard over our ship's speakers.

"That's me." I said, allowing myself to drift closer to this mesmerizing creature. It gave me a brilliant smile, waiting for me to drift closer. When I was a few feet away the creature - humanoid - gently shifted away from the cushion, allowing me to land on it with a soft puff of air. They're landing cushions that they use to get around in zero gravity. I thought, realizing the ingenuity of that idea. I looked up into a face similar to my own, both of us bathed in red light. The creature smiled at me again.

"Commander Xenon." It said, gesturing towards me.

"Yes." I breathed, feeling that the moment was absolutely surreal.

"Quinn." The creature said, gesturing to itself. I almost gawked.

"Quinn?" I asked incredulously. "You are Quinn?"

"Quinn!" The creature said with a bright smile, raising a hand as if to wave, but holding it still. I mimicked the action, hoping that it was some sort of greeting. Quinn gently pressed a palm against mine, holding it there for a few seconds before taking it away.

"Commander?" Quinn asked.

"Yes! Commander. Commander Xenon." I said, gesturing enthusiastically to myself.

"Commander." Repeated Quinn again, this time pointing towards the hallway. "Commander." Quinn made a gesture towards me, extending both arms and then pulling them back in as if to pull someone in for a hug.

"Commander." Said Quinn again. Then, edging past me and placing both feet against the landing pad, Quinn launched towards the other end of the hallway, landing with a gentle thud and moving to make room for me.

"I think you need to follow it." Said Florence, coming up beside me. "Genius idea with these landing pads, huh?"

"Yeah." I said, still partially in shock at the discovery that these aliens not only seemed friendly, but that they also looked human. I shifted my clunky suit towards the landing pad, and with some effort managed to launch myself after Quinn. Seemingly delighted that we were following, Quinn began to move further down the hallway, landing pad to landing pad. I followed, with the rest of the team coming up after me, one by one. I hoped that despite the electromagnetic field around us, at least one of our cameras was able to record all this.

Everything around us was bathed in red light, although that was the only remotely-terrifying thing about this ship. All around us the metal of the ship glistened, with curved edges and sleek shapes forming the interior decorations. There appeared to be strange plants fixated into cavities in the walls, their fern-like leaves floating like tentacles around them. I paused on a landing pad, admiring the flowers next to me. Their petals, just like those of flowers on earth, were following the Fibonacci sequence in number.

"Some plant lovers, eh?" I heard from my radio.

"These are incredible." Came a reply. "I wonder if they release oxygen?"

"Let's hope so." I said, joining the conversation. "I'd love to get out of this suit and into a breathable atmosphere."

"Atmosphere." I paused, wondering what Ime meant by that comment.

"Yes, that is what I said." I answered, waiting.

"With all due respect commander, this ship is an atmosphere. It is spherical, and contains life inside it just like an actual atmosphere. It's like a planet that was flipped inside out, with the hard matter on the outside protecting the life inside. " I froze as I drifted into the next landing pad with a soft poof.

"This is incredible." I muttered, looking around me with my jaw hanging open. It really was like these aliens had synthesized an entire planet and flipped it inside out. There were hexagonal shapes on the walls that appeared to be see through, behind which I saw what seemed to be flowing water. There were regularly placed air vents around the plants, sucking air around some and blowing air around others. I noticed repetition in which plants were typically surrounded by suction and those whose leaves waved slightly in the wind. How interesting I thought.

"Commander." Came Quinn's sign-song voice. I looked over to find the alien paused beside a large door. It seemed to gesture to me to move closer, and as I did Florence hit the landing pad behind me. I made space beside me so Florence could float into it as the others landed behind us one by one. After we were all there I looked at Quinn.

"Commander Xenon." The alien nodded to me. Then, placing a hand on what seemed to be a hand scanner, gestured to the opening door. "Commander Alex."

I looked beyond the opening to find four figures floating in space, looking at us. They had the same slender build as Quinn, with the same sleek bodysuits and three knots of hair on their heads, arranged in a triangle. All except one, who instead had four knots or hair, arranged in a rhombus with one of the acute angles facing the face. This figure cocked its head at me, the humanoid eyes glistening in the red light as it examined me, before looking over my crew.

"Commander Xenon." The figure said after a moment in what I recognized to be the voice I had heard over our ship's speakers. "I am Commander Alex. Welcome aboard." I stared wide-eyed, mouthing a few words in disbelief before Florence nudged me to re-gain my composure.

"Thank you." I nodded at the figure, not sure what else to say as my head spun with questions. One of the others gently nudged the commander's arm, saying something in their language. Alex looked back at me quickly, giving me a small bow. Then, gesturing for the figure to recede, said "We mean no pain to you. We have travelled to see your son."

"Our son?" I asked, and the commander's face scrunched.

"Your star?" The red glow around us dimmed, and the light from the window became brighter, until we were in full sunlight. The aliens turned towards it, seemingly mesmerized by the light, and my mouth hung open in shock. They resembled people, yes, but in they looked wrong. Their slim bodies looked as though they were deflated, without any visible muscles, and their protruding bones seemed to be significantly smaller than ours. They also appeared to be taller than us - one of them verging on what looked like seven feet - and although they had various hair colours, all of their skin was a shade of pastel green.

"Alex!" Said Quinn, gesturing to me as the commander turned around.

"My apologies. " The response was aimed at me and followed by another small bow. "We rarely see stars this complete." The window dimmed again and the red glow returned to the room. "Now that we have introduced and stated our purpose, can we assist your ship?" There was a murmur between the others, and after a moment commander Alex turned back to me. "My apologies. How can I assist your ship? Our language seems to differ from yours."

"We do not need your assistance. Our mission was to greet you and find out your purpose for being near our planet." I replied, racking my brain for what to do next. Normally, I would radio back for further instructions to Houston, but since our connection was limited to our immediate team members I was unsure of what to do next. Had these been hostiles, we would have engaged in fight or flight, or had they been wanting to head to our planet I would have questioned their motives, but as it was with them simply drifting by to see our sun, I couldn't think of a protocol that even remotely applied to this situation. Thankfully, Ocean piped up in my ear.

"Commander, we must return to ship. Our oxygen tanks are not infinite." I looked down at my wrist to see 60% oxygen left.

"Thank you for the greeting, Commander Alex." I turned to the shape that floated ever so slightly in my direction. I was confident that in a few more seconds I would be able to reach out my hand to touch it, and the thought scared and thrilled me at the same time. "Unfortunately we must go back to our ship to refill our suits." I spoke with my hands, gesturing to the clunky space suit. Alex turned to the side, asking something from one of the aides.

"What filling do you need?"

"Oxygen." I said. Alex turned back to the aide, who handed over a small tablet. It was clear, and through it I could see an inscription with a circular chart. In a few moments the scrawl on the tablet changed to the latin alphabet, and as I reached over to take the tablet from Alex's hands, familiar words stared back at me.

ATMOSPHERE COMPOSITION

Oxygen: 46%

Nitrogen: 24%

Carbon Dioxide: 22%

Argon: 7%

Followed by a list of trace elements in the air. I could not believe it. I turned to Ocean, showing the tablet.

"Can we breathe in this?" I asked, incredulous.

"Theoretically yes, but I wouldn't trust their translation capabilities just yet." Came the answer, but I was already fiddling with my helmet. I yearned to see this world without the clunky helmet to block my vision and the three-fingered gloves to obstruct my hands.

"What are you doing?" Ocean screeched over all the other voices on the radio as I undid the latch on my helmet and gently pulled it off my head. Commander Alex's eyes widened with confusion and Quinn drifted away from me with what seemed to be fear.

"I am sorry." I said, raising my hands up with the palms out, hoping that it was also a gesture of surrender in their language. "I wanted to see if I could breathe." I took a deep inhale and immediately regretted it, feeling light headed with the high oxygen content of the air. I closed my eyes and felt arms steadying me as I took a couple of breaths, hoping that when I opened my eyes again my vision would clear up.

"Steady." Whispered Ime beside me, the voice no longer echoing around my head from the mic. "You will be alright."