* * * * *
Three days later, Seishinna dropped her speed, hurtling towards the circle of seven planets that surrounded the yellow-white star.
"Radio transmission source confirmed from second planet in the system," Specialist Maika announced.
"Are we in visual range?" Lier asked, moving forward in his chair.
"Yes, displaying magnified image in holo-monitor," the woman responded.
A small, mostly white planet with great swaths of blue ocean under the swirling cloud cover appeared in the monitor, the white terrain underneath dotted by patches of deep green and the crystal blue cracks of rivers.
"Magnifying source of radio waves," Maika continued, bringing up an image of a small city with an assortment of pure white and rich brown buildings oddly-shaped.
"It looks like they took simple organic shapes and replicated them," Chiyenn commented. "Better wind resistance?" he suggested off-handedly.
Suddenly the visual transmission was blocked by a drifting cloud.
"Shall we try to contact them, sir?" Maika suggested.
"What are you reading from the moon?" Lier asked Specialist Mandasse.
"Nothing—no sign of life. Maybe the visual we received came from the surface?" he arched an eyebrow.
"Hmmm. All right, let's send a message—"
"I'm afraid they've beat us to it, sir," Maika interrupted.