The meteor-beaten mining ship rounded the first of the giant asteroids beyond Jupiter. Thrusters fired, screens flickered, and weary souls gathered in the cramped control cabin. Captain Sandoval looked out of the forward portal at the huge, odd-shaped pebble in the black sky as it slowly rotated. It took up most of the field of view and made him, as well as the three other crew members, feel small and vulnerable.

 

The captain turned to the navigator.

 

“Anders?”

 

Beyond the giant rock, another large object had immediately come into view, lit feebly by the distant sun. This, though, did not look natural.

 

Anders magnified the image on his screen as much as he could and shook his head.

 

“I have no idea, sir.”

 

“Is it a ship? Try calling them.”

 

All attempts at contact returned only static.

 

“It’s drifting, sir. No running lights or exhaust from engines or thrusters,” offered Anders.

 

“I wonder if they were trying to reach our rock.” Mission specialist Driscoll moved to look at the navigation screen alongside Anders.

 

As they moved closer, it was obvious that it was slowly tumbling out of control. It was a dull bronze color, wedge-shaped, with long, spear-like rods projecting from each surface.

 

“Sir, I’ve never seen a ship like that before,” said Anders.

 

“Neither have I.” Captain Sandoval looked around at the others.

 

They edged to within five hundred meters of the mysterious ship and held station. Tiptree, the oldest of the tiny crew, pushed himself to the forward portal and squinted out.

 

“It looks like there’s an opening in the midsection. Could be an exhaust, or maybe an airlock.”

 

“Why don’t we see if we can board her?” Driscoll asked what the others were also thinking. “Looks to me like the door’s open.”

 

The captain, with a decisive intake of breath, said, “Tiptree, we’ll head over there. Suit up.”

 

* * *

 

“Check suit systems.” The captain laid his hands on the side of the vessel. Small thrusters on their spacesuits had positioned them next to the opening. Tiptree took a laser cutter from his belt and headed into the shadowy opening with the captain just behind him. Helmet lamps illuminated a closed hatch in front of them about a meter square.

 

Tiptree activated the laser cutter and started in his suit as the hatch shot open in a dizzying instant. He hadn’t even pointed the instrument at the hatch door.

 

The two men looked at each other.

 

“Like you said, Tiptree, the door’s open.”

 

They floated inside the tight space and were confronted by another open hatch and a single circular opening, just big enough for them to climb into. They pulled themselves along a tight passageway using seemingly random wall indentations. The weight of their bodies began to increase as they eased forward; some kind of artificial gravity was clearly having a gradual effect on them. An unexpected drop at the end of the passage made Sandoval fall to the floor of a larger space. Raising his head, he gasped and froze. Six strange-looking skeletons lay before him.

 

“Jesus.” The captain moved closer, shifting his head from side to side so the lamp could give them a wider view.

 

“They’re not human,” choked Tiptree. “Look!”

 

He pointed at the elongated skull and many teeth in the wide jaw of the figure nearest to them. They were smaller than humans, with four short appendages, a curved spine and a long tail. They lay in a circle on the floor.

 

“What the hell?” Sandoval looked around at the strange, grim sight. He increased the brightness of his lamp. Not all were lying down. One of the figures appeared to be sitting with his head bowed toward the empty centre of the circle.

 

Suddenly, there was a jerk and a flash of white light. Hundreds of wire-thin red lights spread around them, up and over all the surfaces like veins. A low-frequency hum grew quickly into a loud rumble, and the ship came to life, seemingly triggered by their presence. A yellow glowing orb appeared and hovered silently in the middle of the six skeletons, increasing in size and intensity over the space of a few seconds.

 

“Sir, we’ve detected a forward motion in the vessel. You need to get out!” It was a panicked Anders.

 

The two men turned and pushed themselves through the tight passageway leading to the airlock.

 

“Sir, you’re already forty kilometres away from your original position. We estimate a thousand in the next minute.”

 

“We’re out!” Shouted Sandoval as he and Tiptree spun uncontrollably.

 

“We’ll pick you up. I’ll send out Driscoll with a grapple.”

 

* * *

 

The four men were once again gathered around the navigation screen. The mysterious ship was gone.

 

“What the hell did we just experience?” Sandoval looked at Tiptree. “What were they?”

“I don’t know, sir. Animals. Alien animals.”

 

“It looked to me like they knew they were going to die. That ship may have been drifting for thousands of years. Or millions.” The captain looked at Anders. “Do you know which way they’re headed?”

 

“Yes, sir. Toward the sun. Directly into the sun.”

 

There was a prolonged silence.

 

Anders brought up the ship’s projected trajectory on the navigation screen. They all watched as the ancient ship raced, velocity doubling now once every minute, to its final resting place.