Lingering quietly out near the galactic core was a small, cylindrical deep space survey ship. The vessel bore the markings of the Estra Corporation, one of the larger companies that make up the trading worlds. The trading worlds occupy the outer edges (away from the galactic core) of the Sagittaruis arm on the outskirts of known space. They are managed and controlled by a handful of galactic corporations that reside in those regions. These companies mine for the rarest of elements needed for space travel. The two small main drives along the ship's sides and the secondary one at its rear were silent. The craft was adrift among the bright stars of the outer edge away from the core of the Norma spiral arm. Its enormous sensor array was slowly sweeping back and forth. It seemed to be scanning the heavens with some desperation. “Damn, nothing!” Margo raged in anger as he pushed himself away from the ships scanner console. As he gently drifted away, he glared intently at the scanner with his dark narrow eyes. He floated there for a few moments in his cramped command cabin. His long brown hair danced in zero g around his face. His stubbly facial hair covered his small weak chin. Margo's soft young face did not seem to match his frail physique.  He grabbed one of the hand rails near his head and pulled himself over to the piloting console at the front of the ship. After hopping into the pilot seat, he quickly buckled into it. He sat there for a while trying to control his anger. Savagely he gave the control panel in front of him a bang with his clinched fist. Margo had been doing this job for a long time now. He had always hoped it would lead to large claims. The company was very generous and gave their survey scouts a small percentage of any claims they made for the company.  He always imagined being rich many times over by now after finding several valuable stakes. Unfortunately, he had only managed to find a few, very small claims. Fortune had seemed to elude Margo his entire life.      . “There should be something around here worth mining. I'm as close to the core as I dare go.” Margo muttered out loud. “The x-rays emanating from the super black hole at the galactic core are starting to interfere with the ships scanner.” Margo often talked to himself when he was alone on a long survey. He found it comforting in some odd way. He felt he needed to hear a human voice even if it was his own. After taking a quick look at the ship's tracking locater, he exclaimed, “Shit! I'm getting too close! I don't want to be fried to a crisp from all of this radiation.” Margo quickly typed a few commands into a keyboard and locked a course away from the galactic core into the ships computer. “Time to blow this joint,” he grumbled as he activated the ship's secondary drives. The small engine in the ship's rear flared to life. Slowly it turned the ship out toward open space. “Ok, now let's get the main sub-space drives on-line,” Margo said with a flip of a switch. The ship's two small main drives at each side of the ship came to life. They made a soft hum which only Margo could hear inside of his craft. A nearby cloud of gas began to glow. Slowly it began to pulsate. At first it was very dim, and then it began to grow brighter. Suddenly the lights in the ship started to flash erratically. The vessel's systems were going off-line one at a time. “What in Hell's name?” Margo said with anger and surprise. The old craft began to shake and shimmy. Margo calmly went over his controls, but they would no longer respond for him. The ship let out a loud moan. Some unknown force was causing stress on its hull. Margo thought it sounded as though the ship was screaming for its life. The engines were now dead, but the ship was still moving. It pivoted back around, and started to head toward the center of the galaxy. A blinding bright yellow light consumed the ship. Margo desperately tried to recover control, but there was nothing he could do. All of the ships systems were down. The yellow illumination from outside the ship began to flood his cabin and surround him. Then everything went dark. “Oh…,” moaned Margo. “What in the Hell hit me?” he asked as he rubbed his head. He found himself reaching for the controls yelling frantically, “Come on old girl! Don't let me down now!” Margo was startled and froze when he looked out his forward view port. He saw what looked like a desert landscape. A soft white glow from the purple sky above lit the landscape before him, but he could not see where the source of light was coming from. The ship, Margo thought, must have soft landed on a dry barren world, but there were no signs of any impact damage to it. Slowly he tried to get up from his seat to get a better look out, but something was holding him down. It was a thing he had not felt in a while. It was his old friend gravity. He unbuckled his seat belt and, with some effort, was finally able to pull himself up a little so he could get a better look. There was a storm brewing on the distant horizon. The sand started to blow as the wind began to pick up. Margo looked back down at his control console and he could see the ship had power again. With disappointment, he realized it was not nearly enough to get off the surface of this planet. Margo was shocked when he checked his navigational locater. “What? According to this, I'm directly at the center of the galaxy. But how?” he asked himself puzzled. “I should have been vaporized long before I would have even been sucked into the Milky Way's super massive black hole. This isn't possible! No planet should or could exist here!” It took Margo a few minutes to get accustomed to gravity again. He was able to get out of the pilot seat and creep over to a small side porthole window. Straining his muscles it took all the energy he had to look outside. He was still confronted with the same view of that impossible landscape before him. Once again that strange yellow glow suddenly surrounded him. This time it didn't knock him out. He could feel something inside of him as if it were tugging at his very soul. Margo was frightened and yet oddly calm. These feelings suddenly turned into physical action. Margo found a sudden strength rejuvenate his body. He now stood tall and erect. He found himself walking briskly over to the ship's main hatch. He then reached for the hatch controls. “What's going on?” He was trying with all his will to stop himself from opening the air lock. Just when he felt he had started to regain control and lower his hand there was yet another tug. His hand reached up and hit the control panel. Both of the double doors slid open. Margo could now smell the strange odors of this new alien world. He knew he had made no test to see if the atmosphere was breathable. However, it was too late now to matter. Somehow deep inside he knew it would be alright. He was once again in control of his body. He was feeling wonderful and strong. It was almost intoxicating. He stepped down and out onto the dusty planet's surface. The wind and sand blew across his face. The storm in the distance was building and heading towards him. In the distance, Margo could just make out a small hill. Then, as if on cue, a bright yellow glow suddenly exploded from the top of the hill. The light gently started to pulsate after he started to walk towards the hill. Something was pulling him to it. The yellow glow then began to grow brighter. Margo's fear was draining away. It was replaced by a feeling of numbness throughout his body. As he got closer, he could see what looked like a marble pillar about two meters tall. On top was what seemed to be a small black pillow. The blinding pulsating light was coming from an object on the pillow. Once Margo drew closer, the light dimmed to reveal a Crystal. Margo was now standing only a few meters away from it. He could see the Crystal was only a mere third of a meter long. Its sides were hexagonal with a point at one end. Even though it looked clear, it still continued to radiate a yellow glow. Under Margo's feet, at the base of the pillar, was a large metallic tablet. Strange unfamiliar symbols were etched into it. He stared down at it trying to understand its meaning. With a bright yellow flash, the text suddenly became readable to Margo. “Hum, I wonder…” Margo said as he looked up at the Crystal. He stared at it for a moment and rubbed his small chin. Then he calmly reached for it and grabbed it tightly in his fist. The Crystal stopped pulsating and began to brighten. Margo felt a strong tingle all over his body. The once soft yellow glow brightened into a large blinding ball of light. When the light faded, Margo, the Crystal, and even his ship were gone. The sandstorm was raging fiercely now. The impressions in the sand left behind by Margo's footprints and his ship were being shifted away by the winds. The sands blew over the pillar and its empty black pillow, covering the tablet below. © Lee Crystal's Outpost 13 All rights reserved