“Is it something from Earth?!” Lora’s eyes became wide with amazement.

“A number of tests have been carried out and the majority of them confirm that fact.”

“What’s in there?” Lora did not understand why she was whispering now. The city had no secrets. Any information about absolutely everything – be it about space finds, negotiations with whatever races, or discoveries – was stored in the central computer and was available to everyone.

“A Rescue unit, an ark… Something like that. The distance is more than five light-years away, that’s why the information is not detailed enough. They’d never have noticed this piece of metal if the signal it transmitted didn’t look so much like the SOS signal. Its frequency band sounds very much like the one transmitted from our ships.”

“An ark?” Lora could hardly hold back the avalanche of questions that was about to befall her friend. “Are there any signs of life?” She was nailing him with an intense gaze.

“Doctor Blake thinks that the ark probably holds a cryogenic capsule…”

“That means there’s a human being inside!” Lora jumped from her seat, ready to run and do something, but she knew not what exactly.

“Hey, calm down!” Paul was a bit shocked by this wild outburst of Lora’s emotions. “Have a seat…”

“It’s just that it’s so amazing!” said Lora, trying hard to breathe normally and getting back to her chair.

“You give too much importance to that,” the young man was trying to calm her down. “Earth is many thousands of light-years away; besides, the object’s energy resources are meagre…”

“You can’t know for sure! When’s Doctor Blake going to send a team to the place where the object was discovered?”

“He has no reasons to hurry.”

“And what if there is a human being? What if he or she is dying?”

“Please, calm down…” said Paul again desperately. “I’ll talk to Doctor Blake. My team has no immediate tasks for the next three days. We are in reserve so there is a big chance that we’ll be able to quickly organise a small expedition there…”

“Now” said Lora more calmly and confidently this time, “Talk to him now.”

“Alright…”

“And I’ll come with you.”

“If the operation is approved, the level of personnel competence shall be A-4,” clarified her companion.

“I have A-2, it is more than enough.”

“What about the project? Weren’t you writing a report about the Lactians?”

“It’s ready!” Lora was grinning contentedly. “There’s nothing that can keep me back!”

The expedition team of five was quickly appointed by Doctor Blake. Three of them were Paul’s crew members accompanied by an expert from the Universe Exploration lab and, finally, a junior Council member, Lora Merion. In only a matter of hours, all of them set off on a journey in a small shuttle.

Having entered the coordinates of their destination, Paul switched on the autopilot and slightly stretched his body placing his hands behind his head.

“Are we entering hyperspace?” Lora glanced at the panoramic view opening from the front part of the shuttle, dashing into the endless darkness of the space.

“Yes, without the speed of light it would take forever to get there,” chuckled the young man.

“I see,” the girl nodded, “I just can’t wait… I want to know who or what is in there so much! It’s been more than 200 years since we last contacted home.”

“You’re probably the only one who calls Earth ‘home’,” grinned Paul.

“I can’t help it,” admitted Lora honestly.

“We lost our home,” said Jane Forest, the lab expert, who sat next to Lora, compassionately patting her on the shoulder. “The time will come when we’ll find a new home; a place where we can live in harmony and build our future without fear that someone may encroach on our way of thinking, abuse our knowledge or use it to their profit.”

“But people on Earth could also change for the better,” objected Lora confidently, “We haven’t heard from them for so long!”

Jane shrugged her shoulders.

“Facts of our history are very obstinate. Earthly civilizations appear and perish, one after another. Throughout the thousands years of human history, our kind failed to tame the energy of destruction. Except us.”

“But if we could, it means others can, too!”

“Andre thought so, too,” Oleg Butoff, who was sitting silently till now, joined the discussion. “He died with this belief in his heart…”

Lora remembered a video recording of the clash shown in their history lessons and her hazel eyes filled with sadness. It happened a long time ago.