The grass was green and wet and cool between Rick Merk's; overhead in the sunny blue firmament, puffy white clouds were having a race like a flock of playful sheep; somewhere a bird was chirping sweetly. In the near distance, a small grove of leafy trees rustled in the breeze. The chirping of the bird became louder, more insistent. He walked towards the trees. The bird's chirping turned to screeching, and was really starting to get annoying.
Rick rolled over and opened his eyes. Everything was pitch dark -- the grass, trees, blue sky and puffy clouds were gone. He was confused. The only thing that remained was that annoying screeching.
Then the screeching resolved itself in his foggy brain into the steady woop woop of the red alert klaxon, and Rick realized where he was. He bolted upright in bed, whipping off the sheets, fully awake now. The room sensors detected the motion and switched to daylight mode, bringing up the lights and opening the window shutters to reveal the ruddy overcast day outside. Rick practically dove into his clothes, ran his fingers through his short hair, and in less than five minutes was out the door jogging to the nearest travel tube.
He hit the call button and waited impatiently, but didn't have to wait long. The door slid aside and he jumped through, and almost collided with Colonel Christopher. "Oh jeez!" exclaimed Rick. "Ah... Sorry Colonel."
Christopher looked bemused. He said, "No harm done," then noticed that Rick was a little out of breath, and added, "First red alert, Doctor Merk?"
"More or less," Rick answered, forcing himself to calm down. "Actually," he admitted, "I was startled out of this real nice dream--"
"With green grass and trees and blue sky?"
"Yeah! How did you, uh...."
"Have the same dream myself all the time," explained Christopher, then chuckled. "Must be some sort of psychological reaction to the inescapable, dull red scenery outside. Titan may be a nice place to visit, but it's no place to live and work!"
Rick smiled in wholehearted agreement, but before he could comment, the travel tube slowed to a halt and disgorged the two men into the Command Dome. Christopher walked briskly down the short hallway and entered the Command Center, stopping in front of the main situation monitor. Rick followed a few paces behind, and relieving the technician currently manning the controls, seated himself and began downloading status summaries.
"Report," ordered Christopher.
"Message in from the Kibo, Captain Hiroshi Katayama commanding, sir. He reports encountering two alien spacecraft definitely identified as Eriarti out beyond the Kuiper Belt." Then Rick frowned as he read the next section of the report.
"Well? What is it?" said Christopher impatiently.
"Rather odd, sir," answered Rick, still trying to verify he'd read the transmission correctly. "If I'm reading this right, One of the Eriarti ships fired on and destroyed the second, and then proceeded inwards toward the Sun, totally ignoring the Kibo." Rick turned in his seat and faced Christopher. "What do you make of it, Colonel?"
Christopher leaned back against the railing behind him and scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I have no idea," he said quietly, "and that's what worries me." He turned to his right and called across the room. "Claudia!"
A tall, black woman turned at the sound of her name. "Yes, Colonel?"
Christopher thought a moment, then ordered, all the while walking slowly over to Claudia's station, "Send a message to Captain Katayama on the Kibo. Have him try to inspect the wreckage of the destroyed Eriarti ship -- maybe retrieve some samples."
"Aye, sir."
"Then get on the horn with Mars. Tell them they have company coming."