I looked up from the shuttle craft’s control console to see the source of the intense glow: the alien craft. Presumably the broadband radiation was some type of sensor sweep.

After a minute or two basked in the unearthly light it switched off, and my shuttle glided into place at a docking station perched at the top of a skyscraper sized protrusion.

Before landing I went back to the crew compartment and checked over the Constructs, to make sure everything was in place. One of the male ones caught my eye; that curly pony-tail and close cropped reddish beard were unmistakable. It was me. I was going to have to have a chat with Mindy about that one.

The shuttle cruised past spindly structures reminiscent of a gothic cathedral. Once it set down on a soft bed of iridescent glass, I unstrapped the Constructs and guided them down the loading ramp.

A cloud of purple smartdust was waiting for us on the ground.

“Salutations.” The dust spoke with a voice in my head. “We are Vronel, am pleased with this.”

I sneezed.