John's Perspective
I waited for a response on the open channel, but no one replied. The silence was deafening, and I couldn't tell if it was because we were all blinded or if no one was willing to speak about the horrors they might have seen. I tried to will my eyes to focus faster.
As my eyes slowly fully adjusted, I realized that what lay beyond the door was just a room. It didn't even look that alien. The walls were metallic like on a ship, but other then that nothing out of the ordinary. Just chairs, tables, and a statue. It was almost anticlimactic after all the tension and fear that had built up. I scanned the room, looking for any signs of danger or suspicious activity, but it all seemed benign.
Even the bright lights seemed to be bright simply from the contrast of the dark airlock.
On the open channel, I quickly ordered the security team into action. "Security team, 1 on exfil, rest on breach, give me ready for me to go in." My voice was firm channeling my inner sergeant, but my nerves were still on edge.
There was a brief moment of silence on the open channel before a chorus of "ready" came through the radio. I took a deep breath, trying to steady my nerves, and stepped over the threshold.
As I stepped further into the metal room with its metal chairs, the sound of my boots echoed, bouncing off the walls. Not a single sound came through the radio from the crew.
I took a deep breath and began to scan the room, looking for anything that said threats or dangers. I needed something that was dangerous that I could point my gun at. The room was a square, roughly 100 feet by 100 feet, with off-set corners. The ceiling was about 35 feet high, and the walls were a metallic color, unbroken by any windows or doors.
I did see more of the same kind of plugs and conduits as in the airlock. And a few more screens, all blank.
As I walked towards one of the tables, I noticed that it was almost exactly like a normal office store table, just entirely made of metal. The chairs that surrounded it were also normal fold-out office chairs and also made of metal. For some reason, the familiarity didn't ease the sense of foreboding.
I turned to face the statue in the center of the room, trying to make sense of its strange appearance. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before. Standing easily over 10 feet tall, made our tallest human look like a child, even in our EV suits. It had four legs off a horizontal body and, four arms from 2 shoulders, and five eyes on what appeared to be a head without a mouth or nose. On its horizontal body, it had two metallic wings folded flat behind it, adding to its eerie presence.
All of the tables in the room were facing towards the statue as if it were the focal point of the space. This statue of metal was adorned with all sorts of weapons, including two swords, a dozen or so daggers, what looked like sci-fi pistols, and a strange-looking rifle with what looked like a 3-inch wide barrel.
If this was indeed our alien, I really wished I had brought a bigger gun.
I made a slow circle around the statue, taking in all the details. It was clear that whoever created this had a fascination with weapons. The swords looked ancient, while the gun and rifle were clearly advanced technology.
Suddenly, I heard a faint noise coming from behind me. I turned to look back at the door, where the security team was visible from the edges of the door. I couldn't see anything unusual, but the sound of my boots on the metal floor was loud in the otherwise silent room. I took a deep breath and readied myself for whatever might come next.
I took a few steps to the door again and turned to face the statue, keeping it in view as I announced over the radio, "Seems to be all clear. Security, 1 on exfil, 1 on breach, and 2 do a secondary sweep. The rest of you hang tight."
