It was a dark, cold night at the very edge of the galaxy. A lone Angel ship had just docked with a distant trading outpost. After obtaining fuel and supplies the ship's crew members prepared for their journey back home to the Humanoid Alliance Planet. As the ship was on the outer edge of the galaxy, the return journey would take at least 2 days of travel. The crew settled down for an evening meal of venison and wine. Feeling completely at ease, the crew members had just finished eating when a large clap of thunder sounded outside their ship.
A bright light illuminated the nearby trees. After the light, there was dead silence all around. Just as they all were about to yell out in shock, a large mechanical voice began to echo around the forest clearing. It appeared to be a mechanical being, perhaps some kind of electronic drone, who seemed to be addressing someone.
The Ship's Captain, a Humanoid to his right, turned to his crew and began to speak. "Everyone, let's go. We must get back to our ship quickly, because something is not right here." The Captain nodded at his next sentence, "Not right?" His tone was stern, but placating. "We must leave quickly. If I could only see we had more time, I would want to try to understand what the voice said." The captain spoke with a quivering voice and quickly ordered his crew, "Let's go!" The crew began to scramble into their ship, despite the chorus of footsteps outside, each one trying to find a place to hide from the mysterious, eerie presence outside.
The ship's ramp began to lower and the crew exited, watching through the windows as each crew member passed by as if they were never there before. A few of the crew members spoke, or made sounds that would suggest that they weren't afraid and weren't sure if they should be afraid or not. The captain however, could see that their eyes were fearful and suspicious, their expressions were anxious. Soon all the crew members were off the ship. And as he watched his crew mate walk away, he beckoned with his arm for them to leave as well.
A few moments after the other crew members were on the ground, the captain heard what must have been a scream from the ship's control room. The captain turned and looked over at his ship's technician. The technician wheeled himself over to him, a look of shock and horror on his face. "Sir, I'm so sorry, but I think we've just witnessed a murder."
The captain's nostrils flared and he made a slight growl. "A murder? What? Why would you think that?" the captain's voice became stern and the crew began to back away. Scratching his beard, the captain let out a slow breath, his voice finding its voice again, "No, it appears you've witnessed an accident. We'll know more when the ship has returned." The crew, who were used to the captain's abrupt manner, soon hurried off in the other direction to their docking bay.
The captain and tech walked back to the ship and looked around at the wreckage from the ship's control room. They found the table, chairs and nearly all the equipment knocked over. "Who gave the island to you?" the captain yelled through the ship's intercom.
"Ah sir, it was all of us. I mean, who else would have done such a thing?" the voice responded timidly, "I'm so very sorry sir, I just don't understand what happened. It was all of us. We'll have to have another crew conference."
"No, I'm sure it was an accident. It was your bad luck and misfortune to have witnessed it. Why would someone do such a thing in the middle of nowhere?"
The voice on the other side of the panel suddenly panicked, replying apprehensively, "But sir, I don't remember anyone having anyone else help in the control room. It must have been murder. What other explanation could there be?"
The tech peaked out the window and sighed with relief, "Sir, the other crew members are gathered and are getting ready to leave. They must have forgotten that you were still on board."
The captain looked nervously back at the wreckage in the ship. He then took a deep breath and finally answered, "Help me out of here. I need to find out what else happened."
The tech replied, "Very well sir. We'll both look around the ship, but I don't think we should expect to find anything."