Transplant by D. B. Reynolds-Moreton Page A

true shape.’
    It’s certainly bigger than the equipment room map would indicate,’ added Arki, ‘but then we can’t be sure as we don’t know the actual distance we are from the asteroid’s surface.’
    Both men sat there in stunned silence while the enormous lump of space rock slowly drifted by them, dwarfing their ship into insignificance.
    ‘Look at that, about four o’clock on the lower edge, it looks like a structure of some kind. See how the star light reflects off those stilt like protuberances, they must be metallic to shine like that.’ Glyn was getting really excited now, his voice going up several tones.
    ‘Could be, could be.’ Arki didn’t sound as certain as Glyn had, but then he was the more cautious of the two.
    ‘Who’s to say we are the only ones in the universe, just because no one has as yet made contact with anyone else?’ Arki added, not wanting to dampen Glyn’s enthusiasm, meanwhile looking for a more natural explanation of the phenomenon.
    As the huge mass slowly glided by, the angle at which the light struck the strange construction on its surface changed also, adding more detail for the two observers.
    ‘You know, I think you’re right. It does look as if it’s been built, it’s far too symmetrical for a natural occurrence, at least any that I can envisage.’
    ‘It can’t be the remains of another space ship, it’s far too big for that, besides which, most of it looks like rock, and if it were the remains of a shattered planet, then I would have thought all surface features would have been destroyed in the break up. So what the hell is it?’
    ‘You may well ask.’ replied Arki, realizing the question was really rhetorical anyway.
    As the huge mass slowly crept past their ship, details of more strange constructions came into view, confounding every theory the two observers could come up with.
    Eventually, the massive asteroid overtook the ship, showing its rear end as it slowly pulled ahead, and that gave rise to more speculation as the two strained forwards to soak up every possible detail.
    ‘See that circle of black markings on the end, they look like holes to me, and they’re big enough to put this ship in.’
    ‘Now that is far to contrived for a natural happening,’ Arki said, ‘and on a massive scale. Just look at the size of it.’
    ‘Looks as if those holes ran right through what ever it was and the bit we’re seeing broke off from the main whatever, if you see what I mean.’ Arki was having a hard time expressing himself coherently.
    As the asteroid slid from view, overtaking the ship in the process, the pair were left with more questions than answers, and certainly more than they had started out with.
    ‘I’m going to question the Captain about this.’ said Glyn.
    ‘I think you’ll be wasting your time, I can’t see him coming up with anything very interesting.’ Arki offered. ‘Why not? He knew about the asteroid long before we did, and he must have observed its passing, so he must have more knowledge about it than us, what with all the instruments he has at his disposal. I think it’s worth a try.’ Glyn was determined, so Arki went along with him just in case it worked.
    Once the asteroid had passed and the stars shone forth again, as beautiful and overwhelming as the sight was, it paled into insignificance after what the pair had been witness to, so they left the observation room, returning to the main area of the ship where the normalities of life were going on.
    ‘Hello you two, what have you been up to? You look as if you’ve seen something a bit shattering.’ Benz looked surprised.
    ‘We have, the passing asteroid the Captain mentioned at the meal break. You should have seen it, absolutely massive, made us feel quite insignificant.’ Arki relied, trying to raise a little enthusiasm in the otherwise staid Benz.
    ‘Oh that, I think I’d rather not see that sort of thing really, it has nothing to do with life here as far as I’m