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Description
An early confrontation with the Sirens.

Far, far out in the void of space, dangling from a thread over a new world, Isaac Arnaud allowed himself a moment to marvel at the beauty of it all. The technology that brought them out this far was bleeding edge, failure was almost a certainty. Of course, the execs of the consortium that funded this little jaunt didn't need to know that, but now it didn't matter. It worked, and here they were, orbiting over a new perfectly habitable planet. Off to his right, the view of open space was streaked with color from a nearby nebula, so close that it could be seen from the planet's surface at night. When Arnaud gazed into it, his sense of calm and oneness with the universe was complete.
All of a sudden, Arnaud's serenity was upset, by what looked like two streaks of color swirling in the nebula. They seemed to be growing in size. With alarm, Arnaud realized the two streaks were large objects coming in fast.
"Arnaud to Capsule 1, come in! Wojciech, come in! Check radar and prepare evasive maneuvers. There are two small comets coming in quickly from sector 129 delta."
"I copy you Arnaud, but nothing's coming up on radar, at least nothing large enough to register. Can you reconfirm visual?"
"Yes, yes, they're heading straight or us. if they're too small for radar, just be ready to-"
The two objects suddenly separated from each other and streaked off in different directions.
"Hold on a second," Isaac called,"I've lost visual."
Arnaud looked all around, but he couldn't get a lock on either of the two comets. Frantically looking in all directions, he started to feel a strange heat just behind his eyes. Taking a moment to calm himself he called back on comms.
"Disregard Capsule 1. I must be more tired than I thought. Prepare to retract umbilical, and get Dr. Drummond online."
"Roger. Retraction initiating in ten-....Oh my god..."
"What? Wojciech respond what's happening?"
And then he saw them. Two massive swirls of color danced around him. Drifting in the vacuum the two masses coelesed into anthropoid forms. Arnaud felt that heat behind his eyes again, but only briefly. He was able to make out their appearance. Two ethereal women, undoubtedly alien. He had always dreamed of encountering alien lifeforms, but had given up the hope years before. The women were unbelievably beautiful. Their kind eyes looking him up and down, exploring his suit. One of them drifted behind him while the other held his gaze. Her lower body drifted lazily in space. The colors of her fins, it was the only word he could think to describe the colored drapery around her body, shimmered pale red and gold. He might have been underwater looking at a mermaid. Again he was drawn to her face. Such an expression of gentle serenity he had never seen before. The two black, jewel like spheres inlaid in her cheeks, were strikingly beautiful as well, but his gaze seemed to always return to her lovely eyes.

- - -

Joanna Wojciech, stared in disbelief at her monitors. Her reaction to these strange new creatures was at first, just as excited as Isaac's, but now she was getting worried. She had hailed him three times since he first saw them, and he simply wasn't responding. His vital readings were still coming in strong and the equipment was still in perfect working order. She tracked them with the outboard cameras, transmitting the video to the basecamp on the planet's surface. Ground comms came to life and Lieutenant Malthus called out, "What's happening up there Wojciech?!"
"I don't know Lieutenant. Arnaud said he saw some comets headed our way and then suddenly these two creatures appeared. I've tried to reach Isaac over comms, but he won't respond."
"Pull him in Joanna! Get him out of there! I want you two ground side on the double! Do you copy?!"
"Yes Ma'am!"
She snapped herself out of her revery of the two beings and started pulling in the umbilical. On the monitors she saw Arnaud start to realize he was being pulled back and he began to wave around in his suit. He feebly reached for the alien woman. Reached out to embrace her, but he drifted away. The pink alien seemed to register some confusion at this, and to Joanna's surprise, the alien drifted forward and embraced Arnaud. The other alien, whose skin was blue with streaks of bright green continued to circle them. His comms came on, but Arnaud's voice was dreamy.
"No... No... please don't let me go... Take me away... I want to drift with you... forever....The teather... it's taking me away... Yes... Yes... Please..."
The pink alien separate from Arnaud and he gave one last feeble breath, "Do it..." Then, to Joanna's horror, the blue alien rached out, caressed the umbilical, grabbed ahold and tore it from Arnaud's suit.
Stunned, Joanna looked on as the aliens swirled around Arnaud's body. She didn't register Malthus' frantic commands coming over the comms. She was glued to her monitors. The pink alien embraced Arnaud once more. The blue alien held the remains of the umbilical coming out if the suit's back, and the three of them drifted away,picking up speed.

Description
An early confrontation with the Sirens.

Far, far out in the void of space, dangling from a thread over a new world, Isaac Arnaud allowed himself a moment to marvel at the beauty of it all. The technology that brought them out this far was bleeding edge, failure was almost a certainty. Of course, the execs of the consortium that funded this little jaunt didn't need to know that, but now it didn't matter. It worked, and here they were, orbiting over a new perfectly habitable planet. Off to his right, the view of open space was streaked with color from a nearby nebula, so close that it could be seen from the planet's surface at night. When Arnaud gazed into it, his sense of calm and oneness with the universe was complete.
All of a sudden, Arnaud's serenity was upset, by what looked like two streaks of color swirling in the nebula. They seemed to be growing in size. With alarm, Arnaud realized the two streaks were large objects coming in fast.
"Arnaud to Capsule 1, come in! Wojciech, come in! Check radar and prepare evasive maneuvers. There are two small comets coming in quickly from sector 129 delta."
"I copy you Arnaud, but nothing's coming up on radar, at least nothing large enough to register. Can you reconfirm visual?"
"Yes, yes, they're heading straight or us. if they're too small for radar, just be ready to-"
The two objects suddenly separated from each other and streaked off in different directions.
"Hold on a second," Isaac called,"I've lost visual."
Arnaud looked all around, but he couldn't get a lock on either of the two comets. Frantically looking in all directions, he started to feel a strange heat just behind his eyes. Taking a moment to calm himself he called back on comms.
"Disregard Capsule 1. I must be more tired than I thought. Prepare to retract umbilical, and get Dr. Drummond online."
"Roger. Retraction initiating in ten-....Oh my god..."
"What? Wojciech respond what's happening?"
And then he saw them. Two massive swirls of color danced around him. Drifting in the vacuum the two masses coelesed into anthropoid forms. Arnaud felt that heat behind his eyes again, but only briefly. He was able to make out their appearance. Two ethereal women, undoubtedly alien. He had always dreamed of encountering alien lifeforms, but had given up the hope years before. The women were unbelievably beautiful. Their kind eyes looking him up and down, exploring his suit. One of them drifted behind him while the other held his gaze. Her lower body drifted lazily in space. The colors of her fins, it was the only word he could think to describe the colored drapery around her body, shimmered pale red and gold. He might have been underwater looking at a mermaid. Again he was drawn to her face. Such an expression of gentle serenity he had never seen before. The two black, jewel like spheres inlaid in her cheeks, were strikingly beautiful as well, but his gaze seemed to always return to her lovely eyes.

- - -

Joanna Wojciech, stared in disbelief at her monitors. Her reaction to these strange new creatures was at first, just as excited as Isaac's, but now she was getting worried. She had hailed him three times since he first saw them, and he simply wasn't responding. His vital readings were still coming in strong and the equipment was still in perfect working order. She tracked them with the outboard cameras, transmitting the video to the basecamp on the planet's surface. Ground comms came to life and Lieutenant Malthus called out, "What's happening up there Wojciech?!"
"I don't know Lieutenant. Arnaud said he saw some comets headed our way and then suddenly these two creatures appeared. I've tried to reach Isaac over comms, but he won't respond."
"Pull him in Joanna! Get him out of there! I want you two ground side on the double! Do you copy?!"
"Yes Ma'am!"
She snapped herself out of her revery of the two beings and started pulling in the umbilical. On the monitors she saw Arnaud start to realize he was being pulled back and he began to wave around in his suit. He feebly reached for the alien woman. Reached out to embrace her, but he drifted away. The pink alien seemed to register some confusion at this, and to Joanna's surprise, the alien drifted forward and embraced Arnaud. The other alien, whose skin was blue with streaks of bright green continued to circle them. His comms came on, but Arnaud's voice was dreamy.
"No... No... please don't let me go... Take me away... I want to drift with you... forever....The teather... it's taking me away... Yes... Yes... Please..."
The pink alien separate from Arnaud and he gave one last feeble breath, "Do it..." Then, to Joanna's horror, the blue alien rached out, caressed the umbilical, grabbed ahold and tore it from Arnaud's suit.
Stunned, Joanna looked on as the aliens swirled around Arnaud's body. She didn't register Malthus' frantic commands coming over the comms. She was glued to her monitors. The pink alien embraced Arnaud once more. The blue alien held the remains of the umbilical coming out if the suit's back, and the three of them drifted away,picking up speed.