As he got closer, it was clear what was causing the normally pensive man to be excited. There in the lights of Chen's IEV was a machine of unmistakably alien design. It rode on a dozen tiny wheels and measured no more then three meters long by two meters wide. The body was fully enclosed, with strange protrusions rising out in odd places. At the front was a large pair what looked like manipulator arms and a cylindrical turret-like structure rising above the middle. On the back was a clearly visible row of the same symbols as the plaque.
“Captain. This is amazing. Our first MIB machine! How much do you think it weighs, do you think we could lift it to the surface, I wonder what it's use was.”
With the same barely perceptible excitement he replied. “I have no idea how much it weighs, but it would have to be at least 900 terrestrial kilos. I would guess that it was a machine used in the creation of this cavern though. I'll head back up to the surface, and have Isfaheem prepare to bring the limo up to the edge and we'll use a winch to haul the vehicle up.”
They both took detailed pictures and a 3D scan of it before returning to the surface and back to the ship. When they arrived Isfaheem was ready to explode out of the hatch, though he knew better then to actually go outside. “By the hand of Mohommed! You really found an alien machine?!”
Yolanda was right behind, having temporarily abandoned her survey of asteroids. “Captain, I'd like to look at those images as soon as possible.”
Chen put up his hands and, with smiling eyes replied. “Easy easy now. I'm going to send a compressed stream of these pictures to whichever Jovian base is in line of sight first, then we'll put them on the monitor and we can all oggle them together.
While he was doing that, Muobo and Isfaheem worked to attach a winch motor to the front of the limo. “Isfaheem, you'd be interested to see the geology down in those holes. They must extend fifty to seventy meters below the surface. You can see the whole crust laid out as nicely as Olduvai Gorge.”
“I look forward to it good sir.” he replied flamboyantly.
Everyone was in a good mood, albeit trembling with anticipation. Once the data stream had been sent, Chen came out of his quarters and keyed up the monitor. All eyes were riveted on the screen as the slideshow scrolled through. They all looked closely at the tiny wheels, the manipulator arms, the semitransparent turret, and especially the symbols on the back.
“Well there's no question now. This is definitely their language.” Yolanda cried triumphantly.
“Captain, did you see writing on any other parts of the machine?”
“I'm sorry Muobo. No we didn't.”
“Damn shame. We still need more information if we ever hope to get a grasp of what this all means.” He sounded more then a little disappointed and Yolanda tried to cheer him up by talking about the what they might find inside of the machine's turret or control space.