A green beam of light

SCENE: The Laboratory Section in the Malaysia Scientific Research Centre, Sabah.

Time: A day in the near future.

"NEVER IN MY LIFE have I seen anything like this," said Professor Howe, as he lightly tapped a piece of boulder which was placed in a glass case. "This meteorite has undergone some phenomenal changes since you brought it here last week."

"Yes," agreed his assistant, Karem. "The Kadazan farmer who found it reported than it was incandecent when it landed on his field. Now look at this dull object here. It has lost all its heat and gleam."

"Weâll make another test tomorrow, " decided the Professor, as he took off his spectacles to clean the lens. Everyone knew that work was over for the day.

The clock in the tower chimed the hours. It was ten oâclock. The base was deserted exceptfor the security guards. Some of these were off duty and were relaxing in their billet. A corporal was tuning a knob on his transistor radio to get a station on the air. All he could get was a buzz and an occasional tweeting which was due to some sort of sound interference in the air.

The man swore. "Itâs the same every night at this hour. We get this kind of interference regularly."

Unknown to all of them, a glowing rock like object was flying towards the base, guided by a constant beam of signals from within. The Îrockâ hovered outside the main building, as if trying to find an entrance into it. It was rewarded by an open ventilator through which it flew, down a shaft and right into the laboratoryâ. A mouse on the hunt that night slipped into the system of passages that ran all over the centre. As it drew near the laboratory, it halted suddenly. Its ears pricked up on detecting danger close by and scampered back to its den.

Meanwhile, the stream of signals had ended and the Îrockâ was hovering above the meteorite in the glass case. Inside the Îrockâ which was in fact a spacecraft, the commander gave his order.

"Prepare to switch on transportation beam.. four.. three.. two.. one.."

A green beam of light radiated from underneath the rock and shone on the meteorite for a few seconds. Then the spacecraft departed in the same way as it had entered.

The captain of the Interstellar Investigation Team 97 reported to the commander of the Interstellar Rescue Ship 20 in the latterâs office. It was a more or less bare room with a few star charts speckling the glare from the walls. The commander sat behind his desk, a tall and figure in a smart uniform. The captain saluted.

"Thank you for the rescue, sir," said the alien captain. "I have written a report of this incident together with the updating of the log-book. My ship is beyond repair and I regret that it has to be abandoned on this planet. No life hazard had been caused as a result of this mishap, fortunately, because of our minute sizes. From what we observed, the earthlings have taken our ship for a meteorite."

The Rescue Ship was ready for the journey home. The take-off took place in a clearing in the jungle so that the blast could not be seen by the inhabitants. A sudden scream and a rush of flames, dying almost before they could be felt by the trees and grass; then a silver star up in the sky that left a thin line of bright scarlet behind it. Then a cloud covered its trail and the ship was gone.