"The planets are only in line for three days.  Because of 
previous sightings of the object, this is the only allotted time 
you will have to complete this assignment,"  Commander Klotzen
 explained, "Are there any more questions?  Than this briefing 
session is over.  You are dismissed."  Lieutenants Halloway and 
Fisher exited the briefing room and headed for the equipment 
facility.  Their boots clinked on the ramp that spread itself 
across the entrance to the pod way door.

	Halloway pulled a pass key from his breast pocket, and he 
neatly swiped it through the hungry slot adjacent to the pod way 
entrance.

	The door, being on one the primitive kind, made a 
whirring sound a dragged itself slowly open.  The newer models
 glide open easily at half of the speed.

	"Come on, you lousy door.  I'll melt you with my rescue 
laser!"  Fisher grabbed either edge of the door and pushed.

	"What you you doing?!"  heaved an annoyed Halloway, 
"You'll jam the inner latches and confuse the system.  What if 
the pod seals while we're still in there?"  What's his hurry?
  If he'd just wait another five seconds...


	"That'd be the chance I'd have to take.  We don't get 
something as big as this completed in three days be messing 
around."  Fisher tore into the equipment cell and snatched a 
proton bag from one of the suspended bins.  He suddenly turned to
 his partner, "And If you waste my time, you're on you're own." 
 
	Halloway watched as the bag was filled with six data 
crystals, a seven foot light meter, and a Zuello cam with a 90 
maximum power level.  His thoughts started racing again.  I 
think I'd rather be on my own.  


	"All set.  Ready?" Fisher asked impatiently.

	"Uh, you go on ahead.  I have few of my own plans." said 
Halloway trying to hold  back his frustration.

	"All right, but I'm leaving now.  You're either going now 
or by yourself later."  He pushed the round red button, pulled 
apart the pod way doors, and rushed out to his rover.

	Halloway's eyes searched the equipment facility.  He 
wasn't sure of what he needed.  He picked up a four-foot meter a
 pressed the small square data tag attached to the base.  "For 
use in broad, open areas.  Use for soft lighting in ariel 
photographs," the computer voice explained.   Hey! Perfect! 
 But why did Howard take a seven-footer?    He picked up a 
seven-foot meter and pushed its button.  "For use in minimal 
lighting.  Use to simulate daylight or for photographing hard to 
see crevasses." This is all wrong for chasing an aircraft.


	Fisher took the four foot light meter, three data 
crystals, and a Zuello cam with a 60 maximum power level.  He 
carefully placed each item into a proton pack, opened the pod 
doors and went out to his rover.

	The air was crisp and cool that evening, and there was 
not one blemish in the starless sky.  The moon was a mole in the
 face of God, and the way it hung in that bare sky made it seem 
so out of place.  The dim light from the moon illuminated a 
silver spotlight onto the ground.
	Halloway pulled the latch to the door of his rover,
 and the door puttered open.  Locator boards were given to Fisher 
and Halloway both by the commander in order to find their 
destination.    The card resembled what they used to call a 
"floppy disk" a few decades ago.  Halloway placed the locator 
card into the slot of the  mapping device.  A blue screen coated
 the mapping device's monitor.  Halloway strapped himself into 
his seat, pushed a lever on his right into the direction of the
 dashboard, and pulled it straight back again.  The rover shook 
in fury, and the dash began to light up as the computer 
configured, collaborated, and prepared for its journey.

	The rover churned over broad valleys and hills with 
smooth precision, and the tread of its tires gripped the ground.
  The ride was so smooth, the rover flowed and glided like it was
 suspended on a cushion of air.  The mapping device allowed the 
rover to be self-propelled, and it eagerly prey on its 
destination.
	Upon arrival, the rover slowly shut down, and the door
 opened automatically with ease and finesse.  Halloway unstrapped
 himself and climbed out of his rover.  He checked the 
coordinates of the object on the mapping system while he unloaded
 his equipment.  The  flashing blips on the screen indicated that
 his target was approaching 3,500 kilometers due south of his 
current location.  It became evident to him that he had precisely 
twenty minutes to prepare his mission photography.

	As he setup, he made a mental notation of the visible 
light coming from where his partner was setup.  The location the
 mapping device gave was purely an approximation, and it was not
 mistake the Fisher's rover brought him to an area nearly a 
quarter of a mile away.

	Halloway loaded the data crystals into the Zuello cam, 
and he listened to the instruction data tag to ensue he did it 
properly.  The lighting system was simpler setup, but he followed 
the directions carefully just to be sure.

	Just as he pushed the last pin into the post of the light
 meter, a spark of excitement jump up and bit him.  A great ball
 of bright light was visible over the horizon.  Halloway peered 
through his Zuello cam and aimed the light meter.  The object 
quickly came into focus.  

	It was a glittery diamond suspended on its bottom vertex
, and a blinding green light  formed a halo around its belly.  
Tiny white spheres rained out of  the craft from every imaginable
 angle and danced like popcorn; they seemed to dissolve in the 
night's laughing darkness.

	Using a strong telefono lens, Halloway easily captured 
these fantastic images in three data crystals.  Click.  Click. 
 Click.  Yes!  Beautiful.  Now to return to base.

*****
	Reward and surprise awaited Lt.  Victor Halloway on his 
return to the Astrological Center.  For his execution of such a 
difficult task, he was promoted to the title of Major and 
received many honors.  His photographs of the alien spacecraft 
were placed under NASA observation.  As for Lt. Howard Fisher, he
 was discharged for creating conspiracy and fraud.  After the 
pictures he took of the spacecraft came up unrecognizable, he 
desperately tried to cover his mistake in the literal sense.  He
 didn't learn anything from rushing through his assignment, 
obviously, because the retouched photographs he turned in were
 such unsubtle fakes that his superiors laughed in this face.