The Debriefing

“You participated in the shuttle mission Horizon?”

“Yes, I was the first officer.” Lisa Clark swallowed; she was nervous and took a deep breath to calm herself. She looked back at the panel of six all dressed in white lab coats.

“Describe what happened when you landed.”

“We thought the surface…”

“Who is we?” One interrupted. 

“My second officer Michele Wiley and I,” Lisa continued, “…we thought the surface as liquid or something definitely fluid like, it looked blue and cast shadows as if waves were lapping gently against an island or hill in the middle of the blue expanse, it was jagged and resembled crystals or an ice formation, it was brilliant blue and turquoise and was quite beautiful.” 

“What was the mission?”

“The mission was to collect ground samples, water, plant and other specimen samples. Whatever we could find that resembled life as we know it. We were looking for another planet that human life could grow and prosper.” She told them and then added, “I don’t know Italian.”

“How did the mission proceed?”

“My second officer, Michele Wiley and I disembarked from the Horizon and gathered the samples. The surface wasn’t water, but something sandy…not quite sandy, but glittery or made of sequins because with each step we took, the surface would shimmer and turn a different color of blue green,  teal and some crazy purple color, it was really quite fascinating. I was mesmerized by the texture and the way it turned a different color, not by a light source, but by pressure applied. I was gathering samples, when my second officer ventured further away. She maintained communication with me and walked toward the little island. It was smaller than we first thought, maybe a mile around at the most.  I remember her saying she saw what looked like two lions mounted on pedestals right in front of a cave opening.” Lisa looked at them, all of them taking notes. “I don’t speak Italian” She added. 

They never looked up, they just kept taking notes.

“Go on, how can you describe what happened next?”

“Michele walked closer to the stone lions. I remember her asking, if I saw something. I didn’t see anything. She kept telling me she saw movement and went closer to investigate. She was taking pictures and it was then I heard her scream. I turned around and the lion she was photographing jumped down and attacked her. It growled and pounced at her and knocked her down. I ran to her. I tried to get there, but the lion dragged her toward the mouth of the cave. It was as if the faster I ran, the closer to the cave the lion drug her. I finally got there just as she was dragged over the threshold into the cave.  I unholstered the weapon I carried and shot at the lion. My second officer was wounded. I used every ounce of my strength to get her back to the Horizon. She was only in the cave a little while before I was able to get her out.” She told them, “I just wish I would have learned Italian.” She added again.

“You shot your weapon on a different planet, not thinking about starting a universal incident?”

“My only concern was the safety of my second officer.”

“What is the status of your second officer Michele Wiley?”

“She is alive or seems to be. She is in a catatonic state and is unable to communicate in any way.”

“What would have been different if you knew or spoke Italian?”

“I could have warned her, I could have stopped her.”

“How? You didn’t see the writing until after you saw the digital pictures. When did you learn what the writing read?”

“After the engineer and I got the second officer to sickbay, we looked at the pictures and saw it then. My engineer transcribed it for me… Lasciate ogni pensiero voi che intrate he translated to Leave every thought you entertained. Is that what happened to her, that place erased her mind?”

“We are here to ask the questions, Officer Clark, not you.” One of them admonished. “You are dismissed for now, but please keep yourself available for the next couple of weeks until this investigation is complete.”

When Lisa rose, she was escorted back to her cell.

“Do you think she’s crazy?” One scientist asks another.

“Yes, she never left her cell, much less the building.” He replied.

 "Lasciate ogni pensiero voi che intrate!" said the other.