Once all of us took the implication in, silence fell on us like a giant boulder crushing the ants. Stopping the transmission would mean that one of us would have to be a sacrificial lamb, if successful. But whether the mission was successful, he would be stuck on the other side of the signal and could never come back.

“Why don’t we send ALICE?” ask Dio. ALICE was our main scouting robot and built like a small chimp. It was the most advanced robot we had, and I explicitly brought it with us on this mission for such purpose, highly dangerous missions. I would rather report a loss of one of the most expensive machines we had than any of the two men in front of me.

“We can try, but I do not believe ALICE would be suitable for this mission. Once we are on the other side, it would face us with unknown and would need to think on the spot, a unique human trait.” said Neva. “And from our own experience, non-biological communication would be possible.”

“So it all boiled down to which of us would have to be the hero,” murmured Dio.

“I would go. I am the captain. It’s my call.”

“But we need you more than any of us, Captain. And Neva has his family on board. I would go,” objected Dio. Neva didn’t say a word, but looked down at his feet the whole time. We were certain he was torn between his friends and the unborn child on board. The choice was clear. Dio would be the only going into the pyramid to save us all.