Discovery... Creepy Discovery...

The bridge of the ship apparently was largely undamaged. There were dents in the walls and a view-screen that was cracked but the sweeping curves of the design were largely intact. Consoles seemed to naturally flow from walks, seating pods from floors. It looked organic in a shiny metal way. Its beautiful to see, moreso when you're not panicked and in a hurry. “And I thought studying those ship designs were a waste of time,” I muttered. Slowly I walked into the bridge, searching for details of the design from my brain. This ended up leading me to the last piece of the puzzle.

“You found this with ease,” Tina commented, suspicion returning to her voice.

“We've had Na'Dar at the school plenty of times,” I noted. “I know a few things about them.”

“Like the designs of spaceships that are, in your own words, decades old?” she pushed.

“We did pass maps on our way here; I can read a little of their language. And yes.” I had more important things to worry about. “Dave, you've never had problems like this before, have you? No 'weird happening', no disappearing people?” He shook his head. “Okay, so I'm blaming them for what's happened, although I'm guessing it was an accident.” I drew their attention to the figures sprawled out on the floor.

“I thought you said bears couldn't get in here?” Dave questioned.

“Those are costumes,” Tina observed. “That's the bear that attacked us.”

“But it's a dead guy in a costume. I guess that explains why it was such a weird looking bear,” Dave reasoned. “But why would two people dress like animals to explore a cave?”

I coughed loudly and busied myself with the console before me. “Do you know what Furries are?” Dave grunted and must have responded 'no' in some non-verbal way as she continued to explain. “They  dress up like animals and then they [court each other in a vigorous manner].”

“Oh!” Dave responded. “Well, good for them.” After a moment, he added “It didn't turn out good for them here. Maybe it did turn out good for them for awhile but it didn't end well.” After another uncomfortable pause he continued. “Well maybe it ended well but...” Calmly I spoke his name and he stopped. “I thought we agreed the bear couldn't fit down here. They got down here. Why can't the killer bear get down here?”

“Yeah,” Tina appended.

“I'm sure they wedged the costumes through the gap and put them on in the cave,” I answered. These questions were distracting me from the console.

“But its not a bear,” Dave insisted. “It's a something that looks like a bear or a guy in a bear costume. If that came from here, can't it get back?”

As if in answer, there was a roar from the hallway. “Thank you Dave. It's here.”

Things Get Brighter

As we made our way into the cave, the light grew brighter and brighter, soon removing the need to feel our way forward. That was strange but not really concerning. When we came across the hatchway and entered the metal structure, that's when some nerves kicked in.

I got that weird excited feeling that I get when I'm starting to figure something out; that reaction that seems to leave people with the impression that I'm completely insane. “Yes, of course!” I noted as I walked through the hatchway without pausing.

Dave and Tina hesitated to tread further, lingering at the doorway. “The metal doesn't seem to be a problem to you?” Tina demanded.

“A problem?” I echoed. “It's a problem but it's also a solution.” They looked at me strangely. “Smell the air,” I directed.

Dave and Tina exchanged a look which I recognized as the 'he's lost it' look. Still, they indulged me, visibly sniffing at the air. While Tina shrugged her shoulders, the smell seemed to trigger something for Dave. “What is that? It is familiar.”

“Remember when we found Tim?” I prodded. His eyes lit up. “Same smell in here.”

Dave stepped inside but Tina was less willing to do so. “No. Explain this. People are dying and now you're dragging me to your weird secret lair? I don't think so.”

“What secret lair?” Dave questioned. “I don't have a secret lair. And he's never been here before so he can't have a secret lair.”

“It's 'your' cave,” she protested. “And I don't know him,” she gestured in my direction, “so I don't know where he's been before or what weird mind tricks he might have done to you with this smell or whatever. Explain!”

I was eager to do so and did at a rapid pace. “You see there was this weird smell near where Tim died and the smell kept returning to the 'scenes of the crimes' and it was really familiar but I couldn't quite place it because I hadn't smelled it in awhile but that smell is the smell that's in here and seeing the metal and the style of the ship I realized it's the smell that the Na'Dar associate with clean to they work to have all their machinery exhaust this scent because it's 'clean'.”

They watched me grin madly. Slowly Dave checked “So, this is a spaceship?”

“I'm thinking so,” I answered. “Probably crashed here ages ago. Wonder if it was one of the scout ships they used to observe us before they officially landed? That would be kinda cool.”

Tina gave me a very grumpy look. “People dying,” she reminded.

“Sorry, sorry. Time and place.” I took a deep breath and focused. “Yes. Right.” I once again sought to go deeper into the ship.

“Was the bear hibernating in here?” Dave questioned, causing me to pause. “Is that why it smells like that in here?”

“There'd have to be another entrance,” Tina reminded. “We decided the bear couldn't fit through the gap we fit through. That's how we talked ourselves into coming in here in the first place.”

“I think we'll find it's not really a bear,” I explained. “Na'Dar technology also generates that scent.” I once again made for the interior of the ship.

Dave's next question made me hesitate again. “So we're outrunning alien technology?”

“Not at this speed we're not.” I started running again. If they wanted to follow me, so be it.