THE MOMENT
"It's a joke, right?" Ruben was the first one to break the silence. The group of astronomers all focused on the screen. After Ruben's comment, one of the scientists fell to the floor sobbing.
"I knew it...," she mumbled to herself as she hugged her knees.
"I'm leaving," one member said. Several others followed him out the door. Ruben, Esther the crying woman, and Dennis the team leader were the only ones left in the room.
"I mean, it has to be, right?" Ruben asked Dennis. "We can't show this to anyone," he said. Dennis nodded without taking his eyes off the screen.
"What if it's real??" Esther asked from the ground.
"C'mon, it can't be," Ruben said. But, Dennis shook his head.
"I think the best thing to do now is to assume that it is. You two put some fake shots together so we have something to give the media," Dennis said.
"What are you going to do?" Ruben asked. Dennis nodded at the screen. The image was crystal clear. Red stars were lined up perfectly to create a readable logo against the background of infinite space.
"Apparently, some company named Sharp Development created this universe of ours," he said. "I'm going to see if they're in the yellow pages."