Part 1, The Crazy Eddie Probe: Chapter 6, The Light Sail Summary

The MacArthur is underway to intercept the alien ship which is traveling on a very fast course. The ship takes three and half days to reach the rendezvous point.

The ship is called to battle stations and the encounter begins.

The first action is to pinpoint the small pod that is attached to the huge light sail via a number of shrouds. Rod makes it clear the pod is the objective and communication is initiated. Without anyone on the ship noticing, the light sail gets brighter, briefly flashes some sort of silhouetted image, and then sends an extremely bright flash towards the MacArthur. Rod instructs to proceed through the light sail. The ship clears the light sail with no noticeable impact. The shrouds connecting the pod to...