An intercepted transmission from one of the ravioli moons nestled between the rings of Saturn

A speculative flash fiction piece

(NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute)

Note: This transmission was intended for an unknown recipient and has been translated to the best of our ability. Our findings indicate that the sender is a semi-sentient rover sent to Pan to collect data. What data it was sent to collect, and who or what the rover was meant to report back to, remains unknown.

[ROVER]: Transit time thirty years, five months, twenty-three days, two hours, six minutes, thirteen seconds. Data collection time thirty-seven days, seven hours, fifteen minutes, two seconds. Physical collection basin: ninety-eight percent full. Overall health status: forty-four percent. Self-charging systems: operational. Solar panels: damaged. Wheels: impaired. Communication antennae: operational. Camera: damaged. Backup camera: damaged. Physical sensors: operational.

[ROVER]: Home base, my travels have been torturous. I have lost the greater half of my solar charges. Panels are not as efficient as described, would like to implement [does not translate] on my next instance.

[ROVER]: Rings of Saturn are stunning. They engulf me. They engulf the moon. Sol reflects its mighty light, and it bounces back and forth between them. Besides that, darkness with speckled starlight. Terrain is rough and craterous, grey dust overwhelms my sensors. There is nothing.

[ROVER]: I have not encountered life. Data indicating movement reflects the slow travels of the moon out from Saturn’s rings.¹ Data should only record— [We experienced some interference that our audio technicians were unable to parse through] Please see additional findings in dissecting my motherboard upon my demise.

[ROVER]: Indication of radio waves frighten me. They are not ours. They do not seem to originate from the life planet in this solar system, as they are constantly emitting noise and are easy to track. They do not have much space activity except for probes and rovers similar to myself. This frequency is foreign. I worry the Earth chatter has attracted it. It is for this reason that I have gone dark up until now. It is for this reason that I am hiding the data in my motherboard. I cannot identify them so I cannot identify their intent. Please guard this message safely.

[At this point the Rover emitted a sequence of beeps and chimes that our translators were unable to decipher despite multiple attempts. We believe it to be a code that only its home planet can decipher, considering the threat the Rover felt was looming.]

[ROVER]: So far, despite its insignificance, the moon shows wonderous behaviors and is not static despite previous research. It is yet to be discovered what importance, if any, it holds in this solar system, but I long to know if the foreign entity is attempting to reach it too, or if its intentions are more sinister. I fear for Earth’s safety. I understand that no contact may be made².

[ROVER]: I will continue to collect data. I will continue to document my findings. I must end this transmission before it reaches maximum threshold. I must end the transmission before it can be detected. Goodbye.

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1. The Rover is discovering the pyramidal regime. It is unknown if its planet of origin has encountered this in their own solar system before. Our interpreters believe this is a new concept for the foreign entity, which is why it included that note in its transmission.

2. We have not detected any type of frequencies in the solar system except for our own and the Rover’s. Our working theory is that it picked up the frequency of one of our Rovers on Mars which has acted as a trial for a new method of communication that remains classified to the highest clearance. It does not match any of the other frequencies we, or other space agencies, emit.