[ WP ] Drone lands on Europa , it finds remains of another drone with unfamilar markings , however the front panel states in Aramaic `` Go No Further ''

The room was quiet, the air felt close, punctuated by the wispy grey of cigarette smoke. Men and women, engineers and bureaucrats all sat around the large central table, their suits and uniforms betraying their mental states through their dishevelled nature. None dared to speak out of turn; to interject without very careful forethought in this ominous hour. 
 
 Every wall surrounding the gathered specialists were charts and texts, photos beamed back from hallway across the solar system. All of those gathered had seen every single picture and data collection a thousand times or more by now, the images, numbers and symbols burned deep into their minds. 
 
 The conversation had inevitably turned to the most serious of all the topics they had been assembled to pursue. At the head of the table, Andrew Vincent shuffled himself forward in his seat, sitting as upright and imperious as he could. These people were the brightest and most capable in the entire world, but the recent discovery was shaking their beliefs and world-view down to the very core. He had to maintain the strength of their intellect in order that they may yet see the mission through. 
 
 “ We ’ re sure of what the Marius probe is sending us in this regard? ” Andrew asked. Everyone shifted their gaze back and forth, silently calling on one another to answer. Finally, one of the engineers cleared his throat, and spoke. 
 
 “ The signal had a very high integrity, the image is very clear. ” 
 
 “ There ’ s no way the signal was hacked, and this is the result of some sort of prank? ” Andrew questioned, though he was already confident in the answer. He had to keep them walking through this thing in its entirety. Silent head shaking gave him his confirmation, but the engineer quietly spoke again, sealing the certainty of the response. 
 
 “ None. The signal is unquestionably from the Marius probe. ” The room remained silent as Andrew, the other engineers, and the entire room waited for someone, anyone to finally state the obvious. Andrew heaved a large sigh, his chest heavy with age and concern 
 
 “ So the long and short of it, as it were, ” Andrew said, “ is that we are looking at clear photographic proof of one of three things. One; a civilization from here on Earth, thousands of years ago, landed an object on the surface of Europa? ” 
 
 Silent nods of agreement with the first hypothesis. Andrew continued. 
 
 “ Two; a civilization from somewhere else within the solar system landed a probe on Europa, and managed to include markings that bear a striking, if not logic-defying resemblance to a language from our own past here on Earth? ” 
 
 Once again the assembled intellectuals nodded their agreement, offering no unsolicited enlightenments. 
 
 “ Last…sorry Professor Gutfield, I ’ ll need you to explain this one. ” 
 
 The professor shifted forward in her chair, straightened her back, and began to speak. Her voice wavered only ever so slightly, but her decades of academic scholarship held her upright, and she called now on her deep well of experience and knowledge. 
 
 “ Of course, Mr. Vincent. The last possibility is that the object is of alien origin, but not in the sense of being from somewhere else in the solar system, the galaxy, or the universe. It may be an artefact transferred here from another reality; another universe, if you will. A universe that in many other ways is entirely similar to our own, but in which an Aramaic speaking culture managed to send a probe through to our universe. ” 
 
 Every eye in the room stared at the professor. Most understood this concept perfectly well, but it still seemed as alien an idea as the others. While no one in the room could dispute Professor Gutfield ’ s theory, the entire situation still seemed unfathomable. 
 
 Andrew turned to a small man far away, down at the opposite end of the table. The man ’ s thick glasses and cold demeanour gave him an air of detachment, though he was the only one here who could possibly confirm the final question Andrew had before they arrived at their conclusion. 
 
 “ Dr. Hassan, ” Andrew asked, “ You can confirm for us all what the characters on the object say? ” 
 
 Dr. Hassan remained still, his eyes darting decisively about the room from behind his glasses, surveying the others with some mixture of uncertainty and distress. 
 
 “ No, ” the man said, deflating the room. Many of the others began to protest, but Dr. Hassan raised his hand gently, holding back the yet unvoiced denouncements. 
 
 “ No one has spoken or written this language in this form for thousands of years, ” he explained. “ The translation I have provided is the best that I, or anybody else, can reasonably conclude. The exact syntax and the precise phrase elude me without more samples to compare, but the translation I have provided is…it is the thought or expression of the original author, yes. ” 
 
 As Dr. Hassan ’ s voice grew quiet, the entire room shifted back to Andrew. 
 
 “ Go no further. ” he stated. They had all read it. They had all said it aloud in various meetings and conferences with each other. But here in this room, among the best and brightest of their fields, the words hung ever more ominous in the air. 
 
 Andrew wrung his hands at the implications of this phrase, and then turned to the assembly to pose his final question. 
 
 “ Alright then, ” he began, “ It ’ s a warning. Or a threat. We can ’ t be sure. But the nature of the object, the compelling origin possibilities of the inscription, the location, and the pure infinite impossibility of us ever finding this thing in the first place all add up to a lot more questions than answers. Now we need to decide. Given this warning, what do we do now? ” 
 
 The gathered specialists and scientist all seemed rather surprised by this question, and they looked about to one another to silently ensure they all agreed on their answer. Finally, one of the scientists spoke up. 
 
 “ We do what we ’ ve always done, sir, ” she said. “ We keep going further. ” 

