“Tell us what we’re looking at, Doctor.” The main screen showed a black pyramidal object floating against a field of stars.

“Well, Captain, we don’t know much. One of our foreward drones detected a stationary mass lying in our trajectory. When the ship finished decelerating and brought us out of deep sleep, we found this. It’s 20 meters across the base, masses nine hundred tonnes, and… um… it’s broadcasting Beethoven’s Ninth on an old AM radio frequency.”

The captain grimaced. “Let me guess. The ratio of its sides is equal to the Golden Mean?”

“Actually, sir, we haven’t had time to take any detailed measuments.”

“No?”

“Less than a kilometer away, we found this…” The screen showed a silver-white sphere. “This object appears massless, but is perfectly reflective at every measurable wavelength. And this…” An undulating purple loop. “A drone that passed through the loop was turned into solid gold.”

“How many of these things are there, Doctor?”

“We’ve found over a hundred within sensor range, sir.”