Space Junk Vacuum: FB writing challenge for 2/11/22

The first of its kind, the space junk vacuum, was launched five years ago. Today, it’s coming home. My job is to clear out the debris and catalog it all and send it to the factory for repurposing. A few mostly intact inoperable satellites lie in the belly of the craft, separated by a container from the smaller bits that broke off. I activated the machine used to remove the container from the ship and programmed it to dump the debris on a conveyer belt that runs through a scanner to identify the parts. As the scanner sorts through the pieces, it starts to find several unidentifiable parts and shoots them into a container down below. Sifting through the unidentified bits, I begin to question if I can even figure out what they are. The metal was lightweight but very dense. The lab couldn’t figure it out either. They said, “It appears like an alien war was fought near the earth, and the spacecraft casualties were pulled into earth’s orbit.” But that can’t be... can it? I thought, looking up at the vast night sky, wondering what other secrets it keeps from us.

Challenge: 250 or less

Words: 196