The Door

"Diamond?"

"Obviously it's not diamond, but it has a similar molecular structure I think."

"Must be faulty equipment."

"No, I tried that."

Ralph spoke : "Excuse me sir, but this isn't covered by our contract".

Phillip grinned.

"Trust you to think of something like that!"

The three machines came over, surrounded by a thin cloud of dust, and the three men dismounted and came across to where the Vehicle stood. John tried the drill again to show them what he meant, and gave up in disgust.

"What's harder than diamonds?" he asked.

"There are a few things, some of them theoretical, but look, this stuff wasn't left here by Humans was it? So what is it? and where did it come from? Can diamonds form in space? They need heat and pressure don't they - space is close to absolute zero. Wrong conditions!"

There being no instant reply, Phillip tried a few more tests.

"Impervious to x-rays," he said, "No radioactivity. Seems totally inert. I'll try a bit of electricity. Non-conductive too. Resonance? None. It seems to be totally inert and unreactive..."

"Are you suggesting, sir" said John, "That this stuff is unnatural?"

"If by that you mean it comes from an area of physics which we do not as yet know about, yes. There is no known Earth technology available to make a substance from the known elements of this quality, and I cannot think of any way it could have formed by natural, or random processes. Give me some more time and I'll run all the tests again."

"Looks like we're going to be here all day," said Ralph with a sigh.

FOUR

Phillip paced about the area, trying to decide what to do. It was as simple as that, he thought, as simple as his job prescription. He had come to mine the planet,