The meeting was coming to an end, and the effects were evident among the participants. They were all exhausted after hours of philosophical, scientific, and political debate and disagreement. There were facts, figures and a zealous enthusiasm behind Doctor Weller's theoretical findings.

Malcolm Dandridge, CSO, weighed Weller's arguments against those of the others at the gathering. He was no doubt excited by the scientist's theories, but the financial and political arguments against were effective. He backed Weller and negotiated a compromise that allowed for further investigation without any premature publicity.

"I can't thank you enough, Malcolm. I'm convinced the material the AI team provided suggests a huge possibility that my theory could be correct."

"I know you're in love with the idea that the configuration of the cubes is a message, Gord, but do you know how many 5-letter words can be formed from the alphabet? Just because you want to believe it's hello, doesn't make it so."

"The AI team showed me. Over 14,000 possible words with two vowels and three consonants. Still, whether it's hello or not, I do believe it's a greeting."

"Well, you have three weeks to find out, so be safe, be careful, and best of luck."

Dave Ortega provided all the information he could wring from the four spelunkers that initially discovered the cubes, along with all the documentation from his own investigation. Two days were devoted to meticulously examining everything and procuring supplies for their explorations. Gordon Weller, Victoria Staines, Dave Ortega and three seasoned cavers finally boarded the helicopter that would take them to the Sierra Juárez mountain range in the southern Mexican state of Oaxac, and the Sistema Cheve cave.

The sun was still in hiding when the team made their way to Atanasio, a cliff-face opening in the Sierra de Juárez Mountains.

"We erected climbing aids in different places to make the descent easier, but there is a long hike through some amazing scenes before we get to the cubes." Ortega was leading the way; his three team members were the designated equipment carriers, while Victoria and Gordon handled their own specific scientific equipment.

"How long will it take to get there?" Victoria asked.

"About two hours, with luck."

"Luck?"

"You and Gordon have never caved before." His smile was both teasing and sympathetic.

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Two hours was a generous estimate, and when they reached the site where Ortega had photographed the cube, they saw nothing.

"You're sure this is it?" Gordon shone his light around.

"I'm sure, Gordon. I have been in this system many times, and much deeper. Dozens of cavers have come through here."

Ortega stepped forward, checking the soil. "This is not possible. There is no sign whatsoever of soil disturbance. They were right here, I saw them - the spelunkers saw them. You saw the photos."

"Okay, we need to do some testing and analysing." Gordon knelt down and began opening his pack. "We've got some pretty sophisticated equipment here that should give us a good idea of what we're looking for."

"If you are planning on digging at all, put on your masks. These caves have thousands of years of guano deposit, Histoplasmosis can be fatal."

Gordon dug out his tools, an XRF analyser and spectrophotometer, he handed to Victoria, and then he fiddled with the 12-channel seismic refraction system.

"Get David to show you the precise spot he saw the cube he took the sample from, I'm going to put Snell's Law to use over that area," he said, pointing.

The two scientists busied themselves with their tools while Ortega and one of his team explored a little deeper down the cave tunnel. Hours passed with little to show for their efforts, and they sat, tiredly, around the small Sterno can that heated some packaged soup.

Gordon kept going over his readings and calculations, frustration growing by the minute.

"How could they physically be here, and then not be here? Where could they go?"

"Could it be some kind of teleportation?" Victoria asked. "But why would it allow David to take that sample?"

One of the team members snorted. "Beam me up, Scotty, they think we're food!"

She gave him a considered look. "The future of sentient technology is not so farfetched, and you would be wise to give it some critical thought. Try reading Your Utopia, by Bora Chung."

"So why didn't they just say hi?"

Gordon frowned. "How do you know they didn't?"

"I think David mighta heard them--" he persisted.

He was silenced by an order from Ortega. "Cheap jokes have no place here. Read the book. Something was here and now it isn't. That is what is important."

Victoria got up, grabbed her plastic bottle, and walked away from the group. This was not a very comfortable idea, but preservation of the environment was critical. With so many bats living underground, any infection of the environment could be dangerous. She completed her business and was ready to return to the group.

The sudden orange light had her shielding her eyes and when she focused, her following scream brought the others running.

"Victoria!" Gordon stumbled to a halt, mouth open. The others jumbled up behind him, all gaping in awe at the glowing cube. Victoria made her way to Gordon, clutching his arm.

"That's the same one I photographed," Ortega said. "Look, that's where I took the sample." He pointed to the small concave section on one corner.

Gordon moved cautiously forward, his hand tentatively reaching out to the light. Holding his breath and wetting his lips, he touched the cube, and the dark veins began to appear at its base. He kept his hand on the cube and felt the warmth generated. In a moment of sheer impulse, he performed the word hello in sign language.

Everyone tensed up as another cube appeared, and there was a sudden hum. Gordon kept making the signs, a grin splitting his face, as the cube configuration formed just as he had studied it on the screen. The hum suddenly stopped after increasing in volume, and a pulsing orange light began in a repetitive sequence.

"They're talking to me!" Gordon shouted, exhilaration overtaking him. He tried a different phrase, and the cube sequence also changed. "Look! Look! They understand!"

"Yeah, but do you?" Ortega came up next to him and touched where he had taken the sample.

The cube light went out, and both men stepped back. Then it gradually returned, only this time a wispy image appeared in the top.

"My God, it's a face!" Gordon signed his hello again, and the face became clearer.

"Pipaluk."

"Oh, my God!" The shock of hearing a response sent Gordon stumbling backward and he fell onto the cave floor, stunned.

Victoria helped him to his feet, moving to stand beside Ortega.

"What did it say?"

"Pipaluk." Ortega stared, mesmerized.

"Is that a greeting do you think?"

The face grew larger, looking at her. "Howyoumumanun."

"Was that hello?" She stared back at the eerie face. It somehow changed its features as she spoke.

"Get pictures, David," Gordon rasped, his shock waning, and composure returning. "Record everything. Victoria, get the tools, we need readings. Mineral, chemical - everything."

A humming began and all but the original cube went dark and disappeared.

"Don't go!" Gordon fumbled with his sign language. "Pipaluk." He put his hands together prayer-like. "Talk to us, please." Victoria returned, and he signalled her to keep back.

"Gordon," she whispered, "it seems to react to your voice. Actually, any sound. My readings look like it's receiving sound waves and converting them into electrical signals."

"So the cube is a receiver transmitter. That means the face is formed from an interpretation of the sound waves. We are looking at a- a TV signal from somewhere else?"

As he spoke, the cube pulsed again and a series of sounds emanated.

"Woweee needud wowatuteerur tutoh shushururvuviee. Wowww wowilullul bubee tutakuckinungug alullul yumohurur puplulanuneetut hashashus."

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Malcolm listened to Gordon's report while studying the readings they took, his head shaking in disbelief. Gordon fidgeted in his chair beside the chief officer.

"AI is running the recordings through their system, and Victoria is in the lab analysing the samples and the readings we took. Malcolm, this could be- this is literally first contact!"

"Or some elaborate hoax."

"What?" Gordon jerked back. "Hoax! You can't be serious."

"I'm just anticipating blowback from the board. You know what some of them are like."

"It's not a hoax, Malcolm." Gordon stood and gathered his material just as the chief's phone buzzed.

"Victoria has the AI results. She said to get there right away."

Gordon hurried from the office, pausing at the door. "It's not a hoax, Malcolm."

Both scientists sat numb, reading the results over and over together. Gordon reached for his phone, placing a call.

"You're sure about these results?" He listened quietly. "Okay. Not a word of this is to leave your department. Is that understood?" He glanced at Victoria, reiterated his warning, and hung up. The results almost seemed to burn his fingers as he read them again.

"Pipaluk's words certainly weren't a greeting."

"What do we do with this, Gordon?"

"I think we need to get hold of the DOD. There's nothing we can do."

"Do you think they will believe we met an alien device that told us they wanted water - all of earth's water?"

1500 words Wattad word count

A/N: The use of real locations is purely for support of the fictitious people, events, and plot, which are totally from my imagination.