Patrick Cooper, Pilot of the United Worlds Frontier Expedition Craft, looked at the display incredulously. He looked out of the view port, hoping to see something, anything to prove his instruments wrong. He looked back down, hoping maybe they had changed.

They hadn't.

"Commander, you might want to look at this." He called over his shoulder.

Commander John Richards had been given the task of the first manned expedition into uncharted space. The projected path should have taken them safely out of the system, reaching the nebulae that had obscured all manner of observation without incident.

Or so they thought.

"This can't be right. The instruments are reading..."

"Yes sir, an unknown object of massive size, closing in fast."

"But I don't see anything."

"Perhaps some sort of visual cloaking, sir?"

"That's preposterous. What kind of cloaking device would be able to hide something that size, but still be picked up by our sensors? Just how big is the thing anyway, Pat?"

The pilot twisted a few knobs, trying to get a better read. "Well, that's just it. Whatever it is, the end of it is out of range of our scanners."

Richards looked over at the display. "Impossible. That would mean this thing is larger than anything we've ever seen before." Something else was bothering him. "What about gravity. Surely something this big would have us in some sort of pull by now."

Cooper shook his head. "Nothing that I can pick up. It's like it's just taking up space, but not actually filling it, if that makes sense."

Richards stroked his chin. "Well, fire up reverse thrusters. No point slamming into the thing."

Cooper did pulled the lever, looking up at Richards. "Should I adjust our course?"

"Turn the ship into landing position."

"Sir?"

"Well, if this thing is as big as you say, we could waste a lot of time trying to go around it. Besides, as large as this thing is, while apparently having no mass to it. It's piqued my interest. I want to find out what it is."

"Is this wise?"

"Landing on an invisible object we know nothing about? Probably not. But it'd make the eggheads back home happy if we can scrounge something new up. Let everyone know what's going on."

Cooper nodded. He still had his doubts, but he trusted the commander's decision. He flipped a switch, activating the PA. "Attention crew, this is your captain speaking." He said, in his best 'airline pilot' voice. "We are making an in unknown lands. Please buckle your seatbelts and put all trays in the upright position."

He flipped the switch back off. Turning to the commander, he said, "last chance to turn back?"

Richards put his hand on the pilot's shoulder. "Fortune favors the bold, my friend. Let's see if that holds true for us."

With a nod, he flipped the switch again. "Brace yourselves folks. Touchdown in T-minus 30 seconds."

After a quick briefing, suits were prepared for EVA. Richards and the resident scientist, Adriana Newell, were equipped to explore the object.

"So, Doc, what do you think?" Richards asked as they approached the invisible behemoth.

"Well, without any visual clues, it's hard to say. It's not hostile, or dangerous in any case. Otherwise we wouldn't have been able to land."

They quickly reached the point where the ship had met resistance. Newell put her hand to the object. "Interesting..." She murmured.

"What is it?"

"Well, it's rather hard to tell with the suits on, but it appears to have no texture. There's no give to this."

"Metal doesn't give too much either."

The scientist shook her head. "This is different. It's like... It's like there is no resistance, but my hand refuses to pass through."

"Sure, Doc." Something had been bugging him for a while, and he had just realized what it was. "Turn around for a second, would you?"

There was silence as Newell turned around to face the other direction. "What is it?"

"Do you notice anything?"

"I can't really see when I'm not... actually..." She turned a few lazy circles. "I think I do. The object appears to be showing the space behind it at a lighter shade. More a very dark blue, than black."

Now that he noticed it, it was easier to distinguish where this wall was. He looked up and down the mass, trying to see its end. He truly couldn't see it. He was about to give up, when a flash of color caught his eye.

"Hey Doc?"

She oriented to face him again. "Yes? What is it?"

He pointed to the bit of red, a couple hundred meters away. "What do you think that is?"

She was silent for a moment. "I suppose there's only one way to find out."

They drifted in silence. The object grew closer as they drew nearer. Finally, when they could see it clearly, Adriana gasped. "My God..."

It was some sort of bar, seemingly floating in space. It slowly filled from one side to the other with some sort of red substance. But in the middle of it, in clear English, was one word.

Loading.

"What do you think this means?" John asked.

"I'm... I'm not sure I want to know."

They were silent for a time, before John spoke up again.

"Well, they did say our universe was infinitely expanding..."