You move toward the coolant control panel with purposeful steps, keeping your movements just slow enough to seem deliberate while allowing yourself time to study the bizarre phenomenon outside. The violet energy tendrils pulse like living things, their glow intensifying as they wrap around sections of the hull. Through the thick transparisteel, you notice strange patterns forming in the energy - intricate geometric shapes that seem too precise to be random cosmic phenomena.

Chief Oren barks another order to his team before turning back to you. 'Well? What's the reading?' You quickly tap the control panel, bringing up random numbers while keeping your eyes fixed on the viewport. 'Stable for now, Chief,' you lie smoothly, noting how the energy seems to react when it passes near the ship's main deflector array.

Suddenly, the tendrils pull back like a hand withdrawing from hot metal. A massive shape begins forming in the swirling blues of hyperspace - something angular and impossibly large. Your breath catches as you realize the energy wasn't attacking the ship. It was testing it. The violet patterns now arrange themselves into what looks unmistakably like... writing? But in no alphabet you've ever seen.

The chief finally notices your distraction. 'By the stars, what are you looking at?' He follows your gaze just as the ship shudders again, this time accompanied by a deep, resonant hum that vibrates in your chest. The unknown script pulses brighter, then vanishes as the massive shape withdraws into hyperspace. The alarms abruptly stop, leaving an eerie silence in engineering.

Chief Oren exhales sharply. 'What in nine hells was that?' He studies you with narrowed eyes. 'You saw something. What was it?' His grease-stained fingers tap impatiently against his thigh as he waits for your answer.