This is a submission to my own challenge! It’s disqualified from actually winning, but it demonstrates the sort of thing I have in mind, and may inspire people to overcome the challenge in their own way.
With respect to the extra-terrestrial night sky images that the challenge is based on, the face of the triple-horned demon is the right way up in image number six, http://outerhoard.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/earthward6.png. It’s the cluster of stars near the centre.
The story itself is far from perfect. In my opinion, the main faults have to do with credibility, for example it isn’t really credible that a spaceship that has travelled so far would be so vulnerable. However, the fact that I can see faults in my own story makes me all the more hopeful that other people will submit better ones.
In summary, the story demonstrates one approach to solving the challenge, while also leaving some room for improvement.
Zerrakhi