"How long will we be without warp?"
She looked back at the coolant leak while she thought. "About eight hours," she said flatly.
"Eight hours!?"
"Yes, Captain, eight hours. Two hours to patch these leaks, five to replenish the coolant, and another hour to get the engine down to room temperature."
"Damnit."
"Sorry, Captain. That’s the best I can do."
"I know, Commander. Can we at least use the ion thrusters?"
"Absolutely. The other two reactors are back to operating temps already."
Harper tapped his earpiece. "Captain to the bridge."
"This is Parker, go ahead."
"Full speed ahead. We’ll be without warp drive for a while, but I don’t feel comfortable sitting in one spot while we wait."
"Understood."
"Harper out." He looked over Miles' shoulder at the now fully patched crack. "How close did we cut it?"
"Very close. But, I think you made the right choice," Miles replied.
"Captain Kramer didn’t think so."
"No disrespect to his position, but Captain Kramer can go to hell. This mission is bigger than him. It's bigger than all of us, and we know that. That’s why all of us are willing to die for it."
After the shock from her harsh statement subsided, he smiled. "Thanks for the support."
"Always, Captain."
He tried to pat her on the shoulder, but had to retract his hand when he realized it was hot to the touch. "I'll be off duty by then, but make sure I’m notified when the warp engine is back online."
"Sure thing."
Harper nodded and turned back the way he came. As he made his way back through the thick haze, he couldn’t help but feel that they weren’t off to a good start. The hardest part was yet to come, and Miles’ encouragement aside, he wasn’t feeling optimistic.
Chapter 11
The Pyramid
July 3rd 2213
1500
Redacted
Harper’s heart pounded in his chest as he rounded the turn by the aft flight deck door. Parker was on his heels and gaining. After three laps around the flight deck, the strain and exhaustion turned it into a competition of who could maintain the lead, and who would give in first.
The sound of Parker’s footfalls behind him motivated him to push harder and widen the gap. A costly gamble. By the time they reached the forward door, the extra effort had drained him, and his muscles were screaming. As if by divine intervention, the intercom crackled to life and echoed across the flight deck. "Captain Harper, please contact the bridge." They both came to a stop just below the slope of the forward door, bent over and gasping for air.
"I guess that’s a win for me," Parker bragged.
"Not a chance. I still had the lead, and I didn’t forfeit," Harper replied as he pulled his earpiece from his pocket.
"Bullshit! A few more seconds and you would’ve collapsed."
Harper ignored her and shook his head as he tapped his earpiece. "Captain to the bridge. Go ahead."
"We’ve completed the warp jump," Lieutenant Commander Fischer, beta watch Commander, replied. “We’re in standard orbit of the primary moon orbiting the planet."
"Good work, Commander."
"Something else you should know."
"What is it?"
"The entire system is filled with a fine dust. It’s playing havoc with the RLADAR, meaning, if the Salaxians do patrol this system, we may not see them coming."
"True, but it also means they’ll have a hard time spotting us." Harper thought about heading to the bridge, but then remembered how he was dressed, and thought better of it. "Have the front flight deck doors opened. I want to see this for myself."
The doors flew open and revealed a sight like nothing Harper had ever seen before. The swirling dust was so thick that it almost seemed like they were underwater, rather than in space. The tan colored dust that made up most of the amalgam, refracted the star light, illuminating every inch of the system.
Permeating the bright background were swirls of brown, red, and grey that looked as if they were painted by human hands. Harper sat down on the deck to take in the sight, and Parker joined him. They stared out at the unexpected beauty of this desolate place for a long time, before Parker broke the silence. "Under different circumstances this would be kind of romantic."
Harper raised his eyebrows and looked at her. Her face turned red as she looked away. He decided to ignore the comment. “It may be beautiful, but also a little morbid,” he pointed out.
“How is it morbid?”
“In a new star system, dust like this is common. But, we’re orbiting a fully formed moon, which is orbiting a fully formed planet. This dust could only be the result of other planets being destroyed within the past few hundred years.”
“What kind of natural disaster would reduce a planet to dust, or worse, multiple planets?”
“I don’t think there is any.”
“Do you think the Salaxians did this?”
“I hope not. That would take a lot of firepower.”
They remained in silence for a long time, watching as the Resolution’s orbit turned them toward the red planet below. Suddenly, Parker leaned forward. “Captain…”
“I see it.”
“Is that what I think it is?”
“It couldn’t be.” Harper stood up and walked right to the edge of the containment field. “What the hell is a pyramid doing this far from Earth?”
* * *
By the time Harper was showered and back in uniform, Sato, Parker, and Doctor Dunfee were already waiting for him in the C.I.C.. “Sorry for pulling you all in here on your off-hours, but I want to know more about this planet,” Harper explained.
“Understandable, Captain,” Dunfee replied. “This is a historic find.”
“What have you figured out so far?”
Sato was the next to speak up. “Well to start with basics, it’s roughly the same mass as Earth. Some gravity, and even the same atmosphere density. Though, it’s a little low on oxygen, and it’s very cold.”
“The planet is nearly geologically dead, but surprisingly, I found evidence of major seismic disturbances,” Dunfee added, as he changed one of the wall screens to an image of a fault line on the planet surface. “Something shook this planet very hard recently.”
“If I’m right about this dust we’re floating in being from other planets in the system, it could have shifted the planets orbit when they were destroyed,” Harper offered.
“Not a bad observation, Captain. The most miraculous thing, is that much of the planet’s life forms survived,” Dunfee replied
“There’s life down there?
“Absolutely. It appears this was always a desert planet, but there are oases with plant life, and we’ve even detected some reptiles and mammals. Transplanted of course.”
“You never cease to amaze me with how far beyond medical science your knowledge goes.”
“When I was a child, I once met a doctor. Can’t for the life of me remember his name, but he always preferred to go by the title alone. I once pointed out the same aptitude in him, and said he was more some kind of scientist than a doctor. His reply was, 'I'm every kind of scientist.' I was inspired from that point forward to be able to say the same someday.”
Harper smiled and looked back at the screens. He scrolled through the images till he found the pyramid structure. What about these. They can’t be natural, can they?”
“I would say not,” Dunfee replied, as he zoomed out of the image. “If you look at this circle here, they appear to be city walls. There is also evidence of buildings surrounding the structure.”
“There was actually a civilization here.”
“Yes, a thriving one. Not to mention, very advanced.”
“What makes you say that?”
“These pyramids are at the center of every city we found. The ancient pyramids on Earth are still an engineering marvel to us, but th
e ones on this planet are over four-hundred meters tall, and in much better shape than the ones on earth, in spite of the quakes.”
Harper looked at him in disbelief. “How old are they?”
“Hard to get an accurate reading,” Sato cut in. “But, best guess, is over four-thousand years.”
“So, they may have been built around the same time is ours.”
“There’s a very good chance,” Sato confirmed.
“And you said the environment down there is safe?”
Sato looked at the readings, then back to Harper. “Aside from the cold, nothing would kill us in the short term.”
Harper looked to Dunfee, who quickly added, “Nothing down their big enough to eat you either.”
“Captain, you’re not seriously thinking about going down there,” Parker interjected.
“I don’t believe in coincidences, Commander. There is some sort of connection between this planet and Earth, and I intend to find out what it is.”
“What if the Grayback returns?”
“They’ve been there for hours. If they ran into trouble, we would’ve heard something by now. I don’t think we’ll be seeing them till tomorrow.”
“Yes, but-“
“Enough,” Harper cut her off. “Have a shuttle prepped and a detachment of SSEALs assigned to go with me.” She looked as if she still wanted to object, but nodded and walked towards the hatch. Harper tapped his earpiece. “Captain to the bridge.”
“This is Fischer, go-ahead, Captain.”
“Hail the Blackwolf, and get me Captain Thorne.”
“Aye, sir.”
As Harper waited for the connection, he stared at the image of the pyramid structure. Something beyond mere curiosity was drawing him to it. Since the moment he saw it, he felt a pull at his subconscious. The feeling was something like the fight or flight reflex when faced with danger, but this was decidedly more peaceful. Like a video call to a long-lost friend.
“Evening, John,” her voice finally came in.
“Evening, Louanna. I hope I didn’t disturb you.”
“Not at all. What do you need?”
Harper smiled. “How do you feel about taking another hike?”
* * *
Harper struggled fruitlessly to see through the flames in the forward viewport. The constant rattling of his head didn’t help matters. "This has to be the roughest entry I’ve ever been a part of," he shouted over the noise.
Stone didn’t take his eyes off the viewport as he piloted the shuttle through the atmosphere, but tilted his head back so Harper could hear him. "Happens all the time on wide-open planets with a thick atmosphere like this. A lot of turbulence and wind shear."
Harper tightened the harness on his seat, trying to reduce the bouncing. Kelly decided to sit this mission out, but asked Harper to give Stone some latitude in commanding the SSEALs to see how he does. Harper knew that could only mean Stone was up for promotion. It would be an unfortunate loss for the Resolution, as he was an excellent pilot for a SSEAL.
After several minutes, the friction reduced, and the shaking stopped. "We're about 100 kilometers out. It doesn’t look like there’s anywhere to land in the ruins. Vegetation is too thick," Stone explained.
"Just get as close as you can. A little hike through the woods won’t kill us," Harper replied.
Stone laughed out loud. "It’s an alien planet. I wouldn’t be so sure."
"Touché. Signal the other shuttle to hang back and wait for us to find the landing spot." When the ventral thrusters roared to life, Harper unbuckled his harness and headed for the hatch as the shuttle touched down. Shielding his eyes from the sand, he watched the other shuttle land and stepped out when the engines whined to a stop.
Thorne was the first to join him on the planet surface. "Not a great spot for shore leave," she remarked. Harper found that he was already getting used Thorne’s compulsive sarcasm, and perhaps, even starting to enjoy it.
"It could be worse." Harper looked out at the barren desert, and then towards the woods. The trees and shrubs were yet another strange spectacle. Harper had seen plenty of plant life on other planets, but these were the first truly alien plants he had ever seen. Aside from their unique size and shapes, the leaves were a brilliant shade of Royal blue, and their trunks and branches were almost silver.
Stone joined him several moments later. "Shuttle is secure."
"Good. You and your troops take point, Captain Thorne’s team will bring up the rear. Try not to exert yourself more than necessary. The oxygen levels are a bit low."
The group walked single file into the woods, carefully finding the least encumbered path. Harper watched as Thorne tore one of the blue leaves from a nearby tree and placed it against the back of her data pad.
"Find anything interesting," he asked.
"Yeah," she replied. "To start with, the pigment in these plants has been genetically altered. This isn't their natural color.
"Maybe they got homesick."
"Huh?"
"The doc says the life on this planet was transplanted. These trees are native to another world. If that world orbits a different colored star or has a larger or smaller orbit, that could change how the plants looked. So, what is true color, really? Kind of subjective."
"You think they changed the plant's pigment, possibly sacrificing efficiency, just so they would look more like they did at home."
"Exactly."
"I don’t know about that. I’ve seen the effect you’re talking about on our own colonies, but it doesn’t seem to bother anyone."
"That’s humans though. We spent a couple thousand years trying to escape nature. Change it. Not all cultures are like that, necessarily. What else did you find?"
"These plants are about as alien as you can get. They absorb oxygen and release carbon dioxide, instead of the other way around."
"Meaning the people probably had reversed respiration compared to us too."
"If that’s the case, we could share a planet and wouldn’t need plants to breathe."
"That’s almost too gross to think about."
"Just a fact, John"
Harper stopped in his tracks as the group bunched together. "Shit. So much for not exerting ourselves." They were staring at a pile of rubble at least 10 meters high, which stretched as far as the eye could see in both directions.
"We must have reached the city walls," Thorne pointed out
"I guess it could be worse," Harper panted.
"How,” Stone interjected
"They could still be standing. Let’s get this over with."
They carefully climbed over the rubble, pacing themselves to conserve oxygen. Harper felt an overwhelming sense of relief as they reached the top and began their descent.
By the time they dropped onto the street, he felt he was breathing normally again. The vegetation had thinned, and he could tell the surface they were standing on had once been paved. Trees were growing through the structures on both sides of the path, some still standing, and some completely collapsed.
Harper knew that much of this damage had been done by time, nature, and seismic activity. Unfortunately, he could not ignore the traces of scorching left behind by weapons fire. This, and the designation of conquered system on the Salaxian stellar cartography maps, made one thing clear; this was a civilization that had fallen to the fate that humans had feared for almost a century. These people were wiped out in the bid for galactic dominance by the Salaxians.
"Another clue about these people," he thought out loud.
"What is it," Thorne asked.
"The streets were wide enough for walking, but not vehicles. They were advanced enough for space traveling and terraforming, but still chose to live simply."
"How do you know they weren’t just unable to maintain a warp capable civilization after they colonized?"
Harper turned to her and opened his mouth to speak, but his attention was drawn to something in the trees. He approached it for a closer look. "Does thi
s answer your question?" It was unmistakably a spacecraft. Low-profile and sleek, it was most likely a shuttle craft of some sort. Trees had sprouted around it, and did their best to crush the craft, but their fiber was no match for the alloy hull.
He couldn’t see anything recognizable as a propulsion system or weapons, but the ornamental hull design stirred something in his memory. Running the length of the hull on both sides was the design of great feathered wings. The detail was spectacular, the texture of each feather different than the last. In spite of the decades of neglect and erosion, the blue, green, and aqua feathers still looked as if they had been painted just days before.
"Something about this looks familiar," Thorne said.
"I find myself saying that a lot today," he replied flatly. "Let's keep going."
It was another two kilometers before they finally reached the clearing in the trees. Harper nearly fell backwards trying to view the top of the towering structure. The base of the pyramid was made from a smooth, butterscotch colored stone, glossed like marble and nearly seamless. From 10 meters up the wall, to the pointed peak, the structure resembled a sand worn crystal, gleaming in the sunlight.
As they walked the perimeter, Thorne pulled her data pad from her belt again, scanning the pyramid and the ground. "John, you may want to look at this," she said. Harper walked back towards her and looked over her shoulder. "The stones in the pyramid aren't native to this planet either."
"That’s not too surprising," Harper replied, confused at her enthusiasm.
"Not really. But what is surprising, is the composition was recognized,” she countered, handing him the device. The image on the screen was one of planet he knew by heart. In his days in the S.S.D.F., he flew over this colony at least once every other week. The first human colony, the red planet, Mars. He stared at it in disbelief as the artificial image rotated slowly on the screen. "There’s four-hundred-billion planets in our galaxy. There has to be more than one with the same soil composition."
Harper stated it as dismissively as he could manage. However, he couldn't even convince himself that it was an insignificant coincidence. A nagging sensation in the back of his mind became more apparent with every irony, as they marched steadily towards undeniable connection.
Resolution: Bad Star Page 12