Harris hurried into the hall, moving to the end, where the hall window looked out on the bays. "That is beautiful. She's sleek. And looks to be intact. Doc, you come with me. Tawn, you Trish and Garvis keep checking this place out while we make our way over to that ship."
"Why do I get the crappy duty?"
"Because I called it first."
"I saw it first."
"We both know that's not how it works."
"How what works?"
"Dibs. Seeing it first has never meant anything. You have to call it."
"Seriously? Dibs is your authority maker?"
"You have something better?"
"Yeah, first to see it."
Harris chuckled as he shook his head. "I just explained that to you. You have to call it. Besides, not like you aren't gonna hurry over there to take a look anyway."
"You're right. Doc, you stay with Trish and Garvis. Give this place a thorough exploration."
Trish said, "Come on, Garvis, we're going over to look at the ship."
Alex slowly nodded. "I'm with her. See you over there."
Harris sighed. "Fine. I guess we all go. Hope this place doesn't come to life and swallow us up though, seeing as how we don't know what else is here."
Six stories of stairs were hurried down before they were running across the bay floor. Five additional stories were ascended before they entered a room that led to a docking tube.
Harris nodded as they walked through. "A Burrell ship. Outstanding. As they stepped into a foyer on the ship, a holo-image filled the wall in front of them.
A smiling image of Sharvie said, "Beat you to it."
"You got in the system?"
"I have Idiot connected to it now. He enabled this display. He says the archives have no mention of this place or what it is. Wait..."
The image split in two, the left side displaying two dead Burrell. "Sorry, sir. I took the liberty of displaying this find. They match the Burrell we found at Gondol. Deaths appear to possibly be age related as one is in a bed and the other sitting beside them in a chair. There is no sign of a struggle. One moment... the logs of this facility give an exact date of their passing. Two thousand one hundred and fifty-six years ago. Well before Humans came to this sector of the galaxy."
"Is this ship operational?"
"It would appear to be so, yes."
"Weapons, shields?"
"Modest maybe? It appears to be a military freight shuttle, much as the original Bangor, only larger."
Tawn chuckled. "Not quite the battleship you were hoping for?"
"What about the drives? Are they similar to the Burrell who are coming?"
"Ship specifications show the drive to be sub-light, although faster than ours and those of the Hoya. Wait... there's more. The wormhole drive is different."
"So with the sub-light we could outrun Bax?"
"It would appear so. Please allow me time to analyze the new data I have before me. When finished, I will recommend potential upgrades where possible."
"Dig in. Let us know if something big shows up."
"Yes, sir."
Sharvie asked, "What do you want me to do?"
"Keep poking around," Harris replied. "See what you can come up with from a security standpoint. Will anything on here let us crack into Bax and her ships? And what about the bots? Anything look promising as far as recalling them goes?"
"I'll check."
Alex stepped back into the foyer from a nearby room. "We have a med-bay in here. Looks to be sophisticated. Laser scalpels and sealers. That looks like heart and lung gear, but maybe for a Burrell."
Idiot said, "I'm evaluating its potential usage for Humans. I should have a report in the coming minutes."
Harris walked toward the front of the ship. "Having a med-bay would be nice. Won't have to run to the Retreat every time we have a problem."
Boomer came over the comm to Tawn. "Ma'am, the first three worker assistants are operational."
"Great. Have those three assist you and keep them coming."
"Yes, ma'am."
Harris stopped in the doorway to the bridge. "Whoa, nice. Looks like everything is holo."
"How can you tell?"
"Nav up."
A display showed on a near wall. The Bangor, the ship they inhabited, Midelon, and its moon were highlighted."
"How did you know to do that?"
Harris chuckled. "Lucky guess."
A comm was again opened. "Idiot? Can you give us a quick evaluation of the sensors on this ship? Are there any we would benefit from by adopting them?"
"One moment... it would appear our sensors are almost identical. Perhaps they are based on the Burrell technology from this time?"
Alex walked up behind Harris. "That would make sense. We were basing much of what we were using for tech on items found in the bunker above. We adopted and adapted what we could."
Idiot said, "Mr. Gruberg, I have an interesting spin-off from the sensor evaluation. The nav system contains a map of the Burrell Empire of two thousand years ago. This includes starmaps and evaluation data from explored planets. The listings are extensive."
"Push a wide view of their empire onto the display. And squeeze in what they knew about the Denzee, Hoya, and Frizoid at that time."
The display lit up with colony and outpost designators. The Burrell showed as blue, the Frizoid as red, the Denzee as yellow, and the Hoya green.
Tawn stepped up. "Wow. That's a lot of colonies."
"Push up a quick listing of each species’ population at that time."
Tawn pointed. "Look how big the Denzee colonies were back then. And the Frizoid were half the size of the Burrell."
Alex said, "Idiot, add Humans to this map."
Tawn winced. "Look how populous Earth was. That's three times the density of any others. And we only brought ten million through to this sector. What's the date on this map?"
Idiot said, "Ten years after Humans arrived here."
"And Earth still had that population? I thought there was a cataclysm coming?"
"Idiot?" Harris asked. "Does the Burrell data mention the demise or potential demise of Earth?"
"One moment... an intense gamma ray burst from a supernova, as highlighted on the display, was set to hit the planet forty-two years after the departure of the refugees. Data indicates it would have been an extinction-level event, lasting for several rotations of the planet."
"So there was a reason for us to leave. And it's looking like the Burrell were responsible for bringing our people here. They knew this was coming."
Tawn gestured toward the far end of the map. "That supernova just happened to be on the far end of their territory. You think it was natural, or something they caused?"
"That's something we would have to ask them. Hey, maybe you can put together a list of questions to ask when they arrive tomorrow."
Tawn chuckled. "Yeah, like I'd be stupid enough to volunteer for that."
"I wasn't suggesting that you ask those in person."
"Only because you didn't think of it right then. You'd have gotten around to it though."
Harris looked back at the display. "I can't argue with that. Wait, what is this over here?"
Idiot replied, "It would appear to be a Human colony."
"Search for any data on that and tell us what you have."
"Nine years after the departure of the vessels that brought Humans here, a third ship departed for Alpha Centauri. The colony shows as gray because the ship had yet to arrive when this nav snapshot was pieced together."
"So even if Earth got whacked, we might have some other brothers and sisters out there. I like the sound of that."
Tawn frowned at the image. "The Earth is fifteen hundred light years from here. Unless we find a way to make jumps to anywhere, it doesn't look like we'll be going home anytime soon."
Harris crossed his arms. "I don't know. If the Burrell tech can move them at the speed it appears to be doing, we could be at Earth in about
a hundred twenty-five days. That's a very doable journey."
Alex nodded. "Indeed. Our travels here lasted for more than five years after coming through the wormhole. If that same wormhole were to open today, our journey to it would take a fraction of that time. Possibly only days. Our drives are much faster today as compared to what we came through with. In fact, we’re now just over twenty times faster. A five year journey would be shortened to thirteen weeks."
Trish came over the comm. "Hey, you might want to come check this out. I have three Burrell down here in stasis pods. They might still be alive."
Harris turned for the hall. "Nav off."
Tawn followed. "Now I might put that list of questions together. Three Burrell just coming out of stasis, I'm not intimidated by."
"So more of those little furry creatures would intimidate you?"
"When they're riding in warships, yes, yes they do."
The group entered the room. Seventeen stasis pods sat open, with another three remaining sealed and active.
Harris stood over a pod, looking down through the transparent cover that capped it. "Looks peaceful. You think he'll be mad if we wake him up?"
Trish leaned over. "How do you know it's a he?"
"I guess I don't."
Harris walked over to a blank wall. "Stasis display up."
The wall filled with data on the three active pods.
Harris grinned. "Am I getting good at this or what? How do we open an active pod?"
A device returned a number of words in gibberish.
Harris chuckled. "Translate all replies to Earth Standard English."
"Hello."
"Now we're getting somewhere. How do we open a pod and revive the occupant?"
"Press and hold the ocre button on the lower end of the pod for a period of at least six-point-two seconds."
Harris looked at the three buttons in front of him. "Ocre? Anyone know what that is?"
Tawn said, "Identify the color of the three buttons on the lower end of the pod."
"Green, ocre, black."
"Well, that's green and that's black, so there's your ocre in the middle."
Harris nodded. "Nice work, Freely. I hereby put you in charge of all colors from here on." Harris reached for the button.
Tawn grabbed his arm. "Wait."
"What?"
"Is pressing the ocre button all that’s needed to bring someone back from stasis?"
"Yes. It is also advised they refrain from undue physical activity for a period of twenty-one-point-two hours."
Alex nodded. "Same as was for me. Took that long for the fog to clear."
— Chapter 6 —
* * *
Harris pressed the button. Pump motors whirred and liquid drained from the pod. Several minutes passed before the transparent lid rose up and the pod leaned forward. Close to a minute additional passed before the Burrell showed signs of life.
Its eyes widened as Harris leaned forward. "Hello?"
Tawn chuckled. "Doesn't know English, you idiot."
The Burrell blinked. "Hello?"
Harris smirked as he looked at Tawn. "You said?"
"They're mimicking you."
The Burrell slightly shook its head. "I understand."
Harris again chuckled. "Freely, you're off the color management team."
"Shut up. You speak Earth English?"
"I do." The Burrell looked around. "Welcome to Curriot."
"What's Curriot?"
"This planet. How long have I been in stasis?"
"About twenty-one hundred Earth standard years."
"What? That cannot be right. I was supposed to awaken shortly after your arrival here."
The Burrell attempted to get up, but his body was yet to be ready. "What of the others?"
"There are seventeen empty pods. You and two others were in stasis up until now."
"We must wake them."
Harris held up a hand. "Relax. All in due time. Let's get you up and about before bringing them out. In the meantime, you can fill us in on what was supposed to have happened. From there we'll see if we can figure out what went wrong."
Harris held out a hand, helping the much shorter Burrell out of the pod and onto its feet. "Is there anything we can get for you or help you with?"
"You could escort me around the room once or twice. I need to get my joints and muscles moving again. Can you tell me what happened to my associates who left their pods?"
Harris shook his head. "We don't have a clue. Although, we have found two bodies here, and one on a world we call Gondol. It was set up to be terraformed. Looked like the individual had been dead for two thousand years. Would that have been one of your associates?"
"Possibly."
"And the two here looked to have died of old age. I'm Harris, this is Tawn, Alex, Trish, Garvis, Sharvie and Gandy. You have a name?"
"Milos."
"And I hate to ask, but are you male or female?"
"Male. You?"
Tawn chuckled.
"Uh, yeah. I'm a male. She, he, she, he, she and he."
"The variety and diversity found in the Human species always fascinated me. Most species are extremely similar in appearance. Humans, however, can be my height or twice my height. You can be my weight or five times my weight. And you come in a variety of skin tones."
"So Burrell all have the same color fur or markings in that fur?"
"We do have variety when it comes to our patterns, yes. Our fur is of the white or brown color, always. Some may have stripes or spots or splotches. As a generality, stripes are scientists or in science related fields. Spots are almost strictly military. Splotches are our general citizens and worker class. Do your variations have significance?"
"We're all individuals. It's up to the individual to make their place in society."
"Interesting."
"What can you tell us about Earth? Can I guess it was the Burrell who brought us here?"
"We enabled you to come. You brought yourselves."
"Why'd you enable us? There is some word of a cataclysm about to hit Earth. What do you know about that?"
"Yes. Our experiments with the Retark supernova went awry. While successful in steering a gamma ray burst in a single direction, the resultant beam was narrower than expected and sent toward your planet. As to not be the direct cause of your end, we enabled travel to this sector and gave notice to your scientists that the GRB was coming."
Alex said, "The power from a supernova would easily destroy an entire planet. Why not just show up and move our people? It looks as though you had the technology."
"It was a question of interference in your development. We had already done more than we should to ensure your survival. All indications were that you weren't prepared to meet a new species."
"You knew the Denzee," said Tawn. "What can you tell us about them?"
"The Denzee are a partner species. You have met them?"
Harris half winced. "We watched them die by the hand of the Hoya."
"The Hoya are here?"
Tawn shook her head. "We took care of them. At the moment, we're only threatened by our own people. Unless the Frizoid show."
"You have had interaction with the Frizoid?"
"Not really, just one. A Commodore Rieg or something like that. He was running the Hoya fleet we defeated."
"Much has transpired since I went in the pod. I must review the logs for this facility. And I will need the help of my associates to do that."
"Yeah, I think we'll keep them on ice for a bit longer. Consider us your associates. How can we help you with the logs? Oh, and we already have access if you were wondering, but it's recent, so we haven't had time to dig through them yet."
Milos stood silent for several seconds. "I see. Am I a prisoner?"
Harris grinned as he patted Milos on the back. "Nooo. Consider us your friends. We're eager to find out about you and you us. This is just a familiarization period until we reach the point of having trust in on
e another."
"Yes, well, I seem to be at a severe disadvantage. There are seven of you who are armed, against one of me who is not."
Harris looked around at the others. "Put away your gear. It's making our friend unnecessarily nervous. Can we get you any food? A beverage?"
"I'm fine, thank you. It is standard practice to eat and hydrate before entering the pod. Should I require sustenance I will let you know."
"Sounds good. Now let's have a look at those logs. We're interested to see what happened here as well."
As they walked, Milos asked, "How long have your people been on this planet?"
"People in this group? About two standard years. And from what we've been able to tell, there were one or two other Human visitors here over the last two thousand years. I believe they were only allowed here to deliver parts needed for maintenance."
"You do not have free travel to and from this planet?"
"No. We have a pet robotic dog that allowed us to jump here. All others are blocked from doing so. Wasn't that how your people had this place set up?"
"Not at all. The facility above us was to be used as your science hall. All research and discoveries made by and for your people were to be conducted here, where we might assist from time to time."
"Yeah, well, looks like we were all blocked from interacting for the last two thousand years."
"I find it surprising your people were able to survive without the use of this facility."
Tawn asked, "About this facility, specifically this underwater one, what purpose does it serve?"
"It was an attempt to be able to monitor Human progress as it happened in the labs above. We were not yet willing to interact with Humans, but we hoped with unseen guidance you would achieve the enlightenment we sought in a sister species."
"So you were planning to manipulate us like some kind of puppet master?"
"Not at all. Our interference would have come mostly in the form of simple observance. I must apologize for how all this sounds, but we had the best of intentions."
Milos sat at a console with a blank wall in front of it. Following several hand gestures, an image of the log library showed before him.
"We'll begin with just after I went into stasis."
Five years of empty logs were passed before the pod room saw activity. All at once, ten units came to life. Minutes later, ten Burrell scientists were walking about as they attempted to "clear the fog."
ARMS Helm's End: (Book 7) Page 5