John nodded. “Her name was Elizabeth Montablo. Drix sacrificed his life protecting her when the Screen attacked PHOENIX. She had so much guilt over him dying. The counselors tried helping her. In the end, she couldn’t go on. I guess for some people, the depression is too great to get past.”
“From what you told me, it sounds like Andre did everything he could to make a life here. At least he tried.”
“Yeah…” John set the DAT down next to him. “Once we’ve finished the survey and the Cresorians have settled on the planet, I’ll take some time off to go through Andre’s things.”
“If I can help you with any of that, please let me know,” Sally offered.
John broke a weak smile. “You know, hiding in here isn’t doing me any good. I might as well get back out there and stay busy.”
“Sounds like a good idea,” Sally agreed as they got up. They hugged one last time before leaving the office. John headed down to the pit as Sally left the command deck.
“Captain, do you have a moment,” Bret called from his communications station. Both Jufo and Rudov were with him.
“What’s up?” John asked as he joined the trio.
“Jufo reviewed the data the probe collected from the other side of the planet,” Bret explained. “Take a look at the findings.”
John reviewed the data. His face turned serious as he went over it. “What’s your conclusion?”
“We brought the probe back in, and I had a computer tech examine it,” Bret said. “Captain, someone tampered with the data. The probe’s sensor pallets show they were altered.”
“Have we tried using PHOENIX’s sensors to scan the other side?” John asked.
“We have improved sensor resolution, but we are still showing nothing on the other side,” Jufo replied.
“We need to know what’s going on over there,” John said. “Send a shuttle out. Have them escorted by a pile driver. If the shuttle doesn’t find anything, contact security and have them look at anyone who had access to the probe.”
“That’s a lot of people,” Bret pointed out. “Do you think anyone on board could have tampered with it?”
“No, but we need to eliminate that possibility,” John replied. “I’ll leave you three in charge. Let me know as soon as you uncover anything.”
“Yes, captain,” the officers replied.
“It’ll take about twenty minutes for a shuttle to reach the other side,” Jufo told his colleagues as John made his way back to the operations table.
“I’ll send the mission orders down to the hangar,” Bret said. “In the meantime, let’s analyze the data again.”
John was bothered by what his officers had discovered. To him, it seemed the only reason the data was tampered with was to hide something. But what? What was on the other side of the planet that they weren’t supposed to know about?
“Shelly, Bret’s arranging to deploy a shuttle and pile driver to the other side of the planet,” John revealed.
“What’s a pile driver?” Ben asked.
“It’s a combat shuttle,” John replied.
“Is there a reason you’re sending an armed escort with your shuttle?” Limex asked.
“It’s for precaution,” John explained. “My officers discovered the data from the probe we sent to the other side of the planet might have been altered.”
“How?” Ben asked.
“I don’t know,” John admitted. “Hopefully, the shuttle will get some answers.”
“Hangar bay is reporting shuttle Gamma and pile driver Six departing,” Shelly reported.
John looked over to Bret. “I want you to keep in constant communication with both crafts. As soon as they reach their destination patch the communication over the command deck speakers along with their sensor data.”
“Communication won’t be a problem, but the planet’s electromagnetic field will prevent them from sending their sensor data to us,” Bret replied.
“Then have them provide audio description of what they see,” John added.
“Should we alert the planetary teams?” Shelly asked.
“About what?” John questioned. “There’s nothing to warn them about. I don’t want to worry them over nothing.”
“Maybe we should leave so as not to get in the way,” Ben suggested to Limex.
“No, I want you and Limex to stay,” John insisted. “We need to be sure the planet’s safe for habitation.” John wanted to maintain complete transparency with the Cresorians. He didn’t want to give them the chance to accuse him of sabotaging their opportunity to make a home here if something went wrong.
“Captain,” Rudov announced from his station. “I reviewed all the data the Palmroids gave us on the planet. There is nothing that would be attributed as dangerous.”
“Could they have technology that may be the cause of altering the probe data?” Limex asked.
“The Palmroids have no technology of their own,” John revealed. “They don’t have a use for any tech and live pretty much off the land.”
“Communication link established with Alpha and Six,” Bret reported. “Will patch them through once they’ve reached the other side.”
It was a long twenty minutes of waiting. John kept going over in his mind what might explain the data alterations, but he kept coming back to it being done intentionally. But who would want to do such a thing? The Cresorians? Despite their problems on the ship, they were all eager to learn that this planet could be their new home. None of the crew could be responsible. It had to be something they were missing. But what could it be?
“Alpha and Six approaching coordinates,” Bret announced. “Patching them through command deck speakers.”
Some crackling sounds came through as Bret and Rudov worked to keep the transmission relatively clean. “Shuttle Alpha arriving at prearranged coordinates. Beginning scans.”
The command deck staff waited patiently for the shuttle to come up with something. They didn’t have to wait long.
“PHOENIX, we’ve picked up an object. It’s 6,000 kilometers from us. Readings indicate…PHOENIX, readings indicate it’s a Cresorian vessel.”
The news alarmed John. “Are all Cresorian vessels in our hangar accounted for?”
Shelly checked the hangar manifest. “Confirmed, captain. All ships are in the hangar. I also cross-referenced the Cresorians on the planet to the ones on PHOENIX. Everyone’s accounted for.”
“PHOENIX, the object is moving towards us on an intercept course.”
“Alpha, contact the Cresorian ship,” John ordered. “Find out who they are.”
“This is shuttle Alpha of the TERRA starship PHOENIX to the unknown Cresorian vessel. Please identify yourselves. Repeat, this is shuttle Alpha of the starship PHOENIX.”
John looked at Limex. “Have any of your people been in contact with the Cresorian homeworld?”
“No,” Limex affirmed. “None of us would contact homeworld for any reason.”
“PHOENIX, Cresorian vessel has identified themselves as the DUDOS. They’re ordering us to stand down and prepare to be boarded.”
“That’s the ship that was sent to pick up the Cresorians,” Ben said alarmed.
Limex stepped closer to John. “Captain, if they have been following us all this time then they are intent on completing their mission. They are here to take us away.”
“I can assure you that’s not going to happen,” John promised. “Shuttle Alpha, tell the DUDOS to come around to PHOENIX, so we can talk to them directly.”
“Communicating order to them,” the shuttle pilot replied. “DUDOS captain Buinox states he’ll be taking us into custody until PHOENIX gives up Cresorians on board.”
“The situation on homeworld must be dire if Buinox is willing to take human hostages,” Limex said.
“They wouldn’t hurt them, would they?” Ben asked.
“I cannot be assured they wouldn’t harm your people,” Limex admitted.
That notion didn’t sit well with John. Before
he could say anything…
“PHOENIX, the DUDOS has locked onto the shuttle with an energy tractor beam. They’re firing on Six.”
“Six, take evasive action and order the DUDOS to release Alpha,” John ordered. “If they refuse, do whatever you need to disable that tractor beam.”
“Confirmed,” the pile driver pilot replied. “We’ve taken multiple impacts from the DUDOS. Shields are at eighty-two percent.”
This was quickly spiraling out of control. John didn’t want to engage in battle with them. The DUDOS was far bigger than the shuttle and pile driver. On the other hand, he wasn’t willing to risk his crew being captured.
“Six, if you can’t disable the tractor beam, you’re authorized to use whatever force needed to free Alpha.”
“Captain!” Limex said in shock.
“You said it yourself. They’re capable of anything if they’ve been following us this entire time. I don’t want to harm them, but I can’t allow my people to be taken captive. That’ll give them leverage to force us to hand you and the others over.”
“Would you?” Ben asked.
John didn’t answer the attorney’s question. He wasn’t about to let it get to that scenario.
“Tractor beam destroyed,” the pile driver pilot announced. “Shuttle is free.”
“Alpha and Six, retreat to PHOENIX immediately!” John ordered. Since the DUDOS was a compilation of hundreds of Cresorian vessels, it probably had lots of tractor beam emitters at its disposal. Once both the shuttle and pile driver got back to the ship, the DUDOS would have no choice but to deal with the captain.
“PHOENIX,” the shuttle pilot said. “DUDOS has launched multiple devices towards the planet.”
“What the hell are they up to?” John wondered. “Can you ascertain what they are?”
“Negative,” Alpha replied.
“How would they know we have people on the planet?” Ben asked, who assumed they launched the devices because of the teams on the surface.
“Cresorian sensor technology is only marginally better than the sensors of your vessel,” Limex explained. “They would not be able to detect the teams on the surface from the other side of the planet.”
“Unless they’ve been working on improving their sensors,” Shelly speculated.
“How long until shuttle can transmit their sensor data to us?” John asked, staying focused on the current situation. There would be plenty of time to ask questions later.
“Ten minutes,” Bret replied.
If they launched something towards the planet, the survey teams could be in danger. John couldn’t risk waiting to find out what the devices would do. “Evacuate the planet,” John ordered. “I want everyone back on PHOENIX ASAP.”
“Sending the order,” Rudov confirmed.
“Alpha, transmit the data on those devices as soon as you can,” John said as he looked at Shelly. “Review the data as soon as you receive it. I want to know what those objects are.”
“Yes, sir.”
The officers worked feverishly on their tasks as they waited for the shuttle and pile driver to return. John did not enjoy having to wait on what the DUDOS had planned for the planet. It seemed like an eternity, but the shuttle finally got close enough to PHOENIX to transmit its data.
“Receiving Alpha sensor data,” Shelly reported. She wasted no time reviewing the information. John joined her in going over the readings.
“The devices contain an unknown plasmatic compound,” Shelly explained. “It’s nothing our records show we’ve ever encountered.”
John couldn’t make heads or tails of what it could be. “Limex, any idea what this is?”
The female Cresorian moved next to John to look at the information on the display in front of him. She immediately recognized it. “Captain, the devices contain igojasix. It is a biological agent designed to destroy a planetary atmosphere.”
John realized what they were going to do. “They’re going to destroy the planet. Contact Julie now!” he ordered communications.
“Getting her,” Bret replied. In a few moments, an image of the executive officer appeared over the operations table.
“Julie, how long until everyone’s off the planet?” John asked.
“Fifteen minutes,” she said. “What’s going on? We picked up some unknown devices in the upper atmosphere.”
“Those devices contain an agent that’s going to destroy the atmosphere,” John revealed. “Everyone’s in danger. I need you to get both the teams and the Palmroids to PHOENIX.”
“Most of the Palmroids are still above the surface,” Julie said. “How long do we have?”
“Best estimate is twenty-six minutes,” reported Shelly.
“Don’t waste any time,” John urged. “We’ve got a hostile Cresorian ship out there who’s responsible.”
“What!?” Julie was surprised to hear such news.
“I’ll explain later, just get up here!” As her holographic image disappeared, John turned his attention to the Cresorian ship. “Where’s the DUDOS?”
“The last telemetry shows it’s coming around the planet towards us,” Jufo reported.
John looked at Limex. “Will they engage us?”
“Yes,” Limex replied without hesitation. “They will take whatever action needed to complete their objective. The fact that your ship is superior in its military capability will not dissuade them. They believe their sheer size alone is enough to take on the PHOENIX.”
“If they fire on us, they risk breaking the alliance,” Ben pointed out.
“They are not concerned about the alliance,” Limex replied. “They do this because they believe it is in the best interest of rebuilding our world.”
“As soon as everyone’s back aboard, we’ll raise shields,” John said. “Their weapons can’t penetrate our defensive screens.” He hoped that Buinox wouldn’t be stupid enough to try and attack PHOENIX. Despite the hostile actions the DUDOS was taking, the captain was still hoping to resolve the situation peacefully.
********
On the planet’s surface, Julie informed her team of the evacuation order. She had received word from Commander Richardson that his teams on the other continent had already departed. Julie was racing over to talk to the Palmroids. Fortunately, they were all still above the surface.
“Yuto, Noa,” Julie said as she approached the pair.
“Captain Olson, several of us have spotted objects high up in the sky. Are they from your starship?”
“No, the planet is under attack,” Julie revealed. “We need to evacuate, and Captain Roberts wants you to come with us.”
“Who is attacking?” Yuto asked. “Did you bring enemies here?”
“It’s too long to explain, but the devices are designed to destroy the atmosphere. If you stay, you’ll be killed. We can take you to the safety of our ship.”
Yuto and Noa began talking to each other. Julie learned that they could communicate at lightning speed with one another. So much so that the micron only interpreted it as gibberish. She was certain they were also talking to the rest of their kind. They had a form of telepathy, using discrete scents emitted from their bodies.
“We will accompany you,” Noa replied without further question.
Julie was relieved she didn’t have to argue with them. “Head to any shuttle still on the ground.” As the Palmroids flew off towards the shuttles, Julie headed to hers. “Olson to ground teams. The Palmroids are evacuating with us. Take however many of them you can house in the shuttles.” There were plenty of shuttles to accommodate all 4,000 of the aliens. “Olson to PHOENIX. The Palmroids are evacuating with us. Contact medical to institute quarantine protocols.”
“Acknowledged,” the voice of John came through her pip. “Be advised that the DUDOS is on an intercept course with us.”
“We’ll be off planet in a couple of minutes.”
“Hurry, Julie. I mean it,” John reiterated. “We just scanned them, and the DUDOS is bigger. It looks like t
hey’ve added more ships.”
It seemed the DUDOS was intent on a confrontation with PHOENIX. “We’ll be up there soon. Olson out.” She took one last look at the scenery. Maybe PHOENIX could disable those devices before they detonated.
********
“Can we destroy the devices?” John asked aloud to the command deck staff.
“They’re designed to break apart and dissipate their contents if fired on,” Limex explained.
“Could our energy weapons disintegrate the compounds?” John asked.
“I do not know,” Limex admitted.
“Unarnu?” John asked, hoping his science officer had a solution.
“We have no data on this biological weapon,” Korifluxinina replied. “Without a test sample, I cannot run a simulation to determine if any weapons we have would affect it. But eighty-nine devices are scattering throughout the planet. I do not believe we have enough weapons to destroy them all in a timely fashion.”
“Captain, if it helps, the DUDOS have circumvented the planet towards us to allow communications,” Bret reported.
“Open a channel,” John ordered. When Bret nodded, and the link was established, John wasted no time. “DUDOS, this is Captain Roberts of the PHOENIX. We know what the devices you launched into the atmosphere will do. A sentient species live on the planet. Activate those devices, and you destroy their homeworld.”
“This is Buinox of the DUDOS. We will recall them when you send all Cresorians on PHOENIX to us.”
“Negative, DUDOS,” John replied. “Your people have made it clear they want to remain with us.”
“Then we have nothing further to discuss. As you can see, I have enhanced the DUDOS with additional vessels.”
“Buinox, are you willing to destroy the world of an innocent race?” John asked. “We’re talking thirty-eight Cresorians here. They would have a negligible impact on any improvements to your world.”
“Our government knows what is best for us,” an angry Buinox replied. “Because of you, our world was decimated. The Screen left us alone for many cycles. But you humans had to go out and aggravate them. They laid waste to our world because of your aggression towards them.”
Fractured Alliance Page 17