by G J Ogden
“Is that the Nexus?” wondered Casey, looking at the object, awestruck.
“I guess it must be,” said Taylor, realizing he’d only ever seen part of it from the inside. Then to Blake he said, “What do the tactical sensors make of that thing?”
“If you mean, ‘is it dangerous?’, then hell yeah, it’s dangerous,” said Blake, “I’m detecting plasma cannons and turrets and what look like torpedo launch tubes, and a ton of other stuff I don’t even want to guess at.”
“Are they locking on to us?” asked Taylor.
“Nope, not that I can tell anyway,” replied Blake.
“Then it’s not dangerous,” said Taylor, “at least, not yet.”
“You and me have a very different idea of what’s dangerous, Cap...” replied Blake, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. “Remind me again why we’re doing this?”
“Because it’s the right thing to do,” said Taylor, and Blake rolled his eyes.
“Aww, come on Blakey, I always had you down as the hero type,” teased Casey, shooting a wink at Taylor too.
“I like to think of myself as more the ‘I like livin’ type,” grumbled Blake.
“What about other Hedalt ships?” said Taylor, ignoring Blake’s mutterings.
“Negative, there’s just us an’ that thing out there,” said Blake. “Likely, they’ve sent their warships to Earth. But honestly, it’s not like it needs protection. It has enough firepower to take out an armada on its own.”
“Well, there’s only one way to find out if it’s hostile,” said Taylor, “Casey, take us to docking level alpha.”
“I’d love to, Cap,” said Casey, but then she spun her chair around to face him and added, “any idea where that might be?”
Taylor laughed, “Good point... No, I have absolutely no idea!” Then he thought back to what Satomi had told him. “Satomi just told me that the Nexus was expecting us.”
“Satomi?” said Blake, eyeing Taylor with suspicion. “When the hell didya talk to her?”
Taylor rubbed his chin, realizing he hadn’t explained that part, “I sort of spoke to her during the jump over here.”
“Right…” said Blake. “You just spoke to her, huh? Like dialin’ 0800 SATOMI?”
Casey giggled, but Taylor wasn’t amused. “Look, Blake, just trust me. I know it’s weird, but we’re a bunch of cyborgs inside an ancient alien space ship. Weird is our life now. So just go with it, okay?”
Blake didn’t answer, and instead looked at Casey for support, but she was too busy spinning around in her chair to notice.
“Casey, start to approach the station, nice and easy, and let’s see what happens,” said Taylor, using Blake’s silence as an opportunity to move things forward.
“Aye aye, Captain Taylor Ray,” answered Casey, stopping her chair and then easing the Contingency One towards the Nexus.
“I don’t believe this,” moaned Blake, “the giant alien space fortress is expectin’ us…” Then he turned back to face his console, muttering to himself, “But sure, why not... Let’s just fly at a space station that could level a city in less time than it’d take me to neck a shot of bourbon, ‘cause the voices in your head toldya to...”
Casey and Taylor both heard him clearly, thanks to their simulant hearing, and they glanced at each other, smiling. But then the mission ops console bleeped, wiping the smiles off both of their faces. Taylor rushed over to check it.
“That’d better be good news, Cap,” Blake called over.
“Well, there’s good news and there’s bad news,” said Taylor, checking the console, which had actually registered two separate alerts.
“Bad news first...” Blake called out.
This made Taylor smile again. Always glass half-empty. At least he’s consistent... “The bad news is that another ship has just jumped in. Destroyer class. From the markings and drive signature, it’s possibly even the same ship that appeared at the cave mouth of the Contingency base, before the larger Hedalt fleet arrived.”
“That has to be more than just coincidence,” said Casey. “Could it be Provost Adra? Maybe she tracked us somehow?”
Taylor rubbed his chin again, mulling the possibility over in his mind, but if it was Adra, why had she switched from a War Frigate to a vessel that was barely a match for their Corvette? “I don’t know... maybe,” said Taylor, “but I haven’t entered the Fabric since the last time it nearly wiped me out, so I don’t see how she could have tracked us here. And even if she had somehow managed that, why come here in a ship barely any more powerful than our own?”
“You know, those’re great questions, Cap,” said Blake, “but how ‘bout we don’t hang around to find out?”
“You said there was good news?” Casey cut in, while also shooting Blake a reproving look.
“The good news is that the Nexus has sent us a message,” said Taylor, “and you’re not going to believe what it says.”
“Try me...” said Blake.
“It says, ‘Welcome home, Hunter AA-01. Proceed to Docking Section Alpha.’ And it’s even sent the co-ordinates,” said Taylor, transferring the information to Casey’s console.
“Got it, Cap, making my approach now,” said Casey, throwing a thumbs up out to the side.
“I’m not sure whether that giant weapon talkin’ to us makes me feel safer or just more weirded-out,” said Blake, as the ship ascended towards a docking section near the center of the giant mass. Then Blake’s console sounded an alert, and he read it anxiously, “The Destroyer is chargin’ weapons and gainin’ on us.”
“Casey, I’m probably going to regret this, but can you go any faster?” asked Taylor, “The more of a head-start we can get over whoever that is, the better our chances of taking this thing down. And finding Satomi.”
Casey smiled, and glanced back at Taylor as he sank back into his increasingly dented and bent command chair, “Are you asking me to land this thing as fast as I can?”
Taylor winced, knowing he’d regret what he was about to say, “I guess I am.”
Casey let out an excited little whoop, and then pulled the pilot’s viewport closer, “Aye, aye, Captain Taylor Ray!” She pulsed the ion engines and suddenly the image of the Nexus on the viewport began to rapidly enlarge.
Blake gripped the arms of his chair, terrified silver eyes fixed on the viewport and mouth twisted into a grimace, “Well, at least I can’t hurl in this body,” he called out, his tone rising as they hurtled towards the space station at a reckless speed. “So I guess that’s somethin’!”
EIGHTEEN
In Earth Fleet military lingo, Casey’s landing would have been described as ‘sporty’, which was a polite way of saying that it was little more than a controlled crash. However, Casey was no ordinary pilot. Despite approaching the hangar bay of the Nexus at more than twice the maximum speed that any normal pilot would attempt, she had somehow managed to wrestle the ship to a full stop and then drop them onto the deck with the softness of a feather landing.
Once Blake had recovered from the trauma of the experience, he had rushed off the bridge to the weapons store to make sure they were equipped for a confrontation. Casey’s maneuver had given them a good head start over the Destroyer, but no-one doubted they’d be able to leave again without first facing the occupants of their Hedalt stalker.
At Taylor’s command, Casey had left the reactor hot, so that they would be able to blast off again at a moment’s notice, and then both had joined Blake, who had already laid out three sets of body armor and three sidearms.
Casey pulled on the armored jacket and then picked up and swiftly loaded one of the weapons. It was only after she had slipped the sidearm into her holster that she noticed Taylor wasn’t with them. She looked around the corridor with a puzzled expression, “Where’s the Cap?”
“He said he had to get somethin’,” Blake replied, tightening the straps of his own armor. “I didn’t ask why, but it looked like he was headed towards Satomi’s quarters.”
“Maybe he’s looking for a memento,” suggested Casey, but Blake just frowned and finished donning his armor. Casey shook her head at him, “You know, a personal item; something that might help to wake her up. He thinks there might be a Satomi on this station.”
“Nah, that’s not why he’s ransackin’ her quarters,” said Blake, though the twinkle in his eyes suggested he was inviting Casey to ask, ‘why?’.
“Go on, I’ll bite,” smirked Casey, “Why?”
“Well, he always did wanna get inside her drawers,” Blake continued, with a wicked grin.
Casey laughed, “Blakey, I’m impressed,” she beamed, “that might actually be the first time one of your smutty innuendos actually made sense!”
Blake’s grin broadened, “I just hope the reason he’s taking so long ain’t ‘cause he decided to put them on…”
“Put what on?” said Taylor, appearing behind Blake, as if he was a genie that had just been summoned with a magic word.
Blake shot bolt upright, and even though his simulant brow couldn’t sweat and his simulant skin couldn’t turn any paler than it already was, Taylor knew a guilty look when he saw one.
“Oh, nothin’, Cap,” said Blake, with a ‘hand caught in the cookie jar’ sort of nonchalance. “I was just sayin’ to Casey that…” then he hesitated, realizing he had talked himself into a corner. He turned to Casey with imploring eyes, hoping she would be able to rescue him.
“He was just saying he hoped you weren’t trying on Satomi’s underwear,” said Casey, totally deadpan.
“Casey, what the hell!” Blake exclaimed, then he turned to Taylor, “Cap, I didn’t… I mean I wasn’t...”
“Relax, Blake,” said Taylor smiling, “you were actually correct, I was going through her drawers.” Blake frowned again and then Taylor tapped his simulant ears. “I left the door open, so I couldn’t help but overhear.”
Blake seemed relieved, but then also slightly perplexed. He looked down at Taylor’s pants, contemplating asking whether or not he’d actually guessed right.
“I was actually looking for this,” Taylor continued, holding up a short length of twisted fabric with metal hooks at either end.
“What is it, Cap?” asked Casey, taking a step closer so she could get take the item from Taylor to get a better look.
“It’s a trouser twist,” said Taylor, as if the answer should have been obvious.
“A what-now?” said Blake and Casey in unison.
Taylor shook his head, “Maybe the Hedalt forgot to program that part of basic training into your brains,” he said, snootily. “They help to keep the bottoms of your pants looking neat. They used to be part of the standard uniform regulations, but were phased out when the later uniforms came in,” Then he grinned at Casey, “Not that you’d know, since following uniform code was never your forte...”
Casey shrugged and smiled back, “Well, since we were never officially part of Earth Fleet, strictly speaking I never flouted uniform regulations.”
“A technicality,” said Taylor, playing it straight, “it wouldn’t hold up at court-martial...”
“And that’s Satomi’s special personal item?” asked Blake, as Casey and Taylor laughed. He was still too caught up on how a trouser-twist could hold sentimental value. “I mean, what’s so damn special ‘bout it?”
“Well, it’s kind of embarrassing...” Taylor began.
Blake looked at him like he was mad, “More embarrassing than me thinking you’d just slipped on a pair of her panties?”
“Well, no,” said Taylor, wondering if Blake actually realized that simulants didn’t need panties or any form of underwear. “It’s silly really, but I lent her this one time when her hair band snapped, and she liked it so much she carried on using it.”
“Aww, that’s sweet, Cap,” said Casey, cocking her head, but then Blake laughed and Casey had to back-hand him across the chest to shut him up. “But didn’t that mean you had one leg untucked?”
“I had a spare, Casey!” said Taylor, also now laughing.
An auxiliary console on the wall of the corridor sounded an alert, which snapped them back to the reality of their situation faster than a shard of plasma. Blake checked the alert and relayed the information to the others, “Casey increased our lead over that Destroyer, but it’s finally linin’ up to dock. So we better move fast.”
Taylor shoved the trouser-twist into his pocket and grabbed the last weapon and set of body armor off the deck, “Okay, let’s get this done,” he said, pressing the docking hatch release, which opened onto a short walkway that had extended after they landed. Taylor loaded the weapon and then looked at Blake and Casey, steely-eyed and serious. “I have no idea what to expect in there,” he began, “but, I doubt we’ll make it back out again without a fight. So I need you in game mode. We won’t get another chance.”
“Aye aye, Captain Taylor Ray,” Casey replied, but with matching seriousness, instead of her usual breezy verve.
“You can count on me, Cap,” said Blake, with gruff determination and a game-face to match. “Let’s get Satomi an’ blow this thing to hell.”
They all ran out onto the hangar deck and headed towards a door at the far end.
“Where are we goin’?” asked Blake, drawing his weapon.
“Just keep your silver eyes peeled, we’ll know it when we see it,” said Taylor, hoping that Satomi would be true to her word.
“Great, I love a solid plan,” complained Blake, sarcastically as they reached the door. He turned around to face the pursuing Hedalt ship approaching the outer airlock, “And what we do ‘bout that Destroyer?”
“One thing at a time,” replied Taylor, trying to open the door, “Casey, can you see a release anywhere?” Then, before she could answer, a vivid white glow surrounded the frame and the lights in the hangar dimmed.
“What the?...” said Blake as the door opened, leading on to a long corridor, which was pitch black, save for a row a white lights at floor level, which were pulsing, as if directing them to follow. Taylor stepped through the illuminated door frame and into the corridor and the realization of where he was smacked him in the face like a sucker punch.
It’s the deep space corridor!... he said to himself, hardly believing his eyes. The Nexus is the gateway, and I just passed through the starlight door in to the deep space corridor.
“You okay, Cap?” asked Blake, noticing that Taylor seemed momentarily distracted.
“Follow the lights, people,” said Taylor. “This place is where it all began for me. This is where it all connects. And this is where it’s going to end.”
NINETEEN
They advanced through the maze of corridors inside the Nexus, Taylor in the lead and Blake covering their rear, following the blinking lights at floor level like an electronic trail of breadcrumbs. They raced through sector after sector, most of which looked abandoned, except for the warm glow of console screens, and through others that were occupied by zombie-like simulants. Blake had cautiously raised his weapon to cover the various automatons, but they had simply moved back and forth between stations, performing their programmed duties, while ignoring the presence of Taylor and his crew.
Eventually, the pulsing white lights stopped at a large double-door, which to led into a laboratory or workshop area. Taylor stepped up and pressed the security access pad next to the door, but it was coded to only allow authorized personnel. Knock, knock, Satomi, please let us in... There was an anxious wait where seconds seemed like hours, then the doors slid open.
“I’ll cover the door,” said Blake, keenly aware that the occupants of the Destroyer would be closing in behind, “Try not to take too long doing whatever it is that you’re doing.” Then he glanced back at Taylor and smiled. “And try not to blow this damn thing up with us still inside.”
“I’ll do my best,” said Taylor, though in truth he hadn’t the faintest idea where to start.
“Hold it! Don’t move!” cried Casey, and Taylor and Blake both spun around to see C
asey aiming her weapon at a Hedalt male, dressed in a plain navy uniform.
The Hedalt dropped to his knees and held up his hands, “Don’t shoot!” it cried back, hands shaking, “I’m not armed, I’m just an engineer.”
Blake raced over and proficiently checked the engineer for weapons, finding none. “He’s clean, Cap,” he said, returning to cover the door. “Also, he ain’t wearin’ the armored getup that the soldiers all seem to wear, so maybe he’s tellin’ the truth.”
“I am!” cried the engineer, “I am not part of Warfare Command, they just assigned me here!”
Taylor glanced over at Casey, who had already lowered her weapon, and then stepped closer to the engineer, who shuffled back until he bumped into the wall and then cowered lower. Taylor bent down and extended a hand, “We’re not here to hurt you,” he said, “What’s your name?”
“Rikov,” said the engineer, tentatively reaching up to accept Taylor’s hand, which then hoisted him upright. “My name is Rikov.” Then he saw Taylor properly for the first time, peering into his silver simulant eyes, before scanning the others in turn. “But, you are simulants!” he exclaimed. His shaky voice was now colored with a shade of excitement. “You are the high-functioning units. Hunters, correct?” He didn’t wait for Taylor to answer, before adding, “But why are you here? Are you malfunctioning?”
“Ya could say that...” answered Blake, casually.
“I had been curious as to why the military officer from Warfare Command had visited her laboratory again after so long,” Rikov continued, now oddly relaxed. “I thought that the Hunter Simulant Program had ended, but here you three are. Odd that I wasn’t informed and that you are still in active mode. Where is the Satomi Rose unit? I should run the diagnostics on you as a collective.”
“What officer?” asked Taylor, suddenly alert again. Blake heard it too and he arched his neck to peer through the windows, but the corridor was still clear. “Do you mean Adra?”
“How can you know that name?” asked Rikov, “You should not know her name. And you should not be in active consciousness mode.” He reached into a pocket and brought out a data pad, which he held up to Taylor. “Let me check what has gone wrong.”