by J. N. Chaney
I leaned against the captain’s desk, arms crossed as I glanced him over. “What’s on your mind, Rackham?”
“Vice Admiral Vick will find this immensely interesting,” said the soldier. “That’s a good sign for you—and for your settlers on Earth.”
“Oh?” I tilted my head, not bothering to hide my sarcasm. “And what could he find so interesting about an alien ship with impossibly advanced tech? You know, the one I already told him exists?”
Rackham laughed. “Let’s not play games, Captain. You know as well as I do that the Vice Admiral isn’t, well—the man isn’t very fond of you.”
“I’m shocked,” I said, deadpanning. “I’m deeply wounded, really.”
Rackham ignored me, not letting my sarcasm kill the excitement in his eyes. “But this—” The military officer pointed over his shoulder in the general direction of the Celestial ship. “This is very real. I’ve never seen anything like this in my life, and I know the Vice Admiral hasn’t, either. I’m optimistic about this new partnership of ours, Captain Hughes.”
Interesting.
I shifted my weight ever so slightly as I studied the man’s face, watching the genuine optimism in his expression. I knew this was a test mission for the Union as well, likely to see if I was full of it and lying to them or trying to play them in some way. It suddenly seemed very clear to me that they were beginning to realize the true military might of the enemy at our door—and, more importantly to them, the threat it posed to their empire.
I wasn’t an optimistic person at heart, and I still expected them to screw me the first chance they got. But now, I could at least admit to myself that I liked Rackham.
A little.
“Sir,” said Sigmond through the comm in my ear. “My analysis of the Celestial ship has concluded. Would you like the results?”
“Yeah, Siggy, go ahead. Share it on the group link,” I ordered, referring to Dressler, Abigail, Freddie, Lucia, and me.
“Very good, sir,” said the Cognitive.
I nodded to the door. “Duty calls, Rackham.”
“Did Dressler find anything?” the military man asked, stepping aside to let me through.
“Nope.” I figured he wanted more than that answer, but he wasn’t fully on my good side yet.
As Rackham and I walked onto the bridge, Sigmond’s voice piped through the group comm channel in my ear. “I’m afraid the Celestial ship’s log is indecipherable, Captain.”
“All that build up, Siggy, and that’s all you’ve got?” I asked, absently gripping the back of the Captain’s chair as I glared at the holo. “That’s a bit anticlimactic, don’t you think?”
“Not quite, sir,” said Sigmond. “While the log itself is indeed indecipherable at the present moment, Dr. Dressler is making notable progress with de-encrypting its contents. In addition, I was able to extract some relevant information from the activity log, though not as much as I would have liked. It appears the ship took damage from something presumably in an attack of some sort.”
“Now that’s more like it,” I said with a nod. “The ship was probably hit at the same time as the space station, which confirms our theory as to why it was adrift. Anything else, Siggy?”
“There is one more bit of information worth noting, yes,” said the Cognitive. “The ship broadcasted what appears to be a distress signal to a distant point in space, over twelve billion kilometers away, though initial scan shows nothing to receive.”
“That’s a fairly useless distress signal, then,” I said, crossing my arms as I mulled over the results. “Do a deep scan of the area. Make sure it’s actually empty.”
“Yes, sir,” said Sigmond. “Initializing deep scan.”
“And get me through to Abby,” I added.
“Right away, Captain.”
“What is it, Jace?” Abigail’s voice piped in through the comm.
“Keep the team with that ship for now,” I said. “It might be empty, but that doesn’t mean I like having it on board.”
“Fair point,” she said. “But Jace, if there’s something out there—”
“I know,” I said, nodding. If there was something out there, we still had a long while before the tunnel opened again—and an advanced ship full of possibly useful information already on board.
“Scan complete,” said Sigmond. “Though the region is mostly empty, with no stars or other elements of note, I did find one anomaly.”
“What is it?”
“It appears to be a planet, sir, but it isn’t orbiting a star. From this distance, my scans are limited. We would need to move closer. Like the Celestial ship, the planet doesn’t register as it should.”
With a deep breath, I set my hands behind my back and squared my shoulders as I debated our options.
Fact was we didn’t know what information that scout ship would have—if it had anything at all. We came all the way out here for hard data, the kind that would give us an edge on an enemy that was faster, stronger, and more technologically advanced than us. They were ruthless bastards, but if it came down to a contest, I think we would come out ahead as more stubborn. My crew did what it took to survive, and even with the risk, I wasn’t about to stop now.
“How far to the anomaly?” I asked.
“It would take quite some time. Several hours, most likely,” answered the Cognitive. “Shall I proceed?”
I shook my head. “No, we don’t have that time to waste.” With the Union in Earth orbit, I didn’t trust Vick to resist pulling a bloody coup if we were gone for that long. “Siggy, we need to bring in Titan.”
I didn’t like leaving Earth without one of its strongest military defenses, but I didn’t have much choice. The best bet would be to create our own slip tunnel for short-range travel and scope this strange planet for ourselves.
“Why Titan?” Rackham asked, a hint of surprise on his face. “Are we creating a slip tunnel, or do you anticipate an all-out battle?”
I hesitated, watching the military man’s face as I debated whether or not I should tell him. My gut said no, mostly out of stubborn pride. The Union already knew Titan could make slip tunnels, seeing as they chased me through one before, but I liked the idea of keeping Rackham in the dark. At least for now. After all, the man would see it for himself in a short while.
“You’ll see,” I eventually said, leaving it at that. “Siggy, are there any signs of movement around this planet? Anything at all?”
“Nothing detectable, Captain. No movement or heat signatures, but again—”
“Right, right.” I waved away the warning. I’d heard it so many times before that it was like a mantra repeating in my head.
“What are your orders, sir?” asked Sigmond.
“We’re going in,” I said simply. “We get Titan out here and get a few more soldiers to help us out. We’ll scope this planet, grab what we can, and get the hell out.”
“Very good, sir. While we wait for the tunnel to reopen, I will continue my scans and see if I can gather any relevant data.”
“That’ll work nicely,” I said. “In fact, start gathering all the data we have on the Celestial ship and this planet,” I ordered. “Get a packet together to send to Earth when the slip tunnel opens. I want everything ready to go so that they have all the data they need in case…” I trailed off.
Well, in case we didn’t come back, but I didn’t want to say it.
I cleared my throat to shake the thought. “And Siggy, make sure Dressler updates the packet with anything else she uncovers. And I mean anything.”
“Yes, sir.”
I turned to Rackham, who yet again watched me with that unreadable expression—I couldn’t tell if it was curiosity or confusion, but it didn’t matter. “Looks like we’ll be taking a bit of a detour, Rackham.”
“I can hardly wait, Captain,” the military man said with the barest hint of a smirk.
6
When the slip tunnel back to Earth opened for our rendezvous with Alphonse, his voice w
as the first thing to pipe through my personal comm link.
“Do you have anything interesting for me, Captain?” Alphonse said with a hint of humor in his voice. “Something to dissect, perhaps?”
“Afraid not, Al,” I said, sitting back in the captain’s chair. “First, how’s Earth?”
“Nothing to note. Vick has been behaving himself.”
“That’s a first,” I muttered. “And Lex?”
“Safe, happy, and playing with her goat.”
I chuckled.
“Also, I’m fairly certain she’s helping herself to your candy supply.”
“Well—stop her,” I said. “What are you doing, just watching while she scarfs it down?”
“Maybe,” he said, and I could hear the smile on his smug face.
I groaned. “Well I guess that’s fine, but keep an eye on her. The last time she wandered off, we had to go to war with the Sarkonians.” I looked around. “Then again, this ship of theirs sure has come in handy.”
“I’ll try. What have you found?” asked Alphonse.
“The Celestial ship is onboard. Dressler’s digging into it, seeing what she can uncover. So far, nothing useful, but she’ll find something.”
“She always does,” said Alphonse, his voice changing a bit. It sounded almost softer, and I tilted my head in curiosity. The Constable cleared his throat, though, not giving me much time to think about it. “I take it the ship was empty, then?”
“Mercifully, yes,” I said.
“I would have preferred you find a dead one in there,” he admitted, and I noted the hint of disappointment in his voice. Trouble seemed to find its way to me, but it struck me that perhaps Constables sought it out.
“Yeah, well, you’re alone on that, Al,” I said, adjusting in my seat. “Dressler found some potentially useful data on board, though she hasn’t deciphered it yet. We’re sending you what we have so far. Siggy?”
“Transmitting the packet now,” said the Cognitive.
“Fascinating,” Alphonse said absently, his tone distracted and a little distant as he no doubt began to pore through what little Dressler had discovered thus far.
“Think you can dig into this while we’re gone?”
And just like that, I had Alphonse’s full attention once more. “Gone? What are you up to, Captain?”
“A little errand.” I waved my hand. “See if we can’t find something more useful than an abandoned scout ship. I need to borrow Titan, though.”
Alphonse hesitated a moment. “Are you sure about this, Jace? With the Union still in orbit—”
“I’m fully aware of the risk, Al,” I said. “There’s an anomaly in a dead stretch of space—a planet without a star. This ship we found sent a distress signal out there, and I need to know why. As much as I hate to say it, getting Titan out here is just the way it’s got to be unless we want to waste the day ferrying ourselves through this local bubble of empty space. We get ambushed by the enemy that far from the tunnel and we’re done.”
“Fair point,” the Constable admitted. “I’ll make sure the Union doesn’t think it has an opening to exploit us while Titan is gone.”
“That’s the spirit. See who you can get me in terms of extra soldiers, too. I’m going to need more guns.”
“Karin and her people?”
“No, I need her on Earth to protect the Eternals from whatever Vick wants to do to them. See if you can round me up any other volunteers.”
“I’ll see what I can do, Captain,” Alphonse said, cutting the connection.
“Siggy, bring the Nebula Prospect away from the tunnel so that Titan can get through,” I ordered.
“Yes, sir.”
While Alphonse got Titan ready, I called Abigail, Freddie, and Lucia to the bridge, making sure Bolin and his men stayed with Dressler in the cargo bay to monitor the scout ship—and Lieutenant Rackham’s soldiers, of course. I didn’t want them roaming the Prospect and told Bolin not to let them out of his sight.
The longer the Celestial ship was here, the less it seemed like the immediate threat—especially with a mysterious rogue planet on the edge of nowhere to worry about.
Barely ten minutes later, I watched on the holo as Titan barreled through the green storm of slipspace and quickly dominated the black around us.
“Hello, Captain Hughes,” Athena said through the comm into the bridge, pleasant and calm as ever. “Shall I close the slip tunnel to Earth?”
“Close it,” I confirmed with a nod. “Let’s seal it up and get this show on the road.”
“Initializing tunnel collapse,” Athena said.
“Who’s on board Titan?” I asked as Athena got to work. “Give me the final tally.”
“My team is here,” Leif said through the line before Athena could answer.
I stiffened at the sound of the Eternal’s voice, impressed that he and his soldiers had braved the slip tunnel so soon after their near-death experience with the Celestials. As Titan cut through the rubble that was once their home, I wasn’t entirely sure what to say. I hadn’t even considered asking him, not after what they had endured out here.
“Welcome to the fray,” I eventually said. “Anyone else come with you?”
“No, just us. Octavia, Hitchens, and Alphonse are manning the front lines back home.”
I briefly glanced at Rackham, who was too engrossed with the holo display before us to notice.
On the holo, the green lightning of slipspace disappeared as Athena closed the tunnel. “Process complete,” she said.
“Shall we proceed, sir?” asked Sigmond.
I nodded. “Athena, create a new slip tunnel to get us near the anomaly.”
“Initializing,” she said.
Lieutenant Rackham’s eyes went wide with intrigue, and he tilted his head toward me quizzically. I tried to hide my grin, though I suspected I enjoyed his surprise a little too much for my own good. He might have known about Titan’s ability to create slip tunnels, but it was altogether another thing to see it in action. It was fun to see his mind blown by something that had become commonplace to me and my crew. Hell, maybe I’d looked the same during my first outing. Hard to say in hindsight.
A massive rift in space opened before Titan. The tunnel formed amidst the rubble of what was once the refugee Eternals’ space station. This one was far smaller than the path that had led us here from the Earth’s core, though still large enough for Titan to pass through. We would follow behind them in the Nebula Prospect, riding the coattails of the massive seed colony ship as it carved its way through the dark.
“Siggy and Athena, I want you both scanning the hell out of that planet the second we’re clear of the tunnel,” I ordered. “I want to know what, if anything, is waiting for us. We can’t cloak Titan, but raise its shields as soon as you’re clear on the other side.” I paused. “Siggy, keep the Nebula Prospect cloaked for the duration. It’ll at least give us a slight advantage, should shit go sideways.”
“Yes, sir,” said Sigmond.
“Punch it,” I ordered, leaning forward in my chair.
Titan entered slipspace first, and McCabe brought our ship in close behind. Abigail stood next to me, her hand on the back of my chair as she watched the holo.
As we tore through the tunnel, I waited anxiously for the exit rift to form. The slipstream wouldn’t take us long to pass through, not at this distance.
After less than four minutes, the green lights of slipspace sparked and shattered across the walls of the tunnel, breaking apart to form the black, and I saw normal space again. With it, the planet came quickly into view, gray and dark as it loomed in the void.
“Siggy,” I prompted. “Anything? What have you got for me?”
“Apologies, sir,” said the Cognitive. “Scans are inconclusive. Thus far, I detect no orbital or surface activity, but there is something deeply puzzling about the planet.”
I stretched my fingers to ease some of the tension in my body. “What do you mean?”
“Visual scans show the object has regularly spaced, planet-wide cavities forming layers beneath the surface—a shell within a shell, several hundred times over, though it is impossible to know the exact number. Additionally, the blackbody radiation of the planet is unusual, emitting energy in ultraviolet and radio in the same way that Titan does,” he explained. “It is quite strange.”
If Sigmond were a man, I might’ve thought he sounded perturbed.
“Weapons at the ready,” I ordered.
“Aye, Captain,” several of the bridge crew said in unison.
“Fascinating,” Rackham said under his breath. “It almost resembles Titan in a way.”
“It’s an artificial planet,” I said. “Of course it looks like Titan.”
The Union military officer cleared his throat and nodded, his uniform stretching a bit as he crossed his arms. “Fair enough.”
“Slip tunnel closing,” said Sigmond. “Maintaining cloak. Titan’s shields are raised. No visible threats detected. Magnifying planet.”
Within seconds, the holo displayed the massive structure, suspended in the black before us. It dwarfed Titan, and its surface was rigid and filled with crevices that stretched on for hundreds of kilometers. Towers extended from the tallest surfaces, while distant lights pulsed from deep within the darkened ravines.
“That’s some megastructure,” muttered Abigail.
“How big is that thing?” Freddie asked from where he and Petra stood near the wall. “It must be the size of Earth!”
“Not quite,” said Sigmond. “A closer approximation would be that of Mars, the fourth planet from Sol. Historically, it housed—”
“Save the trivia, Siggy,” I broke in. “Is it armed? Does it see us? It must see Titan. Athena, get ready to open the slip tunnel again in case we need to bolt.”
“Ready, Captain,” Athena said calmly.
I was ready to land on an abandoned planet, or maybe encounter another scout ship or two in exchange for a few mercifully useful bits of intel from whatever we could salvage. This was far beyond anything I had expected. A megastructure like this had to have an entire armada of warships ready to deploy at a moment’s notice. There could be an army of Celestials suiting up right now, for all we knew.