After a while, the communications specialist turned to Captain Carlon and reported that he could not raise the planet’s orbital control. The Captain looked at him for a few seconds before calling the ship to alert two. Alert two is roughly equivalent to a yellow alert in Earth’s militaries and results in the shields being raised to maximum strength and the available weapons being primed ready for use. People critical to the ships defence, for example the weapons crews would prepare to run immediately to their battle stations should the threat level be raised to alert one. I realised this could be quite serious though I hoped the Captain was only being cautious.
As the ship’s crew came to alert, the Captain gave orders for a change in course. He wanted initially to undertake a wide looping path around the planet. This new course was designed to act as a slingshot maneuver or could be modified at almost any point to put us into a highly elliptical orbit around the planet. At its lowest point the ship would be traveling very fast. This would make it much more difficult for a hostile force on the planet with a surface to space weapon, to be able to target FNS Destiny during the period when she was closest to the planet and most vulnerable. At the same time, this trajectory would bring us close enough to the planet that we would be able to scan the surface using the ships sensors. These sensors included optical sensors so we would be able to see what was happening down there if there wasn’t too much cloud cover. The optical sensors also included some that operated outside of the normal visible spectrum in areas such as infrared. Scanning continued as normal, with the people responsible for monitoring the two scan consoles busy looking for reasons for the lack of a response by the orbital control. Although the ship’s sensors were not detecting any hostile vessels, I could see the Captain still clearly remained concerned about the situation. I wondered what would we find when we arrived? What could have happened on the colony? Why were they not answering any calls from FNS Destiny? At this point, I still did not understand the significance of the loss of a signal from orbital control. Orbital control would have been a small station, not much bigger than Earth’s International Space Station (ISS) that should’ve held a small crew and enough supplies to keep them fed and alive for around three months. This station also had an automated response beacon that should have responded to FNS Destiny’s hail even if the crew were no longer there for some reason. Generally, even if a natural disaster wiped out the colony on the surface, we should still be able to expect some kind of a response from the station. As it happened, we could not even get that much.
Finally, some time later, we entered the planned elliptical orbit above the planet. We still hadn’t been able to communicate with the colonists and the orbital control satellite seemed to have completely disappeared. Optical scanners were deployed and directed towards the colony as we passed above it. The view that greeted us was horrific. The colony was destroyed. A pall of dark smoke hung over it and there was no observable movement on the surface. There were however, what appeared to be bodies lying in the streets. Captain Carlon looked at this for a couple of minutes then activated the ships intercom to page Olin. While we waited for Olin’s arrival the Captain told me there would not be anyone going to the surface for recreational purposes. Of course, I’d already come to this conclusion so I just nodded an acknowledgment, not needing to say anything in reply. When he arrived on the bridge, Olin took in the scene on the monitors before looking at the Captain.
He said, “We need to go and take a closer look sir, see if we can find any survivors.”
Carlon looked at him and nodded, “I agree with you. Take a fully stealthed shuttle. I will leave you to decide how many people you need. Go down and find out what happened to that colony, keep me informed.”
Olin nodded then looked at me before turning back at the Captain. He said, “Permission to take Colin Gordon along sir. I have a feeling he may prove useful to us down there.”
The Captain looked at me and said, “Colin, I cannot order you to go but you have my permission if you choose to accompany the Troopers. Do you wish to go?”
I replied, “Yes sir, I would like to go, if Olin thinks he can use me then I trust his judgment.”
I then moved to join Olin as he turned to leave the bridge with me following close behind.
On the way down to the squad bay he said, “We don’t have any armour to fit you so I am going to assign Ani and Shasi to protect you. You need to do exactly what they tell you while we’re down there. I really don’t want to see you hurt on this mission. I have a bad feeling about this one and over the years, I have learned to trust these feelings.”
I replied, “I’m fine with that. I promise to follow your orders, and theirs.”
By then, we’d arrived in the squad bay. Olin called his Troopers together, divided them into two teams before telling them all to prepare for action. One of the teams was to remain on FNS Destiny, to defend her if necessary. The other was going to the planet with me tagging along. He explained to the Troopers what we’d seen on the surface, how it looked like the colony had probably been attacked by pirates. While he was telling them the plan, they all started to don their armour and arm themselves. After he finished talking to his troops, he bought some webbing over to me and helped me put it on. It held a canteen of water, some ration packs, a med kit, a couple of the weapons I knew how to use and 12 magazines of ammunition with associated power packs. I realised then just how serious this was. While he was waiting for the Troopers who were going planet side to prepare, he also raised the readiness level for his remaining Troopers in case the ship was attacked while we were on the ground though it looked to me like all of them were already taking the situation very seriously. Finally, all the landing party was ready for departure. Olin called Ani and her partner Shasi over. He explained to them how I would be coming to the planet with them and their primary job would be to protect me while we were there.
They nodded and turned to me. Ani said, “Stay alert and stay close to us Colin.”
I nodded in acknowledgment and walked with them down to the shuttle docking port.
As we walked, Ani explained, “We will be descending to the planet in a stealthed shuttle. Once we engage stealth, even Destiny won’t be able to see us except with optical sensors and if it’s dark enough, she won’t see us even with those.”
We all entered the shuttle and took our seats. The shuttle was not even close to full so there was plenty of room for everyone and their supplies. Ani showed me how to strap in then checked to make sure I’d done it correctly. I found myself wondering at the concern these people seemed to feel for me. This was something I honestly never expected but I did appreciate it. I would have thought Ani and Shasi would have considered me an annoyance, getting in their way, taking them away from their real job, but instead it almost felt as if they saw me as a true comrade. I wondered why this was the case. Months later, I found out their care for me was at least partly because when I had my accident, it was these two who insisted on rescuing me when they saw I would burn to death without their intervention. For some reason, they felt responsible for my current predicament and wanted to make sure I could make it home to my family. Even then, I only found that much out when someone else let it slip, thinking I couldn’t hear them. When I found out about that, I was very grateful to both Ani and Shasi for all they had done for me. I realised what thoroughly decent people these particular Tangesha really were.
Shortly after we were all strapped in, I felt a small bump as the shuttle released from the docking port on FNS Destiny then the push of acceleration as we departed from our ship to land on Zafar.
ZAFAR
Just before the shuttle undocked from FNS Destiny, Shasi spoke to me for the first time since we started on this mission, “We will go in slowly so the shuttle’s outer skin doesn’t heat up and trail fire, this will help maintain stealth. When we land, the rest of the Troopers will exit first to secure the landing area. Once they’ve done that, Ani and I will both exit, but you are to remain in h
ere till we call for you to come out. Do you understand?”
I nodded as I answered, “Yes, I understand and fully intend to follow your directions.”
I then sat, waiting patiently for the shuttle to land. The descent was uneventful, being not too different to a normal aircraft flight back on Earth mainly because the pilot was taking us in slowly and approaching the colony from across a nearby ocean. After about an hour, the shuttle finally touched down about a kilometre and a half from the colony’s main settlement. The Troopers exited quickly, just as Shasi said they would, spreading out as soon as they exited the shuttle to secure the perimeter. Ani and Shasi followed a few seconds later. After they left, everything was quiet for a while, perhaps five minutes, then Ani called for me to come out. I stood and cautiously exited the shuttle to take my first step on an alien world. The outside temperature was about what I would expect in the middle of the day in autumn or spring back home in Brisbane. As I took a breath, I noticed the air bore the smell of burnt plastics and meat. I shuddered when I thought what the smell might mean. I‘d already seen the fires, and the bodies on FNS Destiny’s monitors before we came down here. I began to wonder if I’d made the right decision when I agreed to come.
As I stood outside the shuttle looking around, I noticed everything was eerily quiet. Other than the gentle sigh of the breeze through the local vegetation, and the occasional soft sound made by the Troopers, I couldn’t hear any sounds, no insects, no birds, no other wildlife. The trees and shrubs here were a sort of Grey Green colour and had long spiky leaves. There were also some yellowing grasses on the ground but these were quite sparse, most of the ground being covered by low shrubs and leaves. The breeze blew up a few dust eddies but even these were only small. Honestly, when I look back on that time, it all seemed quite creepy and I could feel the hackles on the back of my neck raise as if I sensed danger nearby, perhaps I did.
Two Troopers, along with the shuttle crew of four, stayed to guard the shuttle while the rest of us started our march to the settlement. We moved off down either side of the road, spaced well apart to make it harder for an ambush to kill everyone at once, but close enough together to be able to give mutual support if there was any trouble. As we left the shuttle behind, the party who were staying behind closed the shuttles hatches and prepared to wait. They would be safer inside and could use the shuttle’s sensors to observe the surroundings. In our party, everyone was intensely aware of our surroundings, noticing every sound, every small movement, every colour. As we closed on the settlement, the smells I noticed near the shuttle became stronger, more intense, till eventually, they were almost overwhelming.
When we finally arrived at the settlement, we continued down what had once been the main street. As we moved forward I could see the bodies of both male and female Tangesha, mostly adults but with a few children mixed in, all with horrific injuries. Some of the bodies, particularly those of the children, had clearly been bludgeoned to death. Other injuries included terrible burns, puncture wounds and deep cuts and slashes. The bodies were everywhere, littering doorways on either side and the street itself. Many of the doors appeared to be completely blown off the hinges, many of the buildings had windows missing, there were holes in many of the walls and some walls had even been knocked down completely. A few buildings seemed to be completely burned out, others were still burning while yet others were relatively untouched. Many of the walls bore the signs of being exposed to weapons fire. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the pattern of destruction. As I observed all this destruction, I could feel a deep enmity beginning to build deep down in my gut. The creatures who’d wreaked this level of wanton destruction and havoc on a group of peaceful colonists disgusted me. There were no signs of weapons among the colonists, perhaps because they were killed before they could retrieve them, or perhaps because the weapons were removed by whoever perpetrated this atrocity.
We all proceeded on down the street with Troopers clearing buildings as we went till Ani, Shasi and I came to an open doorway in a relatively intact building. It seemed to be quite dark inside but for some reason, the opening beckoned to me. Curiosity pulled at me, an almost overwhelming feeling that we needed to look inside, so I asked Ani if we could take a look. I still don’t know why I wanted to look inside this particular doorway, but right then it seemed to be the most important thing in the universe to me. Ani looked at me then at the door as she considered my request. Eventually she agreed, I think mainly because the Troopers needed to clear each building as they passed anyway. She and Shasi moved into position, one each side of the doorway. Ani went in first, diving in and to one side fast. Shasi followed suit but went to the other side. There was only silence from inside for nearly a full minute before I heard Ani calling me in.
I entered through the doorway and stopped in shock. It took a minute for my eyes to adjust enough to the dim light so I could see clearly. I looked around and took in the scene before me. There were twelve people cowering in one corner of the room with terrified expressions on their faces. Ani and Shasi were not pointing their weapons directly at these people but they did hold them in a way that would allow them to be bought to bear very quickly if the need arose. We’d found eight Tangesha females and four children. They all looked terrified as they looked at us. These people wore ragged looking clothes and seemed unnaturally thin. They appeared to be dirty, tired and hungry. I held my hands up towards them, palms outwards in what I hoped was a placating gesture. As my eyes adjusted to the gloom, I could also see that some of these people were injured though superficially at least, the injuries didn’t appear to be too severe.
I quietly said to the two Troopers who were protecting me, “You need to get some help in here quickly, some of these people are injured. I think all of them are in shock. Make sure whoever comes to help doesn’t charge in all Gung Ho, these people are already terrified enough as it is.”
“Gung Ho?” asked Ani.
I replied, “I’ll explain the meaning later but for now I don’t want anyone to come running in here looking threatening.”
Both Ani and Shasi still looked at me blankly.
I continued, “The way you came in at first. I know when you did it, your approach was both warranted and necessary but we now know these people are here. I really don’t think they are any kind of a threat to us. I think these are survivors from this colony. They don’t need the extra trauma, not right now. They are in shock and terrified enough as it is, what they need is help.”
Ani nodded to indicate her understanding to me. Then seconds later, “Help is on its way Colin”, she said. I realised she’d used her team communications channel to ask for the help we needed.
I replied, “Thanks”, then I started to slowly edge towards the civilians trying to look as non-threatening as I possible and to convey the message that they were safe now.
They tried to cower further into the corner as I murmured soothing sounds and tried to reassure them that I wouldn’t hurt them. Just then, Olin arrived. He took in the scene at a glance and then I heard him emit a sort of strangled grunt. I looked in his direction to see him removing his helmet. As soon as it was clear of his head I heard one of the females in the group call his name and then she brushed past me as she ran to him. They embraced as they spoke. She thanked god he’d come and he in turn was asking her if she was OK and what happened. It was obvious to me neither of them was really listening to anything the other was saying. They were just so pleased to see each other safe. I left them to it for a while as I moved towards the remainder of the group in the corner. I repeated my encouraging words and did the best I could to calm them. Certainly, seeing one of their number so obviously pleased at the presence of at least one of our team seemed to help a lot because the others appeared to relax quite a lot.
I spoke to the Tangesha nearest to me who happened to be an adult female. I said, “Please don’t be alarmed. We are from the Federation ship FNS Destiny.” I then asked, “Can you tell me what happened here?”
She looked at me but didn’t immediately answer any of my questions, instead she said “You are not Tangesha. What species are you?”
I realised I would encourage a lot better response from her if I was open so I replied “I am human, from the planet Earth.”
She said, “I do not know this planet you call Earth.”
I replied, “It is the human home world. It is not part of the Federation. I had an accident and the crew of FNS Destiny rescued me.” then asked again, “Please, could you tell me what happened here? We really do need to know so we can help you.”
She said, “Two days ago, pirates attacked us in the night. They killed many, took some others for slaves and looted anything else they could carry. They left us no food, no medical supplies or anything else useful. They destroyed everyone and everything they either didn’t want or couldn’t carry away. We are all who are left.”
I asked, “Are there no other survivors?”
She just shook her head.
I turned to Olin and said, “Olin, we need to get these people to safety.”
He looked at me for a moment, I could see a fire in his eyes, I suspect he could see the same fire in mine. Then he seemed to gain control and nodded in agreement. He then turned back towards the female who he’d been talking to and spoke briefly to her. She nodded in affirmation then, along with the female I was talking to, herded the other survivors out into the street so we could head back towards the shuttle. We didn’t need to stay any longer, we knew what happened Thankfully, the injuries some of these people sustained appeared to only be relatively superficial. Olin called one of his Troopers over to see to the people with injuries then led ‘his’ female over to me.
Star Man 1: Star Bourne Page 6