by Tom Chattle
McCann shook his head in defeat, his hands held up. "All right, I surrender. Stop with the abuse already!" He motioned at Moreau. "Can we please get back to whatever she's talking about?"
Bauer wandered toward the viewscreen and folded her arms. Lips pursed, her eyes narrowed, and she stared at the alien structure that still dominated it. "What about these? This is a huge discovery."
The urge to forget the mission, drop their search, and investigate the orbital satellites, was strong for Chen, tugging at her life-long desire to explore, to discover new things. Growing up in the hills north of San Francisco, she had driven her mother wild by vanishing into the woods for hours, climbing trees, tracking streams back to their source. Every time she came back, dirty and tired, her mother would punish Chen horribly, grounding her for days. Regardless of the consequences, young Auri would find herself sneaking back out when the urge to explore became too much.
Chen released a sigh and straightened in her seat. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't just ignore orders. "They will have to wait. As big a deal as this is, we came here for one reason." She turned to Moreau and continued. "There are people whose lives could well be in danger; our first priority is them."
"Besides," McCann chipped in from beside her, "these things appear ancient. I doubt they're going anywhere."
Chen inhaled deeply and pushed aside the distractions. Whatever these things were, and whatever they meant for humanity, they had a mission to focus on. "Vega, follow Ensign Moreau's projections and take us into low orbit. Moreau, start scanning for any signs of life." She paused, a tingle at the back of her neck making her shiver. "Human or otherwise."
A chorus of "Aye, ma'am," came back at her. Chen sat back and listened to the gentle hum of the engines vibrate through the bridge. The Valiant surged forward between the satellite objects, planet dead ahead in the viewscreen.
They cruised past the closest one. A sudden movement caught Chen's eye. Snapping her head up, she narrowed her eyes at the viewscreen. "Moreau, what was that?"
The woman fumbled with her control panel. "Umm, I'm not sure. Give me a moment."
Further movement sent a stab of adrenaline surging through Chen. Gripping the armrests of her chair, she leaned forward. "Shields, now!"
- 8 -
2208.02.19 // 15:27
UVS Valiant, Arcturus System
The bridge crew raced to complete the sudden order, but a bright flash erupted from the closest satellite and a beam of violet plasma shot toward the Valiant, icy dust particles vaporized in its wake. Power still compromised, the shields took too long to generate, and the energy lance punched through them and impacted against the port engine with a shudder. Lights dimmed, and a wall conduit ruptured, sparks cascading across the deck. The bridge blanketed with smoke, and Chen coughed, pulling herself up. "Get weapons online, now!"
When there was no response, she glanced over to the tactical station to see Moreau sprawled across the console, seemingly unconscious. "McCann!"
The Valiant took another solid hit and lurched, the grav-generators unable to keep up with the sudden movement.
"On it!" Her second-in-command leaped from his seat and staggered across the bridge.
Without waiting for a command, Vega cranked the ship over into a tight combat turn, the deep rumble of full thrust of the engines audible through the superstructure.
A few swift key taps on her armrest showed Chen more information. One of the alien structures was firing on them; that was obvious. She studied the ship's system outputs. Warning icons flashed with a litany of complaints. Shields were up—mostly—but the weapons were still cycling. Their port engine had taken such a beating, she was surprised Vega was getting it to cooperate. Peering across the hazy command deck, she waved her arm. "Wally? Weapons would be nice!"
The red-haired man bobbed his head. His fingers flew across Moreau's console, his jaw clenched. "Yes, yes. Don't rush me." He paused for a moment before raising his hands. "And, there we go."
Distinct clanking noises vibrated through the ship-the rail-cannons were deploying.
The vessel shook again, and a new alarm added itself to the din. "All right," Chen called, "Target that son-of-a-bitch alien thing and fire."
The Valiant fought back, and a pulsing tone filled the bridge. Streaming lines of tracer fire crossed the void of space. Hundreds of dense projectiles struck, imparting massive kinetic energy into the alien satellite. The satellite didn't appear to have shields of its own and was shredded in an instant, a cloud of debris and vapor expanding around where it had been moments before.
"Cease fire," Chen ordered.
The weapons wound down, scanning for new targets. As old as the Valiant was, its firepower was certainly effective. Chen had seen rail-cannons fire at the Academy, of course, but this was the first time she had deployed them in anger, not something ships found themselves having to do in this time of relative peace.
An urgent pinging emanated from Chen's armrest. She acknowledged it, and the Chief's voice echoed around the smoky bridge. "What in the hell is going on up there?"
Still trying to determine that herself, Chen didn't have much of an answer. "We were fired upon, Chief."
"Fired upon? Who the hell is out here to fire on us?" The indignation in his voice was clear.
Chen glanced at the slowly expanding debris cloud ahead of them. "Less who, more what."
Silence filled the airwaves for a moment. "Copy that. If you could try and not get us into another firefight, that would be great." With a click, the chief disconnected, no doubt to figure out just what else had broken in the brief but violent skirmish.
Chen turned her attention back to the bridge before her and took stock of the damage. Light debris scattered one side where Bauer attended to Moreau on the floor. The ensign was just starting to come to, a trickle of blood working its way down past her left eye.
Nobody else seemed injured. Vega was a little pale, his hands rigid on the console, but he'd acted well under pressure and that was what counted.
"Okay, what the hell was that thing?" Chen asked the room.
Nobody answered immediately, not wanting to give voice to the obvious answer.
Eventually, McCann straightened from the tactical console. "Sure looked like a defense satellite to me. Didn't put up much of a fight, though." He stared at Chen across the bridge. "Not any kind of tech I've ever seen before."
Now fully conscious, Moreau pulled herself off the floor, Bauer supporting her slight form. "It definitely wasn't human, ma'am." She coughed. "The energy readings as it powered up were unlike anything I've seen." She steadied herself against the bulkhead. "I'm sorry, I should have gotten more detailed data."
Her hand held up, Chen shook her head. "Don't even go there, Ensign. It was completely unexpected, and the bulkhead behind you exploded. How are you doing?"
"I'm..." She coughed again. "I'm doing fine, ma'am."
Chen locked eyes with Bauer, who nodded subtly. "Okay, let's send out an urgent comm back to Fleet Command. People need to know about this."
McCann tapped the console ruefully. "I'd love to, but it seems long-range comms are out completely.
"Of course, they are." Chen cursed internally. The chief had told her they were unreliable earlier, and that was before the ship had a minor energy mauling.
"Standard procedure says we should withdraw and regain communications with Fleet Command," McCann stated flatly.
Chen weighed the options. It was probably prudent to withdraw like the procedures said, but there were almost certainly people stranded down on the surface of the planet and they were a long way from backup. Her decision made, she straightened in her chair. "Screw procedure. McCann, deploy a comm buoy to mark the location just in case someone comes looking for us. Vega, take us through the rings into a low orbit suitable for a drop."
"Aye, ma'am," the helmsman replied. An eager energy filled his voice, the tension of the brief battle already wearing off.
The next task was making sure
Moreau was okay. "Lieutenant Bauer, would you mind escorting Ensign Moreau to the infirmary and having the good doctor check her out?" Chen asked.
The Marine inclined her head. "Of course."
Moreau shook her head–perhaps a little too vigorously because she quickly stopped and a hand shot to her bloody temple. "I'm okay, ma'am. I should stay at my station."
Gut instinct told Chen that Moreau needed checking out anyway, but she didn't want to damage the woman's confidence further. Still, the blood on the side of her face was flowing, making a sticky mess of her uniform collar. "You need to get examined, Ensign." Chen tried to keep an edge from her voice. "But transfer the course you plotted through the rings to Vega and get back here as soon as you're patched up. I need your expertise."
A glimmer of pride seemed to flicker across Moreau's face before she nodded and let Bauer guide her to the exit. Maybe she wasn't so bad at this command thing after all, Chen thought.
- 9 -
2208.02.19 // 16:44
UVS Valiant, Arcturus System
Ensign Vega had painstakingly followed Moreau's detailed projections for over an hour. He had guided the ship through gravity wells and orbital debris, so the Valiant could now enter low orbit, nestled precariously between the icy rings above and the turbulent atmosphere below.
While she had stayed largely silent during the short voyage, Chen had been a ball of nerves inside, praying their old ship wouldn't get ripped apart by a rogue gravity well they hadn't detected or that more alien satellites wouldn't blast them.
Running with their void shields at full, they'd passed several more of the ancient structures, but none had greeted them as violently as the first. One had tried to power its weapons but immediately overloaded, disintegrating into a cloud of debris. The remainder hadn't even reacted, silently watching the human vessel lumber past.
With their trajectory stabilized over the approximate area Moreau's course had guided them to, the planetary scanners could get to work. Quite different from the extreme long-range scanners utilized during most missions, the short-range versions were optimized for geological and biological scanning.
Right on cue, the bridge doors hissed open and Moreau stepped through, a large gauze pad bandaged around her temple. Her eyes darting around, she scurried across the bridge to her console.
"You doing okay, Ensign?" She seemed back to her normal, nervous self, Chen observed.
"Yes. I mean aye, ma'am." The ensign bobbed her head, her intricate braids bouncing behind her.
Bauer sidled up behind Chen's chair. "She was quite the trooper as Doc Corrigan patched her up."
A tingle ran through Chen from the Marine's close presence. Shaking it off, she cleared her throat. "Okay, Moreau, I want you to start running all the scans you can. Prioritize bio-scans, though. If they're down there, we need to find Wilde and the rest of her crew."
Chen returned to her seat and brought up the files on the Wilde Star again. A small, sleek ship, it was far more advanced than the youthful holo-presenter had any right to own—testament to the success of her shows. At twenty-one years of age, Katrina Wilde had been in front of the camera since she was a child. After her teen years, she'd had great success with adventurous, action-filled documentary series. Of note, the file continued, was her award-winning episode on the first human colony ship—mysteriously lost to the stars, presumably with all hands.
Chen flicked down to the crew manifest of the Wilde Star. A small team of five, basic supplies for an extended mission...nothing in the file helped explain why they might have adventured out this far into the middle of nowhere. The fact it had been ten days since the last missed check-in that had initiated this mission was concerning. Even if they'd made it safely down to the planet below, it hardly looked like an environment conducive for survival.
"Any life signs yet?" McCann queried after several minutes of silence.
Moreau manipulated the scanners, her eyebrows furrowed. Looking up at the executive officer's question, she seemed frustrated, not an emotion Chen was used to seeing on the perpetually anxious ensign. "No, sir, but the scanners are being difficult."
"Difficult how?" Chen asked.
Searching for words, Moreau ended up shrugging. "I'm not entirely sure, ma'am. I can read most parts of the surface fine, but when I run the scanners over a specific area, they lose resolution, making me unable to generate any data."
"The same area every time?" Chen frowned.
"Aye, ma'am."
Something sparked in Chen's memory, a recollection from a class at the Academy. One of the professors, an old, retired Naval captain who practically put the entire lecture theater to sleep with every droning speech he gave, had enthused at length about something the Jovian colonies had used in one of the frequent system wars of the last hundred years.
"Moreau, run the visual sensors over the area that keeps blanking the scanners and put it on screen."
The young woman paused a moment then nodded and made some adjustments until an image resolved itself on-screen. Dark gray bands of cloud covered the area, whirling around in small eddies before merging into larger cyclones. Two expansive storms crashed into each other in slow motion, lightning flashes rippling through them wherever their contrasting air temperatures collided. While they fought, an area of sky opened behind them, the calm in the wake of the storm.
Chen pointed at the edge of the screen. "Zoom in there."
A second or so later, the image shakily magnified the clear area, the focus of the sensors blurring for a moment before snapping into clarity.
"My God," McCann breathed, putting a hand to his face.
What lay before them on the viewscreen made the orbital satellites look insignificant in comparison. On the surface of the weather-battered world, a huge mountain thrust up from the sweeping plains that surrounded it. That wasn't the strange part, though. The shape of the mountain was odd, nearly perfectly symmetrical, like it were engineered. Around the mountain, stretching for several miles in every direction, stood immense structures, almost organic in their curved and twisted forms. As far from human as Chen could imagine.
The image flickered back and forth in a way that made Chen wonder if the viewscreen was malfunctioning. It was only when a violent fork of lightning detonated against it that she realized it was some sort of shield dome.
Within moments, the brief opening in the clouds was gone again—slate-gray thunderheads occluding the surface once more. Their attention broken, everyone on the bridge stared at each other, none of them able to find the right words. While the discoveries in orbit had been substantial, Chen knew this was something of another magnitude. There was no question what the crew had just seen far below on the planet's surface.
"That was a city," whispered Moreau, eyes wide.
"No, really?" Vega retorted, earning himself an irritable glance from the tactical officer.
Chen realized she was leaning forward, her fingers turning white as they gripped the armrest. She took a breath and forced herself to sit back and relax. "Moreau, have you detected any sign of life or activity down there?" If she had... Chen's arms prickled with goosebumps under the sleeves of her uniform.
"No, ma'am," Moreau replied. "Bio-scanners haven't detected a single sign of life so far." She looked up. "Extrapolating from the data we received in the brief visual scan, the place appears to be abandoned, probably ancient."
Chen pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. She was actually disappointed. Even though finding living aliens was such a remote possibility, the excitement of the past few minutes had almost gotten the better of her. "All right, what about our errant holo-star?"
"There are traces of metallic compounds at the western edge of the sensor hole, but it's not much."
"But we've found no traces anywhere else, correct?"
Moreau shook her head, uncertainty written across her face.
"And no life signs still?" Chen asked, frowning when the woman shook her head again. She didn't want to be
the one to tell Admiral Wilde his daughter had died on a distant, barren world.
Chen leaned over to McCann in the chair next to hers. "What do you think?"
"Well," he sucked air through his teeth, "with no bio-signs, the most hope we have is that they crashed near whatever sort of energy shield that...place had, and we just can't detect them."
Chen nodded. She'd already reached the same conclusion. "Agreed. Best bet is probably to land near what is likely their wreckage and look for clues to their whereabouts." She stood and straightened her uniform jacket. "Okay, Vega, put us in a geosynchronous orbit above the...whatever it is. Moreau, keep scanning for anything and everything." She turned and motioned to McCann and Bauer. "Senior officers to the ready room."
- 10 -
2208.02.19 // 16:56
UVS Valiant, Arcturus System
Chen settled into her chair, and McCann pulled up a seat opposite, while Bauer preferred to perch on the far corner of the desk. "Okay, first off, I'm not crazy, right?" She rubbed her face with a still tense hand. "Moreau was right, that was some sort of alien city?"
McCann held out his hands, his mouth gaping while he hunted for the right words.
"It would certainly appear so." Bauer nodded, pulling off her cap and placing it on the desk beside her. "And if Wilde is down there, that changes everything."
Chen let out a deep breath, flexing her fingers. "You're not wrong there."
Scratching his head, McCann gazed out the window. "Best case scenario here: we land a team, find a trail to Wilde and her crew, locate them safe and well, then boogie on back to the Valiant."
Bauer snorted. "It's the worst-case scenario I'm worried about. If our scans can't penetrate the area, how do we know the place isn't teeming with a hostile alien race?"
An incredulous laugh escaped Chen before she could smother it. "My God, just two hours ago, those words would have sounded utterly ridiculous."