A World of Worlds

by ASMSG Authors

  * * *

  The Thundercat was floating among several other large ships. In a way, it did look like a cat – a sleek one with its ears pointed back. Seeing it made Jax sad. It looked doubtful it housed any survivors.

  Dryer led his men to the staging area of the airlock where they climbed into their spacesuits. Jax joined them. Captain Vance voiced his objection about the head of this mission joining in such a risky endeavor, but Jax reminded him that the whole point of this excursion was to find out what happened to his father, and he wasn’t about to pass up their first opportunity for some answers.

  The Grey Mouse maneuvered a path through the drifting ships to the Thundercat’s docking bay. Jax waited nervously among the armed men of Dryer’s team for the ship to dock. The ship rocked as it made contact, and the airlock’s red light turned to green, signaling it was okay to enter. Without the artificial gravity of the Grey Mouse, they floated through the open hatch to the Thundercat, the only light coming from the beams strapped to their weapons.

  Inside the derelict ship, all was dark. The corridors were lifeless. The team went room to room, checking every corner they could find as they made their way further in.

  “Where is everyone?” Dryer muttered over the comms.

  “Maybe they’re all in the bridge,” Jax responded.

  “This ship had a big crew,” Dryer said. “You’d think we’d have seen some bodies by now.”

  As far as Jax was concerned, fewer bodies meant a greater possibility they were still alive. Despite the odds, he was hoping his dad had somehow survived.

  Finally, they made it to the bridge. They opened the door to find that it, too, was empty.

  “I don’t get it,” Dryer said. “The whole ship is abandoned. Where did they go?”

  “We won’t get any answers until we restore power,” Jax said. He radioed Vance and ordered him to have the engineers patch the Thundercat into the Grey Mouse’s generator. Once that was complete, he began booting up the bridge, restoring enough power to start up the systems.

  Jax could feel a rising tension as Dryer and his men looked around as though they expected something hiding in the dark of the ship to jump out at them any second. He was on edge, as well. He’d started this expedition to find answers, and so far, it had only raised more questions.

  As the Thundercat’s systems booted up, a voice boomed throughout the ship.

  “Aggatay. Zeppa Mine. Detaor Simpata. Aggatay…”

  The assault team jumped, pulling their rifles to their shoulders and looking around frantically for its source. It was a deep voice, and as it echoed through the empty corridors of the ship, it couldn’t help but sound menacing.

  “Stand down!” Jax ordered, looking at the control panel in front of him. “It’s just a recording.”

  Dryer glared at him. “A recording of what?” he asked. “Who on this ship would speak like that?”

  “No one,” grumbled Jax as he took a closer look at the computer’s readings. “The recording is coming from the planet.”