“Make sure you don’t mess up my ship, Foot Shooter!” yelled Kat, smiling.
Chapter 11
Darkness
Ryan spent the next few hours lying on the cold floor of the hangar bay by his Mustang. The soothing coldness of metal felt great after the contents of his stomach violently left him after the wormhole dump. His eyes slowly opened to see a pair of boots, and he gradually moved his head to follow the boots up to legs and then to Kat, who was leaning against his car, arms crossed and looking down at him smiling.
“The mighty Mr. Hunt. The man known throughout the underworld…taken down by some small ship rolls.”
Ryan pulled himself to a sitting position, sat back against his car, and grabbed his head. “Next time I ride on that freaking train, I want to be knocked out. That was the worst experience I’ve ever had. Small ship rolls my ass.”
“I would have thought dying would have been your worst experience.”
“That I don’t remember. The spinning, I will remember until the death thing again. Now, help me up.”
Kat held her hand out for Ryan and helped his wobbling body up. She pulled out an air injection needle and pushed it against the side of his neck.
He jumped when he felt it and heard a swish sound. “What was that?”
“Something to rejuvenate you. You’ll be better in a few. Now clean up and meet me upfront. While you were out, I found that wormhole eddy, and we’re almost at our destination.”
It took Ryan about twenty minutes to change and freshen up. Whatever Kat injected him with finally kicked in. It was like waking up from the best sleep ever, fully energized and raring to go.
“About time,” said Kat when he entered the command area. “We’re close now. Long-range scanners are detecting something.”
Ryan took his seat, and the harness auto-strapped him in. “Not sure what that stuff was you injected me with, but it’s great. That should be marketed or something.”
“Only used for emergencies. It’s too addictive if used often.”
“Figures.”
The ship slowed and exited the wormhole. An Earth-like planet orbited by two moons appeared on the forward virtual screen. What stood out was an unnatural dark haze covering the planet that wisped like tendrils into space. A small burst of energy emanated from the darkest part isolated to one section of the atmosphere. There was a slight motion like a river of gas flowing into this area and back out into the haze.
“Retribution AI, initiate planetary scans of planet and moons,” said Kat.
“What do you think the haze is?” asked Ryan.
“Dust, storms, or…something else. Not really sure. I haven’t seen anything like it before.”
The scans started to appear on the virtual screen.
“These are the oddest readings I’ve ever seen,” said Kat. “They’re incomplete, and parts of the data are garbled.”
“So, nothing usable?”
“There is something,” said Kat, tuning the scan settings on the virtual screen. “The ship is barely picking up an OTKE landing beacon, some humanoid lifeforms, and ships. I can’t tell what type of lifeforms or the ship configurations.”
“What about the moons? Anything there?”
“Picking up ship debris on the closest moon. If this is correct, it’s a mix of Woland and Earth Consortium, and they’re centuries old.”
“Kat, does it look like that dark cloud is closer than before?”
“It does, but it shouldn’t be drifting like that. I—” Kat started to move her hands around the virtual screen in front of her.
“Is there a problem?” asked Ryan.
“The scanner is picking up a faint distress signal coming from the farthest moon. I’m trying to enhance it.”
The ship’s AI started playing the distress signal and ship logs that were merged together. It began with a lot of static and high-pitched squeals before playing what was left of the messages.
Bridge Officer Entry 4.2.4—
—It’s been two weeks since a wormhole engine failure left us in an area of space not recorded in our navigation system. We—
—Scans were unable to penetrate the odd dark cloud barrier surrounding the plan—
—Crew morale low. Unable to fix engines or other—
—One of the crewmen complained of hearing voices in his head, spaced himself today. He was a good man and—
—In desperation, the captain is ordering a planetary landing through the dark cloud. The voices are louder, and—
—AI system shorting out. Systems failing on all levels. It is as if the cloud fights our progress. We—
—The captain is dead. Somehow the ship held together after crashing on the moon nearest to us. Still unknown what drained our power and destroyed the AI, but—
—Hull is failing. Multiple breaches…the impact was worse than thought…Life support at minimum…becoming hard to breathe…no replies to our distress calls…to anyone that finds this message. Do not enter the planetary cloud. I repeat, do not ent—
Ryan’s face dropped as he read through the messages now being written repeatedly on the virtual display in front of him. “Well, that doesn’t give me a warm fuzzy feeling.”
“There is no other choice. We have to get down to the planet,” said Kat.
“You heard the message. They tried and failed.”
“Based on what I can tell about the ship the distress signal is coming from, it’s a few hundred years old. Things are more advanced now. Anyway, before we enter, I’ll shut down the AI and non-essential systems and fly it in manually.”
Ryan puckered his lips and rubbed the bottom part of his face and chin. “You know your ship better than I do. I leave it up to you.”
Kat nodded. “Retribution AI, shut down all non-essential systems, engage manual piloting, and perform a complete shutdown of your core.”
“Order appears to be illogical. Please reconfirm orders, Dr. Kat,” said the Retribution AI. “I am much more helpful than Mr. Hunt.”
Ryan threw a hand in the air. “Yell at the ship once and it holds a grudge against me.”
Kat smiled. “Yes, my orders are confirmed.”
“Initiating orders.”
Lights in the ship dimmed as systems were powered down. The virtual display shut down and the forward blast shield opened to provide a forward viewing area. The console in front of Kat sucked back as manual flight controls rose and moved into position. This console contained sliders, switches, and buttons.
“Have a good day, Dr. Kat,” said the ship’s AI before shutting down.
“You never mentioned the manual controls,” said Ryan. “And there are buttons.”
“I had them installed in case you ever had to fly the ship again. The AI said you were rude, didn’t know how to fly, and weren’t able to caress her controls.”
“I couldn’t do what?”
Kat grinned at Ryan. “Not my problem you lack experience in caressing things.”
Ryan’s eyes narrowed. “You had to go there—and now.”
“Well, if we’re going to die, I might as well get one last dig in. By the way, you’re blushing.”
He shook his head and crossed his arms.
Kat swiped her index finger in the air. “Kat wins again.”
“Yeah, yeah. Anything you need me to do as you land?”
“The controls on your right.”
“I am assuming the new buttons are the same scanning controls?” said Ryan, pointing at a section on the console.
“Yes, you’ve been studying.”
“That I have.”
“I’m impressed. Now once we get through that odd cloud and break the atmosphere, I want you to slide that switch bar up and then push the button on the right. This will power on the scanners and give us
some readings. Not as detailed as the AI, but I don’t want to risk turning her back on until we’re sure what we are dealing with.”
“Got it, Captain. Now get us down in one piece.”
Kat smiled at him and nodded. “I kind of like the title. We may have to keep that.”
“Let’s not get carried away.”
Kat accelerated the ship toward the planet and entered through an area that looked like a break in the cloud. The Retribution moved into the opening, but the cloud of darkness adjusted with them, engulfing them. The command area became pitch black, and the ship slowed.
Ryan brought his hand up to block his face from small sparks that shot out of an overhead console.
“I hope that wasn’t important,” said Ryan.
“Just energy relays for the lighting. We should be OK.” Kat gave a little shiver. “This is now getting ridiculous. The cloud is actually slowing the ship and draining power. It’s like we’re flying through molasses,” said Kat.
“And what the hell is with the cold?” said Ryan, breathing out slowly to see his breath.
Kat rerouted any remaining non-essential power systems to the engines, which moved the ship a little faster.
Ryan jumped. “Did you see that?”
“See what?”
“I thought I saw a face out there,” said Ryan, leaning his head toward the window to look around.
“I think the cold is getting to your head.”
Ryan and Kat spun around at the sound of a disembodied voice. “You will submit to us. You will die for the rebirth.”
The hair on Ryan’s arms stood up. He slowly turned to face Kat, who was looking pale. “I don’t think it’s the cold,” he said. “What the hell was that?”
“I have no idea, and I don’t want to find out. I’m putting all power to the engines and engaging the wormhole drive before I lose the ship.”
Kat quickly adjusted the systems to divert everything in the ship to the engines. The ship engines made a loud moan as the stress pushed them to the limits, and then the wormhole drive kicked in.
Ryan and Kat whipped back into their seats as the ship exploded out of the cloud like a bullet. Kat rapidly moved one hand around to slow the engines, disable the wormhole drive, and route power back to the sub-systems. Her gloved hand tightly gripped the vibrating flight stick as she navigated the ship through the atmosphere and then the high cloud cover.
“I’m rerouting additional engine power to the scanners. Start the scans,” said Kat.
Ryan turned the scanner on and initiated the scans. A small display appeared on the front window. “This is an interesting place. I see the remains of what may be a city, a large crashed ship, multiple life signs—”
“There, an OTKE homing beacon,” said Kat, pointing to an area on the display. “I’m heading that way.”
Ryan continued trying to narrow in the scans as Kat followed the homing beacon.
“Anything on the life forms?” asked Kat.
“I’m trying to increase the range and detail on the life form scans, but—” Ryan covered his face as sparks flew out of the console in front of him. “I think I may have pushed the scans a little too far.”
“I see the OTKE building ahead of us. The ship’s systems are severely messed up. We need to land…and soon,” said Kat.
Ryan leaned forward to look out the forward window. “Where? I don’t see it.”
“Wait for it…”
“I see it now…” said Ryan, “…and it’s gone. That’s messed up. What’s causing that?”
“It must have some sort of cloaking shield. I’m guessing the odd dark cloud is interfering with it.”
Kat navigated the ship past the front of the OTKE building. The building’s front structure came down straight, but the rest of it was built into a giant quartz-like mountain. The left side dropped off into an oval-shaped gorge with multiple large waterfalls falling into it from the other side.
Following the directions being sent by the facility’s homing beacon, Kat initiated the maneuvering thrusters to slow the ship down and guided it into the gorge. She hovered the ship down about fifty feet when the side of the rocky wall slid open.
“I guess secret bases have secret doors after all,” said Ryan, smiling. “It’s not like—”
The Retribution dropped ten feet and then hovered back up. Sparks shot out from multiple consoles, and the hovering thrusters sputtered.
“Hold on!” yelled Kat, jamming the stick forward.
The ship shot into the base’s hangar bay, hit the floor, and slid across to come to a stop near some containers.
Ryan released his white-knuckled hands from the side of his seat and took a deep breath. “Well, that was a hell of a ride. I think staying in explored space might be the better option going forward.”
“You can say that again,” replied Kat, circling her neck around. “But what I really want to know is, what the hell did we fly through? In all my travels, I have never seen anything that could drain power like that. My fuel cells are almost empty, and most of the ship’s internals are probably fried. I hope they have some spare parts around here.”
“I think fuel cells are the least of our worries. I’m more concerned about the menacing disembodied voices.”
Kat pursed her lips and shook her head. “I don’t know…that has my head spinning. Either we’re going crazy at the same time or…” Kat threw her hands in the air. “I just don’t know, but let’s get out of here and get some answers.”
Chapter 12
Brain on a Plate
Ryan and Kat took a quick look over the ship to make sure nothing major was broken. There was some power left, but Kat was still hesitant to turn the Retribution AI back on. She was happy that the central AI core was still in one piece, so the ship should be back to normal after some repairs.
They headed down the rear ramp of the ship and entered the hangar bay. It was extensive and empty. Only a few lighting sources were active and, as they moved forward, others floated down to light their way.
“Which way do we go?” asked Ryan.
Kat looked behind them and then forward past Ryan. “Well, it appears the lighting is guiding us, so let’s continue following it.”
They continued walking as hovering lights illuminated their path, directing them to turn right or left. Every so often, a slight clattering echoed behind them, forcing them to stop and look around for the source, but whatever it was, it kept out of sight. Eventually, they found a large door with a red light flashing above it.
“If I were a rogue, I would search for traps before we try it,” Ryan said with a laugh.
“Why? Did you learn something about defense technology or system splicing?” asked Kat.
“OK. When we get back, I’m going to sit you down to play that dungeon adventuring game with dice I’ve been documenting the rules for, so you can understand my humorous references.”
Kat gave him a blank stare. “Yeah, sounds like a hot date night. Now, can you try the door, Mr. Dungeon Diver?”
Ryan shook his head, mumbling to himself as he started touching the area around the door, searching for a way to open it. His hand hit an area to the left, and a small display illuminated on the wall. He wiggled his fingers and touched it.
A large area of the hanger lit up around them, and the hangar was much more massive than they had first assumed.
“This place could fit the Tempus and larger ships if it needed to,” said Kat. “It’s amazing.”
They both slowly turned in place to take in the facility. In a vehicle repair frame was a pair of cybernetic legs attached to a hollowed-out torso. A few feet down in another vehicle repair frame was a hover tank, and next to that was a mech suit with a Gatling gun for an arm.
“Nice looking tank!” said Ryan, walking over to it.
Kat followed
him and started walking around, leaning over to inspect the underside. “This is an old hover tank.”
“Well, to you, maybe. To me, this is an awesome-looking futuristic tank,” said Ryan, rubbing his hand along the las-cannon.
Kat laughed. “Yeah, to you, it might be. To me, it should be in a museum. This tank goes back to the early days of the Earth Consortium military. Not sure how it would have gotten this deep into uncharted space. Ships never even came close to this sector of space back then.”
“Another mystery to solve, but based on the damage, it must have seen action,” said Ryan, running his hands over the scorched armor.
“It appears that some of the tank pieces have been used to make the mech suit,” said Kat, looking back and forth between the tank and the suit. “But it doesn’t appear to be made for a humanoid.”
Ryan pulled himself up to get a better look at a hole the size of a large pizza on the top rear of the tank. “Hey, Kat, what’s with this hole with the wires sticking out of it?”
“Ry..Ry…Ryan.”
He looked up to see a pale Kat on the other side of the tank, pointing to something behind him. He closed his eyes, and the clattering sound they had heard earlier was now much louder. His heart began racing, and he slowly lowered himself down and turned around. His eyes opened wide as two large metallic creatures with eight legs were gracefully floating down from the ceiling. They were the size of dump trucks, brownish-green, and had a small dome centered on top of their giant spider-like frames. A beam of red light emanated from an eye on the dome and focused on them.
Ryan moved to the front of the tank and then toward the other side where Kat was. The creatures rushed forward, one following him and the other moving to the back of the tank. Kat and Ryan moved closer to each other as the giant spider-like AIs herded them together.
“Threat detected. Scanning,” said both spider AIs at the same time. The red beams scanned Ryan and Kat from head to toe multiple times.
“Scan completed. No threat detected. Identifications confirmed. You may enter and have a pleasant day.”
Second Life of Mr. Hunt: Book 3: Failover Page 10