SKY CITY (The Pattern Universe Book 6)

by Tobias Roote

  As the cracking noises and howling diminished, air pressure throughout the ARK appeared to equalise. There was no light. No power evidently, and not a sound from anyone. He called out, but nobody answered. It didn’t even sound as if it was travelling at all. Like in a small room, the sound deadened by porous surfaces that grabbed the audio and sucked it in giving the listener a false sense of perspective. Mike had seen the rock wall imploding into the CCC and thought that the edge of it wasn’t far from where he was. He might be trapped, a kilometre underground. He suddenly felt very claustrophobic.

  What the fuck had just happened?

  Mike patted himself from head to toe. He had a few grazes, a gash across his forehead that he could feel and flinched as he fingered it, trying to check how deep it was. Warm liquid flowed into his eye. He decided to leave it alone. He felt as if he had been kicked by a mule, but he was alive. He recognised that something had exploded, or imploded, he wasn’t sure which, but beyond that he was clueless.

  His ears pricked, as from a distance he heard a growing howl, different to the previous noises - more animalistic. Dust began to billow as local air pressure altered throughout the ARK as winds formed to blow through vacant space created by the upheaval. As the sound gathered pace, Mike wondered if it was the ARK venting its atmosphere? He coughed as the dust cloud hit him, causing him to bury his face against the deck with his arms around his head, protecting his lungs and eyes from the worst of it. He listened as the storm waged throughout the ARK and then, when he thought that they must be at the point where the air would finally be sucked out, the wind began to die down and the silence returned, broken only by creaks and groans of the ARK as it continued to settle.

  In the darkness Mike continued to try and understand what had happened. Without light it was impossible to see anything and everything he felt around him didn’t correlate with his mental image of where he, or it, should be.

  He began to crawl, surprised after all that had just happened, that he wasn’t more badly injured. Heading towards where he thought Johann should be, he was caught out when a wall interrupted his movements. He felt along it to try and get information; in the dark it didn’t feel right. He pulled himself upright cautiously wondering how much clearance he had, or how much movement he could get from here. He fumbled and was reassured when his wandering hands touched something familiar. It was Johann’s arm, it was extended. He was still sitting, that's a good sign, he thought, picturing his body against the console in his mind.

  Mike continued to feel further up Johann’s arm trying to decide if he was alive. He was confused when reaching to where his shoulder should be, he met rock. He tried to feel below and was surprised when he felt air beneath Johann’s arm. Confused, he again came up against rock. Johann hadn’t been crushed, there was no sign of that, yet he seemed enveloped in rock.

  Mike continued to try and place his hands where Johann’s body should be - he only found rock, then... he shuddered. He came across his knee protruding OUT of the rock. It was still warm, the top of his leg and the knee exposed, but the rest...

  Trying not to work out in his head the physicality of Johann’s current predicament, Mike moved his hand to the right and was relieved to feel the console, then the keyboard which appeared to be intact. He fumbled to where the control panel was and prayed it was also in the clear. The jingle told him he was close as the keyring scrabbled against the metal console. He pulled out the key and then stood back carefully, not sure where the rock ended. He carefully negotiated his way back to his own console.

  It was difficult negotiating everything in the pitch dark. He didn’t want to lose contact with his console, so had to do it one-handed. He transferred the key from his left to the right hand and now using both, manoeuvred the key into the slot it was designed for and turned it to the right twice. A red light blinked, the eery glow illuminating a keypad in the darkness. He blew off dust and tiny stone debris that had covered it and input a series of numbers and letters that he had personally coded into his console at the very beginning of the ARK project.

  A fail-safe, with just two functions. One it provided a limited atmospheric envelope that would encompass the Control Centre, and two, it activated an emergency beacon with a locator. If anyone survived the incident that had totally disabled the ARK, they might be able to home in on the CCC and rescue them. A red glow appeared in various parts of the centre as the commands filtered to the emergency generator and illuminated some of his surroundings - it wasn’t what he expected.

  Well, it wasn’t actually a room he was in, or more accurately some of it was, but much of it definitely wasn’t.

  ***

  O’Hara departed ARK1 on his way to ARK11, the destination for this shuttle. Escorting the last of the patients and doctors from the medical bay, including the recently rescued pilot, he was unfazed by the evacuation schedule, since he had done similar work before after the initial attack by the enemy ships that had obliterated cities across the globe. He had been responsible for initial evacuation and then the rescue of thousands of people trapped by the destruction of office and apartment blocks. He had seen many dead melted into the glassy surface caused by the intensity of laser fire. He had managed to help the injured and dying and, in doing so, had learned the hard way, understanding the value of every life saved.

  When the saboteur had taken out his boss and several others of his team, he had immediately realised they were in trouble. Additional explosions from different corridors confirmed his suspicions and he had taken charge knowing instantly that this would mean a use for his SAR, search and rescue experience on Earth.

  When damage to the habitat from the Nubl ships destroyed the upper sections, he was already organising his remaining teams into a reaction force. None of them questioned him, they knew he had extensive experience and as sound common-sense responses to situations came from him, they rallied around and formed a cohesive team with him at the centre. Knowing that his instinct was proven right, O’Hara became a whirlwind of activity, first co-opting people from everywhere he could find them, into roles that would reinforce calm and order, his teams moved through the habitat calming panic, organising people, and bringing sanity to a situation that for most of them was an exercise in abject terror.

  Now, he was looking back through the rear port cameras as they left ARK1 behind. There would be several more shuttle journeys, the craft sat in the bay awaiting the command teams arrival, but there was nobody left from the habitat. The dead had been left. There was no place on shuttles for them and no ARK would want to take them. It was going to be hard enough absorbing over ten thousand people.

  Not being a long journey to ARK11, O’Hara had shunned a seat, leaving them for the patients and medical staff to fill them to overflowing. When the ship, despite being shielded, was picked up and tossed by an immense invisible force, O’Hara had only a tentative hold on the back of one of the seats. He was thrown the length of the shuttle, colliding with several seated personnel on the way. When he hit the rear wall, one of the retractable legs of the shuttle standing proud of the wall took out most of his backbone, crushing it and half of his ribcage. His head, protected by his hands instinctively locked around it, meant that he remained conscious and aware, as his breathing, inhibited by the crushing pain of his collapsed lungs, tried to take in enough oxygen to feed his dying body. As he slipped into unconsciousness, he was dimly aware of people leaping from their seats towards him.

  ***

  Beacon of Hope

  As the remaining ARKs absorbed the impact of the displacement storm that buffeted the last transiting shuttles, the rescue teams helped stricken craft back to the safety of the habitats. Scientists and senior officers quickly conferenced using their hologram suites to better share their thoughts as to the situation they now faced. Officers from each ARK were also present.

  Justin Furth, the captain of ARK2 was the most senior, so took charge of the quickly convened meeting to establish what it was that had occurred. Nob
ody could proceed with any action until they understood the nature of the problem. This meeting needed to equate the loss of ARK1 with the now unexpected lifeless piece of rock inhabiting the space it once occupied.

  “We’ve sent a shuttle to the surface of that ‘thing’ out there to see if there is any trace of ARK1,” he updated them all after interrupting the latest speaker, then nodded for him to continue.

  The XO of ARK11 was giving his report.“...at the time of the impact of the unidentified object, ARK1 was in the final throes of evacuation. We have the last shuttle to leave it, carrying medical personnel and patients. One of these, a consultant surgeon, advised us that their security chief, who was severely injured when the shuttle was thrown across space, had informed him that only a small team of approximately thirty bridge crew were left, a shuttle remained for them to use. He obviously believes that they never managed to reach it in time.”

  One of the scientists leaned forward and spoke, “Yet, as we know, thirty minutes after that, we began receiving a distress signal from the bridge area of ARK1. The only problem with that is the location of the signal is originating from inside the unidentified object.”

  “Where did this object come from, and what precisely is it?”

  The scientist looked at the others of his group unsure how to proceed. At the encouragement of the scientists either side of him, he put himself forward again.

  “We think it is Alpha Station,” the scientist admitted.

  Murmuring broke out across the room. The holograms attempting to ensure that all voices were heard equally meant the noise quickly became a meaningless din as vocalised theories grew in equal proportion to questions.

  “Order, please people,” Furth shouted, to bring them mentally back into the room to organise their ideas within the framework of the meeting.

  “Please continue Mr?...” Furth requested.

  “I’m, um, Dr Fellowes from ARK5,” he answered, nervously. Being in the limelight will do that to people. Especially when talking in terms of theory and conjecture. They’d had no time to gather real evidence yet. This meeting was called too quickly for all of them, but not quickly enough - they needed to act fast.

  “Please continue, Dr Fellowes. It doesn’t matter if it's just your thoughts at this moment in time.”

  “All of us were following the data-bursts from the AI in charge of Alpha Station, Arty. Within those bursts was considerable information relating to new technology involving Quantum Entanglement. This information had been hinted at prior to the Nubl invasion, but nobody had seen any evidence that it had been tested.”

  Furth put his hand up. “Doctor, does this have actual relevance, or can we cut to the heart of the matter?”

  Dr Fellowes bridled. “Captain, you asked, please have the patience to listen to the answer.”

  Furth, chastised, signalled for him to continue.

  “The technology that the AI used was unknown to us, but was, in fact, that means with which the AI transported us unaccountable light years in less than five seconds.

  We believe there is a drone in the vicinity of our arrival point that performs as an acoustic receiver and when initiated from the other end, draws in power to itself to assist in completing the act of transfer.”

  Another voice asked. “Where does it draw this power from? If it’s only a drone it won’t have anything more than a tiny fusion drive.”

  The doctor nodded. “Precisely, it must have some form of drawing power from the space around itself. Space matter, but we don’t know how this occurs. There has been considerable theory recorded, that the use of QE can itself create the power needed to complete its action, but we don’t have access to the AI’s data.”

  Furth was getting impatient, it seemed the typical scientific response to a short answer always fell short of the explanation needed for the average person to grasp the significance. He waded in again. “Doctor, are you saying we were effectively transported through the eye of a needle? If so, how does this account for the large, no I’’ll rephrase that... the ‘exceedingly’ large asteroid sitting off our port side?”

  “Ah! Yes, good analogy captain, excellent in fact.” He smiled. “The fact is that there is no reason at all why the Alpha Station could not have transported itself through the ‘needle’ in the same way it transported the ARKs. However, something must have gone wrong.”

  “Hmmh! That much is self evident, Doctor,” Furth responded scathingly. He needed to get action going as soon as possible.

  His intercom buzzed. It was the shuttle. Furth asked for everyone to pause while he got an update. He put it on the speaker so all would be able to hear the report.

  “Shuttle to ARK11, this is Lieutenant French, sir. We are on the object and there is evidence of considerable surface damage from laser fire, but nothing recent. We have also discovered what we believe to be an airlock built into the rock. The science team with us want to try and open it. What are your orders, sir?”

  Furth hesitated. keeping his finger off the reply button. “What do you think? Proceed?” he asked the people around the room.

  At the nods from virtually all of the attendees he flicked the switch.

  “Lieutenant, proceed with caution. If there is any sign of life, let us know immediately - do not, repeat do NOT, lose communication with the ARK. I will have the bridge send you latest coordinates from the ARK1 distress signal. Furth out.” He transferred the call to the bridge and advised them to update the shuttle with latest information and to keep him informed.

  Turning his attention back to the meeting. “What do we think, is it Alpha Station?”

  One of the other scientists picked up his pen and pointed at the image on their screen showing the asteroid from their perspective. “It could be, it’s approximately the same size, but the sensors are reporting it to be considerably heavier than the last reported mass of Alpha Station, which, as you all know, was hollow.”

  Fellowes interrupted. “There’s another thing that’s strange. The sergeant reported evidence of laser fire, which he said was ‘not’ recent. In addition, the sensors are also reporting a uniformly cold surface. If it had been subjected to heavy laser and missile fire as recently as an hour ago, then the surface would still be reflecting considerable heat.”

  The intercom buzzed again. Furth clicked it on immediately. The main screen activated automatically.

  “Captain, this Is Sarah Cowen, I’m standing in the main hangar bay of Alpha Station. It’s a mess in here, sir. There is a thick layer of dust over everything - I think it’s from nanite skins that have died from energy deprivation. The marine sergeant is upstairs, they’re about to blow a hole into a section of rock and wall that seems to be the origin of the distress signal.”

  “Can you ask people what happened to the station before it jumped?” Furth asked.

  “No, I’m afraid that’s not possible, sir,” she responded strangely. Her voice had developed a weird tone.

  “Why not, Doctor Cowen, there must be somebody there that can give you some idea about what happened. Can’t you communicate with the AI, or the bridge?” he chased.

  “No sir, you don’t understand.” She paused looking around, then back at the drone camera. The girl was clearly spooked, the change in her voice more evident now, it reflected something they were all familiar with - fear.

  “There is nobody here, but us, sir.”

  Furth was amazed into silence. He turned to the others. They were all aghast. Two hundred thousand people. Gone.

  He coughed. Everyone started talking quietly, uncertainty evident in the shift from one conversation to another.

  Fellowes was more objective. He had a theory. Leaning back to get a better picture of the screen, he looked at the background hard.

  He picked up the microphone from his desk, he was on ARK5. He patched through to the shuttle’s comms unit and connected with Dr Cowen. “Sarah, can you get a piece of that AG sled skeleton leaning up at the back there?”

  She
looked at him strangely, then frowned as if he was taking the mickey, then looked to the back of the hangar where there was an old skeleton of an AG sled that had been discarded, probably because it was damaged. She looked back at him, perplexed, with no idea why he wanted a piece of rusting metal. The drone camera followed her closely, the trail of nanite dust kicked up by her feet settled slowly in a low lying cloud.

  Sarah took what looked to be a handlebar and wrenched it along a joint. It snapped easily causing her to over compensate and nearly fall into the dust. She caught herself just in time and came away with her prize, a six inch piece of rusted metal. Nobody, even Sarah, recognised the significance of it as she packed it into her sample box ready to return to the shuttle.

  Before she could ask a question about why Fellowes had requested it, the hangar door behind her opened up and the marine unit came in, carrying one individual while several walked freely. Three survivors.

  “Where did you find them?” Sarah asked on behalf of everyone watching in the holosuite.

  The marine lieutenant was an ashen colour and looked as if he had been sick. The others looked no better. None of them would meet the camera’s eye and they were nervous, seemingly keen to embark on the shuttle.

  “These are all that remains of the bridge crew from ARK1,” was all that was said as the group moved swiftly into the shuttle.

  “Permission to return to ARK2, captain?” asked the pilot. It was up to the captain whether they would be allowed to re-board the ARK. In the event of possible contamination, there might be no return allowed, quarantine or, at the very least, inspection on arrival. Captain Furth thought about the likelihood of contamination and decided it was not even an outside chance. This had the hallmarks of a very bad accident. It was more important to get to the bottom of it.

  “Permission to board granted. Are there any officers amongst the survivors?” he asked.

  One of the men stood up, belatedly Furth recognised him. “Captain Patterson.. Mike...? is that you?” he asked cautiously.